any fisherman here?

[sandsawmill14]

hows the fishing ???  all the rain has had us messed up on the catfishing only got to go out on the river once so far this spring :-\   but we have been fishing below a dam from the bank and cant complain me and my brothers always go together and we have caught over 300 keepers so far this spring with maybe 15-20 being small catfish and the rest being about 1/2 crappie and the other 1/2 white bass last week we caught about 30 good size bream/shellcrackers but this was the first of year for them but the time is right for them and catfish too now ;)  our best night this spring was 38 keepers ;D and i have no idea how many small ones we put back ???
i love catching big fish so catfishing is what i love but when we go fishing we fish for what is biting and take minnows for crappie/white bass, nightcrawlers everything will bite them ;D ,crickets for bream/ bluegill and use either rooster livers or skipjack for catfish ;D so you might say we go prepared :D :D :D
what are you guys/gals catching ???

[sawguy21]

I have not been out yet, the water is running high and fast.

[sandsawmill14]

its pretty rough here too right now  :-\ we are fishing 30-40 yards farther up the bank than normal :-\  and 2 fisherman drown when their boat got sucked over the spillway last week :( at the dam i was talking us fishing at  :( a good time can go bad real fast when the water is high :-\

[sandhills]

We walk to the river from our front door, takes about 2 or 3 minutes to get to where we usually start  .  Haven't been down there yet this spring, May 1 had 2 inches of snow on the ground  :-\.

[sandsawmill14]

yall are getting a late start ;) we started fishing the last week of feb but it has been unusually warm this spring though

[sandhills]

Should be going tonight, the sun has actually shined again, they gotta be hungry  ;D.  We've moved my 2 step kids into their new houses, my oldest graduates highschool along with 2 of her first cousins this month, and it's been a really cold wet spring here so haven't planted a seed yet, the fishing doesn't look too promising right now  :-\.  I'm hoping June will look a little better!  Come to think of it though, maybe a guy could throw out a set line or two...

[sandsawmill14]

yep or maybe a few jugs if you have somewhere they cant get way

[Briankinley2004]

Went out to the Green Canyon a couple weeks ago. Got 8 yellowfin. Highlight was hooked up on 3 at once and landed them all

[sandsawmill14]

looks like a good day

[Magicman]

Wow, a great trip for sure.  Friends and Fish mix well together!   8)

[coxy]

every year I say I'm going to do more but never even go  :(

[gspren]

  I've been fishing but not catching although it's early. I actually do more crabbing than fishing but love it either way.

[sandsawmill14]

  I've been fishing but not catching although it's early. I actually do more crabbing than fishing but love it either way.

as long as you enjoy it is all that matters

every year I say I'm going to do more but never even go  :(

just git your pole walk off and go fishing ;D you will be amazed how little that 3-4 hrs mattered anyway ;)  now dont walk off and leave somebody broke or bleeding  but if they are just badly bent its a judgement call and your the judge ;D :D :D :D

[Briankinley2004]

gonna go shoot some fish this weekend if the weather in the gulf dies down. Amberjack is closed so we probably won't be shooting big ones. Thats fine with me, at my age I don't have anything to prove

[coxy]

I like to walk but I'm walking over 3 miles to go fishing    ill drive  :D I have never had any trouble doing what I want  and she never gets any flack from me to do what she wants the only difference is she will give me a week or so notice ill give her maybe 3-4hours :D i never take her fishing with me anymore cause she always catches  them bigger than me and I'm not having that  ;D

[sandsawmill14]

 :D :D :D

[sandhills]

 

 
6 years ago on my wife's birthday, I was too busy carrying fish to the cooler and we didn't have near enough bait, every time I'd get back down there she'd have another.  Those were the ones we kept, never had luck like that since then but still love to try  .  Now this doesn't go any further than the www, at one point I had one hooked, we were just below a dam, and it got behind a snag.  I have know idea what it was but do know it was the biggest fish I'd ever had on around these parts anyway.  I was rather determined so I stripped down to my skivvies (broad daylight, but didn't see anyone else around) and headed in to the river.  Well, water below a dam swirls a lot and it got much deeper much faster than I thought it would, and I can't swim worth a hoot so needless to say I lost the fish, my shorts, and had a really wet ride home, but hey, I tried  .  I'd still like to know what it was though, we were catching everything that day.

