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Yeah, but after a half-dozen trips and zero fish, you start wondering wtf you're even doing out there, you know?
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Oct 24, 2019 04:19
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ryanrs posted:Yeah, but after a half-dozen trips and zero fish, you start wondering wtf you're even doing out there, you know? What are you chasing?
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Oct 24, 2019 04:20
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I've been poking around the Half Moon Bay jetty for pricklebacks, and casting for rockfish off the jetty. Fishing for rockfish from rocky beaches in San Mateo county, like Pescadero and Pigeon Point. Fishing for leopard sharks in Bolinas Lagoon. Probably will try for crabs this winter. And I haven't literally caught nothing, I've caught little cabezon and leopard sharks, but none big enough to keep. And I've taken home limits of mussels and big clams when the tides are right. (I seem to be better at chasing down molluscs than tricking finfish into biting, heh.) I've never fished in the delta, or really any brackish waters, so I don't know what is out there. Sturgeon and striper are mentioned a lot, but I don't know if this is the right time of year. This is kinda of a last minute opportunity, so I'm just trying to figure out if it's worth spending the day trying to fish rather than just hiking around the marsh looking at birds (no waterfowl hunting allowed on Fridays).
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Oct 24, 2019 04:40
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ryanrs posted:I've been poking around the Half Moon Bay jetty for pricklebacks, and casting for rockfish off the jetty. Fishing for rockfish from rocky beaches in San Mateo county, like Pescadero and Pigeon Point. Fishing for leopard sharks in Bolinas Lagoon. Probably will try for crabs this winter. Oh hey my old neck of the woods. So.... about the rocks you are on. They are filled with small gophers. Santa Cruz small boat harbor jetty was my usual place to fish and i got use to the tidal action there but be careful. Fish in the holes directly below the tideline. Also catch some rock crabs. Bring some chicken legs with a hole drilled through the bone and tie to a piece of rope. Get a long handled landing net for smaller fish and lure the crabs to withthin scooping range on the rocks. No need to cast a trap since they will be in the rocks below your feet. Since you said "poking" im assuming you are poke poling? It does work. As a kid I just used a trashed old deep sea rod to poke with. I'd be in a kayak if I was you though. We use to fish right outside the surfline by big boats coming in from halfmoon to Pescadero. The lighthouse has some amazingly productive structure.
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Oct 24, 2019 06:52
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I did poke poling once. Usually use an ugly stick with spinning reel. So it appears to be striper season right now in Suisun Bay! I guess I'm aiming to catch the Friday morning incoming tide.
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Oct 24, 2019 08:03
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Trout are getting stocked in my local lake on the 29th for the season opening on the 1st  
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Oct 24, 2019 15:43
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LingcodKilla posted:Oh hey my old neck of the woods. Man I always wanted to get up north of santa cruz to around Panthers/Hole in the wall and see whats biting, it felt so wild there. Did you ever have a chance to explore that way?
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Oct 24, 2019 15:54
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Harry Potter on Ice posted:Man I always wanted to get up north of santa cruz to around Panthers/Hole in the wall and see whats biting, it felt so wild there. Did you ever have a chance to explore that way? Not familiar with those names. I fished the shore in Santa Cruz but fish from a boat from half moon bay to Monterey. Now I live on the puget sound and I actually can’t fish as much on the salt water because it’s effectively closed due to commercial assholes dragging the bottom and demolishing it in the 80s. The non migrating species haven’t recovered yet since the entrance is quite small and very few ocean fish move in. However the coast out here is still wide open fishing.
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Oct 24, 2019 17:40
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I know where they are, south of Davenport a bit. That strip of land between Highway 1 and the ocean, in that area, was recently acquired by the state to turn into parks and open up access. It was farmland before. I wonder how that project is coming along? If you want to read about the land transfer, google "Coast Dairies and Land Co" Davenport.
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Oct 25, 2019 04:15
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Hey, later this winter, would anyone be interested in the hardest clam dig ever? Super easy access, clam bed is like 20 ft from parking. The catch is that it's mud-saturated gravel, so you have to dig with your hands (wearing gloves). You sit your rear end down in the mud, and start scooping out the muck and rock. If you like pile worms and ghost shrimp, bring a bucket because you will find many. It's a lot of work. The payoff is limits of horse clams and washington clams as big as an iphone. The two species seem to occur 50/50.
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Oct 25, 2019 04:26
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What's worse than catching an eel? Catching one two loving feet long
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Oct 27, 2019 01:52
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BBQ eel then?
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Oct 27, 2019 02:34
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The 2 I caught a few years back that suicided themselves were about that long. Disgusting little buggers
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Oct 27, 2019 23:53
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Rev. Bleech_ posted:What's worse than catching an eel? Catching one two loving feet long That sounds like a good thing.
