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fps_bill posted:So what do you do with your paddle when you're fishing and not paddling? Also which tackle boxes fit well in a milk crate? It pretty much sits in my lap. I did finally grab a paddle leash off Amazon for about $5 so that it won't go anywhere for when I inevitably go for a swim.
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Jun 17, 2013 19:04
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I figured I was just wondering if there was a better solution. I took my Ultimateforce special XFactor on its maiden voyage yesterday. Didn't catch anything worth writing home about. I did get a hell if a burn on my legs though. I learned a few things though the first one being my rod doesn't cast worth a poo poo with 10lb fluorocarbon and the second one is I haven't a clue what I'm doing with a rubber worm or tubes. e: Malibu is full of poo poo when they say the XFactor weighs 65 lbs.
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Jun 17, 2013 19:50
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 Me (in red) and my friend portaged her canoe to a creek then rowed for about an hour until we came to a totally secluded lake. We rowed around the lake until we found a place to access the land to pitch our campsite.  We ended up catching thirteen northerns and keeping six of them. The lake was pretty shallow and weedy so a lot of our time was spent reeling the canoe to whatever we were stuck on to yank the lure up, but the fish were biting so it was good fun. We were out for about nine hours before the weather turned bad.  We couldn't keep a campfire that night so we ended up cleaning the fish that night and frying them the next day after we returned to her place. Yummy. Whenever we fish we seem to always come across lakes that have nothing but northerns. We heard that if you gut the fish and wrap it in tinfoil then stick them in the coals for a while, the y-bones will soften up enough that you can eat them and not notice, but we tried it once and it didn't work. We've just been frying them and spitting out the bones. Does anyone have any tips for preparing bony fish? I know how to fillet them to take out the y-bones but the fish we catch are small and you would lose most of the meat so it's more worth it to just spit out the bones and save the meat.
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Jun 17, 2013 21:35
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fps_bill posted:So what do you do with your paddle when you're fishing and not paddling? Also which tackle boxes fit well in a milk crate? I have a Hobie kayak so I do not use my paddle all that much since I use the Mirage drive most of the time, if I do not use that I just keep the paddle across my lap, attached with a leash while I use my rudder to maintain my position on the lake. For tackle boxes that fit into a milk crate, I just use these http://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_10051_12171_-1__?N=272574547&Ntt=tackle+box+sleeves&Ntk=All , pretty much just a skinny, white tackle box sleeves. The nice thing about those is, I can customize them for the type of fish I target and can just grab the right box and just go. Koivunen nice pictures and even nicer fish, I really miss catching Northerns, those are a blast to catch and a great eating fish. If you have more pictures of the lake post those up, the water looks great.
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Jun 17, 2013 23:01
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I couldn't find a milk crate so I picked up some kind of rectangular storage crate at Walmart that's like 14x17. Then eaded over to sporting goods and found out the Plano 3700 waterproof trays fit nicely long ways. I'm hunting around work for a piece of 3" shaft to make an anchor. Anyone have any suggestions as far as anchor weight goes?
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Jun 18, 2013 01:13
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fps_bill posted:I couldn't find a milk crate so I picked up some kind of rectangular storage crate at Walmart that's like 14x17. Then eaded over to sporting goods and found out the Plano 3700 waterproof trays fit nicely long ways. I used a 3lb circle weight for an anchor, attached to a trolley line for a while and that seemed to do pretty good at holding me in place for almost everything but the toughest of winds. It also has the advantage of not getting snagged on anything like a traditional anchor might, so it is a bit safer for kayak use. I stopped using one after a while though, they got too cumbersome, had to carry to much line with me and just made a tangle of a mess and I did not like how to boat rocked with waves hitting my broadside. I built my stake out pole for shallow water fishing and I use a drift sock for the most part in deep waters and I have been pretty happy with that set up.
