Warrior108
Platinum Member
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- Apr 24, 2012
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I wasn't sure where to post this thread but made the title generic enough so that other folks could maybe share their OKT use before, during or after fishing. The Wife and I had a fishing date this past weekend and then the Mamushi was used for "final cleanup".
Pier fishing is ok and we did a good bit of all-nighter pier fishing this past Summer while Grandma watched our 3 sleeping daughters. But it can get crowded, your chances of a tangled line or lost lure is up there and you have to deal with catching small nuisance hard heads. We got to do boat night fishing once with a friend early in the summer but wanted to get in another boat fishing date. It turned out that we had to reschedule the trip about 4 times for bad weather including Harvey and misc thunderstorms. But we finally got to have our outing this past weekend, free from the kiddos for nearly 24 hours.
We usually fish Port Lavaca, the Lavaca River or Lavaca Bay. Targeting reds (aka red drum or redfish) this time we went to Red Fish Bay near Aransas Pass, TX. For redfish, daily limit is 3 ranging from 22" to 28" and annually you can keep/tag one over 28".
We got out on the water before the sun up, found a good starting place and within an hour of daylight, caught our daily limit of 3 each .. plus others catch & release and going for a big'un (over 28"). It slowed after that first hour and we moved a few times the rest of the morning. The pace wasn't as fast but we still had a blast the entire morning. Just before noon, Missy caught two really nice trout. Minimum on trout are 15", a nice average one is about 18" and her larger one was almost 25". And I have to give huge kudos to her because they are hard to land - really put up a fight, break water shaking their heads trying to throw the hook, and they have soft lips/mouths. We never did catch a red big enough to tag but the upside is we have almost a year left to keep trying. We called it a day around 1:00, mostly because we used up all of the 72 Croakers we used for bait.
Of course it isn't a contest
but I caught the biggest one, which also happened to be the first of the morning. Our haul ...
Admittedly she probably had the most fun feeding the pelicans, teaching them to catch like a dog and making them all move their heads in synch.
The fish were "quick cleaned" with basic ol filet knife but when we got home, Missy wanted to be sure that every last possible bone was removed so we didn't have to worry about the kids finding one too late. I offered to do the task but she insisted and required first-hand knowledge to be sure the job was done correctly. Now, her and her mom insist on using those friggen Harbor Freight ceramic knives, that quickly chip and turn into serrated blades. I even bought them better versions of those ceramic knives but they still don't measure up in my opinion. So I squirmed for a few minutes while she hacked at the fillets with her ceramic knife but then I couldn't take any more and handed her the Mamushi. She has used my Fiddleback, WAS and OKT knives on occasion but I don't think the light bulb came on until this direct comparison was done. IMMEDIATELY she said something like "Wow! That is an amazing knife. Its just like a scalpel." and then for the next 10-15 minutes she just kept saying and muttering phrases that included "just amazing", "wow", "I'm performing surgery", "how awesome". She does hate her picture being taken so I had to take sneaky pics of the process. So these aren't the greatest pictures but they show the Mamushi at its best - in use, and in a variety of grips which I don't usually see Missy changing up when she's cutting things. It told me that her hands were having fun.
Along the way, I've been brave enough to hand her a Fiddleback, WAS or OKT now and then. She's handled the Raptor and voiced a concern with how sharp and pointy it was (might have removed some skin but my memory is fuzzy) - but then again, she doesn't have the best history with knives. Her 2nd favorite would be the Lil Lady which I wasn't sure she was going to hand back to me because she was having so much fun that she was looking for things to cut up. Given the amount of raving she did here and changing grips and handling positions, I'd have to say that she has been most impressed with the Mamushi.
And, sorry but I have to switch gears a bit here .. just because it was part of the weekend
We had an awesome time fishing and it was a great break from kids and work and such. On the way home we went through Port AransasAransas Pass. They were just slammed by Harvey and are still in awful shape 6 weeks later. It made us grateful for how much worse things could have been. And it gave us a different perspective / reminder to appreciate what we have and who we have.
