Fishing.........

[Rumpy Tunanator]

and if you don't catch anything, you can at least catch a buzz........

Or so I've been asked by many people when leaving an area I've fished.

I've been at it for a while, and was going to go down the street to do some today, but the lure of the sitting in the dark and drinking beer prevailed.

I guess I was going to go somewhere with this....................


........so my question is, what have been you greatest fishing adventures?

I'd have to go with the times spent carp fishing back in 96-97. Nothing like chumming the water with corn, and drinking whisky on some crappy lake by the waste water treatment plant with a couple of friends. Once you got the whole school of carp in the area, it would be a none stop frenzy.

Then there was the time I caught a northern pike out of the erie canal while it was snowing back in the late 80's, before they drained the canal for the season. Of course I wasn't antiquated with the orange enima at the time, but some drunk guys were and apparently didn't mind going for a swim.

Then of course there's probally a million more stories involving snapping turtles, bottle rockets, gut rot, etc.

Some of the best times involved catching nothing (except a buzz :-# ), like the time me and my bros where in the adirondaks and hiked up to a lake that was suppose to have fish, but was instead a dead lake. Sure we got killed by the deer flies and mosquitoes, and the fact that we didn't bring to much food because we thought we'd be eating fish, but we did bring enough beer and did have a bottle of bourbon to pass around the fire. Nothing like a camp fire to bring out the stories.

Ahhh, good times.:b:

 

[biscuit]

I was eight the first time I went fishing, it was a beautiful trout stream by my house, and I remember that I ended up eating most of the corn and eventually ended up falling into the creek. Needless to say it was awhile before the next time my father handed me a rod and reel. It was about two years before my Dad took me fishing again, this time it was on Lake Cherokee, Oconee County, South Carolina in a bass boat. Apparently I made too much noise and no fish were caught that day. My very next fishing experience was a couple of ears later on the Chattooga River and I caught at least five trout that day. Come to find out my Dad didn’t have the heart to tell me that I caught them at the same time that the SC Department of Natural Resources was releasing a bunch of hatchery fish about a half mile up stream. Needless to say I haven’t been fishing since.

I suppose I could do some fishing here in Pittsburgh, but I prefer my mercury in thermometers.

 

[Richmond Jake]

Rising River off Hat Creek, No. Calif. several times. Some great trout fishing days with my sons...and it didn't even involve beer or wine. Damn good days.

 

[Zoning Goddess]

When I was about 12 I caught a large dolphin off Ft Lauderdale, (no, not the Flipper kind) and it's hanging on my family room wall.

 

[Budgie]

I've got two fishing adventures worthy of note. Keep in mind I go fishing at least once a fortnight, but usually more often than that. I've worked on my fish call all winter and I've used it that past 3 weekends. Haven't been skunked yet, but haven't caught anything worth keeping yet.

Anyway, one night (it was around 11:00 p.m.) I was at Rocky Ford below the dam at Tuttle Creek Reserviour near Manhattan, Kansas when my line, which was sitting on the bottom started slowly drifting to a ripple about 50 yards down the bank. I figured I was hooked onto a piece of driftwood or something so I started walking towards the ripple. All of the sudden the line ran upstream and I about soiled myself. Long story short - my ex wife was complaining to her mom about me being out too late when I got home. She said "you better have a damn big fish or something". I told her to go look on the lawn. In my son's little plastic wading pool there was a 76 lb catfish. We had a fish fry for 40 people the next day and we still only eat 1/3 of the meat. My other memorable fishing trip was more about the buzz.

 

[Bear Up North]

Ahh, Rumpy me boy......you will rue the day you asked this question with a Bear with a million fish stories hanging around. Here's one (1).....

Cruising the east side of Toledo (because the girls there "did it"), me and my buddy Phil picked up a couple young ladies. They were "friends of friends" so there was a slight connection. They said they wanted to go fishing.

We drove out to Cullen Park in Toledo (Point Place area) and grabbed our gear, some wine and beer, and the ladies. We walked out on the dirt breakwall about a half mile and found a good place for sitting, relaxing, drinking, etc. We casted our lines out.

Because it was the middle of the night you could not see our lines. Sherry F., the girl with me (blonde, tall), walked over to my fishing pole, saying something like this: "Sometimes if you just grab the line with your finger and give it a few wiggles you will entice a fish to bite."

