I knew it would happen - It happens EVERY SINGLE YEAR. Come November, I am fully engaged in stamps, I make a couple hundred album pages over the winter, I identify several thousand stamps (and this year a very nice US Scott #519), my Wife worries I will never come out of the basement...then BAM...The fishing bug hits me square in the forehead. not bam...I'm talking...BAMMMMMMMM!
Last year it was fly fishing, but this year it's back to good old spinning reels and tackle. I have three trips lined up, and it's a great way to spend time with my 12 year old. He is also an avid fisherman. I just have to remember that I cannot COLLECT fishing stuff, like I do stamps.
I'm still around and lurking, but you may rather see me on a TVA reservoir for the next several months.
Don, you are in an enviable position! My wife and I agreed that I can only have one expensive hobby at a time, and I can't seem to let stamps go. But I do have rods and tackle out in the garage gathering dust, so maybe I can borrow some of your enthusiasm and take my wife out to a nice a quiet fishing spot.
Good luck on your trips!
-Steve
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"What are you waiting for? Those stamps aren't going to collect themselves."
I also fish. I have a friend that just taught me how to go after the ever elusive bass. Now I'm putting in a line all over the place.
You are lucky to have a fishing buddy to share the quite times waiting for a bite. Cherish them!
So where's the next trip?
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"Appreciate the beauty of nature. You never know when life will deal you an unplanned twist of fate. Enjoy things while you can, because you just never know."
@ purrfin2; In the last couple hours before dark try a red/white "jitterbug" next to and alongside
lily pads or other structure on the surface (your neighbors dock ). My favorite technique is to
cast the lure onto the dock and gently pull until it falls into the water. Wait for 15 seconds then
retrieve slowly, with occasional pauses....BAM got another lunker from under my neighbor's dock.
Is that poetic justice or what? It always tastes better when caught from under their dock especially
while they watch you doing it!!
@ Everyone; If you own property on a lake, here is a great way to make your own structure for free.
When you cut firewood for your cabin, leave the tops from green wood until Winter. Remove all small
twigs under ½". During winter place them on the ice and wire them together. Locate them away from
your dock, where they can fowl your motor. It is also good if they are large enough to protrude up
out of the water a couple feet.
When the ice melts they will sink. Within a year they will be covered with the aquatic larval stages
of various insects that live on or near water. This is the natural food that fish love. Having some of
the wood above water makes it easier for insects to lay their eggs.
The one our neighbor made by accident quickly became populated by nice big rock bass and bull-
heads. You will need a hook with the weedless feature made of very fine music wire and sold in
the better tackle shops. The neighbor had intended to burn the wood but found out it is illegal in
Michigan to burn brush or wood the has Poison Ivy mixed in. So in the Spring it sank. We never
bothered to tell the neighbor about the fish hiding in there tho....
So do you have a nice big dock I can fish next to?
Perfect....a long white string + a safety pin + a worm and fishing from my Dad`s tipsy wharf...is one of my favorite childhood memories....esp when it starts to get dark and the eel grabs the worm....funny how fast a 9 year old can run!!!
The next trip is on Watuaga Lake in East TN. The smallmouth are bedding, so it should be good action. Depending on water temp the crappie may be active, too.
I grew up fishing for bass in small ponds and small mouths on the rivers in Virginia. Now, I'm mainly a trout guy - fly rod or ultralight spinning rig. It's fun getting ready for bass, however. It gives me an excuse to buy more stuff!
Twice in two weeks, trout fishing with my son in the same pond behind a beaver dam in northern British Columbia:
• Week 1 — My bobber bobs, and "swims" away. Paul's bobber, nearby, bobs, and swims away, following my bobber. We both reel in the same 15-inch trout!
• Week 2 — Ditto!
I took several members of my Grade 7 class on an after-school fishing trip to nearby beaver pond. One of my female students had brought a stick with a string and a hook large enough to catch a whale shark. I put a worm on the hook for her. She dangled it in the water for a moment and pulled out a large trout. I didn't catch a thing, despite my expensive outfit.
I've gone salmon fishing once since I moved to Vancouver. Caught and lost one, and got really tired of the noise of the motors and the rough water.
Florida girl here. I am a saltwater fisher (person? woman?) lover. Any bridge, boat or shoreline and I always get the first grunt for bait. The last couple of ties I've been down to the Keys I've gotten a lot of red snapper and barracuda. When I was a wee one I caught a 3 foot shark. My Dad helped be reel that one in, but I mostly did it myself.
Now that I've learned to bass fish, and yes fish with jigs mainly going toward the structures, I am always on the lookout for water, anywhere. I have 3 ponds in my development, but with that the bass are smart and remember, so I have to fish and then go away for a while. With all freshwater I catch and release. Way too much poisons in the water from run off.
My next lesson will be peacocks. I'm guessing they are almost the same as bass. I have lots to learn about freshwater fish.
As far as gear is concerned...I work at a sporting goods store! I went to work there so I could get my equipment for a discount. After all, we always need something else for the tackle box(es).
