Earlier this week my siblings, Chris Roche and Maureen Riendeau, decided to turn back the clock and do some do some horn pout fishing. Memories of night fishing for pout include my father coming home with a mess of the tasty member of the catfish family with his friend, Ed Donnelly, and the ensuing feast. Sometimes the fish were rolled in flour and cooked in oil that night and other times it was pout for breakfast.
In my teens, we would often pack up our gear, usually power lines, and hike into Quabbin Gate 31 to pout fish. Some of you may remember power lines: a special rigging consisting of braided line and a long (five to 10 feet) elastic band. You usually use a terminal swivels on the braided line to attach two long shank hooks (pout have three spines you need to avoid) and we would bring an old sock. You put a rock (softball size or larger) in the sock and throw it out as far as you could, making sure you had secured the end of the line. You could then pull the line in to bait the hook as the band stretched and then release it back to what you hoped would be a good spot.
When you saw the line move, you pulled in a pout (or two!) and then could rebait and return to the hot spot. If nothing bit, you hauled in and threw to a different spot. When you hit it right, you would be lugging a bucket of “growling” brown bullheads, the real name of the species, back home to clean.
That cleaning itself is a story alone. Avoiding getting punctured by the dorsal and side spines is a big deal. It hurt like hell! Once you got the knack, skinning pout was quick and easy and the white flesh is, to my way of thinking, as good an eating fish as we find. “Old-timers” would amaze me using just a pair of pliers to skin pout and do it in seconds flat! They were delicious and a night of pout fishing with your Coleman lantern, good friends and maybe a refreshing beverage or two was enjoyable, even with the occasional mosquito bite.
You do not need a power line and might be hard-pressed to find the materials today. A pair of rods baited with nightcrawlers will do the trick. Some, like my brother Chris, “sweeten the pot” by tossing a punctured can of cat food out a few hours before fishing and the results usually reflect the great sense of smell that brings pout into the baited area. Once you find horn pout, you usually catch a bunch. As I recall, there were a couple locals — Gerry Vladyka is one who comes to mind — who frequently caught horn pot from a boat in Quabbin during the day using fly rods. It really does not matter how you catch them; they taste great!
The brown bullhead (Taxonomically, Ameiurus nebulosus) can live in turbid, low-oxygen water and can breathe through its skin. The hornpout is a New England native and one of the most common and widespread fish in the region. The hornpout is a catfish that ranges from near the Hudson Bay in the north to the Gulf of Mexico in the south and from the Atlantic coast westward into the nation’s midsection. It is found on the bottoms of most lakes, ponds and slow-moving streams. It comes out at night to feed. Hornpout find prey by taste-smell using their hypersensitive barbels, or “whiskers.”
Tiny pout are food for other fish. Adults have few predators, thanks to the three venomous spines on their pectoral and dorsal fins. When deployed, the spines can do some serious damage, as any angler who treats the hornpout carelessly can attest. They can live in warm, low-oxygen waters where other species might not and they can even take oxygen through the skin when necessary. Brown bullheads are considered the most devoted parents in the fish world. Both parents guard their eggs and the fry after they hatch and “herd” them along.
This writer was invited on the fishing trip but had a prior commitment. A new “toy” had arrived, and I was busy assembling the Decked drawer system for the back of the Silverado. It is well built and rugged and holds a ton of gear including guns, ammo, dog food, hunting vests, gloves, boots and other stuff that was crammed in the cab. It is a foot high and my wife is concerned about my ability to haul trash and future furniture purchases. We may have to pay for delivery.
Mike Roche is a retired teacher who has been involved in conservation and wildlife issues his entire life. He has written the Sportsman’s Corner since 1984 and has served as advisor to the Mahar Fish’N Game Club, Counselor and Director of the Massachusetts Conservation Camp, has been a Massachusetts Hunter Education Instructor for over 40 years and is a licensed New York hunting guide. He can be reached at mikeroche3@msn.com.