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hot cocoa on the couch posted:Yeah no targeting or taking until 4th weekend in June. You’re “supposed” to release without even taking pictures and change your tactics/spot to avoid catching them if you do. It’s not realistically enforceable but I know for me I try not to fish in a place/manner which is gonna land me bass until July. For pike tho yeah literally just boat around a lake with the biggest fuckin spoon/spinner you can get your hands on and go up and down in the water and you’ll catch pike. I make my own spinners and have always found any colour blade and beads with a black and red buck tail really slays. Should I just not be fishing at all then? It's a small lake with not a lot of fishing going on. My FIL and his friend (an avid fisherman) always fish on the may long weekend so I was surprised to hear there were C&R seasons at all, but I also know there are lakes closer to the city that get fished like crazy. My guess is that this rule just goes largely ignored by small lake cottage fishermen.
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May 12, 2018 23:26
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prom candy posted:Should I just not be fishing at all then? It's a small lake with not a lot of fishing going on. My FIL and his friend (an avid fisherman) always fish on the may long weekend so I was surprised to hear there were C&R seasons at all, but I also know there are lakes closer to the city that get fished like crazy. My guess is that this rule just goes largely ignored by small lake cottage fishermen. If the lake has blue gills they will wipe out a LMB nest in minutes if the protector is removed.
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May 13, 2018 00:30
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LingcodKilla posted:If the lake has blue gills they will wipe out a LMB nest in minutes if the protector is removed. That’s why you pump out a million fry! I tried to find the paper with the number in it but iirc the survival percentage for bass fry is like the extremely low single digits. Bass are also p cannibalistic so once the male stops guarding them it’s game on. Bass are amazingly adaptable predators, Japan has made some p serious attempts to get rid of them to little effect.
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May 13, 2018 02:20
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I actually have no idea what's in the lake nor do I have any idea how to find out. I just know I've only caught SMB.
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May 13, 2018 03:08
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prom candy posted:I actually have no idea what's in the lake nor do I have any idea how to find out. I just know I've only caught SMB. Everytime to you keep a fish, dig around in his tummy to see what's on his menu.
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May 13, 2018 15:12
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bongwizzard posted:That’s why you pump out a million fry! I tried to find the paper with the number in it but iirc the survival percentage for bass fry is like the extremely low single digits. I know the main watershed around here (the grand river, lower Ontario), had its bass population nearly wiped out due to pollution and overfishing and the conservation authority has worked hard to bring it back to where it is today so I try to be a good steward of the fish. I won’t lie tho the smallie population seems quite healthy and mature around here now and really it’s just the trout that need gentle care
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May 13, 2018 15:57
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hot cocoa on the couch posted:I know the main watershed around here (the grand river, lower Ontario), had its bass population nearly wiped out due to pollution and overfishing and the conservation authority has worked hard to bring it back to where it is today so I try to be a good steward of the fish. Bass love to eat trout and their general size is conducive to swallowing them unlike those fat gently caress mature blue gills who evolved along side bass.
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May 13, 2018 16:39
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hot cocoa on the couch posted:I know the main watershed around here (the grand river, lower Ontario), had its bass population nearly wiped out due to pollution and overfishing and the conservation authority has worked hard to bring it back to where it is today so I try to be a good steward of the fish. gently caress, what did they dump in there? I live by the tidal part of the Potomac river and it is pretty loving awful re: pollution, but it is still one of the top bass fisheries in the world. Is it a silt issue? The freshwater river nearest to me is garbage for bass as it is so silty and eroded that they can't spawn, but it's water quality isn't that bad otherwise. Less depressing fish chat: Our winter was very long here and we had like three-five weeks of iceup, which is not at all common. The bass seemed to take forever to get into prespawn and while our "Catch and Keep" season kicks off June 15, the spawn is usually well over by then if we get a warm spring. Right now I see a mix of prespawn, spawning, and idk what the gently caress behaviour going on. There are some basses that are aggressively feeding still so I think alot of them are going to just not spawn this year, which I guess is a thing that happens. In any case they have been pretty shallow across the board and don't seem to want the usual springtime reaction baits, I have been having the most luck with bottom contact stuff and really slow/subtle moving baits, like this little guy;  It's a Strike King Shellcracker rigged on a Monar 6/0 x 1/4oz swimbait hook. It is not a flashy lure with just the tiny little fins moving on the retrieve. It gives off almost no negative clues and it's really great for covering shallow water but you can still slow down and drag it around any cover you find. It has worked in clear to pretty stained water. It weighs a little over 1/2oz and casts like a dream, it's also super easy to skip. It's super weedless and durable rigged this way, that one in the pic has caught like 20-25 bass and is still chugging along. I switched the factory screwlock out for an size L Owner CPS and it still has a deathgrip on the plastic's nose. But the best part about it is this;  The belly has a slit in it so the weight can pop right up in there, giving amazing hooksets, I don't think I have had one come off yet. I got turned onto them this last fall and like all good things, they were discontinued for 2018. But a ton of online places still have them and they are for sure worth picking up. This concludes my report on the Strike King Shellcracker, thank you for your time.
