"Gone Fishing" group

[Stephen]

Anyone else here that loves to fish? I went to a local lake today and caught 21 panfish worth keeping..

They were a mess to clean!

Any other fishing enthusiasts?

[Karen_246]

Bill and I go fishing. I use to go when I was much younger, but hadn't been in over 20 years, then when we got together I started to go with him. We don't keep anything we catch, just toss it back in. We have to go and get our fishing licenses for the year before we go.

[FlaBoatGirl]

Just about every weekend that we can (weather permitting) my husband has the boat out. For him it's a hobby, but it's also a small business and something he can do when he does decide to retire from the regular job. We're on the west coast of Florida. The guys do spear fishing too. Mainly what they catch is grouper and then sell to the local fish house here. Nothing like being out on the water for the weekend. It's like a whole different world out in the gulf.

[bomar97]

DH and I fish.. didn't get out this winter to do any ice fishing. too much snow on the ice for us!

Right now I'm trying to get to feeling good enough to get out.. we planned to do more fishing this year.. unfortunately around here, fishing means to get the boat out.. so we can't just grab the poles and sit on the edge of the lake..

We decide when we catch the fish if we want it or not.. we'll eat some... some we release..

DH got me one of those underwater viewing cameras for Christmas and I'm dying to try it out so we can see the fish laughing at us in the water!

[souldolphindream]

I love going fishing. I caught a 5 pound small mouth bass 2 weeks ago. I also love going camping.:smile10:

[Stephen]

Just went again today.

Caught the biggest panfish I have ever caught.. Too bad I didn't bring my camera.

Caught 13 big enough to keep, and 27 too small. :(

Used red wigglers. Only stopped as I ran out of worms.

Anyone else go recently?

Today was the perfect day where I am at. Full moon tonight... Perfect temperature this morning with a slight breeze, then slightly warm, with a cool breeze. Was purrfect for fishing. :)

The worst part is cleaning them once you get home. :)

Stephen

(attachment is a random panfish I caught in the past.. Don't recall when, probably last year or earlier this year)

[Karen_246]

We went the other night. Caught a Perch, which Bill referred to as "fish bait" and a rock bass, then I took a hook in the thumb, all in all it was a fun night, lol.

[Stephen]

Ouch! That's painful. I've had a hook get me once.

Do y'all keep what you catch, or toss back? I keep anything that is large enough.

We went the other night. Caught a Perch, which Bill referred to as "fish bait" and a rock bass, then I took a hook in the thumb, all in all it was a fun night, lol.

[Karen_246]

We throw it back.

[Stephen]

I am tempted to at times, as at least a few of the fish I catch each time has eggs.. That ever so slowly makes the lake less fish populated for lack of better terminology at the moment.

However, it's not going to run out any time soon, as I can see thousands upon thousands of minnows, and not too many people really fish there these days.

I do not see why people do not though.. We have never gotton sick from the fish.

For $3.00 in worms it's not too expensive going there, as it'll provide a whole main portion of a meal for our family with what I caught today.. Will probably eat them tomorrow or Friday afternoon.

Fish at the store is so expensive, especially fresh fish.

Stephen

We throw it back.

[highlandsgirl28]

Hi everyone. I like to fish too. We try to get out on the lake whenever the weather permits. Since we've had our boat (2006) I've not caught one thing. Luckily I just enjoy being out on the water. I've been trying to catch largemouth bass but they don't like me. My husband uses the same lures and catches a few. It's a little frustrating.

[souldolphindream]

We went the other night. Caught a Perch, which Bill referred to as "fish bait" and a rock bass, then I took a hook in the thumb, all in all it was a fun night, lol.

We went to the lake on Fathers Day and my 4 year old Bella got a huge jig stuck in her foot
I was the one that hooked her:cry:
We had to go to the ER again
I felt so bad when they put that big needle in her foot so they could numb it.
She was very brave thou
The Park Rangers joked with us that we have bad luck
2 weeks before that I had to be taken to The ER by ambulance for a asthma attack

[$4family]

I actually got into sweeping because I wanted to win a fishing boat. Not that I have been sweeping long, but I gave up on winning a boat and bought one. It gets delivered this week. Of course, being in the desert. it is now way too hot to fish, but the family will enjoy the boat this summer and I plan on cathcing tons of fish in the fall. We went out a couple weeks ago and I caught a pretty nice trout. We tossed it back, but the next one I am keeping and frying up for dinner. Yummy!

