The Journey from the Lake to the Pan

It's a beautiful day in April, nice and warm but still with a breeze, which means it's another great day to be fishing; this time on Lake Macintosh.

Arriving at the lake's boat area at just after 10:00 AM with my younger brother, and my father, we picked one of the four john boats that were left and began to put our things in order. We were armed with a bucket full of worms and night crawlers, some of which were collected the week before by us, and some which were purchased at the lake's marina upon arrival. After the Haw River experience I was fully expecting for live bait to be the ticket to fishing success, but we were also packing a small assortment of lures and jigs, just in case.

The goal today was to catch enough decently sized fish to have a fish fry, with all of the assorted fixings that go with it, and it had been a while. After our small green-colored boat had been equipped with a propeller (try rowing a couple miles and back), two batteries, plus all of the necessary fishing equipment we shoved off into the warm murky water. One of our batteries would get us to our fishing destination, the other would help get us back.

(The dock area over-viewing the lake)

The temperature was pleasant and the breeze was steady as we motored to our first location; the rock covered bank in front of a small cove.

(A rock covered bank on Lake Macintosh)

We began to cast our lines with worms and sinkers into the water and waited as we drifted slowly down the bank without an anchor. Nothing much happened except for a large northern water snake swimming in front of the boat. I was going to attempt netting him but he dipped under the water and disappeared.

It didn't take long for us to realize that nothing was happening in this particular location, not to mention there were a couple of other boats in or near the same cove. We decided to move to a location where we had luck in the past, so we began on our way to the more remote location, casting in an occasional worm-baited line along the way with no success.

As we continued, we began to see a familiar site; the dam.

(A distant view of the dam)

We had packed some water bottles and some boiled peanuts, so beginning with my brother we began to take advantage of the journey between locations and enjoy a cold drink. Then after what seemed like 30-45 minutes, we reached our destination.

It was a small, seclusive cove that had yielded us some nice bluegill in the past.

(A good bluegill cove on Lake Macintosh)

By now it was pretty obvious that live bait was not working, despite my initial beliefs. So with lures in hand, and a renewed sense of purpose we began to cast our rooster tails and jigs into the lake. It wasn't long before the first catch of the day came along.

(A White Bass, the first catch of the day)

A white bass lunged onto my lure aggressively and fought me all the way until I got him in the boat. If one is biting, then there are bound to be more. We continued doing this and I managed to pull in more white bass, one after the other, as it was becoming more and more likely that there would be enough for a fish fry. I should also mention that white bass is the state fish of Oklahoma.

(Another white bass caught on my orange rooster tail)

The white bass kept biting and we kept pulling them in, sometimes at the same time. The fish stringer was filling up quickly. My brother managed to catch a largemouth bass, but had to release it due to it not meeting the legally required 14 inches in length for largemouth. He also managed to catch a perch and two bluegill, one of which was released.

Despite the variety that he was catching, I was exclusively catching white bass, which was making me think that maybe there is something about my lure that was particularly appealing to them.

(Another of many white bass caught)

Some of the fish vigorously hit my line making me think that they were bigger than they actually were. As we crept along the shoreline, jigging and reeling, we bottomed out into a wide open area with a grassy bank. After spending some time here, and having a motor boat send waves disturbing our fishing, we began to head back in the direction of the marina. Besides, with 14 fish there was plenty for a fish fry.

Heading back in the general direction of the marina I spotted a duck wading in the water and decided to test how close I could get with the camera before he flew away.

(A duck wading in front of us, all the while keeping his eye on us)

We got ever closer and he was watching us closely, but I managed to get an even closer one before he finally got spooked and took off.

(A wading duck, just before flying away)

After the 30-45 minute cruise back to the marina, we unloaded our small boat piece by piece and loaded up the car for the drive home. At this time we were exhausted, a little bit grimy, and maybe a touch sunburned but we still had a big job ahead. Cleaning our catch.

Cleaning and scaling fish is not the most fun nor the most pleasant part of a fish fry, but the final product is more than worth it.

(The cleaning board, from left to right: white bass, bluegill, perch)

This photo represents the variety of fish that would need to be cleaned, but out of the total 14 fish that were kept, 12 of those were white bass.

I have spared you the gory details of removing the heads, the entrails, and the scales. Doing it once was enough, I don't need to re-live it. After the fish are cleaned, they go into a bowl of icy water for a number of minutes.

(A bowl of cleaned fish soaking in ice water)

The main point of this was to give us time to take a shower, wash our hands, and take a breath. After that, the fish will be covered in seasoned flour before hitting the fryer.

(The pan of floured fish, before hitting the fryer)

While the fixings and side dishes are being prepared, the floured fish go into the cast-iron skillet over the open flame of the grill stove to be fried in lard.

(A pan full of freshly caught fish frying in lard on the grill stove)

The smell of these freshly caught fish frying outside on a grill stove is indescribable! Before long, everything is ready and when it all comes together you get the final product; the fruits of your labor.

(My dinner plate: fish, french fries, hushpuppies and a side of slaw)

There you have it! I've shown you the journey from the lake, to the frying pan, and finally to the dinner plate. The fishing part is fun, the cleaning part isn't so much, but I am here to tell you that it is well worth it!