Fishing!

I'm so jealous! For many reasons, we haven't gotten to go fishing for at least a year. KOTC and I love to surf fish.

Here's a nice barred surf perch I caught last time out though.

 

I bought a baitcaster last year. Best to practice in your back yard or a park before you get on the water. My first time out wasn't so smooth.

For the rat's nest, there's a technique where you hold your thumb on the reel and pull the line out. Just give it a google

 

yup bait casters are for the real fishermen, you have to feel the line to know what the bait is hitting, whether a fish or a log or brush, its not for the beginner I hate to say, for the beginner I suggest a spinner real, a good spinner set is in fact the ugly stick combo, nice for any fishing

 

I built a milk crate basket for the back of mine. Use the PVC tubes as holders for rods, nets, paddles, etc... Next I want to make an outrigger system for more stability. I have the rod holder from Scotty that mounts on the rail. I am also considering an anchor trolley system. This boat is for lake use only of course. The rivers would eat it alive with all that stuff on it.

 

Having grown up in MI, and fishing throughout the state my entire life, where abouts are you going to be fishing/going?

I know guys are real protective with their spots - no need to be specific. Happy to give drinking and dining advice based on where you are going, though, if you're interested.

I'm trying to sneak one last trip in to da Yoop before it gets too cold.

 

I have used one since I was a kid. They are tricky at first to learn. A tip to try is to tighten the spool control so when you click down on the button to put the reel into free spool, tighten just enough so the lure attached to the line slowly drops to the ground. If it drops to fast it's too loose. At least when your a beginner with these reels. So attach the lure, tighten the spool so the lure slowly drops, and then use your thumb as you cast the lure and apply just enough pressure at the end of the cast, when the lure hits the water, so the reel stops revolving. You will get the hang of it with practice and you can then loosen the control on the spool to make it a little looser to cast farther as you get better at it. Hope this helps....

John

 

I'm working on it. Practiced in my pool until I got the spool control and the weight control right. At least it was right for the lure I was practicing with. Changed it later and back to nest

I'm not a beginner, spent a ton of time fishing years ago, but it's been awhile and certainly never used a baitcasting reel. I've got a bunch of spinners, so I'm good there.

Thanks. I did a youtube search and the guy had a setup similar to your crate. He also recommended the anchor trolley. I'm gonna get the crate together and put off the trolley till it's a necessity.

Mostly Gun Lake. Brothers and I are renting a house on the water and a boat for a week. We might hit some rivers around that area. For sure, we are ready for some fishing. Little late in the season, but the one brother just can't get away in the summer. Don't mind too much, I prefer to miss the crazies and their skidoos.

That's what I'm doing now John. At first I though F this, what a bad reel, but once I got the friction on the spool right for the lure weight, and learned to apply thumb as a brake, it worked a lot better.

I found that the spool friction helps a lot for when the lure lands, but if I added too much wait the spool would still rat nest during flight. That's when I figured out how to add additional mass to the spool using the other (not sure the name of it) spool weighting thing on my reel. It's a Lew's.

I'm getting out to Lake Tarpon (outfall canal area) to test it. Was gonna go tonight, but rain. I need to get comfortable with this new reel to know what the advantages of it are over the spinner.

I'll say, it's really nice to be able to put a thumb on it to stop the lure flight. Can't do that with a spinner. It's also much smaller / lighter than any of my spinners.

 

Any of you guys use braided line? Looks kinda cool. Wonder it if has advantages on a baitcaster.

 

Sounds like your making progress already. With these reels I find you just can't let it rip and free spool without your thumb on the reel during the cast. I still use my thumb during the cast and apply just a very slight contact (you will get the hang of it) and feather the line between my thumb and the reel with just slight contact during the cast and then of course more pressure as it lands on target. This way you won't get a bird's nest and put you out of commission. The better you get at it the farther the lure will travel until max distance is reached with that line weight, lure weight, rod flex etc.

I don't use braided line because I don't mess with having to attach a clear monofilament or other type leader to the braided line, in fresh water for bass fishing. But it is great in heavy grass and some fisherman really love using braided line. I have spinning reels and bait casting reels. I tend to use the spinning reels for ultra lite fishing and bait casting for bass and even salt water. For me spinning reels tend to get line twist if you don't use a swivel and that can be a pain also. If you go to Lake Tarpon with a boat, check out the South canal near the boat ramp in John Chestnut Park. It is a small canal that feeds into the lake. It goes all the way back to McMullen Booth Road and has some deep holes and plenty of sunken brush. Prime spinner bait territory. I have caught plenty in there over the years. A spinner bait with a white skirt seems to work the best and then a yellow one works for me when the white one doesn't get a hit.


John

 

Only type of I use unless I'm jigging on the ice. I have not found fish are scared of the braid. The advantage is a much thinner diameter for superior line strength. Biggest change I had to make was to use a Palomar knot rather than improved clinch. The improved clinch will pull out with braid.

 

I do most of my fishing in fresh water, primarily in northwest Ontario. I use braided line for just about everything but deep water trout fishing. It creates too much resistance in the water for trolling at 80-120 feet deep.

I find it really stands up to bouncing on rocks and getting nicks much better than monofilament. I loose less lures as I don't have to worry as much about those nicks in the last 5 feet of line being an issue. I don't generally use a monofilament leader either.

Here's a shot of a haul this spring ice fishing.

 

That's a short drive from Founders.....

That's a nice area, you should have a good time!

 

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1504014319.478739.jpg
Cant wait for ice fishing.

