Fishing
The gafftopsail catfish is a common catch in the Southeastern United States, although it is also caught as far north as New York. They are taken from piers, jetties, reefs, and the surf, as well as bottom fishing or flats fishing. They are caught with lures such as plugs, spoons, spinners, cut bait, and shrimp, as well as soft plastic lure resembling shrimp, worms, and shad. They are attracted to the sound of struggling fish, like a popping cork creates. Catfish trapping is also used to capture them, but is regulated in some states. Catfish traps include “slat traps,” long wooden traps with an angled entrance, and wire hoop traps. Typical bait for these traps includes rotten cheese and dog food.
Gafftopsail catfish are good eating; the red lateral line should be removed to prevent “muddy taste.” The pectoral fins and dorsal fin contain poisonous spines; care should be used when handling this fish.
Read more about this topic: Gafftopsail Catfish
Famous quotes containing the word fishing:
“Once fishing was a rabbit’s foot—
O wind blow cold, O wind blow hot,”
—Robert Lowell (1917–1977)
“Fly fishing may be a very pleasant amusement; but angling or float fishing I can only compare to a stick and a string, with a worm at one end and a fool at the other.”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)
“The hill farmer ... always seems to make out somehow with his corn patch, his few vegetables, his rifle, and fishing rod. This self-contained economy creates in the hillman a comparative disinterest in the world’s affairs, along with a disdain of lowland ways. “I don’t go to question the good Lord in his wisdom,” runs the phrasing attributed to a typical mountaineer, “but I jest cain’t see why He put valleys in between the hills.””
—Administration in the State of Arka, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)