Ate $130 of Catfish Maybe We Should Call This The Eating Report...

I have often written about the four stages to an outdoors man or women's life. #1, wants to catch them all. #2 wants to catch a big one. #3 wants nice gear and #4 just glad to be out there. We probably spend about 8 years mired in that wants to catch them all phase but lately I think we need a #5 and that would be happy to get enough for a fish dinner. Yesterday we had 9 catfish and that fed the three fishermen, the Zamora boys and we sent a care package up to the night nurses at Woodland Height's Labor and Delivery.  

Things were off to a slow start. The lake is still dropping due to work on the dam rip rap and 4' water where we caught fish last weekend is now 2 foot water. Water clarity is still poor after the big rains and when we first started there was a bit of a ripple of wind on the water which provides some shade for critters like catfish that have no hat brims or eye lids but soon died and we never caught another fish after that. Cathy had first fish and it was a good one.  

Matt took this fish on one of the light bite spinning rigs. 

Things were looking pretty poor for the home team and blog writer but I finally caught one nice blue and a couple of channel cats. 

Speaking of eating catfish everyone remembers what they were doing when they first had Pop Pop's fried catfish. Milo gets his fist bite of catfish. 

While we have not had the numbers lately we have had nice blue cats and Cathy and I usually tuck away a package or two of fillets that are an easy thaw out with just enough for two people. I think I ate catfish 5 times this week. We had stuffed cream chees and spinach catfish, fish tacos, catfish corn chowder, left over catfish corn chowder and then the fried catfish with a couple of thick blackened pieces that ate like a steak after this trip.

I checked Ralph and Kacoo's and on the lunch menu they have thin cut catfish, charro beans, french fries and hushpuppy for $13. If you just count what me and Cathy ate in catfish that's at least $130 worth of dinners. I'll include a venmo link at the end so the nurses from Woodland can pony up.     

Here's the catch. As the lake continues to drop we won't have the opportunity to tie up and fish right next to the willow and cypress trees so it will make finding just the right spot with the right depth challenging. I guess if we get enough for two that's a $26 meal.