 

Practice Practice Practice... At first you will want it to feel like you are casting straight up in the air, then make your adjustments. Thumbing the spool takes hundreds of casts (for me anyway) to master.
Make sure that your line is ALWAYS wound onto the spool tightly and straight. Never try to cast with loose loops on the spool.
Use good line.
If you have magnetic cast control use it, but don't learn to rely on it and turn it all the way down as soon as you feel comfortable.
Learn how to adjust your reel based on the weight of the object that you are casting.
Buy a plastic casting weight for practice.

 

@Neobrew Without scale it's tough to guess how big those are but DAAAAANG those two must be huuuuge Northerns on the right, considering they are like twice the size of the others which were obviously keepers in their own right. Nice!

 

The largest one was 42". My nephew caught that one. It was an exciting moment. That one went for taxidermy! The next other one is probably about 36-38". That one is in my freezer and is slated for a big ol batch of fish chowder.

 

Went kayak fishing today. Great day to be on the water.

I re-wound my baitcaster with braided line. Man, I love that stuff. Caught a nice sea trout on it. I am going to do all my poles with it i think. I think I've got the hang of the baitcaster now.

 

Actually, I take that back. The 42" northern was on a different day that trip. The two larger ones shown there were in the upper 30"s.

 

You are waaaaay too honest to be a fisherman

 

You only need to stretch the truth if you are not a GOOD fisherman!

 

Two Hybrids on ONE lure...Lake Burton Ga.

 

Some Long Island Sound Porgies are what's for dinner tonight.

 

Two fishes today.

 

Porgies? You eat those?? I have only heard of them being used for bait to get bigger game fish!!
Is that bass legal length??

 

I don't keep em.

 

kayak fishing Love it Porgies are good eats. I gut them in the kayak, when I get home, I score, them, rub with a olive oil, salt/pepper and herb mix, then throw them on the Akorn Kamado whole, about 300°- 350°. When done, the skin peels off and you can get the meat from the bones. messy but worth it.

Heading out on the kayak in the morning to see if there are any blues/stripers on the bait yet. If not. i'll switch over for jumbo porgies, sea bass, weakfish. Tried this on friday, and had a blue bite through the porgie rig. Caught a short fluke, which was safely returned for two reasons (shorts and a day late).

Blackfish opens next week. Will try this year to make some long paddles to the wrecks.

 

Yes, porgy for eating, can't keep the small ones. They're not everyone's favorite, but some people on the boat were from a southern state where the season had already closed! Looking forward to black fish too.

 

I had an eye opening experience this past weekend and fishing will never be the same for me.

I went up state in MI to do some river fishing, hoping to catch some salmon or steelhead. I've done a lot of panfishing, bass fishing, and pike and walleye fishing, as well as some brook trout fishing, but I have NEVER seen anything like this. I got out into the water and was watching the fish dart right past my legs. In the first five minutes in the river I had a huge Coho brush right up against my leg as he swam upstream.

We talked to a bunch of locals to try to figure out how to do it, and I've got to say everyone was very generous because we had no idea what we were doing and they taught us a bunch. These salmon are just incredible to catch, diving around like a pike, jumping like a bass. All on relatively light tackle considering the kind of fish we were catching.

Had quite a few hooked but only managed to land one, mostly because we didn't figure out how to catch them until the trip was mostly over. I can't wait to go again - I don't think I want to bother with any other kind of fishing again.

 

My two brothers and I spent last week fishing a lake in central Michigan. Caught one non-keeper Northern pike (first pic). We caught a lot of large bass, big yellow belly perch, and some record bluegills (really!). And I was afraid it was a little late in the season. Haha. I've fished that same lake a lot back when I was young and never had such luck fishing.

 

My brother and I caught 100 perch in two hours last week. Nice size to them but certainly nothing like the walleye and pike my buddy and I caught earlier this year.

 

Ah man you guys are making me want to go FISHING! No can do right now. Gear has been packed up and put in storage in anticipation of our move.

Once we get settled in, I'm heading for a lake - never done that kind of fishing, I've only done deep-sea and then our surf fishing here - so looking forward to trying it out!

NICE work on these pictures - love looking at them. Thanks for letting me live vicariously for the moment!

 

Went for steelhead this morning and yesterday afternoon. No good. No bites, and only saw a couple get pulled in by others. Oh well. Got our first snow this fall this morning;there's something calming about wading in the river as it snows.

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A Few weeks ago I had trouble with my kayak and long story short, spent 17 hours adrift before making it to a light house and then rescue. PFD saved my life. Last weekend I broke out the surf gear and went to the beach where the kayak capsized and decide to change the narrative of last visit to it:

The 9ft spinner with a popper



The 11ft with an old school Penn Squidder I refurbished as a winter project last year including adding magnets. Chunked bunker with this.





I did have some trepidation looking at the landmarks across the water (I was taken by the tides from Long Island to Connecticut), but soon enough I was enjoying the day at the beach

 

Couple weeks ago again on Lake Burton, was trying for walleye or trout but all we caught were spots... 5 total..

 

Looks good to me, I'd have been happy with those babies!

 

From the yak the other day. I fish the gulf about every other weekend.

 

Nice. Love me some snook!

 

Never knew there were Walleye in Georgia

 

Most of the Northern Lakes have them. Burton Carters and lanier mostly... I caught a nice one in Carters this summer

 

Happy Thanksgiving, I saw the sunrise today from a fishing boat underway to a wreck for black fishing. I caught two shorts, but hubby brought home the dinner ( for tomorrow) with this one.