[sandsawmill14]

this pic is from a couple weeks ago

  the cutting board they are on is 24" by 30 or maybe 36 cant remember


  sorry about this pic it was about midnight last sat we we got finished but there was about 25 fish on the stringer and thats the only pic i took :( but i will try to get better pics from now on

[Ljohnsaw]

My buddy took me out in his boat on the lake by my house.  Not red hot fishing, but came away with these three trout:

 

18", 10" and 15".  All hold-overs - pink flesh.

[sandsawmill14]

all hold overs pink flesh ??? does that mean they are good to eat or not good ???  sorry we dont have trout except when the state stocks them in a local lake from about nov through feb  water is to warm rest of the year i reckon

[Ljohnsaw]

Stocked trout (at least out here) are white flesh - from not getting the best food.  If they spent a year eating good stuff in the wild, the flesh changes to orange or red, much like wild salmon and taste a whole lot better.  German Browns will usually have a golden colored flesh and are the best tasting, IMO.  They don't raise/release browns - they are all wild and smart!

[sandsawmill14]

thanks

[capt dick]

Had a Home in the Bahamas--Great fishing also Lots of Lobster.

[fishpharmer]

Capt Dick, ya'll grow some mighty big crawdads!   That sailtrout ain't bad either.    ;)  ;D

[sandsawmill14]

with pinchers that big i would be afraid to go in the water :D :D nice fish too

[ibseeker]

Went out to the Green Canyon a couple weeks ago. Got 8 yellowfin. Highlight was hooked up on 3 at once and landed them all

Those two are a really nice grade of yellowfin. They've got power! Ripping drag and no quit in those fish. Do they have a processing service at the dock? What port did you fish out of? I'm thinking of trying Ft Walton/Destin area or Venice, La.
I'm hoping to get on them during our 3 day charter off San Diego in August. I recently came off a 2.5 day charter that was a feast or famine trip. I starved! Three big bluefin in the 100# range were caught and that's it. My bait never even got excited. All in all it was still a great trip with the 14 of us having a good time.
Congratulations, it's nice to see someone stocking the freezer with quality fish!

[Briankinley2004]

I fish out of Port Fourchon, LA. It is West of Venice. We process our own fish. I can steak out a tuna faster than I can a pine log :D :D :D Venice is a good place to fish out of however you run the risk of fog certain times of year as well as lots of floating logs when river is high like it currently is. Both ports pretty much are accessible to the same play grounds.

[submarinesailor]

10.89 lb rainbow trout.  My buddy caught this it about a month ago in northern CT.


 

[Briankinley2004]

thats a big ole rainbow. out in Alaska they call them steelheads

[sandsawmill14]

thats a good fish

[caveman]

I took my 12 year old daughter and my niece snapper fishing this evening.  The current was ripping and we could only keep our baits in the strike zone for a few seconds.  I finally hooked a decent mangrove snapper and had him nearly to the boat when a respectable sized barracuda left me with a snapper head.  My daughter hooked up on a snapper within a minute or so and as she was about to lift him over the gunwale, the cuda ate her snapper.  She was in for a fight on light tackle.  The boat was anchored and the outgoing tide was helping the irate barracuda strip the 12 lb. mono off of her Penn 3000 series spinning reel at an alarming rate. 

As she was watching line dwindle on her spool, I pulled the anchor and positioned the boat so that she could gain some line.  After about 35 minutes, she landed a good sized barracuda on 12 mono with a 20 leader on a 1/0 hook.  I could not believe that she actually got this toothy critter to the boat.  She was super excited.


  

 

[Ljohnsaw]

That is AWESOME!  Is that that a record fish on that light of tackle?  That would be even cooler to get her name on a record! 8)

[newoodguy78]

Good for her, that's one fish I bet she's not gonna forget about anytime soon. 8)

[gspren]

  Wow, way to go girl! Is that cuda longer than the daughter?

