Conference wahoo::fishing-v2

>    Does anyone fish for horn-pout(bullheads) out there ? I went last 

	Sure, I do once in a while, mostly to wet the lines and get
	out of the house.  They are fun to catch.   Decent fight.
	Haven't been this year though (2 kids 1 and 2 yrs).

	Once last year fishing in Charlton with my bro-in-law, a guy
	shows up with raw bacon for bait.  He sweared by it.  The next
	week we bring a pound of bacon, and it worked pretty good. 
	It really attacted turtles though! You'd see them chomping on
	pieces that fell off.  

	One night, the same guy showed up, wearing a loaded pistol.
	We asked him what he was expecting, and he said in case he
	caught a snapping turtle, he was gonna shoot it and eat it.
	Well, fine, but when the police showed up to check licenses,
	they shout "they have a gun!", and the next thing you know this 
	guy is spread eagle on the beach, and me and my bro-in-law are 	
	told not to move at all.   They were gonna arrest all of us (though 
	they calmed down when we said we weren't with him), and got on 
	the guys case for packing a loaded pistol on federal land while 
	drinking.   I didn't go out pout fishing for a while after that...

	Ken
	

    Yeah, pout fishermen are a different breed of people.;);)

<    Does anyone fish for horn-pout(bullheads) out there ? I went last 
<    night and caught five real nice ones. What a great night for fishing !
<    Full moon, with a meter shower to keep you entertained between hits.
                       =====
                                                             =======
<    Got harassed by bats for a while, but once you got over dogging them,
<    they actually became your friend, because the mosquitoes all but
<    disappeared with the bats feeding on them.

Jim,

	Have you been taking spelling lessons from Bassin' Bob??

Al

    RE:Al
    I'm totally dependent on DEC-spell since I no longer have a secretary
    to enter my notes. It don't check for usages ya know ?

    Besides, this conference ain't no intellectual oasis, so shadup !

    Jim

    Hey! This is the hornpout note! Leave the shad out of it!
    
    How big does a bullhead have to be before you consider it a keeper?
    
    Just curious....
    
    John H-C (owner of a pet hornpout that goes by the name of Felix)

    re:5 
    Thanks for pointing out that potential rathole in the hornpout note !

    How big ? Its up to you really. As long as you can get the skin off him
    without taking meat with it, its a keeper. My kids had a pet hornpout
    that they named grover. He lived in the aquarium until my wife
    discovered he was eating her tropical fish. After that he was
    transferred to a fish bowl. He lived five years in there.

    If summer ever comes around this year, I should be able to get a
    freezer full.

    Jim

      Re .1
    
      Where in Charlton??? I live in Charlton and have been trying to find
    out where there's some good Bullhead waters...(Just CAIN'T bring myself
    to use that New England name...being born 'n raised in the Midwest..
    never heard of Hornpout nor did anything with "tonic" 'cept put it on
    my hair [when I still had some] until I came to Mass.)
    
      Bullheads can be caught just about any time of night or day,
    depending on what you use for bait. Corn is good ("Niblets" right outa
    the can..), nightcrawlers, chicken livers ("ripen" them if you can
    stand the smell..), dough-balls,(make your own with a fresh loaf of
    "wonder bread") bacon's fine..or if you wanna ger real sophisticated,
    get some commercial catfish bait..
    
      I've never seen a bullhead that was TOO small...only thing is that if
    they are small you gotta catch a ton of them to get a good meal...
    Best are about half a pound, but ya gotta take what you can get...
    
    
       B.T.W....Please STOP with the spelling criticism....incorrect
    spelling is a Digital tradition.....in fact, using the wrong WORD is
    also a Digital tradition....so show some respect willya!!
    
      John Mc

      Re .1 again...
      Charlton cops ain't 007 types, even thought hey sort of think they're
    Elliot Ness and J Edgar Hoover rolled into one... Dunno what business
    they'd have on Federal land NOR checking fishing licenses....maybe if
    they didn't waste their time doing weird stuff like that they'd have
    time to stop the New England Redneck Pickup Klub form driving 75 MPH on
    my street in a 25 MPH zone...or stop the theives from staling cars out
    of peoples driveway...
    
    
      Re .6
      
      When I was a kid in Minnesota on the farm, my brother and I would go
    to any of the many local bullhead places and catch a bunch....and we'd
    usually get tired of cleaning all of them and end up tossing a few into
    the cattle water tank... I cann't ever recall one of these turning up
    dead....sometimes in the dead of winter though, the tank would freeze
    solid and we'd have to make sure we got the frozen stiff out of there
    befoer it rotted. Amazing how much a catfish can take and still
    survive...
    