She went to grab the line and stepped back and exclaimed loudly, "There's no line on this pole!"

Phil and I, in our haste to get these ladies out on a dark slip of dirt that stuck out into Maumee Bay, had deliberatly "faked" fishing.....casting out with NO line, pretending we were fishing.

Like Rumpy said, "Good times.' :b: :b:

Bear Faking It

 

[Budgie]

Phil and I, in our haste to get these ladies out on a dark slip of dirt that stuck out into Maumee Bay, had deliberatly "faked" fishing.....casting out with NO line, pretending we were fishing.

.... And .....? Actually you were fishing. Did you catch a fish?

Come on BUN, you've left everyone hanging. What a jip?

 

[Bear Up North]

.... And .....? Actually you were fishing. Did you catch a fish?

Come on BUN, you've left everyone hanging. What a jip?

People who have fished a lot use the phrase, "At least I got to wet my worm."

We call it fishing, not catching. I didn't get to wet my worm on that fishing adventure.

She was cute. Looked like Kim Novak. Errrr.....I mean.....the walleyes in Maumee Bay are cute.....errrrr, ahhhh.......

Never mind.

:-c :-D :-$ :a:

Bear

 

[nerudite]

I did a lot of camping as a kid, and my dad liked to fish. So although I'm a girl, I got to do a lot of fishing with dad and actually learned how to cast pretty well. I tried fly fishing once and failed miserably, however.

I can think of two great fishing trips... one when I was really young (8 or 9?) with a bunch of other kids at our campground. About a dozen or so of us sat around fishing for the better part of a day, caught a ton of perch in Lake Cachuma, CA. Nothing really worth noting, but it was fun nonetheless...probably more for childhood socializing than actually fishing.

The other great fishing trip(s) I've had has been with one of my best friends. He is an avid fisherman (and outdoorsman in general I guess). The only reason I find it particulary fun to go with him is that 1) he brings all the equipment and 2) I always do incredibly well when I fish with him. Each time we've gone fishing together, I have caught huge fish compared to his, invariably pixxing him off. And it's fun to annoy your friends! The last time we fished together was off a pier in Avalon, CA (Catalina Island). I forget what I caught, it it was twice as big as whatever he caught... and that's what matters

 

[Bear Up North]

Lake Erie Is Home To Walleye, Windshields, Fishing Gear, Etc.

If you are a regular fisherperson who has gone out on Lake Erie you know that the warmest and shallowest of the Great Lakes has some interesting "stuff" scattered on its' bottom.

This Bear owned a few Lake Erie boats over a long period of time. Every weekend, when my father was still alive, he would call on a Friday night and say, "We going?" I enjoyed his company, I enjoyed fishing, I enjoyed taking my (then young) son along. Every Saturday from early May to early August we would fish for walleyes. In mid-September we would start fishing again, this time going for cooler-loads of perch. Fun times.

In addition to the tasty fish, I caught some other stuff in the big lake. While fishing with a work-pal and his young daughter, twice on the trip she casted her small rod and reel right out of her hand and into the water. Both times I quickly reeled in and cast into the area I thought she lost her pole.....and both times I reeled her pole back in. On another trip I lost a rod and reel in a similar manner. Did I have any luck getting my gear back? Nooooooooo....... :-c

On another trip my I was reeling slowly, looking for the lunker walleye ("Walter Jay") and my pole bent way over. Walleyes don't fight until you get them up near the boat so I slowly reeled in "the mother of all walters".

I caught a windshield. It was the wooden framework from an old wooden boat's windshield. It still had the single wiper on the pilot's side (common with older wood boats). It was probably in a bottom-of-the-lake debris pile that would have included the other parts of the boat.

We kidded around about casting for skeletons that were still with the debris pile.
:-c :-c

Also reeled in an old metal cooler. Didn't have anything in it, though. It's condition looked like it had been sunk on purpose.

Bear On The Pig 3

 

[Jaxspra]

Funny this thread is here as I just got home from sitting at a little lake all day with a pole in the water...didn't catch anything, well a tiny brown trout that about ate the hook...took him about 20 minutes to turn over and start swimming again BUT my conciense is clear ;-) , Got a GREAT T-shirt tan and lots of much needed relaxation....

 

[Tom R]

here fishy fishy!