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Jun 18, 2013 02:49
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Rythe posted:I built my stake out pole for shallow water fishing and I use a drift sock for the most part in deep waters and I have been pretty happy with that set up. What size drift sock are you using? I really really need one for my paddle board. Wind blows me three or four times faster than my kayak buddies. I also don't know how to attach it...if I tie it to the rear leash plug I will have no quick way of disconnecting it if it gets hung up. Or am I overthinking this? I've never used a drift sock and am unfamiliar with the actual risk associated with them versus a traditional anchor. Someone mentioned not being able to find milk crates, The Container Store has them for  They are much stronger than the alternatives from target or Walmart. Not everyone needs them to be durable but on my SUP everything, literally everything, is attached to the milk crate and if it broke I'd be doomed.
tesilential fucked around with this message at 03:36 on Jun 18, 2013 |
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Jun 18, 2013 03:33
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I just looked it up and a 12" piece of 2" steel shaft weighs 10.6lbs. Think that would be enough to keep me anchored in a river? I figure since its 12" long I could wrap my rope(paracord) around it and stand it vertical in my crate and save space.
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Jun 18, 2013 04:36
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I use a 30 inch drift sock and that pretty much keeps me motionless on the lake with a decent wind trying to push me along, I have mine attached with a anchor troller. When it comes to a paddle board, I do not have a clue on how to safely rig one of those, I would do some Google research to see what kind of ideas you can come up with. fps_bill A 3 lb weights was all I needed to keep my kayak stable in 15 mph winds or so on a lake, not sure on a river, I would imagine the weight would be dictated by the current on the river and how strong it is.
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Jun 18, 2013 11:43
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So I took the USS Ultimateforce(still trying to come up with a better name, settled on this for now because my yak was $1000 and it's lime green) today. Here it is all rigged up and ready to go.  Wasn't on the water 20 minutes and caught this guy. Didn't have a tape and wasn't sure if he was legal so I threw him back. Plus I thought I was in the honey hole having been there for so little time. Yea.........didn't catch anything else all day long.  Here   Polarized As you can see there is a metric poo poo ton of aquatic vegetation that I have no idea how to fish. The bass I caught was pretty much pure accident. I had drifted into some cattails and figured I'd transition to side saddle while my senko was still in the water. Got re situated and was reeling in to recast when said bass came up about 4 feet from my yak and hammered my lure. I had everything rigged weedless with no weight but was still catching weeds with the nose of the worm. I am going to have to get an anchor trolley and some kind of anchor, being blown around is such a pain in the rear end without a rudder. fps_bill fucked around with this message at 04:24 on Jun 24, 2013 |
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Jun 22, 2013 22:57
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Last week I went out to a local pond and had a similar day: got exactly one hit, and my lure was just sitting there doing nothing while I was explaining something to my wife. I just finished reading The Scientific Angler and I was surprised to find (among a ton of other things) that doing less with a lure is sometimes the most effective way to attract attention. The local library turned out to be a great resource for a lot of my newbie quandaries. In a day or two I'm going to go pick up a held book that is 236 pages of fishing info for my specific region and I am so pumped up.
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Jun 22, 2013 23:52
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Koivunen posted:
Oh god this is my favorite type of fishing. It's how I learned as a boy fishing like this with my Dad in Maine as a boy. Shallow lakes, canoes, tea colored water full of perch and pike...I loved it so much, that a year or two ago I went to Sweden with my wife and daughter to capture the feeling and did it ever. (Sweden looks like Maine! Complete with Moose!) Here is a 4 minute video of my second annual fly fishing trip to Austria, someone lent me a GoPro so I poorly filmed stuff in the wrong format for a bit, searched in vain for appropriate music, and then said gently caress it and just grabbed some poo poo, and threw some stuff together because my fishing buddy was getting impatient. After getting rained out last year, and snowed on the two years before that, we deserved some good weather and goddammit we got it.