      JM

re:                     <<< Note 213.7 by DELNI::JMCDONOUGH >>>
    
>      Where in Charlton??? I live in Charlton and have been trying to find

	Buffamville.  Nothing huge but fairly consistent.

	Good point about Charlton cops and federal land... that's probably
	why there were no arrests.
		
	Ken

    RE:7

    	Well, the name hornpout resembles the fish more than bullhead.
    Besides, New Englanders don't like to use words that resemble stuff
    said in porn movies.;)

     I agree with u on the spellen thing two. Dan Quale is welcombed chere.


    Jim

    re .9
    
      HAH!?!? Buffamville huh?? On the Oxford road, going toward Oxford,
    I'll bet the best places are on the left side, huh?? I've tried on more
    than one occasion for Bass there, but without a boat I've been
    skunked...
       Guess I'll have to let an ear of corn go over the hill 'n get my
    tackle ready...maybe I'll "ripen" some chicken livers too...
    
    
       Thanks fer the info.......
    
      JMcD

re:                    <<< Note 213.11 by DELNI::JMCDONOUGH >>>

>      HAH!?!? Buffamville huh?? On the Oxford road, going toward Oxford,
>    I'll bet the best places are on the left side, huh?? I've tried on more

	I've never fished the left side where the beach is.  I usually go
	to the right hand/big side, to left of the boat ramp.  There's a 
	small gravel "beach" that works ok.

	Ken

    JM, Ken
    
    Buffumvill Dam is a flood control dam run by the Army Corps of
    Engineers. The Army Corps of Engineers is paying the Charlton 
    Police to patrol the Federal Land. The situation that you ran into with
    the Charlton Police is most likely to have been the equivalent of
    the Brinks Robbery to them. Hunting there has never been a problem for
    me. I am sure the beer had more to do with it than anything. The 
    Reservoir is closed from sunup to sundown. Read the local paper and
    you will see that they do enforce it. Mostly kids getting arrested
    for drinking. 


    Rich (Another Charltonite)

    P.S. Rest assured there are very nice Bass there, trust me :-). 

      Re .13
    
    
      Are ya sher that ain't "closed frum sunDOWN to sun UP"??? Don't make
    much sense to have it open during the night and closed during the
    day....
    
      JM

    woops, sundown to sunup.
    
    Rich

       Good...I never go fishin' or huntin' after dark after a couple of
    experiences that I had in the past...
    
       One was when I was fishing with a buddiy on the Wachusetts one
    nite...for trout. He had this surf rod with some sort of trout-slayer
    plug that I was a bit sceptical about...but he insisted this was the
    greatest thing for catching fish since grenades... So, darkbut with a
    half-moon...he slings out the plug in a big arc and there's a soft
    'woosh' and darned if the plug isn't snatched outa mid air by a big old
    OWL.... The Owl gets one of the hooks in his talon, so he's flying
    around flpping his wings....my buddy can't get him to let go cause he
    CAN'T let go...and I sure as the dickins ain't going near him....
    Finally my pal gives the rod a big jerk and the owl hits the beach and
    get's stunned...so my buddy goes over to get him away from the plug and
    darned if the owl doesn't come too just aobut the time he grabs him...
    Luckily, the hook was only in the skin a little way, because that owl
    still beat hell out of this guy...not to mention clawing his hand up a
    little bit... No more nite fishin for me unless it's with
    FLOODLIGHTS...
    
       Huntin' is just as bad...when I was younger and stupider(hard to
    believe, huh?;-)) in Minnesota, we used to think that it was a great
    time to get half a dozen Bluetick, Walker or Redbone hounds and goe
    racoon hunting at night.... What this amounted to was letting the
    hounds go and tracking/following them as fast as we could with .22
    rifles, .410 shotguns and flashlights....the flashlights were about a
    close to worthless on a moonless night as a pocket on a "t"-shirt...all
    they did was confuse all the shadows so you had no night vision. We'd
    be running through the woods...hit limbs and deadfalls that were
    invisible, running into invisible fences, falling down hillsides over
    rocks,....GREEEAAT fun!! Only thing that saved out lives was a standing
    rule: NO...repeat NO LOADED weapons of ANY kind until standing under
    the tree where the racoon(s) were treed and everyone was accounted
    for...  Somehow we all survived and even MORE miraculous we used to get
    a quite a few racoons...
    
      But that was then...this is now...I prefer daylight... Hey, I have
    enuff trouble with the SUN out!!
    
      John Mc

re"                       <<< Note 213.13 by JUPITR::NEAL >>>

> The Army Corps of Engineers is paying the Charlton 
>     Police to patrol the Federal Land. 

