Fishing

[SpotTheCat]

How have you guys been doing this year? I've been hammering the bass this year. Not a single northern this year though. Maybe I'll start to target them as the summer cools off.

My highlight this year was about a month ago, I got boss hog bass, 5-6 pounds on Lake Waconia. I got this bad boy out on Cedar Lake in Minneapolis earlier today. He's a solid fish. Took me close to 5 minutes to get him in on my light weight rod and 6 pound line through the weeds. I'm glad I had it though, he was nibbling so gently I wouldn't have felt it well enough on my medium rod. Sunny's nibble way harder than this bad boy.

[SpotTheCat]

So my wife caught a 26" walleye last night. Holy crap!


I think it even had my hook in it that broke my pole!

[ludi]

I either need to fish more or stop clicking on these threads. Around here a 14-15" rainbow or brook trout is considered good eating and I've caught exactly one 10" rainbow and a couple sunfish in my entire life

Nice catches, though!

[mattsteg]

Largely the babies biting this weekend for me. Did boat a couple of eating-sized walleye, a few 20+ in ones, and a Northern (that my mom netted while my Dad was telling her to wait so he could let it shake the hook - not a fan of handling Northerns and even relatively large ones are viewed more as a nuisance ). Nothing quite up in the 26in walleye range, though. Did catch one that appeared to have been snagged on the outside of the throat earlier - had a protuberance that looked like a coughed-up swimbladder but was under the chin and hard/bony.

[SpotTheCat]

Northern (that my mom netted while my Dad was telling her to wait so he could let it shake the hook - not a fan of handling Northerns and even relatively large ones are viewed more as a nuisance ).

Boo! Northern is a great game fish! What makes you hate handling them? Is it the slime?

[mattsteg]

Northern (that my mom netted while my Dad was telling her to wait so he could let it shake the hook - not a fan of handling Northerns and even relatively large ones are viewed more as a nuisance ).

Boo! Northern is a great game fish! What makes you hate handling them? Is it the slime?

Walleye snobbery, for the most part. When you don't plan on doing anything other than throwing the fish back, the slime and accompanying pervasive odor are annoying. We've been through this before, I think. I'm mostly impartial and amused by the whole thing.

[SpotTheCat]

Northern (that my mom netted while my Dad was telling her to wait so he could let it shake the hook - not a fan of handling Northerns and even relatively large ones are viewed more as a nuisance ).

Boo! Northern is a great game fish! What makes you hate handling them? Is it the slime?

Walleye snobbery, for the most part. When you don't plan on doing anything other than throwing the fish back, the slime and accompanying pervasive odor are annoying. We've been through this before, I think. I'm mostly impartial and amused by the whole thing.

The phrase "walleye snobbery" is familiar, indeed.

If you ever feel like something different, fillet a 4-5 pound northern like this guy. That first top fillet is some seriously good meat, and the rest is good too.

[paulWTAMU]

There's 0 good fishing around here. I miss the gulf and the rockies
The only lake nearby is Meredith and it's so damn low right now that it's actually hard to get to the water.

[SlyFerret]

I enjoy living less than 2 miles from a state park. There is some decent fishing there, and not to many idiots with ski boats or jetskis.

The problem I run into is that none of my friends really like to go fishing, and getting my dad's boat in and out of the water by myself isn't much fun. It really is a two person job.

-SF

[Looking for Knowledge]

The last springer I'll catch this season. It closes today.

[SpotTheCat]

Nice!

Fishing doesn't open here for another month, and really is only completely open in two.

[Looking for Knowledge]

Resurection...

Sturgeon is only open for four days this year. It started out rough, but we ended with our limit of keepers.

[just brew it!]

Them be some large fish!

I assume the season is limited this year due to fear of over-fishing?

[Captain Ned]

Them be some large fish!

I assume the season is limited this year due to fear of over-fishing?

I'm somewhat surprised that there's even an open season for sturgeon. There isn't one here in VT and we do still have a few of these Jurassic throwbacks in our lakes & rivers.

Sturgeon are exceedingly slow reproducers/growers, thus the catch must be small. Sturgeon is also the source of caviar, and each female sturgeon caught for caviar certainly isn't adding to the reproductive pool. And yes, they do get big. Based on this chart a 2-foot sturgeon is already 25 years old, and a 4-footer is 45 years old.

[just brew it!]

I'm somewhat surprised that there's even an open season for sturgeon. There isn't one here in VT and we do still have a few of these Jurassic throwbacks in our lakes & rivers.

Today, limited sturgeon fishing seasons are permitted in only a few areas including some locations in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.

[Captain Ned]

Today, limited sturgeon fishing seasons are permitted in only a few areas including some locations in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.

From whence comes that statement? The Wikipedia article I find on sturgeon has nothing on this. Probably just the usual Wiki indexing mess.

[just brew it!]

Today, limited sturgeon fishing seasons are permitted in only a few areas including some locations in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.

From whence comes that statement? The Wikipedia article I find on sturgeon has nothing on this. Probably just the usual Wiki indexing mess.

Sorry, it is in the lake sturgeon article, which is linked from the main sturgeon article.

[Captain Ned]

Sorry, it is in the lake sturgeon article, which is linked from the main sturgeon article.

No prob. Usual Wiki incoherence.

That said, these fish truly are Jurassic (or earlier) throwbacks.

[Looking for Knowledge]

Well, I cut some into strips and tried my hand at the batter + Bread crumbs + fry in oil method. My first time cooking this way. In my wife's opinion (and mine), they turned out great, but I think I'll smoke the majority of the rest. I'm looking forward to spring salmon.

[lvuman]

Can't beat Alaska fishing!

[Looking for Knowledge]

Nice! I've never been to Alaska, but have always wanted to go on a fishing trip there.

Springers are just starting to show up here. Two for three yesterday trolling plug-cut herring. 26-27lbs. It's on now!



Some beautiful dark pink meat.