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Jun 23, 2013 00:08
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Rythe posted:Koivunen nice pictures and even nicer fish, I really miss catching Northerns, those are a blast to catch and a great eating fish. If you have more pictures of the lake post those up, the water looks great. Thanks! Here are some more pics -  This was when we first got to the lake, a bit overcast and chilly.  Decided to play it safe and get off the lake for a while as this blew over.  After the storm passed it was sunny and warm, the lake was perfectly still, couldn't have asked for better fishing weather.  We found enough of a clearing to pitch our tents.  Sun setting through the trees.  Holding up our prize collection of the day. (Don't mind me, very sweaty and gross.)  This is the last thing a leech or crayfish sees before its death. I also noticed that my nail polish unintentionally matched the fish while I was cleaning them.
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Jun 23, 2013 05:58
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PREYING MANTITS posted:Caught my new personal best this morning, 29" 9lb 11oz blue cat. Was really fun reeling it in and it sure loved to do its little roll move every time I got it near the boat. Landing it without a net was a challenge. I'm glad I had fireline crystal on the reel since the fish's lips were so abrasive it probably would have destroyed the mono I had on there until yesterday. That's a good catfish, though, to me it looks like a channel cat. But, can't really tell for sure without looking at the anal fin. Channel cats and blues look a lot alike, especially bigger channel cats. People talk a lot of poo poo on catfish (especially bass fisherman), but once you get into that 10 lb and above range, very few fish in freshwater pull harder. On that note, took the kayak out to a local 50 acre pond and had a pretty slow day of catfishing. Caught six and none were very big. They were all juvenile males, with the biggest one being maybe 2 lbs. My guess is the spawn is finally on. Bait of choice was cut chicken gizzards marinated in garlic. They were tagging that more than cut bluegill. This bait has become my go to bait after I read it was recommended by a lot of local guides (although they use chicken breasts) and it has become a bit of a standard around here for blue catfish in particular. I find it usually does as good if not better than cut bait. Mulaney Power Move fucked around with this message at 02:56 on Jun 24, 2013 |
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Jun 24, 2013 02:50
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Some Other Guy posted:That's a good catfish, though, to me it looks like a channel cat. But, can't really tell for sure without looking at the anal fin. Channel cats and blues look a lot alike, especially bigger channel cats. Interesting! Here's one next to a ruler that kind of shows that fin, maybe that will help with the ID? http://i.imgur.com/3gO19eX.jpg Definitely agree regarding the fight in them! I fish on Lake Guntersville which is a huge bass lake and after 7pm activity just flat out dies, blows my mind. I love catfishing as much as bass fishing. I caught that one on a medium action bass rod and there were a few times where it bent in half while the cat charged under the boat. Last fall I had something (catfish, maybe a huge drum) take a worm that was dragging on the bottom and just freight train to deeper waters. I tried to slow it down/turn it and it just kept on chugging til the line inevitably broke. Argh! One day... Glad you had some decent results with the gizzards! I've been meaning to try those since while I had a lot of bites on livers, they were such a pain to keep on the hook even with the pantyhose trick or elastic cording. The one I caught in that picture was with a lil smokie, haha. I soaked a bunch in vinegar and garlic for 2 days and they seem to work pretty well. edit: speaking of bass, last trip out this was the best of the bunch. 4lb 5oz, 21". Caught it on a 4" berkley chigger craw. 
PREYING MANTITS fucked around with this message at 00:14 on Jun 25, 2013 |
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Jun 24, 2013 03:52
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Beautiful bass on this page. Wanna get some of that bass.
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Jun 25, 2013 00:08
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Can anyone recommend a better knot. I lost a decent catfish Sunday because my clinch knot decided to slip and come apart.
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Jun 25, 2013 05:51
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I have read good things about the Trilene knot but I haven't tied it myself yet.
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Jun 25, 2013 07:50
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I exclusively tie the Palomar Knot just because it's so drat easy to tie.
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Jun 25, 2013 08:40
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Unperson_47 posted:I exclusively tie the Palomar Knot just because it's so drat easy to tie. I loved the palomar knot until I started fly fishing exclusively, it's just impossible to put the loop through the eyes of tiny flies.. 
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Jun 25, 2013 09:45
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Unperson_47 posted:I exclusively tie the Palomar Knot just because it's so drat easy to tie. I use this on just about every single fishing lure that I use, it is super fast, efficient and I can use it with a heavy lb test line fairly easily.
