Does Anyone Fish?

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shanegreen

Starting to Get Obsessed
Feb 17, 2018
147
0
Well, since this general area is about anything at all, I was wondering if there were any fishermen in this forum? If so, maybe there can be some fishing stories I hope! There are all kinds of stories that can be told such as the one that got away, or the biggest fish you caught, what you like about it, if you smoke your pipe, etc. Maybe you have a pipe or a blend that you bring fishing with you.
I suppose I should start. As a teenager my father and I would salmon fish in the fall. After two seasons of spending long hours in the cold casting spoons and getting skunked, I gave up. Years later I got the bug to salmon fish again one season, and I went every chance I got. There was one dam I fished that had a narrow spot behind a rail that some of us would cram into and look at all the salmon and large brown trout that were hardly biting. 50 percent of the time the fish were snagged, and then released. It was in the newspaper how bad the season was. I only brought home one big trout, and that was given to me by one of my buddies. I was thinking that my wife thought I was just a crappy outdoorsman.
So after getting skunked day after day, I went gung ho when it was pouring all day. There was only one other guy fishing with me, and another guy that didn't want to get soaked who sat in his car and watched us fish. He commended our spirits, and left us with all his bait, as he had given up. It got to the point that my fingers didn't want to move, I was soaked from head to toe, and all my gear was getting snagged on the rocks. I called it quits, threw my clothes in the dryer, and warmed up. Something inside me just didn't want to give up. I had spotted some chinook hanging out a few days before in the Jordan river where the water was clear and shallow. I was near the place my grandparents had a farm on a hill when I was growing up, and it was always a special place to me. I said screw it, and went back out in the rain to try the river. The rain this time was on and off, and not as heavy as earlier. When I got there I noticed the one chinook hanging out in the same area. I went at him for a few hours. Not being a fly fisherman, I had tried a small spoon because the water was so shallow and clear.
It was starting to get dark when he either bit, or I fowl hooked him. Nonetheless, I had him on. He had to be at least 15 pounds, and I held on to him in one spot for about ten minutes or more in attempt to tire him out. My heart was beating fast. It was my big moment, and my reputation with my wife was at stake. He started to take a little drag and pulled off to the side of the river tangling my line on a log. He was lost. My heart sank. I was a beaten dog.
Now speaking of dogs I have a slightly aggressive little guy who is an outdoorsman himself. For years he had been chasing squirrels with no success. That day was his day. He caught and killed a squirrel. My in-laws were there, and my wife kept going on about the squirrel. I tried to get people interested in the story, but they lost interest as soon as they saw there was no fish, and called me nuts for fishing 8 hours that day in the rain. On went my wife about the squirrel, proud of our little guy. I said something rude that I shouldn't have in front of anyone, slightly losing my temper, and my wife said, "I cannot believe you are jealous of a dog!" Well, I was, and she didn't understand anymore than she understands why a man just can't have enough knives or tobacco. :crying:

 

shanegreen

Starting to Get Obsessed
Feb 17, 2018
147
0
Ahoy Mate! Good one! If my hooks were as sharp as your tongue I'd rarely ever lose a fish.

 

shanegreen

Starting to Get Obsessed
Feb 17, 2018
147
0
Thomas I just got some old fly fishing gear that I am going to give a try soon. I am not sure how long it will take to learn, since I don't now anyone that fly fishes.

 
I love to fish, but I just haven't had time lately. However, I get to turn green with envy as my brother-in-law brings home truck-fulls of crappie. And, the river runs right through the farm. I need to get get out there soon.
My father was the worst fisherman, but he had back issues my whole life. But, my uncles used to honk the horn for me on Saturday mornings at 5AM, and I would join them on the river or lake. It was always good fun, throughout my childhood.

 

cortezattic

Lifer
Nov 19, 2009
15,147
7,637
Chicago, IL
I'm not good at fly-fishing. I can't cast a shadow on a sunny day. :D

Matching rod, line and fly types bewilders me. (Forget about wind, fish species, leaders, etc.)

