Post a fish!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > The Great Outdoors > Post a fish!

Kazak_Hstan: Apr 28, 2014; Grimey Drawer

TheDon01 posted:

In Alaska news, halibut fishing still seems to be terrible. My neighbor keeps saying "Oh it's not quite halibut season yet" but his loving boat is covered in moss and hasn't moved in decades, also it's almost July.

I've caught a couple nice halibut (~60 pounds) on the west side of Cook Inlet this year. It's as good as always in the inlet. Maybe it's different in southeast? idk.

Also seeing lots of kings on harvest tickets when I check people's licenses over the last month or so, from both Kenai and Susitna drainages. So that's nice to see after the last few years.

No pics for the thread =( But I spent the last week gorging on big fat lake trout. I will have to take more pictures. Reds are almost to Port Alsworth and Bristol Bay produced over 35 million this year so we should be swimming in them soon. v. excited.

# ¿ Jul 19, 2016 10:41

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# ¿ Apr 30, 2024 03:37

Kazak_Hstan: Apr 28, 2014; Grimey Drawer

In the vicinity of Chisik Island at the mouth of Tuxedni Bay. I do a fair bit of boat driving for researchers working on the west side coast, so while they're off doing science things I "go anchor the boat in a safer spot, see you guys on the high tide" and drown some herring.

# ¿ Jul 19, 2016 21:20

Kazak_Hstan: Apr 28, 2014; Grimey Drawer

Those fuckin own

# ¿ Nov 29, 2016 00:16

Kazak_Hstan: Apr 28, 2014; Grimey Drawer

All I loving care about is catching salmon and cutting them up. Good weather and volcanoes are just icing on the cake.

https://imgur.com/a/foNqXbc

# ¿ Sep 5, 2018 07:58

Kazak_Hstan: Apr 28, 2014; Grimey Drawer

That is a super cool fly tying setup.

# ¿ Oct 20, 2018 06:54

Kazak_Hstan: Apr 28, 2014; Grimey Drawer

gay picnic defence posted:

I caught 6 of these fuckers on the weekend before giving up in disgust:

I love the random poo poo the ocean spits.

# ¿ Oct 31, 2018 05:37

Kazak_Hstan: Apr 28, 2014; Grimey Drawer

LingcodKilla posted:

I tried a local dogfish once. Heard their use to be a fishery around here. Would send them all the way to England for fish and chips.

It's garbage. Used it for crab bait.

lol I had a guy work for me once who would pick up bycaught dogfish from the beach and eat them, I wish I was halfway as dedicated to eating fish at all costs as he was

# ¿ Nov 1, 2018 20:38

Kazak_Hstan: Apr 28, 2014; Grimey Drawer

Sockington posted:

..and meanwhile, a dogfish in looks like this and is equally inedible.

woah that�s a whole different kind of dogfish though, I�ve never seen one like that

# ¿ Nov 1, 2018 20:39

Kazak_Hstan: Apr 28, 2014; Grimey Drawer

Sockington posted:

I haven�t had a big haul day in a while. That looks like tons of fun.

I got my free steel boat on my free steel trailer, and shoved it into the garage. I gave it a quick clean after sitting full of leaves and rain for a few months, and got to puttering around.

Installed some latches. Re-did the braces for the wood tops out of some stainless instead or 2x2� wood to save some space. This let me move the fuel tank a bit more and get fancy with the fuel routing. Then added some holders for the net and my rod that will keep my fat arse on the seat when the action starts.

I also want to take all the fish pictures on that �Welcome Aboard� rubber mat.

She�s come a bit of a ways. I�m only about $100 into the boat and trailer so far, including dump fees for the old fibreglass boat I cut up, and materials for paint.

Awesome project.

# ¿ Nov 13, 2018 21:45

Kazak_Hstan: Apr 28, 2014; Grimey Drawer

I like the navigation lights on an eight foot dinghy.

Take that monster out in the shipping lanes, blow an air horn at a tanker.

# ¿ Nov 19, 2018 19:03

Kazak_Hstan: Apr 28, 2014; Grimey Drawer

That surf perch is a pretty fish.

# ¿ Nov 26, 2018 06:55

Kazak_Hstan: Apr 28, 2014; Grimey Drawer

A Pack of Kobolds posted:

I've seen this! I wish the cormorants around here were team players.

