dropKickMurphy said:
Jeez... Almost DKM! But then I remember the good old days of sticking M80's in the sunfishes mouths and blowin' em up. Free speech once again comes to mind and I believe that People Eating Tasty Animals has every right to their 'shock and awe' campaign.
Peg.... They're slimy alright. Especially when you've got your arm all the way inside of a cut off 55 gallon drum underwater and you've been holding your breath for nearly a minute. However the key to grappling is to take turns with the real rednecks. I learned that you let them go first to wear out the fish that's in that barrell. Then, when it's your turn, you stick your hand in there (you MUST wear work gloves) find the sucker's mouth, jam your thumb in the mouth and let it bite you. It doesn't hurt much as catfish have many little teeth that barely ever penetrate the work glove. Once he's bitten you, he's doomed. You've got access to grab him by the gill and yank him out. The tough part that would piss off PETA is that cats have the horns....big ones sometimes and they often break when you pull the fish through the small hole at the top of the drum.
See here's how grappling worked in my experience w/ it. These old guys cut plastic 55 gallon drums in half and cut a hole in the halves that's barely big enough for your arm. In late winter they go out on the shallow part of the lake, which is miles long and wide and put their barrels down in the muck so that the hole is the only way in (or out). These old rednecks don't even mark their barrels, they just remember where they are, which amazed me. Then the catfish go in there in the spring to make babies. The mommas and poppas are nice and big by summer. Their spikes are dull because they're old and worn. The little ones are different.. they're active and those friggin spikes hurt and cause a heck of a wound and possible infection if they get you right. You go out in the boat with the old timers who never get out, they just yell at you what to do. You walk side by side in the muck with old sneakers on 'till somebody hits a barrel. That person calls the others over and puts their foot over the hole. Then you just take turns holding your breath and going under the water, completely blind. You stick your arm in the hole and chase the fish around w/ your gloved hand. You do this until somebody gets the prize... I got 5 fish that day and the 2 in the pic are my biggest ones.
If that aint redneck, I don't know what is! It's actually scary at first because the old timers make it a point to tell you horror stories about turtles and snakes that find their way into the barrells.
,lol.