Yankeetown on 6/1/2017

[gnome]

 Took at trip out to the boat ramp at the end of county road 40, in Yankeetown, last Thursday.  Yankeetown is where the Withlacoochee rive emptys into the gulf.  It is also where they filmed the 1962 Elvis movie, Follow That Dream. 
Fishing was pretty good.  Caught quite a few sailcats , some hardhead catfish, and a small mangrove snapper(the mangrove went back, but the cats were keepers).   But the surprise of the night was a 42" Gar.

Now, for all you  folk turning your nose up right now, I'm here to tell you that saltwater cats and gar are very good table fare, ....IF...... you clean and cook them correctly.   
Saltwater cats taste just like the freshwater kind, only better.   They are also easier to clean, ...IF..... you know how.  Gar, on the other hand, is THE hardest fish on earth to clean!  Tin snips are a must!, and a hatchet comes in handy.

[seabird]

gnome: Very good report. A mix of salt and fresh water fish (the gar). I have tried salt water cats, both not bad, and taste like catfish, oddly enough! LOL. I would not have thought of trying a gar.

[gnome]

Sorry I don't have any pictures of cleaning the Gar. I was washing off my cutting board at the bottom of the boat ramp, and slipped. Busted my arse pretty bad. The bad part was my camera and cell phone got a saltwater bath. But needless to say, cleaning a gar is not for the faint harted. Had to cut down both sides with tin snips and cut away the shell. The only part you keep are the backstraps. They come out looking like soft white pork tenderloins. Slice them into medallions, bread and deep fry, like any other fish. They don't taste like fish though, they taste more like fried 'gater nuggets. Dipped in butter, they're not bad.

As for cleaning the saltwater cats,they are 75% head and guts. Just set them on their belly and put your knife behind the dorsal fin and cut toward the head at a 45°. That leaves you with just the meat in the tail. Fillet off the bone, and don't cut so close on the skin side. Be sure to cut out ALL THE RED on the skin side. The red part is why people say they taste bad and won't eat them.

Try them deep fried one time, and you will never throw one back again.

[detroitd]

Nice. The area you're fishing looks very "structural" with them rocks.

D

[gnome]

If by structural, you mean snag city, it is! We got tired of losing tackle and moved to the gulf side of the dock.

OH... and we found out where the dolphin go when they are not at the Skyway! They are at the Withlacoochee. There must have been 15 to 20 in one pod! I tried to take a picture of one that looked like it was 12' long! Biggest one I've seen. cheap digital camera, press the button and 2 sec. later it takes the picture. All I got were pictures of water.

But it was a pretty place to fish.




gif free upload

[aussieguy]

is that Jenny
where's Forrest and Captain Dan ?

[tears143]

For the gar, it is easier to hang it and go along the line of the skin down to the tail. Don't need a tin snips if you cut from the inside out along the line if the skin.

[gnome]

Jun 3, 2017 17:30:34 GMT -5 tears143 said:

For the gar, it is easier to hang it and go along the line of the skin down to the tail. Don't need a tin snips if you cut from the inside out along the line if the skin.

Sorta like skinning an armadillo.

[tears143]

Another way I heard is people make the initial cut and then use a plier to pull the skin off.

[gnome]

Jun 3, 2017 17:47:21 GMT -5 tears143 said:

Another way I heard is people make the initial cut and then use a plier to pull the skin off.

Hahahaha...... not on a garfish!   They don't have skin, they have a for real armor plate. 

[tears143]

Jun 3, 2017 19:10:48 GMT -5 gnome said:

Jun 3, 2017 17:47:21 GMT -5 tears143 said:

Another way I heard is people make the initial cut and then use a plier to pull the skin off.

Hahahaha...... not on a garfish!   They don't have skin, they have a for real armor plate. 

Yeah, I know. deal with them quite a few time. Take a meat cleaver and try to hack it.. it'll bounce back.

[detroitd]

Jun 3, 2017 16:20:00 GMT -5 gnome said:

If by structural, you mean snag city, it is!

Kind of what I meant. It has it's + and -.
If you can keep bouncing off or around snags, the better. But when it's time to move on, it's time to quit donating your tackle!

D