Old school Ozarks traditions

[Ozarkshunter95]

Gigging suckers is an old tradition in the Ozarks and any given night you might find a bunch of folks on a river bank waiting to eat fried suckers while a boat runs up and down the river. Today you'll see big flat bottom jon boats pushed by jet motors with electric lights which I use regularly. What I have pictured is a bit different these are a set of propane gigging lights from the 1950s I restored over the summer. On my grandpa's 1970 john boat.

 

[Hem]

Keep bringing it.
Love threads like this.

 

[kansasdad]

@Ozarkshunter95 got any photos of the gig?

And I can imagine you’ve taken more than just a few turkeys in that meadow behind the trailered boat photo.

 

[INMT]

Gigging suckers is an old tradition in the Ozarks and any given night you might find a bunch of folks on a river bank waiting to eat fried suckers while a boat runs up and down the river. Today you'll see big flat bottom jon boats pushed by jet motors with electric lights which I use regularly. What I have pictured is a bit different these are a set of propane gigging lights from the 1950s I restored over the summer. On my grandpa's 1970 john boat.View attachment 353334View attachment 353335View attachment 353334View attachment 353335View attachment 353336View attachment 353338View attachment 353338View attachment 353336View attachment 353334View attachment 353335

Following. Something I know nothing about. I’m very intrigued by regional hunting/fishing traditions.

 

[Ozarkshunter95]

@Ozarkshunter95 got any photos of the gig?

And I can imagine you’ve taken more than just a few turkeys in that meadow behind the trailered boat photo.

Not one of mine but one from an antique store 3 and 4 prong are the most common. And I have killed a few turkeys down there my family has been in this same holler the since 1840s

 

[Ozarkshunter95]

Following. Something I know nothing about. I’m very intrigued by regional hunting/fishing traditions.

Ask anything you like. I'll do my best to answer

 

[Birdbander]

Sucker spearing is very popular here in Michigan as well. Omer, MI puts on the Omer Suckerfest festival each spring.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Ozarkshunter95]

Sucker spearing is very popular here in Michigan as well. Omer, MI puts on the Omer Suckerfest festival each spring.

Thanks for sharing!

We snag ( called grabbing locally) in the spring

 

[LopeHunter]

I have visited Rover, MO, many times over the past 60 years. Our relatives there did not get indoor plumbing until early 1970s. No hot water heater even then.

Picked blackberries, hunted quail and floated Eleven Point, Current and Niangua rivers on various visits. Have eaten a lot of catfish and buffalo carp. Not sure have eaten a sucker fish. How are they prepared?

 

[Ozarkshunter95]

I have visited Rover, MO, many times over the past 60 years. Our relatives there did not get indoor plumbing until early 1970s. No hot water heater even then.

Picked blackberries, hunted quail and floated Eleven Point, Current and Niangua rivers on various visits. Have eaten a lot of catfish and buffalo carp. Not sure have eaten a sucker fish. How are they prepared?

These days fried. A few people do can still . When we fry we scale the fish then fillet skin on and score the meat about an 1/8 apart and fry in hot grease. Scoring cooks out the y bones.

 

[TheJason]

These days fried. A few people do can still . When we fry we scale the fish then fillet skin on and score the meat about an 1/8 apart and fry in hot grease. Scoring cooks out the y bones.

What is it similar to? I tried eating a pike minnow in college and it was awful.

 

[Ozarkshunter95]

What is it similar to? I tried eating a pike minnow in college and it was awful.

It's good the only fish we keep primarily are suckers that we gig and cat fish we catch on bank poles in the spring. In my opinion a fresh fried sucker is 2nd only in flavor to a walleye. And canned they are good as well I've never smoked one so I can't say how they would turn out. Most of the time suckers are eaten fresh right out of the river although we do save a few for the summer time.

 

[Gellar]

These days fried. A few people do can still . When we fry we scale the fish then fillet skin on and score the meat about an 1/8 apart and fry in hot grease. Scoring cooks out the y bones.

Suckers fried this way are one of my favorite fish to eat!

Pickling them is fairly common here. You can tell when the suckers are running. A town close by has a redhorse Fisheree when they run in the spring.

 

[OleRedbeard]

I always wondered why the Ozarks and the Appalachian Mountain people had so much in common till spent some time in the Ozarks myself... Most of y'all would fit right in back in the hills and hollers I call home.
We gig them and snag them and redhorse in the spring of the year. They are mighty tasty and its an absolute blast... Literally and figuratively considering we have one of the last firearm sucker shooting seasons left in the US on the Clinch river. All along the Clinch you will see steps here and there nailed to Sycamores hanging out over shallow riffles and runs.

 

[Ozarkshunter95]

Suckers fried this way are one of my favorite fish to eat!

Pickling them is fairly common here. You can tell when the suckers are running. A town close by has a redhorse Fisheree when they run in the spring.

Nixa missouri has a sucker days celebration every year for grabbing season it's not as based around the fish as it was in the past bit still cool.

 

[Ozarkshunter95]

I always wondered why the Ozarks and the Appalachian Mountain people had so much in common till spent some time in the Ozarks myself... Most of y'all would fit right in back in the hills and hollers I call home.
We gig them and snag them and redhorse in the spring of the year. They are mighty tasty and its an absolute blast... Literally and figuratively considering we have one of the last firearm sucker shooting seasons left in the US on the Clinch river. All along the Clinch you will see steps here and there nailed to Sycamores hanging out over shallow riffles and runs.

We call them grabbing ladders they aren't as common as they use to be but the are still around a lot of guys carry small ladders with them now. We can't gig in the spring time here Just grab. We gig a few types of red horse and hog suckers here. Mt family left the Appalachian mountains of Tennessee in the early 1840s and settled in the Ozarks and basically never left with a few exceptions

 

[Rzrbck918]

I love the propane lights! Makes me think of my grandfather as well. I had forgotten about them until you posted this, thanks!

 

[Ozarkshunter95]

I love the propane lights! Makes me think of my grandfather as well. I had forgotten about them until you posted this, thanks!

Glad I could bring back some memories my grandpa has a lot of gigging stories from the old wooden boat days before they had "sissy" bars

 

[LopeHunter]

These days fried. A few people do can still . When we fry we scale the fish then fillet skin on and score the meat about an 1/8 apart and fry in hot grease. Scoring cooks out the y bones.

That is how we prepared carp. Cooked in a big kettle of hot lard then tossed in hush puppies. In fall, would bread dove breasts to cook in the same kettle with hush puppies as well.

 

[Ozarkshunter95]

That is how prepared carp.

We don't get many carp but we do on occasion and exactly right cooked the same