Fishing Thread

[ChemEngineer]

Look, people, millions are addicted to watching overpaid athletes play baseball, basketball, football, and soccer to name a few, but don't participate in those sports themselves.
On the other hand, lots of you reading this probably fish in good weather. So this joint needs a good place for fishermen to share tips and fish stories and help the rest of the schleps not lose the next "big one."

The very best tip I can give anyone is how to set the drags on your reels. Most fishermen just pull and set.... somehow. Wrong, wrong, and wrong.

The spool acts as a lever with the fulcrum at the center of the spool, and the end of the lever is the distance from the center of the spool to the outer layer of fishing line, right? So as any big fish is pulling out line, the drags automatically tighten down due to decreasing leverage on the same pressure exerted by the drags. In other words, say your line is loaded 2 inches out from the center of the spool and you set the drags at 25 pounds. When the line goes out to only 1 inch, the drags now pull at 50 pounds because the lever (spool) is shorter, and continues to get shorter.

So you set your drags at 30% of the pound test of the line you are using. And DO NOT tighten down when your big one is running hard. You'll break the line for sure.
I set my 40 pound test at 13 pounds and brought in a 70-pound bluefin tuna that almost spooled me twice. It was three times as big as the next largest fish caught on this trip.

Tail hook live bait and if it doesn't run out fast when it hits the water, bring it back and put on a better bait.
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[The Duke]

Good info in the OP, thanks!

 

[DukeU]

That's fine when fishing in open water.

But when you're fishing around heavy cover like I do around rocks, trees, etc. you can't afford to give the fish any line.

I tighten my drag as tight as it will get.

 

[Plagerist]

Look, people, millions are addicted to watching overpaid athletes play baseball, basketball, football, and soccer to name a few, but don't participate in those sports themsel
On the other hand, lots of you reading this probably fish in good weather. So this joint needs a good place for fishermen to share tips and fish stories and help the rest of the schleps not lose the next "big one."

The very best tip I can give anyone is how to set the drags on your reels. Most fishermen just pull and set.... somehow. Wrong, wrong, and wrong.

The spool acts as a lever with the fulcrum at the center of the spool, and the end of the lever is the distance from the center of the spool to the outer layer of fishing line, right? So as any big fish is pulling out line, the drags automatically tighten down due to decreasing leverage on the same pressure exerted by the drags. In other words, say your line is loaded 2 inches out from the center of the spool and you set the drags at 25 pounds. When the line goes out to only 1 inch, the drags now pull at 50 pounds because the lever (spool) is shorter, and continues to get shorter.

So you set your drags at 30% of the pound test of the line you are using. And DO NOT tighten down when your big one is running hard. You'll break the line for sure.
I set my 40 pound test at 13 pounds and brought in a 70-pound bluefin tuna that almost spooled me twice. It was three times as big as the next largest fish caught on this trip.

View attachment 994909

Tail hook live bait and if it doesn't run out fast when it hits the water, bring it back and put on a better bait.
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Was it good eatin'?

 

[1srelluc]

I fish to eat, none of that "catch and release" BS for me.

 

[The Duke]

I fish to eat, none of that "catch and release" BS for me.

I believe in fillet and release.

 

[ChemEngineer]

Was it good eatin'?

Bluefin tuna is one of the most sought-after ocean fish in California saltwater.
It is a very expensive delicacy in Japan, used in sashimi, or raw fish. They pay lots of money for bluefin. Which brings me to the next really fun lesson.
[Make that two lessons. I returned to edit this post to inform everyone of a fisherman's tradition in Southern California offshore waters. When you catch your very first tuna, the deckhand rips its heart out through the gills with his fingers and hands it to you to eat raw. Real men do it. Momma's boys and Democrats, not so much. now back to the original fun lesson.]

Almost every southern California saltwater fisherman knows that ahi is yellowfin tuna. They get up to 400 pounds or more. I have yet to meet one who knew what "ahi" means and how its name for yellowfin tuna was derived.

My beloved Wife and I were married in Honolulu and we went back to the Islands many times. On one trip to Big Island, I went to the sportfishing dock and asked about a charter. Way expensive. I went back to the dock at Kona Coast and a fisherman was bringing his boat in with some large tuna he caught.

I said, "If you will take me fishing, I will pay for all your gas." He rubbed his chin. I continued, "This is no trick. I'm not fish and game. Here is my California driver's license."

"Be here at 7 in the morning and bring lunch."

Brought in 250 and 200 pound ahi. We fished with Penn 14/0 reels and unlimited rods trolling jetheads with plastic skirts and two outriggers plus a line directly behind the outboard motor.

The commercial fisherman told me "ahi" is ancient Hawaiian for "fire." When they fished in outriggers 150 years ago with handlines and a big tuna would strike, it would rip the line through their hands, burning them. They would scream "Ahi!", Hawaiian for "fire."

Now you know.

We have been back many times and now we are "Kinda Kaama-ina," a term I created from "Kaama-ina," the Hawaiian term for native residents there.

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[Yarddog]

I fish to eat, none of that "catch and release" BS for me.

