Catfishing On The Red River (Part II)

[cuttingout69]

Today was a rather large day for us. With the add sets and two of us working them we did rather well, with 16 coons, 3 otter, 9 beaver, 4 rats, and 2 snapping turtles. We got home around 4 again today and started skinning. Finished up around 8 pm. Thank the Lord my mother is keeping my childern this week and she had us some supper cook, hot and ready to eat. We managed get some more sets out today on a duck lease. Here are some pics of the days catch with out the rats. We used them for cat bait today.

I plan to post every night on this line as I was asked to do it on the last line and could not do it from the river. Nothing real funny happen today except Eric caught his thumb in a 280 killer trap at the first stop of the morning. He cried about that all day. I told him he should just paint the rest of his finger nails black then it would not show up as much. Heck of a thing, he ant got but 9 1/2 fingers to start with and here he goes trying to knock another 1/2 off. I just think he wants to have and whole odd number of fingers. I will say that half a finger comes in handy for him. He show you a day and a half using his hands, or even make change with his fingers. All though he had to quite umpireing, cause there is no such a thing a strike and a half. The coachs got smart and told him there batter still had another half a swing.

Oh well enough about Eric handy cap, I did not tell ya'll that Eric wife came with us today. That women knows she can set traps and tot beaver. She even skinned her first beaver this evening. She got right in there with us at the cleaning table, she was getting the coons ready by ringing their feet, and then I would make the rips, pull back to the knee, then Eric would take the hide off and gut the them. We had LC washing and storing the coon meet. Worked out well, and we got though a lot fast than if just Eric and I were doing. I will say though, Carmen's beaver was the cleanest skinned one of the day.

Well got to get some sleep, see ya'll tommorow.

[dahoss2002]

Good catch Alsey! I usually release that size too unless I aint got any fish in the freezer. Im gonna set out my trotlines this weekend. U gonna be close to centurytell or down at the dam?

[Alsey]

I think I have a good chance of catching a personal record. I've fished this spot for 5 years and never caught anything over 2 pounds and they were all channels. All of a sudden there's these huge blues in 8-12 ft of water. I'm taking the camera in case I do get a real monster. I was planning on going tomorrow but now they show a chance of rain so I'm taking the afternoon off today.
Wish me luck.

[BullDaddy]

That's some catch, Tony. It is nice to have some help to skin all them critters, huh?

[Alsey]

I call it Lake Nenock but I'm not sure that's it's correct name. It's the resevoir East of the lock and dam. It's to your left as you drive out to the lock and dam before you get to the dog leg in the road.

[catsmith1]

above or below the dam?

I want to try bank fishing below the dam this year also.

has anyone had any luck chumming a area regularly on the red? Wondering if it is worth the effort?

[Alsey]

I haven't weighed them yet. I think the both of them weigh between 18 and 24 pounds combined. Didn't break any personal records but they put up good fights. Seems like they quit biting around 4 pm these last 3 times I've been.

[reverend_ty]

Looks like ya'll are having good luck on the trap line. Tony, I would think that Eric's half finger would come in handy when it comes to skinnin. He can just poke that sucker in there and ream the hide right off the meat!! LOL!!

Has anyone been fishin up by the pumphouse?

I'm hoping to get to go friday night if everything works out. Where's the best place for me to catch shad around Teague launch?

Changed the oil, filter & footgrease in the outboard this evening and got the batteries charging. I've got to catch something so I can try out the cleaning table. Don't do no good to build something if you ain't using it.

Alsey, looks like your havin fun.

Well guy's I see we've done filled up one thread and got us another one going now. One things for sure, we believe in participation.

Has the rain helped create some current yet? Looks like the R4 is up and running. I think we're all gonna have a blast. See ya'll on the river. Good Luck and Good Fishin!!!

Ty

[wareagle]

Looks like somebody is going to have to get a lot of sweet taters for all that coon meat.:)

[cuttingout69]

Here is the pic from day three on the line. 15 coons, 1 big bore mink, 8 beaver, 2 rats and 1 otter. To tired to type much. See ya'll tommorrow.

[BullDaddy]

Hey Ty, me and my son should be out there Friday night. It's the first weekend I am not working in a while. We are going to put up a tent and stay the night if the weather is nice. Give me a shout if you make it, I will be in a camo SeaArk.

Tony, you are going to run out of room with all that coon meat if you don't watch out.;)

[reverend_ty]

Hey Kevin, where are ya'll going to be on the Red friday night? I'm hoping to be there.

[BullDaddy]

I plan on fishing around the pumphouse, maybe a little north. If you get out there and don't see me give me a call on my cell: 458-2780. If you don't have a cell then send up the "Buttman Signal" (get it? it's like Batman but my last name is Butts...oh, nevermind) you can just yell and I will use the Force.:rolleyes:

[reverend_ty]

Kevin, are ya'll going to catch shad for bait or use bream? Are you going to run lines or R&R fish or a little of both? If your catching shad where can I find them and how deep?

[cuttingout69]

Here are the pics from day 4. It was a wild and working hard day today. We had 18 coons, one of which a Cat had eaten on for us. If he comes back looking for supper tonight, he will get a supprise. Eric caught 12 of the 18 coons, good thing I carried him along ha! By what he said his will be easy to pick out in the pic, as his are the largest. LOL We also caught 7 beaver, 1 otter, 1 mink, and 1 coyote, which was my first snare catch on a coyote ever. It is raining tonight which will help the catch a lot tomorrow, as all the animals love to hunt in the rain.

My hands and feet are hurting so bad. I bet I have 50 cuts and 100 sticker in my fingers. By the end of the week they should be use to it.

Oh yes, we saw some hogs today. I got to with in 30 yards of them before they saw me and took off. I smoked ones butt when he stop to look back and I heard a meat pop on another one. But a 6 shoot 22 just dose not do much for a wild hog unless you hit him behind the ear.

