The Fishing and Hunting Thread

[DrPhilly]

Great stories and pics in here.  I must admit I'm lame these days but it takes me back to going fly fishing for trout with my grandfather in central PA in the early 70s.  I was in the trees all morning but we always returned home with a couple nice fish which grandma cooked up for breakfast.  Hard to beat it.

[Alpha_TATEr]

i just started getting into fly fishing a couple years ago. first just trying a different rig to go after salmon & steelheads.

 

now im trying the smaller rigs for other fish. not quite there yet but im getting better at it. 

[MIRV Griffen]

2 hours ago, Alpha_TATEr said:

i just started getting into fly fishing a couple years ago. first just trying a different rig to go after salmon & steelheads.

 

now im trying the smaller rigs for other fish. not quite there yet but im getting better at it. 

I’ve fly fished all over the lower 48 (trout and warm water species) and Alaska (salmon/Dolly Varden/Arctic grayling).  Get ready for a ride.  It’s super addictive and you’ll be tying your own flies before you know it.  There’s no satisfaction like fooling a fish on a fly you tied yourself.

[Alpha_TATEr]

8 minutes ago, MIRV Griffen said:

I’ve fly fished all over the lower 48 (trout and warm water species) and Alaska (salmon/Dolly Varden/Arctic grayling).  Get ready for a ride.  It’s super addictive and you’ll be tying your own flies before you know it.  There’s no satisfaction like fooling a fish on a fly you tied yourself.

what kind rig did you use for salmon ? i have an okuma connoisseur 10" rod with an okuma 7/8 reel. i could probably go smaller on the reel but sometimes those kings run like mad and you need the line. 

[MIRV Griffen]

4 hours ago, Alpha_TATEr said:

what kind rig did you use for salmon ? i have an okuma connoisseur 10" rod with an okuma 7/8 reel. i could probably go smaller on the reel but sometimes those kings run like mad and you need the line. 

I ran a Orvis Helios 2 in 8-weight chucking large streamers of all sorts to incite a territorial bite on Chum and Pink salmon.  A bigger, faster, heavier line weight rod is a good choice for salmon because 1) it can take the stress of a fight with a bigger fish and 2) it lets you send larger flies and streamers further out on your casts.  That said, I wouldn’t go up to something as big as, say, a 12-weight until you start going for King salmon.  It will get exhausting in a hurry.  

As for the reel, your logic is good.  Depending on the line rating for the rod, using a larger reel is a good thing because bigger fish like salmon can run far.  You need enough line and backing to let them do that so you don’t feel compelled to try and horse them in, breaking the line.

[Alpha_TATEr]

19 hours ago, MIRV Griffen said:

I ran a Orvis Helios 2 in 8-weight chucking large streamers of all sorts to incite a territorial bite on Chum and Pink salmon.  A bigger, faster, heavier line weight rod is a good choice for salmon because 1) it can take the stress of a fight with a bigger fish and 2) it lets you send larger flies and streamers further out on your casts.  That said, I wouldn’t go up to something as big as, say, a 12-weight until you start going for King salmon.  It will get exhausting in a hurry.  

As for the reel, your logic is good.  Depending on the line rating for the rod, using a larger reel is a good thing because bigger fish like salmon can run far.  You need enough line and backing to let them do that so you don’t feel compelled to try and horse them in, breaking the line.

nice mudshark ! i got my rig one year when the spinning reel i had for 20yrs took a dump on me while fighting a king. i went to one of the tackle places in town and they had the combo sitting there. figured it would be a good starter setup. now im hooked. i just got a nice used st croix rod at a yard sale. $50 for an amazing rod. i have a cheap reel on it right now but looking for an upgrade. 

this was a good day on the river. one year im getting out to the west coast. 

 

[MIRV Griffen]

Great job on the river!  

Yeah, fly fishing is downright crack to a fisherman looking to expand their tools and skillset, ESPECIALLY on trout.

That said, I’ve caught fish as small as fingerling brown/rainbow trout to as big as *tarpon* on a fly.  It never gets old and there’s no fish too small to make that feeling of satisfaction hit when you fool a fish on a fly rig.

Oh, and I own 1 St. Croix rod.  It’s a highly specialized 3-weight small water/stream rod, but it’s a dandy.  You see it in the pic with the brown trout on the grass with the Orvis reel.  Good choice to take that one you found at that yard sale.

That large rainbow you see me with while float tubing a lake in Nevada was taken with the oldest rig in my arsenal - a 1960’s era fiberglass Horrocks-Ibbotson that I ran with 6-weight line.  Slayed big fish like that all day on that vintage rod, given to me by my dad a few years back.

 

[Alpha_TATEr]

nice fish man. wow. 

i am trying my luck going for snakeheads using my smaller rig and a frog lure. they go for top water action so the retrieval has to be pretty rapid to get them to go for it. no luck the first time out, but hoping to get out again this weekend. they are actually an awesome game fish and they have helped the bass, pickerel/pike walleye populations to bloom. 

[MIRV Griffen]

Topwater can be a blast.  A frog rig, mouse pattern or a small popper made for fly work can get extremely high hit rates, even on pressured fish. I have caught some surprisingly big fish bass and other warm water fish on itty-bitty bluegill poppers during the summer heat.   If you don’t own any pick some up ASAP and give them a try.  

