I haven't seen a fishing thread in here for months! What gives lol. I just started fishing a lot again this year after kind of taking off for a couple years. I've caught a bunch of spots and largies so far, but most under 14". Here's my biggest of the year, even though it doesn't look it in the picture it's 16 or 17 incher, and about 2 pounds. I've also been going after smallies in a stream close to here with the fly rod. I lost what would have been my biggest bass of the summer, and to top it off it was my dream smallie, a 3 or so pounder. But I did manage to land a decent one today and a couple smaller ones.
I've done a ton of fishing this year up until the past 2-3 weeks, I've since been buried in home projects. My wife's cousin and I went up to Champlain and fished a couple of pretty big money tournaments, both times we ended up just a couple ounces short of the $$$. We brought in a 19lb 7oz 6 fish bag the first day including my two largest of the year (4-2 and 4-12). No pics unfortunately, we were too busy trying to cull fish to pull the camera out. Other than this, I've caught a bunch of the average 2-3lbish fish over several outings. I also went for a stream smallmouth wading trip last weekend (inspired by buckeye's thread ) and both my wife and I managed to catch quite a few smaller fish. Once I get our bathroom renovation project done I will be able to spend the $$$ to finish my boat project and I hope to get out a handful of times towards end of August and beginning of September. I'll post updates if I get anything worth mentioning.
Great pictures Matt. The world would be a much better place if most parents spent as much time with their kids as you do.
My dad just flew in from Texas and I will spending the afternoon with him and my two oldest fishing at the Marine Base my dad retired on many years ago. It just makes me feel good that a cycle of life is continuing in such a cool fashion for my kids and dad. I will take some pictures today. Vito, your children have to be some of the cutest kids I have seen...and they know how to use fly rods to boot at a young age!
Thanks VS. My daughter can cast about 15' and handle the rod pretty well. The boy gets some assistance getting the fly out there, but once hooked, he's on his own. Sounds like you have a fun afternoon ahead of you. Looking forward to the pics.
Cool pictures Vito. How long have you been slinging a fly rod? I only started about 3 years ago but just love it. My brother has been doing it for 40 years or so. He doesn't hunt. I was always hunting with my other two brothers. The past 3 years it's been all fly fishing. Yup, I missed opening week of deer season the past 3 years going for salmon, steelhead and browns instead of deer. I don't usually kill any fish... but I think those blue gills etc would be in the deep fry. LOL 3 years ago I didn't know a thing about a fly rod. Now I think I'm up to 7 rods counting the switch rod I won at the Spey Nation get together on the salmon river last month.
Thanks John and Mike. I've been fly fishing about 15 years. I'm not really sure how many fly rods I have anymore, and I hope my wife doesn't either. All I know is I don't have enough! Terrestrials work great for bluegills and sunfish. For largemouth, I like larger poppers. Something that gets their attention.
My daughter had a snoopy rod, but my wife wasn't thrilled about her casting it in the house all the time. I good friend of mine builds rods for a living. We had a 6' 3wt built for her 4th birthday, complete with purple/pink wraps and her name, so she would have to cast outside. She loves it! And of course, the boy has to do everything his big sis is doing. My daughter can cast far enough to catch gills and sunnies on her own. I help the boy cast and sometimes hook them, then he's on his own. He won't let me help even if I wanted to.
More summer fun... When I'm not a working stiff, I pose as a fly fishing instructor. Tonight I had a short instructional at a lady's house. There is a pond behind her house where we covered rigs, casting, and fishing techniques. When done, I had the rest of the evening to fish the pond. Started with a small rubber legged woolly bugger. I caught plenty of these. Then I caught some of these. These were a surprise as she didn't know the pond had any. And more of these. It was a good summer night. [/report]
I hit it hard from mid-March till the end of May. After that, it just got to hot once the sun came up to be sitting on the trolling motor of the boat all day. I keep telling myself I am going to get out on the Mississippi one night and do some catfishing, but I keep finding other things to do.
Just got back from a vacation to Miami/the Keys. Had a blast fishing. We caught Bonita, Cudas, Dolphin, Yellowtails, Triggerfish, and the list goes on and on lol. But here's some pics. We happened to be down during the lobster mini season, so we went with a buddy who has a boat down there and had a blast. It was my first time ever snorkeling and it was great. The fresh seafood that you caught earlier that day wasn't too bad either Most of these are from the best day, we chartered a boat and targeted dolphin. We caught I think 61 or so in a little under 4 hours. Only kept 21.