TRIP REPORT

On Saturday, Hooplah and I met some of my friends on the coast for surf fishing and razor clamming. The forecast was very similar to the successful trip last month, so anticipation and expectations were running high. The forecast gave a pretty high chance of rain, but in the past the rain showers have moved pretty quickly and we have fished through them. That ... was not the case on Saturday.

It looked like this when we got to the beach a little before noon, at the peak of high tide. This was as nice as the weather would be all goddamn day. It wasn't icy cold outside, but there was a near-constant drizzle. Winds were at our backs, so at least we didn't have to cast into headwind, but that was cold comfort.

The surf was as rough as I've ever seen it and currents were tossing our terminal tackle all over the loving place. Last month I used a steelhead rod and a 2oz coin sinker and caught a bunch, but this time I stepped up to my 10' surf rod and a 4oz pyramid sinker. That didn't seem to matter much, as that poo poo was getting tossed around and buried too. I've never even needed 4oz, let alone had that be insufficient!

Fishing was so loving slow. My buddy caught three redtails to my one, which is the pretty standard ratio with him and me. Poor Hooplah, though! It's like the coast decided to haze him that day. A couple of large waves emptied right into his boots early in the day, and his feet never got the chance to recover. His tackle that has worked so well on the pier proved to be woefully inadequate for the beach. Surf fishing is such a departure from most other types of fishing that I think it would have been a learning experience either way, but the weather and surf conditions made it cruel.

Right around dusk we switched gear for razor clams, and the past couple of times I've been razor clamming everyone has been able to dig their limit in under and hour. So, of course, this was the hardest dig I've ever experienced and I only got a third of my limit before we called it quits. My new headlamp worked a treat though (thanks again for the tip, Sockington!), but erratic waves and steady rain made finding the clam shows nearly impossible. It's hard enough to find them at night with a gentle tide and clear weather, but we pounded the sand with our clam guns up and down the beach and did so poorly. Hooplah spotted and dug two razor clams himself without help, which is extremely commendable given the conditions.

Anyway, that's a lot of words before some pics. I wound up with the entire catch because nobody else wanted to clean it. I was borderline insistent that Hooplah take it, as it didn't seem right that the first timer who had a miserable experience should go home empty-handed, but I can also understand being exhausted and frustrated and not wanting to cut up a bunch of fish after that.

It was nice to have a few redtails to fillet, though, and I remembered to save the good scraps for stock and the bad scraps for crab bait this time.

These clams are still very much alive and do not like it at all when you cut them from their shells.

Here's what one cleaned razor clam looks like, for the curious.

And for posterity, here's what it looked like on December 31, 2017 before we started clamming. Sorry, Hooplah.

Have you ever smoked razors?

I periodically have access to basically unlimited razor clams and have thought about either hot smoking and vacuum sealing / freezing or lightly smoking and canning some for indefinite shelf stable storage. Not sure if it would dry them out too much though.

# ¿ Jan 8, 2019 06:52

Kazak_Hstan: Apr 28, 2014; Grimey Drawer

I guess I�ll have to try the smoked clams this summer. I think it might work, with really careful smoking.

I didn�t know they were selling commercial razors as bait, that�s nuts. Such a prized resource, and though I don�t know anything about crab bait, I assumed crabs are not picky eaters.

# ¿ Jan 8, 2019 17:58

Kazak_Hstan: Apr 28, 2014; Grimey Drawer

I have never fished anything nicer than an ugly stick spinning rod or reddington fly rod.

I would be so nervous taking an expensive rod out, regardless of replacement policies.

# ¿ Jan 11, 2019 19:26

Kazak_Hstan: Apr 28, 2014; Grimey Drawer

Extension of the maxillary jaw well beyond the posterior edge of the eye suggests cutthroat trout to me. The caudal fin also looks a little more forked than a classic squared-off rainbow, but that�s not dispositive and it could just be a little scrunched.

I�d call it a cutt. Nice trout.

# ¿ Jan 29, 2019 09:31

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# ¿ Apr 30, 2024 03:37

Kazak_Hstan: Apr 28, 2014; Grimey Drawer

Hooplah posted:

This poo poo's complicated.

And of course they also hybridize!

# ¿ Jan 29, 2019 19:56

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