[coxy]

nice  8)        do you eat them to :-\

[caveman]

IJohnsaw, I did not check to see if it would have been close to a record and did not even measure the fish.  We let it go after a few pictures.  I doubt it will live as it was completely whipped at the end of the fight but we did drag it beside the boat for a few minutes to get the water going through its gills.  It did eventually swim off.  These big cudas are on most warm water reefs and anywhere fish congregate.  It would not have qualified for a record anyway as I touched the rod for a few seconds to help her keep the line out of the motor's prop.

Coxy, I have never eaten barracuda due to ciguatera poisoning found in some of them.  This toxin causes severe neurological problems.  The small ones found on the grass flats are supposed to be okay but we catch enough other fish that taste good to risk it. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjR7dGjwNbUAhXF7yYKHYomC8sQFggoMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FCiguatera&usg=AFQjCNGEO4drNMcUIGZndqDmzrwj_Aj_bA

Several years ago I cut up a barracuda about that size into three or four pieces and used it as cut bait.  Within a few minutes a Jew Fish (Goliath Grouper now) ate the chunk whole.  It was a smallish Jew Fish, about 125-150 lbs. and I was able to pull him up from the wreck we were fishing.  Most of the ones that live at that wreck are too big for me to get to the surface using doubled up 150 lb mono (Bimini Twist) and a 9/0 reel with the drag super tight.

[DelawhereJoe]

I'll be sitting on the beach hiding under an umbrella trying to catch whatever bites, from blues to kings and anything else with fins.

[Magicman]

Move dat umbrella over a bit 'cause I'll be circling trying to find a spot to land.   

[coxy]

IJohnsaw, I did not check to see if it would have been close to a record and did not even measure the fish.  We let it go after a few pictures.  I doubt it will live as it was completely whipped at the end of the fight but we did drag it beside the boat for a few minutes to get the water going through its gills.  It did eventually swim off.  These big cudas are on most warm water reefs and anywhere fish congregate.  It would not have qualified for a record anyway as I touched the rod for a few seconds to help her keep the line out of the motor's prop.

Coxy, I have never eaten barracuda due to ciguatera poisoning found in some of them.  This toxin causes severe neurological problems.  The small ones found on the grass flats are supposed to be okay but we catch enough other fish that taste good to risk it. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjR7dGjwNbUAhXF7yYKHYomC8sQFggoMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FCiguatera&usg=AFQjCNGEO4drNMcUIGZndqDmzrwj_Aj_bA

Several years ago I cut up a barracuda about that size into three or four pieces and used it as cut bait.  Within a few minutes a Jew Fish (Goliath Grouper now) ate the chunk whole.  It was a smallish Jew Fish, about 125-150 lbs. and I was able to pull him up from the wreck we were fishing.  Most of the ones that live at that wreck are too big for me to get to the surface using doubled up 150 lb mono (Bimini Twist) and a 9/0 reel with the drag super tight.

wow thanks for the info   guess I wont eat any fish in less I know it came from my brook or lake wont be eating any more fish from mickey ds or burger slop  you just never know  would love to catch a fish bigger than 30lbs 

[DelawhereJoe]

Well looks like it was only 3 southern kingfish from the surf today, the water was very dirty from the heavy rains we had this morning. It looked like everyone was still fishing for blues using cut bunker and mullet rigs, I used whole frozen squid and was the only one I could see that caught anything. Didn't see any dogfish or skates which was very odd as they will bite when nothing else will.

[fishpharmer]

Caveman, good for you taking time to fish with your daughter, from the smile on her face she seems to love it.  When I was youngun, many moons ago, my dad was in the Navy, stationed in Key West, FL.  I fondly remember going on diving excursions with my family and his diving buddies.  They would sometimes spear some massive jewfish.  Most were larger than me (at the time).  Jewfish must be a heck challenge on hook and line.

[caveman]

James, I have not made it down to the Keys for several years but the fishing down there is incredible.  Some of my students were catching some big Jew Fish a few years ago using 300 lb mono and an incredibly stout rod with a 9/0 reel.  The way the old timers would catch them was to tie a 1/4" rope to a dock pile and have an inner tube tied between the dock and the hook to serve as a shock absorber to wear the fish down and prevent the 1/4" line from breaking.  They would land them by hand.  Several of these guys worked for the rail road and would catch them off of the rail road trestle at Boca Grande. 

