The Catch-All Fishing Thread 2014

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > The Great Outdoors > The Catch-All Fishing Thread 2014

Scrapez: Feb 27, 2004

Spike posted:

The NPS.gov site says Lake Mead has largemouth bass, striped bass, channel catfish, crappie, and bluegill. Do you guys know of any types of lures or bait I should use that would be more or less universal? I'm apathetic to the species of fish I would catch, I just want to fish, dammit.

mepps spinner baits are very good for multiple species. They come in a variety of sizes. I'd suggest a #1 aglia for panfish and a #3 black fury for bass.M

# ? May 2, 2012 04:59

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# ? Apr 19, 2024 08:30

Cluricaun: Jul 31, 2009; Bang.

Chemtrail Clem posted:

What is the most treasured fish of all? Is it something you'd have to catch on deep sea fishing or could I catch it in a small lake (Lake Ontario, so not a small lake per se but smaller than the Ocean obviously)? Thinking about doing some serious fishing for the first time without my dad to help me on the boat and I want to know which fish to gun for. Thanks!

Coelacanth. But barring that there's no such thing really. There are guys who pine away over bluegill and there are guys that lift weights all year long just for a shot at a single tuna. The most treasured fish is completely in the mind of the beholder. Some days they're trophy quality fish that you get on your first cast and other days the most treasured fish is the 8 inch bass that hits on your last cast so that you can go home not smelling of the skunk.

Lake Ontario is nothing to sneeze at though and there are serious, serious fish of a lifetime fish swimming around in it. Of the species in the great lakes I'd pick the lake trout as the most treasured as it's a native fish and very slow growing so if you can catch a monster you've really got something there.

# ? May 2, 2012 13:53

King of the Cows: Jun 1, 2007; If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?

Anyone have any experience stocking their local lake/pond/stream/river?

I bought a house on a nice canal that opens up into a lake, but there don't seem to be many fish in it. I live in an area where I think there might be some community interest in a stocking project.

Anyone ever do this?

# ? May 2, 2012 19:35

piercecreek: May 2, 2012

King of the Cows posted:

Anyone have any experience stocking their local lake/pond/stream/river?

I bought a house on a nice canal that opens up into a lake, but there don't seem to be many fish in it. I live in an area where I think there might be some community interest in a stocking project.

Anyone ever do this?

you should check with your local fisheries biologist for rules / regs on this. They might also have programs in place to save you some cash!

# ? May 2, 2012 20:25

Scrapez: Feb 27, 2004

Definitely check with the local authorities. Here in Iowa, the department of natural resources will stock your pond for free but there are requirements for the body if water.

# ? May 2, 2012 22:27

kcaz: Apr 26, 2006

I've been thinking of getting a kayak to do some fishing in the local marsh. Found this http://brunswick.craigslist.org/boa/2976146393.html on craigslist and wanted to get some opinions on the price and suitability of this craft. So, what do yo think guys?

Edit: Also what are some things to look for when buying a kayak?

# ? May 3, 2012 18:49

Rythe: Jan 21, 2011

kcaz posted:

I've been thinking of getting a kayak to do some fishing in the local marsh. Found this http://brunswick.craigslist.org/boa/2976146393.html on craigslist and wanted to get some opinions on the price and suitability of this craft. So, what do yo think guys?

Edit: Also what are some things to look for when buying a kayak?

I have been kayak fishing for some time now and have gotten very big into the sport, so I hope I can answer any question or concerns you have about the sport.

First off I would recommend staying away from the style kayak at all cost if you are looking to fish out of it. That style kayak is called a Sit-in-kayak (SINK), they have very limited weight capability, very little cargo room and are difficult to fish out of. The SINKs are more designed for a recreational paddler for day trips out on the lake, along rivers with white water rapids and environments along those lines. What you are looking for is a Sit-on-top kayak (SOT), they have a higher weight capability, more room for movement, more storage space, more places to install after market add-ons along with being able to stand in certain models to fish out of.

The first two things to considers IMO is what is your price point, since kayaks can range from $200-$2500 easily and second what environment are you going to be using it in the most, rivers, lakes, streams, ocean, etc? Once you can figure that out you want to look for a couple of basic things. Do you want a traditional paddle kayak or a newer pedal powered kayak to free your hands up for fishing more?

Than you want to look for things such as the length and width of the kayak for stability, look for the total weight capacity, storage room in the kayak and on top of it. Look for extra options like pole holders, built in tackle boxes, high back comfortable seats and the weight of the kayak if you are going to be loading it on your vehicle yourself.

I use a Hobie Outback which is a pedal powered kayak over the traditional paddle boats, it ran me about $1400 but I fell in love with it the first time I took it out. The boat is 12'1 long and 33 inch wides, it moves in the water easily, stable in rough weather and I can stand in it to fish if the water is calm enough. Other great brands of kayaks other than Hobie you can look into are Ocean, Wilderness, Native.