[BullDaddy]

Ty, I will not be there Fri. night. I have to work after all ( I knew I shouldn't count my chickens till they hatched!:p ). I plan on going Sat. night now. I haven't been north of 12 mile in a few weeks but the last time I was there I caught all of my shad in 3-4 of water along the sandbar. I don't know if they are still there or you may have to try a little deeper. Shad is about the only thing I can get to produce right now. Good luck and try to leave a little for me to catch on my R&R Sat. night!;)

[BullDaddy]

Eric caught 12 of the 18 coons, good thing I carried him along ha! By what he said his will be easy to pick out in the pic, as his are the largest. LOL

You right Tony, Eric's coons are the largest. LOL

[reverend_ty]

Dang Kevin, don't you just hate it when that happens, although it does help out the bank account! I'm still not sure if I'm going to be able to go yet but I hope so if the weather holds out.

Guess we need to get us a big ole flathead to surface and see if he can see his shadow! Seems like everybody else has got something!! LOL!!!

Ty

[cuttingout69]

Well I did not think it could get any better, but it did. Today we caught 21 coons, 3 otter, 6 beaver, 3 rabbits, 1 skunk, and 4 rats. The cat did come back last night, but he found him some fresh food to feed on, like a rabbit in a killer trap. It will mess up and come back one time to many and I will have him.

I am having fun and getting tired, and I sure am getting fish hungery. I will be so ready to go to the river after this line is over. I will be ready to pull some of those big flat heads in that new boat with the big dent in it.

Ty, did I tell you I have already dented my new boat, Eric was not watching where I was going and let me run smooth over a stob in the river. Put a big dent in the front end of my boat, I think those Navy guys call it the bow. I could not beleive he let me do that, he yell real loud just before impact. I thought he saw and otter or something so I went to looking harder for a critter. I did break the stob off tho. I guess I taught it a lesson about running infront of me. :crying:

[reverend_ty]

Tony, the first dent or scratch is hard. You spend all your time looking for stuff that might hit your new boat. The good news is now you don't have to worry about that anymore, it's a done deal. Now you can concentrate on other stuff!

It's a big relief to me too, now with a dent the fish won't be jumpin in for a ride, you'll have to catch them the old fashion way, FISHIN!!!

Ty

[wareagle]

Hey Rev Ty looks like we need to have a coon fry instead of a fish fry.

[sgt_rob]

Holy Smokes! You guys have been busy! I reacon Paul had to make room for more. Great pics Tony!

[sgt_rob]

Are any of you going to make it to the BOC National Gathering in KY?
Here is a link to the Official Site:
http://www.catfish1.com/gathering/

[cuttingout69]

Well here is day 6. It was a tough day today for some reason, maybe because it was raining and cold. I feel in the creek at the last set on the second stop while Eric was playing ring around the black locaus tree with a rather large female bob cat on the top of the 40' bank. Carmen said Eric did not know weather to poop or go blind, so he just stood there while the cat came with in inchs of his face. When I got back up the bank, I had to take over the dispatching of the cat, while Eric went some where behind the bushes. I saw him get a roll of paper out of my dry box. Sure enough no kiding, Carmen said it was a close call. Due to the location of the set, there was no catch circle, and when I had looked at the cat, it looked as though she did not have any room to attack.

I have not been carrying a camera on the line due to the rough conditions in which we are working with little room on the 4 wheelers. Wish I could have had it today tho.

I did not really fall in the creek, I kind of slide in like I had done before at this location. Today when I did it, I kind of keep going down. There is no feeling like sliding into the water and know that you just went over your hip boots. I could here hear all the action on the top of the bank where Eric was, but I did not know pussy foots with the cat at the time.

Today, we caught 9 coons, 10 beaver, 1 cat, and Eric's teaching took hold, cause I finially caught a skunk this season. And it was still very much alive. We could in fact smell him for about 200 yards or so. What a day, and tommorw will be even rougher, as we take up and reset in a new location. We will be all day moving the line, and half the night cleaning critters. Hope ya'll enjoy hearing about the line. Want be long now tho, Eric is already getting and itchy reel finger. He has talked about fishing the past two days. Ya'll know how he is, can't keep his mind on any thing when he hears the fish are hitting.

[cuttingout69]

As you can tell, I miss labled the pics date in the file name. The camera put the right date on there tho. Hope ya'll in joy hearing all this stuff. See ya.

[sgt_rob]

That's good stuff Tony. Thanks for making us aware of Eric's shortfalls. I'm sure if you didn't post first, he would have told a different story. Keep him straight!

[BullDaddy]

Tony, I enjoy hearing about "the Adventure". It even kinda makes me feel good to know I ain't the only one.:cool:

[Alsey]

I ended up with an 11 and a 6 pound blues from tuesday. Went this morning and caught a 16 and a second that was about 7 pounds. Also caught about 5 grennel between 3 and 10 pounds. Man those things can sure fight for their size. There was a whole mess of people perch fishing down there and they weren't catching a thing. They saw all the action I was getting so I'm pretty sure they're all going to be there next saturday except they'll be rigged up for catfishing.
I used shad this time instead of frozen raw shrimp. Couldn't tell any difference except I caught more grennel than usual this time.

There were about 20 people fishing below the spillway but I don't know if they were catching anything.

[sgt_rob]

We only managed to catch a couple of 2 lbers today, one at the pumphouse (water not running) and one at Gertrudes bend. On the way back downstream we noticed that the water was running at the pumphouse so we stopped in for 20 minutes but couldn't get a bite. Sure wish I had some bream! We tried for a few minutes under the barge parked on the Shreveport side at the Teague ramp but the wind and waves were a little too much so we packed it in. I might try it again Monday morning.

