Chicken Porn

[ultramag]

Here is 1 of the two chickens I smoked today. Also did baked taters rubbed down with butter, garlic pepper, and kosher salt. I wrapped them up in foil and then cooked them right in the fire.

 

[gunslinger]

I didn't get chance to smoke anything this weekend. I'm only 85 miles from ya. Wouldn't break my heart a bit if you'd offer up a leg.
Hey, you ever smoke any fresh hybrids or spoonbill out of Truman? Talk about good eats. Never thought I could be hungry for fish at 6 am.

 

[ultramag]

I haven't had any fish smoked except Salmon and Trout. I'm not too big on Spoonbill overall and like my Catfish and Crappie fried. I usually send most the Spoonbill to the fundraising dinner for the small cemetery where my wifes family is buried. She is on the board and that's my contribution.

I offered ya ribs before and you never showed Gunslinger so I didn't send no invite this time. :P

 

[gunslinger]

I did stop and some kid wearing an oven mitt and holding a fire poker told me "we don't serve no hill folk here." I told him I'm an Iowa transplant, then he started swingin' that poker and screamed "yankee on the porch, yankee on the porch!!" Hey I can take a hint. That rack sure smelled good though.
Seriously though, I go to Warsaw every August, and fish with my kin for whites and hybrids. Then whenever they're cranking out the dam water, we'll go up there and fish for them monster flatheads on the river below the dam. Sometimes we'll go up to Montrose when it floods in the spring and cat fish. A couple of years ago, I landed a 62 pounder. Haven't gone this year at all. Not much flooding going on these days. We're hopin' for a better spring next year.
Them big cats are fantastic on the smoker. A lot of people don't care for the spoonbill. I like it. A lot of folks don't know the proper way to proccess one. But I can tell you this for sure, everyone I know that say they don't like it, end up loving it after they have had it smoked with apple.
Anyway, I'm smokin' 2 turkeys and 2 briskets for Thanksgiving. If you're in the neighborhood, stop on by. Just leave the damn poker at home.

 

[smokyokie]

I hear ya! You and I know that paddlefish is one of the finest delicacies to come out of fresh water. We like to slice it into it's natural little "sections", saute it up in butter w/ some Cajun seasoning, and serve it up w/ sauteed bell pepper, mushroom, and onion.

We also fry it up. We've never smoked it, but I guess we'll have to now!

Should we give Ultramag a lesson in proper spoonbill butchering, or let him remain uninformed and find out where the benefit dinners are that he's donating his spoonies to? :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[gunslinger]

I say we find out who he's donating to, and go eat.

I've never had it like that. It sounds absolutley delightful. My mouth is watering all over my keyboard. I hope it doesn't short out.

I scored 4 whole apple trees today from a local orchard. I'm on cloud 9 today.

 

[ultramag]

I'll go ahead and pretend I don't know how to clean Spoonbill if your gonna send me a plate full of that cajun seasoned w/ mushrooms, peppers, and onions dickeydoo. I have to say that does sound good.

All I was getting at is it's not my favorite one of the three main fish I chase. I'll throw a plate of spoonbill on the floor if it's in the way of a plate of fried crappie or catfish. I live in the heart of spoonbill country, I've cleaned one or two in my day. :shock:

I'm not really much of a fish smoker either. It sounds kinda interesting though with a spoonie. If I could get an apple in it's mouth it would make for a cool party trick. Spoonbill, the pig of freshwater.

 

[gunslinger]

I really like the spoonbill, but I'm with ya in the fact that it isn't the favorite of the fish I chase either.
Seems everyone has a favorite fish and it's different from person to person. I'm in the minority down here. My favorite to fish for and eat are them whites and hybrids. There ain't nothin' like chasin' a school of shad, waitin' and hopin' for the surface to boil, then bustin' them bass one after another.
I lived in Iowa for a big portion of my life and gained a likin' for carp too. Most folks won't eat carp in the south. Same as NO ONE in the north would eat a sucker. But down here, the favorite is sucker. Nixa, MO, where I work, even has a weekend in the spring when they celebrate the hognose sucker. It's called Sucker Days, and everyone turns out to eat them and join in the festivities.
Since being here, I've eaten and very much enjoy Gar. When eaten hot, right out the oil, there's nothin' better.
I lived in Traverse City, MI for a while, and up there if you get caught eating carp or even catfish, they'll run ya out of town. It's fresh King or Cohoe Salmon, or get the hell out.
I've smoked every fish I've listed here with the exception of gar, and I can't think of a better way to prepare them fish. Except maybe picklin' that carp. Oh yeah, now that's good stuff.
Hey ultramag, next spring when I go to Warsaw to snag, maybe we can hook up and do some snaggin' together. Maybe share some cookin' wisdom. I also do a lot of bow fishing up there. And if you are ever down this way, maybe visiting Bass Pro or somethin' holler at me, I'll smoke up some fresh killed home raised chickens or turkeys for us. Anyone else for that matter. If you're ever anywhere near Springfield, give me a holler.

