Pretty good way of putting it. We went to Markeys first when we moved to the area 8 years ago. It's been 90% Browns since
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Fishing 2016
- Thread starter JimG.
- Start date
I always laugh when I tell people I'm going fishing and they say "oh, your going to go catch fish".
This past Wednesday and Friday were hard core fishing days. Everything earned nothing easy.
On Wed we fished for 3.5 hours and had one 5" bass to show for it. Now it's dusk and the day is ending. So we looked around and picked out the closest shoreline we rarely bother to fish. Just figured we were fishing in the wrong spots. My first 5 casts after getting there produced 3 largemouths, nothing huge but all fun to catch:
My buddy Steve had similar luck.
Friday was better but still mostly average fish and no big specimens. We got back to the big weed bed on the row in and I finally hooked something nice. There was still enough light to see a big smallmouth jump twice. The second splash sounded like a small child hitting the water. Then the fish charged the boat and I lost it.
I hate when that happens. We fished another half hour or so but nothing else bit. Still exciting. I think I love the fishing part more than the catching part. Not great days, but still landed enough legal sized bass both days to feed my family well (if I were to keep the fish). Figuring out how to entice and catch fish on generally unproductive trips is the fun part.
This past Wednesday and Friday were hard core fishing days. Everything earned nothing easy.
On Wed we fished for 3.5 hours and had one 5" bass to show for it. Now it's dusk and the day is ending. So we looked around and picked out the closest shoreline we rarely bother to fish. Just figured we were fishing in the wrong spots. My first 5 casts after getting there produced 3 largemouths, nothing huge but all fun to catch:
My buddy Steve had similar luck.
Friday was better but still mostly average fish and no big specimens. We got back to the big weed bed on the row in and I finally hooked something nice. There was still enough light to see a big smallmouth jump twice. The second splash sounded like a small child hitting the water. Then the fish charged the boat and I lost it.
I hate when that happens. We fished another half hour or so but nothing else bit. Still exciting. I think I love the fishing part more than the catching part. Not great days, but still landed enough legal sized bass both days to feed my family well (if I were to keep the fish). Figuring out how to entice and catch fish on generally unproductive trips is the fun part.
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chuckstah
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I had a fun couple of hours fishing the Merrimack in southern NH this afternoon. Although most of the fish were very small, almost every cast produced something. Mostly smallmouth, a couple largemouth and several brook trout. Nothing worthy of a picture. Should have a couple hours free late tomorrow to do it again. The river is lower than Ive seen it in my 10 or so years living here which is concentrating the fish in deep pools if you know where to look. I'm still learning where they are.
Safe to eat the fish in that stretch of the Merrimack these days? You always hear about how polluted the river is from about Concord south.
chuckstah
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I catch and release unless the fish isn't going to make it, but from what I here the fish are ok to eat in limited quantities. The river is much cleaner than even a few years ago.
Good to hear. I've always been a catch and release guy myself. I can probably count the number of fish I've kept to eat on one hand and that was due to who I was fishing with. I've never salt water fished outside of a couple of charter experiences in Florida where we got skunked. I think I'd be more inclined to keep a salt water species. Perhaps because you can get several meals out of say a striper compared with say a smalley.
chuckstah
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If i stumble upon a big striper, sea bass or other good eating fish in salt water it gets eaten. Fresh water fish almost always get a second chance.
Glad to hear others also catch and release. I have not kept one fish this season, all have been released uninjured.
I do keep fish when they are not going to make it (bleeding) and I love the taste of freshwater fish; mostly I'm just too lazy to worry about cleaning them after a long afternoon/evening of fishing. Also, in general salt water fish have more flavor. I just don't get out in salt water more than 3-5 times a season.
steamboat1
New member
Most of the fish I enjoy catching because of the fight they put up I don't enjoy eating (stripers, blues, weakfish, albacore & to a lesser extent bonito). Most of these get thrown back save a few for neighbors that eat them. Years ago anyone would be able to ship them to market to make a few bucks. Can't do that anymore without a special license, in NY it's called a Food Fish License or FFL, which are very hard to come by. They are passed down generation to generation for the most part. It's only recently they've started issuing a scarce few new ones by lottery, hundreds apply for the handful of new ones issued. My family actually has one but lease it out to a commercial fisherman. We can only do this because our FFL is issued to a corporate name. The vast majority of FFL's are issued to an individual name & can't be leased or sold hence why they are passed down through generations. They don't issue FFL's to a corporate name anymore, we are grandfathered in.
