Fishing Thread 2012

[thart1991]

How many of you miscers have been fishing??

I have been slaying walleye and northern pike for the past few weeks on the river with jigs and minnows.
Here are some pics of some Northern me and a friend caught this spring so far.

Let me know what you're catching and what you used to catch them!

[thart1991]

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[insomniac23]

havent gotten out yet this season, i fish for large mouth bass. this is a super secret subforum that no one knows about...expect a response within the first day at earliest.

[HairyScandinavian]

Poor guy, thrad got moved eh?

I've hit the bays a few times this year but not much to show. Should be heading down again this weekend but with limited fishing time as I have other chores in store for me. I swear though if I'm not posting up a pic of SOMETHING in here on Monday yall should kick me out.

[lhprop1]

How many of you miscers have been fishing??

I have been slaying walleye and northern pike for the past few weeks on the river with jigs and minnows.
Here are some pics of some Northern me and a friend caught this spring so far.

Let me know what you're catching and what you used to catch them!

Nice little gators. What part of the country are you in?

[Procta]

need to get a 2012 season license

[ezra76]

Cool, I'm going to start fishing again this year. I used to play a lot of golf but that's getting too expensive.

I'm up in Rhode Island so I do salwater for stripers and blues surfcasting. Freshwater I'm going to do mostly trout.

I started salwater last fall and picked up 3 combos. I only caught small stripers on the 6'6" med/hvy. rod though off the rocks of a breakwall.

Going to pick up a ultralight combo for trout and maybe some waders.


Where are you at catching Pike out of a river? That looks like a cool place. I used to catch Pickerel out of river when I was a kid. Whole month of Nov. we'd be getting them on Rapala's.

[HairyScandinavian]

need to get a 2012 season license

Wait much longer and you're gonna need a 2013 license.

[lhprop1]

Wait much longer and you're gonna need a 2013 license.

Not in MN. Licenses run from May 1 until April 30 of the next year.

Only 71 days until the real fishing starts! http://www.timeanddate.com/counters/...0&sec=1&p0=159

Only 245 days until ice fishing! http://www.timeanddate.com/counters/...&sec=00&p0=159

[HairyScandinavian]

Not in MN. Licenses run from May 1 until April 30 of the next year.

Only 71 days until the real fishing starts! http://www.timeanddate.com/counters/...0&sec=1&p0=159

Yeah but you guys are all screwed up due to proximity to Canada.
Down here we run Sept 1 through August 31st but you now have the option for a 1 year license from whenever you buy it I think.

Proc is in FL though, they never stop fishing out there it's the fisherman's paradise.

[lhprop1]

Proc is in FL though, they never stop fishing out there it's the fisherman's paradise.

Except for the damn snakehead. Those things are nastyazz critters.

[HairyScandinavian]

Except for the damn snakehead. Those things are nastyazz critters.

I don't consider catching freshwater species to be "fishing."
FL is surrounded by salt so why anyone would fish fresh is beyond me.

[thart1991]

I live in wisconsin. Salt water fishing is a blast too. I've fished while in mexico and in florida a few times. I love catching barracuda.

[thart1991]

Cool, I'm going to start fishing again this year. I used to play a lot of golf but that's getting too expensive.

I'm up in Rhode Island so I do salwater for stripers and blues surfcasting. Freshwater I'm going to do mostly trout.

I started salwater last fall and picked up 3 combos. I only caught small stripers on the 6'6" med/hvy. rod though off the rocks of a breakwall.

Going to pick up a ultralight combo for trout and maybe some waders.


Where are you at catching Pike out of a river? That looks like a cool place. I used to catch Pickerel out of river when I was a kid. Whole month of Nov. we'd be getting them on Rapala's.

I need some waders too. Just got a small boat to fish some different spots. hopefully find some bigger walleye!

[M0hi]

In on this (yes 17)
Went fishing last weekend for a horrible upset. I talked to every fisherman at the lake I went to throughout the day, not a single fish was pulled out of the lake. I thought it was going to be a good day considering a fellow fisherman just gave me around 40 minnows. I had 8 people with me (fishing off shore of course) and the minnows were all used up with literally no bites, I fished from morning to dusk.

However, that lake is known to be either a lake where u catch nothing or something pretty nice.

Going fishing at a much better lake Sunday hoping to get a few northerns/musky/walleye/cats
Any tips for pike? I really have only caught bass, I hooked a fairly small musky last year at this lake (right when they stocked them) and I got it to the shore before it finally came lose and got away--probably most upsetting fight with a fish.

What rigs have you guys had the most success for pike fishing? Also I may go for catfish considering this lake has HUGE catfish (the water is extra clean and crystal clear, so walking across bridges and what not you will see 20lb catfish just swimming about although hardly ever caught).

[HairyScandinavian]

Gonna tear it up Sunday and Monday fellas, will try to remember to get some pics of my stomping grounds.

[lhprop1]

How many of you miscers have been fishing??

I have been slaying walleye and northern pike for the past few weeks on the river with jigs and minnows.
Here are some pics of some Northern me and a friend caught this spring so far.

Let me know what you're catching and what you used to catch them!

I live in wisconsin. Salt water fishing is a blast too. I've fished while in mexico and in florida a few times. I love catching barracuda.

If you're from Sconnie and you're pounding the eyes and gators, you must be close to the Mississippi. Which pool do you fish?