[catsmith1]

Thanks for sharing Tony. I love hearing the tales (tall or otherwise) My daughter enjoys the pics of what yall bring back also. We try to get on each night and see.

Sgt Rob, I am going to try to go tomorrow evening and maybe early mon morning if work permits. Want to put a short line or two out to test some new areas. Maybe I will see you there. 15 ft alum with 9.9 4stroke merc. Stop on by if you see me.

[cuttingout69]

It was a long and hard day today. I had my hands full keeping Eric stright today. First thing this morning he covered me with mud off his 4 wheeler, so I just thought I should return the favor and covered him right back. Except when I got him, I did it a little wetter stuff than what he had got me with. whoops! :rolleyes:

It took all day as we were turning the line over. Pulling traps out of one spot and moving them to another. This makes for a long and hard day. We will be doing the same thing tomorrow also and it may even take through Monday to finish turning over. We had a good day still with 11 coons, 2 otter, 1 coyote, 5 beaver, 1 mink and one rat. We have quite bringing the rat home as they are worthless but have to be removed. Beaver dam and dig, rats just dig, holes in the banks and man made pound dams. Eric caught a coyote today in the smallest killer trap we use, a 220. This was something to see as he had to try hard to get his head in there, cause Eric had to try even harder to get it back out. I have never seen anything like it.

Late this evening I blew a hole in my hip boots, and did not have a chance to repair them or get another pair. It is going to be cold in the morning with wet hip boots. We got home this evening at around 6 pm and started skinning fur. We got through around 9 pm and cleaned up. We were so late due to making two cat set. We found where a cat had been to see us last night, so we will catch him tonight. Figure he is already caught now.

Well it is late, I am tired and hungery, and I am going to bed. See ya'll tommorow. Oh, and looking a all the pics, don't worry, I am not wearing the same shirt every day, I have about 10 of the long sleeve wrangler shirts. LOL.

[catsmith1]

I tell you what, if Tony and Eric fish as hard as they trap there won't be any left for the rest of us! Better catch fish now while they are occupied!:D

Great catches guys.

[wareagle]

I sure am having a good time reading about the trap line.:)

[sgt_rob]

There ought not be a shortage of coon meat for the R4! We need to build a rotisserie for the camp fire.

[sgt_rob]

We went out this afternoon for what was to be a quick bream catching trip so I would have bait for in the morning. I made it up around the Stoner ramp before I had to turn around. The 2 foot waves were more than I could handle.

[cuttingout69]

What a day. It was long and hard again today. But as I told ya'll last night, I had a cat this morning. Not just any cat either. I have never caught a cat anything like this one. This is a true spotted cat. I am going to have him mounted. Check it out.

We only caught 9 coons today, and set a about 30 new sets this evening.

[catsmith1]

that is a pretty kitty. I have never seen one lije that either. about what did he weigh?

[sgt_rob]

That kitty will look great mounted! You should do a scene where it is getting ready to attack something else you've trapped.

[reverend_ty]

Great storys and pics Tony. Glad to know someone is catching something cause I'm not. Fished friday night up by the pumphouse, Gertrude's bend, and Jimmy Davis. Only caught 5 fish by 3 am and called it quits.

I like Rob's idea of mounting the cat in a scene, something natural like the cat on one side of a tree with Eric on the other!!!!! LOL!!! Still would like to hear Eric's version, too!!

Ty

[sgt_rob]

That's a good idea! Eric hung up in a big ole conibear trap and the cat putting the sneak on him lickin' his lips.

[cuttingout69]

Well Ty, Eric really dose not have a verson, I am working him so hard, he just has time to shower, drag to bed and do it all over again in the morning. But talking about caught in a coni bear, I got hit with a un saftied 280 coin bear today while taking up traps. It got me right across my right thumb. You know the one that is already messed up, the one with a split finger nail. Eric said maybe I mashed the back of it good enough that my nail my grow back right now. I told as bad as it hurt, I sure hoped some good came out of it.

We pulled about 100 traps today and will reset them in the morning after running the what we still have out. We ran to Bossier today to look at a beaver removal job for a man, who said he had bad beaver problems. That man has never seen beaver problems. Needless to say we passed on the job and wasted a whole evening looking at nothing. They did not even have a dam built.

Any way, today we caught, 2 otter, 8 beaver, 6 coons, 2 armydiggers, and a skunk. I am telling you, I showed Eric how to catch those skunks last year and he learned good, cause he has caught 2 and I have caught 2. Yesterday and today, we had skunks still alive in the traps. That make three of the 4 that were still alive and full of stink. Do you know how to get a live skunk out of a trap? Very Very carefully, and a little help from a .22 with CB caps. LOL.:crying:

Wensday we plan to move in to a deer lease that is having problems with coon and fox. I plan to set the fox up and catch just as many as I can. I love catching fox, the are a fun to fool with. Tommorow we have to set a rather large drained lake. It was drained years ago, all but the channels and drains. It is full of beaver, otter, coon, and bob cat. I hope to have one it the morning, and I will try to remember the camera to take some pics of it mad. I missed one big as life today. Just plan out and out missed it. He through two traps and never got caught. We pulled today, so I had to remove the traps with catching him.

Well got to go, see ya'll tommorrow. Oh, PS, the big otter was 65'' tip to tale. That is what the buyers are looking for is legth.

[wareagle]

Tony, keep the stories and pics coming. That was a nice cat.

[gooboy]

Ok guys, I figured I better get on here and let ya'll know what's been going on. You'll have to forgive me for not straightening this mess out sooner, but I have been so worn out from toting Tony all week. My back is just killin' me. Let's start at the beginning.

Day 1: I was so glad to be home from Mexico, proud to be home and eating something other than chicken and burro. I had such a blast on the line, the day was pretty much a blur.

