Tag: Muck

A Tribute to the Ugliest Fish in the Sea

The ling or eelpout is without a doubt a disgusting, repulsive, annoying, slimy, smelly and unattractive fish in the sea. Despite these negative qualities, it has a delicious lobster-like taste and boasts its own annual festival near Walker, Minnesota. Why? The eelpout may be ugly, but its redeeming qualities far outweigh any appearance deficiencies.

Eelpout, also known as spineless catfish, lawyer or burbot, tend to reside mostly in the deeper waters of clean cold Northern lakes. Their appearance is part eel, part catfish, sporting one single chin whisker known as a barbel. Its physique is lean and mean with considerable strength, challenging anglers with an audacious game of hide-and-seek. Its primary draw for many anglers is the ease with which they are caught. During the winter months, eelpout relocate into water 25 to 50 feet deep for spawning. As a result, anglers can expect to catch large numbers of these homely swimmers, often weighing in the double digits.

Early evening and after dark are prime times for successful eelpouting. These ugly creatures of the deep are known carnivores; if its fishy and fits in their mouths, they will eat it. While this makes baiting them somewhat easier, it is this trait which also makes them an unwelcome guest to other anglers, as they tend to steal bait. Like other nocturnal creatures, eelpout prefer to sneak up on their victims while they rest.

The strength, depth and aggressiveness of this species require stronger equipment than most game fishing. Stronger lure combined with leaders of at least three feet and a swivel will keep the catch online and prevent lure from twisting with the fish. Glow hooks and rattle spoons with minnows top off the lure, which is then allowed to free-call to the bottom. The lure mingles with the muck and is then snapped back to the surface, at which point an eelpout may already be on board. During the spawning period in late February, a catch of 100 or more is not uncommon, weighing on average between 3 and 8 pounds.

Those who love the ling are welcome to pay its tribute at the annual International Eelpout Festival on Leech Lake in Walker, Minnesota. Three full days commemorating the ugliest fish in the sea begin with an Opening Ceremony, complete with Torch Lighting. Entrants are encouraged to use their imagination when constructing their fishing shelter, as prizes are awarded for the most lavish structure built on the lake. Extra points may be earned if the shelter sports a logo from one of the sponsoring companies of the tournament. Prizes are also awarded for the single pout with the most weight, for the most combined pout tonnage by a single angler and for most combined pout tonnage by a team of anglers.

Few creatures are as unappealing, yet offer so much in the spirit of fishing. There is nothing refined or fancy about fishing for eelpout; it is simply fun. For those who like to fish, enjoy the outdoors, and catch a lot of fish without regard to species, the eelpout is a beautiful thing indeed.

What to consider when giving party favors

Party favors are the least of peoples priorities when they are organizing a party these days. After all, one usually will only have a budget for the food and the entertainment and nothing left for other expenses. But those who do find a small piece of the pie chart and dedicate it to party favors muck up the whole process of giving party favors that it would have been better if they didnt give any. For me, it is better to give nothing than to give the wrong thing.

One of the most basic things that you should remember when choosing and buying a party favor kit is the purpose of giving it. It is a souvenir that will hopefully make the person remember your party and your event. Remember this when thinking of party favor ideas. Most people think that it is enough to just give a small token of a useless thing just as long as it has their names, the date and indicates what the occasion is. They dont realize that for their guests to actually remember them through the party favor that they gave, it should be something that they can use, preferably every day. The party favor should not only be beautiful, it should also be functional.

Another mistake that people do when giving party favors is to just give it with no information on it about the party or the celebration or to give it with the information engraved on it. The latter is actually done often and has actually been a practice in most cultures. Doing both is wrong because not giving any information about you or what your party is about defeats the purpose of giving the swag bag in the first place and giving too much information and actually putting them on the souvenir item is in bad taste.

What you should do is to put information on a separate small piece of paper and attach them on the gift. That way, they will have a reminder of where they got it, who gave it to them and what the event was. The gift itself should not have any trace of identification whatsoever. If they want to display the gift with the tag and keep it along with the rest of their souvenirs, they can choose to. The key here is the freedom to choose what they can do with the gift. If your guests want to use their gifts without having to explain every time about the inscriptions on it, it is their decision.

It is also much better to give one big gift than to fill the swag bag with small useless items that seem cheap and tawdry. This is not only very time-consuming to prepare but also costly when you really add up the total. Why not buy something that will cost around the same amount when you combined your small gifts? Giving one big gift will also make your party favor more expensive than it really is.