Fishing!
Who does it?
What's your aim?
What's your style?
Where is your perfect place?

For me I'm not into fishing with a hook and line as much as most my friends. I do enjoy throwing a line in the water and I love a lot of seafood. For me I like to keep it simple and go for fish where I can expect them and there easy fishing im not a big time fishermen and just use simple Handline most the time.
I like the idea of spear fishing but I have a lot of sharks around the oceans I would do this. This makes it a lot less appealing. I recently had my first attempt at bow fishing and I love it! I'm hooked so to say.

I like baitcasters. Cast nets for bait fish and cane poles at times.

A really enjoyable, and underrated way to fish is with ultra light poles and 2lb line and go after Bluegill. Those Bluegill fight hard for their size and taste better than any fish you can find in a restaurant.

My aim is to have fun and eat fish because if God didn't mean for us to eat fish He wouldn't have made them so tasty. How's that for a solid argument?

My style is to sit on my rear end and drink beer. Actually haven't had a beer or anything else while fishing in a long long time. But if I could choose a style it would be that.

While I have on many occasions walked up and down rivers for trout and small mouth my favorite way/place to fish is a small lake or large pond in the mountains where I can set up camp and relax, then bring my fish back to the campsite and cook them with wild foraged plants and mushrooms.

     I used to be a fishing fanatic. I had more gear than a bait and tackle shop and spent all of my spare time fishing. Then I got Husky Dogs. They are a very  time consuming breed. I still love to fish but I don't get to do it as much as I used to.
    Though I enjoy all sorts of fishing I mostly do freshwater with light tackle... spinning gear. I fish with lures only except when I saltwater fish. I am best at fishing very heavy cover. That's where the big ones are. I'll catch anything that's biting but mostly I'm after Northern Chain Pickerel, which grow fat and mean in the Jersey Pines, and Largemouth Bass.

I've got two ponds on my place, one just under an acre, and the other just at two acres. 

The larger pond has largemouth bass, catfish and bluegills that  I stocked.  It also has other species that nature stocked for me. 

And right now, I just stocked tome tilapia for weed control.  They will die this winter when the water cools off.  When they do, I rake them out and put them out for the buzzards.  Last year, I had two bald eagles show up to eat them.

Both were stock ponds, I had the larger dug out about 10 years ago when we were in a drought.   

I used to like to drop a line off of a pier and catch mackerel in the summer. Starting with anchovies for bait then cut up the first mackerel for bait. We’d bring up 3 or 4 at a time, my family and I. Another bonus for fishing off the pier was that a fishing license wasn’t needed.

But some of the most fun I’ve had fishing was trying to catch triggerfish in the Sea of Cortez with a trout pole. They strike hard, and when one gets on the hook, the end of the pole bends straight down to the water. You have to reel it in like mad or the triggerfish will simply bite through the hook since their teeth are strong enough to bite coral. Once you get em up and cooked, they make the best fish tacos!

Been fishing since I was old enough to hold a rod.

Never done any sea fishing, never lived near a coast :-(

Coarse fishing in the uk  is quite different to fishing in the states.

Over here carp is the king. People will happily spend several days camped at a fishery for just one bite.

In my youth I used to go fish at local limepits and nature area.
Don't think I ever caught anything, but you could see the fish swimming about, big buggers. It was just a great way to chill out and spend a day in  a beautiful location.

Did some fly fishing in my even more distant youth. The chap who designed the electronics for concorde taught my to flyfish, stayed with him and his family one summer.  He's long dead now, but a great chap.

   Here in America Carp are considered an invasive species. In my state, New Jersey, you are supposed to kill every one you catch. In fact it's illegal to return one to the water.
     Personally I find such a law ridiculous. There are Carp in EVERY body of fresh water in the state. We are never going to get rid of them so we might as well embrace them.
      Since I was a small child I've always enjoyed catching carp. They are by far the biggest fish in any body if water here. They can grow three feet long and thirty pounds... or bigger. The idea of deliberately killing them in a futile attempt to eliminate them is preposterous. Consequently I ignore the law and return them unharmed.
     A big, fat Carp is welcome on my line anytime.

https://youtu.be/262YEfXn154

I want to do this so bad lol...