 

[ultramag]

Sounds good Gunslinger. We surely ought to be able to hook up somewhere sometime no further apart than we are. I haven't bowfished in years. (seem to have less and less time) Back in 93 to about 96 I was plum ate up with it. In 93 we had the big floods and every spare second I had me and buddy spent whackin' carp out of a 2 man bass buggy w/ and electric trolling motor. I'm pretty sure I almost died one hot summer day near Calhoun, MO cause we were into them good and ran out of water. By the time we got back to the truck and loaded that little boat up we were burnt up and extremely de-hydrated. We were barely strong enough to get that little plastic boat in the truck, and it took us both to pick up the battery. It didn't seem like we were anything but a little thirsty until we hit land. It was a weird deal how it came on and not a good feeling.Guess I probably would die today cause the little Mom and Pop counry store we loaded up on Gatorade at is gone. Shame.

You were saying how people in different places like different fish and I got a chuckle about you coming to Warsaw to snag. I'm situated in between (literally) and no further away than 30 miles from 3 of the most popular places to snag in the state. I have a buddy that is constantly wanting to load up my boat and go stay in a motel so we can snag down in your neck of the woods. Somewhere on the James maybe, I can't remember, no way I was going. Being gone for work when I'm home, I'm home not sleeping in some dang motel. Seems like everybody just wants something else.

Your welcome here anytime your up this way. I keep a wild schedule, but if it's at all possible we'll make it happen. Not to start the excuses early, but snaggin might be hard for me to pull of next spring cause we're gonna have a youngin about the middle of Jan. so it still might be wild around here then. Shoot, I might not be able to afford them long recrational weekends anymore either after that. :shock:

 

[smokyokie]

If you tried my sauteed spoonie and I served fried crappienext to it , youd call the crappie a side dish, and I say that all the while being an obsessive crappie fisherman. Right now I've got about 100# of crappie in the freezer and no spoonie.

BTW, down here, we kinda think ya'all are on the northern fringe of spoonbill country :P :P . Seriously, I've no doubt that you've cleaned some spoonies, but if you think it's not wonderful meat, I think you're missin a trick somewhere. Do you ice the fish down both inside and out the very first thing it comes out of the water? Do you clean them outside in hot weather? Do you remove every last trace of red meat (about 1/2 of the meat) :?

Gunslinger, you're one of the few I've come across that knows how good gar is. Most will tell you that it's too bony. If they'd ever tried it they would know that there's hardly a bone in it. As to carp, carp was originally brought to North America by the Europeans as a food staple. Some guys @ my gun club used to bring a couple hundred # of it out and fry it up. We'd put it in separate pans labelled bass, striper, crappie, catfish, etc., and the members would come back for more saying it was the best they'd ever had, all the while not knowing it was carp. :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[gunslinger]

ultramag, congrats on the little smoker. 1st one? Who the hell was swinging the poker? :lol:
I know exactly what you mean about staying in a motel. I did that for 5 years while hauling aggregate over the road. Western Nebraska, North West Kansas, Eastern Colorado and Wyoming. 6 to 700 miles every day. At my truck at 4 am, and out at around 7 or 8 pm. The only place to eat in them little towns was usually a bar. So you had to drink yourself silly. Was a lot of fun as a single guy, but that all changed when the misses and chillens come along.
When I go up there to fish I hate staying with my cousin just because it ain't home. But now I do it in my RV. Ain't the same as home, but it's better.
There is very good snaggin' on the James. Last spring, a guy that I work with caught a 90 pounder right in the beak. He said it was he best fight he ever had. Of course he ain't never caught a 16 pound hybrid bass or a 65 pound king salmon. They say pound fer pound, that hybrid is the hardest fightin' fish in the world. I believe it. When you hook one, you think you just hooked Jaws.
I love Missouri. Some of the best outdoor sports in the country. I just wish we had pheasant down here. That's what I miss about Iowa. That and the MONSTER corn fed deer.

Dickeydoo, Gar is some of the best eatin' I've ever had. Texture of chicken and tastes like a very mild fish. And snow white too.
Up north there are restaurants that serve carp exclusively. And I'd know one from any other fish just because you have to pick tiny bones from between your teeth. Plus you'd never score a bass or crappie. Have you ever had it pickled? Man that is awesome. It's definitely one of my favorites to smoke. And what a fighter. I caught my first one when I was 3 years old. Actually I should say I hooked it. Because I sure didn't reel it in. My dad had to do that. It was 36 lbs. I wish I had the pictures of it. When my POS dad walked out on us, he took most of the family photo collection and they burnt up in a fire.
What I really wish is that I had more time to do the outdoors thing. Working 10 to 14 hours a day, and raising all my own meat and veggies, I have very little time anymore. I make everyone else's deer jerky and snack stix, and wouldn't have time to do my own anyway. Livestock seem to want to dominate your time when huntin' and fishin' is at it's peak. But at the end of the day, I know where that brisket, butt or chicken I have on my smoker came from.