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Oct 28, 2019 00:22
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Rev. Bleech_ posted:What's worse than catching an eel? Catching one two loving feet long Fishing the Potomac?
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Oct 28, 2019 02:04
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I've never handled an eel why is catching one worse than catching other things that aren't fun to deal with?
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Oct 28, 2019 02:08
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They tightly wrap onto anything they contact and are covered in a thick layer of slime.
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Oct 28, 2019 02:53
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Yeah but all that meat.
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Oct 28, 2019 02:58
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They’re slimey, bitey motherfuckers that are strong for their size and are almost impossible to hold still. I’ve only ever caught small ones but even they’re such a pain I cut the line close to their mouth and leave to slither back into the water. Apparently the easiest way to handle them if you’re keeping one is to hold it by the fishing line, drop it in the esky and cut the line where it comes out from under the lid.
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Oct 28, 2019 02:59
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They're so delicious though
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Oct 28, 2019 04:05
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King of Bees posted:Fishing the Potomac? Nah, Blount's Creek in North Carolina, maybe a mile from where it connects with the Pamlico River. I love it because unless there's been a lot of rain upstream, it's perfectly balanced brackish water where everything from bluegill, bass and channel cats up to big drum and sea trout can be caught. Mukulu posted:That sounds like a good thing. I hate them. Number one, fuckers like to entangle themselves in my leader the moment they're clear of the water, number two they slime everything with a thick layer of sludge that leaves my trunk smelling rank and fishy even when I remove the sludge-encrusted landing net and glove (cuz ain't neither one gonna rinse worth a drat). The small ones can at least be used for catfish bait. I guess I'm a little bitter because earlier Saturday I had a black drum that would easily have been my personal best, beating out the 6 pound monster from earlier in the month. But naturally, right as he gets to the pier and ready to be pulled out, he makes another run, strips about 6 feet of line, and throws the hook. On the bright side, I got my first White Bass (fairly sure about the ID) and a personal best Red Drum, right at the slot, out of the trip.   Had a rare chance to fish on a Sunday today, but storms rained me out of my usual brackish water spot, so I grabbed my shrimp and drove 30 minutes north. In summary, the catfish of the Roanoke River are a study in contrasts.   I really need a drop net for places like this; the larger of the two wasn't but 2.5-3lbs max, but hauling him 15 feet up from the water was a pain in the rear end. I realize every other time I post in this thread there's a bunch of pictures, if this is a problem let me know
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Oct 28, 2019 04:32
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Re. Montezuma Slough, I stopped by Hi's Tackle Box in South San Francisco and they set me up with a hi-lo rig and some frozen shad. I got to the slough around 9 AM, and there were two guys already out there fishing from a little pier. I told them I was new to fishing, and we started chatting. We talked about fishing and random crap, passed around a joint, and just kinda hung out. The most exciting moment was when I stood up and my vape pen rolled off my lap into the slough. Nobody caught anything. It was a pretty great Friday morning.
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Oct 28, 2019 04:38
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I’m on the outskirts of the Bay Area myself, east Contra Costa County these days. Antioch pier and Big Break shoreline in Oakley are regarded as decent, easy-to-get-to spots for Delta stripers out here. Another pretty chill spot is Bethany Reservoir by Mountain House, which is the headwaters of the California Aqueduct. It pumps in from the adjacent, much larger Clifton Court Forebay, which is popular but shore access only. However, the rumor for years has been that the state actually electroshocks the forebay, removes all the stripers, and dumps them in Bethany. This is because the breeding program for the endangered Delta smelt, that’s the natural prey fish for salmon, takes place at a facility on the forebay. I had a buddy from high school who worked on that project for a while, but unfortunately I never managed to get a tour while he was there. I have yet to pull any stripers out of Bethany from shore either, but I have seen some pretty huge fish splashing towards the middle of the reservoir. My stepdad recently got ahold of a 12ft fiberglass boat, so I’ll report back if I have any success that way. Right now, I’m looking for advice about upping my game for catching stocked trout. Feels like a simple noob topic, but I also feel like I should master this before tackling bigger game, so to speak. I’m having a bit of a love affair with PowerBait mice tails on size #10 hooks, as people fishing many of the same spots I go to have reported these to be the most successful, but I didn’t have much luck in spring, or the couple times I’ve been out since stocking resumed in the area a few weeks ago. I’m also dipping them in the PowerBait branded garlic stink juice and recasting every five minutes or so… perhaps that product just exists to take advantage of the credulous like me?  I’m also casting a lot of spoons, Kastmasters especially. My best luck in local lakes has been with blue/silver 1/8 and 1/4 oz Kastmasters. Standard advice seems to be to pause and twitch the rod tip every so often when reeling in, in hopes that the fish will strike as the lure descends, believing it to be a wounded baitfish. However, my lone catch last fall came on a straight reel-in at a medium pace. I’ve also been told that freshly planted trout are unlikely to respond to lures, as they’re still expecting the same fish feed they got at the hatchery. I’m usually casting lures with a 7ft ultra-light Ugly Stik, maybe the sensitivity of the rod action is affecting the lure? Lastly, how big of an effect does moon phase really have in fish activity in lakes? My last trip was a day after the full moon, a couple days after a trout plant, but I didn’t have any luck. One guy fishing off the same dock managed to catch a trout fairly late in the day on a lure, but he seemed to be the only one catching that day.
