| Author | Message | ||
     Torquehd |
When I was a boy, I went fishing all the time with Grandpa. Then I got older, it fell off the plate, and I've forgotten almost everything about fishing. Now grandpa's in the ground, and I don't know any avid fishermen. I'm trying to get back into it (now that I have kids and nephews), so I tried what I normally use for information - youtube. Just about every video is trying to sell me something. I don't care what spinner bate or sonar x-ray bluetooth wifi computer the latest professionals are using. I want to re-learn the basics. Where do bass hang out, what makes a trout bite, where to bank fish and where to boat fish, what seasons and wind are best for what, etc. All that old-time knowledge that you need for simply catching fish. Teach a man how to fish, not how to dress and talk like an advertisement. Anybody know any good resources? (Message edited by torquehd on June 26, 2016) | ||
| Pwnzor |
A cursory search yields this I haven't been fishing since I was in my teens, but my grandfather and brother taught me. Mostly fished streams in the Sierra Madres, for trout. My brother used to fly fish, but I always used a standard pole with 5 pound line. Salmon eggs, earthworms and any bugs I might find in the area would be my bait. In a mountain stream, depending on the time of day, the fish could be out swimming in the current, or lazing about in the calmer pools where the water changes direction. | ||
| Fast1075 |
It all depends on the available water, and any preference for species and technique. Boat, or no boat? Beyond that the possibilities are endless. Relaxing, aggressive or competitive. Have catfish in your water? A rod and reel, some basic tackle, and some appropriate bait, and a lawn chair. Doesn't get much more relaxing than that. Salt water, or fresh. Live bait, cut bait, or artificial. My favorite is ultra light spin tackle. Two or four pound test, and the tackle box fits in my pocket. A hand full of 1/32 ounce lead head jigs, and 1" curly tail plastic grubs in chartreuse, or brown. Good for all sorts of sunfish (Bass, bluegill, crappie and their variants) as well as catfish and other predator fish such as pike and pickerel. A boat lets you present in the most effective manner, especially when using artificial baits and targeting structure. Every body of water is different. That is the challenge. I don't fish a lot anymore, though I did recently buy and set up a paddle board fishing rig, and am looking forward to fishing this fall in the numerous Florida phosphate pits with public access. At one time, I was a member of B.A.S.S. and was in three fishing clubs at once. I had it BAD. The last year of my multi-club adventures, I eared fisherman of the year awards in all three clubs (A B.A.S.S club, an independent, and a jon boat only club). Go fishin', it good fer ya. | ||
| Etennuly |
I love fishing when I am caught up with business stuff to where I feel comfortable taking time to relax on the boat. My favorite is my Bill Dance open reel on a 6 1/2' bass rod with the biggest shiners I can get. I don't worry about catching fish, I always have one on. Generally I put out three rods at a time setting bobbers with weights set at depths spread equally over the depth of the water. Give the shiners a foot or so of "advertising" line. Keeping them separated, it is fun to watch them go as the fish finder alerts. It amazes me how a large mouth bass barely a foot in length will suck in a ten inch shiner swallowing it whole! | ||
| Imadog |
My idea of fishin' is a six pack and a trip through Long John Silver's. Has never let me down. Check out Bill Dance's bloopers on YouTube. Funny stuff | ||
| Etennuly |
Double trolling is what we called a guy fishing from a kayak in Florida's ponds and lakes. Careful out there.....especially during mating season! Paddle board fishing in Florida is trolling to the extreme! Gators do take prisoners.....for a meal! | ||
| Ourdee |
Go to walmart and buy a fishing license in sporting goods. Pick up the free books while at the counter. If you are lucky the guy that sells you the license will tell you everything you need to know to fish locally. If not hit the bait shop. http://www.northwestfishingreports.com/forum/ | ||
| Gregtonn |
Micro light rod with closed face spinning reel and light line, about 4 pound test, if its Spider Wire or something like it you can bump up the test a bit. Two hooks tied about 4" apart. Hook a big night crawler with the two hooks, the end hook should be at the crawlers collar with the crawlers head going away from the line and rod tip. No weights needed. A micro-light rig will let you cast a crawler fifty feet or more. Just about anything will bite on this setup. The fun part playing the fish after they're hooked. Even small ones can give you a tussle. Kids love it and it teaches them to use finesse instead of brute force. G | ||
| Pwnzor |
I just menatlly logged that bit about the double hook... going to try that when next I fish. | ||
| Panhead_dan |
Get a Mepps Aglia. A small one. Cast it into the river and drag it through the riffles. This is all you need to know to obtain trout for supper. | ||
| Court |
