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Any fish hunters?

wpagewpage Member Posts: 10,204 ✭✭✭
edited March 2010 in The Fishing Hole!
I have used my bow to harpoon some fish. Done some scuba shooting for striped bass as well.
Anyone hunt fish?

Comments

  • MMOMEQ-55MMOMEQ-55 Member Posts: 13,134
    edited November -1
    Only in salt water. The lakes around here are to muddy to see your hand in front of your face.
  • gary wraygary wray Member Posts: 4,663
    edited November -1
    wpage...for years I lived on the deepest and clearest lake in DE with my Boston Whaler parked at my dock. One morning early as I was drinking my morning coffee and admiring my Whaler, I saw a guy standing up in his boat with a bow pulled back right beside my dock (and boat!) Got my attention! I had read about bow fishing but never seen it in action. And, darn, if that guy, right at my dock, shot and hit a carp! I didn't think carp were in the lake as I had never seen one nor caught one, but he knew what he was doing. It is darn harder than it looks! By the time I got down to the dock and chatted with him he had the fish off and told me that it was the first time he had ever fished "my" lake but he would be back! He had driven 50m to fish as the lake was well known to the state as the state record bass had been caught the year before (sadly, not by me) and to this day in 2010 it still is the state record! But, personally, it looks too hard to me...much prefer the Penn Greenie 714 with 10lb Stren!
  • kumateliveskumatelives Member Posts: 2,609
    edited November -1
    bow hunt carp on occasion around here,lot of fun but can be a lot of work too
  • BamavolBamavol Member Posts: 966 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I have a bow and there are lots of carp in the Holston river behind my house. The river is clear and shallow. In fact it is so clear and shallow that it is hard to stalk one. I may try it this summer. I just hate to think about cleaning a carp. I hear that they are good smoked. Ever try one?
  • kumateliveskumatelives Member Posts: 2,609
    edited November -1
    yepsmoked is good,if you cut the red stip out of the sides they are pretty good fried also
  • BamavolBamavol Member Posts: 966 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I have eaten carp fried. I have no problem with the taste. They are not the worst or the best. I do have a problem with the bones. I will give them a try come summer.
  • wpagewpage Member Posts: 10,204 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Carp bones are bad. But there are some good recipes out there.
  • fishkiller41fishkiller41 Member Posts: 50,608
    edited November -1
    I would never try eatin one BUT!!!
    If u catch ANY fish and immediately head and gut it,get it on ice, then fillet and cut out all the blood meat,I don't see how it could be bad.
    Now, that said, when it comes to Bonita(little tunney)their IS NOTHING BUT BLOOD MEAT.
    I had a Korean neighbor, years ago that was CRAZY ABOUT Bonita.
    She wanted me to head and gut ASAP after catching(bleed out)and put on ice.
    She'd have me fillet and cut out the really dark meat(U can see the darker bloodmeat in them, if u bleed'em immediately after catching)then she would soak them in either brine(as much kosher salt as warm water can dissolve,or buttermilk.
    She would either stuff and bake it, or finger it up and fry it.
    I never did sver try eating it.
    She tasted good tho..[;)]
  • kumateliveskumatelives Member Posts: 2,609
    edited November -1
    fishkiller you remind me of me sumtyme[;)]
  • fishkiller41fishkiller41 Member Posts: 50,608
    edited November -1
  • cccoopercccooper Member Posts: 4,044 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    We sight hunt redfish in the marshes of S. Louisiana. Use aluminum arrows and no string attached. 15-20 lb fish tailing in the grass.
  • kapnrotorkapnrotor Member Posts: 2 ✭✭
    edited November -1
  • jonkjonk Member Posts: 10,121
    edited November -1
    Never saw the need. Carp isn't my favorite but they're so thick here in the harbors that you can lean over the bank and scoop them up with the net (not legal) or just poke a frog spear into them (legal). Or better yet, toss a dough ball on a good sized hook in with a bobber about 8" above it in 2 foot deep water. I've rarely had to wait more than 20 minutes for one to grab it and sometimes you hook into a pretty big fish- I've gotten carp that weighed over 20 pounds already, though the usual size is maybe 3-5 pounds.

    I have on occasion caught or speared one and smoked it. Not bad. But with Walleye, perch, bass, catfish, and lake trout just outside the harbor within a 5-20 minute boat ride, which I like a lot more, I usually don't bother.

    Nice thing about Walleye and perch is, they are clean fish. You get them on ice right off, you don't have to gut or behead them for the meat to stay fresh. Though when I keep catfish I either toss them in the livewell and let them work some of the muck out of their system or else chop their tail off with a machete while they're still flopping to let some of the muck work out, then gut them.
  • JJ CASTINGSJJ CASTINGS Member Posts: 6 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by Bamavol
    I have a bow and there are lots of carp in the Holston river behind my house. The river is clear and shallow. In fact it is so clear and shallow that it is hard to stalk one. I may try it this summer. I just hate to think about cleaning a carp. I hear that they are good smoked. Ever try one?


    The grocery store fish dept. around here sells smoked carp for $4.50 a pound.

    I Ohio, I like to get them from inland lakes in the spring. I marinate them over night in a brine that includes brown sugar.

    I use the same brine for steelhead trout and walleye I catch.

    I freeze the extra in a vacuum pack like seal a meal.
    I smoke the fish with skin on.

    Any fish can be smoked, but species high in fat (oil) such as salmon and trout are recommended because they absorb smoke
    faster and have better texture than lean fish, which tend to be dry and tough after smoking. Use seasoned non-resinous
    woods: hickory, oak, apple, maple, birch, beech, or alder. Avoid: pine, fir, spruce, etc. or green woods. If heavier smoke flavor
    is desired, add moist sawdust to the heat source throughout the smoking process. Control heat by adjusting air flow.

