Any Fisherman Here ?

[DrPizza]

not hard at all. when we go, we almost always get our limit of 50 (25 ea) of sunnies with some perch and other fish as well. you'd be amazed how many fish are down there.

*I* wouldn't be amazed? I know how many fish are down there. And, when it's time for a great big fish fry, I take a few kids out on the boat, anchor over one of my favorite spots, and have a contest - first one to 50 keepers (thick enough for me to bother fileting) wins (limit on perch/sunfish in NY is 50 per person per day.) The contest is usually over in under an hour.

Personally, I'm a bass fisherman; and it's almost always catch and release, though stopping for the occasional photo in between the two. Food fish = varieties of sunfish, perch, spring bullhead, crappie, and walleye.

 

[Durvelle27]

*I* wouldn't be amazed? I know how many fish are down there. And, when it's time for a great big fish fry, I take a few kids out on the boat, anchor over one of my favorite spots, and have a contest - first one to 50 keepers (thick enough for me to bother fileting) wins (limit on perch/sunfish in NY is 50 per person per day.) The contest is usually over in under an hour.

Personally, I'm a bass fisherman; and it's almost always catch and release, though stopping for the occasional photo in between the two. Food fish = varieties of sunfish, perch, spring bullhead, crappie, and walleye.

never fished for Bass before. Any tips as i'm going tomorrow

 

[DrPizza]

The easiest lure for bass: yamamoto senkos (brand specific; don't just substitute any plastic nightcrawlers). Sometimes it takes a little experimentation to know what color is working best in the current conditions. My go-to colors: red/black laminate, dark green, dark green with flecks, black. Gamakatsu 2/0 hook, offset shank. Texas rigged or wacky rigged (not wacky if there are a lot of weeds, which there are where I fish.) Allow it enough time to sink to the bottom; the tug will be ever so slight from larger bass - they just inhale & don't run with it. Retrieve VERY slowly - a cast can take me 2 or 3 minute to reel in completely. (The fish are down there; they see it. The object is to tempt them into sucking it in.)

 

[Durvelle27]

The easiest lure for bass: yamamoto senkos (brand specific; don't just substitute any plastic nightcrawlers). Sometimes it takes a little experimentation to know what color is working best in the current conditions. My go-to colors: red/black laminate, dark green, dark green with flecks, black. Gamakatsu 2/0 hook, offset shank. Texas rigged or wacky rigged (not wacky if there are a lot of weeds, which there are where I fish.) Allow it enough time to sink to the bottom; the tug will be ever so slight from larger bass - they just inhale & don't run with it. Retrieve VERY slowly - a cast can take me 2 or 3 minute to reel in completely. (The fish are down there; they see it. The object is to tempt them into sucking it in.)

Ok thx will use this helpful tips tomorrow

 

[midwestfisherman]

I've been a fisherman most of my life. Mainly bass, crappie, bluegill, salmon, steelhead and trout.

 

[Durvelle27]

went fishing yesterday and no bites or nothing. But still was relaxing just wished i could have caught something

 

[Durvelle27]

Going again Saturday. Will be Trout fishing

 

[Puppies04]

I usually fish for sea bass but haven't been able to get to the coast for a few months, I had this little guy a few weeks ago though.

 

[Puppies04]

*I* wouldn't be amazed? I know how many fish are down there. And, when it's time for a great big fish fry, I take a few kids out on the boat, anchor over one of my favorite spots, and have a contest - first one to 50 keepers (thick enough for me to bother fileting) wins (limit on perch/sunfish in NY is 50 per person per day.) The contest is usually over in under an hour.

Personally, I'm a bass fisherman; and it's almost always catch and release, though stopping for the occasional photo in between the two. Food fish = varieties of sunfish, perch, spring bullhead, crappie, and walleye.

So in less than 60 minutes someone is casting , reeling in, unhooking, placing in a keep box and recasting 50 times? Assuming from your post that they are all also keepers, hence some wouldn't be.

Taking out the unhooking/storing part that would leave about 20 seconds per take with multiple people on this boat all fishing in the same area. Are there really "that many" fish or are you using "fishermans licence" (it is like a poetic licence except more extravagant)

 

[Durvelle27]

pics coming

 

[DrPizza]

So in less than 60 minutes someone is casting , reeling in, unhooking, placing in a keep box and recasting 50 times? Assuming from your post that they are all also keepers, hence some wouldn't be.

Taking out the unhooking/storing part that would leave about 20 seconds per take with multiple people on this boat all fishing in the same area. Are there really "that many" fish or are you using "fishermans licence" (it is like a poetic licence except more extravagant)

I have a decent sized livewell in the boat, and leave the top open; I'll also often keep a bucket at the front of the boat that can be occasionally poured into the livewell (so kids in the front don't have to go back and forth.) Since I'm in a boat, I can anchor over a large tree in 8-12 feet of water, with lots of branches, or an unmarked shoal. It's simply a matter of finding a school of fish of decent size. When that happens, the majority are keepers. If they're hitting jigs, and you match the color well, you can pull in a fish about every 15 seconds - "casting" not necessary; 7 foot pole, 8 or 9 feet of line, and you can have that jig at a depth of 6-8 feet in seconds by simply dropping it. Catch a fish, and simply lift your rod tip up. It's really a matter of dipping your line into the water and pulling out a fish.