One day when I was living in Maine (Caribou) the X and I had one of our common arguements so I said f*** it and grabbed my untra light spin cast outfit and went down to a close-by trout stream (Little Madawaska River) to a hole just below a small dam. I was using a Daredevil and was just about to give up when I gave it the ole "one more cast" when my lure stopped. Thinking I was snagged I gave it a hard pull and this FISH the size of my arm jumped out of the water. I was momentarily stunned to think that it was on my line. The I resigned myself to the fact that using 4 pound test that there was no way I was going to land it. Well, I did and it was a 21 1/2" lake trout and it tasted very good. To this day every time I go fishing I cast out a Daredevil at least once.

 

[Maister]

I'm allergic to all fish (can't eat any) so it makes little sense for me to go fishing. I think I went fishing maybe once when I was a youngster. It doesn't seem like the sort of hobby I would have the patience for anyways, though.

Waiting...... waiting..... waiting..... waiting.... waiting.... waiting......there's a tug......guess he didn't bite......waiting..... waiting..... waiting.....waiting

Maybe I just don't 'get it' and some grizzled fishing vet can explain what the fun is I've been missing all these years.

 

[Gedunker]

Having managed to land the hook in my own buttocks at age 6, I early came to the conclusion that fishing was not for me. ^o)

 

[zman]

Funny this thread is here as I just got home from sitting at a little lake all day with a pole in the water...didn't catch anything, well a tiny brown trout that about ate the hook...took him about 20 minutes to turn over and start swimming again BUT my conciense is clear ;-) , Got a GREAT T-shirt tan and lots of much needed relaxation....

Same with me. I was fly fishing up the canyon west of here yesterday. Caught two trout and a sunburn.

 

[Tom R]

gfv

Maybe I just don't 'get it' and some grizzled fishing vet can explain what the fun is I've been missing all these years.

Hey! BACK OFF MAN!
Fishing is a little like gambling. A person gets the idea that with each pull of the one-armed-bandit (cast of the line) you're going to get the big one. Plus its a great excuse to get into the outdoors and do something peaceful and alone if you're so inclined. And I don't eat the critters any more. I haven't kept a fish that I caught in over 20 years.

 

[zman]

Always catch and release with me too. The fish knows I caught him, and I know I caught him.

Maybe I'll keep them if the Bear wants to take me to the U.P.
(Pikes and Rolling Rocks, Bear?)

 

[Maister]

its a great excuse to get into the outdoors and do something peaceful and alone if you're so inclined. And I don't eat the critters any more. I haven't kept a fish that I caught in over 20 years.

I really enjoy hiking, camping and many other solitary outdoor activities so it seems like I SHOULD really like fishing. I don't know, maybe the scenery doesn't change enough. Mrs. Maister is probably grateful that I don't have yet another hobby taking me away from important home chores..... :-D

And doesn't that hurt the poor fishie getting a hook in his mouth?

 

[Jaxspra]

Always catch and release with me too. The fish knows I caught him, and I know I caught him.

Maybe I'll keep them if the Bear wants to take me to the U.P.
(Pikes and Rolling Rocks, Bear?)

Catch and release MOST of the time BUT when my friend heads to the trout farm I always make him bring me some home to cook...otherwise in the lakes and rivers around here we through them back...

 

[otterpop]

I was taking a walk at a nature area in August. The trail paralleled an irrigation ditch, which was pretty dry. I heard splashing, so I walked over to the dtich. There was a 14-inch rainbox trout trapped in a pool of water thant couldn't even cover his back. I shucked off my shoes and chased him around the pool until I cornered him. I took him home, and the cat and I had a trout dinner.

 

[Tom R]

fishwoman

I don't know, maybe the scenery doesn't change enough. Mrs. Maister is probably grateful that I don't have yet another hobby taking me away from important home chores..... :-D

I don't like still fishing. Either I walk the shore or move the boat. Sitting just waiting for a bite is boring.
OT. I would love to "hook up" with a female who likes to fish. Especially if she has a boat.

 

[Mtn Woman]

I would love to "hook up" with a female who likes to fish. Especially if she has a boat.

Let me guess.... you'd like a photo of the boat first!

 

[Tom R]

boat

Let me guess.... you'd like a photo of the boat first!

A noterized description will do.

