on each side of its body can sting you much like a bee if they penetrate your skin when you’re attempting to take them off a hook. Having had some fi rsthand experience with these barbs, I can tell you they are very effective as a defense mechanism against predators − including humans. Mud pout live on the bottom
of shallow weedy lakes or in slow-moving rivers and streams. During late spring, they bury themselves in the sand, where they dig a nest in the mud to spawn. This is also the prime time to catch these delicacies in the local Ottawa and Rideau Rivers, because this is when their fl esh is its most fi rm and edible. At other times of the year, they taste more like the surroundings from which they have been caught, and I would not recommend eating them. Unlike our neighbours in
the southern United States, who practice the sport of noodle fi shing for catfi sh using only their bare hands, brown barbotte are easy and fun to catch using a spinning rod and reel in combination with 6-8 pound monofi lament fi shing line. When you’re fi shing from a boat, this is the ideal combination. When you’re fi shing in the reeds from shore, you may want to invest in a long telescopic rod that allows you to fi sh safely from shore without slipping into the water. Mud pout are best fi shed
at dusk with a hook, worm and sinker that carries the worm to the bottom of the river. In fact, the best time to catch them is when it is completely dark. In an attempt to introduce my six year old grandson, Leland, to the sport one afternoon last spring (along with his father, Craig) we fi shed from my boat at the
continued on page 39
www.bounder.ca BOUNDER MAGAZINE 15
Bennett’s Bait & Tackle Your #1 Choice in the Big Rideau Lakes Area!
BASS • LAKE TROUT • PIKE • WALLEYE Authorized MNR Electronic Hunting/Fishing License Issuer
GUNS (Restricted and Non-Restricted) AMMO • ARCHERY • SCOPES RANGEFINDERS • RODS • REELS
158 Lombardy Road, Smiths Falls, ON K7A 5B8 Tel: 613.283.0883 Email:
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