Fishing for Garter Food!?

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

So today I went and got my fishing liscence and headed out to the lake with my parents, only for about an hour though, my dad was hungry haha!

My goal was to catch me a nice bass or something for garter food... I was wondering... I should ask! can they eat them? I didn't catch anything foodwise tonight but I will this weekend (most likely) when I go to the river.

What kinds of fish are safe for use as garter food.. as far as fishing goes? I caught a cute lil catfish.. but i know he's no good....

Ugh, I just have such a hard time killing a fish... I really... really like fishies. I am a catch and release person, unless I catch a LARGE trout or bass that is really worth killing for a meal. Any smaller and I send them back to grow up some. Can garters eat panfish such as sunnies and bluegill? I don't know if i can bring myself to use them after owning one as a pet half my life...

anyway I guess i will share a few photos of my fruitless fishing night!


my very first fish of the year.. was a MONSTER.........
http://a653.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/31/l_532c40b20a5a00b771af72c9abc404c4.jpg

The majestic Blue Heron... a.k.a Pond Goldfish Stealer!!!
http://a702.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/91/l_16a2a7e05deda059af0c9d42bf890fbd.jpg

A beautiful healthy panfish... garter food???
http://a788.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/16/l_e973032feaf26fbb5eaf0314175dfbab.jpg

Action shot of not-garter-food
http://a272.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/45/l_3190ec915b16a810bc62c67972c5b4a7.jpg


http://a898.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/38/l_a5292bc83f3059507f2a7d1f61b890c1.jpg

and he's waving goodbye now... this one squeaked a LOT
http://a109.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/42/l_0072d5625dc84aa95b596e06d1f00cb4.jpg

so... whats garter food and whats not!?

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

by the way, I can;t catch salmon and tilapia but sometimes i get some trout....

[anji1971]

Trout should be good. I feed mine rainbow trout!
By the way, great pics. Hope you didn't struggle too much reeling in that first one!:D

[Lumpy]

What you call panfish, around here in these parts are refered to as Bluegill. If they are eatable to snakes, I'd cut off the dorsal fin because they have sharp pointers!

Not sure about the channel cat. But same thing, stingers!

Lump

[infernalis]

I think Shanon wants to fillet the bluegill, and offer strips.

Shanon, I have seen snakes eat fry bluegills whole. If you are offering just the flesh, I do no foresee any problems.

Any one else???

[ssssnakeluvr]

you need to check the link (somewhere in here) on thiaminase....check the articles, theres a link for the list of thiaminase containing fish...haven't checked on bluegill, but I know catfish does contain it...also learned that one the hard way...:(

http://www.thamnophis.com/caresheets/index.php?title=Thiamin,

found it!!!! scroll down and there are 2 blue links with the list of fishes.

I looked and bluegill (Lepomus m macrochirus) don't contain thiaminase...

[Garter_Gertie]

Lumpster, here in MN blue gills, sunnies, perch, crappie, pumpkin seeds - they're all called "panfish."

Don't sknow "why." Because the Wallies [walleyes], northerns, saugers, et al, all get cooked in a pan, too.

Dumb.

[Lumpy]

My Grandfather and I used to catch buckets of Bluegill and Sunfish. Many a pan fried meal was prepared by my Grandmother through the years.

Lump

[ssssnakeluvr]

I used to catch lots of bluegill fishing in Michigan....took a lot for a meal!!!!!! :cool:

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Yes, I am calling them panfish as a general term for any species of bluegill, sunfish, pumpkin seed... etc...

They call them panfish.. because.. well they fit quite nicely in a pan They taste great, its just that they are bony and you need a lot to make a meal.

Yes Wayne, you were correct in assuming I want to cut the fish up. The bluegill I catch are way too large for any garter snake to eat, and I personally don't like to take any babies I do manage to catch... I'd rather put them back and let them grow up some!

[Lumpy]

Here's a little fishing secret if you want to save your worms for your snakes. this works great and I've caught more than my share of fish this way..

Go to the grocery store and pick up some Anise oil (tastes like black licorice) in the cooking isle and a fresh loaf of bread. Make up a mess of dough balls from the bread about twice the size of a BB. Dab some Anise on each one. Stick them in an old sour cream container or the like and pop them in the fridge. They will last a long time. Stick one on the end of a hook and the fish love them. I always found it to be a quick and easy way to make bait.

Lump

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I actually do that... I buy four container of worms when I buy bait.. 3 are for the garters :D

I make my doughball with white bread, gobs and gobs of peanut butter, a bit of vanilla etract, and I usually dump some fish flakes into the mix. Run this ball of sticky stuff under a bit of water and knead it endlessly.. and bam. The stuff works GREAT.

I am very well expierienced when it comes to fishing... from what my parents tell me I was fishing before my first birthday (in dads lap of course) I have been doing it my whole life and it will be great to be able to apply it to my garter snake's!

There is this log at my favorite spot... all these big water snakes congregate at... well one time I threw them a sunny and sure enough I have like 3 hungry adult nerodia sitting there on that log waiting for me to throw more!! haha...

[Lumpy]

Just kind of a twist on feeding the ducks!

Lump

[jitami]

That would be fun to see Shannon.

Quick question... for those of you who hunt/fish for your garter food, do you freeze & thaw before feeding to help limit parasites? Or just feed fresh?

[Stefan-A]

Freeze and thaw.

[crzy_kevo]

bass arent bad for them they dont contain thiaminase so it should be fine
i useually freeze the thaw

[jitami]

Thank you both :)

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Freeze and thaw. a month in the deep freezer is optimal.

[jitami]

Thanks Shannon!