A really great resource you can use is here at http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/5913465/1/How_to_Choose_the_BEST_Fishing , this is the Texas Fishing Forums Kayak section thread that was written by all of us in the area about how to pick the best kayak for your needs. It was written by a bunch of kayak anglers with years of experience with lots of information to pass on and tons of first hand experience to share with new kayakers. It is a great read, well worth the time to get a bunch of first hand information and some info on kayak brands.

# ? May 4, 2012 00:12

coyo7e: Aug 23, 2007; by zen death robot

Came across kind of a cool fishing-related story earlier today:
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20120503/LIFESTYLE05/205030315/Fly-fishing-Baghdad?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFrontpage%7Cp

# ? May 4, 2012 21:17

IM FROM THE FUTURE: Dec 4, 2006

Went fishing today. It was a spectacular day on the ocean. My dad and I's birthday's are soon so we decided to go out. Its a little early (and cold) for dolphin, but the conditions looked great so we went. Hit it nice and early and got out at sunrise. Fished till 11 am and ended up with a nice cooler full of schoolies. In the next 8 hours they will become a delicious dinner.

Heres a few pics.

Im smiling really big under here but Im a ginger so if I took off all the clothes I would die.

Sometimes the current and tides do some really cool stuff. Like rivers and walls of blue/green colorchange(or salinity).

# ? May 5, 2012 19:39

SnowDog: Oct 26, 2004

Somehow, I "got into" fishing at age 38. My Dad is, like, Mr. Angler, fishes as often as he can, travels to fish, etc. I think the fact that my parents split up when I was young led me to avoid fishing for dumb makes-sense-to-a-kid reasons. When I was older, I was too busy playing video games and working to worry about fishing.

In my mid-30s, though, I went out on a kayak with my brother-in-law and he let me throw a few casts out with his rod. And something clicked. I realized just what fishing could bring into my life.

Still, it wasn't until I got into shooting that I got into fishing.

I'm an incredible noob which is like really embarrassing for a guy almost 40, and worse for a guy whose father and father-in-law have over a hundred years of fishing experience between them and every thing I struggle with is second nature to them ... but whatever.

Getting away, standing at the lake shore, casting and retrieving ... it's pretty much a cure-all. If I manage to actually reel in a fish, even better, but it's not really a necessary part of the experience.

And now I've got a little girl about to turn 4 who loves to come along. Full circle.

Anyway. It's never to late to start.

(I, no joke, picked up "Fishing for Dummies" or whatever it's called. It's a great little summary of the different fish, different baits, different equipment, and different ways to connect reel to bait. Well worth the 15 bucks, but I'll be goddamned if I let my Dad or father-in-law see it in my house.)

# ? May 6, 2012 04:11

whaam: Mar 18, 2008

Rythe posted:

I have been kayak fishing for some time now and have gotten very big into the sport, so I hope I can answer any question or concerns you have about the sport.

First off I would recommend staying away from the style kayak at all cost if you are looking to fish out of it. That style kayak is called a Sit-in-kayak (SINK), they have very limited weight capability, very little cargo room and are difficult to fish out of. The SINKs are more designed for a recreational paddler for day trips out on the lake, along rivers with white water rapids and environments along those lines. What you are looking for is a Sit-on-top kayak (SOT), they have a higher weight capability, more room for movement, more storage space, more places to install after market add-ons along with being able to stand in certain models to fish out of.

The first two things to considers IMO is what is your price point, since kayaks can range from $200-$2500 easily and second what environment are you going to be using it in the most, rivers, lakes, streams, ocean, etc? Once you can figure that out you want to look for a couple of basic things. Do you want a traditional paddle kayak or a newer pedal powered kayak to free your hands up for fishing more?

Than you want to look for things such as the length and width of the kayak for stability, look for the total weight capacity, storage room in the kayak and on top of it. Look for extra options like pole holders, built in tackle boxes, high back comfortable seats and the weight of the kayak if you are going to be loading it on your vehicle yourself.

I use a Hobie Outback which is a pedal powered kayak over the traditional paddle boats, it ran me about $1400 but I fell in love with it the first time I took it out. The boat is 12'1 long and 33 inch wides, it moves in the water easily, stable in rough weather and I can stand in it to fish if the water is calm enough. Other great brands of kayaks other than Hobie you can look into are Ocean, Wilderness, Native.

A really great resource you can use is here at http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/5913465/1/How_to_Choose_the_BEST_Fishing , this is the Texas Fishing Forums Kayak section thread that was written by all of us in the area about how to pick the best kayak for your needs. It was written by a bunch of kayak anglers with years of experience with lots of information to pass on and tons of first hand experience to share with new kayakers. It is a great read, well worth the time to get a bunch of first hand information and some info on kayak brands.

Just seconding everything said here, great advice. I use a Hobie Adventure Island myself and deep sea fish from it all summer long, great boats, a bit pricey though. Ocean Kayak is another major brand for fishing sit-on-tops and their Trident series is rock solid and only about $700 I believe.

