DoctaFun posted:

I don't think there's anything more addicting than buying fishing lures…I just bought about 20 new crankbaits in the last couple days and I can't stop!

babyeatingpsychopath posted:

Cast net + time = finger mullet. Finger mullet + time = Mangrove snapper.

Mangrove snapper + garlic butter = awesome.

A successful day. I spent $0 on new tackle and got a free dinner!

babyeatingpsychopath posted:

Cast net + time = finger mullet. Finger mullet + time = Mangrove snapper.

Mangrove snapper + garlic butter = awesome.

A successful day. I spent $0 on new tackle and got a free dinner!

coyo7e posted:

Okay so I've recently been :jealous: of the guys I see on the rocks, casting into the delta on the beach near my family's beach house on the Oregon Coast, so I was looking to get into some saltwater fishing, specifically starting with probably surfperch and stuff on the nice flat beaches nearby, since I'm not super stoked to break a leg on a jetty in the dark somewhere.

So my main question is what kind of cheap rod/reel combo can I get away with? I don't have anything over 6 feet long that's not a flyrod, and I don't have any plans to try saltwater fly fishing for the foreseeable future since it's usually crazy windy here in OR. Mostly I'm just thinking along the lines of some rubber boots, a rod and a bucket with some gear in it, and have no idea what to buy for a cheap rod combo that'll probably get broken or lost after a couple years at the beach rental. Probably get a clam gun too, because why the hell not when I've got the bucket and boots ready..?

Edit: I was looking at something like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/EAGLE-CLAW-Saltwater-8-SURF-BEAST-Combo-BRAND-NEW-/370895516098?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item565b1871c2

droneboat609 posted:

...be sure to hose off your rod (most importantly your reel) with fresh water (from like a garden hose) to make sure you get all the salt and stuff cleaned off, helps the gear last longer and preform better the next time. GL

Falukorv posted:

I'm going to go fish for pike tomorrow afternoon in a very large lake, and i would like to ask for some advice, since i only so far have been fishing in summertime.

I live in Sweden, so where i'm at daytime temperatures right now are around 8 degrees celsius. Temperate climate zone, comparable to Minnesota kind of.

Where do pikes like to hang out? I'm thinking of hitting shallow areas with reed, as far as i know pikes go into shallow waters with vegetation during colder autumn waters. Is that a reasonable strategy? Otherwise i know a spot with an underwater steep which quickly gets deep.

Today the wind speed is low, almost still, but tomorrow's gonna be friskier, with wind speeds around 8 m/s (18 mph/15.5 knots) blowing Northwest. How does that affect pike habits?

DoctaFun posted:

I'm going to answer assuming you mean northern pike, but there's a possibility you mean what we call a walleye, because in some parts of the country people call walleye 'pike'.

Anyways, usually in the fall pike are quite aggressive, so using fairly large/flashy lures is a good strategy. Medium to Large sized crankbaits(Buchertail Shallow Raider, Original Floating rapala/husky jerk, daredevle spoons, bucktails, spinnerbaits are all good choices.

As a rule, you can always find pike where you find weeds. The hard part is finding the big pike. In lakes with a good pike population you should be able to put Pike in the boat by casting along the edges of weedlines(or even on top of the weeds if they don't reach the surface), you might get quite a few small ones though(which would be okay for eating!), but you should find some action. The best weedlines for bigger pike are ones that are close to deep water. Another popular lake feature for big pike is points, if that point also is adjacent to deep water and has good weed growth then it's probably a good spot!

Another location(which I guess falls into the weeds category) is cabbage beds. http://www.jasonhalfenoutdoors.com/weeds.html. If you can find some underwater cabbage(may be too late in the year for that I'm not sure), then these spots will often produce some pike. Either troll right on top of them or right along the sides of them. Again, if you can find a spot like this that has deep water nearby, it's better for the big fish.

