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So after borrowing an old rod that was at my parents for the last year or so my fiance got me an Ugly Stik GX2 rod and reel combo. I already had a decent bit of tackle so I'm set there, any tips or tricks for the rod? General reviews? I'm still relatively new to this, fishing for bass or whatever bites in MA along the Charles and local ponds way out in the suburbs. I'll be fishing from shore for now so any general advice is appreciated.
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Jul 12, 2014 02:56
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leekster posted:I'm in key largo for the week and I'm aiming to do some pier fishing. What do you guys recommend to rig? In the keys I used live shrimp and occasionally squid. If you catch a small pinfish, hook it and let it catch you a big fish.
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Jul 12, 2014 04:28
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esquilax posted:I use a spincast reel because I'm a bad fisherman and even a spinner reel bird's nests too much for me. Just make sure there's always tension on the line when reeling in and you should have no problem with a spinning reel. This isn't a problem when you're reeling in a heavy lure, or at least one with some resistance like a crank bait. But when you screw up a cast, set the hook and miss a fish, or any other number of situations where all of a sudden there is slack in your line, that's when you need to pay attention. When there's slack in the line it doesn't spool right on the reel, or it wraps around the top/bottom of the reel, or just doesn't get wrapped on the spool tight, which can cause problems. If for whatever reason I find some slack in my line, I just hold the line in between my pointer and middle finger and just apply some tension. I can't remember the last time I had a bird's nest on any of my spinning reels.
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Jul 12, 2014 07:34
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A little while ago I put new line on my spinning real and it got really messed up all the time because I over-filled it. If you're getting a lot of line coming up over the top and causing bird's nests, that could be the cause. I'm a pretty bad fisherman as well, but it takes some fairly unique circumstances for my spinning reel to tangle up!
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Jul 12, 2014 15:29
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DoctaFun posted:Just make sure there's always tension on the line when reeling in and you should have no problem with a spinning reel. This isn't a problem when you're reeling in a heavy lure, or at least one with some resistance like a crank bait. But when you screw up a cast, set the hook and miss a fish, or any other number of situations where all of a sudden there is slack in your line, that's when you need to pay attention. This is good advice for any type of reel. Always make sure there is tension.
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Jul 12, 2014 16:57
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I suck at casting my fly rod. I've been using a baitcaster my whole life but when I cast with my fly rod one of several things happens - a)I can't cast more than 10 yards b)Everything gets tangled up c)my fly gets caught in the grass or even better on me d) some bluegill swirls my fly but never commits 100%. The only luck I've fly fishing had is on a friend's pond that hasn't been fished in 15 years... My first cast I threw a crankbait on my baitcaster and got a little rat nest and as I was sorting that out, a bluegill smashed the floating crank. A bluegill! I Proceeded to just cast and let the crank set on the water and went on to catch a bass and a crappie as well. I thought hey, this is a lot like fly fishing so I went to Walmart and bought some $30 fly combo which I used successfully at that pond. Any help would be much appreciated. And to clarify I bought a better(imo) combo from Cabelas so I don't believe it's an equipment issue.
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Jul 12, 2014 22:23
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Did some hiking along the C&O canal this weekend and saw like a dozen huge rear end carp. Like, 2-3' fish in a maybe 50' wide by 8-10' water. I threw every lure type and style I had at them and they showed no interest. I even borrowed a Cliff bar and tried to use that as a dough-ball and nothing. Once home I looked up carp fishing and holy poo poo is there a ton of specialized gear and tackle. Can anyone point me at a basic pre-rigged tackle set and bait brand? Preferably something I can get on Amazon? I don't want to make a real hobby of carp fishing but I simply must catch one of those bastards this summer.
