Any of you fish out there in Huskyland? I'll bet you do. I like to fish, too and I am always trying to get just one more or just one bigger fish. A couple of weeks ago I had one of the best fishing days ever so far, so I am going to share this post with you. http://www.dualsport-sd.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5016&hl=
Well heck, she's a mommy. And a mommy of a future generation of big gals like herself. I generally let all my fish go. I'm a catch and release kind of person, which is why I hate fishing at that lake, because they make you keep everything that you catch. If the rangers catch you throwing fish back, they escort you off the lake and you are banned. Keeping trophy sized bass doesn't make any sense to me, so I tell the rangers up there that I don't catch anything, but that I enjoy the scenery. They keep telling me to throw big baits because the worms I'm throwing are too small and the bass won't pay any attention to them. I just smile. Do you think that the rangers know I'm holding back the truth?
When I moved to British Columbia in 1984 I started fly fishing. No that's not me... Just loved it put some good money out on equipment, learned how to tie fly's etc. All fun. Then... Got married...had kids...always thought of getting back into it. I guess it's all about priority's, only so much time and kids take up lots right now. Maybe some day...soon.
Very impressive Dirtdame, you probably realize that had you brought your scale you may not have crossed paths with the super mom. That is how it seems to go for me anyway. Good you were able to get the pictures. I have a pond that I stocked with LM bass and crappie about 16 years ago. There was always a lot of fish but they never got very big until about 5 years ago we started letting neighbors thin them out. I hope to empty it later this summer and build some more spawning areas and add structure. Keep those pictures coming!
I know what you mean. The first time I went down to the coast to fish a saltwater lagoon, I just took a regular mid weight spinning rig with 8 lb and cast out over the rocks. I hooked up with a very large white sea bass and broke it off on the rocks before I ever got it close to shore. I was just a teenager and begged my folks to get me a heavier set up. The next time I went out I had a big surf rod and stout 20 lb line, ready to haul in the prized catch but I never hooked up with another fish of any size that summer. I ordered a pocket sized digital scale from Bass Pro Shops, but like you say, the chances of me hooking up another "teener" bass are very slim. For most of us mortals, that fish was a fish of a life time. I was just lucky that I had my camera on me.
Wow... BIG fish. What is the theory behind the 'don't release what you catch' rule? Too many fish there?
Thats an awesome fish. A really big largemouth in Canada is 5-6lbs. I think the CDN record is around 9lbs.
Well, they stock the lake with rainbow trout. I think that they are afraid that people would come up and catch the trout with powerbait rigs and keep throwing them back with little treble hooks stuck in their gullets. Trout don't hold up very well after an on line battle, especially in the type of water we have down here, where in the summer it's not the coldest water around. Anyway trout mortality would be rather high if anglers threw them back. The lake is also practically carpeted with little Crappies, so those need to be thinned out. The Bass population seems to be healthy though not very fat, and they aren't overcrowded as far as I can tell. Being that they are the top of the food chain in that lake and could easily snack on the Crappies, I think that they should get to stay.
Yeah, I guess the further north you go, the shorter the growing season for largemouth Bass. We have a lot of Florida strain largemouth in the lakes down here. Long growing seasons coupled with stockings of pan sized trout equal big bass in this part of the world. In fact I live just a few miles from Lake Dixon, where Dottie the worlds biggest Bass lived until about a year ago when she literally went belly up in her old age. Here's an article on Dottie: http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/fishing/news/story?page=world_record_bass_dies
Was fishing Lake Mille Lacs in MN for spring walleyes using 6 lb line and a leach tiped jig when I hooked this... thought I might have had a new state record walleye on for a while till it surfaced. This lake is known to produce some huge walleyes.. Took me 30 minutes to land along with my dad running the motor on the boat following the fish so it wouldn't break the line... wasn't huge by any means for the specie type at 37" and ~15 lbs but on 6 lb line with my ultra light trout rod it was a huge battle.. also released after the photo..
We don't have those round these parts so excuse my ignorance, but I'm going to guess that you are holding a really nice northern pike. I'd be afraid of having my 6 lb line broken by a big toothy critter like that. My second guess would be a musky.
yes a slimy Northern.. not uncommon to hook them in the 30 lb range too. I had to run a stringer thru its mouth to keep it closed for the photo opps. The lake (Mille Lakcs) has very large Muskie (40+ lb) in it. However it is known as a fantastic large Walleye producer which are very good eating but not as good as the tasty mountain stream brookies. Here is an example of a nice walleye taken on Mille Lacs by my dad last spring.. 29"
Very nice. Maybe someday I'll have to visit a place that has those fish, so I can at least say that I fished for them.
Boy it's been awhile since Ive had any walleye for dinner. That is one fish I wouldn't throw back. Walleye must be one of the best eating fish. When salmon fishing at the mouth of the Columbia River we usually take some sturgeon gear. It is quite a thrill and a lot of work when you hook a 6-12 foot sturgeon in 6 or less feet of water. The sturgeon down there seem to have alot of energy because of the pleniful food that comes in with the tides.
I have access to the Pacific ocean close at hand, so I have had the pleasure of catching rock fish, yellowtail, California halibut and I went out once for Albacore but ended up with a Dodo, but a nice 30 pound one. The best eating fish we have in the area that are in freshwater are Stripers. Everything else pretty much tastes crappie.
depends... There's lots of biology to consider, but catch and release is not always the best plan, depending on the speicies, its place in the food chain and time of year, size of the water, etc. In a small pond, where there are huge numbers of bass, it wouldn't be prudent to keep panfish, but would be a good idea to keep some of the bass. Because they are bass and the mature females tend to be much larger than the males, it might be a good idea to keep a few in the 3-5 lb. range for dinner so the females don't have so much competition for food. It's easy to get a good idea of just how many predators and prey are in a pond by just how fast the action is and how much of it you get. Of course, I'm no biologist, but I always keep a few eating size fish and throw back the really large and really small ones. When, catfishing, for example, we usually keep 2 or 3 per trip that are in the 10-15 lb. range and throw back all the rest, whether they are 5lbs. or 55lbs. Again, I'm no fish bio (but my brother is) and we mix it up. A little catch and release and a little, "catch and grease" are both good for the system. A good rule of thumb is to keep %20 of what you catch I think. Catch 10, keep 2. Catch 20, keep 4, etc. I never keep more than a percentage of what I catch. Try to know your species well enough to know which ones to keep & which ones to return.