    Ingredients I use. This brine is for fish that are eaten right away, stored in the fridge for up to 3 days or frozen. It does not dry out the fish and make it tough like a brine with more salt would do.

    Preparing Brine:
    Using 1 gallon of cold water in a plastic, stainless steel, or crockery container. Stir salt in 1 gallon of water until dissolved then add the sugars and stir again then add spices if desired.

    Spices such as black pepper, bay leaves, seafood seasoning, or garlic, may be added to the brine depending on your preference.

    I use:
    * 1 and 1/2 cup kosher salt or non iodized salt( you can use up to 3 and 1/2 cups if salt is not an issue for you)
    * 1/2 cup sugar
    * 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
    * 1 tablespoon crushed black peppercorns

    To reduce the fishy smell, add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice per cup of brine.

    Control temperature:
    Hot-smoking - 90?F for the first 2 hours; 150?F for remaining smoking time.

    Preparing Fish For Smoking:
    Use only freshly-caught fish that have been kept clean and cold. Fish that have been handled carelessly or stored under improper
    conditions will not produce a satisfactory finished product. Do not use bruised, broken, or otherwise damaged flesh.

    If you catch your fish, clean and pack them in ice before starting home. When you get home, store the fish in the refrigerator until you are
    ready to prepare them for smoking.

    Different fish species generally require specific preparation methods. Salmon are split (backbone removed); bottom fish filleted; herring headed and gutted, and smelt dressed.

    The following preparation steps can be applied to any fish:
    Remove scales by scraping against the grain with the dull edge of a knife.
    Remove head, fins, tail, viscera.
    Wash body cavity with running cold water to remove all traces of blood and kidney tissue (dark red mass along the backbone).

    Split the fish by cutting through the rib bones along the length of one side of the backbone.

    For large fish, remove the backbone by cutting along the other side of the backbone to produce two fillets or boneless sides. For small fish,
    the backbone can be left attached to one of the sides.

    Cut the sides of large fish into uniform pieces about 1? inches thick and 2 inches wide. Small fish halves can be brined and smoked in one
    piece.

    Preparing Brine:
    Using 1 gallon of cold water in a plastic, stainless steel, or crockery container.

    Spices such as black pepper, bay leaves, seafood seasoning, or garlic, as well as brown sugar, may be added to the brine depending on
    your preference.

    Use 1 gallon of brine for every 4 pounds of fish. Brine fish in the refrigerator, if possible.

    Keep the fish covered with brine throughout the brining period. A heavy bowl can be floated on the brine to keep the fish submersed, but do not pack the fish so tightly that the brine cannot circulate around each piece.

    Place the fish skin-side down on greased racks in a cool place to dry. Not the refrigerator. The fish should dry for 2 to 3 hours or until a shiny skin has formed on the surface or until the surface of the fish is dry and matte-like. A fan may be used to speed the process.

    Place the fish in a homemade or commercial smoker. The temperature of the smoker should be kept at about 80?F, and should never
    exceed 90?F. If a thermometer is not available, the temperature may be tested by hand. If the air in the smoke-house feels distinctly warm,
    the temperature is too high.

    Smoke the fish until its surface is an even brown. Small fish that are to be kept 2 weeks or less may be ready in 24 hours. Salmon and other
    large fish will require 3 to 4 days and nights of steady smoking. To store longer than 2 weeks, smoke all fish a minimum of five days; for
    larger fish, at least a week or longer.

    The smoker should not produce a lot of smoke during the first 8 to 12 hours if the total curing time is 24 hours, or for the first 24 hours if the


    Hot-Smoking:
    To hot-smoke fish, follow steps 1-6 under Preparing Fish for Smoking.

    Brine ?-inch-thick fillets for about 15 minutes, 1-inch-thick pieces about 30 minutes, and 1?-inch-thick pieces about 1 hour. Brining times
    can be adjusted to give the fish a lighter or heavier cure.

    After brining, rinse the fish briefly in cold running water.

    Place the fish skin-side down on greased racks in a cool, shady, breezy place to dry. The fish should dry for 2 to 3 hours or until a shiny
    skin or pellicle forms on the surface. The pellicle seals the surface and prevents loss of natural juices during smoking. A fan will speed
    pellicle formation.

    Place the fish in a homemade or commercial smoker. For the first 2 hours, the temperature should not exceed 90?F. This completes the
    pellicle formation and develops brown coloring.

    After the initial 2-hour period, raise the temperature to 150?F and smoke the fish for an additional 4 to 8 hours. The length of time will
    depend on the thickness of the fish, and on your preference for dry or moist smoked fish.

    Generally, ? -inch-thick pieces are smoked for 4 hours, 1-inch-thick pieces for 6 hours, and 1?-inch-thick pieces for 8 hours.

    Store fish in the refrigerator. Or freeze using a vacuum pack like Seal a Meal
  • fishkiller41fishkiller41 Member Posts: 50,608
    edited November -1
    Iused to use carp as bait in my snapper fike nets.To catch'em we used a mini slingshot, made out of a coat hanger and rubber bands,with a piece of canvas for the pouch.
    We'd take a big can of whole kernel corn and shoot loads of it out into the deep hole behind the dam at the mill pond we lived near.
    Then thread kernels onto all 3 sides of a treble hook and just enough split-shot to cast to where we had shot the loose kernels.MAN, we used to pull some lunkers out from under that spillway.The occasional "millroach"(that was what pop called'em) was a fringe benefit and great cooked just headed,gutted and scaled.
    We'd wrap the whole carp in newspaper and put them in moms big IH chest freezer.Then pull one out,as needed for snapper bait, and hacksaw him up.
    Mom didn't mind,as long as they were well wrapped in the paper.[^]
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