ever shot a catfish?

[jmorris]

I built a pond rake to clean out one of our ponds to make it possible to fish again. Well it stirred up a little bit of everything. I noticed a catfish right at the waters edge that I assumed I raked up the day before. As I closed in I realized it was a snake that had taken him to shore. He was about half way there but the shot dislodged the fish.

 

[indoorsoccerfrea]

that's a nice sized snake you got there! 5 foot? looks to be a water moccason if i can see it right...

ive shot at a bass in my pond once...i forgot to account for the deflection of light and the change of the bullet's path, so i missed. such a shame, i was hungry

 

[countertop]

Is that a moccasin???

I hate snakes

 

[svtruth]

Vermont

IIRC has, or used to have a gun season for pike. The females would come into shallow water to spawn, attended by males. Vermonters would climb trees and shoot at them. The concussion would stun them. I believe alcohol was often involved too.
Can anyone confirm?

 

[countertop]

Yes.

They still do. There was a great article in the NY Times about this a couple of years ago.

Apparently, Virginia does as well - though I knew people in Vermont who did and have yet to find anyone in Virginia who does.

I blogged about it then (at my old site)

 

[MCgunner]

When I was a kid, I shot a redfish, or next to it and stunned it, that was next to my boat while I was duck hunting. Shot next to him with my 20 gauge, mud everywhere, reached down and put him in the boat.

I've shot a lot of gar and a few buffalo suckers....with a bow and harpoon. It's a lot of fun.

 

[mbt2001]

Reminds me of Bull frog hunting in irrigation canals or small creeks. Straight down shot, 22 short right to the head. Not but a few inches of water between you and the target if that.

 

[Grumulkin]

I've taken carp with a 22 LR.

 

[Dave P]

My grandfather used to shoot the big muskies after he landed them. They gots big teeth in North Wisconson.

 

[KenWP]

Where my dad comes from a Sask. they shot lots of fish in the spring during spawning season with 22's. They ate a lot of suckers in the spring let alone pike.

 

[MCgunner]

My grandfather used to shoot the big muskies after he landed them. They gots big teeth in North Wisconson.

During the summer, black tip and lemon shark ar in the bay big time and put up a great fight. If I can't get one hand around 'em in back of the head, I tranquilize 'em with my .38. I do it before landing them, though. Wouldn't be smart to shoot 'em in the boat. Besides, they're sometimes too big to land without tranquilizing them. They've messed up the shark limits, though, to ONE per day. It's the commercial pressure on them. The sport fishing pressure on shark is not that great. They have a rather low natality rate, though, being live barers.

Where my dad comes from a Sask. they shot lots of fish in the spring during spawning season with 22's. They ate a lot of suckers in the spring let alone pike.

When I first got into bow fishing, I shot some buffalo sucker fish. I tried to eat a few, but they were so full of interstitial bones, they weren't worth the effort. Tasted fine, just too many bones. Make great cut bait for trot lines, though.

 

[Mp7]

as a kid i "stabbed" a 2,5foot rainbowtrout once.

i happened to be sitting right where this bis fish swam by.
The Martiini filetting knife and my reflexes did the rest

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

You must have rented "Secondhand Lions".

I saw a snake exactly like that Monday while kayaking on a river - is that a water moccasin?

 

[countertop]

I saw a snake exactly like that Monday while kayaking on a river - is that a water moccasin?

Thats what I want to know. I didn't grow up down south - and so don't know them from others. But I hate snakes.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

No, I found it - it's this one I think, not a cottonmouth:

http://www.oksnakes.org/snakes/diamondbackwatersnake.htm

 

[Mp7]

i thought cottonmouth was related to a special kind of "flora" not "fauna"

 

[blkbrd666]

Looks like a water snake, or Water Moccasin as they called in NC. Not poisonous. Doesn't look dark enough for a Cottonmouth. One way to tell for sure, check for fangs(with a stick, not your fingers). On a Cottonmouth that size, they would be a half inch long.

 

[countertop]

But it could also be this snake - the western cottonmouth (was this found in Oklahoma??).



The shape of the head on the original posters snake makes me think its a moccasin. I guess this description would help too.

Cottonmouths swim with their head up and their entire body on the surface of the water, unlike the harmless water snakes, which swim with the lower half of their body underneath the water.

 

[2dswamp]

Just an FYI...water moccasin and cottonmouth are the same snake. "Cottonmouth" is a slang term used to describe a water moccasin
as the interior of it's mouth is white as cotton, especially when wide open.

And yes, it is venemous.

 

[countertop]

water moccasin and cottonmouth are the same snake

Yep.

Doesn't look dark enough for a Cottonmouth.

Same page of Oklahoma snakes has this picture of a moccasin.



Its tough to tell coloring by pictures. I guess someone who knew could make a positive identification from the pattern on the body. I don't know. Just wondering if someone else here (or the original poster) does.

 

[MCgunner]

i thought cottonmouth was related to a special kind of "flora" not "fauna"

CottonWOOD, maybe?

 

[chas08]

This sight explained the Cottonmouth very well. Most water snakes are mistakenly called moccasins. Note in the photos the thick body, a trait not found in the majority of water snakes. But right or wrong, I kill them all, so I won't hurt myself later by being surprised by the same snake.

http://www.wf.net/~snake/moccasin.htm

 

[jimmyraythomason]

IIRC,there 17 different species/sub-speces of water snakes/moccasins in the Glorious South. One of which is known as the Cottonmouth. A CM is a legless grizzly in attitude when riled. Look at the eyes,round pupils=NOT poisonous, eliptical pupils(cat like)=poisonous. Much safer than digging for fangs. A dead snake can still "bite". Also look for a pit between the eye and nostril found in pit vipers.

 

[2dswamp]

I'm no snake expert, but I've lived in the southern most part of Virginia most of my life and hunt in the northern most part of NC where CM/WM are large in number.

I've killed more CM/WM than I'm able to recall. The snake in the original posters picture greatly resembles all of the CM/WM's that I've sent on to
snake heaven. If it is not a CM/WM, it would surely be killed for imitating one.

 

[memphisjim]

yes thats a water moc
the snakes are relatively fat for their length