Catfish Soap Bait, Is It Really Good For Catfishing?

Posted on May 19, 2012

Scores of people ask me this question every year both online and in person and are always wanting to know more about catfishing with soap.

Folks have been catfishing with soap for years and it is something that really gained popularity during the great depression. People were short on money, short on food, and long on time so they spent lots of time catfishing to put food on the table.

Traditional rod and reel fishing for catfish was a popular activity but even more popular was using limb lines, jug lines, and trotlines to put food on the table because they could be fished in a passive manner.

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Jug Fishing for Cats

Posted on May 16, 2012

Of all of the numerous tried and true methods for hauling in a big catfish, jug fishing, or “juggin’” is one of the most popular among seasoned catfishermen. Jug fishing’s simple approach and high return, combined with the low cost of the materials needed to make a jug fishing rig, make it popular among a great many anglers everywhere, both for sport, and for commercial fisheries, too. Jug fishing’s main advantage is that it can be carried on, unattended, leaving the fisherman free to set more jug lines, or tend the ones that are taking fish. Also, free-floating jugs can cover a great deal of water area. As a result, jug fishing is usually highly productive, and a great way for families or groups to engage in catfishing, especially if kids or beginners are involved.

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Three Inland Invasive Species that are Edible

Posted on May 9, 2012

Invasive species of plants and fish have made the news recently. Some of them are perfectly edible but not many people use them. Over the past couple of years there has been an effort to raise awareness about this issue and a new term has been coined for those that do eat them: invasivores

Invasivores are people who eat invasive species for the express purpose of controlling the species so they don’t devastate ecosystems.

Here’s 3 of these wild US “invaders” that are in abundant supply.

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Live Bait for Crappie

Posted on May 4, 2012

As new or experienced crappie fisherman we are always looking for new information that can help us be better crappie fisherman. I am always trying to make a decision whether to use live bait or artificial bait when fishing for crappie. Well the answer everyone should tell them selves to be effective you are going to use both. In fact, on many fishing trips both artificial and live baits are on the same crappie rigs. This is the best of both techniques. My article is going to concentrate on what crappie live baits are best for different situations.

Crappie minnows you will get a lot of controversy here so I am going to tell you what crappie minnows work best for me, but I will also identify other types because every fishing location is different when it comes to crappie live bait.

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Pigweed – A Great Garden Partner, Not A Pest

Posted on May 1, 2012

While dedicated gardeners are madly yanking the noxious pigweed juvenile plants from their gardens in mid-May, savvy harvesters are savouring the wonderful greens that they will enjoy on the dinner plate when this tender young amaranth is boiled and served with butter and parsley.

Pigweed is a fast growing, hardy weed that shows up in gardens and marginal soils at about the same time as its equally hated friend, dandelion. Both are succulent, tasty and nutritious plants that most of us shun.

While pigweed can be harvested throughout the summer, it is at its most tender in late spring. The mature plant has a tough stem that requires dedicated boiling to force it into tenderness, while the juvenile amaranth can be consumed whole.

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Cattail Plants – The Supermarket of the Swamp

Posted on April 26, 2012

You may have noticed the cattail plant along the roadways near marshes and swamps. But, did you know that cattails are probably one of the most important wild plant foods around and definitely worth knowing about?

The uses of cattail are versatile, for every part has its purpose during different parts of the year. You can easily recognize a cattail plant. None of the look-a-likes grows much more than a few feet tall, so by mid-spring, the much larger cattail becomes unmistakable. It’s easy to harvest, very tasty and provides a rich source of nutrients. A stand of cattails is as close as you will get to finding a wild supermarket for it has been dubbed: “the supermarket of the swamp” due to its variety of uses.

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Wild Edible Plants Of Utah and The West

Posted on April 24, 2012

I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about wild edible plants over the past couple years and while it was tough in the beginning finding the identification and finding resources for the plants I was seeing it has been a thrill to learn how much there is available in the wild. I have to stay I am often stunned at the number of wild edibles available even in the Utah desert where I live. Not only are there a lot of wild edibles but many of them are quite tasty. With spring just around the corner I am thinking about it again and looking forward to some foraging and looking forward to a better diet. I’ll bet you didn’t think that eating wild edible greens could actually improve your diet!

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Making Your Own Spinner Bait Skirts

Posted on April 20, 2012

Over the years I’ve made a lot of my own lures. Included in this would be spinnerbaits, jigs, buzzbaits, topwater plugs and probably a few other things that I can’t remember right now.

My favorite baits to make are spinnerbaits and buzzbaits. I never get tired of making these types of lures because they just plain catch fish. Year in and year out, the spinnerbait is probably my most productive lure under a variety of conditions.

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Installing a Kayak Fishing Rod Holder

Posted on April 17, 2012

A few of us purchased new kayaks this year. Besides needing a kayak to explore the foraging opportunities around here we also intended to use them for fishing.

There’s no shortage of kayaks for sale in our area and the Pelican Pursuit Angler models had caught our eye. The Pelican kayaks are reasonably priced and have very good reviews. Having carried full-length fishing rods in our kayaks in the past, we can appreciate the Angler-style accessories that allow the fishing gear to stay outside of the kayak.

One of our local sporting goods shops had the Pelican Angler kayak set out alongside the standard Pelican Pursuit ‘yak. We quickly noticed that these two models were basically the same kayak. The main differences are the color selection and the fishing pole holders. The price difference is substantial.

A quick internet search revealed that the very same fishing rod holders that Pelican installs in their Angler models were available for purchase separately! Here is how we installed them and a link to purchase them is at the end…..

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Five Pioneer Poultices

Posted on April 15, 2012

For pioneers and settlers on the frontier, doctors and medicine were often too expensive, too far away, and probably not that reliable anyway.

Medicine was usually a home-grown affair built up of knowledge that was tried, tested and handed down over generations.  A common feature of 19th Century medicine was the use of poultices.

Just like recipes for meals, there was hundreds if not thousands of poultice recipes.  Some were freely shared and some were closely guarded.

Poultices are usually some kind of warm compress used to treat skin sores, boils and splinters as well as muscle and joint aches and arthritis.

But even bed-wetting had its own poultice treatment. Basically if there was a medical complaint, somebody had a poultice to treat it.

From the Golden Aid book of 1885, we have five recipes for poultices:

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