[Karen_246]

I wanted to go yesterday, but the weather didn't cooperate, and it got nasty in the afternoon. I just like to go for the relaxation part of it, while I was pregnant we went alot, a couple of times a week, weather permitting.

Its funny, I never thought about it before I got together with Bill, and now I'm "hooked" (bwaaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaa, sorry) on it.

[Stephen]

Going to try to see if I can go tomorrow to a lake that I haven't been to in a few years to fish.

Going with Crickets and Redworms. mmm. That's a meal right there! (Just kidding).

Going to just fish for panfish at the dock.

Stephen

[Karen_246]

That is the one thing I can't do, I just can't make myself do it ~ use live bait.

When I was a kid and fishing i had no problems slapping a worm on there and doing my thing, but now I just can't do it. I gagged bad when I first tried it when I was pregnant. Now I have a rubber worm thingy on there, I don't catch alot, and normally they are small, and they swallow it which drives Bill crazy because his hook remover is to big to get in their mouths to remove the hook without hurting them.

[$4family]

Oh, poor fishy... I have no problem baiting the hooks with the big wigglers, but my kids always want to keep them for pets. Now that we have the boat I am thinking about starting my own worm farm too. I know my kids would love it.

[highlandsgirl28]

I definitely want to hit the lake this weekend but I get nervous around holiday weekends. I'm scared there are a bunch of drunken crazies on jet skis. With my luck though the fish will be hiding because it's so hot!

[Karen_246]

I really need to go and throw the line in the water, i'm wicked stressing right now.

[TrinaWants2Win]

I go fishing with DH sometimes.. But i wont put the bait on or take the fish off. But I have fun holding the pole and pulling it in I suposse. lol

[usplus1]

We go every weekend, I actually caught my biggest fish ever last weekend a 24 inch walleye....

[Kringer]

Living on a lake..my family fishes often. My son and nephew went fishing today, caught a few lil bass. Threw them back. Being a finlander, I can filet a fish! Have plenty of rapala knives on hand. Waiting for the kids to catch some panfish..yummm.

Good luck anglers! http://bestsmileys.com/fish/20.gif

Pic of my lil guys 6lb bass caught on hooker lake almost 2 years ago.. he was a keeper and
we had him mounted.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v215/Kringer/TrentonsmileFish.jpg

[Stephen]

Just caught some little ones at the lake.. Not going there again. None were big enough to keep.

Stephen

[Karen_246]

Well that stinks.

We just picked up some new lures, can't wait to try them out. We were supposed to go last Sunday but something came up. I even bought a package of gummi worms to try to use those as bait, but since we didn't go, I ate them. :smile11:

[souldolphindream]

Oh, poor fishy... I have no problem baiting the hooks with the big wigglers, but my kids always want to keep them for pets. Now that we have the boat I am thinking about starting my own worm farm too. I know my kids would love it.

we spent this past weekend at the lake for 4th of July. My daughter loves to play with the worms. I had my chair out in the water fishing when I got a bite. it was a nice size catfish. Well after catching it I asked Bella were the worms were at so that I could bait my hook again. the little stinker told me mommy I put them back in the lake so that they could be with their families.I was mad and laughing at the same time.

[$4family]

That's funny. We went fishing this last weekend, and when I pulled out a night crawler it was so wiggly it fell into the lake, but that was only one... Only caught some small Blue Gill. They loved the worms. I like to use the nightcrawlers but they made a huge mess on my new boat. I had to vacuum. Next time I go out I think I will try some plastics. Then i wont have to vaccum. I vacuum enough at home. Next week I think we are taking the kids, so that should be fun. i hope they catch something so they don;t get bored.

[Karen_246]

So we went fishing on Sunday, I can't believe that no one else was there. We had to fight with about 4 water snakes. I didn't catch anything with my gummy worms, so I ate them :laugh: DH caught a huge huge huge northern pike. You should have seen him trying to get it off the line without having to touch it.