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"Appreciate the beauty of nature. You never know when life will deal you an unplanned twist of fate. Enjoy things while you can, because you just never know."
Florida bass are a different thing altogether! I would love to make my way down there.
Here in East TN we have cooler waters, and until this year my main target was trout.
On the spinning side, I'm pretty much an ultralight guy but am looking to expand to a slightly larger spinning outfit, and maybe make the plunge on a casting rig...It is amazing how much new gear is available. Have the fish got any smarter? I honestly wonder. Bass Pro Shops is about ridiculous with the million variations on a theme.
I want to go back to fishing my Mitchell 308 (original) on a fiberglass rod pulling Fred Arbogast and Heddon lures across the topwater. I gave my son a vintage Jitterbug, and it is like a prized possession to him. I have been thinking about an all 1950s-60s rig, including using my metal tackle box with bakelite handle. The only new thing being my monofilament line Although, I have some rotten mono I could use too. haha
I have way too many vintage fishing reels so, I started spooling them up. I have tried pairing them with the various graphite rods I own, but the new rods don't seem to do the old beautiful metal reels justice. I'm looking for a decent rod to pair them with, and a lot of old rods have been through the ringer (I'm still checking flea markets). I think the fiberglass (composite) Ugly stik might be good for a modern rod - It has to have a cork handle though!
Happy fishing! I will report back on the cold Watauga waters next week!
"Fishing used to be one of my favourite pastimes. I taught my son who is now 37 years old and now lives in Sydney.
Three years ago he was in Fiji, booked a days trip and as luck would have it he landed a 300+lb Marlin. (I've never heard the end of it).
When he phones me, the first half hour is a list of where he's been and how many fish he's caught, never mind how are you dad?
I used to say I have thrown bigger back, but I can't do that now thanks to that b****y Marlin.
I still have the odd day on the river but the old knees aint what they used to be."
Don't feel bad about your son's Marlin - He has a huge advantage fishing in NSW. It does not cost a lot to fish for game fish in Australia and lots of very good fish are caught (well South of Cairns) on the far South Coast of NSW where the continental shelf is well under an hour from the port of Bermagui and is therefore reachable by 20 foot trailer boats.
I am also a passionate fisherman, having fished since a very young age and captured lots of species ranging from smaller Bream to Pelagic fish up to 220 Kg (Marlin) and now I mainly chase Aussie Bass from a kayak on fresh water.
Really happy when I get a 30cm or bigger Bass - We use lures and sometimes bait as well (Big worms)
I really love to see what lures suit a particular species and pictures of your captures would be good here.
Here is a nice Yellow Fin Tuna (I captured about 10 years ago) .. 76.5 Kg Caught at Montague Island a short boat ride North of Bermagui "cubing" with WA Pilchard bait... Yep that is my foot..
C'mon guys show us your pics --- Like to see some Bigmouth Bass.. (Never seen one of those in the flesh)
I just love fish stories. I use to say I caught one so big we took a picture of it and the negative weighed 8 pounds. Now I have to say the photo overflowed a 64G Memory card.
Robert Carroll Jones
born September 9, 1940 Kingsport Tennessee - died March 2, 2016 Leesburg Florida
Hey Steveo, Did someone order the large mouth bass?
This is a minnow compared the 13 pounder he put on the wall. My dad was the best fisherman I've ever seen. He could "put em on the bank" or "put em in the boat" better than anyone I have ever seen. Me and my two older brothers would catch 2 or 3 and he'd catch 10, every time.
He loved fly fishing on West Virginia trout streams, bass fishing in south Florida and sitting on the bank late at night catfishing.
He was talking about doing some sort of charter with me and my son right up to the day he died. I will miss having the opportunity to spend time with him. Rest in peace dad; I miss you.
"He was talking about doing some sort of charter with me and my son right up to the day he died. I will miss having the opportunity to spend time with him. Rest in peace dad; I miss you. "
I can echo your sentiments Ernie. My father put himself through school as a wedding and school picture photographer, and was a photography enthusiast his whole life. He always talked about buying me a good camera and teaching me to do macro work so I could take pictures of my model cars. We never got there. He contracted cancer and died before we ever got to it.
Right after he died, digital cameras came out. I bought my first Sony Mavica for $800 and taught myself how to use it. He never saw a digital camera, but I was thinking of him the whole time, wondering what fun we would've had.
A few years ago my wife asked me what I wanted for Father's Day. Without thinking I responded, "An hour with my father." Think about it.. wouldn't Father's Day be grand if we got that hour every year?
My father has been dead 16 years and I still miss him every day.
OK so wife's cousin rings and says do I want to go fishing next week, sounds good.
Today I dig out the fishing gear, unused for a few years, buy my license, check rods and lures. Problem, all my hooks have barbs, Manitoba fishing is a no barb province.
Go to the store to buy some barbless hooks, sorry we only sell barbed hooks....Duh!
Have to buy a pair of fine point side cutters to cut off the barbs and a file to smooth down the remains. Now have weakened hooks.
Welcome to Canada.
Hopefully I will catch something, probably a cold.
). My favorite technique is to