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Jul 15, 2014 00:41
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Day 5 - Let's do some gentlemen fishing! The wind decided to keep up the shenanigans so we headed over the other side to Monkey Mia. We've not fished that side a lot but there has to be fish there! The ramp is easy to access and launching was smooth  We headed north to a nice trawling spot where we've caught all sorts of Mackerel before. We trawled and had a few cans, very gentlemanly fishing, for a few hours. We got caught over a big school of Tailor and they ran wild with our lures. This was the end result of the snag up;  In the end my boat picked up three decent Tailor and we got a few undersize Shark Mackerel. My uncle, alone in his boat, grabbed a swag of fish that included a size Shark Mackerel, Estuary Cod (Never thought you'd get Cod trawling) and some Tailor as well. Day 6 - Aquarium Day There is an awesome aquarium just outside of Denham, so we decided to take the day off the water and head down for a look. There's a lot of open tanks inside with everything from Lionfish to Squid. Everything they show off is local to the area.  Would have been like shooting fish in a big rear end barrel There is a massive outside 'pond' setup with a number of sharks. They like eating.   Well worth the time to go and have a look, we probably spent 2 hours there all up. Day 7 - A good fishing day Day 7 and the wind was back on our team, we headed straight back out to Steep Point. The trip takes over an hour but is fairly enjoyable. We hit a big school of Pink Snapper a bit closer towards Dirk Hartog and the missus went to the top of the leader board.  Nice Pink Snapper We were off to a good start but my uncle's boat had three seasoned veterans and a better sounder.  The rival sea-gang We cruised around through a mild swell, it really is a stunning place. The pictures don't even come close to doing the cliffs off Dirk Hartog Island any justice.  The missus cemented her lead after picking up a very nice Red Emperor, into the esky with that one.  In the end I got a sweet load of F A that day. The old man had a blinder and picked up almost all the fish on the other boat, couldn't be too jealous it was his 60th.  Our haul, most of this was eaten in the next two nights COMING UP - Day 8 - The Last Day ElZilcho fucked around with this message at 10:14 on Jul 15, 2014 |
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Jul 15, 2014 10:11
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Any good method to remove those fleshinbedded y-bones when eating a pike (on the upper half of the body)? edit: nvm, probably impossible outside of the regular ways to cut/eat fish. Falukorv fucked around with this message at 00:27 on Jul 17, 2014 |
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Jul 15, 2014 16:37
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Needlenose pliers? Growing up my mom insisted on always, ALWAYS serving bread with fish because of some wive's tale that the bread keeps you from choking on bones or something.  Corla Plankun posted:A little while ago I put new line on my spinning real and it got really messed up all the time because I over-filled it. If you're getting a lot of line coming up over the top and causing bird's nests, that could be the cause. I always make a point to take my rod outside after spooling it with fresh line and then just stick a bobber or something on the end and cast/retrieve it a couple times to ensure that I didn't buy a weird/lovely spool of line, this also saves you looking like an idiot if there's anyone else around and you get a huge tangle on your first cast (saw a dude do this a couple weeks ago, he showed up with three rods to fish for stocker trout and two just turned into bird nests on the first couple casts, and I had to politely act like I couldn't see that he spooled his line backward..)  I have taken half a spool of line back in a plastic bag full of bird nests before, which is why I no longer buy the absolute-cheapest mono line I can find at Wal-Mart, and now stick to recognizable brands instead.Lastly remember that fishing line isn't generally looked at kindly in landfills or recycling bins, but most bait and tackle shops will have no problem disposing of it for you if you bring in your old line, and I think a few brands of line have a system where they will give you credits or free shipping or something for mailing your line back to them. coyo7e fucked around with this message at 21:19 on Jul 16, 2014 |
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Jul 16, 2014 21:13
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Went up to the Kawartha Highlands in Ontario last weekend for a backcountry portage and caught some nice LMBs. A high pressure system was coming in on Sunday so we were slamming them all day Saturday, it was fantastic. Lure of the weekend was a strike king 1/4 oz jig and trailer. I lost a lot of bass since they were able to shake off the lure while they were jumping. :/ oh well. A good weekend all around. Here's the average size of our catch: 
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Jul 18, 2014 16:04
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bunnielab posted:Did some hiking along the C&O canal this weekend and saw like a dozen huge rear end carp. Like, 2-3' fish in a maybe 50' wide by 8-10' water. I threw every lure type and style I had at them and they showed no interest. I even borrowed a Cliff bar and tried to use that as a dough-ball and nothing. Corn. Just use some drat corn.