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Jun 25, 2013 11:40
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Unperson_47 posted:I exclusively tie the Palomar Knot just because it's so drat easy to tie. This is the only one I know how to tie 
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Jun 25, 2013 15:09
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Corla Plankun posted:I have read good things about the Trilene knot but I haven't tied it myself yet. That's the one I've gotten into the habit of using a lot. It holds very well both on mono and fluorocarbon lines. Once you've tied it a few times it's almost as quick as the palomar.
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Jun 25, 2013 16:44
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fps_bill posted:Can anyone recommend a better knot. I lost a decent catfish Sunday because my clinch knot decided to slip and come apart. Have you been wetting the line with saliva? I haven't had that knot come undone since I've started doing that.
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Jun 25, 2013 20:01
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Not really. I'm gonna try the palwhatever knot and the no-slip mono knot this weekend. I'm hoping to have an anchor trolley this weekend also. On a side note I really wish I had spent the extra money and gotten the surf to summit gts seat.
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Jun 25, 2013 20:06
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fps_bill posted:Can anyone recommend a better knot. I lost a decent catfish Sunday because my clinch knot decided to slip and come apart. You didn't cinch it down properly. The knot will break before slipping if you make sure there are no gaps between the coils. I love tying knots almost as much as catching fish  I use the crazy Alberto exclusively for braid to leader connections. I use the canoe man's loop knot as my go to for basically EVERY terminal knot (lure, bait hook, etc). Do yourself a favor and google it. It's THE easiest and quickest tying fishing knot there is! And with a little practice you can tie it so nice you don't need to trim the tag end. Loop knots also give much better action to your lure than a clinch or palomar which make it move more stiffly. The trade off is loop knots are generally weaker. That's where the trilene knot comes in. Stronger than the canoe man's loop but much better presentation than the clinch and palomar. It's what I tie when I leave the house if I expect big fish or the possibility of getting hung up on structure. On the water tho it's the canoe man's loop all the way. I only use a palomar or clinch knot when tying on a bobber or weight where the action doesn't matter.
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Jun 26, 2013 21:25
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Koivunen posted:awesome pics. As for knots, I'm all about simplified snell knots for hooks. All the force is transferred directly onto the line when the knot is tightened (ie pulled). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukzfzws2jYY I just use improved clinch knot for lures.
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Jun 26, 2013 21:27
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So apparently I'm a pussy and don't know how to land a big cat when on a kayak. I just accidentally cut my line trying to poke a hole in this things lower lip so I could put it on my stringer without pulling it onto my yak. Before next weekend I'm going to need a fish grappler and a head lamp.
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Jun 30, 2013 04:04
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fps_bill posted:So apparently I'm a pussy and don't know how to land a big cat when on a kayak. I just accidentally cut my line trying to poke a hole in this things lower lip so I could put it on my stringer without pulling it onto my yak. Ohh that sucks a lot there, can not say that has happened to me yet thankfully. There is a certain logistics issues at times when it comes to big fish and kayak fishing, especially on the part of were are you going to keep said big fish when you do catch it. Fish grippers are really nice and I have a set installed on my kayak for just those occasions of a unexpected big fish, same with a cheap $5 trout net for other fish species.