That does look pretty fun. I've done a bit of fishing as a kid when we came visiting in Finland. We would go out on our friend's old boat which would ALWAYS breakdown. Every single time we went out the motor would crap out, he would spend 15 mins poking and hitting it and then we would limp back to shore. Great fun :D Mostly we would catch zander and perch and occasionally pike which he would put in a bucket, take home and then put in his swimming pool whilst the fire got going to smoke them. Some of the best fish I've ever had despite the time spent in the pool.

More recently I've fished a few times at the summer cottage, mostly catching young pike around near the shallows. Lately I've kind of lost my appetite for fishing. My girlfriend is vegetarian and I'm a vegetarian when it's convenient and the last time I caught a pike it almost entirely swallowed the hook meaning I had to bash it's head in then cut the head off to get the hook out. Didn't feel so good really and couldn't eat it afterwards so felt very wasteful. I think I just don't know enough about fishing to do it properly with a purpose. Slinging is a much more worthwhile way to spend time at the cottage anyway :D

Yeah we have a similiar thing over here. called pole fishing. These days usually carbon fibre, a 10 metre pole can weigh around a lb.

Yeah i know they're looked on as vermin in canada and the states.
Carp are actually good eating.

Which causes problems in the uk. Polish immigrants/workers like to eat carp - it's a traditional christmas dish as well.
So you get confrontations and fights between the polish who take the carp and the brits who - essentially - worship them.

Pretty much every big carp in the uk has a name and known history.

Some of the big lakes in france they can grow over 100lb.

Think my biggest was around 16lb.

couple years back me and my dad and my mate dave went for a days fishing.
We had fun. At one point I was trying to help dave get a bite and my rod decided to aim for the water. I didn't swear - exactly - but there was some ripe language, shall we say and rapid movement on my part :whistle:
I did land the fish.

Anyway, towards the end of the day a guy in a car drove up and stopped.
He thanked us for giving him and his wife so much entertainment. He and his wife had been fishing in the next door pond - not that far away. And had been enjoying our banter. Apparently when my rod headed for the water his wife laughed so hard she nearly fell of her chair.

Always good to be of service :-)

Dave still hasn't caught a decent carp.

he did catch a small eel on the canal while i was there, many many years ago. I had to unhook it as he wouldn't go near it.
To hear him tell it these days, it was the midgard serpents bigger brother !

Unfortunately due to over fishing of the elvers - big eels are dying out in the uk. Shame as eel is probably the best fish to hot smoke there is.

Around here carp and hardheads (a type of catfish) are looked at as worse than trash fish. There is an irrational hatred for them for no reason I can think of. Hardheads are actually quite good and when nothing else is biting you can catch them by the dozen. I have never tried a carp but there's a lot of meat on those bigger fish, seems like a good source of protein to me.

Another fish that is often overlooked is gar. Gar meat is a strange thing. It has the texture and taste of chicken. It is unlike any other fish I've tasted. The eggs though are quite toxic and even puncturing the egg sac while cleaning the fish can be dangerous.

I had another new experience with a friend today catching river prawns for bait , although all the fish we caught were not worth keeping the process was very enjoyable and I feel a combination or handline fishing , netting and blowfishing could be me !!

I can't wait to try handlining! Lol. Now I can finally keep my "fishing rod" in my small hiking backpack with my other stuff.

i fish with my sling...period.  used to run deep sea charters years ago offshore.  it sucked.  sling fishing is easy.  if u do not know how to do it, then u r not a true slinger.  it involves nothing but a flat rock and ur sling in a small pool with fishes.  done it many times.

here i will share this so u do not get hurt trying some of those other things...take a flat rock the size of a large man's hand, practice slinging it hard straight down until u can get it to hit flat on the ground with heavy force.   a stream with a pool of water about 4x6 ft in area and four or five feet deep with fishes in it or larger if u can see the fish below u the pool of water size is irrelevant..the rest should be self explanatory.  after the sling attempt is properly is made, just wait a few minutes, they will rise up to the surface and start floating away...pick them up. clean, cook and eat. done it often, and so have many others i know

a lil 100lb woman taught me that trick...

slinger survival training 101

Why not hand throw a larger stone ? Don't really see what advantage the sling is play at this angle and short range , I can pick up a 30kg rock that's flat and slam it in a pool of water . I was waiting for something good then.

well I doubt it's ever been done - but the principle is clear.

A large slower moving rock would not generate the same shockwaves.

Basically rs is saying that you can generate shockwaves with a really hard impact that mirrors the way dynamite fishing concusses and kills fish.

Or at least I think that's what he's getting at - as always, fantastic ideas: detail and proof non-existent.