Can everyone find these spots? Nope. Is it like that every day? Nope. Sometimes I take a group of kids out for bass, who have never really caught big fish before. We have our slow days where each kid might only get 3 or 4 bass in as many hours. But, about once out of every 6 or 7 outings, I get lucky. Imagine the fun when there are 5 on the boat and 3 have an 18" or larger bass on at the same time. During a one hour span last year, I couldn't count the number of times that simultaneously, two kids would have on large bass. Cast, and 1 second or less after it hit the water (Senkos as I mentioned above), a bass was running with it. The kids probably averaged about 1 bass per 2 or 3 casts.

 

[spidey07]

Just got back from south west florida. Holy shit! Now I know why folks rave about fishing for Snook. We slayed them, 4 of us caught over 40 each. Every one of them over 3-4 pounds...biggest one was 14. Damn those guys put up a fun, running fight. They'd run right at you and you'd really have to pay attention to the fight.

That was probably the best fishing trip ever. Got into a mess of Cobia as well.

 

[Paladin3]

Damn, you guys are making me want to get out on the water. I was planning on trying ice fishing for the first time this year, but the ice came and went (on the way out now) before I got a chance to.

I usually pull trout from the local lakes, but gonna target panfish and catfish more this year. I need to learn to fillet the panfish better though. I feel bad taking 20 home and coming away with a only enough meat for a 20 piece fish mcnugget meal.

 

[Durvelle27]

Damn, you guys are making me want to get out on the water. I was planning on trying ice fishing for the first time this year, but the ice came and went (on the way out now) before I got a chance to.

I usually pull trout from the local lakes, but gonna target panfish and catfish more this year. I need to learn to fillet the panfish better though. I feel bad taking 20 home and coming away with a only enough meat for a 20 piece fish mcnugget meal.

was thinking of also going catfishing since our local lake has lots

 

[Durvelle27]

I usually fish for sea bass but haven't been able to get to the coast for a few months, I had this little guy a few weeks ago though.

nice fish

 

[purbeast0]

i can't wait for it to warm up this spring to get back out on the lakes and fish!

i also won't lie - i have a phobia of taking catfish off the hook. when i was younger i got stuck by a whisker and i've never been able to handle one since. i love catching catfish though they are just neat/ugly looking fish.

 

[Jeeebus]

Just got back from south west florida. Holy shit! Now I know why folks rave about fishing for Snook. We slayed them, 4 of us caught over 40 each. Every one of them over 3-4 pounds...biggest one was 14. Damn those guys put up a fun, running fight. They'd run right at you and you'd really have to pay attention to the fight.

That was probably the best fishing trip ever. Got into a mess of Cobia as well.

Hard to beat snook and cobia, both for the fight and for the deliciousness (though don't ask me when the season is for snook... I'll assume it's not the season as they never bite when it is).

Where were you in SW Florida?

 

[Durvelle27]

i can't wait for it to warm up this spring to get back out on the lakes and fish!

i also won't lie - i have a phobia of taking catfish off the hook. when i was younger i got stuck by a whisker and i've never been able to handle one since. i love catching catfish though they are just neat/ugly looking fish.

Its pretty warm here now

 

[spidey07]

Hard to beat snook and cobia, both for the fight and for the deliciousness (though don't ask me when the season is for snook... I'll assume it's not the season as they never bite when it is).

Where were you in SW Florida?

South west, south of Tampa in that huge shallow bay. We were never in more than 3 feet of water even a few miles out.

Guide was telling us can't take any snook as a cold snap years ago hurt their numbers and they're trying to rebuild. He said snook take 5-6 years to reach breeding maturity. DAMN those guys are fighters.

 

[spidey07]

i can't wait for it to warm up this spring to get back out on the lakes and fish!

i also won't lie - i have a phobia of taking catfish off the hook. when i was younger i got stuck by a whisker and i've never been able to handle one since. i love catching catfish though they are just neat/ugly looking fish.

Grab him by the behind he head, just below his head. You should be able to grip his backbone.

 

[Jeeebus]

South west, south of Tampa in that huge shallow bay. We were never in more than 3 feet of water even a few miles out.

Guide was telling us can't take any snook as a cold snap years ago hurt their numbers and they're trying to rebuild. He said snook take 5-6 years to reach breeding maturity. DAMN those guys are fighters.

Good stuff. My parents' place is about an hour south of there, right on the Gulf. Always neat to be wading/fishing and see a school of snook just lazily swim by, looking at you with their 'not today, buddy' look on their face.

 

[spidey07]

Good stuff. My parents' place is about an hour south of there, right on the Gulf. Always neat to be wading/fishing and see a school of snook just lazily swim by, looking at you with their 'not today, buddy' look on their face.

The Cobia bite was similar. They wouldn't take anything if alone. We were site fishing them and throwing live bait and plugs. But if they were in a school of more than 2, one of them would bit if you jigged it right near them. It was a "hey, better not let those guys get this food" reaction bite.

 

[Jeeebus]

The Cobia bite was similar. They wouldn't take anything if alone. We were site fishing them and throwing live bait and plugs. But if they were in a school of more than 2, one of them would bit if you jigged it right near them. It was a "hey, better not let those guys get this food" reaction bite.

Haven't caught a cobia since last trip to the Keys. This thing fed multiple families for a few days:

 

[spidey07]

Nice fish. Looks to be around 40 pounds. Good eatin.

 

[purbeast0]

please let this thread die until the spring. i'm getting sad reading it knowing that it is about to snow tomorrow and that i probably won't be able to fish for 2 months or so