Ahhh, that explains it...  The cops were ok once they realized we weren't
psycho's and that me and my bro-in-law were "locals".  We talked to them
after the incident, and asked about the beer and fishing there after dark.
They said no problem, as long as your not over doing the beer and keeping
to yourselves, it's ok to fish after dark.  They were probably checking
us to see if we were underaged kids drinking and stuff.  

Have you ever been hassled for fishing off a boat after dark ?  I'm right
around the corner from Buffamville and want to head out at night sometime.
I suppose I could give them a call too to find out...

Thanks for the info...

Ken

    Well, I kin see this note is trashed ! OH, ain't a lot to talk about
    when it comes to pout fishen. You either do you or you don't.

    BTW, I prefer nite fishen for pouts. Heck sometimes you lucky nuff to
    get an eel.

    Jim

    Re .17
    
      Where's "right around the corner from Buffamville?"....I live next
    to Paul Roger's nursery (Stonehedge) on Richardson's Corner Road...
    
       John Mc

      Re .18
     
       "TRASHED"??? whaddaya mean?? Bullheads IS considered "trash-fish" by
    those sofisticaded flea(or is that 'fly') fishermen!! 
    
       I guess eels is fun too...but they can sure make a mess outa yer
    boat, tackle, clothes 'n such...but they also happen to be GREAT in 
    the old skillet... I just prefer to let someone else catch them and
    clean them...use to be able to buy dressed eel from the Mississippi
    when I was a kid in Minnesota... Sort of fatty, but like catfish, only
    the backbone--which in an eel isn't even real bone, just cartilege..
    
      John Mc

    I have never fished it at night per say. When the sun goes down I
    leave. I suppose I could call the Office and see what they have to 
    say. I have been there before sun up with no problem, then again 
    I didn't see anyone either. 
    
    Rich

re:                    <<< Note 213.19 by DELNI::JMCDONOUGH >>>
    
>      Where's "right around the corner from Buffamville?"....I live next
>    to Paul Roger's nursery (Stonehedge) on Richardson's Corner Road...
    
	I'm right around the corner from you on Bay Path Road.

	Ken

    	Re: -.16 or (further Trashing)
    
    	Why bother running through the woods, when you can go the closest 
    	corn field where all you have to worry about is the occasion corn
    	leaf (machete) slash across the neck.  Coon with full belly of corn	
    	or too young and stupid to put some mileage between himself and the
    	field will usually go up the first tree they encounter.  Putting 
    	themselves into the visual range of a good flashlight or flood
    	lamp.
    
    	Whats the pelts going for nowadays ??? (berkshires we used get
    	$10-30) beer money !!  
    		
    	T_C
    	

      Re .22
    
      Can't get through to your node for some reason...
    
      Anyhoo...to answer your off-line message.... Nope...the OTHER side
    of Stonehedge...the big white house across from the pond...with the
    chain link fence on the side....
    
    John Mc

    
    
    
          In the last two years I have been catching "Cats" on
          rubber worms.Last night I kept getting vicious hits
          and finally let the fish take it a bit.Did the ole
          Marlin hookset and caught a 13" cat(fish).I have done
          this several times and have seen some friends catchem
          on plastic.
    
    
                                             T.K.

    
    Just came back from a week on Lake Whinni. After a few
    slow night with worms I happened to be at k-mart when
    I found Horn Pout spray! Seems you spray this stuff on
    a piece of sponge and the pout go crazy for it. 
    
    Not that I would be dumb enough to buy a gimmick like
    that ;-]
    
    Anyway the stuff really worked!!! Had the most action 
    of the whole week. Looks real strange seeing an 18"
    Pout being brought in the boat with a sponge hanging
    out of its mouth!
    
    chet

    An 18" pout?!?!?
    
    That's the biggest I've ever heard of. I mean, a bullhead that big as
    far north as Winnipesaukee?
    
    I think you caught a record fish.
    
    Did you get a picture?
    
    Where did you catch it? Lees Mill area by any chance?
    
    John H-C

    
    We were in Moultonboro,(sp?) and were in a channel that
    led to our house. This is only three days after the catch
    so the fisherman's lies haven't kicked in yet ;-]
    
    The fish was tough to reel in but went crazt when we tried
    to get him in the boat. Sorry no pictures! We did keep him
    in the live well overnight to show the kids- they were 
    unimpressed :-[
    
    My buddy caught one a couple of inches smaller just about
    15 mins. later. Thier bellies were huge! We don't eat them 
    so thet are back on the loose loking for more tasty sponges!!!
    
    chet
                                                     

    Get a photo if you catch that fish again, ok? 
    