# ? May 9, 2012 01:20

IM FROM THE FUTURE: Dec 4, 2006

whaam posted:

Just seconding everything said here, great advice. I use a Hobie Adventure Island myself and deep sea fish from it all summer long, great boats, a bit pricey though. Ocean Kayak is another major brand for fishing sit-on-tops and their Trident series is rock solid and only about $700 I believe.

The trident is closer to $1000 most places ive seen. But yes a great kayak. Another great options is the "endeavor" ocean kayak exclusively at bass pro. Its a prowler rigged up for fishing for really cheap (700, sometimes on sale for less)

I personally have an older Ocean Kayak Scupper Pro and for my wife the endeavor.

A really good options is buying on craigslist. You can usually find people who never use theirs to sell you the whole newish kayak plus all the accessories that make the price 50% higher for less then the retail of the kayak. Paddles, seats, scupper plugs, rod holders, anchor trolleys, etc.

IM FROM THE FUTURE fucked around with this message at 01:38 on May 9, 2012

# ? May 9, 2012 01:31

Rythe: Jan 21, 2011

I recently got a chance to paddle a Ride 135 with the seat in the high position, that was a very smooth boat to move, super balanced even with the fairly high. Casting from it was a breeze, lots of room, very stable, comfortable as hell and a kayak you can stand in fairly easily. If you all get a chance take one of the Rides out on the water, I am a Hobie guy but this is going to be my next boat here soon I am thinking.

Edit: oh yeah craigslist is your best friend ever, you will find boats that have never been used before for cheap with all the goodies needed.

Rythe fucked around with this message at 02:06 on May 9, 2012

# ? May 9, 2012 02:04

Mulaney Power Move: Dec 30, 2004

I really want to get into kayak fishing but it seems like a big issue is how expensive these rack systems can get. If I want to transport my kayak any meaningful distance, is there a way of doing it that doesn't cost an extra $200 or so (2003 Lincoln Continental)? I know there are cheaper mounts but some of the best fishing around does require traveling at least 60 MPH for 30-45 minutes. Couple the rack with the kayak and accessories and I don't know that I'm willing to pay more than $1k and at that point I don't know how much quality I'd be sacrificing. I was looking at a lot of models but one decent kayak on the cheaper end was the Perception Caster 12.5, on sale at the local Dicks for about $500.

Anyway, seems mounting options are under-discussed in a lot of these kayak forums.

# ? May 9, 2012 16:19

IM FROM THE FUTURE: Dec 4, 2006

Some Other Guy posted:

I really want to get into kayak fishing but it seems like a big issue is how expensive these rack systems can get. If I want to transport my kayak any meaningful distance, is there a way of doing it that doesn't cost an extra $200 or so (2003 Lincoln Continental)? I know there are cheaper mounts but some of the best fishing around does require traveling at least 60 MPH for 30-45 minutes. Couple the rack with the kayak and accessories and I don't know that I'm willing to pay more than $1k and at that point I don't know how much quality I'd be sacrificing. I was looking at a lot of models but one decent kayak on the cheaper end was the Perception Caster 12.5, on sale at the local Dicks for about $500.

Anyway, seems mounting options are under-discussed in a lot of these kayak forums.

One kayak is very easy, you only need two foam blocks and a couple of straps for the front back and sides and you can take it anywhere.

But if you want to hold 2 kayaks it gets a little tricky. You usually need a rack system with special kayak holders. And it doesnt seem possible to get a rack system for under a few hundred bucks. Then add to that the kayak accessories. My yakima with 2 "hullraiser" j style racks for my wifes civic was $500 online.

But still, both are one time purchases, you will get years and years of free enjoyment and access to amazing fishing out of those few pieces of kinda pricey equipment.

IM FROM THE FUTURE fucked around with this message at 16:26 on May 9, 2012

# ? May 9, 2012 16:24

EnsignVix: Jul 11, 2006

Thanks again, the smaller hooks seemed to do the trick. I also learned a lot just by talking to the older guy next to me.

Here's a view of the quarry I fished this past weekend. It opens up a lot off to the right and is quite deep.

Finally broke my dry spell with this trout caught on a small hook and a piece of nightcrawler. I used a slip bobber so I could present the bait at a decent depth. 12.5 inches which while smaller than my last catch was still a keeper.

I thought I had another shortly afterwards when I pulled this little guy in. It was weird catching anything but trout here as that is all I saw since joining. I guess now that it is warming up the bass and sunfish hit more. The old guy said there are tons of bass that should be hitting in the next 2-3 weeks. After letting this one go I started noticing a bunch of these sunfish in the water close to shore.

Later that night, I settled in for a nice dinner. These trout are pretty tasty, and one is about the right portion for a meal.

