Winnipesaukee's Catfish

[KTO]

Today I saw a swarm of baby catfish swimming near a large rock in the water,which was really cool to watch, and then out came a green catfish, an pretty angry green catfish.

Another time I was snorkeling and I came upon a catfish nest wedged between two rocks. I got close (Apparently too close) and a green fish came out and started chasing me ( I did notice that there was a big black catfish and some babies between the rocks as well)

Does anyone have any information about these catfish? Thanks!

[upthesaukee]

I would suspect that what you saw are "horned pout". Used to catch a ton of them and carefully, very carefully, release them. Lots of fun to catch. Most were probably under 10 or 11 inches long. Years later, it was a dozen worms, a case of beer, a big can of beer nuts, and we would catch a ton of them, always at night, and these guys were probably a foot and a half to two feet long!!!!! And you couldn't hardly release them without getting stuck. Things were a lot easier as a kid.

[Misty Blue]

KTO:

We have been seeing the same thing up here in Braun Bay. Of course we have seen catfish (we casll 'em "horn pouts") this for years but this year we also noticed two full sized fish, one black and one green. Is this male/female thing?

[Rinkerfam]

While visiting some friends in Moultonborough last Sun. we spotted a single baby catfish swimming dangerously close to the rocky shore. It was stuck in the wave action and was getting tossed around pretty badly. My friend was able to catch it in his hands and release it in deeper more calm waters. There were no other babies around and definitely no angry parents

[KTO]

Is it true that they sting?

[PROPELLER]

I remember as a kid, my father would take me fishing in the early evening before sundown & when we would be leaving to go home others would be arriving with lanterns to fish for Hornedpout.

We never fished for them but I do recall my father saying that they can stick you & you must handle them carefully. I think they have some kind of spikes(for lack of a better explanation) that protrude from their fins. I do not know if there is any kind of venom that they can sting you with.

Does anyone fish for Hornedpout in the NH lakes region? I never hear any talk of it. Never see any posts on this site, you only hear about Bass, Trout & Salmon. I remember catching Pickerel & Yellow Perch as a kid. Yellow Perch tasted real good battered & fried, just a little bony. My wife & I each caught a Pickerel & a Yellow Perch this year. All the rest have been Smallmouth Bass.

[CEP]

Oh! Yes!
My Mother & Father fished for pout may times. Good eat'n!!
Our favorite place was Salmon Meadow Cove(D-2 on Bizer Map)
We would wait until 7 or so and start out from Veasey's Shore Camps(G-2 on Bizer Map) then drop anchor and fish till oh! around midnight. By that time we have a good mess of pout. After we got back to the camp my mother and I would start cleaning the fish we had cought. You do have to be careful of the horns. There's one on top and one on each side of the head. They will nail you with these horns. If you get horned the area gets very sore and hard to heal. My mother got horned one time while we where cleaning the fish and Mr.Veasey told her to rub the horned area on the belly of the pout. There's something that help the sting and soreness from getting worse.
You probable think I'm full of it but it does work.
As mess of pout make for a good fish dinner! Just be careful of the small bones near the head.
There are many ways to clean a pout but I've found out putting your thumb in their mouth and placing the next two fingers hocked in the gills will keep you away from the horns while you clean.
My mother use to cut the top horn off right away because that's the one she got horned with. She always remarked, "They'ar I'll get rid of that damn thing right off the bat"!!
When you put your finger in the mouth they will bite down on you but don't worry they have very small teeth almost like sand paper. Can't hurt ya! but if you are cleaning a lot of them your thumb will get all raw like if you rubbed it on sand paper. I rap tape around and that takes care of that.
After you have cleaned the fish, clean them off and place them on a platter and sprinkle a little salt of them. Don't be alarmed if they curl up, this is normal.
Cooking: Make an egg wash and roll them in corn meal or cracker crumbs fry them up in a hot skillet. The meat will just fall off the bone.
If you have small children don't let them play around with them.
Take it from experience they will get horned.
If you need any other info, like bait or hooks etc. Just ask. I've been there, done that! Many, Many time.
Later,
CEP