As far as how wind affects pike habits, I'm not too sure. There's a general tip for walleye that you should fish the windblown side of the lake because the wind pushes the baitfish that direction. It's very possible that the pike will follow as well, but if you are looking for big pike I will say that they probably arne't feeding on tiny minnows(I've seen 4 lb. northerns T-bone and kill 2 lb. walleyes.)

Just note that the 'big pike' spots will likely yield a lot fewer fish, but they will be bigger on average. If you are just looking for numbers then I would either cast or troll along weedlines all day, you should pick a few up.

Falukorv posted:

Thanks! Yeah i meant Northern Pike, i don't think walleyes exist in Sweden at all. We do have the related Pikeperch though, but that's not what im after since they're pretty hard to fish here without the proper equipment or a boat. Should have mentioned, i don't own a boat so i'll be fishing from land, which limits my access to many possible points/reefs. I'm not interested in the really big ones, as i would like to catch one or two to actually eat, and medium-sized pikes make for better food.

As of now i'm thinking of going to a place with shallow water (up to 3 of meters depth)and lots of reed and usually cabbage bed, it has been a warm autumn so it should still be there. It get's deeper at around 100 meters out at sea. I've caught a 2 kg pike there once before on a summer evening, that particular pike had a crayfish in her stomach.
And the place is also on the windblown side.

Here's a nautical chart of the place, the marker is where i stand and fish:




A few clicks to the north on the map there's another spot where i can stand and fish, with a reef/point accessible (marked by a cross with dots), and it's closer to deeper water.

DoctaFun posted:

Well not having a boat definitely changes things , but that's okay! I like the spot you have marked, it allows you to potentially throw a lure out into deeper water because of that little bay, as well as throw into the shallow water/opening of that bay. Also, that island isn't that far out from shore, it's possible that there is some sort of trench in between the island and the shore, creating a natural funnel for predator fish to ambush baitfish. When I say deeper I mean relatively, the depth could taper off slowly from shore until you get half way to the island and start slowly moving back up again or something.

The other spots I'd try would be that point north of you, casting straight out and then parallel to shore on either side would be a good bet. Especially if the weeds aren't as thick once you get to 5-6 feet deep or something, that might allow you to bring your lure back in parallel to shore, all the while staying on the edge of the weeds, or on top of some deeper weeds. Otherwise I'd try the mouth of those small inlets south of your marker.

Pike don't necessarily stack up or school like a lot of other fish, so it's probably best to move around a bit if you aren't getting bites. As far as I know they move around quite a bit looking for food, and are aggressive towards other pike, so you probably won't find many small pike hanging out very close to really big ones(at least not by choice).

I would walk along the shore and just cast all over the place. Don't stick to just one spot all day, keep on the move and you should find some hungry fish eventually. If it's sunny out, try something with a brass/silver polished finish(like a daredevle spoon), they will really flash in the sun which can really entice those fish. Since it could potentially be very weedy where you are fishing, you might want to look at some topwater baits. One of my favorite Pike lures is the Bass-Oreno, it usually stays within a foot or so of the surface and I've caught numerous pike(and a big musky!) on it before.

Arctiidae posted:

Anyone here ever done serious Tenkara fishing? I love backpacking, so the compact rods look fantastic, but I have no clue about it. Any advice?

DoctaFun posted:

I spent the weekend up at Lake of the Woods and had some good fishing! We got to the cabin at about 4:30 and got out on the water by 5 PM. We saw a few boats stacked up in an odd spot for this time of year so we decided to check it out. As soon as we got on the same contour line as they were we started graphing fish. You couldn't put a jig on the bottom without getting bit INSTANTLY. We fished for a little over an hour and put 26 fish in the boat, but probably missed twice that many bites. It was fast and furious.

We got up on Saturday expecting heavy winds(if it's windy you just flat out don't fish Lake of the Woods, way too dangerous), but it was calm! We hustled to the harbor and started fishing around 9:45. We had our 8 walleye limit in 40 minutes, and had 42 fish in the boat by 11:30. The size of the fish was really nice too, I think we had 6 or 7 slot fish(19.5"+), and all our keepers were like 17-19", just beautiful fat walleyes. Biggest of the day was this SUPER fat 24.5 incher. I also caught a few pike which was fun, had a ~35" pike get off next to the boat .