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Jul 18, 2014 17:46
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What's up with these Senko lures? My friend won't stop talking about them.
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Jul 19, 2014 03:01
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FogHelmut posted:What's up with these Senko lures? My friend won't stop talking about them. They're the poo poo
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Jul 20, 2014 04:14
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We were trying to catch a shark for a tournament this weekend in an area where some captains told use they kept getting their bottom fish eaten, but all we caught were bottom fish like this AJ, despite using ridiculous huge baits and giant hooks.  Holding up a large fish while getting nut slapped by said fish makes for a good facial expression.
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Jul 21, 2014 14:06
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DixielandDelight posted:I suck at casting my fly rod. Keep your wrist straight, keep your arm moving in the same plane, and practice practice practice in an open field. Get in the habit of cleaning your line frequently - warmwater ponds and lakes tend to have lots of crud that can accumulate on floating lines and hinder casting. My local lakes usually have too many trees, shrubs, and tall grass near the water's edge for a proper backcast, so roll casting is where it's at. There are plenty of tutorial videos on Youtube.
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Jul 21, 2014 18:07
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This weekend I learned that I should probably buy a spray skirt for my kayak. And that fishing rods don't float 
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Jul 21, 2014 22:21
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Slightly Toasted posted:This weekend I learned that I should probably buy a spray skirt for my kayak. And that fishing rods don't float Is it lost forever and if so, what was it? I'd love to try kayak fishing, but I'm deathly afraid of tipping it and losing everything.
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Jul 22, 2014 04:47
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Slightly Toasted posted:This weekend I learned that I should probably buy a spray skirt for my kayak. And that fishing rods don't float   the whole time because I hadn't been too cool to go into Boy Scouts and knew how to not make an rear end of myself in a canoe.. I imagine my dad was crying, thinking of the hundreds of dollars of gear that had just been sent to Davy Jones'.
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Jul 22, 2014 08:51
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Elmnt80 posted:Is it lost forever and if so, what was it? I'd love to try kayak fishing, but I'm deathly afraid of tipping it and losing everything. I'm probably going to go out and try to fish it up next week while I'm on vacation but I've only got a rough idea where it fell and it was probably about 20-30ft deep so I'm not super super optimistic. Luckily everything else could either float or was tied to something that could float, I was super sore after dragging everything to shore & dragging my kayak up the rocks so that I could drain it. I was mostly bummed because I spent a bunch of money on that rod & reel a couple of years ago when I got my current job, so hopefully I can salvage it. It's got that little black compartment in the back too, I threw my shirts in there and when I flipped it popped out of the rigging and floated away. Had a hell of a time finding it but I liked those shirts.
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Jul 22, 2014 14:50
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Stupid question, but last time I went fishing I was a kid and didn't really do this myself... How do you humanely kill your catch after you've landed it? I'm excited to be back out fishing again, got me a decent spinning combo and some basic tackle. Edit: And 20 pound line that was on the shelf where the 8 pound stuff was supposed to be and of course I didn't double check. Kibbles n Shits fucked around with this message at 02:57 on Jul 23, 2014 |
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Jul 23, 2014 02:50
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DarthJeebus posted:Stupid question, but last time I went fishing I was a kid and didn't really do this myself... How do you humanely kill your catch after you've landed it? I'm excited to be back out fishing again, got me a decent spinning combo and some basic tackle. The most humane way to kill a fish is "braining" which is sticking a knife or spike into the brain. The Japanese call it Ike jime. Basically take a spike or a sharp knife insert it above and behind the eyes into the brain and it's instant lights out. Some big fish have extremely tough heads and you can't really do that. For those fish cutting the gills works to bleed the fish out quickly, or a club. Some people use a club but beating a fish on the floor of your boat only to have it wake up is kind of terrible Imho. Most fishermen just put the fish on ice live and let the cold and lack of oxygen do it's thing but that makes for less tasty fish and is kinda not cool. Braining is more a spearfishing thing than hook and line. IM FROM THE FUTURE fucked around with this message at 12:43 on Jul 23, 2014 |
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Jul 23, 2014 12:39
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Slightly Toasted posted:And that fishing rods don't float I've learned this tough lesson a couple times fishing for crappie in Wisconsin. We generally troll small jigs with minnows and if your line is out and you need a beer or are eating something, you just kind of sit your pole down in the boat. If you get a crappie, no problem, you are able to grab it but sometimes a northern will grab a hold of it and then it's curtains. Superior never gives up her dead and Round Lake never gives up her Pfluegers. 