My oldest daughter got one that was about 200 lbs to the boat on 20 lb spinning tackle one night several years ago when I took her, my other daughters and her friend fishing near Egmont Key in Tampa Bay.  That was a lucky catch for sure.

All three girls like to fish but I still try to limit their trips to a few hours and provide action.  I think they all prefer catching to fishing.

[WV Sawmiller]

   I finally got the boat out this afternoon and Sampson and I went to the local lake for about 4 hours. I had planned to put out some bushhooks but after my wife explained our schedule for the next few days I decided to wait till later in the week or maybe just next week. The granddaughters were upset they could not go today because they are on another trip. They may be able to go at the end of the week.

  I caught about 70-80 little bream, mostly green sunfish. I caught most on a 10' crappie pole with a #10 cricket hook and about a half inch piece of nightcrawler for bait. I tried a fly rod with about a #10 cork popper and that worked good too. I guess I caught 20-25 on it then decided to try for some eating size bluegills and I did pick up enough bluegills and even some decent redbellies (Red-ear sunfish) for a good feed for me and the wife. I kept out a dozen and left all the rest tied out in a 5 gallon live bucket I drilled full of 1/4" holes. The ones that survive will go on catfish hooks later this week.


 
Probably nothing over half a pound but these are probably my favorite eating fish.

[timberking]

Been working on the crappie on Lake O Pines.  Fishing brush piles we and put out over the last 7 years.  1/8 oz. jigs with trailer and nibbler tight line.

[sawguy21]

I finally got out on a mid sized lake on the weekend. The weather turned quite warm, fishing was slow but we caught a few pan size rainbows. And a good sunburn. ;D Leech pattern trolled just below the surface was the most consistent, I went deeper and got a few bumps. Just getting out was reward enough.

[capt dick]

Got a good Wahoo and Grouper





 

[caveman]

You did not catch either of those in Wisconsin.  Good fish.

[sawguy21]

 :D

[WV Sawmiller]

   I went to our local COE Bluestone Lake yesterday to catch bait and put out catfish lines  (Limblines/Bushhooks). Had to tow a family back to the landing when their big motor quit on them. They probably would have made it back on their trolling motor but I did not want to take a chance of women and small children being stranded out there. Then went and put out about 45-50 lines baited with live bream. Checked my lines on the way home and replaced 8-10 baits and had a 22 lb flathead and a 4 lb channel cat on the lines.

   My son and his 2 youngest (9 & 5 y/o) daughters came over this morning to check them with me. We had 10 fish that weighed 45 lbs. Biggest was an 8 lb flathead. Then we let the girls fish for tonight's bait and we had a blast with them. Molly, the 5 y/o caught the most I guess. She'd snatch them out and hit me in the head and get tangled in all our lines and get her float tangled on her 10' crappie pole. When it did she'd yell "Tangle Emergency" and Sean or I would fix it for her. They both

   had a good time.

   We are in the middle of a may fly hatch and there are billions of them on all the bushes there. As we checked the lines they'd swarm all over the place and Abbie, the 9 y/o, would have a screaming fit. Molly was sitting next to her as calm as could be with dozens of May flies all over her. We caught plenty of bait for tonight and it started to sprinkle so we used that as an excuse to leave although the girls figured fishing in the rain would be fine.

   I guess we finished cleaning and filleting today's catch by about 11:00. Have a heaping 5 gallon bucket full which will be about 56 lbs as they pretty consistently yield about 80% of their live weight from my experience.

   I'll bait up tonight and take up my lines tomorrow so they won't interfere with weekend lake users.

[Ljohnsaw]

Went out fishing again on Thursday (yesterday).  The pattern has been catch a small fish and then bigger and bigger.  First fish was this 18.5" trout that my buddy, Wayne caught:

 
The fish took one look at the next and made a long strong run for it!  Then next, and final, 2 he caught were smaller and small.  Pretty slow day.

