Lake Carlyle and channel cats with Tom

Monday July 24. Tom drove me out to Lake Carlyle to fish for channel catfish. It was a blast. I love fishing. Beautiful day too.

We caught 7. They are fighters.

Tom's wife Martha and 9 year old son Alex were there.

Looks like poop, vaguely resembles miso paste. Made with ground fish and sugar, fermented no doubt. This is common bait around these parts. (pretty damn shitty if you ask me. Lol) I have literally never seen this before. You wipe it onto a silicone lure that has grooves to hold the poo....

Wedge the rods in the rocks. We had 6 out at once. Just sit back in the shade on your chair, and listen for the bell. Then it's just a matter of setting the hook and reeling it in. The cats were 1 to 2+ pounds each.

Tom cleaned the fish at the lake.

I filleted them in his kitchen.

Mix up 1 egg to 1 tablespoon mayonnaise, dip the fish in that. Crush pork rinds to bread crumbs size. Add salt, black pepper, and a bit of ground cayenne. Roll the dipped fish in that.

Deep fry in shimmering hot slightly smoking pork lard. (Beef tallow works as well). Fry until meat is no longer translucent. (You'll need to set it on paper toweling and check the center.)

You can normally tell it's done no matter the thickness because the fish becomes firm and the breading begins to brown.

I also breaded and deep fried some dill pickle chips for Tom. His favorite. And made homemade tartar sauce for him. He was a happy man.

His four boys inhaled the fish in seconds. Seriously

I looked up and it was GONE.

Donnie, Charlie, Brandon and Alex. Aged 21 to 9. (Approximately. Lol.) Alex turns 10 next week.

Such wonderful boys. They all complimented my cooking.