Feathers and Fins

Ok first im going to brag ive been on a Personal Best streak for awhile for fellow members and kept it going strong today with not just 1 but then Breaking it for Yakfm. I went out this morning with the intent to go to one spot but never left sight of my truck all day. 12 stripers total. The bait was ANYTHING and EVERYTHING you can throw, Keitech, Crank Bait, Spoon, Bucktail, Minnows. It didn't matter! I even got one striper doing a figure 8 at the boat. Anyway I called Yak out to join me and he proceeded to nail his PB of 34lbs but then later that day I guess he got greedy and had to put a 44lb striper in the boat as well. Water temp was 44 all day Location was on the lake oh no I aint telling im going tomorrow. We did pay for it though lol My Thump Yaks Hand 34LBS 44LBS GLORY SHOT.......

I can assure you the reports are 100% honest, unless I know the sources they do not get added. I took no offense to your post at all BTW but I have worked hard to build a network of guys and gals that are willing to give the truth all to help others. If its slow ill tell you if its great I will tell you ( maybe not exactly where ) but I will tell you its on like donkey kong and today it was report to follow.

6 more degree's to go

PINK FLAMINGO!

So far, Striper, whites, Bass, Walleye and Crappie pretty much anything that will eat a shad.

KJ it does as does running it on sinking fly-line or lead core this method just gets it deeper and with short leaders out more precise especially when following a long points contour or channel edge contour.

Ya I had the same fun experience till I got it all down. Now it works like a charm you have to keep the tension on the main line as you put the weight line down and keep the boat in gear.

Suppose to be high 60's soon

Why not some PITA would go good with fish But I do have some Mutton a friend sent me that I may need to cook tomorrow.

One of my Mentor captains in Florida always had a giant ice chest filled with ocean water and ice, He would catch fish and use a little rope to tail-rope the fish, then gill it and gut it no more than a couple minutes over the side and then quickly in the ice chest. Bleeding was always first and when he gutted the fish he used a hook blade razor so as to not cut into the organs so he didn't taint the meat. The last thing he made certain of was to be sure each fish laid flat in the ice chest so filleting was simple.

I'm glad you brought up the salt mix I completely forgot about that, guess just having the ocean right there I never thought much on it. As for freezing for later I became a firm believer in vacuumed bags about 2 years ago little start up cost but sure keeps meat longer and one benefit I found is I can freeze the fish pre-seasoned already and if I'm going to do a stir fry I can have it all in there for a fast dump.

Im seeing a theme of keeping the meat well cooled. one thing I hate seeing is fish that for lack of better technical term has turned whitish and mushy. I know all three of you and really appreciate your input. Randy and Brit do you slit the gills at all? or gut and pack etc.

So I got in an interesting discussion with a friend of mine about “fresh fish” and started researching it. Marketing of “fresh fish” is a broad term when it comes to buying from a store I have learned for researching it. So let me define “Fresh” in my opinion. Fresh Fish is fish I caught that day and ate that day or that I caught a day and marinated for no more than 24 hours prior to cooking. The handling of it is as important as anything. Typically I will fill my live well and try to keep them alive till I get home and often fillet them still flopping. There are times in cold weather I may just throw them in the hold if I am not going to be out to long. Part of keeping them alive till cleaning is keeping the meat as fresh as possible without allowing rigor- mortis to settle in which can cause chewiness in meat. If you have ever had a shore lunch or kept them alive till you cleaned them you will notice a big difference versus fish that have expired then cleaned. What I found in my researching the subject when it comes to stores is at best the fish is 48 hours old (time of catch to at market) That is in no way fresh in my book, as I believe freezing fish and allowing rigor mortis to set in disqualifies it from being fresh. But on average most the fish that are caught on “trip boats” or “day boats” A trip boat can be out to sea for days or weeks and they have to flash freeze the fish to keep them fresh. Most those fish can be weeks old by the time they hit market. The day boats may stay out a day to three and they as well must ice the fish down to keep it from spoiling. At best case scenario those fish are 48 hours to 5 days old. Does anyone call that “fresh”? So I thought about fish farms! Hey they should be fresh, but in searching on them they like day boats still have to harvest the catch then process it get it boxed and to a distributer who then sends it to his buyer who then has to get it to market. Best case scenario its 48 hours old and most often 72 hours. Now living in the heartland of the country any seafood would have to be caught in the ocean brought back to a processor then sent to a buyer and then to a vendor who needs to get it send to the distribution center then to the store all frozen during this time. At very best I would say no less than 4 days old when it hits our local stores and it could be weeks old. Is it a wonder people say they don’t like fish? Unless you have had truly fresh fish you caught and prepared I can see why people say it. I have bought fish in the store and it tasted horrible. Yet that very same species I have caught myself, prepared the same and it was awesome. One of my favorite ways to cook fish is when I get home first thing I do is pour a bottle of picante sauce in a large pan and grab the most active flopper in the sink and fillet it up and slice it in to chunks and drop it in cover and cook while I’m filleting the other fish. By the time I’m done filleting the ones cooking are done and ready to be served with some buttered bread. When I hunt birds or game I always take time to insure the meat is taken care of the best I can and that rubbed off on me in fishing. While living in Florida it was common practice to slit the gills and gut the fish and pack ice in it to cool the meat for many species. Snapper and grouper in summer we would slit the gills and ice without gutting so when we got back to the ramp the fish was firm and easily filleted then we would pack it in ziplock bags on ice. I must admit though there are days I get to caught up in a good bite to take care of the meat as well as I should, after all if I’m going to eat it I should take care of it better on the water. So I started thinking while writing this how can I do better? I went to the AGFC Regulations to see what is allowed and this is what it says I am blessed to get out more than most but when taking other anglers who don’t I had to think of how to do my best to insure the meat is prepared so for me it is simple, Only Keep what I will eat within 24hours and keep those fish alive in the well that may mean adding ice during summer, but keep them alive till I get the knife to them. If one dies gut it as soon as possible and ice it down. Now if I have people with me I plan to slit the gills, gut the fish and ice it down before anything else. Same will apply if I’m stocking up on fish for winter or for a group fish fry, this may take a few seconds out of the day but it will preserve the flavor of the meat to be enjoyed. So what are your thoughts on fish meat preservation ?

Info is under the Army Corps info ( Lake Pass )

Congrats big time, any potential record deserves a big ^5 keep us up to date. I cant tell is your scale in KG or PND if KG it could be a IGFA record class also.

You have to have good humor to fish Beaver, never know when a friend might wake you or moon you and Its a fact fish have been known to fly through the air in an attempt to land in you ice chest. Its a tough lake and being able to laugh at yourself and the lake and not take it seriously mandatory to keeping your sanity. Lot of good guys on here and others who don't post. After all its just fishing. Welcome to the area

Got it set for recording already thnkx

Missed it, guess I will have to look for it on a RR

For trolling I use a pair of ( St Croix - PC70MHF ) rods paired up with ( Okuna StrataMaster ) reels with 10lb Seaguar fluorocarbon line. You will need a good graph on the boat, preferably one with structure scan and definitely a good lake map on it. Baits; 1. Flicker shad in sizes # 5 6 7 2. Rapala SR-9 3. Bandit 300's 4. Bottom Bounces / slow death rigs 5. Tail Dancers Those 5 will get you started. some light reading Don't get frustrated, trolling is much more than just pulling a bait behind a boat hoping to get a bite. Sure a Blind Squirrel finds a nut but if you get prolific and confident in trolling you seine the nuts.

Very very nice sir.

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Lmao, they always fight hard.