What is this thing?

[Terrierman]

On 12/22/2021 at 4:22 AM, Quillback said:

I was nice to it, felt a little guilty about sticking a couple of trebs in it.  Your question does make me wonder if anyone has actually eaten one of those things.  

People eat oysters.  I guarantee mud puppy recipe exists.

Yep.  Southern Fried Mud Puppies W/Jalapeno Ranch Tartar Sauce #RSC Recipe - Food.com

[Quillback]

1 hour ago, Maverickpro201 said:

OH COME ON MAN!!!!!!!!!!!! Your Kidding Me. 

 

1 hour ago, Maverickpro201 said:

OH COME ON MAN!!!!!!!!!!!! Your Kidding Me. 

I even named it, at Wrenches suggestion, "Little Pete".  

[Johnsfolly]

1 hour ago, Terrierman said:

People eat oysters.  I guarantee mud puppy recipe exists.

Yep.  Southern Fried Mud Puppies W/Jalapeno Ranch Tartar Sauce #RSC Recipe - Food.com

But Rick it's a catfish recipe 🤔!

[MrGiggles]

10 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

Pete?!! 

"We need to find a wizard or something to turn him back !"

[bfishn]

5 hours ago, Quillback said:

I bet when the bass are bedding they would hammer those things.  That one I caught was my little friend, I wouldn't be able to stick a hook though it's mouth and use it for bait.  

Even if you wanted to, they won't hold still long enough to let you. I thought I'd fish one in a good flathead hole once, when it came time to bait up, I put on a green sunfish. Didn't have the heart to end that cool little squirmer's existence.

Back in  N Mo as a kid though, I used dozens of the much smaller and more abundant local variety and caught some real nice flatheads and blues with them on limblines. They maxed out at 5-7 inches and were black though. 

 

[BilletHead]

         They can bite pretty good too.  How do I know this?  Brought a couple home from the river in an ice chest for some family show and tell. Messed with them a couple of weeks.

[jdmidwest]

8 hours ago, MrGiggles said:

The only Cloony movie where he did not have to act.  Dapper Dan.

[MrGiggles]

24 minutes ago, jdmidwest said:

The only Cloony movie where he did not have to act.  Dapper Dan.

Delmar's expression in the back of that GIF cracks me up the most. 

[Al Agnew]

Back in the days when I used to do a lot of winter walleye fishing on Black River, I'd catch a mudpuppy now and then.  We used big live minnows, really almost too big for a mudpuppy to swallow, but once in a while one would choke a 5 inch stoneroller down.  Whenever we got bites from mudpuppies we pretty much knew we weren't going to catch walleye at that spot for a while...apparently big walleye will eat the things very well, so they aren't likely to show up where they would get eaten.  They also had a weird way of attacking minnows; they would invariably first grab the minnow in the middle and try to chew into its belly.  When you'd get a "bite", and the "fish" wouldn't run with the minnow but just tug on it steadily, we'd eventually get impatient and try to set the hook, and bring in a minnow with its gut chewed up.  When we caught one, it was sometimes hooked on the outside of the head.  They got up to about 12 inches long, and they were pretty slimy and the slime would stick to your hands when you tried to handle them.  And yes, they had pretty strong jaws and would chew on your hand like they chew on minnow bellies.

As somebody said above, the difference between mudpuppies and hellbenders is mainly that mudpuppies have external gills, hellbenders do not.  They also look a lot different, and hellbenders get considerably bigger.

[snagged in outlet 3]

On 12/22/2021 at 11:55 PM, fishinwrench said:

Pete?!! 

"We need to find a wizard or something to turn him back !"

Leave me alone. 😆