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May 13, 2018 16:41
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Spend an hour working the worm down logs, around lilly pads, the dock, nothing. Start tossing toward open water off the dock, get these two within 10 minutes (and boy that first one did some aerobatics)   (ps thanks for the random grand-opening $10 gift certificate Gander Outdoors, me gusta the O ring rigger; also amusing to see how far up the line they blow it) Rev. Bleech_ fucked around with this message at 21:52 on May 15, 2018 |
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May 15, 2018 21:48
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Apologies for barraging the thread but: 1. After looking at what passes for my old catch log, I'm 4 fish away from my best bass year ever. 2. Today while tossing a red/green senko around a murky-rear end lake with barely any visibility, I got a 2 pounder and then this porker. I'm not 100% sure since I never carried a scale before this last week, but at 5 pounds he may be my new personal best.  The only part that makes me sad is he was lurking about 2 feet offshore so it was a short fight. On the other hand, he threw the hook after landing and almost flopped back in the water, so maybe it's better he didn't.
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May 18, 2018 02:27
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So I just got last minute invited up to a fishing cabin for the weekend. I guess we'll mainly be out on a boat going for walleye. I usually trout fish so I'm not exactly sure what to try for. My thought was just some leeches and a jig. Anything else I should try while I'm out?
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May 18, 2018 20:27
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So my go-to senko color is pumpkin with green and black flake with my stained water. Also anecdotal, it seems like Texas rigs get more bites with a senko instead of other brands, and it's more even when you use a wacky rig.
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May 18, 2018 21:09
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BaseballPCHiker posted:So I just got last minute invited up to a fishing cabin for the weekend. I guess we'll mainly be out on a boat going for walleye. I usually trout fish so I'm not exactly sure what to try for. Try a lindy rig! And if you're sticking to one spot, and you want to just do leech + jig, throw a bobber on your line so you can chill. Best advice is to just follow what the older guys do, though.
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May 18, 2018 23:25
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Turns out there's not actually any pike in this lake. Went out this morning and trolled for lake trout for about 90 minutes in the rain but didn't get a bite. The water is still under 50F so the working theory is they shouldn't be too deep yet. I'm up here with a couple of veteran fishermen so hopefully we can catch something at some point. Wish bass was in season because I'm itching to just cast off the dock at sunset. 
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May 19, 2018 20:12
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Saltwater goon here. I like throwing light baits long distances so I was delighted when I found out Falcon made an 8' medium action bait caster rod. That thing will throw a gold spoon out of loving sight. Their rods are awesome at the 80-100$ price point.
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May 19, 2018 21:51
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Is that an International baitcaster? I didn't know they still made those.
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May 20, 2018 00:25
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Skunked again this morning but one guy managed to haul about 100 ft of steel line off the bottom of the lake. Think I might try dock fishing later on, the water is still really cold and there's even some ice left on a couple shore spots so maybe there's some lake trout hanging out close to shore.
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May 20, 2018 17:03
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Steel line in a lake? Someone trying to snag sturgeon?