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Oct 29, 2019 02:35
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I've been studying stocker trout quite a bit lately since my season is about to open. It sounds like you're on the right track, mice tails are popular, power eggs as well. There are some smaller worms that seem to work too in that same line of products from Berkeley. Small spinners are well regarded, but all of this is kind of situational because stocker trout are pretty dumb and don't really know what to eat aside from feed pellets.
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Oct 29, 2019 13:57
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Hi fishing thread. Any ice fishing goons? We got our first snow today, with any luck will have decent ice by Thanksgiving. My fish of choice is coho, whitefish, lawyer, perch, and walleye. I fish Lake Superior when I can, inland lakes, or Lake Michigan. Just sold my permanent shack, or rather gave it away for a six pack of beer. It lived a noble life.    (same image as above but like two hours later) 
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Oct 29, 2019 13:59
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Such an interesting way to fish. Looking forward to the stories.
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Oct 29, 2019 14:16
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Yooper posted:Hi fishing thread. Holla. I've never ice fished the Big Lake before so I admire you already. Ice fishing = best fishing.
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Oct 29, 2019 14:28
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LingcodKilla posted:Such an interesting way to fish. Looking forward to the stories. I feel the same way about ocean fishing. Everything is so completely foreign to freshwater. The first time I fished in Washington state it just blew me away. Fishing Superior can be interesting. The spot pictured is on a large bay, depths to 200 ft plus, but is well sheltered. Once you get out on the big water the ice gets shifty. The best places to fish are, of course, with the most questionable ice or unstable conditions. I tend to avoid this now, but once upon a time... I've never taken a helicopter ride, but I know a few guys that have.
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Oct 29, 2019 14:34
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Might try ice fishing this year. I love fishing but I hate being cold so I don't know if it's something I could get into. Most of the time I don't really get into forms of fishing that aren't very active, I like to cast a lot and move around so ice fishing probably won't be for me. It would be nice to get on some fishing during the long loving winter we have here though.
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Oct 29, 2019 16:11
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^^^ice fishing isnt cold because you're in a little shed with a heater. It is definitely not active fishing though And ohh yea definitely didnt think about the slime from eels, that sounds rough. Rev. Bleech_ posted:I realize every other time I post in this thread there's a bunch of pictures, if this is a problem let me know 100% not a problem I wish there were more pictures, from everyone
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Oct 29, 2019 16:21
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I'm seriously considering planning a trip somewhere specifically for ice fishing. It makes financial sense to stick close to home, but it would be a more fun experience to go where there's a real culture for it.Yooper posted:I feel the same way about ocean fishing. Everything is so completely foreign to freshwater. The first time I fished in Washington state it just blew me away. Tell me stories! ryanrs posted:Hey, later this winter, would anyone be interested in the hardest clam dig ever? Super easy access, clam bed is like 20 ft from parking. The catch is that it's mud-saturated gravel, so you have to dig with your hands (wearing gloves). You sit your rear end down in the mud, and start scooping out the muck and rock. If you like pile worms and ghost shrimp, bring a bucket because you will find many. It's a lot of work. Are you sure you want to gently caress around with horse clams? Prevailing wisdom in Washington state is that they're basically all guts in there and what edible meat there would be is too tough. More people here crush them and use them for crab bait than eat them if other, more desirable clams are available. There are probably better tasting clams at a different beach that aren't so hard to work for. Also, I haven't heard anybody call anything a Washington clam here so I'm curious about that. Butter clam? Razor clam? Geoduck? Probably not geoduck, since you'd have to work a lot harder to get them and you didn't mention a giant, spouting clam dong. I don't think it's razor clam either because their shells are so fragile that you'd destroy them digging like that, and I think they only live in sand. I could certainly be mistaken.