Bearing in mind you can't do this by firing a bullet into a stream, it's doubtful that you could generate sufficient energy and shockwaves to stun fish with a sling and a stone.

You'd probably catch more by actually hitting a fish with a slung rock.

It's an interesting idea though :-)

Just my experience here....

I used to live next to a small river teaming with trout and small mouth. They would often swim a foot to a foot and a half below the surface, sometimes closer. I tried many times from point blank range, literally as they swam under my feet, to hit the water hard enough to kill them. It never worked. Call me overly skeptical, but I'll always go with experience over theory and stories.

If anyone else has actually killed a decent size fish this way, not from actually impacting the fish with the stone but from the shockwave, I would like to hear it.

I feel, even if it's possible, everyone's best friend the pointy stick would be a safer bet.

Kick wrote on May 9^th, 2018 at 11:18am:

I feel, even if it's possible, everyone's best friend the pointy stick would be a safer bet.

A red stick even better!  ;)

Boom, there goes the fishes!

I did not believe you can catch trout with your hands..until I actually did it 8-)Going to give the sling and flat rock a shot hehe. I,ll get back to ya on this one.

Good luck Walter. Might consider bringing a grenade in case the rock doesn't quite do it. Those fish are wily. I think a couple laughed off  my attempts.

Here in Montana, the best fishing I've experienced was in the mountains, those dumb hungry fish will eat anything. It only takes one type of lure:

A good ol' Blue Fox. 8-)

Fresh Cutthroat is a healer to weary joints after something like a Rumble hike, especially when well seasoned! ;)

Never tried a blue fox out, might have to get one. Are they mostly for trout? We used to use rooster tails. Not sure how much bass fishing you do but the Rebel crawfish is just about the best lure I've ever used. It will drive fish wild.

I don't really know as I'm not avid. But I would recommend Blue Foxes for trout.

LOL! I can’t believe how much conversation RS is able to spark with his ludicrous stories! He is just plausible enough to get everyone else talking about it.

RS is one of the most entertaining trolls I’ve ever seen ;D

Morphy wrote on May 3^rd, 2018 at 1:30pm:

https://youtu.be/262YEfXn154 I want to do this so bad lol...

    I've read about people fishing for Crappie Bass using a very similar method.  The very long poles enable fishermen to reach otherwise inaccessible pockets in the weeds where Crappie hide. I've come very close to purchasing a long Crappie pole but I haven't tried it yet.
    I have eaten Carp and I can't understand Americans' aversion to it.  I think it's pretty good. 
     Something we discussed here a very long time ago.. The Edge Theory.  If you are going to fish a body of water you're unfamiliar with your best chance of locating fish is to find where as many edges as possible meet. What the hell am I talking about?  In fishing, an edge is anywhere any differences in ambient conditions meet.  Here are just a few of an almost infinite array of examples.  Where clear water runs into stained water. Where weeds meet clear water. Where fast water meets still water.  Where ice ends and liquid water begins.  The surface of the water is an edge because water meets air there.  Same with the bottom.  Where different sorts of weeds meet, like where Rice Grass meets Lily Pads meet seaweed, etc..  Where cold water meets warm.  When stormy weather runs into clear.  Dusk and dawn are both edges. Where fresh water meets brackish or salt. The list is endless.  If you can find a place in your unfamiliar body of water where four or five of these edges meet (the more the better) the better your chances of catching fish.  At first you have to think about it but after a while it becomes automatic. I learned of this theory in the '80s reading In Fisherman magazine.  I'm not sure they invented it.  It works.

Hey that's really helpful RM. Thanks! I've been researching lately everything I can find on the best times, places, conditions etc, to fish. I think that's a very simple way to look at something that can very easily become overly complicated. I'll have to try that.

Mersa got me into handlining recently and it's pretty fun. I've fished for perch and trout with a cane pole and that's also alot of fun, although I really prefer as simple and mobile a set up as I can find.

Recently I've been looking into kite reels or even just cheap fly fishing reels to try handlining with a reel while at the same time having the ease of drag and being able to actually reel the fish in.

Has anyone heard of using such a method? I haven't found much info on it. The idea is to just throw it in my back pack and go.

And of course....then there's these. 

http://www.emmrod.com

Too many options, not enough time.   ;D

I'm going to try this very soon just need to order it

---

why not just have asmall telescopic rod and a reel ?

