The Great White Buffalo Hunter

Ron and I went out fishing this morning at Clinton.
The fishing was great but the bite was slow.
We caught fish but most were short.
But Ron managed to get this Great white buffalo fish.
It took Ron about 20min. to finally get it close enough so I could net it.
When I netted it - I thought the net was going to break.
This net was not made for this heavy / sized fish.
Tried to get Ron to grab it out of the net..
No way. - The last time he tried that he about fell in when the fish smacked him in the head.
Attachment 135053

A super fun day cheers2

Rick

I remember the last time very well! Ron you are the Great White Buffalo hunter!!

:yikes:yikes:yikesDats a biggun fer sure!! <*)}}}><

Clean them rascals right an you got the best wing meat ever:cool:

That may have been close to the state record of 51 pounds. Did you weigh it? Bass pro or Cabela's may have paid for that fish for their tanks. did Ron throw it back in?

Well, he's definitely improving ! The Glen Elder buffalo didn't make it into the boat if I recall. This one got landed. Sounds like Ron needs to buy a scale for sure. I'm sure that one would qualify for a State of Kansas Master Angler Award !!

That is a big fish.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by center12

Clean them rascals right an you got the best wing meat ever:cool:

---

Center12's post reminded me of the various roughfish recipes some KDWPT fish bios had put together. I've eaten them all and they ARE good! The recipes were put together by Leonard Jirak (retired KDWPT Fisheries Biologist) and Daric Schneidewind (current Milford Fish Hatchery Manager) probably in the early 1990's. Leonard helped me with a roughfish cleaning/cooking demonstration during the late '90's at the Springhill Fall Festival. Folks were very reluctant to try what we were frying up, but once they did we couldn't cook the fish fast enough! We also did a roughfish cooking demo at the Emporia Fishing Information Night (FIN) during 2009 and it too was very well received. We even had people that wanted to take the uncooked fish home with them so they could cook it themselves.

Those big buffalo have some really white meat on them. The ribletts are very good.

If your ego will let ya', throw one of those big buffs in the livewell sometime and give it a shot. Keep it iced down and treat it like you would a mess of crappie or walleye and I bet you'll be surprised on how good these fish can taste if properly prepared.

I've provided Leonard's and Daric's recipes below the pics of the roughfish cooking demonstration at the 2009 Emporia Fishing Information Night.

Attachment 135387

Attachment 135388

---

Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks

FRESHWATER SALMON
(CARP, BUFFALO, AND ROUGH FISH)

When most people catch a rough fish they automatically return the fish to the water without even considering it as a food dish. The misconceptions that society has placed on rough fish are mostly false. The rough fish species do tend to have a larger number of small bones in the fillets, but this does not mean the meat is not edible. There are a few ways to prepare the rough fish as a food dish that will change the common misconceptions most people have about rough fish.

Cleaning Preparations:

1. Fillet the side of the fish including the removal of the skin and scales.
2. Cut the rib section out and lay aside.

Cooking Preparations:

Patties:

1. Grind the fillet (without the rib section).
2. Add to approximately 2lbs. of ground fish:
-----a. One large egg
-----b. Two packs of crackers smashed (approximately 3/8-1/2 pound)
-----c. 1-2 cups of chopped onions
-----d. Any favorite seasoning
3. Make into patties approximately 2" thick.
4. Coat both sides with cornflake crumbs.
5. Cook in skillet with 1/4" oil at 375 degrees until golden brown then flip.

Ribletts:

1. Cut dark red strip out of back of rib section.
2. Cut rib section into 2-4 ribs per piece depending on size of fish.
3. Coat pieces in fish batter or coating and any favorite seasoning.
4. Deep fat fry until golden brown.
5. Remove let cool, eat like chicken, and enjoy.

Butterfly fillets:

1. Fleece (shave scales off leaving inner layer of skin so that pieces stay together during cooking)
2. Instead of making patties with the fillets take the ribless section and make many slices from top to bottom (not cutting all the way through within 1/16") slices should be within 1/8" of an inch from each other.
3. Take butterfly filleted fish and cut into desired sizes and deep fat fry same as ribletts.

*The ingredients and style of cooking can be adjusted to suit personal preferences.

Top Ten Reasons for Rough Fish Angling

1. Taste better when prepared correctly
2. Easy angling
3. Found in most rivers and lakes
4. Many larger fish available
5. Don’t have to fight for a good place to catch them
6. Doesn’t require a $30,000 boat
7. Fight more aggressively
8. Takes fewer to make a meal
9. Can be taken by more legal means than sportfish
10. No length or creel limits

*Prepared by Leonard Jirak and Daric Schneidewind for the interest of informing the public at demonstration

I remember my dad fishing for buffalo on the river using cotton seed blocks. We ate them and they were good, they were steaked and fried in lard. Makes my mouth water thinking about it. The next buffalo might not be so lucky and not be released. They do put up a battle I should of not of landed that fish as I was using a light weight gold crappie hook. Thanks Haledamage for posting the picture.