One thing I noticed is that a lot of people here use live minnows as bait. The old guy next to me gave me one and showed me how to hook it. I got a ton of hits on it before I lost the bait. They seemed to do really well on them so I think I'll try them out next time I head up there.

# ? May 9, 2012 16:33

Mulaney Power Move: Dec 30, 2004

IM FROM THE FUTURE posted:

But still, both are one time purchases, you will get years and years of free enjoyment and access to amazing fishing out of those few pieces of kinda pricey equipment.

The foam block setup (can get it for about $60 bucks) seems to be the best bet as long as I'm not traveling long stretches on I-95 or something. Follow-up question: are racks really one-time purchases? My '03 continental has many miles left in it but it does have over 100k miles. What if I got say, a Ford Focus as my next vehicle? Of course, if I had a kayak at that point I'd probably get a truck or something which I was considering anyway, but how universal are these racks? Given that my car is getting older it definitely doesn't seem like the best route to take.

# ? May 9, 2012 17:20

Rythe: Jan 21, 2011

Some Other Guy posted:

The foam block setup (can get it for about $60 bucks) seems to be the best bet as long as I'm not traveling long stretches on I-95 or something. Follow-up question: are racks really one-time purchases? My '03 continental has many miles left in it but it does have over 100k miles. What if I got say, a Ford Focus as my next vehicle? Of course, if I had a kayak at that point I'd probably get a truck or something which I was considering anyway, but how universal are these racks? Given that my car is getting older it definitely doesn't seem like the best route to take.

For the most part they are one time purchases with one exception, I use the Yakima roof rack system too, you buy the racks initialy than the cheaper part is the clips that mount to your car, when you change cars you keep the racks and just change out the cheaper clips. The foam blocks work as long as you have two tie down in the middle to secure the kayak to the car along with a rear and forward tie downs to keep the kayak from coming up while driving. Since my kayak was $1600 or so the $200 investment on the racks is well worth it, I can travel to Dallas doing 80mph the entire way without worry or my kayak moving at all.

# ? May 9, 2012 17:26

BeastOfExmoor: Aug 19, 2003; I will be gone, but not forever.

Finally got out on the water and caught some fish this year. I fished a small lake near my house and struck out on bass but got some stocked trout. I caught them all on lures I had assembled myself (dodgers and "wedding ring" type spinners) which felt pretty good. The inflatable I bought last fall and built floorboards and bench seats for in the winter performed admirably. The only thing that sucks is how much it moves in the wind. I'll be fishing in northern California with my wife and her uncle next weekend, probably for bass.

Cluricaun posted:

I had a perch charter booked for this past Sunday that ended up assing out at the last minute because the wind was coming into the harbor from the northeast which was causing Lake Michigan to be sporting some five foot swells and the captain told us to rebook. Quite the bummer to wake up at 3:00 am to drive an hour and a half just to go back home, but such are the ways of charters. I'm turning it into a king salmon charter in July instead.

Pretty interesting to hear about a Perch charter. They're one of my favorite fish to catch, but around here they don't get much larger than 8-9" and aren't very popular. I imagine the Great Lakes ones run a bit bigger?

# ? May 9, 2012 20:58

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

BeastOfExmoor posted:

Pretty interesting to hear about a Perch charter. They're one of my favorite fish to catch, but around here they don't get much larger than 8-9" and aren't very popular. I imagine the Great Lakes ones run a bit bigger?

A fat 9" perch is the most delicious fish God has graced us with. They do run bigger in the Great Lakes, but a 10" is a nice perch anywhere.

EnsignVix posted:

I also learned a lot just by talking to the older guy next to me.

This right here is the best lesson any novice angler can learn. If you keep your ears open and your mouth shut, you will learn more in 2 sentences from an old coot than you will in weeks of research on the internet.

# ? May 10, 2012 01:19

Rythe: Jan 21, 2011

Dik Hz posted:

This right here is the best lesson any novice angler can learn. If you keep your ears open and your mouth shut, you will learn more in 2 sentences from an old coot than you will in weeks of research on the internet.

Yeah I would back this up a thousand times and than some, I have learned about some nice local gems, beaver dams hidden up river, honey holes and all types of buried cover from simply cleaning some fish at the state parks and listening to the old timers. Its amazing what they old timers know about the area they have been fishing for a lifetime, plus they always have great stories and are normally wonderful to chat with.

# ? May 10, 2012 01:54

BeastOfExmoor: Aug 19, 2003; I will be gone, but not forever.

Dik Hz posted:

A fat 9" perch is the most delicious fish God has graced us with. They do run bigger in the Great Lakes, but a 10" is a nice perch anywhere.

Good point on girth, I hadn't thought of that. I caught a bunch of 8" perch last year, but they were almost all skinny and it was hard to get much meat off of them.

Just got off the phone with my wife's uncle and it looks like we'll be fishing a mix Stripers and what he called "Black bass" on Friday. It looks like that is just a term for fish in the Largemouth/Smallmouth family, but if someone can clarify northern California fish slang I'm all ears.

