Finally! The fishing season!

[bigamefish, posts: 311]

Im not sure if anybody else are avid fishermen but i know i have been looking forward to this day for a long time! Ever since in ended infact. My target species are Ictalurus punctatus,Ameiurus melas, Ameiurus nebulosus, northern pike (esox lucius), white sucker(catostomus commersonii) and if im lucky maybe even a shorthead redhorse(Moxostoma macrolepidotum)
Im very exited! If you would like some pictures please tell me and i`ll take my camera!

[Birger]

No muskies up there?

Birger

[bigamefish, posts: 311]

No muskies up there?

Birger

Oh Birger i wish! But i do quite often catch 41"+ pike! This summer we are going on a golf/fishing trip to brainerd mn and there are some muskie lakes in the area so i plan to go try my hand at that!

[Birger]

Your province has some really great fishin....good luck this season.

Birger

[bigamefish, posts: 311]

Thank you! do you often go fishing birger? If so what for?

[Scleropages, posts: 425]

Don't forget to bring your camera and a ruler (or a beer can--for reference, of course)! I like to go fishing too. Trout season started on April 7th over here. The streams/rivers where NJDFW stocked trout were packed with 'em on opening weekend. It was nuts. We got rainbows, brookies, and brown trout. I also go lake fishing for largemouth bass, carp, bullhead cats, and sunnies. There are muskies, northern pike, and walleye stocked in some of NJ's lakes, but I haven't hooked either yet. I hear there are grass carp around as well, but I haven't seen one.

[bigamefish, posts: 311]

I will bring the camera for sure! And a size refrence device. I can`t wait! Im not sure if you can tell but im as much as a fishing nerd as a catfish nerd through the summer i practicly llive at the river trying to 1 up myself from the last big fish!

[Viktor Jarikov, posts: 2276]

Pics and vids are always nice. Good luck. Too bad you live so far. With such an unbridled enthusiasm, you could help me populate (and feed) my Aquarium

[panaque, posts: 245]

I love fishing too. For me it's the ultimate medicine to treat work related stress. I fish mainly in the sea, both from the shore and from my kayak. I mostly fish for the table so to speak, meaning we eat what I catch. I haven't had much opportunity yet this year but in the few outings I have done I have caught the following species:
Pollock (Pollachius pollachius)
Garfish (Belone belone)
Mackerel (Scomber scombrus)
Launce (Hyperoplus lanceolatus)
Pilchard (Sardina pilchardus)
I'm sure I'll be able to add more species to this list over the next few months

[Viktor Jarikov, posts: 2276]

Nice. I guess I should mention what we hook here too, keeping in mind I've just started here...

-- freshwater: sunfishes of all kinds, FL bullhead, cichlids, FL gar, snook, bass, walking catfish, tarpon (in all kinds of waters), soft shell turtles, an occasional gator, who doesn't (or does?) like your stupid, brightly-colored bobber...

-- Gulf of Mexico: pinfish, ladyfish, crivello jack, pompano, permit, snapper, grouper, bonnethead shark, mullet, bagrus marinus, another ariid cat I don't know the name of but it's everywhere in huge numbers, drum, sea bass and sea trout, etc.

[bigamefish, posts: 311]

Pics and vids are always nice. Good luck. Too bad you live so far. With such an unbridled enthusiasm, you could help me populate (and feed) my Aquarium

It is too bad i live so far away! That would be an offer i couldn`t refuse! Oh well maybe some day i`ll make my way down to your area! I would love fishing for all the diffrent kinds of fish that i can`t catch up here!

[Scleropages, posts: 425]

tarpon (in all kinds of waters)

If I had the tank space, I wouldn't mind coming down to catch some smaller specimens and bringing 'em home. They are fascinating fish to me. My importer friend had one in a large marine tank (1000 gallons, easily) in his facility and would feed it any dead fish that turned up in his tanks. One time, he threw a large tang that was floating, not eating nor swimming, and seemed like it was going to die in that tank. The tarpon swam up and took a huge chunk out of the tang's midsection. The tang survived, minus a good chunk of its midsection, and the tarpon was best friends with it for years. They eventually decided to get rid of that tank and put a reef rack system in the same space--a lot more money to be made in the same amount of square feet. But I'll never forget that tarpon. Beautiful fish.

BTW, I just got a 5.5'/6lb. line capacity Pflueger President rod & reel combo. Looking forward to using that for the rivers/streams & ponds/lakes. Gotta stock up the freezer with them tasty trout. There are also landlocked salmon in a few lakes in NJ: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/salmon.htm Would love to catch some of them and then filet and pan-fry them up. I hear it doesn't taste the same as ocean run salmon, but it's still gotta be pretty tasty, no?

[Viktor Jarikov, posts: 2276]

Don't get me started. One of a few things I miss dearly in FL is trout fishing in western NY brooks.

[bigamefish, posts: 311]

Here are the pictures of the first fish of the season! Only esox lucius this time but im crossing my fingers to catch some cats next time!

[bigamefish, posts: 311]

They all look a little roughed up but if you have ever caught one you should know these fish never run out of energy so they flip flop and freak out when they are out of water! They all made it back ok.

[Firestorming, posts: 238]

I guess I am lucky where I live, I can fish in saltwater year round,but where I grew up we had a trout season but my favourite was to head away with my father,grandfather and uncles to fish for Murray cod (Maccullochella peelii for the ichthyologists out there), I will have a hunt about for some of the pics of my uncles metre plus beast (108kg-235ish pounder). Not many of the big ones about anymore due to overfishing and other crappy factors. Now most I get are 20-35kgs.

[Scleropages, posts: 425]

if you have ever caught one you should know these fish never run out of energy

Not bad for your first day out fishing. I've hooked a few in my day and I never look forward to it. Reeling them in feels like you're pulling up a gigantic garbage bag filled with water. As you know, the real sport begins once you get them out of the water.

Here are some of the whoppers I caught at a local lake today. I included a 500ml Poland Spring bottle in each pic to prove the size of these record breaking catches.


Lepomis gibossus (Pumpkinseed)


Lepomis macrochirus (Bluegill)

I hooked a bass, but it broke my 4lb. test line and stole my lure. I also caught some Pomoxis nigromaculatus (Black Crappie) but didn't get a chance to snap some pics as I was busy trying to transfer them to buckets ASAP with minimal stress. I've always been interested in trying to keep them but they aren't too common around here--I think I got lucky today. They are now in a spare, unheated 55gal. I'll try to get a pic or two in a few days.

[panaque, posts: 245]

Lepomis gibossus (Pumpkinseed)

We caught lots of these in the south of France last year. Every river and lake was full of them.

Yesterday I added gilthead bream (Sparus aurata) to my list for the year. A very tasty Mediterranean species that seems to be expanding its range northwards, presumably in response to climate change.

[Scleropages, posts: 425]

Snuck out for a little fishing at lunchtime today. I caught four more black crappies, one pumpkinseed, and this gigantic monster :

Micropterus salmoides (Largemouth bass)

[bigamefish, posts: 311]

Well the bass isn't the biggest but it is a rather cute little guy!