[Stephen]

Went fishing at a prviate pond Saturday morning, caught two small bass. Went Thursday to a lake nearby and caught five panfish big enough to keep.

Stephen

[souldolphindream]

We had a wonderful weekend camping and fishing at the lake. We caught close to 50 catfish. We had so much that we threw some back, had deeped fried catfish 2 nights and gave a bunch away. I havent caught that many since I was a little girl in Virginia.

[Karen_246]

Dang I want to go salmon fishing. Went by one of the creeks yesterday and there was a whole bunch of "fishheads" in the water. Bill tells me if we go fishing and I hook one my butt is going to get wet because its going to pull me in. I think it would be cool just to catch one, of course I'd throw it back. Would just like to catch something a little bigger then "fish bait".

[al_capone_junior]

Fishin’ tales – Kinda Tall
Thursday September 18, 2008 @ 08:23 PM EDT
Posted by al_capone_jr

So I’ve dun been fishin’ lately out on the lake. Got some beer and some bait and headed on down to fishtown and popped a cold one. Left harbor and trolled a bit down towards Whitefish point. They were hittin’ OK around six fathom shoal in the morning, but falling off by noonish. Waved at my buddies Andy, Ernie and Ed on the way to the burger joint. You gotta watch it goin’ that way, cuz rouge waves abound in them thar waters.

So we get to the burger joint on Caribou Island and ol’ Gordon Lightfoot is playing on the radio. I reminisce a little ‘bout maritime themes as I’m putting a little cactus salsa on my jalapeno-double burger. :captain:

At noon the butterflies started swarming o’er the lake. they migrate every year and some years they migrate more than others. Darn things were so thick you could almost walk across the lake on a cloud of butterflies. But dang those things really peg you in the head when you’re cruisin’ tho. Gotta wear safety goggles if you know what’s good for ya. And don’t forget to adjust your hat trim for cruizin’ speed too. It’s funny cuz once in a while a rouge butterfly gets in with the herd and sticks out like a sore thumb. Most of the butterflies are fairly small brown ones, so a big yellow swallowtail really sticks out and kinda looks funny.

Afternoon rolls around and that makes it beer time. I pop a cold one and it refreshes me nicely. :cheer4: Swimmin’ sounds like fun so we head out across the pond, passing over the Andrea Doria along the way. I reminisce of maritime themes as the cold brew goes down smooth.

Coming upon the swimmin’ hole, we pull up into turtle cove. That’s cuz there’s a rogue turtle that patrols them thar waters. He’s the boss. Anything he wants, he gets. Surrounding turtle cove is cactus cliffs where we go cliff diving. You gotta climb up the cliff out of the water at a treacherous place aptly named break-nut point. It’s slippery and you’d best be paying attention! At the top of cactus cliff is lizard bluff, named for the rogue lizard that patrols the top of the cliffs. He ain’t afraid of your sorry butt either as he’s doing lizard push-ups and watching, always watching you. Don’t mess with the lizard.

So we’re up on cactus cliffs atop lizard bluff and looking down. It’s a long way down, with choices to jump from anywhere from ten to sixty feet. The water is deep below, deep and blue. And the turtle is there, always there, like a maritime sentinel, watching every jumper. Some of us take a nice leisurely plunge from around 30 feet or so. It’s refreshing when you mix the acceleration of gravity with the coolness of the water below. Getting braver (or was it drunker?) we go ever upwards, ever higher. The water below looks ever so far away when you’re up at the top.

Now it’s not the fall, it’s that sudden stop at the end that’s got the potential to be a real bummer. And you know the turtle is gonna be laughing his butt off if you wax big time. He watches every diver, every time. Even if you land close to him, he just swims a little bit away, a little down, but never disappears, never is he gone, like a harbringer of death, he’s always there, waiting for your mistake.