 

btp79

Can't Leave
Jan 27, 2018
436
711
Sugar Land, TX
I absolutely love fishing, and I am absolutely terrible at it. :) Even if I catch nothing, I still get to spend time outside on a nice day with a pipe and or cigar.

 

coyja

Can't Leave
Feb 10, 2018
406
393
Spinning ball of dirt
I grew up fishing with my uncle a lot, mostly pond fishing for bass and bluegill and the like.

Its been a long time since I've fished, but I recently moved very close to a location that is known for flyfishing and I'm very tempted to go down that rabbit's hole...

 

midwestpipesmoker70

Can't Leave
Nov 28, 2011
431
433
IL
I used to bass fish quite a bit. Also did some catfishing but just haven't had the time or haven't made the time to fish much in the last few years.

 

mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,385
7,295
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
When I moved to Cornwall from Suffolk it only seemed natural that I should take up sea fishing (Cornwall is almost an island). I got a couple of books from the library and read up on the basics.
I then bought all the kit and off I went to the beach. My first ever catch was a medium sized sea bass which I had to ask another angler to identify!
My biggest ever haul was over 50 mackerel in one afternoon. I was using six feathers and catching five or six fish at a time. This got so tiring I cut off two feathers to ease the strain.
Alas now I can't fish anymore but I still have the gear.
Regards,
Jay.

 

luigi

Can't Leave
May 16, 2017
456
1,265
Europe
I've never tried fishing but I bet it can be fun. I'm a passionate hunter but fishing, well, hope I try it one day. I never understood a logic to catch a fish and let it go, seems it's more for fishermen than for fish itself. Fishing to get food or reduce a dense population would make more sense but I'm open to learn new ways of thinking. Also like to listen to some interesting anecdotes related to hunting or fishing.

 

shanegreen

Starting to Get Obsessed
Feb 17, 2018
147
0
Micheal there are always those guys who just seem to catch boatloads of fish. You can use the same bait, technique, but they seem to get fish on days nobody else can catch them. I feel jealous f those guys myself.
I have mostly fished for bass, walleye, catfish, yellow perch, bluegill and crappie. I enjoyed getting catfish, but they just look too much like a pet of some sort and I hate killing them. They are tough as they can live out of the water for hours. I never took the opportunity to show off my largest fish I caught. I have yet to catch a monster. One morning I got my biggest, which was at least a 6 pound largemouth. I was the only one there, and there was nobody to take a picture of me with it. My dad lives in central fl half the year, and I was visiting him. It was in an area where there are a lot of alligators, and the big boy I got was scraped up from a tangle with one. I could not bring myself to kill that stud for the sake of proving myself. Sometimes it feels good to let them go and watch them swim off.

 

tbradsim1

Lifer
Jan 14, 2012
9,092
11,008
Southwest Louisiana
I cannot claim these, my son and worker friends chartered a trip out of Venice. When I went offshore I usually fished the rigs for Snapper and Ling.

 
The most fun I ever had fishing was with my uncle out on a boat all day, nothing, not a bite all day. We fidgeted with dropping the bait lower, higher, drinking Sun Drops and eating Moonpies, but just as we were about to give it up, BAM! a Shellcracker. We were right over a bed of them, and we were pulling them in the boat hand over fist, laughing, and high on adrenaline. We even stopped baiting the hooks. BAM, BAM, BAM.
We came home with a garbage bag full of shellcrackers, and all of my uncles all came over helped us clean the fish, and the aunts all fried them up. I have never had an experience like that since.
But, when I do get to go fishing these days, I never take more than the family can eat, and I avoid catfish, only because of the high nitrogen in the water. Our State Department keeps sending emails about not eating the catfish. I don't catch and release. Hunting and fishing is not games with the way I was raised. But, I am picky about what I keep. Crappie and bass are about all I intentionally go for, but if I am taking some kids with me, I will set them up for bream, just to keep them from getting bored. breams not so bad to eat, I flake them up and make them into patties similar to salmon patties, to keep the bones out.

 
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