    I wonder if it wasn't a kind of catfish other than bullhead. Anybody
    ever hear of channel cats in Winnipesaukee?

    18" hornpout ? I don't know, but last year I caught some that were the
    biggest I've ever seen, but I think they were about 12". Mebe 14" if
    I have a few beers in me when I'm bragging about them.;);)


    Jim

    I caught a 14"-15" bullhead about 3 weeks ago that had to go at least
    2lbs.  It was FAT!  I asked my brother "What's the state record?" He
    replied "It's gotta be huge."  With that I unhooked the varmint and
    threw it back.  When I got home I checked the N.H. state records. Brown
    bullhead.....2lbs 2ozs.  This record is reachable, but having the
    state record hornpout is almost as glamorous as having the state record
    carp!
    
                                               Chip

    Yeah, well, at least hornpout are native.

    The county park where I live has a lake that is probably 100 acres.  It
    is stuffed full of bullheads.  I used to go down there before I got
    married(took the girl I was with) and catch them when things got slow.
    I used to catch them on just about anything you would throw out.  One
    of the best baits though was a tomato hornworm(big green and ugly).  I
    could always catch cats on these.  They work just as good as catalpa 
    worms for them.  Their skin is tough and you could catch multiple fish
    on the same one.
    
    If you can find them try em', I guarantee you will catch fish.
    
    Wess

    Fercrissakes....all I gotta do is go out to my garden!! Never would
    have beleived that those things had any PRACTICAL use....
    
     JM

   As kids we used to smash freshwater mussles and use the meat as horn-pout
bait.  Usually worked great... and you found them at the same place you were
going to fish...


Al

    Can you eat freshwater mussels? If so, how would you prepare them?

    	The best way to prepare them is to tie them to a pine board
    and wrap.........

<    Can you eat freshwater mussels? If so, how would you prepare them?

     Perhaps...  The one time I tried it they were so muddy tasting that we
threw them all away...  It was disgusting... but then the mussels I tried 
were harvested out of some pretty black gooey, smelly mud...


Al

    I've eaten fresh-water mussels I harvested from the bottom of Lake
    Winnepesaukee.  They were in about 20 feet of water and the bottom was
    typical rock and gravel.
    
    Steamed them just like regular mussels and dipped them in melted
    butter.  Other than needing a little salt (which I added to the butter)
    they tasted superb.  Can't wait to go back and get some more - the
    price is right!
    
    Chet

    
     H-C Can you flag this one bud!!! I'm real curious about
     this one also.
    
                                                    Skin Diver

    Uh, tried it myself with about 3 dozen mussels harvested from the
    bottom of Lake Winnipesaukee about 15 years ago. Maybe we just didn't
    add enough salt, but, well, I left them outside for the raccoons that
    night, and all the shells were as clean as if they'd been soaked in
    acid the next morning.
    
    A starving sunfish will take a mussels, as will the smallest of a group
    of smallmouth bass waiting for a handout from a diver. I've seen both
    smallmouth bass and redbreast sunfish regurgitate freshly killed
    mussels.
    
    Some likes `em and some don't. I didn't, my wife didn't, my
    brother-in-law didn't, and my mother-in-law (who will eat anything if
    there is enough vodka nearby to wash it down with) didn't like it
    either.
    
    They certainly won't hurt you if you eat them as long as you don't pull
    them from a systemically poisoned body of water such as the SUASCO
    basin. Mussels are among the first to go (along with crayfish and
    snails) in a severly stressed body of water.
    
    In my experience, mussels make great crayfish bait.
    
    John H-C

    re:-1
    	John,
    
    	Just out of curiosity, do you like regular (salt-water) mussels ?
    
    	Ray

    Just to rathole this topic a bit more:
    
    Yeah, I really like blue mussels, especially. There are about a dozen
    really good ways to cook them, but my favorite is with a wine sauce
    spiked with habanero flakes.
    
    What's different about them, aside from their metabolism, is their food
    supply. (The flesh of the creature is of a different consistency to
    allow it to excrete the salt in the water that would otherwise
    overwhelm it and every other creature that lives in the sea.)
    
    

    Hey take this mussels crap to another note or the Pumping Iron
    conference. Oppps...that's not the same muscles ! Well take it 
    to that conference  anyway they won't know the difference.;);)

    Jim

    Well, the horn pout are biting. My daughter and her boy friend caught
    a pail full last night, in fact she caught one of the biggest horn pout
    I've seen in quit a while. Looks like I gotta get out there.

    Jim