[WV Sawmiller]

   I went out and took up my lines this morning. Will not put any more out till after 4th of July as too much traffic on the lake next few days. Young friend from my son's church wanted to see how to put out limblines so he met me at the landing at 0630. We had 7 fish on the lines that probably weighed a 45 lbs total. Biggest was a 19 lb 6 oz flathead. Young fellow took off one 5 lb channel cat then reached with the same hand to untie the hook and the fish flopped free back in to the lake. I guess I forgot to tell him we were not practicing Catch and Release fishing on this trip. I brought back 2 channel cats about 8 lbs total to give to an old neighbor. Adam took the others, including the big flathead, back with him and was happy to get them. While I was cleaning the 2 I brought home my neighbor's younger brother stopped by to watch and talk and I gave them to him. He and the 3rd brother will have a good feed on them. I had 3 on the lines last night weighed about 10 lbs total so I will take him a mess from them. Anyway, was a good fast trip with about 120 lbs of catfish in 36 hours plus a wonderful couple of hours with my son and 2 of my granddaughters.

[kiko]

Being able to share the food seems to be as enjoyable as the fishing !   

[WV Sawmiller]

Kiko,

   I give away a lot more fish than I keep. I used to fish and give them away to people on the bank or at the boat landing, sometimes out on the lake, if they would take them. When catfishing I usually bring them home, clean/fillet them then give them to old neighbors who can't fish or to various churches in the community to have fish fries.

   I can remember many times being at the boat landing at the end of the day when fishing had been poor and seeing several boats come in and offer their catch to somebody loading up their boat or fishing on the bank. Many times people were too proud or embarrassed to admit they had not caught enough for a feed but none of us had enough fish for one person or family to really justify cleaning them but by the time we consolidated our catch one person went home with a very nice mess of fish and 3-4 others went home happy they did not have to clean anything.

   I remember several years ago I had gotten to the end of my planned fishing route and a man and his young son were drifting along not having much luck and I offered him my catch. I had 30-35 decent crappie and he was thrilled. I guess it was his weekend for custody of his son and they were camping there at the park beside the lake had planned a fish fry but did not have enough fish for a feed till I asked them. We were both happy with the results.

[Briankinley2004]

 

  

 

Went over the 4th weekend. Got our limit of snapper every day. Caught Mahi-Mahi most days and got a nice 61" wahoo as well. Caught cobia every day. The dock shot posted here was typical of every day. Going back again this weekend if weather cooperates

[WV Sawmiller]

   I went and caught bait and put out about 50 lines about dark. Had 8 catfish that weighed 39 lbs. Looks like they dressed out a little over 23 lbs which is lower return percent than I have sometimes gotten in the past.

   Bait was easier to catch this morning and I have plenty to bait up tonight. Easy to catch on hook and line and fly rod works well too.



 

[Savannahdan]

You just made me think about the times many years ago that I would fish a small lake that was fed by the Mississippi River.  I would use fly rods with popping bugs.  It didn't take long to catch over 100 sunfish/bluegills and at times I would have 2 or 3 bugs at the end of the line.  Also caught quite a few gar doing it.  Sometimes when I just wanted to have fun and catch gar I would tie on a strip of red nylon cloth.  It was a lot cheaper than popping bugs and their teeth were made for holding onto the cloth.  I'll be taking a couple of grandkids fishing this Wednesday morning.  I'm sure we'll get into some mud fish.  Nasty mean and nasty teeth.

[WV Sawmiller]

SDan,

   I can remember fishing for gars at the eddies where the oxbow lakes met the main river channel. You'd see them feeding on the surface and could put a piece of cut bait or live bream under a float about a foot deep and catch them. They were hard to hook with their hard bony mouth full of needle sharp teeth then a friend showed me how to take a big eyed catfish hook and tie a heavy nylon cord about 18-24 inches long in the middle and unravel it. The gar would grab the bait and get his teeth hung in the fine fibers. The hook would often be completely outside his mouth and they had lots of fight since they weren't really hooked. We often shot them with a .22 rifle  or pistol. I used to keep a Saturday night special full of rat shot in the tackle box for snakes and gars. I caught one nearly 4' long on a trotline in Albany Ga and my son wanted to take it back to show his buddy next door. He did then I had to dig a deep ditch in the garden to get rid of it. At least I had a good crop of tomatoes that year.

