# Self Sufficiency/Living off the Land or Off the Grid > Fishing >  Daughter's *FIRST* fish!

## ElevenBravo

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After months of jigs and crank baits..... I switch her over to drop shot with a night crawler and Bouyaaa!

This was caught on a $10 combo from Wally.

This is stocked water, Im sure its a trout.... just dont know what kind.  Your input?? (Im still a rookie)

I dont know who was more proud, her or me!

Glad she finally got her first fish, she was all grins for several hours after that!

EB

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## Highhawk1948

That's great.  It probably put up a pretty good fight.  I don't think that is a trout though.  Maybe a sucker or carp.  Keep it up!!

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## ElevenBravo

Thanks Hawk... Yeah, I couldnt figure out why it kinda looked like a trout, but didnt have the classic spots.

I Googled sucker fish and yes, it has the same markings and mouth that define it as sucker.

Having not caught many fish at all, it is difficult for me to know...  I am self taught with limited experience.

Oh well, she caught a FISH, and she will be much more ready to go back next time!  

EB

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## jarhead

Here in southern Illinois that is called a carp, we always caught them on bank lines. the old timers at the cabin knew how to cook them and that was good eating.

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## Ken

> Your input??


Nice work!   :clap:   My input?  Baste it with lemon butter, sprinkle some slivered almonds on top, and introduce it to your grill.

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## Winnie

That's great! It's a Common Carp. Over here we fish them with canned sweetcorn, Spam, Worms and bread crust. 
Ignore Ken, the only suitable thing to do with Carp is release them or put them on the compost heap. They're full of bones and taste awful muddy. 
Hope she continues to enjoy her fishing.

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## pete lynch

Around here, White Sucker is what they call them if caught in the streams and creeks; carp or bottom-feeder when pulled from the lakes and millponds.
A kid caught a 4 footer in a lake not far from me that is still a state record. They do get big...

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## ElevenBravo

I did more research on god bless google, yeah... looks just like a carp...  He went back into cycle so no eats.

Hoping for a trout, now THAT is good eating!

If & when we catch one, it will be grilled over firewood coals (wx permitting) with some lemon juice, salt and pepper.  Scaled, but skin on.


I just drooled...

EB

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## Rick

Sucker. The mouth of a sucker is more on the bottom of their jaw while the carp and buffalo have a mouth more reminiscent of what we think a fish should look like. Suckers are bottom feeders. Here's a better view of a sucker. Congtats, by the way!!!!

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## 2crows

Well, neither my daughter nor the fish were as big as yours, but here's my firstborn with her first one.  And like your daughter's - it was a carp.  She still likes to fish!

Your daughter is lovely... I bet she's the joy of your life!

h-1stfish.jpg

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## ElevenBravo

> I bet she's the joy of your life!


As we have both been through a lot of hard times, she has evolved as my best buddy.

EB

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## bacpacker

Great stuff EB! Memories being made.

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## Winter

Good for her. As long as you are catching fish, you will always have a fishing partner.

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## Ken

> Ignore Ken, the only suitable thing to do with Carp is release them or put them on the compost heap. They're full of bones and taste awful muddy.


Lemon butter makes almost anything taste good and eating bony fish builds character.

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## LowKey

Not suckers though. Blagh. If you want bony, eat pickerel. Someone told me once that Pickerel was a Native American word for swimming-porcupine-with-spines-on-the-inside.  :Smile: 

Nice you go fishing with your kid, EB. Some good memories there.

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## birdman6660

congrats ..that is definetly a sucker .. they are great when pickled ... mmmmmm ....  fish em using corn niblets .. works like a charm ... !




> Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.
> 
> After months of jigs and crank baits..... I switch her over to drop shot with a night crawler and Bouyaaa!
> 
> This was caught on a $10 combo from Wally.
> 
> 
> 
> This is stocked water, Im sure its a trout.... just dont know what kind.  Your input?? (Im still a rookie)
> ...

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## birdman6660

hey LK  pickerel are bony ?   :Smash:    Hmmmm caught many many pickies and they are one of the easiest fish to clean .. I would say pike qualifies for bony porcupine fish !
just my input ....




> Not suckers though. Blagh. If you want bony, eat pickerel. Someone told me once that Pickerel was a Native American word for swimming-porcupine-with-spines-on-the-inside. 
> 
> Nice you go fishing with your kid, EB. Some good memories there.

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## RangerXanatos

> Sucker. The mouth of a sucker is more on the bottom of their jaw while the carp and buffalo have a mouth more reminiscent of what we think a fish should look like. Suckers are bottom feeders. Here's a better view of a sucker. Congtats, by the way!!!!
> 
> Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.


I hope you put that fish back.  He's awfully scared, can't you see he's crying?

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## Old Professor

Catch a sucker from cold water (they tend to be mushy from warm water). Skin and fillet a sucker and run through a grinder, Mix in a beaten egg, roll in bread crumbs and make a patty. Fry in butter or lemon flavored olive oil. Very tasty!

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## Ken

> Ignore Ken, the only suitable thing to do with Carp is release them or put them on the compost heap. They're full of bones and taste awful muddy.


Winnie, those of us who are great chefs have a kitchen fix for everything!

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## Winnie

Carp-O-Matic doesn't have the same ring though, Ken :Whistling:  Bass Beer *shudders* almost as rough on the palate as Carp!

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## Wildthang

Has anybody ever made dough balls mixed with strawbwrry soda pop? A carp annot resist them for some reason.

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## Thaddius Bickerton

Best thing to do is throw it into compost / up on the bank.  

Carp  You have to cut out the "mud line / vein"  (Don't ask, if you are shown it is easy to see)

Then you score them down to the bones and cook em up and the bones kind of dissolve (become edible), but you need someone that has cooked em to teach ya how to make em edible.

Keep working on the trout.  go to smaller hook size, and lighter line  (4 pound maybe) and set your drag to real easy.

Might try looking at "tenkaru" fishing or just grab a cane pole or one of those telescoping crappie poles and some line and float them into places where the trout hang.

Think like trout, they want the sun out of their eye, and a place where the water moves food to them.  A simple spinner like a rooster tail (the smallest one you can find  1/4 or 1/8 oz)  will also work well on light tackle.

Stocked fish are often pretty "small"

See if you can find a place with bream / pearch / crappie to fish, those are the easy ones to catch and good eating.  I esp. like crappie.

If you check on the kindle sight they had several fishing books you could grab for free the other day (set sort "low to high" and it will pull the lower cost ones to the front of the list.  If you don't have a kindle you can grab the kindle for PC download for free to read the free kindle ebooks you get.

by taking a small hook and putting a worm / crickett / minnow / other small live bate on it and letting the stream carry it down toward the fish in a free float you will get into trout often enough.  

Remember small hooks mean more fish, move up in size as experience demands that you need larger hooks / line strength.

Thanks for sharing, I love seeing kids get hooked on out of doors activities.

As for carp, if they are in the shallows on bed, using a bow and fishing arrow for em is lots of fun.

Thad.

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## ElevenBravo

Thanks Thad, good information and Ill put it to use next fishing!

EB

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