Getting braver still, I perform one of the scariest maritime maneuvers I’ve ever tried, a head first dive from about 55 feet, off the sitting cliff just below lizard bluff’s highest point. Now when you dive, you’ve gotta remember to put out your hands to break the water upon entry, else your head will be performing the task instead. And you’ve only got one chance to rehearse the subtle choreographical nuances of the plunge, with no do-overs, no mulligans. Over-rotate just a little and you’re toast. Or at least the turtle is gonna be laughing real hard in a minute. But dive I did, and it was good. Sure it hurt, but I’d like you see you do a gainer with a half-twist off a sixty foot cliff and NOT SPILL YOUR BEER. :D

So after swimmin’ it’s more fission, but we’ve gotta head to different waters for that. I adjust the power settings on my boat, the RBMK, and check to make sure there’s no positive void coefficient in the cooler. Don’t want to run out of beer now, otherwise things may get too hot, resulting in a meltdown. We wave goodbye to the toitle and the lizard and head to the coast where we fished just off the wreck of the Lusitania. Fertile waters gave forth their generous bounty, and someone burst into song… :sing:

Felt a pang late one afternoon
I was fishin’ off Muir beach with Larry LaLonde
grabbed a tuna salad sandwich and started to chew
perty soon Ler’s yellin’ “fish-on! fish-on!” (1)

The lakesong echoed throughout the canyons and hills, and as it chorused all were inspired, all was well. The final verse left a enchanting, yet haunting melody hanging over the water like an eerie fog, calling the mariner to their doom off the Cape of Good Hope. Which, by the way, is where I spotted the Flying Dutchman. Yep. We were fishin’ off the cape and I told ol’ Captain Falkenburg that maybe “The Voyage to Botany Bay” was a less than optimal choice for reading while you’re roundin’ the cape. And I told him that he could maybe get there a little slower, but almost as fast, without being in league with that guy with the pointy horns and pitchfork thingie. Falkenburg didn’t listen of course, and now look what happened. Yep, that’s right. Kyle Busch. :joker:

OK… Moving right along…

So the Dutchman tried to send a message to shore, but since the person they were trying to reach had been dead for over 200 years, I didn’t write down all the details. Besides, my morse code is kinda shaky these days anyway.

Suddenly…

The weather started getting rough!
The tiny ship was tossed!
If not for the courage of the fearless crew…

Oh, forget it.

OK.

So the shadows lengthen and the fish start coming back to life. Fishin’. The sport of many a low-budget, beer drinking, NASCAR watching King. My sport. Fishin’ that is. You don’t have to be great at it to enjoy it, and it never gets old, even if you do. I’ll fish till the day I die. Cuz a good day fishin’ is way better than just about any other day. And a bad day fishin’ is still better than a good day working. It’s an old cliche, but it’s still true.

So getting towards evening the sky begins to turn a dark shade of orange and into red. The clouds are light and fluffy today, making for a perfect sunset. It’s quite a beautiful sight to see a sunrise or sunset from the water. Peaceful and serene, it’s all so clear to me now.

All this talk about boats, ships, fishin’, wrecks and maritime lore reminds me of an old maritime song…

We’ll wait in stone circles
`til the force comes through -
lines joint in faint discord
and the stormwatch brews
a concert of kings
as the white sea snaps
at the heels of a soft prayer
whispered (2)

If I could live my entire life and fish every day I’d probably die the happiest man in town. Fishin’. God I love it.

al

(1) from Primus, “Fish on (fisherman’s chronicles, chapter II)” on the album Sailing the seas of cheese

(2) from Jethro Tull, “Dun Ringill” on the album Stormwatch

[al_capone_junior]

Fishin' at the river
Sunday October 12, 2008 @ 05:40 PM EDT

Well I missed the race Saturday, but I ain’t complainin’ much cuz I went campin’ and fishin’. A good day fishin’ is better than just about any day, including race day. And the fishin’ was good!

Leave friday and head to the river. It’s a sunny day, not too hot and not too cold, the birds are chirping happily and the clouds are especially fluffy today. A perfect day for fishin’. The sport of beer-drinkin’ fools like me.

Arrival at the river is always a good thing. The beer is cold, the fishin’ poles are ready. My dog, let’s call him “stupid-head,” is also ready. He’s a fishin’/swimming dog, as he loves to go fishin’ and he loves to swim. Plus chase ducks, he loves to do that too (foreshadowing here folks).

So I pop a cold one and it’s quite chilled as the ice has done its job well. The tent goes up quick and I’m off to the water. Stupid-head pulls me hard as he’s anxious to go swimmin’.