Day 2 : I see that Tony mentioned the fact that I caught my thumb in a conibear. Not one of my brightest moments. Also noticed that Tony "forgot" to mention that he too got caught in a conibear that day. You see, folks with good sense generally set a conibear on their knee. Tony, however, likes to set his on his belly. Well, in the process of setting this trap, it slid down his belly and fired, promptly clamping down on his privates. Thank goodness this particular conibear was old and had a quarter inch of clearance between the trap jaws when completely closed. This allowed plenty of room for him to extact his afflicted appendage without causing any damage. I don't know what was funnier, the look on his face or the squeal of fear coming outta his mouth.

Day 3,4, &5 : Just good, hard days on the trapline.

Day 6 : The cat attack!
Ya'll should"ve been there. While Tony was goofing off and fallin' in the creek, I was having the fight of my life with a huge, rabid cat. That thang was over six feet long, probably weighed in at 200 pounds, with teeth as long as ice picks and twice as sharp. Why, it's claws were close to a foot long and sharper than any razor you ever seen. I just grabbed my club and jumped right in there. After a long, bloody battle I finally emerged victorious, but just a bit tired. If I'm lyin' I'm dyin', but that's the way it went down. LOL!!!

Day 7 : The mud incident.
Early that morning I accidentally splashed a little bit of mud on Tony while slowly driving by him. Tony, being the terrible person he is, waited until we were going through a huge mudhole and flew by us. He positively soaked me and my poor little wife from head to toe with mud. So yes, about an hour later I paid him back and then some, compliments of them big ole aggressive Vampire tires.

Day 8 : The kitty!
Tony caught the prettiest spotted housecat I've ever seen. Just didn't have the heart to tell him that it ain't a bobcat, but a calico. Man I hate to see him mount somebody's pet, but ya'll know how he is...

Day 9 : Oops! He did it again.
Tony stuck his thumb in a conibear today. I guess that's better than the last thing he hung up in one. Oh, and just so ya'll know, I didn't laugh at him, I promise.

And that, folks, is the real account of Eric and Tony's "Epic Adventure" ...

[ar_confederate]

I don't know. There's just something about Eric's version that has the ring of truth, especially the part about the 6 foot cat. I hear that they're just real common in the woods around here!:rolleyes:

Somehow, I think that this cookout is going to have some great story telling around the campfire.

[sgt_rob]

Eric, I figured that Tony was leaving out the "good" parts. Thanks for setting us straight.

[wareagle]

Sounds like somebody better get some gps on this trapline we might have to go get both of them out of traps.:)

[cuttingout69]

Well I am glad to see that Eric has gotten this all strightened out. The way he tells the days events is so much better than what I can do.

Here is what we caught today. 2 cats, 1 otter, and 1 beaver.

Oh and don't worry about getting us out of traps. Eric's wife will come when we call, she shows up with a .22 and a pair of setters. So far she has always gotten us out with the setters and has not had to use the .22.

[cuttingout69]

I blew a hole in my hip boots the other day and Eric's wife was so nice and likes me so much, she went to Bass Pro and got me a pair Sunday. I was so warm and dry till today, when I found out they were the wrong size. They are all of about 5'' to short, cause that is about how far over them I went today in a pound. I fell in a stump hole up to my butt and got soaked. I was trying to make some new coons sets while Eric was riding around playing on the 4 wheeler.

We put out some fox set late this evening on a lease south of my house. I hope to have 1 or 2 grey fox in the morning. Just to let ya'll know it is not just me that picks on Eric. Today when he opened a gate a the lease we were trapping, his wife told me to drive up to the camp and make him walk, he need the exercise, he has been riding the 4 wheeler way to much. So being the loyal friend I am, I did just what his wife told me to. He had to walk all the way to the camp to get the 4 wheeler.

[catsmith1]

Great stories guys!

Finally got to the river today. Told the boss I had something important to do> HEHE set out two short lines and floated a few jugs. Took a while to find shad but got enough to get started. Brought home 5-3-2 lb with the two smaller ones being ops. Not bad for the 1st trip of the fishing season. Probably won't get another for the rest of the year!

Going to try to run lines after work this week to test a couple of spots.

[catsmith1]

trying to upload picture on profile. Ok that did not work.

[catsmith1]

Yes Yes Yes............................................... ....................................


I am smarter than the computer after all! (there was doubt for a while there):cool:

[cuttingout69]

Well, ya'll better look out, I have been catching bait to go fishing. Check out the shad I caught in a coni bear killer in a channel set for beaver/otter.

Today was not as long nor as good as we had wanted. We did not catch any fox, but we will still try for some. We did however get cold this moring riding the 4 wheelers around checking traps. There was a heavey frost and a the mud puddles were frozen over. I am glad we are land trapping and using coni bears, because I hate sticking my hand in that could water to retreive a trap. We caught 1 cat, 4 beaver, 5 coons, 2 rat, and one shad. We had hoped to get in on another lake to do some beaver removals, but it does not look like we will get to do it this year. There were no real good stories today, as Eric and I are both about wore out. The 16 hour days have taken a toll on us both. Eric did fall asleep in my recliner this evening watching tv. Man can he snoor. I promise he had the windows rattleing. I finially had to wake him up, and tell that I could not sleep for his snooring and if I could not sleep, neither could he.

[sgt_rob]

Good Catch Tony! I just got through taking out the trash and noticed that my boat is a little different than the last time I looked at it. Those waves I was in last Sunday caved in the bow a couple of inches. Man that was some rough water!

[cuttingout69]

The story you are about to hear is real, no names have been changed, and the events of Feb 9 2006 are pictured. Viewer discretion is advised.