Alternatively . . . . if you need to teach your children the effectiveness of brute force . . . for the days finesse just isn't cutting in . . . I suggest a 1/4 of DuPont 80% Hy-Drive. | ||
| Torquehd |
Thanks for the replies guys.... Fished from a boat dock for a couple hours and didn't catch anything, but the guys who had boats were rolling in with a stringer full of 8-10 fish in an hour. i think getting ON the water is where it's at. watching craigslist for the right canoe or jon boat, both can be had for pretty cheap and would meet my wants/needs. I've read good things about these plastic coleman canoes, and welded aluminum seems like the most durable and easy to maintain, among small watercraft. Should be going again on tuesday, think i'll rent a paddle boat as i probably won't have my own yet. going to try LIVE bait this time. | ||
| Gregtonn |
Wowser Court. Not sure I'd want to go fishing with you in Montana but it would be interesting to see what that would bring up in the Hudson river. G | ||
| Gregtonn |
Or maybe the Patomac. G (Message edited by Gregtonn on June 27, 2016) | ||
| 86129squids |
Last time I rolled down to Suches, I stopped in Tellico Plains TN at the Tellico Grains Bakery for lunch... talked to a local guy who asked me if I'd been by Bald River Falls, the Cherohala yadda yadda. I said yeah. When I paid, the lady at the counter said that she and her hubby like to go trout fishing up that road, above the Indian Boundary... they do have a trout hatchery up there. Gotta get me a Zebco pocket fisherman or something and head back...  | ||
| Panhead_dan |
When fishing from a dock, the fish are usually under the dock so casting away from it is not going to produce much. Jigging should get the job done. Morning or evening, go out to the dock and do nothing for a bit to let the fish underneath settle down from all the racket you just made. Drop the bait straight down to the bottom and let it sit a couple of seconds. Bring it off the bottom a few inches and let it drop again. Repeat as needed and try not to make noise. A very cool rod and reel setup is available from www.gofastandlight.com called a pen rod. It is very inexpensive and surprisingly capable. It fits in your shirt pocket. | ||
| 86129squids |
PanDan, thanks for the tip! Just scanned the info on that pen rod, VERY cool! Once I get a little play $$$, I'll grab one of those. I'd love to be able to catch dinner next time I head to Suches... | ||
| Fast1075 |
Grand pappy's version of "Court Fishin'" involved a coke bottle and a can of calcium carbide. My dad, who did a lot of stump extraction for lumber companies used 1/4 stick dynamite and a fused detonator. | ||
| Etennuly |
Many times having gone out around 7:00 in the evening on the lake in my boat, I get back in around 11:00 PM, with no one around the dock or parking lot, I will tie off and sit for a while. I cast around the dock and under the boat even. I have caught more quantities of fish there than any where else in the lake. I have enjoyed 1/4 stick fishing years ago. Lot's of stories there.....including; don't ever tape a 1/4 stick to a rock, light the fuse and toss it into a still pool in a creek that is not deep enough. I use 14 lb test line on my favorite reel, and 10 lb spyder wire on my second favorite an Abu-Garcia bait caster, and 12 lb stretchy soft line on a POS set up I got as a gift one year. I had some nice custom pro type gear that got stolen twelve years or so ago. I don't do much trout fishing. Canoes.....I can help you there. The best for fishing are either wood or fiberglass. They are silent runners that handle very well. They usually do need care and need thoughtful pilots who avoid rocks and bottom dragging. Plastic versions are cheap, durable and light but not the best handling, as in driving in/through water, they feel like they are more like on the water. Bounce it off the rocks, drive it up on the beach, kind of durability. If you can break it, it's broke, hardest to break, difficult to make a proper repair. Aluminum is great for party canoeing, utility boating, or hauling lots of people or stuff, noisy as hell and quite durable. Very repairable from rock damage. You won't care if the kids use it when they are ready. IMHO for a first canoe, find a used one. Preferably aluminum. It is easy to see any damage that has been done or repaired, and easiest to repair(think Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki). You can toss an old blanket or two in the bottom to make it quieter for fishing. After you have experience in seamanship, control, navigating and paddling and want the Buell of canoes(quiet, fast, smooth, great handling, low maintenance)go to fiberglass. Wood canoes will certainly do that but, I feel, are for people who like the fussiness of a Ducati(expensive, nice, handle well, got to have specific regular maintenance and special storage care) | ||
| Damnut |
If any of you guys are into Fly Fishing, check out my buddy's company. www.bearsden.com He has everything you need for fly fishing and then some. | ||
| Strokizator |