First we take a plunge and the water is cool and refreshing. The Frio river is spring fed and is always refreshing and crystal clear. It’s been dry this year, so it’s not flowing much, but there are a few playful rapids below the 4’ damn in the middle of the park area. Stupid-head nearly kills me twice pulling me along the slippery rocks, but he’s having a blast so I don’t really notice.

We go above the damn and he swims for the deep spot. Two young kids want to play with the cute doggy. He’s a friendly dog, so I give him some lead and he’s off too see the kiddies. Slobber flies everywhere as he loves the attention he’s getting.

Next, it’s fishin’ time. I pop another cold one and get my fishin’ pole ready. Today’s choice of tackle is a shiny white and yellow fish-shaped rappala lure about two inches long, rattles inside, a medium-diver. The choice is immediately seen a being one made by a Super-Genius (such as myself), as the cry of “Fish-on!” is heard throughout the park…

T’was a bright and sunny day
It was me and Todd Huth
Fishin’ shark & Stingray
Out of Bohuas Lagoon
Well hey, hey, hey I’ll be screwed,
Blued and tatooed
Looks like I got me one of them
Fish on
Fish on! (1)

Now it’s a well known fact that the largemouth bass is the most noble of southern freshwater river fish. And that’s what had taken the bait, a largemouth bass. And noble he was, a nice little popcorn bass.

Now the less experienced fishin’ fools don’t know what “popcorn” means when used in reference to fishin’. Well, by definition, a popcorn size fish must be no more than twice the length of the lure used to catch said fish. Yep. A popcorn bass. Sucker was barely twice the size of the lure, but hey, a fish-on is a Fish-On!

Anytime a fish is caught, it’s beer time. I pop a freshie and its malty goodness accentuates the coolness of the water. Meanwhile Stupid-Head eyes up the small flock of ducks swimmin’ nearby. He’s focused and ready to roll. Ducks = fun to chase. That’s his thought process in detail. Wheels are a turnin’ inside his brain, for whatever that’s worth.

Soon it’s again time for a beer. I pop another and cast my line. The wind has become favorable and the 4lb test allows a long, efficient cast halfway across the river. I reel slowly, not too fast now, gotta give the fish a chance to catch up with the bait. Wham! Like a ton of bricks! Fish-On! As I start to reel, an old Nantucket seafaring song from days of yore fills my heart…

Now years gone by we find a man that rules the sea.
He sets out on a dark May morning.
To bring his catch back to this small community.
He doesn’t see the danger dawning.
Four hours up, oh the ocean swelled and swelled,
The fog rolled in it started raining.
“The starboard bow.” “Oh my God we’re going down!”
They do not hear his frantic mayday.
And he says
When I grow up I want to be,
one of the harvesters of the sea.
I think before my days are done,
I want to be a fisherman.
“I’ll live and die a fisherman.”
Calling John the Fisherman. (2)

It’s about a one pounder, not bad, after all, it’s a Fish-On to be sure. I take stock of the day and find that it is good. Later we go back to camp and make some grub, which is also good.

Next morning…

I’m up at the crack of dawn. Coffee brewed while camping is always good and gives me inspiration for the day ahead. Breakfast is next and consists of bacon, eggs, and campfire toast. Life is good.

Soon after, it’s beer time. Pop goes the top and the coldness of the suds is good. Back to the water and it’s fishin’ time some more and again. Now there’s nothing quite like bass fishin’ in waist deep water with a little ice-chest inside a small inner tube, beer holder on top. A little invention of mine.

So I’m fishin’ and we’re fishin’ and everybody’s fishin’. Except for Stupid-head, he’s THINKIN’. Which of course is not good. He’s thinkin’ when he’s sposeda be fishin’. So all appears well but underneath the peaceful serenity, something’s awry…

Next thing you know, FISH-ON!!! It’s like an atom bomb when my pole nearly doubles in half from the Moby-Dick sized white whale of a fish on the other end!

