Fishing

[DIRT Farmer]

I read Jim's post the other night, about fishing, not going to work and it got me to thinking, sometimes a good thing. This evening I got the canoe out of the shed where for the last several years I have just put it up after the grandkids leave it out, not gotten it out. I took the three weight fly rod out of the case and found one decent scud in the fly box, looked at the leader and decided to tie a new one. Man how long has it been since I went fishing?

I went out on the pond and spent an enjoyable evening catching bluegill. When I got some ability back to drop the scud under a lilly pad leaf the line would tighen quickly, most were small but I kept eight decent hand size and two smaller. Tonight they are in salt water, tomorrow they will be in the hot grease.

The fly rod is still rigged, and the canoe is still out, this could get habbit forming, again.

[Jim]

There ya' go, Dirt, now you're doin' it!

The child like simplicity of catchin' bluegills just can't be beat, can it? And when it comes to eatin', I'll jump over a plate full of bass to get to one fat bluegill.

[sharps4590]

I've been fly fishing for........45 years.....and have chased trout across most of the U.S. To this day I cannot think of anything that is any more fun than catching a mess of eager bluegill on a light fly rod....and they certainly eat a LOT better than trout!!!! Good on you DIRT, and don't let it be so long again.

[41 mag fan]

Bluegills are tasty!!!
Not much can beat a heaping hot plate of bluegill.
Sounds like you had a good time Dirt!!

[bruce drake]

For some reason, I prefer to eat bluegill to trout or bass. It tastes sweeter to me. My wife doesn't care for fish but the boys and I will toss them on the grill whenever we can.

Congrats on getting out on the water and rediscovering the joy of panfishing.

Bruce

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

that sounds fun for sure.
it's been years for me.
I grew up on a lake and we'd
fish "Sunnies" with floating tiny poppers with a
clear bobber that can be partially filled with water
for weight for casting.
a calm eve will always bring the "Sunnies" up to the surface.
Jon

[1Shirt]

My idea of fishing has always been a granade and a scoop net. Don't mind eating them just don't like catching them. Rather spend my free time casting,reloading, and shooting. To each his own I guess!
1Shirt!:coffee:

[WILCO]

Bluegill on a fly rod with a water spider or mosquito can't be beat! Out of a canoe with a cold beer balanced on the gunwhale makes it a dream.

[waksupi]

Yep, rubber spiders, for bluegill or crappie! My two favorite eating fish.

[Charlie Two Tracks]

I fish quite a bit. I love bass fishing. It's like hunting but on the water. We eat a fair amount of fish and I always throw the big boys back. Fishing for bass takes my mind off of everything else. Just like shooting at the range does. Most of the time I think too much and it's nice to calm the old brain out.

[6.5 mike]

Charlie, I found Wild Turkey to be good for that. I did wear an old bamboo fly rod out pan fishing.

[DIRT Farmer]

Thanks for the comments guys, I started fishing close to 60 years ago and got my first fly rod for my 12 th birthday, learned how from reading Field and Stream. I have built a few rods over the years, kept the learning ones (mistakes) for my self. I love fishing for trout, but wading the small mud streams here working the holes for sunnies is great too. Tonight I set up the 5 foot 4 wt that I built for small streams, I would have had more time for fishing but the only usable fly left in the box was a 14 scud. I like to never got the leader through the eye.
Lets see, in the last two evenings I have fished as much as I have per year the last few years.

[Southern Son]

DRT Farmer,
Mate, I have been guilty of being somewhere where there is great fishing (Near Rockhampton, Queensland) and I have only been out once in the last 18 months. I WILL be fixing that and I will start getting out a lot more. It is the wrong time of year for the best fishing here, but when the weather warms up, I will be loading my G. Loomis fly rod into the boat and going out for some Barra. Although I have an 8-9 weight rod (and it is considered the minimum for Barra, some guys use 11 weight on the impoundments fishing for Barra), I don't think I have even seen a 3 weight?

[Goatwhiskers]

The ancient Egyptians had a saying: the gods do not subtract from a man's allotted time the hours spent in fishing. Goat

[smoked turkey]

What a good thread. Lets see where is my fly rod?

[DIRT Farmer]

Southern Son, I built a 10 foot 9 wt for flats fishing and it worked well for big trout in the Norfork river, It is the biggest I have used or seen. I do have a pair of 6 foot 2 wts in different tip action, that I landed a better than 4 lb trout on that for some reason was in a stream that ws regulary stocked with truck midgets, fun to catch but not much eating on them.

[mwk1975]

Hard to beat a morning or afternoon spent catching bream or sac-a-lait, except for maybe an evening spent eating them!

[sharps4590]

6.5Mike mentioned the magic words, bamboo. I love the stuff and have.....maybe a dozen old, very usable bamboo rods. Bamboo strung with silk line is all I use. Here's my oldest, near 100 years old, and S L O W!!!!! It still works just fine and is in all original condition.

http://i432.photobucket.com/albums/qq41/sharps4070/P1010023-1.jpg

http://i432.photobucket.com/albums/qq41/sharps4070/P1010028-1.jpg

Reel is an old J. W. Young Pridex.

[paul h]

Funny thing is, inspite of having fished off and on for near 40 years, I still haven't made the switch to fly fishing. I did get into fly tying,

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and even built a few rods from blanks. I have a nice 3pc 4wt with a ross reel I've been wanting to try out for rainbows but work and honeydoos have made a serious crimp on my freshwater fishing. There is something to be said for plying a freshwater lake persuing fish.

I built an ocean going boat a few years back which has been my primary means of fishing, but one of these days I'll get another canoe.

I also have an old bamboo rod of my fathers that I need to repair as the thread holding the guides on has deteriorated.

[firefly1957]

I bought my first fly rod at 11 years old still have it had to repair the reel two years ago it does not get a lot of use. First thing I caught on it was my mothers dog I was practicing casting in the yard with a plastic frog and the dog ran out and grabbed it hook went right though its tongue. I suppose I should not have reeled it in but hey I was 11! I used to catch stingers of big bluegills with that rod and a Michigan spider. Biggest thing I brought in was a carp that took a very small jig it was about 2 feet long.

[popper]

Loaded 2 boxes of 308 cast this morning and then went to the pond. Had to try my new 3 wt before I go to Co. Caught some B-G and a 2# cat on a 7x tippet. Took a while to get it on the bank. Great sport but I don't eat fish - think it was that pickled herring my dad showed me (wanted me to eat it - ugh, it's GREEN) when I was a kid. Funny, he didn't fish or shoot but I love both.

[paul h]

Can't imagine not eating fish

http://forums.accuratereloading.com/evefiles/photo_albums/4/8/1/481101382/681101382_3A12C9491A57D30E8BAC543007A974DE.jpg

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