Anyone ever fish for Redhorse?

Woods and water

Ten Pointer
I don't think I have ever caught a true red horse down here. The older locals grouped all suckers as red horse . I haven't forgotten how to hang the nets but the law frowns on that now. Use to catch every specie's that swam in the creeks . Never big numbers but always fish . I think I may have seen one of those nets when I tripped over something in the shed.
 

bshobbs

Old Mossy Horns
Back in the 60's my uncle lived beside an old mill pond here in eastern NC. Each spring my uncle and my dad would set nets in the mill pond to catch suckers. Always a big fish fry was held the next day. Sadly the mill is no longer there, hurricanes took its toll.
 

DRS

Old Mossy Horns
Caught them in the Tar River, Fishing Creek, Swift/Sandy Creek and Stoney Creek ( the latter three all tributaries of the Tar) in Nash County. Never ate one,. Now you have me curious.
 

nc35hunter

Four Pointer
This is a very informative thread. I’ll be looking for these guys this spring and will post results if I find them.
 

Dick

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
always called them suckers.😄 never tried to eat one, but caught a few trout fishing. Fun to catch as all fish are.
 

Blackwater

Twelve Pointer
always called them suckers.😄 never tried to eat one, but caught a few trout fishing. Fun to catch as all fish are.
Sucker and Redhorse are very similar but the Redhorse will have reddish fins of varying intensity and we always preferred eating them over suckers for some reason. They do love clean water and can be found around gravel veins.
 

Blackwater

Twelve Pointer
I think some of the biologist will have to chime in but if I am not mistaken a redhorse is a sucker. Just a different strain than a common.
Yes, they are; wasn't intending to imply that they were a different species, only how to identify the difference at a glance.

In future I'll try to do better. :)
 

thoma018

Button Buck
brings back youthful memories---used to catch'em while seining in the Cape Fear below Buckhorn (this was before Jordam and the regulation of the water flow). We gigged them every spring on the tributary creeks they ran up to spawn and yes they are mighty good in a black cast iorn pan fried in crisco on the river bank with a pinch of salt and loaf of Merita and maybe a Schlitz or two anr even a Black Label/PBR. Was a recreational Saturday evening thing after a long week on the farm. We used to catch a toe sack full and go barder them off at the local bootlegger for refreshments for the next Saturday trip--yep memories--
 

Blackwater

Twelve Pointer
brings back youthful memories---used to catch'em while seining in the Cape Fear below Buckhorn (this was before Jordam and the regulation of the water flow). We gigged them every spring on the tributary creeks they ran up to spawn and yes they are mighty good in a black cast iorn pan fried in crisco on the river bank with a pinch of salt and loaf of Merita and maybe a Schlitz or two anr even a Black Label/PBR. Was a recreational Saturday evening thing after a long week on the farm. We used to catch a toe sack full and go barder them off at the local bootlegger for refreshments for the next Saturday trip--yep memories--
That story is 5 Star!!!
 

HotSoup

Old Mossy Horns
When I was a youngster there were some of the cash strapped farmer/sportsmen in the area who set fish traps in the feeder streams of the Lumber River in order to supplement their food budget. Now this practice was illegal, and I'm not going to confess to being a part of it, but I do know how to build and set a trap because I've seen it done. You might catch panfish, bass, jack, blackfish, turtle, otter or sucker, depending on the time of year, but the best eating fish I've ever seen come out of a trap was the redhorse which were usually caught about this time of year.

The redhorse is in the sucker family, has several varieties, has much the same forked bones along the side as the pickerel, and in spite of being a sucker and denigrated by most of the fishing community are excellent eating since they like to live in clean, clear water with no silting, and as those in the know can attest, the fish which come out of the blackwater streams and rivers of the Eastern part of the state taste better than those coming from the clay country to the West.

I was just wondering if anyone else on the forum has had any experience with the redhorse. I've never fished for them in the traditional sense, but there are those who do in different parts of the Eastern US.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjY9I2kzrXSAhVQ8mMKHTEyBtIQFggaMAA&url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-07-18/sports/9003010167_1_carp-fish-species-wary-fish&usg=AFQjCNFdB-RS9zV8Ph8C16FCYJyRnn94MQ

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=10&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjhoIfPz7XSAhVLymMKHTC_BnwQFghEMAk&url=http://www.in-fisherman.com/stanges-blog/sweet-sucker-fishing-thing/&usg=AFQjCNG00YG2vkzE2YXkat9EILtitIfRIQ&bvm=bv.148441817,d.cGc

Lumber river and clean, clear water aren't two things that go together.....kinda like hammers and screws
 

Blackwater

Twelve Pointer
Lumber river and clean, clear water aren't two things that go together.....kinda like hammers and screws
Too many people from Moore, Richmond, Hoke, Scotland and Robeson counties who like to throw their trash bags off the bridges????
 

Blackwater

Twelve Pointer
I'd say mostly Robeson.....trashiest side roads in NC.
Can't argue that with any conviction. Seems to go hand in hand with the socio-economic circumstances of any given locale and Robco is probably still the poorest county in the state.
 

ellwoodjake

Twelve Pointer
Plenty of these critters in the upper Pigeon. Caught quite a few a a kid, and even ate some. Best I remember, they were real tasty, but had a lot of Y bones, you had to pick through. They were also a pain to clean, as they had to be skinned. Being a plankton eater, they were pretty hard to catch, and there wasn't a whole lot we could entice them with. Anything artificial was out of the question, but it was possible to put a tiny piece of worm on a tiny hook and drift it right under their nose. You had to be quick on the draw to hook one. As soon as he mouthed it , he would quickly drop it. Most of what we caught were on treble hooks, wrapped in a piece of foil from a cigarette pack, to make it more visible. Dad always discouraged us from bringing them home. He would always say. "Boys, there's a whole lotta better fish in that river, that are easier to catch, clean, and taste better, without all them bones!" He would tell us this as he was picking them apart with a fork, and finishing his 2nd or 3rd plate. :LOL: Still, they were a hoot to reel in, when snagged on light tackle, under a fin. The neighbor's barn cats ate pretty well most summers.
 

WormFarmer

Button Buck
Have caught them fly fishing and not intentionally. All of mine have been caught on beadhead nymphs. Never tried to eat one, though.
 

Blackwater

Twelve Pointer
A
What they need to do is make prisoners pick up trash again.
And fine some of the trash spreaders as well.

The last couple of times I floated the Lumber from County Road 1003 to the McNeil Bridge Wildlife landing I could have filled a 53 foot semi trailer with 2 litre soda bottles alone, not to mention all the other flotsam and jetsam hung up along the edges and floating in rafts behind blowovers.
 
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