I was just a little pup
And it was derby day
Was dad and me and Darrell
Out in San Pablo bay
Taco flavored Doritos
And my orange life vest
Dad caught a hundred pound sturgeon
On twenty-pound test
Now he fought that fish for an hour
And a half
Darrell’d say “Jump ya sons a beech!”
And he grabbed for the gaff
When we got him in the boat
He measured six feet long
I was so danged impressed I had
To write a song called
Fish on (1)

The beast on the line is a monster, fierce and wild, a force to be reckoned with to be sure. Reminded me of those days gone by when we rode the Nantucket sleigh ride purely for the thrill of it all. The foresail yard-arm would creak and groan as the ship sailed fearlessly through the cold, faceless sea. Above us on the poop deck my dog stood watch, below us Davey Jones stood ready to welcome the unfortunate, the unlucky, or the weak.

So I start to fight the monster and nearly spill my beer! D’oh! But with the dexterity of a master fisherman (such as myself) I keep the beer alive and reel in the fish too. Big ‘un too, about 2 1/2 lbs. For these waters, that’s a big bass. Happy and satisfied, I carefully start to unhook and release my prize.

Suddenly…

RUFF RUFF RUFF RUFF RUFF!!!! (slip)… Splash, splash, splash… Gone!

Stupid-head has slipped his collar and he’s gone! And there’s some ducks that are mighty surprised! Now that dog can move mighty fast on land, and surprisingly fast through the water too, as the startled ducks had just discovered. Exactly what Stupid-Head would DO with a duck, should he actually catch one, is not precisely clear. Luckily, ducks are adept at making maritime escapes, and narrowly avoid the slobbering jaws of large, wet yellow labs. However, I’m in a bit of a conundrum here… do I unhook my fish and ensure his continued long, plentiful life? Or do I keep my dog from swimmin’ all the way across the river after the ducks?

Screw the ducks. I unhook the fish and let him go. I get another “victory” beer and consider my next move. The dog can swim ever so slightly slower than the ducks, and finally he decides that other things are higher on his list of priorities at this time, thus the ducks have diminished importance now. He comes back after a while, wet and stinking like dog, but obviously happy and quite pleased with himself.

Yep. Um-hmm. Yup. Fishin’. Gotta love it.

On the last day I awoke to the sound of rain on the tent. Not a brutal summer storm, but a gentle fall rain. Most of the campers had left, not very die-hard were they. But I stayed long enough to fish in the rain. My dog and I waded out to the deep spot, nearly to my chest. Stupid-head stood on the bottom with his paws on my waist and his head just out of the water. It was a truly surreal moment as we were the absolute only two in or even near the water. I’ve been to this park dozens of times and never once have I ever had the entire river to myself. And whattaya know, Fish-on! My last fish of the trip was another popcorn bass. Hey, it wasn’t a monster, but it counts!

Tally:

1 Moby Dick
1 Big ’un
3 popcorn

Overall, it was sure worth missin’ the race for, and I’d do it again.

al

(1) from Fish on (Fisherman’s chronicles, chapter II) by Primus

(2) from John the Fisherman by Primus

[al_capone_junior]

Another fishin' story - the Gafftop
Sunday August 31, 2008 @ 12:51 PM EDT
Posted by al_capone_jr

My dog is helping me with this, btw, by jumping up in my lap while I’m typing. smile.png

So we’re fishin’ off port aransas one day, anchored off the jetty. Catchin’ lots of fish, it was one of the best trips I’ve ever been on. Drinkin’ a lot of beer too. Obviously. after all… Why fish without beer? Guess that was double-redundant, mentioning that we had beer whilst fishin’, but alas…

So we’re fishin’ and I’m fishin’ and we’re all fishin’ and we’re catching fish. I catch a fish. It’s a gafftop, which is a catfish lookin’ fish with long, whispy looking fins. But under those delicate looking fins are short, sharp spines. And don’t forget the poison, never forget the poison.

So I always unhook everything, even if I have to cut the hook in half with a pair of dikes. So I go to cut the hook and the sucker flops around and spines me in the thumb.

BAD mistake. VERY BAD.

I’ve smashed my thumb with a hammer. Broken arm playing basketball. Injured knee in karate. Multiple bad sprains playing basketball. Bloody noses playing basketball. come to think of it, why did I play so much basketball? But I digress… None of these injuries hurt even half as bad as getting stung by this stupid fish. Not even close. Pain really sucks when it’s me. Sure, it was funny to everybody else, seeing my anguish and suffering. But to me it sucked.