A little 7 foot spinning rod shuts down small enough to stick in any pack.
https://www.amazon.com/Shakespeare-COMPTSSCKIT-Complete-SpincastTelescopic/dp/B00ET24T52/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1526985837&sr=8-2&keywords=shakespeare+telescopic+rods
I'd recommend a much better reel - close faced reels are a bloody nightmare. No idea why they're so popular in the states.   

this is a much better looking kit: https://www.amazon.com/OutLife-Spinning-Saltwater-Freshwater-Professional/dp/B0746FCPXC/ref=sr_1_4?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1526985930&sr=1-4&keywords=coarse+fishing+reel

doesn't give you the packed down size - but should be easily small enough to shove in a backpack.
Get a few floats and some weights and hooks - buck store should help there, and you're all set.

Not sure how well that wrist reel would work.
You're going to struggle to get a decent winding position while keeping your other arm steady.
I suspect it's just a gimmick.

Speaking of gimmicks - I did make a couple of these a few years back: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:427155

Doesn't really work :-)

That said - I'm currently trialing some super tough filament with industrial nano-diamonds. This might be a good test of that.

I like those telescoping rods, especially for trout and perch but I always wonder if they will hold up. I may have to try one. Most of the ones I've seen have been cheaper looking than the one you posted.

Cabela's has some higher quality ones as well. That might be a good trade off. Once I win the lottery I promise to try all the methods and report back on which is best. For science.

C_A, your reel looks like it would work with one of the really long telescoping poles that RatMan talked about.  You can get a similar reel, the line  threads inside the pole so you don't need eyelets.  You need to figure out a way to mount it to the pole.

They are mainly to hold line so it doesn't tangle or to let out more if the fish are really deep, so no drag would be required, just some way to lock the spool to keep the line at the same distance while fishing but able to reel it back in when you're done and collapse the pole.

Asian Carp down here in the South in our slow moving, warm, muddy waters have an off taste, particularly the the dark meat.  It isn't very good.  Then again, I may have been spoiled by catfish, bluegills, crappie and bass.  I've also eaten gar, which is actually pretty good, just a PITA to clean.  And don't eat the eggs, they're caustic and poisonous.

I have several Asian carp in my larger pond for weed control, they are probably about as long as your leg and weigh around 40-50 pounds. 

I believe you have a different species in Europe?  Which is the same type RatMan has in his colder waters, also.  The first carp in NAmerican waters were brought in by European immigrants from Europe, most carp down in the southeast are from escaped Asiatic or Grass Carp from catfish farms. 

pole fishing has elastic anchored in the rod tip and a fixed length of line. Fighting and landing a carp on a pole is fun.

But a 10 metre carbon fibre pole wont go in a back pack :-)

I've used telescopic rods my whole life.
My dad generally had sectional ones. We've done the same kind of fishing.
I've never been let down by even the cheapo telescopic rods I could afford as a kid.

I've caught decent sized carp on a basic shakespear 7 foot spinning rod in the uk and canada.   
My normal rod is 11 feet I think, also telescopic. I just prefer them.

No idea what make I currently use. I've always found that you pay good money for the reel and use cheap rods :-)
My current reel has dual check, ideal for carp fishing.

But the second kit I linked to looks like decent rod and reel. plus you can always get a better reel if necessary. 

Morphy wrote on May 11^th, 2018 at 9:19am:

Never tried a blue fox out, might have to get one. Are they mostly for trout? We used to use rooster tails. Not sure how much bass fishing you do but the Rebel crawfish is just about the best lure I've ever used. It will drive fish wild.

   Blue Fox is a great inline spinner that will catch anything that bites lures.  Mepps and Rooster Tails are  awesome inline spinners also. Of the three Mepps is my favorite but they all work great.  I have three favorite lures... the Tiki Man Wave Worm, which is a soft stick bait like a Senko. I like to fish heavy cover and slop.  The Tiki Man is perfect for such places and the best part is that if you loose one occasionally it's no big deal.  They are relatively cheap.  Next is the Johnson Silver Minnow.  This is a weedless spoon.  It will cut through the worst cover and come up with the fish.  I wouldn't be caught without some in my tackle box. 
    The very first lure fish I ever caught was a Largemouth Bass on a purple weedless plastic worm.  The biggest bass I ever caught in my life was on a purple weedless plastic worm.  Plastic worms have been around forever.  They are relatively cheap, can be rigged many ways, and catch fish as well as anything.
    There are many other that I love but these are my go to lures.