BeastOfExmoor fucked around with this message at 04:17 on May 10, 2012

# ? May 10, 2012 04:13

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

BeastOfExmoor posted:

Good point on girth, I hadn't thought of that. I caught a bunch of 8" perch last year, but they were almost all skinny and it was hard to get much meat off of them.

Just got off the phone with my wife's uncle and it looks like we'll be fishing a mix Stripers and what he called "Black bass" on Friday. It looks like that is just a term for fish in the Largemouth/Smallmouth family, but if someone can clarify northern California fish slang I'm all ears.

You're right, black bass means largemouth and smallmouth bass collectively and that's not just in Cali. Not sure where it comes from. But it almost always refers to largemouth. I'm not even sure if Cali has smallmouth bass.

Stripers are incredibly delicious and you should definitely keep one if you catch one and the fishery can support harvest. Follow your uncle-in-law's lead and let us know how you fare.

# ? May 10, 2012 04:18

Spigs: Jun 5, 2008

Finally got out fishing yesterday for the first time this year. I live 2 minutes from the Charles river so it's nice and convenient. Got completely skunked, one nibble but no real hits, oh well, I brought the dog and enjoyed some time by the water.

# ? May 10, 2012 12:43

jvick: Jun 24, 2008; WE ARE
PENN STATE

BeastOfExmoor posted:

Just got off the phone with my wife's uncle and it looks like we'll be fishing a mix Stripers and what he called "Black bass" on Friday. It looks like that is just a term for fish in the Largemouth/Smallmouth family, but if someone can clarify northern California fish slang I'm all ears.

Sounds like you'll be fishing in the Delta (south east of Sac). There is a lot of good fishing there this time of year. If you haven't caught stripper before they're a fun fish an put up a decent fight. Black bass seem to be a sub species or something unique to California. I grew up here and even when I ask older people, I never get a straight answer on how they're any different than what you'd catch in Texas.

# ? May 11, 2012 06:45

manyak: Jan 26, 2006

Fishing loving rules.

# ? May 11, 2012 15:14

icehewk: Jul 7, 2003; Congratulations on not getting fit in 2011!

There's a fly fishing blog I follow that fishes fairly close to me here in Wisconsin. Here's a story he posted this morning. The site is down at the moment so not sure what's going on there.

LenH's Stream of Time posted:

I really need to give some history to this story before I get to the actual story. Two springs ago we had a huge flood in the southwest part of Wisconsin. Most of the streams were dramatically affected by this flood. Many streams were widened and others had holes where there were never any.

The water finally receded and I decided to go look at my streams to see if any of them were fishable. Most of the bigger streams were still chocolate milk. I decided to take a look at a couple of my brookie streams. I remembered one stream in particular that I had been fishing with a friend at a huge beaver dam. The beaver dam was still intact.
I remember this outing because my friend Frank had a decent sized brookie on and all of sudden the water erupted under the brookie and a huge almost flush of a toilet happened under the brookie. The brookie was sucked under and all of a sudden the pole was bent in half. What ever had the brookie was big and dove towards the bottom. The action ended as quickly as it began. There was the brookie floating on the top of the water. The brookie was still hooked. We brought it in and took a photo of the 10 inch brookie close-up. It had teeth marks the entire length of the fish. We decided it had endured enough injury for the day and popped it back in the beaver dam hole. Frank and I did NOT see the would be brookie stealer but we both knew it was large.

That beaver dam grew in legend that year. Frank and I went back numerous times and never hooked up on any trout. Not a single trout. It was really odd. Prior to having that brookie almost stolen, we caught many brookies in that area. We finally gave up and decided the brookie stealer had moved on.
This spring we had even a bigger flood. I did my traditional look see after the water went down. Again the bigger streams were dirty and no fishing. The memory of that big fish trying to steal the brookie from Frank came back to me. I knew where I was going. Hello Big Beaver Dam Hole. The floods had completely knocked out the dam. The once 100 yard long and 8 feet deep beaver dam hole was about three feet deep now. I was really disappointed because I figure the Monster of The Beaver Dam has surely moved on.

I walked downstream first and all of the remnants of the beaver dam was down stream. I did a 180 and went up stream. Far in the distance I could see some action on the water. I dismissed it at first as the beavers trying to rebuild their dams. The closer I got....it looked like minnows scurrying in to the shallows with a big wake behind them. It was still a good 80 yards ahead of me. At 40 yards I could see that those weren't minnows in the shallows...They were good sized brook trout and they were begin chased into the shallows by an enormous trout. The trout's back was coming out of the water as it chased the brookies into the shallows and ate any of them that got to close. My camera was out and my point and shot digital didn't have a good enough zoom to capture the carnage from this fish. I needed to get closer. I took 4 more steps and the action turned off. The big fish must have felt me walking trying to get closer.