    I assume when you mention mud fish you are talking about what we used to call cotton fish or grinnell. I think Cajuns call them cypress bass. Bowfin is likely the proper name. We caught a few in N. Fla and lots on the Suannee River in Dixie County. I never really wanted to catch one and split open their bellies and threw them back.

   My old mentor said a bunch of people seined an old pond and caught a big one. There was a preacher in the bunch who wanted it so they made sure it was in his share. He said he cooked it and chewed a while and finally said " I always wondered how Jesus fed the multitude with 2 small fish and now I know."

[WV Sawmiller]

   Baited up last night and caught one 3 lb channel cat I gave to a family on a pontoon boat because I inconvenienced them by baiting up next to them. i checked first and they said okay but still glad for them to have the fish. Somebody set lines in between mine which I thought was awful inconsiderate but when I ran my lines this morning I did have several fish between his lines and I saw one of his lines had a fish but did not touch it and apparently he did not bother mine.

   We had 6 fish (3 channel cats and 3 flatheads) that weighed 36 lbs. Biggest was an 11 lb flathead.  My wife went with me and after checking lines we got out or little poles and caught about 80 or so little bream for bait for tonight. This was her first fishing trip of the year and she seemed to generally enjoy it especially since I bait her hook and take off her fish. She is definitely spoiled.

[Savannahdan]

Yes, I think the proper name is Bowfin.  Funny you mentioned Grinnell.  I caught one of those (or at least that's what someone told it was) many years ago in SE Missouri.  I went to pull it out of the water and it seemed like it had really bad breath.  I figured if it was that stinky that it probably tasted bad.  It was released very quickly.  Funny story about the preacher.  I have to get out an dig some worms for tomorrow.  Hope the kids get into some big ones. 

[WV Sawmiller]

Dan,

   I have a couple hundred nightcrawlers in a bucket of sawdust and horse manure on the front porch. We never had them where I grew up but found they are plentiful here. I learned the trick to catch them is use a dim light so you don't spook them then instead of grabbing for them (One end is always securely anchored in their burrow and they can slurp back in quicker than a hungry hobo eating a plate of spaghetti) and you can't usually see which end is in the hole, pin him in the middle then get a better hold and keep steady pressure till he gives up and comes out. Pull too fast and you will break him in two.

   I'm thinking about cutting a bunch up in to 1" pieces and sun drying/dehydrating them. I use a short piece on a #10 cricket hook threaded on there to catch my bait. We also catch a few nice bluegills doing this. If the dehydrated worms work I can keep them sealed in a jar for future use.

   I never knew mudfish had bad breath but I know they have a mouth full of teeth. They seem to tolerate low oxygen water better than most game fish. I had an uncle said he heard of people catching and grinding them up to make fish patties and such. I never ate one. Like a possum - times ain't got that hard yet.

[caveman]

The past two mornings we have awoken to pretty intense thunder storms which convinced us to stay in. 

  I got up at 3 and at 7 it was still storming.
Friday, we were able to get out. We netted some bait, headed to a wreck about 15 miles offshore to try to catch some sardines for more bait-did not get many but we trolled some plugs for a few minutes and caught a couple if kingfish. We wanted to catch grouper and snapper so we headed to some spots that we used to fish years ago that are about 26 miles off of the coast.

The fishing was a little slow at times but we saw several loggerhead turtles and a green turtle. There was not a puff of breeze and the Gulf was calm. We did end up catching several yellowtail and Lane Snapper, a limit of Red Grouper and a few others. I got broken off a couple of times by big grouper while using 100 lb test and JMoore pulled a shark that was about 10' long up beside the boat. 

 
Last night our families ate blackened snapper and fried snapper.

[red]

NJ Fisherman caught 926 lb Mako Shark Friday night . Story is in www.usatoday.com . It's also shark week on discovery channel .

