Mattawoman 5/12

[chex]

I've been working like a dog... haven't been able to get out... missed the M&G on Saturday but managed to get some time on the Mattawoman in the afternoon. Caught lots of fish.

My biggest regret of the day: catching a 30" Gar (est.) and not being able to land it. That thing looked like a vicious dinosaur with lots of sharp teeth. I had it boatside for a while, but I couldn't figure out how to grab it. It eventually broke off. Second biggest regret is having my floating frog blown up several times by what must have been snakeheads, but not being able to connect.

Most fish were caught on a little Mepps spinner. Some of the cats on nightcrawlers and fallfish.

[Shady]

Wow looks like a great day! Cool way to show all of your pics in one post. Is the fallfish the one in the bottom right? I think that might be a golden shiner, some people call them mill roach... good cat bait or even big bass or possibly snakehead bait.

[CB kayak 02]

Nice work and nice collage Chex!!

[chex]

Thanks. I had to update my collage because I had a duplicate pic in there, making it look like I caught more fish... honest mistake

That's definitely a golden shiner. The fallfish is what I was using for bait... and btw Shady, I took you advice of adding a tandem treble hook to the large bait and it worked! Wasn't a huge one, but I got him!

[Shady]

Thanks. I had to update my collage because I had a duplicate pic in there, making it look like I caught more fish... honest mistake

That's definitely a golden shiner. The fallfish is what I was using for bait... and btw Shady, I took you advice of adding a tandem treble hook to the large bait and it worked! Wasn't a huge one, but I got him!

Sorry I missread your post... Did you use the golden shiner for bait? Glad my advice worked for you!

[chex]

Did you use the golden shiner for bait?

Nah, I was done catfishing by the time I caught him. After catching a good 5 cats, I was after panfish and snakehead... but I did catch several more cats nonetheless on the spinner/ultralight rod... good pullage.

[tufnik]

Hey, nice catches. The icing on the cake would have been that gar.

[ronaultmtd]

Nice work, Mike- blowups on the frogs are most likely snakeheads-

[Sun]

Nice report! Thanks for sharing the pics =)

[loupa5]

Working like a dog paid off, good work and a creative display too.

[ictalurus]

Nice work, Mike, and cool collage. As far as the gar goes, I wouldn't recommend grabbing them without gloves. The few I've picked up had really sharp scales that left pointy bits in my hands. Their mouths are super bony, so it can be hard to set the hook so that it sticks.

[chex]

As far as the gar goes, I wouldn't recommend grabbing them without gloves. The few I've picked up had really sharp scales that left pointy bits in my hands. Their mouths are super bony, so it can be hard to set the hook so that it sticks.

Thanks for the tip. I didn't even think about the scales... I was worried about those teeth! I'll bring gloves or a net next time. I really want to look at one of those creatures up close.

[ronaultmtd]

Gar meat is OK- my Dad used an ice creamer scooper to take the meat out of the area next to the spine on both sides like the blackstrap on a deer or the tenderloin on a hog. The gar we caught in Arkansas were really big fish

[chex]

Gar meat is OK- my Dad used an ice creamer scooper to take the meat out of the area next to the spine on both sides like the blackstrap on a deer or the tenderloin on a hog. The gar we caught in Arkansas were really big fish

I was wondering about that... good to know... if i ever land one, I'll take a picture, tell it its ugly and outdated body is mean looking, and throw it back!