I was out at Pomona about a month ago and ended up catching a 29 pound Carp. We were trolling and I actually thought I got hung up so I handed the rod to my wife while I turned around and went back for my lure. The wife kept telling me that it was not hung up and eventually that 29 lber came to the surface! It was an awesome fish but we turned it loose to fight another day.

I snagged this article from the online newspaper back in 2008 since I found it interesting.
Somewhere I've heard that they market the buffalo fish as "White Fish" to get people away from the name bigmouth / smallmouth Buffalo Fish. Somewhere else I read an article quite a while back of someone trying to figure out how to commerically fish and market asian carp, but under the name "Silver Fish".

Buffalo roundup is some fish tale
Angler's work improving reservoir water
Attachment 135620

Michael Pearce/The Wichita Eagle
Helper Jacob Frock tosses fish into the livewell.
MARION RESERVOIR - J.D. Bell went fishing Monday and caught a ton. Actually, it was closer to a ton and a half. "It was up around 2,800 pounds," Bell said. The total catch was about 240 fish.
That puts him at about 60,000 pounds of buffalo fish from Marion Reservoir this spring. That figure could triple by year's end.
Biologists hope that leads to healthier drinking water for area residents and better fishing. It could also mean up to 200,000 meals for folks from Wichita to New York.
Most times, he's after bigmouth and smallmouth buffalo fish seldom caught by anglers.
Buffalo fish eat huge amounts of tiny plankton, which has caused sizable problems for the several summers Marion Reservoir has been plagued with blue-green algae.
The outbreaks leave the water smelling terrible and cause water plants using the lake to go to chemical extremes to keep the water palatable and safe to drink.
Tom Mosher, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks biologist, oversees a federally funded research project dealing with Marion's problems.
He said buffalo fish feed largely on zooplankton, which are a chief predator of the phytoplankton that causes the algae.
"We're hoping that by removing large numbers of buffalo, we can change the dynamics of the lake enough that the blue-green algae won't be a problem," he said.
Such programs worked in other states in the 1940s and '50s.
The many tons of zooplankton freed up by the removal of buffalo fish could mean much more food for game fish.
Jon Stein, Wildlife and Parks fisheries biologist for Marion, said recently hatched game fish feed heavily on plankton. Gizzard shad, the baitfish that help sustain most adult game fish in reservoirs, feed largely on the plankton.
"More zooplankton means more and bigger shad," Stein said, "and more and bigger game fish."
Bell has the only state contract allowed for commercial fishing in Kansas' reservoirs.
With the exception of licensed commercial anglers on the Missouri River, fishing with nets and selling wild fish caught from Kansas waters is otherwise illegal.
It's been Bell's livelihood for most of his life.
"Buffalo fish brought me to Kansas," said Bell, of Waverly. "I started commercial fishing the Missouri River (for buffalo) when I was 15. I've had my own company here for about 25 years."
In those years, he's removed buffalo from about 10 reservoirs. He expects to net at Marion for two years.
"This lake's so full of (buffalo) I could feel them hitting the nets while we were setting them," Bell said last week. "I'm expecting to (eventually) take 250,000 to 500,000 pounds."
Those lofty numbers are possible. During one three-year project, he removed about 1 million pounds of fish from Glen Elder Reservoir.
Four hours after Bell and helpers Jacob Frock and Dustin Altum stretched a mile of gill nets, they started hauling in their catch.
The nets rose 6 feet from the lake's bottom and had 4-inch-wide monofilament mesh, so smaller game fish could escape.
Buffalo were the only fish entangled in the nets. He credited net location.
"I know where they are and what they're doing," he said, "though in this lake, they're about everywhere."
Bell usually pays Kansas about a penny per pound for what he catches.
He said he earns between 15 to 60 cents per pound, depending on demand, fish species and how the fish are delivered.
"The idea is to keep them as fresh as possible," he said. "Once we get home we'll start cleaning them. Six of us can clean about 3,000 pounds of fish in a couple of hours. We know what we're doing."
The fish are usually quickly shipped to markets and wholesalers around the Midwest.
Bell said three locations in Wichita sell his fish.
"It's a good, white, flaky meat," said Paul White, P&P Seed and Bait owner. "I sell catfish, but I sell a lot more buffalo. I usually go through 600 to 800 pounds per month."
Bell has also shipped tons of buffalo to New York -- alive.
"We load about 20,000 pounds of fish per truck and (in) about 16 to 18 hours they're there," Bell said. "They don't waste any time."
Bell and crew won't be wasting time at Marion, either. When weather allows, they'll run the gill nets this summer and fall.
This summer he'll also be removing carp from the lake. Grant money for Mosher's study will pay Bell 10 cents per pound to remove the invasive species.
An unmarketable species, the carp will be buried.
Mosher said carp are notorious for muddying water as they root for food. That stirs up nutrients that could fuel blue-green algae growth.
Once most game fish head for cooler, deeper water, Bell plans to sweep up carp in a mile-long seine that winches pull through the water.
"I might be getting a quarter of a million pounds in one haul," he said. "That's the best way to get a lot of fish."