The Fishing Thread - Ice out is upon us

[MrTickles]

Proud of this one. 3 hour battle on the beach. 30kg gutted. Was a big boi.

 

[W00K #17]

View attachment 843793

Proud of this one. 3 hour battle on the beach. 30kg gutted. Was a big boi.

Whoa man! Hats off, what species is that? I almost thought it looked like a redfish at first.

 

[MrTickles]

I think it was Jewfish/Mulloway

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

Have any of you done pay lakes?

I'm thinking about going to one but it sounds like the fishing equivalent of those hunting blinds where they bring the animal out for you to shoot, like cheating.

 

[W00K #17]

Have any of you done pay lakes?

I'm thinking about going to one but it sounds like the fishing equivalent of those hunting blinds where they bring the animal out for you to shoot, like cheating.

I've heard of pay lakes but I've never fished one personally. To be honest even if it's the shit I'm not gonna pay someone to fish just one spot. I'd rather do some light trespassing and just go for it, more of a rush. If the grind really comes to it. Generally I just ask politely for private water and sometimes peeps say go for it.


Tonight something amazing went down. I had a rod dragged into the lake by a catfish. In hopeless effort I started casting near the area where my other rod was dragged in. Amazingly I managed to snag the rod and get it back, and the cat that dragged the rod in was still hooked, and I was able to land it after all that craziness.

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

I've heard of pay lakes but I've never fished one personally. To be honest even if it's the shit I'm not gonna pay someone to fish just one spot. I'd rather do some light trespassing and just go for it, more of a rush. If the grind really comes to it. Generally I just ask politely for private water and sometimes peeps say go for it.


Tonight something amazing went down. I had a rod dragged into the lake by a catfish. In hopeless effort I started casting near the area where my other rod was dragged in. Amazingly I managed to snag the rod and get it back, and the cat that dragged the rod in was still hooked, and I was able to land it after all that craziness.

The lake I was looking at turned out to be bullshit anyways. They charge you $2.25 per lb for every fish you catch, and if you keep any you catch you have to keep all you catch. That would easily be more expensive than just renting a boat to go to a public catfish hole.

Speaking of amazing stories, I have a weird one: I cast out on the shore and I fuck up, so my line goes flying way off to the left. It drapes around a large bush and the hook hits the water. I panic and start reeling in/thrashing to try to loose my line before it has a chance to get tangled in the bush. As I reel in, a fucking bluegill comes up. Without me noticing, it had apparently taken the bait literally within a second of it hitting the water. Now the line's stuck and I've basically lynched the fish, as it's stuck hanging there. I look away for a brief moment, and when I look back, it's gone. All I can think to explain it is that it may not have been on tight and it managed to flip itself free, or the line snapped and it fell back in with the hook.

 

[W00K #17]

Got out on a tiny tiny pond for the last half an hour of daylight after I clocked out of work.

Not alot of time, but I managed to stick another chunk on topwater.

 

[RealtreeByGod]

Got out on a tiny tiny pond for the last half an hour of daylight after I clocked out of work.

Not alot of time, but I managed to stick another chunk on topwater.

I never catch shit on topwater. I even bought a Whopper Plopper and all I've caught with it are a bunch of pond dinks and a 1.5 pounder that I foul hooked.

Also, here's a really fucking dark largemouth I caught a few weeks ago.

 

[W00K #17]

I never catch shit on topwater. I even bought a Whopper Plopper and all I've caught with it are a bunch of pond dinks and a 1.5 pounder that I foul hooked.

Also, here's a really fucking dark largemouth I caught a few weeks ago.
View attachment 873042

Really? Topwater is just about the only thing I can get the motivation to fish bass with this time of year. It really is the most exciting way to catch a largemouth, just having a massive slash on the surface out of nowhere then setting the hook into a big fish, it's just the best.

Some tips: first light and dusk are best times for topwaters, bass dont usually like to look up into direct sunlight to eat, so fish surface baits when the sun is low on the horizon.

