UL 9/21 The fruit of our labor

[FishMcFisherson]

I wanted to hit Utah Lake Saturday morning on the tube, but was a little too busy. So I figured I could go Sunday instead. Woke up to a downpour. I didn't see any lightning... Fishing it is. Got down to Lindon about 6:30 am. I was feeling lazy, so I didn't set up the tube and just decided to tangle the bank.

Wasn't 5 minutes before I had the first cat on the line.
[inline "Utah Lake 9.21.jpg"]

It was real fast action for the first hour. I had a tough time keeping 2 poles in the water. From 6:30 to 7:30 they would hit it hard and not let go. After that I was still getting a fair amount of bites, but getting them to hang on wasn't an easy task. I quit about 10:00 am 8 cats and 2 white bass later.

All fish were caught on carp and shrimp, including the white bass (shrimp). The cats ranged from 22 to 26 inches. I think I'm going to end the season with nothing of worth to put up for the contest. The two white bass that I caught were pretty good sized, about 12 inches.
[inline "Utah Lake 9.21 2.jpg"]



[inline "Utah Lake 9.21 3.jpg"]

Now to the fruit... I never keep fish. Ever. I did this day. Figured I better do my part to help thin the herd on our over populated waters, and brought home two 24 inch kitties. I had read a few recipes here on bft, and semi followed the instructions. I was surprised how easy it was to filet a catfish without a single bone in the meat.

I soaked the filets in water in the fridge for a couple days then trimmed off the not-so-tasty looking bits. I cut the filets into bite sized pieces, dipped them in milk, then into a bread crumb/flour/spice mixture and dropped them into about a quarter inch of canola oil in a hot pan. I just cooked them until the breading was a nice golden brown (probably about 5 minutes). I let the fish cool, then threw them into a corn tortilla with guacamole, lettuce, cheese, ranch and a little sriracha... .. it was delicious.
[inline "fried catfish.jpg"]

[inline "catfish taco.jpg"]

If I was given a piece and asked to guess what it was, I probably would've said "chicken". I could only talk the girlfriend into eating one little piece, but luckily my mom and sister showed up right when everything was done and downed several tacos a piece.

Needless to say... I'll be keeping a few from time to time in the future.
[signature]

[TyeDyeTwins]

Its always nice to just leave the tube in the car due to the bank fishing being so hot...that of course depends on how far away and visible your car is to see thieves!
[signature]

[Tin-Can]

Hey Fish, next time you cut up some kittys, make sure they are good and dry, roll them in your favorite pancake batter (I like the Bisquick in a bottle that all you have to do is add water and shake), then set them (don't DROP them in) a skillet with good hot peanut oil. (Peanut oil has a higher flash point, can be allowed to get hotter with less chance of oil fire on the burner) Takes them about 3 minutes to cook to a golden turn. The batter cooks up kind of like tempura, but with a sweet flavor and the fish is great.
All in my opinion of course, but has become a favorite way to do up fish when camping.
[signature]

[GEEZER]

Tin Can has a mighty good idea. Only thing I'd add is to use beer instead of water in the pancake mix.
[signature]

[Tin-Can]

Oh yea......use beer, makes great batter. But you probably ought to STIR that into the mix instead of shake........[sly]
[signature]

[Envenomation09]

Did you see any carp on the surface while you were in the area?
[signature]

[FishMcFisherson]

Thanks for the advice. I'm not a big fan of fish (eating). Does this method work well for tacos? I like the taco because any "fishy flavor" can easily be covered with sauce. I would imagine that dipping the fish in pancake batter would add a hint of sweetness... which is a no go for me. Anything salty mixed with anything sweet will make me want to do something mean to something innocent. Pineapple on pizza?! Go strait to hell.

I am, however, excited to try different recipes. Thank you for the suggestions.
[signature]

[FishMcFisherson]

Any time I can add alcohol to something that I am consuming is a major plus.
[signature]

[FishMcFisherson]

I only saw 2 carp slurping the surface the entire time I was there. However, I did see several jumping. Also, it was not ideal weather while I was there. I usually don't see much carp action with that kind of weather.
[signature]