Fishing slowed down and we ended the day with only 74 fish for the two of us. Sunday was too windy to fish so we fixed a bunch of stuff around the cabin and headed home on Monday. Overall a pretty good weekend!

Farking Bastage posted:

I've recently gotten into kayak fishing. I've always lived near the FL coast and have fished most of my life. After recently catching the ocean kayak bug, I realized pretty quick that you can get to areas that would demolish even a well rigged flats boat.

The setup:

14' Perception Prism Sit on top Kayak
DIY milk crate with rod holders
DIY anchor trolley
DIY stakeout pole
a shitload of parachute cord for tethering things.

If you have the tinkering bug, you can have a lot of fun rigging up various things to make the fishing easier, and save a ton of money to boot. For instance I made the anchor trolley out of a ring, two swivel snaps and about 30 feet of paracord when kits for this cost 50 bucks or better.



I live in the Florid panhandle and there's a TON of places to launch and catch red drum(redfish), Speckled sea trout, bluefish, flounder, cobia, all from protected waters. I generally go out either in the St Marks area or Panacea.

I tried a new area last weekend with pretty awesome results.

I paddled out about a mile to where there is a series of oyster bars at the mouth of a small creek emptying into the bay. As soon as the tide started to come in, I caught this little guy.



16" Redfish, but not a keeper with the current Florida regulations. Tossed him back and moved a little deeper out.

There's one large oyster bar a couple hundred yards out from where they usually put the crab pots. As the tide started coming in, there were birds roosting on it, water is almost rolling in over it. I eased up around it, turned and drifted on the current back towards the end of it. Tossing a gulp shrimp on a 1/16 jighead and BAM, not even 10 feet from my 'yak, this guy takes me for a ride.



24" Redfish! I use a Penn International 965 with 12 pound line on it, and he nearly spooled me twice. By the time the fight was over, I was about 50 yards away from where I hooked him, including a couple of times where he ran under the bow. All I had with me was a stringer, so I ended up coming in after that for fear of losing him to numerous bull sharks in the area.

Obligatory fish selfie

Dik Hz posted:

Nice fish and nice report. But if a 24" red is spooling you on 12# test, you need to turn up your drag.

BTW, I'd love to hear a bullshark kayak fishing story. :P

Farking Bastage posted:

The only one I have is me getting the poo poo scared out of me when they ripped up a school of mullet 50 yards away from me and I screamed like a girl and hauled rear end home.

Armed Neutrality posted:

A few years ago I was hooping for lobster in SoCal, and one night I pulled up a 2 foot shark and promptly dropped him in my lap. It was better than the time I impaled my arm on a sculpin though.

Ropes4u posted:

Caught and ate a nice blacktop shark tonight. Tasty and delicious and a nice ending to the annual leadership meeting at work. Going to miss the coast of Florida when I pack up for the trip home l..

Farking Bastage posted:

I've recently gotten into kayak fishing. I've always lived near the FL coast and have fished most of my life. After recently catching the ocean kayak bug, I realized pretty quick that you can get to areas that would demolish even a well rigged flats boat.

Elmnt80 posted:

I find it hard to believe that you'd get into areas I couldn't get into with a flats boat unless width is a big factor.

Falukorv posted:

Falukorv posted:

So a question about trout, can you fish for them with regular spinning reels? Never fished for trout before so i know very little. And if so, what kind of lures are they attracted to? How much are they able to resist and pull while hooked compared to a pike of the same size?

edit: When i say "trout" i mean the European one, Salmo trutta, specifically the oceanic subspecies Salmo trutta trutta.

Elmnt80 posted:

What rod are you using it on? It'd look awesome on a new abu garcia Vendetta rod with the matching red metal on each. But I really just think it'd be hilarious to have a 60+ year old reel on a brand new "high tech" rod.