Ozarks Excursion (Sucker Grabbing) (DUW)

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KingCam
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Ozarks Excursion (Sucker Grabbing) (DUW)

Post by KingCam »

I'll be headed down to southern MO this weekend to do a bit of sucker grabbing (below pictures will help clarify what that is, lol). Hoping to find a plethora of local herps while I'm there. Hopefully I'll get some good pictures, but for now I'll post pictures from last year's sucker grabbing trip!

So, sucker grabbing. You basically cast a brightly colored large sharp hook out into the water, wait for the spawning sucker fish to swim over, and if you jerk the rod at just the right moment you'll snag one! It's more difficult than it may sound, it's not uncommon to bring your hook back with just 1 scale on the tip.

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My little brother being a goober

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My cousin Tiffany loves to show me up at this

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Closeup of the sucker fish

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Nerodia sipedon

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Long-pincered Crawdad (native only to the white river basin)

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Very large N. sipedon

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These were on the menu for most of the snakes in this area (gotta love that waterproof Canon Powershot D10)

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Sometimes you miss your target and snag the wrong fish

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...and of course she had to out do me on who could snag the smallest target

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Map turtle

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FINALLY SNAGGED ONE!! WOO HOO!!

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Thanks for looking! :D
- Cam
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-EJ
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Re: Ozarks Excursion (Sucker Grabbing) (DUW)

Post by -EJ »

Do you eat those? Are they bony like carp? There was this stream in PA near a popular fossil hunting location which was home to some really huge (2-3+ lb) suckers. Looked like a really fun trip.
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KingCam
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Re: Ozarks Excursion (Sucker Grabbing) (DUW)

Post by KingCam »

-EJ wrote:Do you eat those? Are they bony like carp?
Yeah, you can eat them and they are pretty good if you cook 'em right, but they are indeed bony like carp. You have to take great care in their preparation to make sure you don't get a sharp bone in your gums. My grandma was a *pro* at cleaning them. I wish I would have paid more attention to her method while she was still around because I suck at it! lmao :lol:
-EJ wrote:There was this stream in PA near a popular fossil hunting location which was home to some really huge (2-3+ lb) suckers.
I've never been to PA, I'd love to visit one day.
-EJ wrote:Looked like a really fun trip.
It always is! Even when you don't manage to snag a single one

- Cam
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Mike VanValen
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Re: Ozarks Excursion (Sucker Grabbing) (DUW)

Post by Mike VanValen »

This brings back memories. I used to go down to the river and catch up schools of white sucker in an old sheet. I had pools of turtles in my backyard and we used the suckers to feed them.

That's a nice looking stream. Great way to spend a day!
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Mike Pingleton
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Re: Ozarks Excursion (Sucker Grabbing) (DUW)

Post by Mike Pingleton »

Very cool, Cam. I attended an Ozark 'sucker fry' many moons ago. I remember them being pretty tasty. Need to walk down a crick, scare up suckers and watch ;em go!

-Mike
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Mark Brown
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Re: Ozarks Excursion (Sucker Grabbing) (DUW)

Post by Mark Brown »

I had a good friend who used to do something similar down here with carp. He'd use a big treble hook and put a piece of aluminum foil on the hook so he could see it better underwater. One of the funniest things I've ever seen was the day he was foul-hooking carp this way from a little inflatable in Austin's Town Lake. I was watching from the bank when he hooked a carp that had to go 40 pounds. When he set the hook, that carp lit the afterburners and towed my friend halfway to Longhorn Dam before he cut the line. It looked like he could have pulled a skier behind that little inflatable!
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Jay Jacoby
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EJ Fossil site?

Post by Jay Jacoby »

Not to get off topic, but would like to know where a popular PA fossil site is located. I live in PA, and would love to know.

Thanks,

Jay [email protected]
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Mike Pingleton
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Re: Ozarks Excursion (Sucker Grabbing) (DUW)

Post by Mike Pingleton »

Sounds like a Nantucket Sleigh Ride, Texas Style!
Mark Brown wrote:I had a good friend who used to do something similar down here with carp. He'd use a big treble hook and put a piece of aluminum foil on the hook so he could see it better underwater. One of the funniest things I've ever seen was the day he was foul-hooking carp this way from a little inflatable in Austin's Town Lake. I was watching from the bank when he hooked a carp that had to go 40 pounds. When he set the hook, that carp lit the afterburners and towed my friend halfway to Longhorn Dam before he cut the line. It looked like he could have pulled a skier behind that little inflatable!
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Mark Brown
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Re: Ozarks Excursion (Sucker Grabbing) (DUW)

Post by Mark Brown »

Mike Pingleton wrote:Sounds like a Nantucket Sleigh Ride, Texas Style!
That's a perfect description! (and brings back great memories of Leslie West and Mountain, too!)

