Rusty Nets
Rusty and (nickname LuLu) came by the dock this morning as I was working on some paperwork and yelled “Get your camera and jump on the boat!” and I did, too. We spent a couple hours raising some of his nets 
on the Atchafalaya River. It was a good morning. The pictures show some of the process of setting the nets and raising them.
We caught smallmouth buffalo, which is what he is really after, and goujons (flathead cats) and blue cats – one nice big one. He told me that he doesn’t like to catch goujons because once one is in a net, nothing else will go into that net. They are such feared p
redators that other fish avoid even the vicinity of the goujons. I knew they had that reputation among fishermen, but I didn’t know other fish knew it too.
The blue cat weighs about 30 pounds. It would make a nice prize on a trotline!
The sheriff’s boat for St. Martin Parish came by on routine patrol. They said hello and moved on to other business – a Mr. Guidry and a Ms. Sickey (sorry for the misspelling).
Rusty gave me some more surprising information about stuff that is showing up in the river these days. Now he says he is catching sting rays right here by our dock, and he caught another sheepshead here today also, and a flounder! He also caught a redfish, about eight pounds, here a while ago. So now, what’s left? Maybe we can throw out some speck rigs and see what goes after them?
Like I say, a good morning.
The river is at 3.0 feet on the Butte La Rose gauge, rising to 4.5 by Wednesday. A veritable tidal wave of water! The Mississippi and Ohio are both falling up high.
Rise and Shine, Jim
on the Atchafalaya River. It was a good morning. The pictures show some of the process of setting the nets and raising them.
We caught smallmouth buffalo, which is what he is really after, and goujons (flathead cats) and blue cats – one nice big one. He told me that he doesn’t like to catch goujons because once one is in a net, nothing else will go into that net. They are such feared p
redators that other fish avoid even the vicinity of the goujons. I knew they had that reputation among fishermen, but I didn’t know other fish knew it too. The blue cat weighs about 30 pounds. It would make a nice prize on a trotline!
The sheriff’s boat for St. Martin Parish came by on routine patrol. They said hello and moved on to other business – a Mr. Guidry and a Ms. Sickey (sorry for the misspelling).
Rusty gave me some more surprising information about stuff that is showing up in the river these days. Now he says he is catching sting rays right here by our dock, and he caught another sheepshead here today also, and a flounder! He also caught a redfish, about eight pounds, here a while ago. So now, what’s left? Maybe we can throw out some speck rigs and see what goes after them?
Like I say, a good morning.
The river is at 3.0 feet on the Butte La Rose gauge, rising to 4.5 by Wednesday. A veritable tidal wave of water! The Mississippi and Ohio are both falling up high.
Rise and Shine, Jim
posted by jim | 9:59 PM
4 Comments:
Do you eat the fish in town? Or
do you catch it for export?
Best regards,
Martijn Fransen
Hello Martijn! These fish are caught here in Louisiana but are sent to places like Memphis, Tennessee. In other words, they are not exported from the U.S. Thanks for your question. Where are you writing from?
Jim
Redfish, too! I am impressed.
Yeah, me too Bud. Thanks, Jim
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