Pike eats coot

[Phone]

Steve,

 

HEY !! I resemble that remark.

 

Mud Hens (American Coot) taste like muddy fish and have the texture of an icky ripe eggplant. No self respecting pike would eat a coot. This is far better eating - ZANDER

 

 

Phone

[Andrew]

Amazing footage.

But , did it devour it ? feathers n all ?

[Vagabond]

For some reason I like the Dutch word for pike. Seems appropriate.

Yes, they use the same word for the barracouta (snake mackerel, not to be confused with barracuda) which is a common food fish caught out of Cape Town.

 

 

Here is Norma with the catch from our boat (commercial fishing with handlines - I did a piece at the time which is in the AN archives somewhere - interesting fishing)

 

Re main topic - excellent photography.

 

I've seen ducklings disappear, and once saw a mink take an adult moorhen - it dived with it to drown it, so mink must be able to hold their breath longer than moorhens can

Edited April 30, 2013 by Vagabond

[chesters1]

Shocking!

[Andy_1984]

Chesters, I recognise that scenery

[Steve Burke]

I found a duckling in a jack pike at Wingham when we were reducing the predators almost 20 years ago. Of course it may have been dead when taken, but I doubt it.

 

Regulars will remember the story I told of the fully-grown coot I saw taken on the Back Lake many years ago. I saw this bird go down squawking and then suddenly all the noise (and it's certainly noisy there in the winter!) stopped. All the birds scooted off to a safe distance of about 50 yards leaving an unnatural hole in a multitude of birds!

[Steve Walker]

Here is Norma with the catch from our boat (commercial fishing with handlines - I did a piece at the time which is in the AN archives somewhere - interesting fishing)

Those look tasty - are they?

[Vagabond]

Those look tasty - are they?

A bit like pilchard, but coarser and fishier.

 

The South Africans take a leaf out of the Aussies' book and market them as "Snoek Pies".

Snoek, mashed potato, a bit of tomato sauce included, and plenty of spices, not bad if you are hungry.

Relatively cheap compared to other fish - a favourite of the less-well-off.

 

What you can't see in the photo is the boat's crew, keeping back a rugby scrum of South African women waiting to buy the fish. The fish were a Rand (about 50p then) apiece - you pays yer rand, and then take a fish. Needless to say, first-comers get the biggest and best fish.

 

If you ever dine in South Africa, "Kingklip" is far and away the best eating fish. Up there with Dover Sole, Fingermark Bream, and Turbot.

[Steve Walker]

I like pilchard, though coarser and fishier sound a bit discouraging. Snoek pie sounds tasty enough to try making out of pilchards!

 

"Kingklip" - I shall mentally file that information away for future reference, thanks Dave.

[Vagabond]

Snoek pie sounds tasty enough to try making out of pilchards!

 

 

If you have the pilchards, and want to make a pie, why not go the whole hog and make a traditional Cornish "Starry-Gazey Pie"

 

Twelve pilchards, mind, and we want a photo !