Visiting Otters left me a gift

Franz · Feb 15, 2018

Once a year for several weeks, a group of river otters calls our pond home. Some years there are two of them, other years three. It is a little frustrating to know they are eating so many fish and there is nothing I can do about it. I was walking around the pond today to see what they had been up to and found this. It is what is left of a Bowfin.

I know there were three of them in the pond at one point (I put them in there, oops) - two males and one female. I re-caught two of them and relocated them shortly after stocking them, but was unable to catch the third. I wasn't too worried, knowing the chance for them to populate the pond had hopefully been avoided.

I'm hoping this was the one that got away, but it was many years ago when I removed the first two. I am not sure what their growth rate is, but I am guessing this one was about 24-30 so inches (penny for scale).

Ice Scratcher · Feb 15, 2018

Yep, they did you a favor, that thing was eating more fish than some visiting otters...

Bowfin, aka dogfish, are nasty creatures..

Did you not know what they were at first, when you played bucket biologist?

<°)))>{

Pulltabby · Feb 15, 2018

Looks like those man eating fish with the teeth we saw on the old Tarzan flicks.

sandgroper · Feb 16, 2018

What's wrong with bowfins? Never heard of them...

amc rulz · Feb 16, 2018

sandgroper said:
What's wrong with bowfins? Never heard of them...

Garbage fish, worse than carp (although some folks like smoked carp). I've caught several over the years, always bury 'em in the garden, great fertilizer.

amc rulz · Feb 16, 2018

Otters, big weasels. I have the same problem with wild mink, just a smaller version of the otter. The mink come up to my chicken coop and try and raid it. I've killed a few. They also hit my pond. Great climbers but they kill a lot of birds/eggs.

For me, the Great Blue Heron is my mortal enemy. I do all I can to keep them out of the pond but it's too big and I have to watch them gulp down all my 12-14" Largemouth bass.

Mud-puppy · Feb 16, 2018

sandgroper said:
What's wrong with bowfins? Never heard of them...

They are the NA version of the Snake Head...they live in the shallow weeds and eat other fish....We used to shoot them over 10lbs in bowfishing tournaments...
They go by a lot of names here..grinnel, dogfish, bowfin, eelpout, burbot...depending on where you are from...some folks do eat them...Amazingly, I've never tried, but I bet they would be OK....

itsaring! · Feb 16, 2018

Mud-puppy said:
They are the NA version of the Snake Head...they live in the shallow weeds and eat other fish....We used to shoot them over 10lbs in bowfishing tournaments...
They go by a lot of names here..grinnel, dogfish, bowfin, eelpout, burbot...depending on where you are from...some folks do eat them...Amazingly, I've never tried, but I bet they would be OK....

Don't laugh but down here we call them Mudfish :shock:

Junkminer · Feb 16, 2018

Mud-puppy said:
They are the NA version of the Snake Head...they live in the shallow weeds and eat other fish....We used to shoot them over 10lbs in bowfishing tournaments...
They go by a lot of names here..grinnel, dogfish, bowfin, eelpout, burbot...depending on where you are from...some folks do eat them...Amazingly, I've never tried, but I bet they would be OK....

If you catch them in cold water (winter) the meat is more firm, catch them in warm summer water and the fillets will be mush dripping between your fingers when you try to hold it.

Mud-puppy · Feb 16, 2018

Junkminer said:
If you catch them in cold water (winter) the meat is more firm, catch them in warm summer water and the fillets will be mush dripping between your fingers when you try to hold it.

Yeah! Come to think of it!...I have eaten them! Back in the early 80's at the International Eelpout Festival in MN on Leech Lake! HUGE Wintertime Ice fishing event! Major drunkfest! Gotta be some awesome pictures of it out there on the Interwebs I bet!....I wonder if its still going on?

Flashback!

There was also a little bar/restaurant that served a minnow pizza or a leech pizza...those were your choices...Minnows I can understand, but can you imagine being drunk enough to eat a cheese pizza with leeches on top of it? Well, some have...! :laughing:

Oh good gosh..some things in Life are best forgotten...alcohol and peer group pressure are not a good mix!

Plenty of youtube vids depicting various examples as proof positive...especially bottle rockets launched from a fellows tailpipe...Oh Man!..Youth is wasted on the young!

hawgdawg · Feb 16, 2018

Here’s a recipe for cooking them.
Clean and gut just as you would any fish.
Rub down with salt and pepper, and other favorite seasonings , lemon juice and butter , onions and other veggies work well also.
Place whole fish on cedar cooking plank , wrap with aluminum foil.
Place on grill or in oven for approximately 30 to 45 minutes.
Remove from grill or stove , slightly tilt over trash can to drain excess juices, slide fish into can. Sit down and eat cedar plank.
:eat3:

dirt dick · Feb 16, 2018

is that those invasive snake head fish that I've seen on Nat Geo
that you guys out East are dealing with,
that were introduced & let go for no good reason? :mad:

Those things are NASTY !!!

amc rulz · Feb 16, 2018

hawgdawg said:
Here’s a recipe for cooking them.
Clean and gut just as you would any fish.
Rub down with salt and pepper, and other favorite seasonings , lemon juice and butter , onions and other veggies work well also.
Place whole fish on cedar cooking plank , wrap with aluminum foil.
Place on grill or in oven for approximately 30 to 45 minutes.
Remove from grill or stove , slightly tilt over trash can to drain excess juices, slide fish into can. Sit down and eat cedar plank.

Doug · Feb 16, 2018

amc rulz said:
Garbage fish, worse than carp (although some folks like smoked carp). I've caught several over the years, always bury 'em in the garden, great fertilizer.

Still possible to see dried up old fish ponds here in England more so around small villages.

Link to fish ponds:

http://www.frankbeswick.co.uk/article-how-the-monks-farmed-carp-120259614.html

GKL · Feb 16, 2018

Mud-puppy said:
Yeah! Come to think of it!...I have eaten them!

We can picture it now ! :laughing:

Ice Scratcher · Feb 16, 2018

Mud-puppy said:
They go by a lot of names here..grinnel, dogfish, bowfin, eelpout, burbot...depending on where you are from...some folks do eat them...Amazingly, I've never tried, but I bet they would be OK....

Burbot aka, eelpout, ling, ling cod, pout, freshwater lobster, lawyer fish... Are similar looking, but an entirely different fish.. Very sought after and valued actually!

<°)))>{

Franz · Feb 17, 2018

amc rulz said:
For me, the Great Blue Heron is my mortal enemy. I do all I can to keep them out of the pond but it's too big and I have to watch them gulp down all my 12-14" Largemouth bass.

Great Blue Herons are agreeably the worst. They come day and night. The only good part is they won't tolerate company, so usually only have to deal with one at a time. They're also pretty skittish, so easily scared away.

Franz · Feb 17, 2018

Ice Scratcher said:
Did you not know what they were at first, when you played bucket biologist?

<°)))>{

All that I was thinking was "Wow, this thing looks cool as @#@$!" The biggest killer in my pond has been lack of oxygen though. We had two aerator/fountains and they both broke about two years ago, during a very humid heat wave. About 50-70 American Shad died, and they were bigger than I thought shad could get- 12-20+ inches. I originally caught them w/ a minnow trap and cast net as food for the largemouth bass. I caught an eel once, I know I didn't put any eels in the pond. Bird dropping maybe? We plan to have the fountains fixed before this summer. Hopefully in another year it will be back to catching with unbaited-hook population again!

Visiting Otters left me a gift

Franz

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