This morning start off as every other morning, with a trip to the store to get that first cup of coffee. Then on to the fox line we go. It was cold this morning just like yesterday, but this morning I felt like we would have something for sure. We unload the wheelers and off we go to the first set which was mine. It had been looked over by something, but no catch. I could see Eric’s set from mine and could tell there had been some action there. Now understand, it is still early and not real good light. So, me being in the lead I pull on up to his set to see the first catch of the day. I pull right up close to the set and what do I see, the most beautiful, slick coated, black and white striped skunk you have ever seen. So I did the only thing a good buddy could do, I gassed it and got away from the tail. Now Eric being half asleep looking to make the first catch of the day did not catch on right away, but when he saw that the business end of the animal in the set was pointed at him, he knew why I had gassed it and he slung mud tree top high.

Well, we left him for later. We moved on to the next sets, where Eric had catch one of the best looking crows I have ever seen in my life. So we did the only thing we knew to do with a live crow, we made him live bait for tonight.

Well, we check several more set with now action, then I caught a nice little grey fox with a bob tail. Boy they are so pretty. I think the grey’s look better than then reds. Of course I have never caught a red. But then it happened. The next set was Eric’s. I could see something in the set. It was rolling with a big bushy tail. It was a good ways away down the pipeline we were on, but he had caught one. NO, he had caught his second one of the day. Another skunk. I have caught skunks before, but never two in one day. I am just going to have to pay more attention to how he is make these sets so I can catch two skunks in one day.

Well we had to start dispatching them, cause they have to come out of the set. We I do the dispatching with my .22 S&W and CB caps. I bought it just for the trap line. When I dispatched that skunk, the biggest yellow cloud came right out of it butt area. I told Eric, dang if that thing didn’t fart when I shot him. Fart is not the word to describe what came out of that skunks butt. Eric tried to remake the set, but could not stomach it. I laughted so hard, I thought I was going to throw up. The funny wore off when we go to the truck and I understood that Eric had gotten the skunk ensecense on himself.

Then late this evening we were double teaming a set, placing two traps at one set. I got ready to cover my trap and was talking on the cell phone to a land owner when I spied some good looking cover for my trap. I reach over and grabbed it and pop, Eric’s trap got me. I got my three fingers out, never missed a word on the phone, reset the trap and handed it to Eric, and still stole his cover and put on my trap. I figured if it fooled me, it alt to work good on my trap for sure.

And that was our day. 1 fox, 3 beaver, 3 coons, 2 skunks, and a crow.

[catsmith1]

Went this afternoon, waves beat us up pretty good later but not bad at first.

Three on, one real good one. Can't find scales. Probably about 5ish? Not real good at that.

Here are two pics.

[cuttingout69]

Catsmith that is one good looking mess of fish. I sure wish I could talk Eric into going fishing instead of trapping. LOL. You have to understand, he got fired from his last job for fishing on the clock. All he has talked about this week is going fishing. We finish Sunday with the line, and I bet he is on the water Monday on the river fishing for catfish or perch. watch and see.

[sgt_rob]

Tony, You had me rolling in the floor! I never knew Eric had such a knack for catching skunks! Maybe he should make a coat for Carmen and see how that goes.

Good catch Smitty!

[David Knotts]

Tony, you and Eric need to put together a book, call trapping mishaps. I bet you sell a lot. Whens the coon bbq?lol

[catsmith1]

Thanks guys,

I wanted to go early this morning. I got up and looked out to dry concrete. Yeah!!! quick bath, dressed, grabbed stuff and ran out the door into the rain.:eek: Oh well.

Wind is supposed to be 20 plus tomorrow so it is not looking good then either. Maybe it will calm down enought to check sometime tomorrow.

Tony, I hate to hear that the line stops Sunday. What are we going to do for entertainment?

[sgt_rob]

Smitty, your luck this morning reminds me of a joke I recieved this week...

Saturday morning I got up early, put on my long johns, dressed quietly, made my lunch, grabbed the dog, slipped quietly into the garage to hook the boat up to the truck, and proceeded to back out into a torrential downpour. There was snow mixed with the rain, and the wind was blowing 50 mph. I pulled back into the garage, turned on the radio, and discovered that the weather would be bad throughout the day.

I went back into the house, quietly undressed, and slipped back into bed. There I cuddled up to my wife's back, now with a different anticipation, and whispered, "The weather out there is terrible". She sleepily replied, "Can you believe my stupid husband is out fishing in that sh!t".

[sgt_rob]

David, are you going to make it to the R4?

[catsmith1]

sgt rob, glad I didn't go back to bed!:cool:

[sgt_rob]

Kinda makes ya wonder how that joke evolved don't it?

[David Knotts]

When, and where is the R4. If I can I will be there, would love it.

P.S. What is the R4, first I've herd of it.

[cuttingout69]

What a day. It rained on us all day, but we still had a good run. Eric and I have had so many first on this line till it is unreal. I caught my first ever snared animal. I snared a coon first, then a coyote, and yesterday a beaver. I caught my first otter in and otter set this trip, and perfected a new way to set up my coon traps with the help of a tool belt. Eric has had his share of first also. He broke his record for the most coons in one day with a catch of 13, today he caught his first grey fox in a fox dirt hole set. That was so cool the excitement he felt in do this. We have quite running so hard and are now just running for fun. We have been land trapping along with the water trapping this week. It is totally different and a lot of fun. I have done a lot more land trapping than Eric, but I feel that is fixing to change as he enjoyed catching the fox today.

We had a great catch today with 3 otter, 4 coons, 3 beaver, 1 rat, 2 grey fox, and 2 rabbits. I am carrying my 5 year old tomorrow, so ya’ll pray for us. As much as he talks, I am sure he will educate me and Eric quite a bit.

No more funnies today, as it was wet and cold. We were all ready to get through and get warm today. I was wet from my waist to my knees. The wind blew and it got cold. Tomorrow is suppose to be cold again. See ya’ll tomorrow night.

