Fish On A Stick

SUCKER SPEARED EVERY MINUTE

Gary Wellesley of Springdale gigs a white sucker on Indian Creek. White suckers are his favorite fish to take with a gig. Giggers may spear rough fish such as suckers, carp and gar.
Gary Wellesley of Springdale gigs a white sucker on Indian Creek. White suckers are his favorite fish to take with a gig. Giggers may spear rough fish such as suckers, carp and gar.

GLANAGAN, Mo.— Gary Wellesley wouldn’t touch a fish with a 10 foot pole. A 14-footer?

Now we’re talking.

That’s the length of the fi sh gigs Wellesley and his pals use on the Ozarks’ clear streams to spear rough fish that are fair game for giggers. That includes carp, gar, suckers and other species in the rough category.

Don’t tell these giggers that rough fish aren’t fit to eat. It’s a mid-September tradition for this gaggle of giggers to gather and gig enough fi sh to feed an army of family and friends at an annual fi sh fry.

Friday was opening day of gigging season for Wellesley, of Springdale, and Missouri giggers Jerry and Larry Bonebrake. Sept. 15 is the legal start of gigging season in Missouri and Arkansas. That fell on a Sunday this year. With church and family plans, the giggers opted to float the two streams last Friday.

The trio launched on Indian Creek at Lanagan, Mo., then Big Sugar Creek near Pineville, Mo., for their 2013 gig fest.

SEASON’S START

Opening day gigging trips have been larger, but rain most of Friday kept the turnout light. The three set off from Lanagan City Park in steady, light rain Friday morning to gig the finned ingredients of their fi sh fry.

I hopped in Wellesley’s boat to gig our way upstream on Indian Creek. The Bonebrakes put in at a low-water bridge upriver and fl oated back to the park.

It can be hard enough to catch fi sh with a rod and reel. Try spearing a12-inch sucker that’s 15 feet away with your trusty gig. If fish were the size of the Goodyear blimp, gigging might be easier.

Wellesley walked his boat upstream to the first pool above the park. He got in, stood in the bow and looked for suckers. Hey, there’s a dandy smallmouth bass. We watched it swim by. Game fi sh such as bass aren’t legal to gig, but it was an unlucky day for the suckersthat swam close to Wellesley and his buddies. The men have been gigging most of their lives and don’t miss much. Gigs are wooden poles 14 feet or longer with a two- or threepronged fork on the business end. Maybe Neptune was a fish gigger. Gigs resemble the forked spear always associated with the Roman god of the sea.

The ideal target is a rough fish that’s close to the boat and broadside so it presents the largest target. Giggers lunge at close-range fish without letting go of the gig. If the fish is out there, expert giggers can throw the gig like a spear.

“You don’t aim the gig,” Wellesley coached on our way upstream. “I don’t even see the gig when I throw it. I just look at the fi sh.”

Gigs do double duty on the stream. They’re used to pole the boat through the water as well as spear fi sh. Wellesley used his gig like a kayak paddle on our way upstream, poling along with the butt end of the gig then the forked end.

The prongs of Wellesley’s gig aren’t sharp. “They don’t need to be,” he said. “Even if they were they wouldn’t stay that way, because on every shot the gig goes into the gravel or hits bedrock,” he said.

FISHY TARGETS

When Wellesley saw the first sucker last Friday, he went on point like a bird dog, then heaved away. The gig hit gravel, but no fi sh.

“Dang. That was a decent sucker there. I threw right over him,” said Wellesley, who sported a red VFW ball cap on the creek. He’s the state VFW commander for Arkansas.

Ozark streams like Indian Creek are so clear that polarized sunglasses aren’t needed to see the f ish. Even with rain pocking the surface, it was easy to tell the rough fish from the game fish on this beautiful stream.

Trouble was, there weren’t many rough fish to gig. After a couple of hours on Indian Creek, they had maybe eight suckers and a freshwater drum. They needed more to feed the 20 fish-fry guests they expected on Saturday.

Rough fish are fine on a plate, the giggers testifi ed.

“You can f ix them so they’re real good,” said Junior Schlessman of Anderson, Mo. Fish arescaled, then scored by cutting slices down to the bone an inch or less apart. “You deep-fry them real hot so they’re nice and crispy,” Schlessman added.

In the world of rough fi sh, white suckers are the tastiest in Wellesley’s view. Hog suckers are the opposite. They sport a mottled look in the water and Wellesley won’t gig them. “To me they’re too mushy.”

A 30-pound carp is the largest fish he’s had on the end of his gig.

NIGHT AND DAY

These opening-day giggers take their fish by light of day. Others prefer gigging at night with lights.Schlessman has done his share of nocturnal gigging.

“When we started, we hung Coleman lanterns over the side of the boat. You had to be careful not to break the mantles,” he said.

Modern nighttime giggers use portable generators and electric lights. Some of the gigs available at outdoor stores are lighter-gauge metal than the heavy-duty gigs Wellesley and his friends use.

Auctions and yard sales are the best places to find these heavier gigs, Wellesley said.

John boats are their preferred vessel. Weathered doesn’t begin to describe Wellesley’s boat. The aluminum boat looks like he might drag it down the road behind his pickup instead of hauling it in the bed. It looks rough, like the fish these giggers pursue. The men compared notes after their trip on Indian Creek. They needed more fi sh. One said he’d seen lots of suckers in Big Sugar Creek nearPineville. The guys loaded their boats and hit the curvy highway.

Big Sugar proved the right choice.

The gigging was good. Early afternoon was spent cleaning their catch, enough and more for their Saturday fish fry. Bring on the hush puppies.

Outdoor, Pages 6 on 09/26/2013

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