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Jul 23, 2014 20:04
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IM FROM THE FUTURE posted:The most humane way to kill a fish is "braining" which is sticking a knife or spike into the brain. The Japanese call it Ike jime. Basically take a spike or a sharp knife insert it above and behind the eyes into the brain and it's instant lights out. Some big fish have extremely tough heads and you can't really do that. For those fish cutting the gills works to bleed the fish out quickly, or a club. Some fish, like pike, don't completely die when stabbed in the brain. Brain-dead and unconscious probably, but it keeps some reflexes going so it might still give a little twitches. And if you rinse it within an hour you'll find it's heart still pumping. For those long-lived fish i find it more effective to try to sever the spine at the neck with a knife. A question: I'm oing to try to fish from a kayak for the first time tommorrow, but i have a fear of capsizing if i catch one. It's a pretty stable sea kayak, any tips on how to land a fish? I have a landin net, and i'm fishing in a Swedish baltic archipelago, so most likely my prey will be northern pike, pikeperches and perches. My biggest fear is landing a large pike and losing balance while trying to land it.
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Jul 24, 2014 00:28
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I am definitely not an expert but I always imagined that if I turned my drag down low enough it would be impossible to knock my kayak over. I've only ever tested this theory on sunfish, though.
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Jul 24, 2014 01:26
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Falukorv posted:Some fish, like pike, don't completely die when stabbed in the brain. Brain-dead and unconscious probably, but it keeps some reflexes going so it might still give a little twitches. And if you rinse it within an hour you'll find it's heart still pumping. For those long-lived fish i find it more effective to try to sever the spine at the neck with a knife. My only advice would be to just take your time, and don't freak out. Just relax and let the fish tire itself out. Once it's tired you should be able to unhook it while it's still in the water with a good set of spring-loaded pliers(might be a good idea to tie the pliers to the side of the kayak though just in case).
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Jul 24, 2014 05:02
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DoctaFun posted:My only advice would be to just take your time, and don't freak out. Just relax and let the fish tire itself out. Once it's tired you should be able to unhook it while it's still in the water with a good set of spring-loaded pliers(might be a good idea to tie the pliers to the side of the kayak though just in case). Thanks! Shouldn't be too hard as pikes tire relatively easy (compared to say, trout or salmon). Let's just hope i actually catch one, as it's gonna be hot as hell today (32 degrees centigrade).
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Jul 24, 2014 09:43
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There's a legally required way to kill fish here in Switzerland..stun with a blow to the head, and immediately sever the artery below the gills or gut the fish.
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Jul 28, 2014 04:17
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Armed Neutrality posted:There's a legally required way to kill fish here in Switzerland..stun with a blow to the head, and immediately sever the artery below the gills or gut the fish. I always assumed that bass just taste like dirt because they like to hang out in muddy/dirty tepid water.