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Oct 29, 2019 17:03
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prom candy posted:Might try ice fishing this year. I love fishing but I hate being cold so I don't know if it's something I could get into. Most of the time I don't really get into forms of fishing that aren't very active, I like to cast a lot and move around so ice fishing probably won't be for me. It would be nice to get on some fishing during the long loving winter we have here though. I ice fish one of three ways. 1. In a "permanent" shack, think Grumpy Old Men kind of ice shack. Comfy. Warm. But you are 100% fixed to a single spot. No bite, oh well, drink beer. On the downside you have to continually jack up your shack (weekly) otherwise it'll sink into the ice and freeze. Cue chainsaws, rock salt, and comedy. 2. In a portable shack. Like the photo above. I move daily, tearing down at the end of each day and deciding where I want to go to next. This is a majority of my ice time. This is nice because I never have to worry about someone stealing my poo poo or smashing my shack with a car or plow truck. Warm, but not cozy. 3. 100% mobile off the rear end of a snowmobile. I no longer have a snowmobile though. When I did you would pop two holes, drop the flasher in, fish for 20 minutes, and then move to another promising spot that Navionics thought was good. You absolutely catch the most fish, but are at the whim of the weather. This is great for those 40f days with sun and no wind. A Pack of Kobolds posted:I'm seriously considering planning a trip somewhere specifically for ice fishing. It makes financial sense to stick close to home, but it would be a more fun experience to go where there's a real culture for it. Watched a dude in Alaska catch a halibut then halfway through fighting it his pole bent almost 180 degrees. They strapped him in to the boat and he proceeded to reel up a giant ling cod that was latched onto the halibut. The best part is it wasn't even hooked. One guide had a spear gaff, the other had a 12 gauge.  That's my most memorable trip ever. We fished the salmon by vertically jigging with hula skirts. Which is something I've never seen done on the great lakes. Watching the dog salmon run was pretty awesome too. Massive, huge, salmon. I'd go for a goonmeet on the ice.
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Oct 29, 2019 18:02
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Yooper posted:I ice fish one of three ways. We call that lingcod a “hitchhiker” and they are notorious for it. I’ve easily caught half my lings like that. Just don’t break the surface with them and they typically won’t let go.
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Oct 29, 2019 19:06
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LingcodKilla posted:Just don’t break the surface with them and they typically won’t let go. So basically they're the gar of the sea
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Oct 30, 2019 03:04
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Rev. Bleech_ posted:So basically they're the gar of the sea bottom ambush predators so not exactly but physically reminiscent of each other
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Oct 30, 2019 03:13
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A Pack of Kobolds posted:Also, I haven't heard anybody call anything a Washington clam here so I'm curious about that. Butter clam? Razor clam? Geoduck? Probably not geoduck, since you'd have to work a lot harder to get them and you didn't mention a giant, spouting clam dong. I don't think it's razor clam either because their shells are so fragile that you'd destroy them digging like that, and I think they only live in sand. I could certainly be mistaken. I'm guessing pacific razor clam, the most popular and also lol at your geoduck conclusion
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Oct 30, 2019 15:52
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was thinking about trying for steelhead in a few weeks, up on the Manistee River in MI. I haven't actually tried for anything but panfish and the occasional pike when camping up in Michigan's UP before, so I'm not 100% sure what I should be using. What would I need gear wise for fishing steelhead? From what I've seen looking online, it's been: try fishing with artificial/real salmon eggs, as that is what they are eating in the Manistee river in the winter, but any advice would be greatly appreciated!
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Oct 30, 2019 18:31
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TeenageArchipelago posted:was thinking about trying for steelhead in a few weeks, up on the Manistee River in MI. I haven't actually tried for anything but panfish and the occasional pike when camping up in Michigan's UP before, so I'm not 100% sure what I should be using. What would I need gear wise for fishing steelhead? From what I've seen looking online, it's been: try fishing with artificial/real salmon eggs, as that is what they are eating in the Manistee river in the winter, but any advice would be greatly appreciated!  Just kidding. Use spawn. I've had good luck with deep running Rapala's that damned near bounce on the bottom. Sometimes I think the steelhead hit them out of spite.
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Oct 30, 2019 19:15
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A Pack of Kobolds posted:Are you sure you want to gently caress around with horse clams? Prevailing wisdom in Washington state is that they're basically all guts in there and what edible meat there would be is too tough. More people here crush them and use them for crab bait than eat them if other, more desirable clams are available. There are probably better tasting clams at a different beach that aren't so hard to work for. Yes, butter clams, also horseneck/gaper clams. And yeah, looking back, there wasn't much meat in them. But they looked big in the pics!  I think we have cockles at some ocean beaches (the gapers were from a slough). Are cockles better? I don't think we have any really nice clams like you find in the PNW.
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Oct 30, 2019 20:35
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When you guys start taking about ocean stuff it's like you're speaking a different language
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Oct 31, 2019 05:30
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