Lets talk about fishing

[hippieflowergirl]

Originally Posted by sharkchomp

Hey Hippieflowergirl! Congrats on learning how to fly fish and taking the fish off of your hook! You really shouldn't be intimidated here. Even though I've read tons of books and mags on fishing and have bought tons of gear, there's nothing I love more than using my $12 zebco ultralight and a dozen nightcrawlers to catch bluegills all day long! We're all on the same playing field here, in the never ending search for the thrill of that tug on the end of our lines!!

~~~shark~~~~~~~

zebco! i know that name! yaaaaay me!

all i could catch this autumn were sunfish (i called them "pancake fish" when i was little). it wasnt fly fishing but it was still lots of fun. i figured the pancake fish werent too intimidating (unlike the bass other people seemed to be able to catch) and i should be able to get one off the hook and leave others to their fun. so i just tried it and it worked okay!

i was also so pleased with myself when i did it the first time i just stood there grinning and forgot to throw the fish back in the water right away! (poor fish) fortunately no one was looking!!!

[sharkchomp]

That is awesome Hippie!!!!! I don't really care how I'm fishing or what I'm using as long as I'm catching fish!!!

A few years ago my family and I went to Dale Hollow Lake in TN. It's a gorgeous lake with ultra clear water and alot of fishing pressure. My contention was that we needed to get a guide to help put us on the fish. But did we do it??? Noooooo! So while everyone was up at the cabin complaining cause we weren't catching any smallmouth bass (what the lake is reknowned for), my nephew and I were down at the marina catching tons and tons of bluegills!!!!

There are some folks out there that are purists - searching for one species of fish, or only fishing with one technique, but I don't really care as long as I am reeling something in!! At the end of the day it's really about having fun, that is always my fishing goal!!!

~~~shark~~~~~~

[hippieflowergirl]

Originally Posted by sharkchomp

That is awesome Hippie!!!!! I don't really care how I'm fishing or what I'm using as long as I'm catching fish!!!

A few years ago my family and I went to Dale Hollow Lake in TN. It's a gorgeous lake with ultra clear water and alot of fishing pressure. My contention was that we needed to get a guide to help put us on the fish. But did we do it??? Noooooo! So while everyone was up at the cabin complaining cause we weren't catching any smallmouth bass (what the lake is reknowned for), my nephew and I were down at the marina catching tons and tons of bluegills!!!!

There are some folks out there that are purists - searching for one species of fish, or only fishing with one technique, but I don't really care as long as I am reeling something in!! At the end of the day it's really about having fun, that is always my fishing goal!!!

~~~shark~~~~~~

isnt that funny? i dont even care if i catch fish so much. for some reason i just like what i'm doing more than whether or not i catch anything. especially when casting. that's the part i love! i'm not saying i'm any good at it mind you. i dont think it's fair to call what i do "flyfishing" because i'm making some of it up as i go! but damn if i dont love it! dont get me wrong, i like catching something, but i just like fishing period. i've been going, on and off, since i was 10.

i never even considered learning to fly fish before last summer but a friend was really into it and i'm game when it comes to making a fool out of myself in good company. i'm perfectly happy to wade right out and give it a shot. it was funniest when i discovered that i was more willing to get wet than he was. we laughed about that for a long time.

[sharkchomp]

Hi Hippie
I think that's what it's all about - having fun!!!! Casting is fun for you and catching is the bonus! For me, learning is a huge amount of the fun for me. Why are the fish HERE or THERE? What are they eating? How is the weather affecting them? Etc, etc, etc.

For me, there is great satisfaction in finding the SPOT aka the honey hole. One time in Canada we stopped at this pile of rocks in the middle of the lake. We all tied on our lures and I found the spot. After I had caught four fish everyone wanted my lure (an orange and yellow swirled curly tailed grub). Now we were all fishing with the same lure, same rocks, same spot. Perhaps it was my retrieval but I outfished everyone. Basically I put dinner on the table that night My family dubbed the rocks "Shark's Island" heh heh

Same trip, we were fishing a very small private lake after a cold front came thru the day before. The wind was steady and hard. My Dad and Uncle were in one boat, my bro and I in another and we weren't having any luck. I told my bro I wanted to fish this one point and we wore em out!!! Yeeee haw!!!!!!!!

One thing I thought was interesting was that my brother and I were using the same exact lure in size, even same company but he had a copper colored blade and mine was white with a red stripe. He caught twice as many fish as me!! It's amazing how color affects fish so much

~~~shark~~~~~~~

[NJFemmie]

This is my idea of fishing .....


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us8BO_EIrGY"]YouTube- Jumping Fish[/ame]


I particularly love the ones that clock him in the head, lol.
(I know, I'm bad...)

[WolfyOne]

Originally Posted by NJFemmie

This is my idea of fishing .....


YouTube- Jumping Fish


I particularly love the ones that clock him in the head, lol.
(I know, I'm bad...)

I never saw anything like that before. Never even heard of it. I guess if you're planning a fresh fish fry, it's great or even if you have a large family to feed......still laughing and shaking my head in amazement.

[NJFemmie]

Originally Posted by WolfyOne

I never saw anything like that before. Never even heard of it. I guess if you're planning a fresh fish fry, it's great or even if you have a large family to feed......still laughing and shaking my head in amazement.

No fuss, no muss... unless you get fish ick in your ear. bleh. No worms, hooks or lines to deal with. I'm going to try it one day, lol. (And you can bet I'll be wearing a helm.)

[WolfyOne]

Originally Posted by NJFemmie

No fuss, no muss... unless you get fish ick in your ear. bleh. No worms, hooks or lines to deal with. I'm going to try it one day, lol. (And you can bet I'll be wearing a helm.)

I think you should opt for a bucket on your head. Make it a plastic one and you can cut out eye and nose holes. That way you can still see what's going on without getting brain damage by taking it off to have a little peek.

Do you think one needs a license to fish, if they jump into your boat and you have no equipment with you that indicates you were trying to fish?

[Blade]

I need to do a little work on my boat trailer, but I'm ready for some southern style pan fishing for sure. I do bass fish some but would rather, fish for pan fish. Crappie, bream, catfish etc... Mostly I catch and release. I only keep what I am going to eat that night unless my buddies are planning a fish fry then as long as it is legal size I'll keep it. It won't be long before the sound of iron thunder can be heard on the river bank and we have a big ole cook out of some kind.

[WolfyOne]

Originally Posted by Blade

I need to do a little work on my boat trailer, but I'm ready for some southern style pan fishing for sure. I do bass fish some but would rather, fish for pan fish. Crappie, bream, catfish etc... Mostly I catch and release. I only keep what I am going to eat that night unless my buddies are planning a fish fry then as long as it is legal size I'll keep it. It won't be long before the sound of iron thunder can be heard on the river bank and we have a big ole cook out of some kind.

Blade, I like all kinds of pan fish for eating. Where I grew up they called pan fish sunnys. Any kind of pan fish is a sunny, lol. When I used to go camping, we'd keep enough fish for the nights dinner. Someone would always bring a cast iron skillet, oil and flour. Take a Lil Smokey Joe, light it up, put the skillet on top and fry. There's no fish for eating better than fresh out of the water the day you're going to eat them. Smelt season in Chicago is the same way. Net up down by the lake front and cook as many as you can right where you're sitting. Never take home more than you'll use in a couple days.