Me too! and if their too small to keep , I usually make a quick Sammich before we get back to shore! pleanty of horseradish sauch !!

 

[Yarddog]

Question for Fresh Water fishing here.
Has anyone ever fished for lake bass off of shore? Im going to be going tomorrow to a lake thats known to have bass, but no boat will be available. Question would be, is it better to use worms??? or a lure?
I honestly dont have that much fresh water experience, just used to catching some trout or bluegill.

Also suggestions if it should be surface fishing , or coming up off the bottom?

 

[DukeU]

Question for Fresh Water fishing here.
Has anyone ever fished for lake bass off of shore? Im going to be going tomorrow to a lake thats known to have bass, but no boat will be available. Question would be, is it better to use worms??? or a lure?
I honestly dont have that much fresh water experience, just used to catching some trout or bluegill.

Also suggestions if it should be surface fishing , or coming up off the bottom?

Top water plug or anything plastic Texas rigged.

Throw at any type of cover, trees, rocks, etc.

And don't just throw out toward the center of lake, throw your baits parallel to the bank and close to the bank.

 

[Yarddog]

Top water plug or anything plastic Texas rigged.

Throw at any type of cover, trees, rocks, etc.

And don't just throw out toward the center of lake, throw your baits parallel to the bank and close to the bank.

thanks

 

[Yarddog]

Top water plug or anything plastic Texas rigged.

Throw at any type of cover, trees, rocks, etc.

And don't just throw out toward the center of lake, throw your baits parallel to the bank and close to the bank.

So Texas Rig is where you run the point of the hook back up inside the plastic Lure?

 

[DukeU]

So Texas Rig is where you run the point of the hook back up inside the plastic Lure?

Yes, with a bullet weight.

 

[DukeU]

So Texas Rig is where you run the point of the hook back up inside the plastic Lure?

Watch a couple Youtube videos, they will help.

 

[ChemEngineer]

Question for Fresh Water fishing here.
Has anyone ever fished for lake bass off of shore? Im going to be going tomorrow to a lake thats known to have bass, but no boat will be available. Question would be, is it better to use worms??? or a lure?
I honestly dont have that much fresh water experience, just used to catching some trout or bluegill.

Also suggestions if it should be surface fishing , or coming up off the bottom?

I have many hundreds of hours of fishing experience for freshwater bass. More than almost any fisherman you will ever meet, I also have many hours searching for them underwater, at the very clear Lake Mead in Nevada.

I was amazed at how scarce the fish were! What this means is that if you toss out a live worm and sit there, it's almost certain that nobody is looking at it.

Dr. Denis Inaba and I spent many wonderful hours together at Lake Powell on a houseboat with our wives and children tossing plastic worms at the shore and cover and trees. We caught lots of largemouth bass I tell ya. Cover lots of territory in a hurry. Put a medium split shot a foot above Mister Twister plastic worm with a flat, curved tail that wiggles a lot. Drives 'em crazy. Cast, retrieve.
Cast, retrieve.
Fish take 90% of their food underwater, not on the surface.

Lesson completed.

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[The Duke]

Question for Fresh Water fishing here.
Has anyone ever fished for lake bass off of shore? Im going to be going tomorrow to a lake thats known to have bass, but no boat will be available. Question would be, is it better to use worms??? or a lure?
I honestly dont have that much fresh water experience, just used to catching some trout or bluegill.

Also suggestions if it should be surface fishing , or coming up off the bottom?

It's better if you have a boat, but we used to use rubber worms on a hook.
Cast it far, let it sink to the bottom, then reel and pull kinda slow until you get a bite or have to cast again.
You really have to set the hook with bass. Let them get 2-3 tugs in, then set it.

 

[Yarddog]

It's better if you have a boat, but we used to use rubber worms on a hook.
Cast it far, let it sink to the bottom, then reel and pull kinda slow until you get a bite or have to cast again.
You really have to set the hook with bass. Let them get 2-3 tugs in, then set it.

OK, so bottom fishing also can work !

This lake also has trout. But would like to get a bass ! thanks for the tips.

 

[petro]

Dutch Bay in Voyageurs National Park along the MN/Ontario border is one of my favorite spots on this massive 65 mile long chain of four lakes.
Fishing for walleye, we frequently catch massive Black Crappie and Northerns.
Our typical technique is to use 8lb test. A slip sinker about 6 feet above a red hook that is baited with a fathead minnow or leach.
Slow vertical fishing at depths of 25-35 feet. Simple jig tipped with bait also another standard.
Going there in three weeks for our annual fall trip.

Best Black Crappie I caught was 16 inches.

 

[petro]

My rig parked on another MN lake campground.
16.5 ft SmokerCraft with 90 hp Mercury.
This baby has seen a lot of water up here.

 

[badbob85037]

It's better if you have a boat, but we used to use rubber worms on a hook.
Cast it far, let it sink to the bottom, then reel and pull kinda slow until you get a bite or have to cast again.
You really have to set the hook with bass. Let them get 2-3 tugs in, then set it.

I would use tarter sauce.