[reverend_ty]

David, the R4 is short for the Red River Redneck Roundup. I see you posted on the other site so you found the R4. We'll be taking care of all our business for the fishfry there.

Tony, it's been a blast reading your stuff and looking at the pics. Hate to see it end but I know your lookin forward to skinnin fish instead of fur. May not pay as well but it sure eats good!

I'm thinking of making a trip to Clarks to fish the backside of the lock and dam. How do you go about getting thru the lock? I've never done it. And does anybody have any advise for fishing below the lock and dam, where to fish, catch shad, ect.

Ty

[badbob46]

to go thru the lock, you drive up to the end of the long wall where you will see a rope hanging down and give it a tug , you should hear a horn blow, from there you wait for the gates to open and for the light to turn green , that will be your signal from the lock keeper that its safe to enter, proceed slowly without a wake and once inside you must secure your boat to one of the floating mooring posts.. be sure it is one of the floating type and not the ones that are just inset in the wall..you might need a pole of some sort especially in tomorrows wind to keep your boat from rubbing on the walls as the water goes down.. once he gets the water down to the desired depth he will open the gates and blow his horn again as your signal to proceed out of the lock.. then all you do is reverse the process when yer ready to come back, its pretty simple and kinda fun and interesting the first few times you go thru it, it also can be time consuming , depending on where the water level is inside the lock when you first approach, i have gotten thru in as little as 20 minutes before and had it take as long as an hour other times, but usually the whole process runs about 30 minutes from the time you blow the horn until the time you get out on the other end. hope this helped... the number 1 thing is make sure you tie to the floating mooring post and not the stationary posts.

[catsmith1]

good advice on the lock. only thing I would add is do not lay on the horn very long. short toot is fine. I saw a guy get talked to for bugging the operator because he was not going fast enough. Also, I just loop around the float and not tie off. Would hate for the float to get stuck (seen it) and be hanging from the wall. In summertime watch for BIG snakes on the floats. Saw probably my biggest Moc on one last year.

Not trying to scare you but you have to be careful.

PS. if you throw a cast net you can sometimes rack up with the water falling.

I like going thru myself. Pretty amazing to realize you are dropping so far. Doors look like King Kong movies.

Last thing, while you are waiting on the lower side for the doors to open coming back up stream, have a spoon or sometning ready to jig. Last year I had a BIG un slam it and take off and I never turned him before the line snapped. Only happened once but worth the try. My buddy has cought two nice Ops doing that.

[catsmith1]

We usually catch shad along the rock wall as you come out of the back water at Clarks into the main River.

There is a pretty good hole not far past the dam that looks promising.

There are also some areas of backwater that probably would be worth exploring a little.

[ersel]

Watch the wind throw against jetty that have wind blowing against them.

[sgt_rob]

I normally get all the shad I need while in the lock. 10-4 on the snakes! Been there, done that! My wife has a knack for finding them in the lock.

[mandisue13]

Ok,
I really enjoyed the trappin episodes on here. But I have to ask....will we really be eating some of that coon? I have never had coon before and I just want to know before I bite into something at the R4 and find out it is a coon. I am willing to TRY coon...as long as I know it is coon before I try it. What does it taste like? Seems to me it would taste like a cat or something. Cat meat is real stringy and chewy....can be a little greasy...depending on the type of cat you are eating.

[cuttingout69]

Okay, ya’ll are not going to believe what my buddy did to me again today. It all started about 11 years ago on a line Eric and I were on. Eric caught a mink and asked to use my knocking stick to dispatch the mink. While in the process of dispatching the mink, he broke my knocking stick, which I had used for years. Now I was heart broken, because I had a lot of good memories with that knocking stick. As Eric will tell you, I whined for years about it. Well at least till I built some memories with the new one I mad. And I vowed to never let him use another one of knocking sticks again. Oh, my knocking stick and I have dispatched a many a cat and fox, checked the depth of the water, and just been great companions for 10 years now. Well, Eric was in a tight today and needed to the dispatch the cat he caught rather fast due to the way it was caught. So I saw in the goodness of my heart to let him use my most favorite knocking stick in the whole wide world. And wouldn’t you know it, on the first blow, he broke it half in two. Well enough about my knocking stick, I will just know better next time.

Today we carried Eric’s 7 year old nephew and my 5 year old son. Boy if you only knew the education we got today. They had a blast. It is a good thing my Michael did not have on his rubber boots, because he would have followed me into every water set I checked even if it would have gone over his boots.

This evening Eric and I head back to the fox line to get the sets weather proofed for the freeze coming up tonight. Eric made his second set and we moved on, only to come back and hour later and find that he had already caught something. Man he is a good trapper. I have never done that, make a set and catch something before I can leave the woods. He caught the best looking buzzard I have every laid eyes on. You could see the thing flopping for a 1000 yards. If I stay with him, he is going to teach me some stuff.

All kidding aside, it was cold and windy today. It was so cold, it hurt. My face is chapped and red as can be. We had a fair run for the kid’s sake anyway. We caught 2 beaver, 1 cat, 1 otter, and 4 coons. They had a great time and I got to spend some quality time with my 5 year old.

[dahoss2002]

Seems to me it would taste like a cat or something. Cat meat is real stringy and chewy....can be a little greasy...depending on the type of cat you are eating.
(quote)
Hehe I havent ever tried cat or coon unless someone slipped some in some of those zwolle tamales. Do you buy your cat meat or just catch em round the neighborhood?