Fish tight to the bank, most of my topwater bites on small ponds come when I make a cast parallel to the shore 1-5 feet from the bank. Especially target any laydowns or boulders along the edge. The outer edge 5-15 feet from shore can produce fish also, as well as any cover like logs in open water. Occasionally I will throw out to the middle of the pond in totally open water and some times I'll catch one doing it, but most bites occur right close to the shore or tight to cover. This is especially true since you'll be fishing dawn and dusk, when bass move into the shallows to hunt baitfish and frogs etc.

Last make sure to vary your retrieve till you find what they're wanting. Even on a simple bait like a whopper popper, there many ways to retrieve it.

A steady retrieve with a whopper plopper can get bites, but work around with different speeds, from slow enough to just make it bubble to burning it. One of my favorite ways to work them is by pulling them forward with the rod just to make it spit and turn the prop but only move forward a foot or so.

You can simply jerk it all the way back like that and it seems to draw alot of strikes. Sometimes I'll even have luck just twitching them forward 2-5 times, then letting it pause for a few seconds to maybe even 10 or 15 seconds, similar to how you might work a standard popper bait.

ETA: also that's a nice bass hes kinda skinny like he just got done spawning. If that's the case, you're headed for good times in your area, post-spawn bass can be amazing. They're all skinny and beat up after the taxing process of spawning and early parenthood, and now they're gonna want to eat everything they can just put the feed bag on to gain that weight back.

 

[Hollywood Hulk Hogan]

I love catfishing but around here there's no place to catfish this time of year.

 

[MrTickles]

This was nuts.

 

[W00K #17]

Just getting home, here's tonight's best fish.



h.

 

[Crichax]

I've tried fishing for crawdads in various places where I've lived, but I've had no good results so far.

 

[W00K #17]

I've tried fishing for crawdads in various places where I've lived, but I've had no good results so far.

Use a small net, turn over rocks and be quick with it. At night on a rocky point or bank a spotlight and some waders can get you plenty of craws. Traps are also a good way to get them, you can buy the traps at outdoor stores or make them yourself for alot cheaper. I like to bait the traps with the scraps from the last fish I put to the knife or my leftover cut bait.

 

[RealtreeByGod]

Pumpkinseeds are neat

 

[ulsterscotsman]

I'm a regular fisher and have recently took up pole/whip fishing. Caught 20~24 Roach/Rudd and Perch the other week of varying sizes but nothing ground braking.

Need to get a new reel for my spinning rod so I can go pike fishing again.

 

[Team_RAMROD]

I live near St Mary, GA. Anyone fish salt flats? Redfish anyone?

 

[nekrataal]

I caught a couple of crappies and 3 channel cats (2 were already put away before I took the pic) this past weekend. I mostly target those 2 fish because I’m not sure where the better gamefish are at in my area. There’s a lot of places with gar and bluegills, but the bluegills I catch are never eating size.

 

[Clostridium Botulinum]

Anyone here experienced with spearfishing? (especially in Florida/gulf coast regions). Every time I dive down there, I try to go on at least one lionfish charter, but that's the extent to my knowledge of spearfishing. I'd love to get into real spearfishing next time i vacation down there.

 

[Pocket Dragoon]

I've tried fishing for crawdads in various places where I've lived, but I've had no good results so far.

Use a small net, turn over rocks and be quick with it. At night on a rocky point or bank a spotlight and some waders can get you plenty of craws. Traps are also a good way to get them, you can buy the traps at outdoor stores or make them yourself for alot cheaper. I like to bait the traps with the scraps from the last fish I put to the knife or my leftover cut bait.

Crawdads glow in UV light too, I've seen people out hunting with those at night.

Anyone here experienced with spearfishing? (especially in Florida/gulf coast regions). Every time I dive down there, I try to go on at least one lionfish charter, but that's the extent to my knowledge of spearfishing. I'd love to get into real spearfishing next time i vacation down there.

If you can't make it to Florida, bowhunting Asian carp is fun as fuck.