Fishing

[Warhawk8492]

Does anyone here like to fish? I love fishing its a favorite hobby of mine. One of my favorites outside of gaming. I have caught plenty of big fish over the years.

[smokeless6]

I have, as long as I can remember. And for all sorts of species,  and many methods.

 

Fresh water for bass, trout, pike, salmon and more

 

Salt water for tuna, shark, marlin, blues and more

 

A lifelong love. A bad day fishing beats the best day at work.

[Warhawk8492]

2 hours ago, smokeless6 said:

I have, as long as I can remember. And for all sorts of species,  and many methods.

 

Fresh water for bass, trout, pike, salmon and more

 

Salt water for tuna, shark, marlin, blues and more

 

A lifelong love. A bad day fishing beats the best day at work.

Cool to see a fellow angler here. I fish for catfish a lot in freshwater, but have caught a large variety from bass to carp to gar and trout. In salt water I have caught everything from sharks to flounder.

[MagicMike51]

I've never done any saltwater fishing . I've caught many species of freshwater though. I do enjoy Catfishing the best . My grandpa had 40 acres of land bordered on one side by a river. If i had a nickel for every hour i've ever spent there i'd make Bill Gates jealous ....

[Warhawk8492]

11 minutes ago, MagicMike51 said:

I've never done any saltwater fishing . I've caught many species of freshwater though. I do enjoy Catfishing the best . My grandpa had 40 acres of land bordered on one side by a river. If i had a nickel for every hour i've ever spent there i'd make Bill Gates jealous ....

That is awesome dude, catfish fight real good.

[smokeless6]

16 hours ago, MagicMike51 said:

I've never done any saltwater fishing .

 

It's a different sort of thing altogether, at least the way I fish.

 

I must start off by saying I am a dedicated artificials fisherman. No bait. Nearly always lures, or flies. Catching fish is obviously the goal, but the way in which it is done is what makes it fun and challenging. The presentation, matching the hatch, the knowledge and skills you need to take cutthroat out of a river with a fly, or enticing a bucketmouth bass to take your plastic worm are what makes it so compelling for me.  Using minnows or a piece of stale bread just won't do it. May as well just chuck some C4 in there and pick up the floaters

 

Saltwater however is different. Many species can be caught on artificials. Trolling with outriggers for tuna is effective, and you can pick up marlin like this too. But you won't catch shark, or flounder, or sea bass this way. For those, you gotta use bait.

 

Drift fishing is popular near where I live. Bottom-bumping with spread rigs using clam or squid for flounder, drifting along with the incoming and outgoing tides. But I can't stand fishing like this. The one clear exception is shark. The most effective way to catch sharks is to set up a chum slick. One of us on the boat is bait man, and he is continually cutting bait fish in to small pieces and tossing them over the transom. This is a great method for sharks and tuna, very effective so we do it, even though I don't like to use bait. The bait slowly sinks and trails out behind the drifting boat.  The prey fish find it and feed their way up the slick line  We have a number of rods out with same-size chunks on them that are down in the slick and when a school hits it is absolute mayhem. All the lines hit at the same time, more lines than people on the boat! And then they're gone. Hours spent preparing for ten minutes of insane action. If you've ever caught a tuna you know they might be the most powerful fish pound for pound in the ocean. Like having a 200 hp Mercury on the other end. And of course freshly-caught tuna steak is out of this world, and if we've had a good trip, some of it gets sold to cover the cost of the gas and food. Tuna brings a good price.

[MagicMike51]

3 minutes ago, smokeless6 said:

 

It's a different sort of thing altogether, at least the way I fish.

 

I must start off by saying I am a dedicated artificials fisherman. No bait. Nearly always lures, or flies. Catching fish is obviously the goal, but the way in which it is done is what makes it fun and challenging. The presentation, matching the hatch, the knowledge and skills you need to take cutthroat out of a river with a fly, or enticing a bucketmouth bass to take your plastic worm are what makes it so compelling for me.  Using minnows or a piece of stale bread just won't do it. May as well just chuck some C4 in there and pick up the floaters

 

Saltwater however is different. Many species can be caught on artificials. Trolling with outriggers for tuna is effective, and you can pick up marlin like this too. But you won't catch shark, or flounder, or sea bass this way. For those, you gotta use bait.

 

Drift fishing is popular near where I live. Bottom-bumping with spread rigs using clam or squid for flounder, drifting along with the incoming and outgoing tides. But I can't stand fishing like this. The one clear exception is shark. The most effective way to catch sharks is to set up a chum slick. One of us on the boat is bait man, and he is continually cutting bait fish in to small pieces and tossing them over the transom. This is a great method for sharks and tuna, very effective so we do it, even though I don't like to use bait. The bait slowly sinks and trails out behind the drifting boat.  The prey fish find it and feed their way up the slick line  We have a number of rods out with same-size chunks on them that are down in the slick and when a school hits it is absolute mayhem. All the lines hit at the same time, more lines than people on the boat! And then they're gone. Hours spent preparing for ten minutes of insane action. If you've ever caught a tuna you know they might be the most powerful fish pound for pound in the ocean. Like having a 200 hp Mercury on the other end. And of course freshly-caught tuna steak is out of this world, and if we've had a good trip, some of it gets sold to cover the cost of the gas and food. Tuna brings a good price.

I've caught some strange fish using artificial lures. What i mean by strange is the fact that these fish don't usually go for lures. Onetime i was using a white mister twister grub catching loads of White Bass when all of a sudden my pole about gets jerked from my hand , i'm wondering what the hell i hooked into . After a good fight a 15 pound Flathead was hauled in. Another time i was using an artificial worm going for Smallmouth Bass when wham !! Ended up catching a huge Asian Bighead Carp. Fun times -

[smokeless6]

Ha, cool.  Yeah, you never know right? You guys were talking about catfish fishing and while that's not really my cuppa, I once caught a catfish on a Rapala. You never know! Isn't that one of the best parts of fishing, not knowing what's on the other end of you line and the anticipation is great.