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Jun 30, 2013 04:42
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I'm also going to have to get the life proof life jacket for my phone. Other than the constant fear of dropping my phone overboard it's awesome. Floating around listening to CCR, battling insects, and enjoying a cold drink. E: gizzards and garlic hasn't produced anything yet tonight. Cut bluegill has been doing alright. Maybe if I had a container of liver blood to dump in with the gizzards. fps_bill fucked around with this message at 06:28 on Jun 30, 2013 |
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Jun 30, 2013 05:50
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fps_bill posted:So apparently I'm a pussy and don't know how to land a big cat when on a kayak. I just accidentally cut my line trying to poke a hole in this things lower lip so I could put it on my stringer without pulling it onto my yak. Any cat in double digits is a pain in the rear end to land from a kayak. I have a good sized landing net that can handle most fish, but you can easily lose a fish when trying to hold a rod in one hand and a net in another. I've never used those grips, but everyone on the catfish website I go to seems to. They also have special gloves, but I think that's more for protecting your hand against abrasions -- I do know that big channel cats in particular have a lot of crushing power and if you happen to catch a trophy (20 lbs) it's possible the thing could break your hand if you're not careful. As far as gizzards or chicken breasts marinated in garlic go, I've found the size of your bait makes a big difference. During day time or periods of inactivity, I cut it into quarter size pieces, and when they're active I cut it into 50 cent pieces since often they won't take it if you leave the whole thing intact. This seems weird because the same sized bluegill fillet seems to catch fish. Mixing in blood might help attract fish but I've never experimented with it, though I do know some people recommend fishing with coagulated chicken blood and of course we all know how well livers can work if you're willing to deal with the frustrations. In general though, I've matched the performance of cut bait, but I've never really clearly outperformed it and it's still the best all round bait that I know of. The main advantage of the chicken bait is that you can just grab it and fish if you don't already have baitfish on hand.
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Jun 30, 2013 19:26
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Bangkero posted:As for knots, I'm all about simplified snell knots for hooks. All the force is transferred directly onto the line when the knot is tightened (ie pulled). Thanks a lot for posting this. I decided to give it a try this weekend and it did seem to help the hookup ratio over the trilene knot I was using. Only missed one and that was because it held onto the tail of the bait until I got it right next to the boat, I thought the fish was hooked it was so deadset on keeping it. Didn't catch a ton though, just a few largemouth and a tiny catfish that went for a crankbait. Being out on the water in the mornings when there aren't tons of boats is great. Makes those sunrises even better. 
PREYING MANTITS fucked around with this message at 20:07 on Jun 30, 2013 |
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Jun 30, 2013 20:04
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Had a couple good days on the kayak to start my weekend. Caught this beautiful beast last night, and this morning we went to a 17 acre farm "pond" my dad and I have fished for years and probably landed 100 or so bass between the two of us. Nothing of size, but when you're catching that many does it really matter? fknlo fucked around with this message at 02:16 on Jul 2, 2013 |
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Jul 1, 2013 19:57
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Caught myself a fine Pike in Lake Mälaren (in a western green suburb of Stockholm). Gonna cook it in the oven with some onions and potatoes, it's going to be delicious! It's a regular sized Pike, but goddamn are they strong, for it's size he/she made a hell of a struggle, basically a non-stop tug of war. Falukorv fucked around with this message at 01:07 on Jul 9, 2013 |
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Jul 8, 2013 23:38
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Falukorv posted:It's a regular sized Pike, but goddamn are they strong, for it's size he/she made a hell of a struggle, basically a non-stop tug of war. Sounds about right. I've caught large ones a few times in my life, and I'm amazed they don't snap the line as often as they do.
