Other Species Latest Catch Pics Thread

[Jar11591]

@Peacedivision nice sturgeon! 

[Peacedivision]

2 minutes ago, Jar11591 said:

@Peacedivision nice sturgeon! 

Thanks man, 44lb but 50" so outside the new slot and it went free. We did also get a 26lb 44" slot so no tag soup this year. All bit on eel today.

[Jar11591]

@Peacedivision its a white, right? Tops on my bucket-list for sure

[Peacedivision]

12 minutes ago, Jar11591 said:

@Peacedivision its a white, right? Tops on my bucket-list for sure

Yup both today were whites.

[gim]

20 hours ago, Peacedivision said:

We did also get a 26lb 44" slot so no tag soup this year.

Can I ask what you do with it?  There is a very limited season for lake sturgeon here on the Rainy River in the spring and they allow you to put into a lottery and keep one in a specific size range if you draw a tag.  I've always wondered what a dead sturgeon is good for because they take like 30 years to reach spawning maturity.  Certainly can't be good eating.

[Peacedivision]

13 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Can I ask what you do with it?  There is a very limited season for lake sturgeon here on the Rainy River in the spring and they allow you to put into a lottery and keep one in a specific size range if you draw a tag.  I've always wondered what a dead sturgeon is good for because they take like 30 years to reach spawning maturity.  Certainly can't be good eating.

I think they might be the best eating fish, the steaks taste like lobster. With the updated regs in California we're allowed to take 1 per year slot of 42-48 inch and you have to buy a sturgeon report/tag on top of your normal license. Also have to fish them with barbless hooks.

[VolFan]

2 hours ago, gimruis said:

Certainly can't be good eating.

Clearly you’ve never eaten sturgeon! They are a delicious, mild, meaty fish!

[gim]

6 minutes ago, VolFan said:

Clearly you’ve never eaten sturgeon! They are a delicious, mild, meaty fish!

I figured since it was so old it would taste like leather.  I’m skeptical.

 

I’ve had shark. Not good. Tasted like tire rubber.

[OmegaDPW]

Played around with some tiny #4 hooks and a few finesse worms wacky rigged today. The bass bit more than the panfish, though (not complaining!).

[ATA]

[TnRiver46]

9 hours ago, gimruis said:

Can I ask what you do with it?  There is a very limited season for lake sturgeon here on the Rainy River in the spring and they allow you to put into a lottery and keep one in a specific size range if you draw a tag.  I've always wondered what a dead sturgeon is good for because they take like 30 years to reach spawning maturity.  Certainly can't be good eating.

Sturgeon is indeed good eating. I work at an extremely acclaimed high end resort that serves it . 5 star 

 

Age doesn’t not equal bad flavor 

[gim]

8 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Age doesn’t not equal bad flavor 

I will respectfully disagree with that.  Which is why I donate every buck I shoot and eat the young, corn fed fawns.

 

The resort was probably serving caviar.  Not the actual sturgeon filet.  Meat from the Jurassic era can't be any good lol

 

[TnRiver46]

@RipzLipz, donate those bucks to me, they are delicious. And they eat the same thing as a doe . I’ve also eaten big largemouth and striper that people say is the best fish they’ve ever had, no preconceived notions 

the resort serves sturgeon fillets, i ate them myself. They are delicious 

 

I ate elk yesterday 

 

my in-laws use only old dairy cows that won’t give anymore for beef

 

too many examples to list delicious mature animals 

 

only exception I can think of is an uncut wild boar  over 200 lbs, they stink 

[RipzLipz]

@TnRiver46 Huh? My first comment in this thread in a while. I don’t deer hunt but I’ve got some spinnerbaits I can send you instead of the venison. Flattered I’m on your mind though! 🤣🤣🤣

 

I agree regarding fish - IMO, diet, environment & how long fish sit around raw prior to preparation or consumption more often affects taste more than size. Japanese don’t pay top dollar for giant bluefin tuna because it tastes terrible (to them). Incidentally, fillets can be submerged completely in water in a ziplock & frozen & will not freezer burn & last for years as long as all the meat is covered in water & remains frozen.