These don't begin to describe the amount of damage that is widespread throughout the entire town. The boats got to those places where they don't belong when the surge came in. Just crazy ..
Pier fishing is ok and we did a good bit of all-nighter pier fishing this past Summer while Grandma watched our 3 sleeping daughters. But it can get crowded, your chances of a tangled line or lost lure is up there and you have to deal with catching small nuisance hard heads. We got to do boat night fishing once with a friend early in the summer but wanted to get in another boat fishing date. It turned out that we had to reschedule the trip about 4 times for bad weather including Harvey and misc thunderstorms. But we finally got to have our outing this past weekend, free from the kiddos for nearly 24 hours.
We usually fish Port Lavaca, the Lavaca River or Lavaca Bay. Targeting reds (aka red drum or redfish) this time we went to Red Fish Bay near Aransas Pass, TX. For redfish, daily limit is 3 ranging from 22" to 28" and annually you can keep/tag one over 28".
We got out on the water before the sun up, found a good starting place and within an hour of daylight, caught our daily limit of 3 each .. plus others catch & release and going for a big'un (over 28"). It slowed after that first hour and we moved a few times the rest of the morning. The pace wasn't as fast but we still had a blast the entire morning. Just before noon, Missy caught two really nice trout. Minimum on trout are 15", a nice average one is about 18" and her larger one was almost 25". And I have to give huge kudos to her because they are hard to land - really put up a fight, break water shaking their heads trying to throw the hook, and they have soft lips/mouths. We never did catch a red big enough to tag but the upside is we have almost a year left to keep trying. We called it a day around 1:00, mostly because we used up all of the 72 Croakers we used for bait.
Of course it isn't a contest
but I caught the biggest one, which also happened to be the first of the morning. Our haul ...
Admittedly she probably had the most fun feeding the pelicans, teaching them to catch like a dog and making them all move their heads in synch.
The fish were "quick cleaned" with basic ol filet knife but when we got home, Missy wanted to be sure that every last possible bone was removed so we didn't have to worry about the kids finding one too late. I offered to do the task but she insisted and required first-hand knowledge to be sure the job was done correctly. Now, her and her mom insist on using those friggen Harbor Freight ceramic knives, that quickly chip and turn into serrated blades. I even bought them better versions of those ceramic knives but they still don't measure up in my opinion. So I squirmed for a few minutes while she hacked at the fillets with her ceramic knife but then I couldn't take any more and handed her the Mamushi. She has used my Fiddleback, WAS and OKT knives on occasion but I don't think the light bulb came on until this direct comparison was done. IMMEDIATELY she said something like "Wow! That is an amazing knife. Its just like a scalpel." and then for the next 10-15 minutes she just kept saying and muttering phrases that included "just amazing", "wow", "I'm performing surgery", "how awesome". She does hate her picture being taken so I had to take sneaky pics of the process. So these aren't the greatest pictures but they show the Mamushi at its best - in use, and in a variety of grips which I don't usually see Missy changing up when she's cutting things. It told me that her hands were having fun.
Along the way, I've been brave enough to hand her a Fiddleback, WAS or OKT now and then. She's handled the Raptor and voiced a concern with how sharp and pointy it was (might have removed some skin but my memory is fuzzy) - but then again, she doesn't have the best history with knives. Her 2nd favorite would be the Lil Lady which I wasn't sure she was going to hand back to me because she was having so much fun that she was looking for things to cut up. Given the amount of raving she did here and changing grips and handling positions, I'd have to say that she has been most impressed with the Mamushi.
And, sorry but I have to switch gears a bit here .. just because it was part of the weekend
We had an awesome time fishing and it was a great break from kids and work and such. On the way home we went through Port Aransas
These don't begin to describe the amount of damage that is widespread throughout the entire town. The boats got to those places where they don't belong when the surge came in. Just crazy ..
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