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Jul 28, 2014 19:55
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I was in this thread about this time last year. Since then, I did a six-month cruise on a US Frigate in the Mediterannean. I've now caught fish on three continents, including this fish: A 220-250lb Atlantic Bluefin Tuna. Hook-and-line. 50lb mono and a ballyhoo behind an artificial squid. We were in no way prepared for a fish of this size. Smoke poured out of a Penn 114 Special Senator (6/0) Reel. The ratcheting mechanism disintegrated. Broke the 6/0 rod, too. It was absolutely the largest fish we could have caught on that tackle. Absolutely nothing prepared me for that experience. Having a team of four in relays reeling this stupid thing in over two hours was amazing. Also, it tasted amazing raw and cooked. None of us had ever filleted a fish of that size or construction, but we still managed to get about 185lb of meat. We managed to feed the entire crew a steak as big as their hand and an inch thick.
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Jul 28, 2014 22:16
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That's a drat fine Tuna. Never even seen a live one, but I know just through reputation they are probably the single hardest fighting fish out there! That being said if you asked us to guess I would have figured that fish around 120-150 pounds just comparing it next to the feet/legs in the picture as well as the size of the pallet. I've heard those things fight so hard that their bodies overheat tremendously and the meat can cook itself unless you immediately bury it in ice water. Did you experience this at all? I know for a fact if I caught that thing I would have ate enough raw tuna to get helicopter lifted off the frigate for medical care.
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Jul 29, 2014 00:18
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Are there any inflatable boats that are worth a drat and won't get me horribly killed? I realize jon boats aren't that pricey but I have no place to store one. Edit: It would only be used in lakes\reservoir with relatively calm water. Edit2: Eh, I'll probably just hold off on that thought. Looks like for the price of a quality inflatable I could buy a used jon boat and pay to store it for a few years.
Kibbles n Shits fucked around with this message at 03:00 on Jul 29, 2014 |
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Jul 29, 2014 00:29
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tesilential posted:That's a drat fine Tuna. Never even seen a live one, but I know just through reputation they are probably the single hardest fighting fish out there! That being said if you asked us to guess I would have figured that fish around 120-150 pounds just comparing it next to the feet/legs in the picture as well as the size of the pallet. That's a standard 4' pallet. The scale we had only went to 212 pounds, and this thing handily bottomed the needle. Imagine a football 4' long with a tail on one end. That's how these things are shaped; very round. We got four flanks, each about 40" long, 10" wide and 10" deep. Two bellies which were about the same size as a full pork belly (18-20lb), two ears, and two cheeks. The ear and cheek meat were so amazingly delicious with just wasabi and soy that I can understand why that never hits market: the fishermen and their families eat it all. The belly meat was also literally like butter. When warm, you could just press a finger into it and leave a dent. When cooked, it literally melted in your mouth. We pulled it up on deck, got the knife in for the standard gutting cut, and I cut the heart out as soon as I found it, cut the gills, and bled the thing out as quickly as possible. The heart kept pumping while removed for a good ten minutes. In more recent news, I JUST got back from my first time shrimping. 7' cast net over bait in a river on the north Florida coast. Came away with about a gallon of 5" shrimp. I now know how to cast a net that large, and how and when to place bait, so I'll do better next time.
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Jul 29, 2014 06:33
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I heard there's some snakeheads in the local lake, so I picked up some Stanley Ribbit Frogs.
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Jul 29, 2014 21:56
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I need a sanity check here, can you guys take a look at this article? http://www.in-depthoutdoors.com/fishing/reports/1347125/ I think the first picture is tampered with. Does anyone else agree? Comparing it to the third overall picture, the back end of the boat in the first picture looks REALLY wide, that dude is standing a couple feet in front of it and he covers up like half of one half of the boat. Then in the third pick, which looks like he's sitting in a similar position in the boat, he takes up about half of the back end of the boat. Either way those are some dandy pike, but am I crazy for thinking that first picture is a little messed up?
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Jul 30, 2014 20:35
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Figured it out, the motor visible in the first picture is the kicker motor, probably like a 9.9 horse, the motor visible in the 2nd picture is the main motor, I think a 250 hp, it made for a weird perspective.
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Jul 30, 2014 21:38
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DoctaFun posted:I need a sanity check here, can you guys take a look at this article?
