Angler thread. Any fishermen here?

General Discussion
#1

I just started fishing again lately and wanted to know if anyone else does. I was in Florida in late March and stayed at a friend’s house. He lives right on a lake, so on day one I bought him a couple of fishing rods because it looked like a good location for bass fishing.

The first cast (actually second…first one was just a short test) yielded…this. I thought the fish was nice, but my friend’s crazy reactions were far more entertaining.

What size do you reckon that fish was? If I were guessing I’d say 3+ lbs. It was pretty hilarious. We caught a few within the first 20 minutes. Quite fun. Released them all and ate a pretty compelling collection of tenderloins for dinner that we had already purchased.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8KCwwwXA7E

#2

Nice! I try to fish my local river every Saturday or Sunday in the mornings. Its pretty relaxing.

I mostly use chicken liver, night crawlers, or anchovies. The river here is filled with striped bass, bullhead catfish, common carp, and even sturgeon.

The weird part is that there are seals in the river here in Lathrop. They will pop up in front of you with a fish in their mouth like they are teasing you and then play and splash around, which is entertaining to watch. Its funny, you know when one is in the area because the fish all of a sudden stop biting.

We should hit the Delta the next time you visit!

#3

That’s awesome. Seals can be a nightmare for commercial fisherman.

Was fishing last weekend in a couple of freshwater lakes up north. Caught nothing annoyingly. Need to work on my technique because I keep getting stuff on the line and losing it. I have a buddy who is certifiably addicted so we’ll get out and he can give me a refresher.

#4

Pretty funny video, but very nice catch.

I’m not a big bass fisher, even though there are some good catches in the ponds that I love by. But I do love fly fishing for trout. It can be damn frustrating at times, but they give a great fight and if your not in a catch & release area, they’re damn tasty. I’ve tried getting my wife into it, but she’s never caught anything. She likes being outside though.

I don’t manage to go much anymore though. Usually playing golf on Saturday and in Tennessee, trout fishing got very poor for a long time. Starting to come back now, but still not what it used to be a while back, and I’ve got to drive at least an hour to even go.

I did hear of a Facebook group I’d been meaning to look up though called “gun dogs and fly fishermen”. I thought that was a pretty awesome combo ad I fit perfectly lol.

Jake, I bet there’s some real good fly fishing near y’all. You’re only about 1-2hrs from the mountains right? Very jealous.

#5

What kind of bait are you using? Having too big of a hook will make it difficult to catch a fish with a smaller mouth. Too small of a hook will allow you to catch almost anything, but you run the risk of bending the hook and loosing the catch.

I like to stick with the 1/0 hook for bass. It seems to work will and I even still catch the little guys.

For lures, you will want to wait a couple of seconds before setting the hook because the fish will sometimes hold the lure before actually trying to eat it. If you try setting the hook while it is only holding it you will just pull it out of its mouth.

#6

good points

I have 4/0 offset hooks, and was using them in a texas rig with a couple of different soft plastics.

also used a jig and plastic worm

also used a couple of lures of vairous sizes (ones with the lip for diving)

#7

When you say off set hooks, are you referring the EWG hooks? Those are great for the soft plastic worms.

For lures, the bass is most likely going to attack (if it is watching it) during the pauses. For instance if you are doing a twitch technique were you twitch (typically: twitch twitch pause) the pole a couple of times to jerk the bait towards you and real in the slack during the pause, the bass will attach during the pause.

#8

yeah, I’ve seen them called offset hooks

http://www.wired2fish.com/wp-content/uploads/migrated-assets/2013/05/gamakatsu-hook.jpg

http://www.wired2fish.com/wp-content/uploads/migrated-assets/2013/05/gamakatsu-offset-ewg-hook-yum-dinger.jpg

#9

Yup! Those are the good ones. Specially when you tuck the tip of the hook back into the worm to keep the setup weedless.

#10

yeah, exactly.

#11

Never been fly fishing… I’m a big game fishermen. I love being strapped into a seat when I’m fishing.

#12

Hahahaha, dude I’ve never seen someone so excited over a little fish! and why wouldn’t he hold it? pussy…

#13

Hahaha

“I do not hold fish!”

He said if it bites him he’ll freak out and drop it and he didn’t want to ruin the moment. So he made TMo do it.

#14

I loved fly fishing when I lived in Chicago. A friend had a cabin in central Wisconsin that I had the keys to. Used to head up there and fish from dawn to noon. Then drink from noon to dawn.

Never did figure out how to outsmart brown trout.

#15

Funny, everyone says that about brown trout.

#16

I was a pretty avid fly fisher, but there weren’t many mountain stream in coastal Carolina, lol. My plan is to start fishing again now that I’m back in PA, but I might have to wait for the boy to get a little older. I also can’t wait to start archery hunting again.

#17

Sounds awesome. And quite true about the brown trout. Any time I catch one I feel like it is quite an accomplishment and/or dumb luck lol.

#18

BTW Sakimano - what part of FL? I live in NE Florida, and am in Gainesville, Orlando and Tampa from time to time. Drop me a line next time you are here.

#19

it was in Orlando. My friend lives there and we visited him and went golfing. I will definitely be doing that again. Great golf, great place to stay. I’ll drop you a note.

#20

I didn’t know you were in Fl Data! Jacksonville/St Augustine? I’m down in Jupiter/WPB.

Saki - Any interest in putting a line in the salt water? It’s awesome down my way with the gulf stream about 2mi out. Your motion sickness might be an issue as it can get a little messy out there.