Day Before The Blizzard On Oologah

Oh, and I ONLY use braided nylon main line because it is so much better than the twisted nylon line. Now until late March will be the premier time to fill your freezer. We release all fish over 20# because the fish have a certain amount of toxins built up in their flesh which is acquired thru the shad and the fish are so old at 20+#s. Cold water blues and flatties are superb eating as are crappie and bluegills.

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Originally Posted by G3Jockey

Ya'know I have to agree. Personally, I've had crappie and catfish on the same plate, cooked in the same pan, breaded with the same seasoning, and I can't tell one from the other. That being said, I get about 8 (give or take) pounds of crappie fillets when I have a 37 fish limit, I got almost 15 pounds of catfish fillet off of this one catfish and that was after I cut all the red meat and fat off. The stakes are big and I had to cut them thinner, in some places the slab of fillet came off almost 2 inches thick.

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If you're only going after the meat...then blue cats are definately more bang for the buck. I don't know that I can tell the difference most of the time in the taste and texture. However, I like Crappie fishing better just because, to me- it's funner. Alot like bass fishing in some respects.

It's funny G3. The reason you like to catch catfish is the same reason I like to catch Crappie. You see, we don't eat a ton of fish at my house. I can go catch 37 fish and not worry about where I'm gonna put the meat. If I went and cleaned 37 big blues like the one you caught, I'd have 400 pounds of meat! Also, I can totally taste the difference between the two. Crappie is way better to me. For that matter, I can taste the difference between a 14 inch blue and a 20 inch blue. To me, the bigger they get, the fishier they taste. When cat fishing, I like to keep the little ones and throw back the big ones. That's just me though. I know alot of people like catfish better. Not nocking your preferences though. We all enjoy different things, how boring would life be if we didn't?!

I'm the same way dragger, I can taste the difference in large cats and the smaller ones. I'm leary of eating the meat of the large fish also because of the higher mercury levels associated with being higher on the food chain and extended lives.

Crappie meat doesn't last long around here but I've got several quart bags full of catfish filets in the freezer just waiting on some friend or relative to take them home.