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May 20, 2018 18:01
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Weather people on the news have been wrong all week. Storms when forecast is sunny. Call for rain and nothing. Today was a mix match. Decided not to go. I’m a little annoyed because last year I couldn’t pay myself to get my gear together and hop in my kayak for part of the year due to some personal troubles, and now the weather is making it troublesome.
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May 20, 2018 18:02
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LingcodKilla posted:Steel line in a lake? Someone trying to snag sturgeon? Trying to catch lake trout 90-100 feet down I guess.
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May 20, 2018 20:32
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Somethings not right with that. I use 15lb mono to jig for lingcod in that depth and they can get up to 30lbs easy. I guess it could be a down rigged line that got jammed on the bottom.
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May 20, 2018 20:55
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Yeah I dunno, I'm not gonna tell an 80 year old who's been fishing this lake longer than I've been alive how he should fish. I'll give your way a try when the weather warms up though!
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May 20, 2018 21:44
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gay picnic defence posted:Is that an International baitcaster? I didn't know they still made those. That one is 15 years old. The only part that ever failed was an anti-reverse bearing, which cost a whole 5 dollars to replace.
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May 20, 2018 22:57
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Today is the third trip in a row where the first cast caught a bass, this time in a heavily-fished lake where they should know better. It's starting to feel like I've unlocked Easy Mode.
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May 21, 2018 03:33
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LingcodKilla posted:Somethings not right with that. I use 15lb mono to jig for lingcod in that depth and they can get up to 30lbs easy. That’s likely the case, downrigger who snagged a reef or something. Or didn’t have their ball secured when they took off and spooled their rigger. We use downriggers for walleye on lake of the woods in the summer, best way to troll small crankbaits in deeper water(28-31ft for us).
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May 21, 2018 03:55
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Hooplah posted:Try a lindy rig! Thanks for the advice! Caught my first walleye on a lindy rig with a shiner at the end. I was surprised, it didnt fight as much as I expected it to. Caught a couple of pike that were fun to reel in and a bunch of perch that wouldnt leave me alone. All in all a good trip.
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May 21, 2018 04:19
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Skunked x3! Nice night on the lake though.  We're back up here in two weeks and bass still won't be open. Hopefully I can get a lake trout but it seems like they're pretty elusive.
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May 21, 2018 04:44
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Rev. Bleech_ posted:Today is the third trip in a row where the first cast caught a bass, this time in a heavily-fished lake where they should know better. It's starting to feel like I've unlocked Easy Mode. These are the days to remember during the periods when you can't catch a fish to save your life and you wonder if you ever will again. You've been posting some real hogs lately! Rig question: is a Lindy Rig the same as a Carolina Rig, except with a no-snag sinker instead of an egg sinker? It seems like it is, but maybe there is some kind of subtle, functional difference that I'm not seeing.
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May 21, 2018 18:21
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A Pack of Kobolds posted:These are the days to remember during the periods when you can't catch a fish to save your life and you wonder if you ever will again. You've been posting some real hogs lately! It's pretty close, but the idea with the lindy rig is that because the weight is resting on the bottom, you can open the bail and let walleye take the hook without feeling any weight, then set the hook once they've taken it fully. It's good for slower feeding/finnicky fish. A carolina works totally fine when they're hungry. Also it seems because carolina is a bass thing, and lindy is a walleye thing, theyre used mostly with soft plastics and live bait respectively. Thanks to whoever posted this earlier, it's useful enough to be posted again http://www.fishinfo.com/fishing-articles/article_512.shtml Hooplah fucked around with this message at 18:36 on May 21, 2018 |
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May 21, 2018 18:33
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Hooplah posted:It's pretty close, but the idea with the lindy rig is that because the weight is resting on the bottom, you can open the bail and let walleye take the hook without feeling any weight, then set the hook once they've taken it fully. It's good for slower feeding/finnicky fish. A carolina works totally fine when they're hungry. Also it seems because carolina is a bass thing, and lindy is a walleye thing, theyre used mostly with soft plastics and live bait respectively. Thanks! Yep, that's the subtle difference that I was missing. I use Carolina rigs in saltwater for bottomfish and shore fishing in lakes for trout, so I'd forgotten that they're primarily a bass rig. Maybe I should switch it up like I'm fishing for walleye and see if it makes a difference. That link is a pro click, too.