[catsmith1]

Having been to Korea,..........no telling what I ate over there. There is one letter difference between the word for beef and dog. May have messed that up? Do not even know what the word for cat is. Did not have anything I did not like while there. Better off not knowing in my mind. Wife has not accused me of Meowing in my sleep.:rolleyes:

[mandisue13]

never tried cat....will try anything though...well not anything... i absolutely will not eat eyeballs. i may would try a brain....but no EYE BALLS. i would try testicles, tounge, just about anything that will not eat me first....but EYE BALLS. Never really liked them and especially didnt like them after messin around with taxidermy and when you taxidermy a fish the only way to get the eye out is to jab something in it....pull it through then you twist that eye around and PULL....eye juice everywhere....BLEUICK. Anywho....ok...i got me a boat ride and yall can have your puddin.

[gooboy]

bobcat meat is very good. the bigger they are, the tougher they get. one about half grown fried up is real good. i've never eat a house cat, but the neighbor's got one that keeps climbing on my wife's car that may get simmered in some gravy real soon. haven't eat coon since i was in high school. too wormy. guess i've just cleaned too many!

[ersel]

Catsmith check out this set up!

Catfish1.com > CATFISH BOATING WORLD > Boat Use Tips and Talk (Catfish1.com%20%3E%20CATFISH%20BOATING%20WORLD%20 %20%3E%20Boat%20Use%20Tips%20and%20Talk)

[ersel]

Rod holder location
post 45

[cuttingout69]

Well we took up all the water traps today. We left out the fox sets. Eric will take them up in the morning. We had a uneventful last day on the line. We caught 3 beaver, 2 coons, and 1 rat. I caught a fox, but when I pulled up to the set he had been there long enough. He pulled out of the trap and took off. I would have had a pic, but my wife took off with the camera. She was mad at me this morning.

I know I have learned a lot over the past two weeks, and I have had the best time I have ever had on a trap line. Below is the total count of fur we took in 15 nights.

Beaver 71
otter 20
coons 132
mink 4
rats 31
coyote 2
skunk 4
cats 6

I did not keep up with the buzzards, rabbits, fish, and turtles. Just the peltable fur. We plan to take a pic with all the fur hanging ready for sale, then we will load it up and head to the fur buyers the end of this week. I hope ya'll have enjoyed hearing our advenchers as much as we enjoyed make them. This is the second year we have done this and we plan to make a annual run. I can't wait.

[mandisue13]

Well, black ally cat is the stringyest. Just dont taste right. Orange tabby is actually pretty sweet meat. The regular old tabby cats are alright also....GROSS. I have NEVER eaten a cat. That just proves you guys will eat ANYTHING! ICK. I was just messin around....no one ever was grossed out ..yall just kept going on...like cat eatin is normal. YUK

So about how much does all that fur bring in? I think I wou ld love trappin

[David Knotts]

Yall pray for me, my wife must be sick, or (PREGO) I hope not. She talkin about eyeballs, and yall still want her nanner puddin?lol.
Yall are brave!

[catsmith1]

Nanarpudin..........yummmmmmm

Went yesterday afternoon. One fish on lines. had lost a few since the wind was too bad to go Sat. Even at 16 ft I do not like 2 foot swells. My daughter enjoyed going though yesterday. She is the cut bait queen. Has her own knife and everything.

Shad were hard to find. musta thrown 50 times. stil only got about 35 shad. Put out about 30 more hooks. Going to run them in a little while. planning on putting out some jugs if I can find enough bait.

Rev ty, Ersel found a place to get those hook holders you showed me last year on your limb lines. I am going to get some.

I'll tell you how many goo I had after my trip to the river.

[gooboy]

I'm fixin' to go pick up the rest of me and tony's traps. hope to be on the river wednesday harassing the catfish population. has anyone been out of clark's? what is the current doing on the river? anyone tryed for cats on rod and reel anywhere lately?

[wareagle]

Hey Tony do they really buy rat hides?

[Alsey]

I'm going back to my spot by the lock and dam bank fishing. The last 2 times I went I only came back with one 4-6 pounder each time. I'm hoping this last cold snap will "reset" the blues to move back into this area. The gars and bowfins have tore me up the last two times. One nice thing about circle hooks is that it's hard to hook a gar and if you do they normally throw the hook before you get him up to the rocks.
I brought in a blue Saturday before last. He was about 20-25 pounds but he had rolled up on the line and was coming in sideways with a little fight. Man I thought I had caught my first true monster. My legs were shaking like crazy and my heart was pounding like shooting my first deer.

[cuttingout69]

wareagle, the fur buyer will pay a buck for neutra rat hides. But, any land owner with a pound wants them gone because they bore holes in the dam. They are nasty water rats that I just don't carry to mess with except for removal. A lot of land owners will shoot them, but we can remove them so much faster and easier with coin bear tarps. I was going to take some pics of a beaver in a coni bear the Sunday, but my wife got mad and took the camera.

Oh, and ya'll see the fine help I have. I am sad the line is over and I have to go back to work, but you see Eric is going to the river fishing tomorrow. I still have to get traps ready to store and put away for the year, and Eric is going fishing. I am ready to go to the fur buyer and sale the fur, and Eric is talking about it is going to rain. We don't need to sale the fur in the rain, but he said the fish will good in the rain. Have said enough that ya'll understand my trapping partner has abandon me to go fishing. Man you just can't find good help these days.

On a turthful note tho, my clutch started slipping today in my little toyota. I guess it is time, it has 186,000 miles on it. I am going to try and put it in the shop this week. Last year when a friend of mine had his replaced, it cost him $1300. I thought that was high, so I called the Toyota place and they told me the got $1450. I think I will try the $1300 man, I know him and he does good work. Oh well, it will be cheeper than a truck note.

