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-   -   Bull Reds Slow and Steady in the Usual Places (http://www.saltycajun.com/forum/showthread.php?t=60019)

MathGeek 05-28-2015 09:28 PM

Bull Reds Slow and Steady in the Usual Places
 
1 Attachment(s)
Went fishing four times in about a week long span. It seems a plethora of food in the estuary has the bull reds spread out pretty well. We caught four at the beach the day we fished Holly, three in one boat trip to the jetties, and one on the other, and two bull reds the day we fished the Cameron Jetty Pier. The bulls preferred crab everywhere except the pier, where mullet won the day.

The pic shows my son's biggest ever, weighing in at 32 lbs and 43 inches long.

Fishing at the beach and jetties has been much faster many other times in the past couple of years, so much more patience was required this trip.

The jetties also provided many, many more gafftops. Yesterday, we put about 100 lbs of gafftops in the cooler and the children had a blast doing it. My son and daughter have learned to help me clean them, so it goes pretty quickly, and the meat is as good as any freshwater LA catfish.

Goooh 05-28-2015 09:40 PM

Nice MG!

marty f 05-29-2015 07:53 AM

coolness

My son and I might try for some bulls out at the end of the jetties this weekend

bobo23 05-29-2015 08:16 AM

Nice Pic. A chip off the ole block.

Thanks for the report.

jpeff31787 05-29-2015 09:23 AM

nice! wheres the pic of the gaftops!? I want to see that slimy mess! lol

Sightwindow 05-29-2015 11:09 AM

I can attest that the meat is very good. Just not much yield. I cleaned them with an electric knife just like any other fish.

MG, with an boatful of fisher persons and allowing for lost bait, lost fish, undesirables and desired catch, how many crabs/mullet do you bring along for bait for a fully day of fishing?

neverenuf 05-29-2015 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MathGeek (Post 756600)
t couple of years, so much more patience was required this trip.

The jetties also provided many, many more gafftops. Yesterday, we put about 100 lbs of gafftops in the cooler and the children had a blast doing it. My son and daughter have learned to help me clean them, so it goes pretty quickly, and the meat is as good as any freshwater LA catfish.



Have to disagree with you on that point. The gafftop is palatable, but is not near as good as a nice blue cat from moving clean water.

Good job to your son on the big bull red!

marty f 05-29-2015 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neverenuf (Post 756678)
Have to disagree with you on that point. The gafftop is palatable, but is not near as good as a nice blue cat from moving clean water.

!


OH? I figured all those cats tasted the same once you batter and fried them. Im not a cat fish eater, but momma is, was thinking about bringing home a few fillets and let her fry them up (for her and her momma)

Trout rivers 05-29-2015 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marty f (Post 756681)
OH? I figured all those cats tasted the same once you batter and fried them. Im not a cat fish eater, but momma is, was thinking about bringing home a few fillets and let her fry them up (for her and her momma)

It would be interesting to know the response if you didn't tell them they were gafs...

keakar 05-29-2015 05:32 PM

its along the same line as how different traditional catfish that people view as good eating taste different.

I have to admit they are good but blue cat still tastes "cleaner" as in no natural taste of its own if you will where gaftops have like a slight hint of a taste to them like bass do and in my opinion taste much the same as bass do.

I don't keep any gaftop unless its at least 24" because as mentioned, they are streamlined and don't have a large amount of meat on the bone

MathGeek 05-29-2015 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sightwindow (Post 756665)
I can attest that the meat is very good. Just not much yield. I cleaned them with an electric knife just like any other fish.

MG, with an boatful of fisher persons and allowing for lost bait, lost fish, undesirables and desired catch, how many crabs/mullet do you bring along for bait for a fully day of fishing?

12-18 crabs and two packs of mullet. My son has been slaughtering the mullet with his new cast net, so we have not been buying mullet.

MathGeek 05-29-2015 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keakar (Post 756717)
its along the same line as how different traditional catfish that people view as good eating taste different.

I have to admit they are good but blue cat still tastes "cleaner" as in no natural taste of its own if you will where gaftops have like a slight hint of a taste to them like bass do and in my opinion taste much the same as bass do.

I don't keep any gaftop unless its at least 24" because as mentioned, they are streamlined and don't have a large amount of meat on the bone

Cut the red meat out and the gafftops taste pretty clean. Yield is lower than blues and channels, but no fatty meat to avoid on the ones 5+ pounds.

"W" 05-29-2015 09:32 PM

100lbs of gaftop = Beast mode

redalertlures 05-29-2015 09:39 PM

Great report!!! Hoping to get a couple up next week!!

The shop in Broussard 05-30-2015 12:56 AM

They eat just fine but don't get carried away theyre still trash fish, if there is such a thing as a trash fish


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MathGeek 05-30-2015 01:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The shop in Broussard (Post 756768)
They eat just fine but don't get carried away theyre still trash fish, if there is such a thing as a trash fish

One man's trash is another man's treasure. I wish I knew how and where the kids could load up on 10-20 fresh water catfish averaging 5 lbs each on a regular basis.

Gerald 05-30-2015 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MathGeek (Post 756771)
One man's trash is another man's treasure. I wish I knew how and where the kids could load up on 10-20 fresh water catfish averaging 5 lbs each on a regular basis.


Sometimes the Mississippi river can be a really good place to catch nice cats.

There was a topic on this 3 or 4 years ago. I think the guy was fishing up in the trees when the water was high.

MathGeek 05-30-2015 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gerald (Post 756823)
Sometimes the Mississippi river can be a really good place to catch nice cats.

There was a topic on this 3 or 4 years ago. I think the guy was fishing up in the trees when the water was high.

We tried it twice this spring when the water was in the trees and got skunked both times. Clearly there is more to it than showing up when the water is in the trees. Best we did on freshwater catfish this spring was 5 or so in a secret spot a friend turned us on to. We'll try again next year to figure out the Mississippi River thing. I'm told it can be great when it works.


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