I’d already drank a six pack of beer and it was still hurting like 45 minutes later. A buddy had vicaden, which, perhaps foolishly, I took some of. didn’t help do diddly and the pain continued.

Suddenly…

The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed!
If not for the courage of the fearless crew…

Oh forget it.

Anyway, the waves were rolling in big time and I started getting sick. After “chumming” the water a few times my thumb still hurt just as bad. But we were still catching lots of fish. another one of us got sick over the side, making a fresh batch of chum for the fishies. Still they kept biting, still we kept on catching them. Reds, mud-sharks, junkfish, sheepsheads, stingrays, crabs, flounders, sea bass, black drums, sea robins, stargazers, we were catching everything and lots of them. Never did I suggest going back to shore, despite the sickness and pain. Besides, we still had plenty of beer left. Twas one of the best fishin’ trips I’ve ever been on. But damn my thumb hurt! Stupid gafftop!

So the moral of this somewhat pointless and rambling story is actually quite clear…

DON’T GET STUNG BY A GAFFTOP OR YOU WILL REGRET IT.

al

[al_capone_junior]

Fishin'
Friday August 08, 2008 @ 06:48 PM EDT
Posted by al_capone_jr

OK. So my nephew was like just barely one year old the first time we took him fishin’ down at the creek. We fished for sunnies, bluegills, and naturally, perch. Chance also to catch a bass which would probably be largemouth, but there’s a few smallies in that creek too.

Well when the boy was just a boy and not even yet two, he’d gotten enough manual dexterity to reel in a fish. So he’s not even two yet and the kid is already reelin’ em in. We’d fish with small hooks and worms, thus maximizing the possible number of fish caught in any given session. Heck, I like to catch bigguns, but really bobber fishin’ with worms is the bomb and overall probably the most fun. Definitely requires the least effort along with the highest fish count probability index factor.

So the boy actually caught and reeled in his first fish before he was two.

Before he was three, he was already LYIN’ ABOUT HOW BIG THEY WERE! I’d ask “how big was that fish?” and he’d hold his hands WAY out, like about a foot and a half long! We all knew there aint no poich that dang big!

BTW a “poich” is a hybrid between a sunny, bluegill, and classic “perch” that’s so hybrid and mutt-ley it’s impossible to tell precisely which breed it really is.

So one day I’m down with my bro and the kid and we’re fishin’ and we’ve got a couple poles baited with live goldfish (best bass bait EVER). Yeah, it may not be legal in your neck of the woods to fish with goldfish, but I ain’t sayin’ exactly what neck of the woods this was!

So anyway I’m fishin’ and we’re fishin’ and everybody’s fishin’ and I’m also playing the classic “bass fishin” electronic handheld video game (came out sometime in the ‘90s). I’ve hooked onto the lunker! …in the video game that is. Now this video game is tough and the lunker is hard to reel in, you gotta keep messing with the drag and reeling your butt off. Meanwhile my real to life actual bobber disappears under the water’s surface in a surreal moment of fishin’ lore – about to go awry.

Cuz in my panic of confusionary uncertainty, I found myself with a beer, the lunker, and an actual fish-on. The beer wound up as fish food, the fishin’ game wound up in the water. In fact, that game is still on the bottom of that very creek, in the same spot. Turtle made a nest out of it. Ain’t no punk turtle either, a big, fat gnarly soft-shelled turtle named Willie. And despite the supposed softness of their shell, the soft-shelled turtle is about like hooking onto moby dick when you catch one on a hook. And since I’m a conservationist, I carefully cut the hook in half every time I get something like this on there. Kinda like trying to perform dentistry on a pissed off alligator, but slippery-er. Like a big green, pissed off frisbee, only with sharper claws.

So I did lose the game, and my beer. But I got the fish-on. Bass. Largemouth. Most noble of the southern freshwater river and lake fish.

Sucker was about that |————————| long!

al

[al_capone_junior]

I'd just like to point out that in this tall tale, there are many references to things beyond fishin', whether that be historical events, or miscellaneous other. However, the basic story told here is based on true events that occurred over a single weekend at medina lake in medina texas, 2008 in a 14' fishin' boat.

al :captain: