If I rattled off every rough fish I won't eat, this post would sound like a fresh water rendition of "Green Eggs and Ham". When I want fish for the frying pan, that's what my fly rod is for--blue gills, crappies, catfish and such.

Several years ago, a friend of mine and I had the bright idea to cut up and cook a longnose gar I shot. Bar none, that was the nastiest thing I've ever eaten. And I've had some German food that'd knock a buzzard off a gut wagon.

These days, when I shoot a rough fish--be it carp, gar, sucker, or whatever--I return it to the Earth from which it came. I shoot rough fish for a lot of reasons, but sustinence isn't one of them.