I told this story to quite a few anglers and they just smiled and nodded their heads and said : �Ya....right...An enormous trout chasing brookies in the shallows." To them it was just too much of a tale to swallow. I tried to talk a couple of them in to stalking the trout. They all had better things to do. I tried for this fish minimum 50 times this year. I had not even a whisper of a bite.

About a month later my buddy Joe Chadwick and I went back to the beaver dam to fish. The beavers had repaired their dam and the massive beaver dam was back there in its full glory. Joe and I fished it hard for three hours. No bites. We moved on. We walked back downstream to my truck and took a look at the beaver dam one more time. There was no action.

The beaver had made many runs to make entry in to the beaver dam easier. They were hidden in tall weeds. I was leading the way back to the truck. I told Joe to be careful of this one beaver run. Joe must have not heard me and he stepped in to the beaver run and tumbled down the bank in to the beaver dam. I asked him if he was OK and he just barked out " Why didn't you tell me there was a run here?" After I stopped laughing at Joe treading water in the huge eight feet deep beaver dam........I noticed a huge wake going up stream. Joe falling in the water had spooked the brookie stealer and now it had shown itself to us again.

Joe and I went back another 20 times to try for the big trout. I always let Joe have the hole first because he said he had discovered the trout by falling in and he should have first crack at it. We did NOT catch anything. Not even a tiny brookie. We decided we needed to try some different tactics. On the way home I told Joe that BIG trout turn in to nocturnal feeders when they get really big. This one fell in to the big category. We decided night fishing was in order.

We went back and pruned some of the willows and did some practice casting in the light of day to make sure we could cast properly during the night time hours. The path to the beaver dam was manicured and any holes were noted so we would fall in to them during darkness. We looked for a good battle position on the water's edge and an easy place for netting. We went to Cabelas and got 2two headlamps.

So now.......What were we going to use to catch this Leviathan?? We decided to be prepared for many ways to tempt this trout. We were going to time our assault on it during the time of the Hex hatch. The Hex were late this year because of the major flooding. A trip to a local fly shop was in order. We got a couple Hex patterns and a couple mouse patterns. We strung up the 5 weight fly rod with a 3x leader and the Hex emerger pattern. We had heard of hex hatches in the area.

We also got out a spinning rod and put 8 pound fireline on it and a size 6 eagle claw with a small split shot part way up the line. We decided if one method failed we would try the other. I stopped at the local Kwik Trip and got a dozen night crawlers and went fishing for chubs. I caught six chubs and cut off their tails about one inch up from the tail. So now we were ready. Night crawlers and chub tails and a readied fly rod. We also had some size nine floater rapalas in rainbow color (they don't make brookie color).

The alarm rang at 2am. I picked up Joe and off we went for our night time adventure. I parked the truck quite a ways from the normal parking spot. I wanted to have every possible advantage. We walked slowly to the woods edge. I put on my headlamp. I told Joe to leave his off. The approach to the hole seemed like it took an eternity. I turned mine off also quite a ways from the hole. .Joe wanted to get right in there with a chub tail. I told him we needed to look and listen for a while. We actually took a seat for about 10 minutes. We both looked at each other had the same time. Joe said what the heck was that sound? I told Joe it was a slurp sound. I had read about the sound in many fly fishing magazines. I had never heard the sound myself. We sat there a little longer the sound got closer to our battle station. I handed Joe the fly rod and said have at it. There was a hex hatch going on and we had stumbled on it.

It was actually quite intimidating casting in the pitch black. I told Joe to cast towards the slurping sounds. Joe asked me how he would know when to set the hook. I told him to set after he heard the slurp. The first cast in the large beaver dam was off target. Joe put his second cast near the sounds. It seemed almost instant...there it was...the Slurp sound. Joe set it hard.

The fish went directly to the bottom and hunkered down. It did a figure eight a couple times. I don't think it knew it was hooked. Then it realized it was hooked any went screaming upstream at Mach 8. There was another small submerged beaver dam up there and I was worried the trout would get entangled in the beaver dam. I yelled at Joe "Turn it!" "Muscle it!" It can't get into the other dam. The reel on the rod was just screaming and the rod was bent in half. Joe was like a deer in the headlights. He froze. He yelled ......can't control it!!!!

I told him to take one step in to the water and invert the fly rod and stick it directly in to the water. I told him to keep the rod bent over. He didn't understand me. He wanted more explanation. I just yelled "Just Do It!" He followed my directions to the letter and the trout turned and came back down stream. Joe was reeling for all his worth. He had it in the main beaver dam again. It was showing no signs of getting tired. It was Joe's turn yell. "Get in the %^43^^7 water and net that fish!" I told him it wasn't ready to be netted. Joe said: "I don't care.......Get in there."

