The Fishing Thread

[ShenMolo]

A few years ago a buddy of mine took me fly fishing for trout in North GA. It was the first time I had fished in 20 years (since high school). I was hooked big time, and have been fishing every chance I get ever since (much to the detriment of my MMO time). Bass, trout, fly rod, spinning rod, wading, floating, whatever - I love it.

Anyone else here enjoy fishing and got pictures or stories to share?

Fat rainbow trout, my largest yet


Some small stream scenery in North GA from my first fly fishing trip:


First lake hybrid bass caught on a fly rod:

[ghost]

I enjoy fishing, but I'm absolutely terrible at it. 

[Ingmar]

I used to fish but I haven't been in years. I keep meaning to try deep sea fishing...

[ShenMolo]

I used to fish but I haven't been in years. I keep meaning to try deep sea fishing...

Doooo eeeet!

[MahrinSkel]

I enjoy fishing, but I'm absolutely terrible at it. 

Are you operating under the impression that the purpose of "fishing" is to catch fish?  I assure you, it's not about that.  It's about *going fishing*, and collecting the gear.  Much like Magic tournaments, really.  Any asshole who really wants to catch fish can drop a seine net over the side.

--Dave

[ShenMolo]

I enjoy fishing, but I'm absolutely terrible at it. 

Are you operating under the impression that the purpose of "fishing" is to catch fish?  I assure you, it's not about that.  It's about *going fishing*, and collecting the gear.  Much like Magic tournaments, really.  Any asshole who really wants to catch fish can drop a seine net over the side.

--Dave

Yep

Also:

Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after - Thoreau

[Arinon]

Love fishing.  I try to get out a least every couple of weeks while the weather is nice.  Tonnes of places in eastern Ontario to drop a 12' aluminum boat.  I seem to get less fish but more enjoyment out of it as I get older.

[Lantyssa]

I grew up fishing with my dad.  (Mom and dad went on fishing dates!  She caught a 117 pound gar for a fishing tournament on one of their early ones.)  Because I don't live anywhere near decent spots though, I haven't gone in years.  I compensate by having a 200 gallon pond with goldfish and a turtle that snuck in recently.

Wish I had more time, as my parents have a house near the mouth of the San Bernard.  I could fish all the time there if I could get down there.  I even enjoy just fishing for perch.  Catch some grass shrimp for bait, fish 'em up, and throw them back.  (I used to keep them in a live basket to see my haul, but got tired of having to pull water snakes out of the wire mesh.)

[Sky]

I won a couple derbies as a kid, but nobody in the family fished so I never had a chance to get into it. For a couple years during the band thing, my singer used to bring in stringers of trout, I probably ate better then than I did for ten years after.

Really need to get back into fishing, too expensive to buy rainbow trout these days and I do love me some rainbow trout pan-fried with a little s&p.

[ghost]

I enjoy fishing, but I'm absolutely terrible at it.  

Are you operating under the impression that the purpose of "fishing" is to catch fish?  I assure you, it's not about that.  It's about *going fishing*, and collecting the gear.  Much like Magic tournaments, really.  Any asshole who really wants to catch fish can drop a seine net over the side.

--Dave

Actually, I suppose that my prior experience shows quite clearly that you actually can be too drunk to fish.  

And I'll also add that I've never been fly fishing, only redneck Zebco style fishing.  So I've never experience the "river runs through it" lifestyle.  It looks like a blast though.  My buddies love it.

[01101010]

Actually, I suppose that my prior experience shows quite clearly that you actually can be too drunk to fish.   

No, you are thinking of golf. Unless you are talking about boat fishing... then yeah, you can be. Pond fishing on the bank? Never too drunk for that.

And deep sea fishing is a most excellent way to get rid of a body... 

[Bunk]

Really need to get back into fishing, too expensive to buy rainbow trout these days and I do love me some rainbow trout pan-fried with a little s&p.

Not to mention the difference in taste. I caught a rainbow on a family camping reunion two years ago, first time fishing in years. Haven't had store bought trout since. Can't bring myself to settle.

[ghost]

Actually, I suppose that my prior experience shows quite clearly that you actually can be too drunk to fish.   

No, you are thinking of golf. Unless you are talking about boat fishing... then yeah, you can be. Pond fishing on the bank? Never too drunk for that.

And deep sea fishing is a most excellent way to get rid of a body... 

Yeah, I've been too drunk to golf for sure.  But there is that sweet spot where I can play absolutely out of my ass somewhere between 6-12 beers.  That's where I was when I got my last eagle-  3 on a par 5. 

[Ingmar]

Fly-fishing is a *lot* of work. And pricey.

[ghost]

The pricey part is what has turned me off of it.  I already have too many crazy expensive hobbies. 

[01101010]

The pricey part is what has turned me off of it.  I already have too many crazy expensive hobbies. 

No way in hell I am trading hookers and blow to stand in some stream with rubber pants on. However, hookers and blow can actually lead to the latter if you do it right.

[Sky]

As I've been thinking of getting back into fishing, I see a lot of mention that fly-fishing is the thing for trout, but it really doesn't appeal to me.

The method I learned from the guy who fed us for a couple years was simple: Stalk up a river putting your lure (he used some gaudy neon yellow rapala thing) into any hollow you come across, with special attention to undercuts. Don't spend more than the time needed to work any one hole quickly, the more holes worked the more fish on the stringer.