 

Lastly, I’ve provided fish to friends upon request, when able & some have gone as far to requested certain types (bluegill, crappie) while not wanting others (bass) claiming they didn’t like the taste of bass. Panfish weren’t biting well but the small bass were so that’s what they got. I never told them & when I asked how the fish were they told me they were delicious & possibly the best they’d eaten in a long time. They were shocked to find out the crappie fillets were actually bass. All came from a private lake & were small.

[TnRiver46]

Hahah woops @RipzLipz, meant to mention @gimruis. Trying to ween myself of using the quote button and you can see how well that went 

[gim]

Wrong person.  Get it together, moderator @TnRiver46.

 

You can have every single buck and wild turkey I shoot if you want it.  Probably not worth hauling ass up to MN to pick it up all the way from Knoxville though.  I'm not talking about spikes and forks here either.  I'm talking older, mature bucks that are in the rut when they're pumped full of hormones and peeing on themselves.

[RipzLipz]

6 minutes ago, gimruis said:

in the rut when they're pumped full of hormones and peeing on themselves.

Sounds like me when the jig bite is ON!

[gim]

16 minutes ago, RipzLipz said:

Panfish weren’t biting well but the small bass were so that’s what they got. I never told them & when I asked how the fish were they told me they were delicious & possibly the best they’d eaten in a long time. They were shocked to find out the crappie fillets were actually bass. All came from a private lake & were small.

 

Smaller sized bass out of cooler water are decent eating.  And in some cases, there are too many 12 inchers swimming around which is inhibiting the potential to grow larger ones, so selective harvest of these is beneficial.

 

I simply value bass more as a game fish than table fare.  And let's be honest, when you lather up a filet in oil or butter, roll it in batter or breading, fry it, and dip it in tartar sauce, who cares what type of fish it is at that point.  You aren't tasting the fish anymore.  Might as well be deep fried hot dogs from Long John Silvers.

[RipzLipz]

@gimruis We harvested those mainly because they needed to be removed, the request was secondary. Panfish are the usual suspects for table fare from that particular body of water. I wouldn’t likely keep bass from public waters. Have fished in your region once a year since `89 & only kept 6 smallies once while fishing out of Ely in the BWCA & that was because we never ran into any walleye on fish night. I miss those trips up to Basswood. The mosquitoes are another story.

[gim]

3 minutes ago, RipzLipz said:

I miss those trips up to Basswood. The mosquitoes are another story.

 

That's funny.  I have a co-worker who goes to Basswood Lake twice every season for a few days and he always says there are 3 things that will always ruin the trip:

1) fire ban (no campfires because of drought)

2) heavy rain the first day

3) bugs

[RipzLipz]

@gimruis Have experienced a fire ban up there a couple of times. The first was due to a windstorm that blew down something like a million acres of trees in the surrounding area followed by a drought.
 

Rain was just something you had to deal with - we were basically dropped off by an outfitter & left to tent camp for 5 days. Did have one bad storm at night that I thought a tree might fall on our tent.

 

We used to take a bug spray called Muskol that kept the mosquitoes at bay pretty well. Don’t think it’s available any longer. Black flies & horse flies were another story. I can recall canoeing along the shore one evening just before dark & no mosquitoes were bothering me out on the water but I could hear them 10-15 yards from shore, humming up in the woods.

[T-Billy]

On 12/28/2023 at 10:36 AM, gimruis said:

I'm talking older, mature bucks that are in the rut when they're pumped full of hormones and peeing on themselves.

They're delicious. Not as tender as younger deer, but they still taste great. Proper dressing and care of the meat is the key to good eating. That matters much more than the age or sex of the deer.

 

[RipzLipz]

4 hours ago, T-Billy said:

Proper dressing and care of the meat is the key to good eating.

[T-Billy]

Happy New Year from scenic Leesville Lake!!! Ended a seven trip drought today with this super thick 44". Sure felt good to get that monkey off my back. Not a bad way to start the 2024 campaign either!!!

39 surface temp, air was low/mid 30's all day. Had an aggressive follow from a high 30's on my third cast, then NOTHING until I hooked up with this sow on a rockpile in 22' about 5hrs later. SLOW rolling the rig just off bottom.

 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Maybe we'll change your nickname from the Braided Wonder to Tenacious Tim......awesome fish, and way to stick with it brother!