Went fishing with Captain Billy

[Atchman2]

Captain Billy is a local fishing guide. I've seen his videos a bunch of times. My wife just loves to fish, so for her birthday I got her a guided fishing trip. I chose the "mixed bag" as catching a lot of fish is always fun. We started up at Melton Hill dam and went down the river later.

At the dam we caught white bass, catfish, and a LOT of drum. More drum than I've ever seen. Then we went down the river for largemouth bass. We caught five decent sized bass which was exciting since we were using light line.

THEN she hung this thing. It was HUGE! I've seen them in an aquarium but never caught one. It weighed around 30 pounds and actually pulled the boat for a bit. She had a great day fishing and I think she enjoyed her birthday present!

 

[mike243]

Happy belated to her, love catching fish the bigger the better,

 

[Setterman]

That's great. A few weeks ago the drum were stacked up at the dam. I've never seen anything like it, was really fun and dang near every cast at times

 

[Kevin Snook]

Captain Billy is a local fishing guide. I've seen his videos a bunch of times. My wife just loves to fish, so for her birthday I got her a guided fishing trip. I chose the "mixed bag" as catching a lot of fish is always fun. We started up at Melton Hill dam and went down the river later.

At the dam we caught white bass, catfish, and a LOT of drum. More drum than I've ever seen. Then we went down the river for largemouth bass. We caught five decent sized bass which was exciting since we were using light line.

THEN she hung this thing. It was HUGE! I've seen them in an aquarium but never caught one. It weighed around 30 pounds and actually pulled the boat for a bit. She had a great day fishing and I think she enjoyed her birthday present!

Congratulations on a great trip, Captain Billy seems like a nice guy.

 

[Atchman2]

That's great. A few weeks ago the drum were stacked up at the dam. I've never seen anything like it, was really fun and dang near every cast at times

We caught a drum almost every cast! It was crazy!

 

[Sako]

Known Billy for years... He is a nice guy and I am glad you all had a great trip with him. That is a really nice Buffalo... Catching lots of fish can be a lot of fun and a great way to spend the day

 

[Setterman]

We caught a drum almost every cast! It was crazy!

I've been fishing there my entire life and never seen anything like it. They were pushing the shad against the dam and in a dang frenzy. Was really fun

 

[redblood]

I have caught very few drum in my life. But they are fun.

 

[mike243]

I have had them make my boat sing late at night on Norris, aluminum really picks up their noise.

 

[flyinpro]

That's why we call it fishing & not catching! It is fun. My question what do you do with the drum? Use them for fertilizer?

 

[CATCHDAWG]

Buffalo are a blast! I fish for them every spring when they are running.

 

[Setterman]

That's why we call it fishing & not catching! It is fun. My question what do you do with the drum? Use them for fertilizer?

It's okay to release fish and not keep them to eat

They also aren't the worst thing to eat if you're so inclined

 

[TheLBLman]

They also aren't the worst thing to eat if you're so inclined

Have never eaten a fresh-water drum, but don't people routinely eat saltwater drum?

 

[Wooden Arrow]

my brother ate them, i haven't tried them. used to be a group from Kentucky showed up every spring at Rogersville with an ice chest full of crawdads for bait & loaded up on them.

 

[Setterman]

Have never eaten a fresh-water drum, but don't people routinely eat saltwater drum?

They do, and they're quite tasty

 

[TheLBLman]

Interesting that so many fish species many American fisherman now consider "trash" fish, that in times past here, and in current times in other countries, some of these trash fish are considered a delicacy.

Several decades ago, weren't buffalo fish sold in America much like catfish are today?

Don't Europeans today eat a lot of carp? Heck, they purposefully fish for carp in many places much like we fish for trout!

And my friend Simms down in Chattanooga is a gar fisherman extraordinaire

 

[CATCHDAWG]

Interesting that so many fish species many American fisherman now consider "trash" fish, that in times past here, and in current times in other countries, some of these trash fish are considered a delicacy.

Several decades ago, weren't buffalo fish sold in America much like catfish are today?

Don't Europeans today eat a lot of carp? Heck, they purposefully fish for carp in many places much like we fish for trout!

And my friend Simms down in Chattanooga is a gar fisherman extraordinaire

Buddy of mine cans buffalo and makes patties out of it. Says it's very good. I've eaten smoked common carp and it was ok but kind of a dark meat.

 

[TheLBLman]

Buddy of mine cans buffalo and makes patties out of it.

My grandmother used to do that with carp.

 

[chris1976]

Interesting that so many fish species many American fisherman now consider "trash" fish, that in times past here, and in current times in other countries, some of these trash fish are considered a delicacy.

Several decades ago, weren't buffalo fish sold in America much like catfish are today?

Don't Europeans today eat a lot of carp? Heck, they purposefully fish for carp in many places much like we fish for trout!

And my friend Simms down in Chattanooga is a gar fisherman extraordinaire

Buffalo fish is excellent. The main reason most people don't eat them is because of all the tiny bones. They have a machine that you run the buffalo fillet through and it scores the fillet every 1/8 inch or so. The bones then dissolve when it's deep fried. Absolutely delicious fish.

 

[chris1976]

Looks like this when done

 

[TheLBLman]

Wow! That looks delicious!!!
Maybe I should try that with Asian carp?

 

[flyinpro]

It's okay to release fish and not keep them to eat

They also aren't the worst thing to eat if you're so inclined

I release all of mine. Occasionally will eat perch or crappie depending on the lake or if I'm camping or not.

 

[7mm08]

Interesting that so many fish species many American fisherman now consider "trash" fish, that in times past here, and in current times in other countries, some of these trash fish are considered a delicacy.

Several decades ago, weren't buffalo fish sold in America much like catfish are today?

Don't Europeans today eat a lot of carp? Heck, they purposefully fish for carp in many places much like we fish for trout!

And my friend Simms down in Chattanooga is a gar fisherman extraordinaire

Years ago , red drum ( redfish) were so plentiful they were fed to pigs and no one ate them. Until, a guy named Paul Prudhomme came up with blackened redfish.