Total cost for a year of fishing: one pole, one lure. But you have to be willing to go diving under a log or undercut to work your lure free.

[ShenMolo]

Fly fishing doesn't have to be pricey. It's like anything else. If you let the gear lust take you, you can spend a crap load. One of my fishing buddies has an old Pflueger 6wt rod/reel he got at a yard sale for $10 and he wears out trout, bass, and bream on that combo. Starter Pflueger combos on Amazon are as low as $40. Cabelas and Sierra Trading Post have sales on closeout gear all the time.

I've spent more on guided trips that the actual gear. I figure pay for skillups and experience rather than gear.

Sky is right. You can catch trout on anything. It's much easier sometimes to catch them on a cane pole with canned corn than an expensive fly rod. Folks who fly fish do it for the difficulty and mystique. Luring a trout to a finely placed, hand made insect-imitation is a large part of the fun. It actually makes it harder.

A cheap Zebco rod/reel and corn or crickets is deadly for trout.

[Xuri]

I like fishing, though I like the experience itself more than actually catching any fish.

One thing I don't like, though - is catch and release. If I go fishing, and I catch any fish, I'll eat it, give it to my cat as food, use it as bait in crab traps, etc. Catch and release is a pointless exercise in futility.

[Slayerik]

Best Fishing Story:

Was going fishing one Sunday, when my current fiancee messaged me on FB. This was before we'd ever really hung out. I asked her if she was bored, and invited her fishing. We met up and she looked smoking in her red and white sundress. The rest is history!






I have fished inland lakes in Michigan for years, after my initial two hundred bucks for rod/reel (15 years ago) I spend a bit on lures but it is a very cheap hobby (minus beer and gas costs). I love Yamamoto Senkos for bass. They are AMAZING.


Largemouth Bass



Sunfish!



Barracuda (San Diego)



Small Leopard Shark



Large Leopard Shark (San Fransisco Bay)



Smoothound Shark



My Biggest Largemouth



BIG Crappie


Largemouth Bass

[ghost]

Fly fishing doesn't have to be pricey. It's like anything else. If you let the gear lust take you, you can spend a crap load.

I don't have any willpower.   

[Mrbloodworth]

Oh shit. I read the title of this thread wrong! I also clicked anyway.   Imagine my surprise when I found grown men holding fish inside!

[Lantyssa]

BIG Crappie

Geezus.  That's the All-Crappie.

[ShenMolo]

That Crappie is a beast!!

Some nice bucketmouths you got there too.

[Cyrrex]

My two older boys are now both old enough that I can take them fishing for realz.  Took them out on a little two hour charter with their grandpa as well, and we ended up hauling in 7 nice sized flounder (which were fucking tasty, btw). 

My problem now though is finding decent places to fish without spending a fortune (for a boat).  There seem to be no places to fish in this god-forsaken flat, tiny little country.  Unless you have a boat.

[Sky]

We have a ton of streams, rivers and lakes around here.

Most of which are filled with mercury.

The rest are filled with lead.

[ShenMolo]

Caught a nice rainbow this morning floating the Hooch in Atlanta:



Took a size 20 "Blue Assassin" nymph dredged deep. As they say, "small flies big fish".

[Khaldun]

Mostly what I've fished for in my life is trout. I don't live near any really good trout water, though there's a few places hereabouts that are ok, couple of limestone-fed creeks that have a reproducing population. Last time I did some serious fly-fishing was when we went to Yellowstone, that was fun. It's often a bit hard on camping trips because my wife gets bored pretty quickly and my daughter wants to fish too but on a fly-only water that's pretty hard for her to do. Plus I'm usually pretty rusty if it's fly.

I've tried bass fishing a couple of times around here but the best smallmouth water around here really requires a boat to work, and I don't really like working from a boat. Largemouth I just am not good at, I think, or the places I've gone don't have good largemouth, not sure. I did a bit of surf fishing last summer and that was interesting...it was too hot for much of anything to be active and the crabs kept stripping my bait. I'd like to try again when the stripers come in late Sept./Oct but there are so many guys down there then and they're pretty serious and hardcore, not very tolerant of a guy who is just learning surf fishing.

[ShenMolo]

I would love to fish for smallmouth bass. Closest smallie water for me is about a 2 hour drive to NC. It's on my bucket list for this summer though. Should be fun with the fly rod.

[Sky]

I thought I was just being snarky in my last post.

Now I'm bummed out, doubt I'll be fishing and I can't believe some people are fishing these places that are just saturated with mercury and lead.

[ShenMolo]

You don't have to eat them!

[Cyrrex]

Trout really are the perfect fish.  I really need to find a place around here to catch some.  They even look tasty from a purely aesthetic standpoint!

[Sky]

You don't have to eat them!

I'm not a catch & release kind of guy  You keep what you kill!

[Lantyssa]

You're not killing it if you release it.

[Khaldun]

It's pretty depressing to see a nice body of water like the Brandywine River in Delaware and then see all the signs saying, "Really, don't eat anything you catch from here." This is another reason I don't like to fish rivers and lakes in the mid-Atlantic or most of the Northeast--most waterways have decades or even a century of industrial pollution in them, even when they seem clear and clean. The Housatonic R. in Massachusetts is a good example--beautiful looking to fly fish in a lot of it but the fish have high levels of dioxin in them.