Vic Smith wrote:
On Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:18:54 GMT, (Richard
Casady) wrote:

On Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:27:28 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

Don't care for catfish taste either. The poster said they throw them
back. Said the big ones are about 20 years old.
You can't really throw them back, as they always swallow the hook.
All you can do is cut the line, but you can't expect them to live.

Best to find someone that wants them and give them away.

They don't always swallow the hook. Probably about 1/4 of the time in
my experience. Depends on how much attention you're paying to your
line. If you're using a barbless hook - I never have - you could
probably salvage the fish anyway.
Channel cats usually hit a minnow hard and are I've nearly always
lip-hooked them.
I've never caught a really big catfish. Maybe 5 lbs max.

--Vic

Most of the sal****er catfish I used to catch in Florida were five to
seven pounds, and they were terrific fighters on the really light tackle
I used in the inlets.

My favorite inlet fish, though, were the whiting. Really small, but
school swimmers so you could catch a lot of them, and they were easy to
clean and delicious. We used to catch these in Nassau Sound, just north
of Big Talbot Island State Park, a little north of Jacksonville.

On Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:00:01 -0400, hk wrote:



Most of the sal****er catfish I used to catch in Florida were five to
seven pounds, and they were terrific fighters on the really light tackle
I used in the inlets.

Every catfish I caught in sal****er was a pound or less. Real pests.
Never saw anybody catch a good sized sal****er catfish, which is
why I posted that Potomac link. Don't know if those are real salt
water catfish, or some brackish water variety of freshwater river
cats.

My favorite inlet fish, though, were the whiting. Really small, but
school swimmers so you could catch a lot of them, and they were easy to
clean and delicious. We used to catch these in Nassau Sound, just north
of Big Talbot Island State Park, a little north of Jacksonville.

The only inlet I fished was Sebastian, and I think I only caught a
stone crab. It got me too. Had a nice dive about 6 feet down in the
rocks to get a rod/reel my brother dropped.
They were netting a mess of mullets there, and a guy told me they were
good smoked. We were basically picnicking and watching the activity.

--Vic

Vic Smith wrote:
On Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:00:01 -0400, hk wrote:


Most of the sal****er catfish I used to catch in Florida were five to
seven pounds, and they were terrific fighters on the really light tackle
I used in the inlets.

Every catfish I caught in sal****er was a pound or less. Real pests.
Never saw anybody catch a good sized sal****er catfish, which is
why I posted that Potomac link. Don't know if those are real salt
water catfish, or some brackish water variety of freshwater river
cats.

My favorite inlet fish, though, were the whiting. Really small, but
school swimmers so you could catch a lot of them, and they were easy to
clean and delicious. We used to catch these in Nassau Sound, just north
of Big Talbot Island State Park, a little north of Jacksonville.

The only inlet I fished was Sebastian, and I think I only caught a
stone crab. It got me too. Had a nice dive about 6 feet down in the
rocks to get a rod/reel my brother dropped.
They were netting a mess of mullets there, and a guy told me they were
good smoked. We were basically picnicking and watching the activity.

--Vic


Every fisherguy I ran into in Jax told me about "smoked mullet." I
finally tried it...it was pretty good. But I prefer smoked salmon!

On Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:38:17 -0400, hk wrote:



Every fisherguy I ran into in Jax told me about "smoked mullet." I
finally tried it...it was pretty good. But I prefer smoked salmon!

In Chicago smoked chub is probably the most popular smoked fish.
They're pretty good, but fatty. Haven't had any for a few years.
And I never saw a chub that wasn't sitting in a store smoked.
So I wouldn't even recognize one in its natural condition.
Probably dangerous to eat.

--Vic

On Aug 14, 11:25*am, Vic Smith
wrote:
On Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:00:01 -0400, hk wrote:

Most of the sal****er catfish I used to catch in Florida were five to
seven pounds, and they were terrific fighters on the really light tackle
I used in the inlets.

Every catfish I caught in sal****er was a pound or less. *Real pests.
Never saw anybody catch a good sized sal****er catfish, which is
why I posted that Potomac link. *Don't know if those are real salt
water catfish, or some brackish water variety of freshwater river
cats.

My favorite inlet fish, though, were the whiting. Really small, but
school swimmers so you could catch a lot of them, and they were easy to
clean and delicious. We used to catch these in Nassau Sound, just north
of Big Talbot Island State Park, a little north of Jacksonville.

The only inlet I fished was Sebastian, and I think I only caught a
stone crab. *It got me too. *Had a nice dive about 6 feet down in the
rocks to get a rod/reel my brother dropped.
They were netting a mess of mullets there, and a guy told me they were
good smoked. *We were basically picnicking and watching the activity.

--Vic

I loved the Sebastian area before it got over developed. I remember
when there was nothing going on much there. Not crowded at all. Now
it's just like any southeast florida coast, too crowded, too
overdeveloped.

On Thu, 14 Aug 2008 08:45:47 -0700 (PDT), wrote:



I loved the Sebastian area before it got over developed. I remember
when there was nothing going on much there. Not crowded at all. Now
it's just like any southeast florida coast, too crowded, too
overdeveloped.

As I recall it wasn't too bad when I was there - about 20 years ago.
Nothing like Boca Raton anyway.
Though it's better fishing on that side, I really like the gulf side
better. Easier to find peaceful waters, fish or no fish.

--Vic

On Aug 14, 12:00*pm, Vic Smith
wrote:
On Thu, 14 Aug 2008 08:45:47 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

I loved the Sebastian area before it got over developed. I remember
when there was nothing going on much there. Not crowded at all. Now
it's just like any southeast florida coast, too crowded, too
overdeveloped.

As I recall it wasn't too bad when I was there - about 20 years ago.
Nothing like Boca Raton anyway.
Though it's better fishing on that side, I really like the gulf side
better. *Easier to find peaceful waters, fish or no fish.

--Vic

Oh, yeah, when I lived in the Tampa area, you could still see OLD
coastal Florida at it's finest. I also remember when I was a kid, we
camped at a fish camp on the east coast around Ormond Beach, and man
it was in the sticks! They'd go out on the docks at night, shine a
lantern and shrimp would come right up to the docks so that they could
cast net them!

On Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:08:19 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Oh, yeah, when I lived in the Tampa area, you could still see OLD
coastal Florida at it's finest. I also remember when I was a kid, we
camped at a fish camp on the east coast around Ormond Beach, and man
it was in the sticks! They'd go out on the docks at night, shine a
lantern and shrimp would come right up to the docks so that they could
cast net them!

I really regret not getting down to Florida until 1980.
Pine Island was still undeveloped and Cape Coral was just starting
the building boom. Everything down there has gone downhill in my
eyes.
Too bad they invented air-conditioning.

--Vic

Vic Smith wrote:
On Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:08:19 -0700 (PDT), wrote:
Oh, yeah, when I lived in the Tampa area, you could still see OLD
coastal Florida at it's finest. I also remember when I was a kid, we
camped at a fish camp on the east coast around Ormond Beach, and man
it was in the sticks! They'd go out on the docks at night, shine a
lantern and shrimp would come right up to the docks so that they could
cast net them!

I really regret not getting down to Florida until 1980.
Pine Island was still undeveloped and Cape Coral was just starting
the building boom. Everything down there has gone downhill in my
eyes.
Too bad they invented air-conditioning.

--Vic


Wrong part of Florida in which to live. If I were to move back to
Florida, I'd pick a latitude on either coast north of a line drawn from
Clearwater to Melbourne.