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May 21, 2018 19:09
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Had a bittersweet phone call with my dad last night, who decided he's gonna hang up his rod and reel at the end of this season due to some physical issues and general age related weariness. He's been my #1 fishing buddy for the past 30+ years so it's a pretty big bummer. The plus side is that he's giving me his boat. It's nothing fancy but I know it's reliable. Gonna start saving to upgrade the electronics since it's still rocking the fish finders it came with back in like 98.
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May 21, 2018 21:58
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A Pack of Kobolds posted:These are the days to remember during the periods when you can't catch a fish to save your life and you wonder if you ever will again. You've been posting some real hogs lately! Why thanks; and that day came today if you were curious  Still beat the hell out of whatever else I could have been doing.hamsystem posted:Had a bittersweet phone call with my dad last night, who decided he's gonna hang up his rod and reel at the end of this season due to some physical issues and general age related weariness. He's been my #1 fishing buddy for the past 30+ years so it's a pretty big bummer. The plus side is that he's giving me his boat. It's nothing fancy but I know it's reliable. Gonna start saving to upgrade the electronics since it's still rocking the fish finders it came with back in like 98.  I've been trying to get my dad out to fish for awhile since we haven't done it together in close to 20 years in freshwater.
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May 21, 2018 23:32
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First time fishing thread poster. Been catching some nice LMB up in Albany NY on super flukes the last few weeks and figured I'd share some highlights:  
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May 22, 2018 04:04
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Rev. Bleech_ posted:
It's definitely a gut punch. On the plus side my wife and daughter said they'd like to learn bass fishing so that'll be fun. Bird Person posted:First time fishing thread poster. Been catching some nice LMB up in Albany NY on super flukes the last few weeks and figured I'd share some highlights: Very nice!
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May 23, 2018 15:37
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I’m just about to book a week in Ontario for the wife and I to go fishing. I couldn’t be more excited, we will be up near Red Lake. It will be her first trip to Canada and my first trip up there in probably ten years. Hoping we can take our older son next year and make it a yearly occurrence. We will mainly be fishing walleye/northern pike, July can’t come soon enough! The place we are staying at has upgrade boats, 18’ with 50hp motor, will be nice to fish out of a roomy boat all week with a flat floor and padded seats.
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May 23, 2018 18:30
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Had to look up where that is, holy poo poo that's out there. Bring bug spray.
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May 23, 2018 21:02
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DoctaFun posted:I’m just about to book a week in Ontario for the wife and I to go fishing. I couldn’t be more excited, we will be up near Red Lake.
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May 24, 2018 05:23
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nmfree posted:Some friends and I are going up to Eagle Lake at the end of June. We had a blast last year, hopefully one (or more!) of us comes up with a muskie this time! I’ve been there! I was young and a terrible fishermen at the time, but it’s an awesome lake. I had a huge Muskie next to the boat, 50+” I’m confident, and my buddy tried to net it head first and missed it  . What part of the lake are you staying on? There is a long navigable windy stream to an interior lake(trout lake maybe?) that has lake trout. We didn’t catch any in there but it was a cool adventure to boat back in there. I’ll try to make a map and point it out. Edit: it’s Clearwater lake, I can’t point it out right now, but if you look at satellite google maps you should be able to see it. DoctaFun fucked around with this message at 02:22 on May 25, 2018 |
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May 24, 2018 18:23
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Anyone with an Ollie's Bargain Outlet nearby, they appear to have bought out a bunch of poo poo from Gander Mountain, including piles of 4 and 5 inch Yamasenkos. $5.99 ain't exactly pennies on the dollar, but a fair discount.
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May 24, 2018 19:11
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Anyone have any recommendations on collapsible or telescoping rod/reel combos? Looking for something small I can backpack with and dont have to worry about taking up to much space or being to fragile.
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May 24, 2018 20:43
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