[thart1991]

If you're from Sconnie and you're pounding the eyes and gators, you must be close to the Mississippi. Which pool do you fish?

About 45 minutes south of madison. Not really close to Mississippi. But a decent sized river is where i fish. Close to the dams.

Other guy:
I use medium sized rapala minnows or minnows on round headed jigs for walleye/pike. Bright colors. I have a lot of success with Orange and yellow jigs. Catfish it depends but i use minnows or stinkbait setup usually and let it sit on the bottom.

Good luck fishing this week!

[Turbomunkey]

Scroll through, no pics, no care

[lhprop1]

About 45 minutes south of madison. Not really close to Mississippi. But a decent sized river is where i fish. Close to the dams.

I thought the only place you can chase eyes or gators is on border waters. Does the river near you have a special regulation?

[thart1991]

I thought the only place you can chase eyes or gators is on border waters. Does the river near you have a special regulation?

Umm not really sure. I think the limit is 3 eyes instead of 5 like the rest of southern wisconsin. Other than that i have no clue.

[lhprop1]

Umm not really sure. I think the limit is 3 eyes instead of 5 like the rest of southern wisconsin. Other than that i have no clue.

You might want to check on that. The statewide season opens on May 5 if I'm not mistaken (one week before Minnesota's opener). As far as I'm aware, the only place it's legal to fish for walleyes or northerns right now is on border waters.

Right now, they're in prespawn. Disturbing them while they're in this phase can be very destructive to reproduction.

[thart1991]

well ****. ill just say i was fishing for crappies or carp and caught them on accident. Haven't kept any so far. Gotta renew my license the 31.

[HairyScandinavian]

Hit the bays the last two days drifting with the kids. This is a new bay system for me and the whole area has some pretty skinny flats. Ran through some seriously shallow stuff in crystal clear water yesterday, no way my old boat would have gone through that. I have to say it's nerve wrecking to be running WOT and look down to see maybe 8"-10" of water under you, tops, puckered up pretty good until I got out of those flats back into 2-3' of water on the edge and backed off for a while. I need to get to know the area a little better before doing stuff like that. Anyhow, no pics of fish as they either get tossed back rapidly or into the live well and we didn't catch all that much anyway, lots of undersized Speckled Trout but it was a good couple days. I think I have a shot of an island on my phone that I'll edit in when I can get it later.

[lhprop1]

well ****. ill just say i was fishing for crappies or carp and caught them on accident. Haven't kept any so far. Gotta renew my license the 31.

The DNR can still give you a ticket for fishing out of season, even if you don't keep any. If you're tossing a dardevle or a jig and minnow or using a technique that's used for a specific species and the season is closed, you'll get a ticket.

[2k10SS]

Hey guise, im going to start doing some pier/rock fishing but unaware what I should use for a pole, line, bait etc. Shooting for striper and black sea bass. Walmart had a bunch of poles but dont know what I was looking at. Trying to keep it under $100 for everything.

[HairyScandinavian]

Hey guise, im going to start doing some pier/rock fishing but unaware what I should use for a pole, line, bait etc. Shooting for striper and black sea bass. Walmart had a bunch of poles but dont know what I was looking at. Trying to keep it under $100 for everything.

Seems those striper guys really like a good distance casting rig, lots of them order from breakawayusa.com stuff like a 13' LDX or HDX rod paired with a Daiwa SealineX 30sha. That's way over $100 though.

[thart1991]

I buy my poles at gander or farm and fleet. Gander Mountain has some cheap pole deals right now. They also got any baits you need. I wouldn't buy that **** at walmart haha.

[2k10SS]

Seems those striper guys really like a good distance casting rig, lots of them order from breakawayusa.com stuff like a 13' LDX or HDX rod paired with a Daiwa SealineX 30sha. That's way over $100 though.

So 13' rod and 30lb test line?

[HairyScandinavian]

So 13' rod and 30lb test line?

I don't know much about Striper fishing. Obviously they get fairly large but from what I understand most would be around the size of our slot redfish in terms of fight. Slot reds are no problem for my long rods (did I just say long rods?) and Bull reds will not be much of a problem either. What *I* do for a rig like this is get 300 yard spool of 30lb Power Pro and put it on the spool then top it off with 20lb Big Game mono, this gives you great line capacity if you do hook into a big one and better castability of the lighter line. Plus you can change out the mono as it ages and keep the Power Pro as it doesn't wear out on the bottom of the spool. Mono is better for sandbar rub anyhow. My favorite rig is a 12' Tica medium heavy with a Penn 525 mag reel spooled up as stated. My HDX has a Daiwa SealineX 40sha on it which is a bit heavy for the long distance casts, but I use it primarily for casting shark rigs when seas are too rough to kayak out to drop the baits.

EDIT: I would also not go with just any 12 or 13 foot rod, most are heavy as hell and can't be cast worth a damn other than just heavy lob. If you look at the videos on breakawayusa.com or youtuble for HDX and LDX rods you will see Nick casting and the rod is forming a huge C shape behind him. My Tica likely looks similar... can't do that with just any old heavy long rod. With practice, these rods will get you 500+ feet with just a sinker, obviously that is reduced with bait and such. Those guys have some fantastic bait leaders also and I buy their hardware and make my own leaders with their same style, really helps when you clip your bait to the weight for casting.