when i got the bat ray it pulled drag and i tightened it and forgot to loosen it some.. so yea the drag was a bit tight. but when im on the rocks i dont like to let em run because they get themselves snagged in the rocks.

Spent a half day on the Vedder River yesterday, fishing cheek by jowl with every other punter around. Tons of chinook jumping right in front of me, solid 15-20 pounders. I only got a couple bites, nothing landed.

man i bet that was a nice river

i had similar issues when i first started fishing for steelhead and chinooks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiMChYYk2x4

i admittedly, being so new, wasn't setting the hook hard enough

once i got this technique down i was bringing them in by the droves

i never would have imagined that bigger river fish would require so much hook setting...that littler fish set themselves by devouring ****.....but it seems to be true

Originally Posted by Captain Tele

man i bet that was a nice river

i had similar issues when i first started fishing for steelhead and chinooks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiMChYYk2x4

i admittedly, being so new, wasn't setting the hook hard enough

once i got this technique down i was bringing them in by the droves

i never would have imagined that bigger river fish would require so much hook setting...that littler fish set themselves by devouring ****.....but it seems to be true

nice vid. A lot of fish here will set themselves granted you have your hook tied correctly but even still... that is a way better feeling when you feel those hits and you set it yourself. i dont care if it is a small fish i love that feeling.

I caught 5 largemouth bass in a couple of hours on Sunday. Largest was 3 1/2, so no pictures, just a typical Florida morning.

Gonna go for redfish and snook in a few weeks. That will be a meat-fishing trip.

****in snook.....u damn east coasters. i hear so much about this fish but have never tasted any. yet alone seen one in person before. man do i hear legends about this fish.

so for now i will have to learn about it from the internets

Spoiler

i would mount one of these to my wall....the other one toss back

vs.

Spoiler

definitely not a keeper

Originally Posted by Thingfish

I caught 5 largemouth bass in a couple of hours on Sunday. Largest was 3 1/2, so no pictures, just a typical Florida morning.

Gonna go for redfish and snook in a few weeks. That will be a meat-fishing trip.

3 and 1/2 lb is respectable. i would be happy with that.

The chain of lakes where I fish most often has abundant bass in the 2 to 4 pound range. A number of lakes/rivers a short drive away average 3 to 5 pounds (I have never caught 1 pound or less fish in these locations). There are several world-class bass lakes in the area as well. Best in my boat over recent years was 8 lbs. 6 oz.

Less than a one hour drive will put me in saltwater lagoons and beaches with flounder, redfish, snook and seatrout. Venturing a bit offshore you can catch anything that swims. Florida is like that. There's a lot of crazy, but a lot of great fishing as well.

Originally Posted by Thingfish

The chain of lakes where I fish most often has abundant bass in the 2 to 4 pound range. A number of lakes/rivers a short drive away average 3 to 5 pounds (I have never caught 1 pound or less fish in these locations). There are several world-class bass lakes in the area as well. Best in my boat over recent years was 8 lbs. 6 oz.

Less than a one hour drive will put me in saltwater lagoons and beaches with flounder, redfish, snook and seatrout. Venturing a bit offshore you can catch anything that swims. Florida is like that. There's a lot of crazy, but a lot of great fishing as well.

i would love to fish that state someday.

i feel pretty lucky to have several really good big mouth bass lakes... i mean ****... dixon lake had that 25 lb bass that dude had a world record for a long time. we got some biggins around here. its pretty common to hear of 10lbers getting pulled. in fact i watched a guy pull a 7lb and a 10lb at poway lakes dock a few weeks back.

that bluegill I posted was caught in minnesota bros

had a really fun day at the lake today.

first i get to the dock and find 2 drop shot weights... the awesome skinny long kind that drag through **** real nice. 4 different colored plastic worms all in pretty good condition. so i set up the weight and use this clear yellowish worm. i got 4 little's on that. then i switch to my brown and green roboworm and hit 3 more little's. it then goes dead with no bites for a while so i move off the dock. i switch back to the yellow worm and hit another little but loose the worm. i switch to a red brown worm and hit another little but loose it as well. once again on a pink worm this time i hit another small.. the smallest one. so i decide to go back to the dock and switch back to my roboworm for the rest of the day. Finally i break my little streak and get a legal size. even tho i catch and release all bass in these lakes it felt good to get a decent size. i will spare you the pics of every fish... even tho i have em i will show the biggest and smallest.

small


big

oh man...nice catches

i spent half the day fishing yesterday and nothing

not a bass to be found i am sad to say

Looks like I'm off for round 2 on the Vedder River on Saturday. Hopefully crush a nice chinook or coho.

I went down to Cabela's today to replace my rain jacket that fell apart last weekend. I am happy that I will be able to remain dry through another Pacific NW salmon season.

are your rivers insanely low up there right now?

they are all record breaking bad in the areas i have been to lately

They aren't too bad actually. We've had a fair bit of rain lately. But through most of the summer 99% of rivers and streams in my part of B.C. were closed to all fishing due to low water levels and high water temperatures. The fish were so stressed that even if you released them right away they wouldn't survive.

dang...that is bonkers



glad to hear it is rapidly improving with recent rains though

maybe there is some hope for the west coast this winter

yea all the lakes around here are pretty low. some they even purposely lowered and it devastated the fishing i guess.

so today a local lake... santee... is stocking 1500 lbs of catfish. i guess its a derby or something. i have never gone to one but apparently you can win prizes for trophy fishes and tagged fishes get you prizes as well. i dont know if i am gonna go or not. i dont know if i will do well with crowds... people can be assholes.

people who fish are assholes
(except for me)

you sit there fishing with 300m of rock breakwall to yourself - catch one fish and for sure some **** will appear from nowhere and cast right on top of you

Originally Posted by ArakAtak

people who fish are assholes
(except for me)

you sit there fishing with 300m of rock breakwall to yourself - catch one fish and for sure some **** will appear from nowhere and cast right on top of you

yea people are assholes.... about a week ago i was fishing off the rocks at the bay all of a sudden some old **** and his wife pull up in a boat and drop anchor litterally right where i was casting. i could hear the wife say "honey there is an angler over there" he ****ing barked at her and said i dont give a ****. i was so close to just casting right on top of his boat. needless to say i do believe in Karma and he didnt catch **** while he was there.

another time i was on the kern river in the sierras and two flyu fishermen litterally walk up and split me 5 feet on each side. i went off on those ****ers.

Hit the Vedder River again today. It was pretty slow, lots of kelts going by waiting to die, but some jumping chum. I tried Colorado blades all morning, and nothing. My friend hooked up and lost a chum on dark green yarn. So I said **** it and pinched some chartreuse yarn from him. Second cast after switching to yarn landed this:



A good 10-12 pound chum salmon. It put up a good fight, it was a lot of fun. It was released with orders to be fruitful and multiply.