I took three steps out and was at the top of my chest waders. I told Joe to get it closer to me so I could net it. The trout swam by me and I made a half hearted netting attempt. I had not even seen the fish yet. I thought I better get a try while it was near me. I tried and I missed. Joe was yelling. "If you cause me to lose this fish I will never talk to you again!" I took one more half step out and the water was even with my waders. I told him he had to get it head up so I could see it to net it. He kind of brought it to the surface. I went deep under the fish and brought it to the surface with the netting action. The trout would not fit in the net from the side and the net got tangled up in the line. I was certain i was going to lose this fish. I dropped the net on purpose and the line came free from the net. I recovered the net. I decided I was going to go in up to my neck and net this thing. I took one big step forward and went deep...almost to my neck and made a lunging deep netting attempt at the fish. I got it in the net by sheer luck. I lifted the net over my head and walked out of the hole. I did NOT know how big the trout was. It felt heavy so I assumed I had scooped up mud with the trout.

When I got to shore I turned on my headlamp. Joe met me at the shore. We just stared in disbelief at what was in the net. A small stream trout in these parts is considered big at 20 inches. This thing was way beyond that. I snapped a couple photos and we measured the male small stream brown trout with a tape measurer and a digital scale Joe had brought with. It measured an eye lash over 30 inches and it weighed 10.2 pounds.

# ? May 11, 2012 16:28

causticBeet: Mar 2, 2010; BIG VINCE COMIN FOR YOU

Holy poo poo, good read.

# ? May 11, 2012 17:23

PREYING MANTITS: Mar 13, 2003; and that's how you get ants.

icehewk posted:

There's a fly fishing blog I follow that fishes fairly close to me here in Wisconsin. Here's a story he posted this morning. The site is down at the moment so not sure what's going on there.

Excellent story and what a catch, wow!

According to google search's cache of his blog he decided to close it down for some reason. He'll be updating at http://blogs.wisconsinoutdoorfun.com/blogs/wof/wofharrisblog/ but "at a very reduced pace"

# ? May 11, 2012 19:16

MikeRabsitch: Aug 23, 2004; Show us what you got, what you got

Jesus, I would've poo poo my pants if I realized I had that on the line. I'm guessing they were using a normal fishing net instead of a regular small trout net designed for 10 inchers.

# ? May 11, 2012 19:40

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

icehewk posted:

There's a fly fishing blog I follow that fishes fairly close to me here in Wisconsin. Here's a story he posted this morning. The site is down at the moment so not sure what's going on there.

Len Harris would object to it being called a fly fishing blog, I wager. He's a big fan of using whatever tackle is appropriate, not just fly rods.

He's a legend in the Driftless region.

Here's my favorite post by him Link it's been reposted a thousand times.

# ? May 11, 2012 23:04

Jimmybob: Mar 7, 2005

Holy gently caress that's a big brown. And here I am proud with a grin on my face for catching any brown over 12 inches. From the story him and his buddy put in a ton of time and effort to catch that thing, so good on them.

# ? May 13, 2012 16:36

icehewk: Jul 7, 2003; Congratulations on not getting fit in 2011!

Dik Hz posted:

Len Harris would object to it being called a fly fishing blog, I wager. He's a big fan of using whatever tackle is appropriate, not just fly rods.

He's a legend in the Driftless region.

Here's my favorite post by him Link it's been reposted a thousand times.

I need to meet him before I remember his legendary status. That post needs his picture by it!

I caught a bunch of bluegills last night. They're not on the beds yet but they're definitely beginning to build them.

edit: Has anyone eaten the roe? I don't have any nitr* on hand at the moment, otherwise I'd try this:

icehewk fucked around with this message at 19:44 on May 15, 2012

# ? May 15, 2012 19:30

Jasper Tin Neck: Nov 14, 2008; "Scientifically proven, rich and creamy."

I occasionally go pole fishing off a pier at my university campus. My tackle is very low-tech since you're only allowed to fish with poles without any permits here in Finland. I'm mainly interested in perch but the season hasn't really started yet, so I'm mostly catching cyprinids like silver bream, carp bream, roach, bleak and ide. Some of my odder catches so far include a single herring and a ruffe.

I'm interested in hearing your opinions on different kinds of baits. So far I've tried:

Earthworms. All fish love earthworms, it seems.
Dough. Only the cyprinids seem to like this, but it's much faster to make than to go digging for worms.
Fish eyes. I can't really tell how well these worked, because I've used them only once and it was a bit late. (The fish seem to stop biting around 15:00. The best time to fish from my pier seems to be noon.) Seemed to work for everything.
Pieces of fish I'd caught earlier the same day. I also tried this a bit late today, so I can't say for sure how effective it was. It seemed to scare away all the cyprinids, but I got a small perch and something pretty big the gave a good fight. Both fell off the hook to my dismay. I'm not sure what the big fighty thing was, could have been a large perch, a zander or a pike.

So far it seems like the fish bits yield the tastiest fish. Has anyone else ever tried this kind of bait?