Thought I'd put all this advice to the test. I've got a fishing pole I bought in 1970 and a real small assortment of lures. One said "Mepps" and had a number 3 on it. No telling how old the line is but it can't be any more than 6lb test when it was new 20 years ago. Walked to the end of my dock, cast out aways and started to wind it in. About 10' from me I could see the lure, and then I couldn't. The reel started singing as line was stripped off. Whatever it was headed towards the lilly pads and hunkered down. Long story short, 15 minutes later I landed a 20" northern. The grandkids will be coming for a visit in a couple of weeks. Guess I should buy them some gear | ||
| Etennuly |
Well that's awesome! | ||
| Reepicheep |
New guys have all the luck! You are lucky the line held, that stuff has a shelf life. | ||
| Blake |
Live bait, structure, solunar tables. | ||
| Torquehd |
Blake that last one sounds mighty close to observing times. What do you mean by structure? | ||
| Etennuly |
What do you mean by structure? That would be crap on the bottom that you can get easily snagged on.....oh, and it is where fish feel comfortable hiding. Since most fish are vulnerable to attack as much as your bait is, they like to hide. They will tend to back into brush or under a log and wait for food to pass by. | ||
| Fast1075 |
Blake is from a state with lakes considered world class for trophy bass fishing. He is schooled in the arts. Look up Lake Texoma. Hard core trophy bass fishing is the Moto GP of freshwater fishing. Structure is different depending on the lake, but it is always the safest place with the most ideal conditions and forage opportunities. In my local phosphate pits, it is rock piles on tapering points into deep water. In most Florida fishbowl lakes, it is a weed line, or isolated clumps of weeds in good weather. In poor weather, you break out the broom sticks, 60 pound test, and flip the nastiest, thickest cover you can find. | ||
| Etennuly |
Guess I've been in Tennessee a long time. That is what I said but it sounded more hillbilly like. Doh! For about fifteen years I bass fished Florida lakes, rivers, swamps, and big water. My final count when I moved to Tennessee was 43 different bodies of water. I did all of it purely for fun but mostly for stress relief. Kind of like how I enjoy my Buell. I have known some pro and "pre fisher" for pros in the Tampa area back when. I learned a lot from them real quick. Firstly how intensly competitive pro fishing is. Damn! Blake if that is where you reside in the fishing world I hope you have found some way to relax! I have lived with that kind of intensity in my years of dirt track racing for seasonal points and money. The same thing happened by my joining a bowling league Then I also keep it cranked up tthe same in my business endeavors. I have found it nice to reserve a sport as awesome as fishing to unwind doing. Sure it is great to hammer them now and again, but I recall one of the best days I have had fishing on the "chain of lakes" around Kissimee Florida. Hot sunny still day. In my bass boat alone while crossing a small lake that had a couple sea planes parked along the shores, I had two lines out with shiners on, no bites for a while.....I laid back falling into a deep sleep. I woke up a half hour later sunburned hearing the boat scrapping a tree. THAT was a good day fishing! | ||
| Fast1075 |
Haven't been in a while, but I like to jig fish isolated hydrills mats in the deeper water in lake Hatcheneha (part of the Kissimme chain) for "Specks" (crappie for you narthener fellers). We have black crappie which grow much larger than the cold water white crappie. On one trip, the best 10 fish weighed just over 20 pounds in total. I have won bass tournaments with less weight. To get back on topic, it was once said by a famous fisherman, (Bill Dance, it believe). 90 percent of fishermen spend 90 percent of their time fishing where there are no fish. Easy is fishing a stocked pond with what the fish are fed. Beyond that you have to think like a fish. We have wildlife crews that use electroshock to check fish stocks. They trail wires in the water from a boat with a generator. They net and measure/count what drifts up, then release them. It is amazing watching them net countless huge bass in water you are pounding with no bites. In highly pressured water, survivor fish get really picky about what they will eat. | ||
| Torquehd |
Picked up my very first watercraft this morning. I wanted an Aluminum one but none were available in my pricerange.  14' RAM X Pelican, it's been awhile since I've been in a canoe but this thing has great (secondary?) stability. After I finished the maiden voyage today, I emptied it and tried to capsize it in shallow water. I actually fell out of the boat before I got it to tip. Then I submerged it to make sure it would still float enough that I could recover it if necessary. Had a great day on the lake, only caught a couple little rockbass but it was great fun. This Ram x material is a lot like PVC, super low friction. It slipped off my truck bed while I was loading it up (5'7" to the top of my bed), it bounced off the ground and had nary a scratch. (Message edited by torquehd on July 05, 2016) | ||
| Strokizator |
I think you need more truck. That one there is dangerously overloaded. Speaking of canoes, been thinking of building a 16' Sassafras. Looks like fun. |