Most of the fish I do enjoy eating come up like dead weight & I don't enjoy catching them (cod, haddock, whiting, hake). There are a few exceptions which can be fun to catch on light tackle (flounder, fluke, porgies, sea bass). The only local fish that comes to mind that I do enjoy catching because of the fight & eating is blackfish. I like fresh tuna but they put up to much of a fight. Enjoyed catching them when I was younger but now they are just to much work. Most local fish have strict recreational regulations on them now as to season, size & bag limits. I've never done much fresh water fishing save a handful of times.
Most of the fish I do enjoy eating come up like dead weight & I don't enjoy catching them (cod, haddock, whiting, hake). There are a few exceptions which can be fun to catch on light tackle (flounder, fluke, porgies, sea bass). The only local fish that comes to mind that I do enjoy catching because of the fight & eating is blackfish. I like fresh tuna but they put up to much of a fight. Enjoyed catching them when I was younger but now they are just to much work. Most local fish have strict recreational regulations on them now as to season, size & bag limits. I've never done much fresh water fishing save a handful of times.
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bigbog
Active member
Spent ~4-5 days back in early June with some nice hatches on some streams: the So.Br. Penobscot....upstream of the Canada Falls stretch known to rafters/kayaker, stretches of the N.Br. Penobscot, tribs to Seboomook and Chesuncook lakes, and a few brooks around the Farrar Mtn area of Maine. Real good results in areas accessed by old cutting roads, but I neglected to take pics when fishing(still have to get better at that). Will take pics from here on in through Fall.... What I missed was our hopper season(mid-July through August):angry:...the best time of year outside of winter.
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chuckstah
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Yeah, selfies holding fish are surprisingly difficult to take.
Damned hot here too. Not surprised the evening/night fishing was good.
We're heading out tomorrow afternoon.
chuckstah
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Have fun tomorrow. It's supposed to be near 90 here tomorrow afternoon, which wont be good. I'm heading to the Cape for the weekend and hope to get in a bit of striper fishing after work if time permits.
Tin
Active member
Took the dog for a run around the nature preserve behind our house last night and saw a guy with a $600+ G Loomis/Shimano setup throwing a 12" swimbait in the 3-4 acre farm pond. I initially thought it was just a shallow beaver pond pond maybe not lol
We will hang out and drink in the shade until the sun starts to set and then fish seriously between 6-10pm.
The shade is also the best place to fish until then. The stable flies are going to be obnoxious.
Sylvan Lake right down road from me has about 5 acres of surface area and looks small. But it's 120' deep in one spot. Excellent Laker fishery.
There are a few other lakes in this area that are similar, Lake Gleneida and Lake Gilead are two of them where I used to live in Carmel.
Glacial Boreholes.
Humans don't seem to care for high humidity, but fish seem to love it so who cares? Yesterday we got to our southern res at about 4pm and it was hot and humid. The only saving grace was for the first time that I can remember this season we had good cloud cover. The sun peeked out for only about 10 minutes but that was hell on earth.
The clouds seemed to make a big difference as today was more a catching day than a fishing day. We pushed off and were immediately rewarded with a double header after our first casts. That set the tone for the day and we caught lots of fish. Nothing huge or pic worthy, the biggest fish were 2-2 1/2 pounds but the sheer number and total biomass landed was impressive.
Still looking for that late summer/early fall lunker bass. I know it is out there waiting for me.
The clouds seemed to make a big difference as today was more a catching day than a fishing day. We pushed off and were immediately rewarded with a double header after our first casts. That set the tone for the day and we caught lots of fish. Nothing huge or pic worthy, the biggest fish were 2-2 1/2 pounds but the sheer number and total biomass landed was impressive.
Still looking for that late summer/early fall lunker bass. I know it is out there waiting for me.
That is pretty amazing. The fish deserved to be released.
