20 replies to this topic

[Rotorranch]

I went fishing yesterday for the first time since before COVID. Cold, overcast and breezy in the morning, calm and sunny early afternoon, and windy as heck with whitecaps later in the afternoon. We didn't even use the motor to get back to the ramp.

One of the coolest things was a bald eagle watching us fish. He sat in a tree and watched us for 20 minutes or so, then flew to the other side of the lake for a bit before it went off hunting.

That's only the second time I've seen one in the wild.

First fish and biggest fish of the day. Caught about 10-15 minutes after hitting the water.

Rotor

[Pablo]

Nice fish, is that a white crappie?

[Rotorranch]

I believe it is a black crappie that hadn't got his darker spawn color yet.

 

Rotor.

[MattD]

That's a big one, Jeff. Is that a camera trick with you holding the fish right in front of the camera? Lot bigger than the usual crappie up here.

[Eddie Fleming]

Horton?

[Rotorranch]

No, Eddie... BT Brown in Fairburn. 300 acres. Nice place.

 

Supposed to be a gator in there. 

 

Rotor

[John Luongo]

Slot car racers are also the best fishermen.

[Pablo]

I'd just like to say, it is really pleasant to see a man in a simple boat with three rods catch a nice fish.

 

As opposed to "pros" trying to catch a million fish and win a contest from a $75,000 boat that goes 70 MPH with side scan sonar and 18 rods.

[Phil Smith]

That's a big one, Jeff. Is that a camera trick with you holding the fish right in front of the camera? Lot bigger than the usual crappie up here.

 

I don't think I've seen a fishing or hunting photo that didn't do that.

[MattD]

This is my take on how to hold a fish to get a great picture. I wish my arm was about a foot longer!!!   

 

Getting close to pan fishing time up here.

 

[Pablo]

Nice fish, I'll guess 14 lbs.

[Pappy]

Matt, it's amazing how you can make a minnow look that big just by using a telephoto lens.   

[Dave Crevie]

There are millions of fish stories out there. I like to fish, and a family member owns a place in Rusk County, WI. There are always eagles around, and I love to just watch them as I toss out lazy casts. I had latched onto a bass, and was reeling him in, when a circling eagle swooped down and grabbed a fish I at first thought was the one I was playing. But as I focused in, it became obvious that the fish he had was a northern, not a bass. I guess the bigger fish was hunting my bass, and the eagle saw it, and took advantage of the fact that the northern was preoccupied by chasing my fish and didn't see the eagle.

[Pablo]

No trick photography here. Perfect size for a toaster.

 

[Phil Smith]

Truth in advertising!

[MattD]

Paul that's my favorite fishin', filleted pan fish in hot oil! Maybe some fried potatoes.     

 

I hope you find a place for simple fishing that's close to the new house. Really is no more peaceful time than fishing on a calm and nice day. Get stripers in the jumps and that peacefulness goes away. That striper in the pic was 27 pounds and the biggest of that day. It was a once in a lifetime day.   

 

We fished five-six hours with minimal luck and about 4 PM they started the jumps and we all fished as quick as we could throw the line out and bring them in as quick as possible. We had four-six fish on the floor of the boat the whole time. After five minutes or so, they stopped and the shad moved. We could see them start all over a few hundred yards away and we got into them again. This happened four-five times in about an hour. Never had that happen again, and we felt lucky for that one time.

[Pablo]

 

[MSwiss]

As opposed to "pros" trying to catch a million fish and win a contest from a $75,000 boat that goes 70 MPH with side scan sonar and 18 rods.

 

That's exactly how I feel when I see a guy building a slot car chassis on one of those fancy jigs., vs. "eyeballin" it", with those eyeballs the Lord gave us.    

[MSwiss]

I only have one crappie story that I've probably told before.

When my uncle was off his job as a milkman (which I occasionally helped him on his route) he had time to partake in his first and third favorite things, fishing and drinking up in Wisconsin.

It was great getting a ride up there in his '65 Riviera.

I remember he had it up to 105, on the way up, which was pretty exciting for an 11 year old kid.

Anyway we were out in the boat and we ran into a crappie school. They were so prevalent that my uncle started betting me a quarter a cast that he would pull a fish in.

In the meantime I was pulling them in, off the side of the boat, still fishing, every one-two minutes.

We had to catch no less than 40 or 50 fish, in a little over an hour, between the two of us.

They were "toaster size," as Pablo calls it, so we were tossing them back.

About halfway through, while taking them off the hook, I started to realize that every second or third fish, was one I caught before.

[Pablo]

That's exactly how I feel when I see a guy building a slot car chassis on one of those fancy jigs, vs. "eyeballin" it," with those eyeballs the Lord gave us. 

Hey! My ears are burning! 
 
Chi Chi the chihuahua (RIP) gives a sniff to an glligator gar.
 

[Dave Crevie]

Mike, you have to use fingernail polish to mark an "X" on the ones you throw back.    When I hit a "hole", I mark the side of the boat so I can find it again. 

 

When I was nine to 13 years old, my family had a little cabin near Hayward, WI, on Durfee Lake. The lake was loaded with panfish, some unusually large. Neighbor cabin owners swore there were northern in the lake, but try as he did, my dad never could latch on to one. The DNR came and did a census of the fish in the lake, and counted over a hundred northern, along with an unnaturally high number of 'gill and perch. They discovered that a nearby cranberry farm was draining their bogs into the lake, and that water contained a large amount of small red worms, which the panfish were eating. The northern were then eating the small fry, and wouldn't take a lure or live bait. The DNR forced the farm to stop draining the bogs into the lake (illegal in WI), and the next summer we caught 27 northern in two weeks using large minnows.