Eelpout: world's most sought after game fish?

[Guest]

A friend of mine says that he doesn't trust ant fish that comes out of the hole backwards. I personally like the fish. Their mottled brown coloring is nice....If you haven't eaten pout you don't know what you're missing....And talk about a fighting fish when hooked, they fishgt like rocks. People ask... What's exciting about fighting a rock? To which my reply is... Try lifting a ten pound rock with 6 pound test. My claim to fame with the pout is that i was the first person to ever catch a pout from the Greasy Whore Saloon gang during the pout fest.

Toad

[Fish On!]

Cooked up some lota lota last night. Cleaning these fish is a little rude. I figure there's about one pound of slime for every pound of fish. Doesn't matter if you rinse the fish off first, the slime quickly replenishes itself even after the fish has been frozen out in the garage for several days. It's tough to get a handle on the slippery buggers which makes fileting them almost as dangerous catching them.

Amazing how small eelpout filets are considering the fishes length and girth. A backstrap off a five pounder looks like a filet from a one pound walleye. But the product is very, very good.

Question: I've heard of eelpout being caught in a huge range of depths, but what's the deepest anyone's ever caught an eelpout?

[Guest]

I usually on fish on LOW, so not very deep, I think right around 29 feet.

[hydro]

Here's a tip for anyone who wants to try eating 'pout. Don't let the flesh freeze or it will get tough. There is an enzyme in the meat that causes a reaction when frozen that will toughen the meat, and the longet it's frozen the worse it gets.

As for cooking it, try poaching. In a covered pan with enough cold water to cover the fillets, add a little lemon juice, a couple of onion slices and some salt. Bring this to a boil and turn off the heat. Without uncovering, let the fillets sit in the hot water for 10 minutes. Enjoy with butter and S&P.

Hydro

[Poutmaster]

Fish On - To answer your question, the deepest I've ever caught one is 52 feet down. I was trout fishibg and thought I had the mother of all trout on. To my dismay, it was a 12 pound bright yellow speckeled Pout. To this day I am still refered to in my fishing circle as, "The Poutmaster"

[Minnetonka]

I went back to my old college books to see if there was any referance to depths for Eel Pout. It was reported that commercial fisherman have pulled them up from over 400 feet deep in Lake superior. I am also a SCUBA diver, and many years ago, I won a spear fishing contest (for rough fish) when I shot an Eel Pout in 85 feet of water in Bad Medicine Lake.

[Guest]

the Eelpout festval in Walker is Feb 15,16 and 17.

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[Poutmaster]

The 12 pound Pout I wrote of a few posts back, also was caught on Bad Medicine Lake. Must be a pout hotbed!

[LaVoi]

wow I had no idea there was pout in B.M.

[huntnfish]

I too am a scuba diver and have seen them in White Earth. They just lay there in their little hole on the bottom. You can get pretty close to them if you move slowly. I carry a dive knife and have had hand to hand combat with these ugly fish. It is quite a rush to spear one with a knife.

[fiskyknut]

Yeah my brassies are'nt that big either, I think those folks are NUTS.

Fisky

[Guest]

This goes out to jt24. The eelpout festival is on feb.15,16,17. It's always a blast watching the people out there with there new improved icehouses. Hust stay safe and sober. C ya

[fiskyknut]

huntnfish
Sounds like you should go down south where they do that doodling? thing, ya know when they reach into undercut banks and logs and what have you, and pull out those big flatheads, if you ever do watchout for the big snapping turtles!

Fisky

[huntnfish]

I have heard of doodling down south and I think that would be an even bigger rush, but I don't think that I have a pair big enough to do something like that. I like to see what I'm putting my hand close to. I like having 10 fingers and I want to keep it that way.