# ? May 16, 2012 00:19

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

Jasper Tin Neck posted:

I occasionally go pole fishing off a pier at my university campus. My tackle is very low-tech since you're only allowed to fish with poles without any permits here in Finland. I'm mainly interested in perch but the season hasn't really started yet, so I'm mostly catching cyprinids like silver bream, carp bream, roach, bleak and ide. Some of my odder catches so far include a single herring and a ruffe.

I'm interested in hearing your opinions on different kinds of baits. So far I've tried:

Earthworms. All fish love earthworms, it seems.

Dough. Only the cyprinids seem to like this, but it's much faster to make than to go digging for worms.

Fish eyes. I can't really tell how well these worked, because I've used them only once and it was a bit late. (The fish seem to stop biting around 15:00. The best time to fish from my pier seems to be noon.) Seemed to work for everything.

Pieces of fish I'd caught earlier the same day. I also tried this a bit late today, so I can't say for sure how effective it was. It seemed to scare away all the cyprinids, but I got a small perch and something pretty big the gave a good fight. Both fell off the hook to my dismay. I'm not sure what the big fighty thing was, could have been a large perch, a zander or a pike.

So far it seems like the fish bits yield the tastiest fish. Has anyone else ever tried this kind of bait?

We call that cut bait over here in the States. It's a staple for catching catfish and some predatory fish. I have no idea about fishing in Finland, though. Try dawn and dusk for predatory fish, though. Good luck and keep us posted! I'm really curious to here about Scandinavian fishing.

# ? May 16, 2012 00:51

sogekihei: Jul 15, 2001

Gonna jump on with the rest of the kayak fishers and say it's awesome. Just bought a Crescent Xtreme Fisher 2 for bass fishing. My girlfriend and I have no problem with it and so far I've seen its the cheapest SOT that doesn't look like it came from wal mart. Can't say how it stacks up against other fishing kayaks but despite the fact that it is a little heavy, it suits my needs just fine. The pictures of it show a guy standing up in it and making it look easy. gently caress that guy. I tried and it's not easy.

# ? May 16, 2012 01:22

Rythe: Jan 21, 2011

sogekihei posted:

Gonna jump on with the rest of the kayak fishers and say it's awesome. Just bought a Crescent Xtreme Fisher 2 for bass fishing. My girlfriend and I have no problem with it and so far I've seen its the cheapest SOT that doesn't look like it came from wal mart. Can't say how it stacks up against other fishing kayaks but despite the fact that it is a little heavy, it suits my needs just fine. The pictures of it show a guy standing up in it and making it look easy. gently caress that guy. I tried and it's not easy.

From a safety stand point make sure you learn this in fairly shallow, calm water before you try it in deeper water. Also if you are new to the sport seriously take your kayak out to deep water (over your head), rock your boat side to side to find out where the tipping point is and flip your boat. This will let you know excatly when your boat will flip and give yourself some deepwater re-entry skills, this is something I did and made my wife do too. Don't forget to take any loose gear off the boat too

# ? May 16, 2012 01:55

Cluricaun: Jul 31, 2009; Bang.

icehewk posted:

There's a fly fishing blog I follow that fishes fairly close to me here in Wisconsin. Here's a story he posted this morning. The site is down at the moment so not sure what's going on there.

I am captain catch and release, I don't object to fish being kept in accordance with regulations and provided that the fishery can handle it, yadda yadda, but that motherfucker would be on my wall as fast as I could pay a taxidermist to get the job done. I've tossed back "trophy" fish countless times but that thing has to be a line class record if not a state record and were I to ever pull one of those off, welp, tough times Mr. Feesh here comes the fortune and glory.

# ? May 16, 2012 02:26

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

Cluricaun posted:

I am captain catch and release, I don't object to fish being kept in accordance with regulations and provided that the fishery can handle it, yadda yadda, but that motherfucker would be on my wall as fast as I could pay a taxidermist to get the job done. I've tossed back "trophy" fish countless times but that thing has to be a line class record if not a state record and were I to ever pull one of those off, welp, tough times Mr. Feesh here comes the fortune and glory.

I would definitely return the fish and commission an artwork that I would at least stand a chance of getting my future significant other to let me hang on the wall.

Plus I could be all smug and talk about how I know where a catchable 30" brown is.

The records for brown trout in Wisconsin are dominated by the coasters. (Coaster = Great Lake Run trout)

# ? May 16, 2012 02:30

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# ? Apr 19, 2024 08:30

sogekihei: Jul 15, 2001

Rythe posted:

From a safety stand point make sure you learn this in fairly shallow, calm water before you try it in deeper water. Also if you are new to the sport seriously take your kayak out to deep water (over your head), rock your boat side to side to find out where the tipping point is and flip your boat. This will let you know excatly when your boat will flip and give yourself some deepwater re-entry skills, this is something I did and made my wife do too. Don't forget to take any loose gear off the boat too :

Good call. One day I hope to take it out to do some saltwater fishing and I figure it will be a little more rough than lakes.

# ? May 16, 2012 02:56

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