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Jul 30, 2014 23:21
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DoctaFun posted:Figured it out, the motor visible in the first picture is the kicker motor, probably like a 9.9 horse, the motor visible in the 2nd picture is the main motor, I think a 250 hp, it made for a weird perspective. Definitely see why you thought that. I had figured it out and was going to reply when I saw your second post. That is an absolute monster! Can't imagine catching one that size. I've caught 10 pounders and they fought like crazy.
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Jul 31, 2014 00:36
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Dik Hz posted:Standard fishing pose. You make only your finger tips visible and hold the fish out with straight arms such that your arms can't be seen. The viewer's brain thinks the guy is holding the fish close to his body when in reality it's a lot closer to the camera, making the fish look massive. I have indeed taken a picture of a fish before  .Exhibit A: A 24.5" walleye that looks much bigger:  For comparison, this was a 41" northern,  The one from the link is quite a bit bigger. I didn't have any problem with how he was holding it, the boat behind him looked odd. Anwyays, an absolute monster, probably pushing 44".
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Jul 31, 2014 02:41
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Falukorv posted:Some fish, like pike, don't completely die when stabbed in the brain. Brain-dead and unconscious probably, but it keeps some reflexes going so it might still give a little twitches. And if you rinse it within an hour you'll find it's heart still pumping. For those long-lived fish i find it more effective to try to sever the spine at the neck with a knife. Next time you clean a pike, come back to the meat in 30 minutes and tell me how it feels to squeeze it and have the meat twitch. Yeah, it's like that. As for people yakkin' I'm going out crappie fishing tonight all the while setting jugs and bank lines for huge cats. I do all of this from a Kayak. When I get out tonight and get everything set up, I'll take pictures of my setup. - Get yourself a milk crate and put it on the back of the yak where the rear bungies are. When you attach the crate with bungies, just weave the bungies in so your gear can't fall right out. - Get some waterproof tackle boxes. These things are a must. You won't believe the amount of rust you'll get in your standard tackle boxes. - Get some 1/8" bungie and a couple carabiners. Any rod I'm not ACTIVELY using, is bungied down (like the ones I troll with). Tie a slip knot on one end and attach it to the read of your real OR the the top part of your reel (works well with larger spinning reels) and attach a carabiner to the other end. When you make these, be sure make the bungie long enough to be able to reel a fish in comfortably if you plan to troll or set lines for catfish. - Keep your keys and other non essential possessions in the dry bag. It's not worth the picture unless your phone is waterproof AND floats! Don't forget that "float" part. On my yak, I carry; - 3 Rods. All of which can be strapped down and put in rod holders - A milk crate - carries 2 waterproof tackleboxes, wax worms, drinks and possibly food if the day calls for it. 100 foot of paracord - this can be invaluable in a capsize. Especially if you're a bigger guy (I'm 6'1" 250lbs). If you're unable to get into your kayak due to; too tired, you've been yakking for hours, or just plain ol' too big, you can make a foot hold and attach it to the opposite side of your yak. Makes getting in a lot less of a chore. And finally a stringer. - Hemostats and scissors. These are attached to the extra straps on the seat to my right. - Pliers - these get tied down to an eyelet - http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/310652169277?lpid=82 - I highly recommend this style of pliers. The sliding piece makes for extremely easy eyelet attachment. - Bait bucket (sometimes) - This sits in between my legs and then when I'm actively fishing, it's throw overboard. - A stringer - I have a figure 9 cleat that is bungied to an eyelet on my yak (I use bungie because it helps reduce the shock of a fish bolting) - Paddle (soon to have ruler tape on it) - Life vest (I set this on the bow of the boat (DO NOT TIE IT DOWN), it's completely out of the way, but easily accessible if I capsize. Just to add to the fishing pictures; One of my fishing buddy's with a 26" male channel cat during spawn.  Me with this year's record (biggest fish/flathead) between me and my two fishing buddies 19.7lb. We didn't get a measurement.  Erick with his 36" 17 lb flathead.  Erick with a 28" 8.5lb channelcat  My fat 5lb 23" channel cat. 
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Aug 1, 2014 20:34
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