I was literally rolling on the ground. :lol:
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DaneConley
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Re: Ozarks Excursion (Sucker Grabbing) (DUW)

Post by DaneConley »

Fishing and Herpng :thumb:
Best idea since sliced bread
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KingCam
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Re: Ozarks Excursion (Sucker Grabbing) (DUW)

Post by KingCam »

Mike VanValen wrote:This brings back memories. I used to go down to the river and catch up schools of white sucker in an old sheet. I had pools of turtles in my backyard and we used the suckers to feed them.
In a sheet? Really? I feel like I wouldn't have the dexterity to pull something like that off :lol:

Mike Pingleton wrote:Very cool, Cam. I attended an Ozark 'sucker fry' many moons ago. I remember them being pretty tasty. Need to walk down a crick, scare up suckers and watch ;em go!
They just fry 'em up in some beer batter or what? I could use some advice in making them taste better, haha. Do you remember details from that many moons back?? :lol:
Mark Brown wrote:I had a good friend who used to do something similar down here with carp. He'd use a big treble hook and put a piece of aluminum foil on the hook so he could see it better underwater. One of the funniest things I've ever seen was the day he was foul-hooking carp this way from a little inflatable in Austin's Town Lake. I was watching from the bank when he hooked a carp that had to go 40 pounds. When he set the hook, that carp lit the afterburners and towed my friend halfway to Longhorn Dam before he cut the line. It looked like he could have pulled a skier behind that little inflatable!
I would have paid to see something like that happen!! I hooked a bass once that drug my little paddle boat about 30ft. before the line broke. Needless to say, I wanted to cry when it broke.
DaneConley wrote:Fishing and Herpng :thumb:
Best idea since sliced bread
I tend to agree :P It's one of my absolute favorite things to do in the spring!

- Cam
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Mike VanValen
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Re: Ozarks Excursion (Sucker Grabbing) (DUW)

Post by Mike VanValen »

KingCam wrote: In a sheet? Really? I feel like I wouldn't have the dexterity to pull something like that off :lol:
Looking back it wasn't the smoothest way to get fish, but we were young and didn't have a net. It makes the memories that much better, though!
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Mark Brown
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Re: Ozarks Excursion (Sucker Grabbing) (DUW)

Post by Mark Brown »

DaneConley wrote:Fishing and Herpng :thumb:
Best idea since sliced bread
They can be combined, too - when I was a little rugrat in Little Rock, AR, we used to catch Three-toed Amphiumas on hook and line, baited with bacon.
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KingCam
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Re: Ozarks Excursion (Sucker Grabbing) (DUW)

Post by KingCam »

Mark Brown wrote:They can be combined, too - when I was a little rugrat in Little Rock, AR, we used to catch Three-toed Amphiumas on hook and line, baited with bacon.
No kidding?? I've caught a lot of crawdads with bacon on a line, but never any herps. I catch a lot of snappers while I'm catfishing with chicken liver, I can tell you that much! You always know when you have a snapper on the line if it feels like you're dragging a 500lb log through the water. And the most effective way I've found to catch the big papa bullfrogs is with a bright yellow rubber grub on a hook. They bite *every* time.

- Cam
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Mark Brown
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Re: Ozarks Excursion (Sucker Grabbing) (DUW)

Post by Mark Brown »

KingCam wrote:
Mark Brown wrote:They can be combined, too - when I was a little rugrat in Little Rock, AR, we used to catch Three-toed Amphiumas on hook and line, baited with bacon.
No kidding?? I've caught a lot of crawdads with bacon on a line, but never any herps. I catch a lot of snappers while I'm catfishing with chicken liver, I can tell you that much! You always know when you have a snapper on the line if it feels like you're dragging a 500lb log through the water. And the most effective way I've found to catch the big papa bullfrogs is with a bright yellow rubber grub on a hook. They bite *every* time.

- Cam
That's all we had for bait, being only 9 or 10 and having little disposable income :D We caught mudbugs, too, and loads of panfish. The amphiuma lived inside the cinder block dock we fished from, and we could just see the tips of the head when we'd lean over the edge of the dock and look down. We had no idea what the things were until we pulled the first one out - we had to go out in the water and pull it straight out from the dock and then up to the bank. We still didn't know what it was until someone's father looked it up in a field guide - we only knew that they were big, ugly, and very unhappy. Fortunately, we only caught two or three - fortunate, since the animals didn't survive the encounter.
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KingCam
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Re: Ozarks Excursion (Sucker Grabbing) (DUW)

Post by KingCam »

Mark Brown wrote:That's all we had for bait, being only 9 or 10 and having little disposable income :D We caught mudbugs, too, and loads of panfish. The amphiuma lived inside the cinder block dock we fished from, and we could just see the tips of the head when we'd lean over the edge of the dock and look down. We had no idea what the things were until we pulled the first one out - we had to go out in the water and pull it straight out from the dock and then up to the bank. We still didn't know what it was until someone's father looked it up in a field guide - we only knew that they were big, ugly, and very unhappy. Fortunately, we only caught two or three - fortunate, since the animals didn't survive the encounter.
I've never even seen an amphiuma in nature, or a siren for that matter. I'd love to locate one (or many) one of these days.

- Cam
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Re: Ozarks Excursion (Sucker Grabbing) (DUW)

Post by kcmatt »

You don't hear the term "sucker fry" very often, or sucker grabbing for that matter.

I have to know where in NE Missouri Jackson County is? I only know of the one in western MO.
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KingCam
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Re: Ozarks Excursion (Sucker Grabbing) (DUW)

Post by KingCam »

kcmatt wrote:I have to know where in NE Missouri Jackson County is? I only know of the one in western MO.
Kansas City is in Jackson County. We're right on the border of MO & KS and directly south of the Missouri River. Hope that helps!

- Cam
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Re: Ozarks Excursion (Sucker Grabbing) (DUW)

Post by Mike Pingleton »

You want details from 35 years ago? :D They were breaded and deep fried, not pan-fried, I remember that much.

Anybody else craving beer-battered feesh now?
KingCam wrote:
Mike Pingleton wrote:Very cool, Cam. I attended an Ozark 'sucker fry' many moons ago. I remember them being pretty tasty. Need to walk down a crick, scare up suckers and watch ;em go!
They just fry 'em up in some beer batter or what? I could use some advice in making them taste better, haha. Do you remember details from that many moons back?? :lol:

- Cam
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