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Jul 11, 2013 05:56
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I'm going bass fishing for the first time at Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara, and I think I slightly know what I'm doing, but I want to make sure I'm on the right path. So I have a fishing rod with a spinning reel and 8# line (probably more than what I need to catch fish). I'm going to stop by the fishing shop after work to pick up some stuff. I read that a senko worm works wonders, so I'm going to pick up a few of these bad boys and hook them using a Texas rig. I need the following, correct? - z-bend hook - bullet weight (what oz?) - is that it? And what is the fishing technique for this? Cast into the water near vegetation/rocks, let it sink a little, then bob it up and down, reel it back in, re-cast x 50? Also, I plan on picking up some crankbait. What do I need besides the crankbait? Any weight? What technique do I use with crankbait? Thanks! Edit: Would the above work for trout and/or other fish as well? Hand of the King fucked around with this message at 17:39 on Jul 11, 2013 |
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Jul 11, 2013 17:35
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Hand of the King posted:And what is the fishing technique for this? Cast into the water near vegetation/rocks, let it sink a little, then bob it up and down, reel it back in, re-cast x 50? Sounds like you're on the right path. Texas rig is my favorite way to fish worms. Senkos do great texas rigged and a ton of people swear by wacky rigging them but I don't have much luck doing that. I also really like watermelon colored zoom trick worms. I use a similar setup except I have 10# line on mine. I usually use a 2/0 or 3/0 gamakatsu EWG hook depending on how much action I want to give the worm (smaller hook = more action but higher chance of a fish not eating it all the way to the hook) and for the weight it kind of depends on the wind and thickness of grass and such. MOST of the time I'll throw a 3/16th, but on windy days I'll step it up to a 1/4oz or more if needed. That's pretty much it, just thread the bullet weight on the line, tie your hook and rig up the worm how you'd like. I generally fish it like I would a jig, which means hopping it (pull it up off the bottom 3-6 ft and let it flutter back down but don't go all crazy hopping it. 6-7 seconds between hops is pretty good and most of the time they'll go for it when it starts to fall back down) or sweeping which is just pulling your rod to the side letting the worm drag on the bottom slowly. quote:Also, I plan on picking up some crankbait. What do I need besides the crankbait? Any weight? What technique do I use with crankbait? You don't really need anything other than the crankbait, the size kind of depends on the depth of the water you're fishing. You can't go wrong with the strike king ones, the 5xd and the 6xd are my favorite 10-15ish feet deep ones. For shallow ones, just about anything in a shad pattern will work. Most of my crankbait bites are on a crankbait that isn't made anymore, a lucky craft combat CB that dives around 8ft and has a purple back, yellowish white middle and a yellow bottom. It's some sort of shad color but I can't remember what. Keep in mind that while not always the case, bass do like to eat upwards so you kind of want to get one that won't quite reach the bottom but comes within a foot or two. Good lord I could talk forever on this. Sorry, haha. I do hope you have fun and catch some fish! As for catching fish, sorry for the lack of a smile. I was in the middle of talking my fishing partner on how to take a photo with my phone and I didn't realize they took one. Haha. Not a bad day today. Went out around 6:30am and called it at 9:30am when the sun got hot. Caught about 7 12" to 15" tiny ones and then a 3 1/2lber (not pictured) a 4.3lber, and a 4.7lber. The 4.3 was on a white jig with a craw trailer and the 4.7 was on a black and chartreuse jig with the same craw trailer. Most were in 3-5ft of water. 
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Jul 12, 2013 17:14
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Hey all, been seeing some pike in the last few pages reminded me to ask y'all about catching fish in the northern US. I'll be in Michigan and Ontario in late July to early August and I'd like to catch some new fish! Namely pike, walleye and smallmouths. I'm from the South so I'm used to catching LMB and channel cats. I'm going to talk to locals about individual places, but I come here looking for general advice on lures and where to fish on a body of water for pike,walleye and smallies. I befriended a guy with a boat last summer and I caught some lake trout but I didn't find trolling around Grand Traverse Bay too much fun. Also I was wondering if my gear would be suitable - I've got a 6'5" baitcaster with 14lb test mono. Would this hold up to pike and walleye?
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Jul 12, 2013 17:41
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PREYING MANTITS posted:Sounds like you're on the right path. Thanks for the reply! I'm always happy to hear tips and tricks on fishing. I'll be at the lake by 7AM and fish until I catch something... Is there a certain time where bass fishing becomes pointless because it's too hot out or something? According to the internets, it's going to be between 60 degrees and 80 degrees from 5am to 1pm.
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Jul 12, 2013 20:10
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Hand of the King posted:Thanks for the reply! I'm always happy to hear tips and tricks on fishing. I'll be at the lake by 7AM and fish until I catch something... Is there a certain time where bass fishing becomes pointless because it's too hot out or something? According to the internets, it's going to be between 60 degrees and 80 degrees from 5am to 1pm. Typically in the summer you want to stick with mornings or late evenings when fishing for bass.
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Jul 12, 2013 20:28
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