2012 Ice Fishing

Well I went out on Saturday December 31st, 2011 for my first Ice Fishing trip of the season. Ice was about 10" thick, clear ice with no snow on top. I got to try out my new Marcum LX-5 Flasher (Fish Finder) and Showdown 5.6 Dual Beam. I liked the Marcum better so I'll be returning the Showdown.

Here is the days catch between my buddy Joe and I. Total was 36 Bluegill, 2 Perch, and 1 Rainbow Trout. We threw back at least 40 more bluegill that werent keepers. The reservoir we were on has a 50 per person limit on Bluegill. The Rainbow was 16" for comparison, which Joe caught first drop down the hole.

Looks like a good time.

looks like fun never ice fished before! you eat bluegill?

I've never eaten bluegill before, but I will be tonight. My Grandma is from Arkansas so she will be helping me as she grew up eating them and likes them.

I filleted them out, which was a big pain in the ***. She said in the dirty dirty they just gut emm cut off the heads and deep fry them whole. I might have to try that next time.

we catch them like crazy out here iv never keep them they would have to be a pain to fillet im not 100% sure i even know how to fillet one right we dont really eat alot of fish what little fish i eat comes from long johns or cracker barrel! lol i would like to try it though i may do that this summer !

XbonesX wrote:I've never eaten bluegill before, but I will be tonight. My Grandma is from Arkansas so she will be helping me as she grew up eating them and likes them.

I filleted them out, which was a big pain in the ***. She said in the dirty dirty they just gut emm cut off the heads and deep fry them whole. I might have to try that next time.

thats how we do it cut heads off gut and use a spoon to scale them and fry good

blue gill are the best tasting fish with a little prep work. I don't even bother with "cleaning" them anymore. A sharp cut around the head....peel off the skin and scales from the main meaty section of the body and cut off a fillet from each side, Then throw the rest out.

Best when rolled in cornmeal and a little pepper and deep fried.

After I clean them, I like to take aluminum foil, place the bluegill on the foil, then salt and pepper, cut up rings of onions and place on top of the blugill, put a couple splash of lemon juice, and a little bit of butter. Roll the aluminum foil nice and tight and bake for a little bit.

Makes some really tasty bluegill and if cut up right, some nice lemon onion fish sandwiches...

Don't know about y'all but I used to get my behind whooped for getting out on the ice didn't yo mamma teach you better LOL Congrats... just scale em and cut their heads and fins off roll em in salted peppered corn meal and fry em up good eatn.

Great catch. They are a pain but gerat to eat.

last night I mixed up some cornmeal and Slap Ya Mama seasoning and rolled the fish, deep fried and salted em. Grandma made some Sweet Potatoes and Iced Tea, and I got out some home made Spicey Pickled Green Tomatoes. Gotta love Southern cooking.

as usual I brined the fish for a night in salt water before cooking. Grandma said it was the best Bluegill she has ever had.

got to watch out for all them little bones! I imagine you already found that out last night lol...

Southern Cooking is great.

there were no bones since I filleted them and cut out the ribcage.

The trout will be another story, but I don't eat slimers so Grandpa will have to deal with it. =)

Nice mess of bluegill there Taylor. Did you catch them up where you live or down by your grandparents house? Or were they up to see you for a visit?
Your lucky to still have both grandparents, I only have 1 grandma left and she's near deaf and blind. I miss both my grandpas.

Did you send Fletch the pic of the fish? I bet he was pissed? I got a box of goodies on it's way to him.

I caught them here in Utah, about an hour north of where I live.

My Grandparents currently live with me since they had a house fire and lost everything, so they are no longer living in Arkansas. They still have the farm though so I will still visit a couple times a year.

I have not ice fished since I was a boy still living at home in Idaho. Does not get that cold here.

We eat a lot of Salmonids (trout, salmon, Dolly Varden, etc) because that is what most of our lakes and rivers are full of.

When I get a chance to catch any of the spiney ray species of fish I have to go east to the dry part of the state.

I love to fish in the Potholes, which are full of perch and occasionally a small mouth bass.

Bluegill are rare, but the state considers yellow perch an invasive species and there is no limit or season on them.

The state has lowered and Rotenoed several lakes trying to rid them of yellow perch. Seems like they killed everything but the yellow perch and carp.

I do fillet yellow perch and bluegill which takes some practice. My grandfather taught me to fillet when we used to fish on Brownlee Resivor on the Snake River.

I love Southern cooking but I married a Mexican woman. I do not get to eat fish all that much because she hates it.

Here was Friday's (02/03/12) catch from a different lake. 12 Crappies, biggest one measuring over 12".

I hate you.

fletch_medic wrote:I hate you.

I want to take this opportunity to thank my fishing buddy Fletch for serving our country and keeping us save from the terrorists who want to blow up the dam where I fish. It is his service that allows me to slay the crappies.

You'll be home soon enough and we'll go out. All that combat pay you should be able to buy a boat for me to use.

Well our buddy Joe was out fishing yesterday and landed this big 40"+ Tigermuskie on 4.5# line while crappie fishing. He says he was dropping his jig and it snatched it out of nowhere. Took him over 30 minutes to land it.

In Utah, Tigermuskie are a transplanted species. This would be considered a MONSTER in Utah and wasn't too far off from a State record. The Reservoir is only 1 of 2 in the state that has them, and they use them to controll the large Perch and Crappie population on this Reservoir.

holy crap that is some monster crappie!! that a huge muskie to iv been trying to catch a muskie for 10 years never got a bite from one!

You can tell Joe I hate him too.

I have never such kind of experience but I will be going in next season. hopefully