 

[Jaxspra]

26' SeaRay, cabin and one-half ;-) Not much of a fishing boat but works for skiing and partying at the Lake :-D

 

[the north omaha star]

The last time I went fishing was in 2003 with my future father-in-law. We were off the Taimani (spelling ?) Trail between Naples and Ft. Myers Beach. Neither of us caught anything, but those damn pelicans sure did.

Any MD-DC-VA area Cyburbians know any good fishing spots?

 

[Bear Up North]

Always catch and release with me too. The fish knows I caught him, and I know I caught him.

Maybe I'll keep them if the Bear wants to take me to the U.P.
(Pikes and Rolling Rocks, Bear?)

As much as I love the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, my best fishing experiences have been on Lake Erie (western basin, just east of Toledo) and a great bass fishing area called the Lake La Sue Ann Wildlife District. My Lake Erie catches were always catch-and-eat. At the bass hole it is always catch-and-release.

Trust me on this.....when you fish Lake Erie's western basin under the right conditions the fish just about jump into your boat. Best conditions for walleye are a stiff (about 15 to 20 knots) wind from the southwest. Drift fishing works best. Cast out a lure such as an Erie Dearie (weight-forward spinner) that has a nightcrawler attached. Count down based on how deep you are fishing, such as if the water is 28-feet deep and you have hit fish in the 20-foot range....count to 20 and begin pulling back and reeling and pulling back and reeling. Fish will be yours.

In the fall the perch fishing really picks up in October. Go out about a mile off shore (best on a day not too windy). Pop a couple shiner minnows on a spreader. Hook the minnows by the tails so they stay alive awhile and wiggle on your small hook. Drop your line down to the bottom and then reel in about a crank. If no hits, gently pull up on your rod. Lake Erie perch will stare at the minnow until it starts to move away.....then they strike.

Tomorrow's "Fishing With Bear" show will feature recipes for frying fish.

Bear By West Sister Island

 

[Rumpy Tunanator]

I remember when I caught a water moccasian when I was a kid. That thing wasn't to happy. Cooked him.

And a snapping turtle as he was eating my stringer of fish.

 

[Mark]

Testament of a Fisherman
By Robert Traver, aka John Voelker, a yoopper, attorney, MI supreme court justice, and best selling author. He may have met his mermaid in heaven.

[I]I fish because I love to; because I love the environment where trout are found, which are invariably beautiful, and hate the environs where crowds of people are found, which are invariably ugly; because of all the television commercials, cocktail parties, and assorted social posturing I thus escape; because in a world where most men seem to spend their lives doing things they hate, my fishing is at once an endless source of delight and an act of small rebellion; because trout do not lie or cheat and cannot be bought or bribed or impressed by power, but respond only to quietude or humility and endless patience; because I suspect that men are going along this way for the last time, and I for one don't want to waste the trip; because mercifully there are no telephones on trout waters; because only in the woods can I find solitude without loneliness; because bourbon out of an old tin cup always tastes better out there; because maybe one day I will catch a mermaid; and, finally, not because I regard fishing as being so terribly important but because I suspect that so many of the concerns of men are equally unimportant - and not nearly so much fun.

I was in Denver a few weeks ago at the USA Hockey National Championships, and did some biking up Watertown Canyon, and Cheeseman Canyon on the South Platte. Of course it was flyfishing for trout.

Or fishing the Fox in the UP, where Hemingway tricked us all by having Nick Adams fish the Two Hearted River, because the name was cool.

Or fish with the buffalo at Buffalo Ford on the Yellowstone River in Yellowstone National Park.

Or Chasing browns on the Manistee or South Branch of the Ausable, with the hex hatch (fish flies for you Lake St. Clair & Lake Erie guys), trying to catch 20 inchers at midnight.

Or hitting the trout opening on Kettle Creek, in Potter County PA. Around 3 AM some good ole boys were cranking Lynrd Skyner, running chainsaws and shooting off shotguns. Long night of camping.

Or fishing the spring creeks of PA, by State College, Penns Creek, Fishing Creek, Spruce Creek.

This rambling happens when City Council runs past 1:30 AM, and you can watch on web streaming.

 

[Budgie]

Looks like I'll be fishing this weekend. I've got one routing around ready to spawn. This fish has been nibling for weeks and took a healthy pass yesterday. The line tension is increasing and the hook is properly presented. It could be good eatin' this weekend. :-D