[tule peak timber]

I fished makos in the mid 80's with some success.... Here are some old pics of me when my hair was a different color. Rob

 

[WV Sawmiller]

   Friends from NC unexpectedly called on Friday and said they were coming for the weekend. I thought they were just going to overnight so I figured maybe they'd like a catfish trip so I put about 40 limblines out using creek chubs and minnows from the creek in front of my house. I checked for bait to make sure bass and crappie had not knocked off my bait at dusk. I had one small (1/2 lb) bass on one hook so I took him off and hooked him in the tail and put him back on for bait. The next hook had a 10 lb channel cat and I had a 5 lb channel a couple lines up. I took Abbie, my 9 y/o granddaughter, out Saturday for a special WV antlerless youth hunt. She had a nice doe 5-6 yards away but I had left the scope on 9 power and she could not find her and she got away. We came home and went to check our lines. The half lb bass had been replaced by a 16 lb flathead. We had 8 fish that totaled about 44 lbs. We went back in late afternoon and baited with the minnows I had and we caught 13-14 little bream and put them on for bait. We went back this morning and took up the lines. The first hook had a 17 lb flathead. We had 7 more catfish including a 19-1/2 and a 10 lb flathead and the rest were smaller channels and flathead. One line seemed to be missing till I spotted the pink flagging in the water. When we got close I spotted a big mink, the biggest I have ever seen, running the river bank and I showed him to Grayson my partner/weekend guest. We found where the line was tied but could not see the line till I saw it ran up on the bank and I spotted a 3-4 lb channel cat. I pulled him to us. He was still alive but you could see where the mink had started to chew on his chin. Another 30 minutes and the mink would have finished his sushi breakfast. First time I ever know of a mink trying to steal my fish. All total the catch was about 66 lbs and for the 2 nights around 125 lbs.  We had a flathead belly for lunch and Grayson and Tonya took all the fillets back with them this afternoon. Had a great weekend and a good catch of fish especially since it was totally unplanned and unexpected.


 
Me and Grayson holding a 17 & 19.5 lb catfish and 6 more up to 10 lbs in the net.


 
Checking the weight on a flathead.


 
Checking another flathead's weight.

[Roxie]

Y'all have some fine eating in store.  Nothing beats fried catfish.   

[WV Sawmiller]

Roxie,

   Yes. Becky brought out a big bowl and collected the belly fillets off the first flathead catfish we skinned and by the time we got finished cleaning and filleting the rest then getting a quick shower and change of clothes she and Tonya had a fine lunch of fresh fried catfish, cole slaw, baked beans and grits waiting for us. We had a blast this weekend with friends and our granddaughters and good eating to wind it up.

[caveman]

Cavegirl #3 got this redfish while we were fishing for big, pre-spawn snook yesterday afternoon.  The redfish was 32", which is above the slot size so it got released.  We did not hook any big snook and the fishing was a bit slow due to weak tidal flow.  

 

[WDH]

That is a fine one. 

[petefrom bearswamp]

Caveman, one of the few regrets I have in leaving Florida for the frozen north is that i never got to meet you and get in some fishing.
Havent been out here yet, but my son and grandson went to the Adirondacks over Memorial weekend and caught some splake and brookies.
Another group that i know got some awesome brookies in the north country too.
I have pics on my phone but dont get on the forum from there.
Maybe tonight while relaxing in my recliner I'll try to post them.

[caveman]

I'll look for them Pete.  I was hoping to get a chance to take you fishing but you did the opposite of most... moved back up north, full time.  I would be a "fish out of water" if I were to try for the fish you mentioned.

Danny, that was her first redfish.  Today I am back at work trying to configure my calendar to work in some more (saltwater) fishing this summer.  I guess I need to buy some batteries for my skiff and start bass fishing again in the afternoons.  

[Briankinley2004]

took my new to me Hatteras out on her first fishing trip this weekend. Got our limit of snapper easily. 





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[Ljohnsaw]

Took a break today from sawing.  Went out on my buddy's boat on Folsom Lake.  We were on the water about 9am and were catching trout pretty regular.  Limited by 1:10.  Most smaller (10-13") and this was the last one of the day 8)

 25" and heavy!  King salmon that they plant.

[WDH]

MMMMMMMmmmmmmmm

[caveman]

Those snapper would be welcomed guests to my supper table.  The biggest decision would be whether to blacken them or fry them.  That is quite a sporty platform to fish off of as well.

That salmon is invited too, but it will have to go on the grill.

Thank you both for sharing and further distracting me from things that I need to do.