redhorse curiosity

I like to fish the Rum river and the Miss North of the Coon Rapids dam. I like to fish for redhorse as soon as the rum opens up.I know once nightcrawlers start coming out I can use them,but what about before that happens?

You can”t find any articles (or very little) on this fishes habits.which you would think you could because if anything else this fish should be recognized as a very valuable forage species. I’m sure alot of fisherman would use them for catfish for sure and also for northerns smallies and perhaps even small ones for walleye.

I have filleted them before and know there flesh is very clean and are almost always ranked as safe in fish advisories.

I am curious if there is a way to cook them(perhaps boiling)to make there bones dissolve.,asside from pickling.

Here is a redhorse recipe i like…

Take two average size redhorse fillets and season with salt and pepper to taste.Set aside.Mix equal parts of whiskey and water,chill on ice.Mix equal parts melted butter and hickory smoke in dish.Check fillets and season again if you like.Take a large,clean pine board and oil it on one side.Let soak.Start average size campfire,enclosed in proper fire safety ring.Let fire burn down to red coals.Place fillets on oiled and seasoned board,and place near embers to begine cooking fillets.Drizzle butter/hickory over fillets and season to taste.Fillets should cook about 3-4 minutes per inch of thickness.When done,remove fillets and throw away.Take pine board,cut into serving size slices and enjoy.Use whiskey and water to quench thirst after meal.

River Rad,

redhorse are excellent channel catfish baite….. they meat tends to be a little oiler for some reason wich leads to the extra attractant…… or at least that is the theory but…. if you know of a place to catch a bunch in the spring I am all ears unless it’s a secret send me a private….. I usually can really wack the white suckers but never get into the redhorse……..

river rad, i fish these same areas, and they are pretty good for redhorse and carp, but I found an even better place, where there are tons of redhorse, on the St. Croix where the Sunrise River comes in. I’ve never tried eating them, but the folks at In-Fisherman just did a show about cooking suckers, supposedly they are pretty good, so the joke is on you riverratt.

I had an uncle who also enjoyed the clean, white flesh of redhorse. I’m not much help on the bones because I know he prepared them in a pan along with other species.

I never said they were not good..I simply posted a humorous recipe I came across(which was actually for Musky).Sorry if someone took it the wrong way.They are excellent pickled and smoked as most know,but the back loins are also very good when taken from frsh,cold water.Yes,I have eaten them.While were at it,baked carp is very tasty too.I had that before,although I have no idea how it was prepared.

The way to cook Redhorse is to cook them in a nuke then remove all large bones and run meat through a meat grinder rendering all the little bones safe then use any recipie for fish or crab cakes. Really good!

Wow mavzer I cant believe you like redhorse for channel cat bait. I think it is a horrible bait for channel cats. If you want to get a bunch in the spring the croix is tough to beat. Early on try the upper croix, osceola st.croix fall area. They are every where. Later on put you boat in a beanies and head south to catfish bar. There are more redhorse there then one could ever use. Set up shalower lie 13 ft or so and cast a rig with a crawler towards the point. I will stick with suckers or shad for my cut bait. As far as using them for live bait for flatheads, no way. They die way to easily in warm water.

oh sure… now Im gonna have to mess with redhorse up here too? maybe the musky and pike will crunch em all down…. so they dont mess with me!! since Im gonna be hitting this area of the croix hard…. from osceola to TF…. most likely I will be launching out of interstate park (Wi side).. thats maybe 10 minutes away from me…. which is 1 hour shorter than redwing…. but so far that extra hour has proven to be a bargain.. as far as walleye/sauger catch rates go….