 

[Dutch]

Holy Hannah!! :shock: You guys realize that you hijacked your own thread?? :P

You start off talking chicken and the thread morphs into a discussion of where to go for snagging fish, meeting up to go fishins and spoonbills and crappies. :lol:

Makes me wanna break out the flyrod and chest waders and go tease some trout. But dang if my favorite streams won't be as cold as ice water this time of year, (BRR!) insulated waders or not! 8)

 

[smokyokie]

GS,
The signs never fooled me, I helped fry it. The way they fileted it there were no tiny bones, and it wasn't scored. Did you know that in England, they have carp tournaments? Also, pheasants aren't that far west. They're getting to be in good #'s around Ponca City, Ok.

Dutch,
There's no law against self hijacking is there? No foul, no penalty, huh?

As to trout, When I lived in Wyo., I loved the trout fishing, but after a while, I started missing the lowland fishing. While living in the lowlands, I never miss the trout fishing, though I always did want to catch a kokanee one day.

As to the world's most powerful fish #for#, I'd have to vote for the bonefish, or the payara of south America, much more powerful than the peacock bass of the same region.

:) :) :) :) :)

 

[gunslinger]

Hey Dutch, I know that water is cold, but that's part of the fun. Right? I don't trout fish, but I've gone pheasant hunting when the temp was 10 below and the wind chill was 40 below. Different than water, yes, but still really, really cold.
When I was a kid I used to wade through the creeks checking traps. I didn't have waders. But when you're young, nothing hurts.


DDBBQ, Missouri isn't northern for spoonbillin'. I used to snag on the Missouri up near Omaha Nebraska. Catch and release only though. I won't eat a fish caught on the Missouri river south of Souix City Iowa. That water is nasty and there is way to much industry and beef packing right on the river.


Oh yeah, hey ultramag, that chicken looks very tastey.

 

[ultramag]

Oh ya, chicken....that's what we were talking about. Thanks Dutch. I was re-reading this and I'm not so sure we didn't hi-jack our hi-jacked thread. :oops:

FYI, they snag clear up to Minnesota as well. Not sure how far north they go or what the regulations are. To be honest I actually didn't think Spoonbill had that big of a range. Guess I at least learned something from DDBBQ trying to change my hillbilly ways and trick me into thinking spoonies were better than cats. :P

GS, you sound about as busy as me, are you sure we still have time to fish? :x Do you do any smallmouth fishing down there? I've heard there are some pretty good spots on those nice clean and clear rivers ya'll got. We don't have smallies, but I've always heard they give a good fight and usually put on a good show.

 

[gunslinger]

Yeah, we have them small mouth bass. Rock bass or goggle eye as the locals call them are a blast to catch too. I actualy have kind of a funny story about a smb catch.
Do you remember the Flying Lure? Well, I bit. A freind, his son and myself were standing on the bank of the James having zero luck, and I said, I have the answer. I pulled out the Flying Lure and tied it on. I kept telling tham that it was a secret weapon and that I'll be reeling them in every 30 seconds. I pitch that lure out and the second, I mean THE SECOND it hit the water, BOOM!!!! That smallie hit like shark on a feeding frenzy. Actually, I'm not sure it even hit the water. We were fishing with our microlites. It was a fight like I've never had on that little rod. My partners were astounded and amazed to say the very least. They begged to borrow a couple of lures and I let them. We fished with them stupid lures all weekend and didn't get another bite. I tried the lures everytime I've fished for probably 5 more years and have never gotten another bite. They're resting comfortably in landfill city now.
As far as time, I'd say I could make more time, but I get awfully comfortable at home. I really enjoy my family. We do have a lot going on here. Besides work, being our shop steward can be time consuming when everything isn't just hunky dory. We raise a couple of cows and hogs and horses. Right now we are raising 150 chickens. 100 for meat, and 50 pullets to replace our laying flock. The meat birds have got to be butchered in 4 weeks. Then in the spring I'll switch and raise a dozen or so turkeys. We only have 5 acres, so it's a chore to manage. And the wife has a monster garden. We are trying to get to a point where we don't have to go to the store very much. The expense can be overwhelming too. But once the initial investments are out of the way, it's just feed. If you prepay to have a ton or so ground or mixed, it's a lot easier.
It's really hard to find time to socialize. But one trick is to have an all wood fired smoker. If the wife loves smoked food like mine does, she also knows that you have to babysit that smoker. Enter friends. When you're smokin' up a big meal for the family, it's hard for her to complain because you are BSin' to much. Because there really isn't anything else to do.

 

[gunslinger]

Yeah, after my experience with the Flying Lure, I decided no more infomercial fishing gear. In fact I have very few lures in my tackle box anymore. I have some tube jigs for white bass fishing on the lower James River and some shiny shad spoons and chartreuse sassy shad for white and hybrid bass on Truman Lake. Other than that it's shad heads for the big cats on the Osage River and cut shad, crawlers, and minnows for everything else.
I'm still baby sitting the smoker. I wish I had started the logs and splits before church. Now it's going to be an all nighter.