For the record, my biggest fish/smallest fly catch was a 23”+ cuttbow brought to hand on the South Platte River in Colorado.  It came up and sipped a *size 24* black midge!  The midge was on a dry-dropper setup with a tan caddis used as the top fly indicator.  That tiny black speck in its lower lip is the fly that it took.

 

 

[Alpha_TATEr]

nice stuff man. 

 

well it looks like i am heading up to pulaski for another salmon run. i was supposed to go up in the beginning of oct, but schedules didnt work out so we found a place for next week. def earlier, but the last few years the runs have been earlier because of better precipitation. looks like this year is going to be the same. 

 

i really hope i can hook into a brownie. still haven't caught one yet. 

[Alpha_TATEr]

so went pulaski over the weekend. didnt do well on salmon river so we headed to oswego on saturday. hooked into quite a few salmon, but didnt land any. cut my line on a couple of them as they were foul hooked. i did though land this catch of a lifetime, 50in lake sturgeon, on a fly rod. check one off the bucket list !! can't take them out of the water in NY so this was the best pic i could get before i let it go. 

 

 

 

 

[MIRV Griffen]

I've never so much as seen a sturgeon outside of an aquarium.  Congrats!

[Alpha_TATEr]

23 hours ago, MIRV Griffen said:

I've never so much as seen a sturgeon outside of an aquarium.  Congrats!

catch of a lifetime for sure, especially because it was so unexpected. i yelled like a little kid when i realized what i had on the line. i have heard they are starting to be caught again locally in the delaware river, but i dont know of anyone personally that has caught one there. i figured i'd have to travel and look for them specifically to ever hook one up. 

last time there i caught a huge carp amongst the salmon and steelhead. varick damn, it's awesome place to fish. 

[mikemack8]

Figured I'd bump this since there was a little hunting chatter in a thread in WU - how's everyone's archery season going?  Nothing on the ground yet for me - only seeing small bucks so far

[Alpha_TATEr]

im starting archery next year. i tried to do bow but my shoulder sounds like rice crispys when you pour in the milk when i pull back. so it looks like im getting a crossbow. 

[mikemack8]

Shot a nice doe Saturday with the muzzleloader - didn't see any bears

[mikemack8]

Saturday morning, shortly after 8am.  Grabbed the antlers - literally touched them together once, twice, three times.  Turned to look to my right and here comes a nice 8pt - sees me move and stops in his tracks at 40 yards.  I'm sitting there holding the antlers - bow still hanging on the tree.    Had a 3 minute stare down, then he turned and trotted off.

The leaves were wet, so he must have already been really close and when I started my rattling sequence he booked it in there.  I'm off this Thursday through next Monday - high hopes I'll get it done.  Got some decent bucks on camera.

[Alpha_TATEr]

went on a charter out of barnegat Sat. and fished the wrecks. ride out was really choppy, but well worth the trip. the whole boat (20guys), killed it. i stopped counting at 35 fish. mostly porgies and some nice sea bass.  breaded and fried the sea bass and smoked the porgie. so damn good. 

[MIRV Griffen]

Been seeing plenty of deer at my farm during archery season, but nothing I want to take a shot at just yet.  Always the smaller does and bucks coming close while the big ones hang out just out of range.

[NCTANK]

i caught this chunky 18” spotted bass on a drop shot rig yesterday afternoon.

[MIRV Griffen]

On 11/26/2020 at 3:54 PM, NCTANK said:

i caught this chunky 18” spotted bass on a drop shot rig yesterday afternoon.

Really nice fish!  Those dropshot rigs with a minnow imitator can be deadly.

[JetroLot]

On 8/21/2020 at 1:12 PM, Alpha_TATEr said:

nice fish man. wow. 

i am trying my luck going for snakeheads using my smaller rig and a frog lure. they go for top water action so the retrieval has to be pretty rapid to get them to go for it. no luck the first time out, but hoping to get out again this weekend. they are actually an awesome game fish and they have helped the bass, pickerel/pike walleye populations to bloom. 

If you're going to try and catch snakeheads on fly equipment, understand that the way you normally set the hook needs to change. I took a guy from the Philly area out and taught him how to catch snakeheads on a fly set up and he set the hook way too fast. I'd count to almost three after they take and then set. Also, learn to fry stalk. You'll want to specifically build snakehead lures. I'd toss the dude's name out there that I taught, but I don't know that he wants it. If you fly fish for snakeheads in Philly, you probably know him. There aren't many of you. 

Snakeheads have been ruined by idiots around the area. Frog Eaters, Snakehead Stalkers. Just plaster the spots the OG guys worked our butts off to find and now there are 1000 kayaks in he water and trash everywhere. I don't even fish for them anymore. Dudes down in Blackwater, MD see PA plates and start slitting car tires now. Savage. 

[Alpha_TATEr]

i have never fished for them in philly. we have them up in the lakes here in lower bucks. 

[Phillyfanatic]

On 8/13/2020 at 6:00 PM, DrPhilly said:

where are these taken?

The fish in NY near Canada and the moose in Alaska.  

[greend]

looks like my hog hunt is still on in April