Eelpout Fishing?

[OnAFly]

So my work has decided to cut hours beginning the week of FEB 23 so I'll have a day every week to get out. How long does the pout bite last? Anyone have any suggestions for any lakes that have good pout catching possibilities other than Leech and LOW?

[metro fisherman]

Mille Lacs has pout. Your going to have to drive though. Personally i would get into pan fishing for sunnies and such instead of driving all that way.

[pikedreams]

They also get plenty of pout on the Miss up in Sartel below the dam.

[Flaco651]

Mille Lacs. I got into my first pout ever, this year out there near Hunter's Point. Wasn't that big, but the guy that owns the sleeper we were in has caught bigger and had multiple pout nights.

[pdk511]

just wondering, why would you WANT to catch one of those things?

[Flaco651]

Quote:

just wondering, why would you WANT to catch one of those things?

Why not?

For me, it was to add another fish to my list of species caught. They also put up one heck of a fight. They're pretty cool actually...

[mrfish1991]

Ya...pretty cool until they do the death wrap around their arm and you have to take the hook out. Or when one pout makes a run on all four of your rattle reels at 2am

[pdk511]

i know ewwwww, the first time one wrapped around my arm I almost went through the canvas of my portable!

[7outof10]

well not being a pout man what is the death wrap

[riverrat56]

Imagion a Giant ball of slime covering your arm and you've about got it! They will wrap their entire body around your arm when trying to unhook them. That said I love pout and go out of my way to target them when on Leech or LOW!

[andrew chadwick]

they are better eating than walleye, that's why! Its simply a freshwater cod.

[OnAFly]

That's pretty much why I want to catch one. Any fish that puts up a heck of a fight and tastes better than a walleye sounds like a good fish to me! I might have to take a trip up to Leech sometime soon here.

[fivebucks]

Pout is OK to me but I prefer walleye to cod anyday. Smoked pout on the other hand is the best smoked fish I have ever smoked.

[ICE_KING]

Man id love to catch one of these guys! They are amazing fish and sound super good!

[waysanders]

Pikedreams, what can you tell me about catching pout below the dam in Sartell? ([email protected] if you want to keep private)

[NorthernFarmer]

I dont know how you figure pout fight. I have fished LOW my whole life and every time I catch one it feels like im pulling up a log.

[Deitz Dittrich]

When I was in College(Go Beavers).. My buds and I would head out to Pout spawning areas.. Tie up a Northland Airplane jig, and put as many minnows on it as we possibly could. Then, just bang the thing into the bottom as much as we could. It was a blast, and I disagree with the above poster, they do put up a fight..

On a side note, we kept quite a few and would cook them up in the dorms.. it was a blast, and very good eating when cooked right.

[RussC]

Catching a pout is like going to a restaurant and not getting what you ordered. You get all excited because you're gonna get something good, and then the wrong thing shows up and it's a huge letdown. I personally refuse to target a fish that tangles with every line within 50 yards and curls up at the bottom of the hole so you can't get it up.

[The Prodigy]

To all who feel the need to comment negatively towards this fellows post: find a different HSOforum to post your thoughts on. End of story. This is a HSOforum that people who love to fish for WHATEVER they love to fish for can use. If a guy asks a group outside of a restaurant if the liver and onions is any good, he's not looking for someone to pipe up and say they would never order liver and onions because it smells bad and it gives them gas. I am sure this guy could care less why someone would never fish for eelpout, think about it before you post things of this nature. Now, I have heard the pout fishing is really good on Winnie, as far as other lakes I haven't heard. Also I have been told by people in the know that very bright glowing jigging spoons and airplane jigs are the ticket, tipped with crushed minnows(for scent). Good luck man, I am going tomorrow night for the first time myself!

THE PRODIGY.

[buddha]

POUT rule!!! Glad many of you poor souls don't like them, keep them out for the rest of us! Besides LOW, Mille Lacs on the perch grounds seems to attract them. Just make a lot of noise on the bottom with a minnow and a spoon and hope!

[Tippman]

Hey I gotta say I love pout too, won me a fishouse up at Eelpout festival with one

Now I just gotta bring myself to trying them as table fare.

[MNSnow]

A group of 4 of us are headed up to Winni tomorrow. I'm hoping to land a few pout as I've heard they put up a great fight and I'm looking forward to trying them at the dinner table.

[iceman16]

i love fishing for pout. last week on mille lacs i hooked into a couple nice ones 22-25 inchers. all we were catching was little perch and all the sudden the rod was bent in half drag screaming. they were fun.

iceman

[Outdoorsman142]

lake bemidji has quite a few, i have also caught many of them on lake vermillion