The fishing thread

Furious_E said:

Thanks, but I was just very careful not to include anything for scale in the pic . You've got a very nice looking fish there as well. 

You think that, but I was judging size based on the Panther Martin hanging out of its mouth. Given the apparent flow rate and depth of the water, I guessed you were using a size 4 at most.

Has anyone ever eaten suckers? We catch redbreast and redeye bass in the creek. I might try frying up some redbreast tonight. But the creek is also full of big suckers. Some folks say they’re too bony to fool with. Others say if you cut little slices every 1/4” or so in the fillets and deep-fry them, the little pin bones liquify.

poopshovel again said:

Has anyone ever eaten suckers? We catch redbreast and redeye bass in the creek. I might try frying up some redbreast tonight. But the creek is also full of big suckers. Some folks say they’re too bony to fool with. Others say if you cut little slices every 1/4” or so in the fillets and deep-fry them, the little pin bones liquify.

Assuming it is the same fish, my grandmother used to have my uncle go get them when they were "running". I don't know what running they did, but apparently they were abundant at a certain point of a creek that was easy for my uncle to get to for about 3 weeks out of the year. He'd actually gig them. 

Grandmother grew up dirt poor on a tobacco farm, and though her husband was a doctor, he'd passed away by this point and they were pretty close to broke. So take that for what it is worth, but they said that it was good when fried in lard in a cast iron skillet. 

EDIT: This was in southern Indiana. 

I put my brother-in-law on his first salt water fish: a flounder.

In reply to Brett_Murphy :

Nice fish! Where did he catch it at?

While not my first saltwater fish, I caught my first in the surf this morning, a nice little ~10" Mullet. I'll post pics later. 

We got it in Jink's Creek, not far from the inlet between Ocean Isle and Sunset Beach.

Not enough to make a sandwich, but these little redeye put up a fight! Caught this morning on a beetle-spin and crickhopper.

I want to catch some Redeye myself- they look like they would be a blast on ultralight tackle.

In reply to Brett_Murphy :

They really are! Sadly, the two in the pics are probably the smallest I’ve caught. Further up the creek I’ve caught them around 12-13” but I hate to take my phone with me as the rocks are slippery, and I’ve dunked myself more times than I’d like to admit.

Spawning males are BEAUTIFUL, with bright turquoise streaks on the head. Rebel craws and beetle-spins seem to work really well.

I'm heading up to Wisconsin to fish next weekend.   A buddy's family owns 80 acres and we have a large lake all to ourselves---- no other homes on the lake.  It's way up, North of Minocqua, and it's paradise.   Hopefully we'll catch fish, but even if we don't, it will be a great time! 

My son caught this king salmon out of Sooke near Victoria BC.  We are visiting as my son will be attending university of Victoria this fall.

That lead to these

My plans for the day are shot. I guess I could be productive around the house for a while, so that if the weather is good after work this week I can try to get out then.

Off to fish for walleye tomorrow morning. Bought $70 worth of tackle and worms that I am pretty sure will get sacrificed to the rocks. The restaurant we fish in front of serves a very generous walleye platter with fries and coleslaw for $16 dollars. Not sure what I should think about this?

By the way...fishing in the mouth of the sarnia river is cool cause of the giant ships that go by very close.

Pete

Well, I just returned from my Wisconsin fishing trip------- and success!   I caught my first Musky--- a 41" beast on 8 lb. test with no leader!   Yes, yes, I was lucky to get him in the boat!   Catch and release--- after 10 min of resting he was fine, and swam off.   Cleared the water twice, and put on a hell of a fight!  Not a day I'll forget anytime soon!  

Bad ass man!

 

Holy poop.  Yesterday me and some buddies were on lake Washington by Mankato. We limited out on walleye.  18 walleye in the box. Biggest was 23” my biggest was 18.5.  First time catching walleye. 

So go visit Walt’s bait and tackle in saint Peter. He knows the business. 

It stopped raining for a minute and almost hit 60 a week ago, so we want out to a local greenway as a family unit and did a bit of walking.

There is a spot along the path that holds fish year round, so I brought a light rod with me.

I almost put my arm out of joint holding this one up.  

I caught several more the same size.

A good friend got a couple of nice steelhead this morning. Manistee River.

Those are some nice fish. I was going to ask if he kept them, but I see in the second photo he's got one on the stringer.

Very nice! Trout season here opens this coming Saturday and I'm planning to be out bright and early. Can't wait!

I love it when this thread pops to the top cause it means that winter is going to end soon. Don't know for sure what the fishing plan is this summer, but it will be nice to get out of the shop and on the water for a change of scenery.

Pete

Brett_Murphy said:

Those are some nice fish. I was going to ask if he kept them, but I see in the second photo he's got one on the stringer.

That part of the river is open year round. General trout season starts here on the last Saturday of April.  I lived a few miles from where those fish were caught , for a couple of years. I fished a spot a couple of times per week that I named the dinner hole. A little bitty crick , one can jump across most anywhere, empties into the river. A couple of hundred yards upstream the crick went under a road , through a culvert. On the downstream side of the culvert was a pool 10 feet deep and 30 feet across.  If I went in there and made 4 cast with a small gold Panther Martin I usually had Brown Trout for dinner. After 3 or 4 cast the fish were spooked and wouldn't bite. Most fish were 12 to 18 inches long.  The big fish were coming out of the big river seeking cooler water.

Spring has been sprung for a while here in North Cackalacky, and I've been getting on the water. Sometimes I even catch stuff.

I got this girl today in a small creek in a park 10 minutes from my house. I was there for an hour- this was my first bite, the first fish and I went home afterwards to just end on a high note. A jogger was going by and took the picture for me. When I landed the fish, she came up and said: "I was going to ask if this was a good spot to go fishing, but I see that it is!"
 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I got this little green sunfish in a very small creek- almost a trickle- along the a hiking path while taking a walk during lunch earlier this week. It may not be a big fish, but making a few casts with ultralight tackle while powerwalking beats using the treadmill at the gym for sure. 
 

It was tight to that undercut tree, used a 1 inch Mr. Twister in pupkin pepper.

I haven’t been able to get out at all this spring. I’m hoping to head out at lunch on Monday to a pond near the office. Just got a new baitcaster, anxious to try it.