[gooboy]

tony, i'm sick and tired of listening to you whine and belly ache about your terrible partner. i am not going to the river tommorrow. you need to get your story straight before you badmouth me. i can't believe you would think that i would go to the river before we got everything put up. there is way to much left to do for me to go to the river. yeah, i wanted too, but i knew it would not be the right thing to do with traps to store, boil, and box up for next year. i sure bet i could catch a good mess of catfish though. but me being the good partner that i am, i am not going to go to the river. i can't believe after all i have done for you these last two weeks that you would even tell everybody that i'm going to the river tommorrow. even though it sure would be fun. i'm not going because it just wouldn't be right for me to be on the river tommorrow while you are working. if i wasn't such a great, considerate, thougthtful, and just plain hard working partner, i probably would be on the river tommorrow. you should be thankful for my understanding ways instead of always talking bad about me. so for the last time mister howard i am not going to the river tommorrow. I'm going perch fishin' on bisteneau instead. it'll be wednesday before i make it to the river. have a great day at work.

[joebull515]

Hey Tony I know a shop in Bossier that would save you some money. Monroe's Garage. I deal with him alot I am an outside salesman for O'Reilly Auto Parts. If you go to my store on Benton Rd. or Hwy 80 in Bossier tell them I said to run you through Don's Auto Account. If you have any questions just talk to the manager at either one the stores and they can get in touch with me.

[BullDaddy]

See Tony, you thought Eric was going to be on the river while you are hard at work. But he's not. I don't think you are going to get any help with the traps, but he won't be on the river.:rolleyes:

[ar_confederate]

Gee, they fuss and fight like an old married couple! I was worried about missing TV during the campout but I'd be willing to pay for this kind of entertainment!

[catsmith1]

Had a few dinks on the lines yeasterday. Beautiful day. Did not catch anything on the jugs. Only got one bite on the rod and reels. Did not hook up with it.

It would probably sound to the non catter that I came home frustrated and would not want to go back for a while........WRONG! As confushious says,"A bag day fishing is better than a good day at the evil place (work)"

If anyone is looking for shad out of the bossier launch they are pretty thick on the north side of the first jetty going south.

Does any one run slat traps? been thinking of building a few. Need to put meat in the freezer.

[reverend_ty]

If you think Tony and Eric are a laugh on the site, just wait till you get them in person. Now ya'll know why we've got a Reverend involved with this group, some people need all the help they can get! Hehehe!!!

ar_confederate, have you ever noticed how many post we have compared to the number of people who have veiwed our site? Now you know why!! We could almost sell tickets, call it the Eric and Tony Laugh-A-Bout!!!

Special thanks to badbob, catsmith, ersel, and sgt rob for the info on the lock and dam and how to get through it. Not sure when I'll go but I'm fairly sure I can do it now.

David, I can tell your wife is goin to fit right in with this group. Coons not bad ifin you cook it long enough to roast the worms. Uummm!! Not as good as nanner puddin though!!!

Hope to see everybody real soon out on the river. If you see me fishin just come on up and say hi, can't scare the fish no worse than I do when I'm fishin. I'll be in a tan 16' Triton alum boat with a 40hp Yamaha with white BOC decals on each side.

Good luck to everyone and Good Fishin!!

Ty

[gooboy]

well folks, i got to thinking about what i said about going to the river on wednesday, and i just can't do tony like that. with him working and so much left to do it just don't seem right. so i've made the desision not to go to the river. i'm goin' back to bisteneau instead. caught some slab white perch down there today. hope this makes tony feel good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BullDaddy]

Especially since he can't catch em. I'll bet he is sitting there, storing traps and planning on his revenge. Between you breaking his favorite knocking stick(again) and going fishing, he has alot of motivation. LOL

[cuttingout69]

Joebull, I thank you for the info, but I have already lined it to go to my local guy who has worked on the truck for eight years now. So far, I have never had to have him fix something twice. He did the top end two years ago, and put a front axel in for me. He has done other major jobs for me now for about 15 years. I sure thank you for the help, but I have already called him and set up a date and time to drop it off. Said it will take two or three days. He has to just about drop the trans to get to it all.

I sure hope this old truck holds on for a few more years. About the time I get my wife out of school, she gets a job, and pays off the loans for school, my son will be going to colledge. By the time he gets out my daughter will be there, then by the time she gets out my baby will be in. Dead gum, it is going to have to make it another 20 years. Man I hope they keep make duct tape for ever, cause I feel I am going to need it to keep the thing on the road. Sure enough no kiding, it is a 92' modle and it still does not have any wind noise unless Eric is riding with me. He will always crack the window for what ever reason and never roll it back up all the way when he gets out.

[sgt_rob]

It'll last Tony. Those occational repair bills are cheaper than having to carry a note every month. My ride has 156K on it and I don't mind shoving money at it now and then. I got a new windshield and wipers this week and new carpet and front seats reupholstered Monday. I've already planned on having to rebuild the rear end, and motor soon. So What? Just swing by the dealership and checkout what a new one cost, figure in the additional insurance and finance charge and I think you will learn to appreciate that old Yota a little more.

[badbob46]

with the weather forecast we have for the weekend, i decided to take a little trip on the river this evening, i didnt hit the water til almost 6 and i caught my shad within a few minutes, then i headed up to the sandbar for a looksee, and to do a little fishing.. i only fished about 10 minutes but in that time i caught one nice lookin eater..i mainly just wanted to air the boat out, i have been tuning it up and cleaning it , and i needed to get behind the wheel and have a little fun in it again..i had forgotten what it feels like roaring down the river in the dark.. feels like yer in a missile..lol, sgt rob, i cant believe you got all that upholstery done buddy and didnt come by the shop and get an estimate from us, we prolly could have given you a real good deal on it.

[BullDaddy]

Bob, how did the sandbar look? I haven't been there in several weeks.

[reverend_ty]

Bob, has the current picked up any? Last time I was there it was pretty slow. Did you notice if the shad had started moving back up towards the north again?

Seems like when you start seeing them up that away the fish bite better up there.

Last time I was there, the shad weren't moving at all up that far. That's one of the reasons I was thinking about heading south.

Ty