Morphy wrote on May 21^st, 2018 at 9:03pm:

And of course....then there's these.  http://www.emmrod.com Too many options, not enough time.   ;D

 
     Damn.... Emmrods look like they could work.  What a weird looking design.  I may have to purchase one.  When I was very young there were still a few old steel fishing rods around but they were conventional rods.  If Emmrods work that would be a major innovation.  Saving all of that space would make them well worth the investment.  Plus they look indestructible. I think I'm going to buy one, maybe next month. I let you know how they work. [/right]

I think that those emmrods could be good to use with a bow too . A little extra fight in the reel.
I'll let you know if it's a gimmick CA

I've heard good things about the emmrods from several knowledgeable fishermen. I think so long as you know why you're buying it and it's uses fall within the design they are a great buy.

The KastKing Blackhawk and Blackhawk 2 also have a pretty good following.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B016Y1NWZS/ref=cm_cr_arp_mb_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8

This is the other option. The only thing with the emmrod is if you are walking up and down rivers or in overgrown areas that short length really becomes a plus. With the telescoping the short length is only for easy portability but doesn't necessarily help for other situations.

Like I've said before I like to keep it simple so a short compact rod suits me fine , wonder what price a full setup would cost ?????

Morphy wrote on May 26^th, 2018 at 3:00pm:

I've heard good things about the emmrods from several knowledgeable fishermen. I think so long as you know why you're buying it and it's uses fall within the design they are a great buy. The KastKing Blackhawk and Blackhawk 2 also have a pretty good following. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B016Y1NWZS/ref=cm_cr_arp_mb_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8 This is the other option. The only thing with the emmrod is if you are walking up and down rivers or in overgrown areas that short length really becomes a plus. With the telescoping the short length is only for easy portability but doesn't necessarily help for other situations.

   Often I find myself in very small boats with other fishermen or women.  Short poles are very advantageous in these situations.  If I could find one that worked as well as a long pole like hopefully the Emmrod does it would well be worth the money. I'm about 90% convinced I'm going to try an Emmrod next month.
   Right now my favorite pole is an UglyStick. They have a great feel and are very rugged.  For the money they're hard to beat.
    About  two years ago my shed was robbed.  I lost most of my rods and reels then, along with lots of tools.  I'm due to completely revamp my fishing gear.

Good thing about an Emmrod is you can keep it in your house, or backpack for that matter so no more worrying about someone getting it from your shed.

https://youtu.be/wdCku_3SHJk

Here's a fun video.

I just cut a nice cane to make into a cane pole and had to go look up videos on people fishing with them.

This got me thinking, has anyone here ever tried to put an actual reel on a cane pole?

That's a cool video but I found the "Worm Gitter" even more ingenious than the pole. I've seen a fair few ways to get worms but this seems really elegant and simple.

Kick wrote on Jun 2^nd, 2018 at 2:46pm:

That's a cool video but I found the "Worm Gitter" even more ingenious than the pole. I've seen a fair few ways to get worms but this seems really elegant and simple.

Yes sir, I need to try that. Seems pretty easy to make as well.  :)

I bet a "fancy" version would make a good gift for a keen fisherman. I'm also thinking of setting up a worm farm and this would make things VERY simple...

worms are easy and also can be fun.

when we were kids I lived in germany and we used to go camping on the luxembourg border.

One thing my dad and I would always do, was go worm hunting at night.

At night worms come out of their burrows and lay mostly on the surface. The mostly part is important.
They leave part of their body n the burrow for a fast get away.

So all the europaens would watch these two english, sneaking about at night with torches and pouncing on worms. Now worms are both faster and stronger than you think.
To get one out of it's burrow, once you've grabbed it is a real knack. You have to pull hard enough that it comes out, but not so hard you break the worm.
It was by no means a foregone conclusion, even if you managed to grab the worm before it vanished down it's burrow !

The worms in luxembourg were large and extremely strong and sometimes it was quite a battle between man and Annelid.

Apparently, so we were told, it was quite the spectator sport :-)

The other way we'd get worms was to throw the used washing up water on the ground. Worms hate detergent, so as the water soaks into the ground, the worms come to the surface.
You need to wash them in clean water or they dissolve (which is why they escape to the surface.

Then there's worm charming :-) I'm not making this up.

Get a garden fork, stick it in the ground and start twanging it. The vibrations con the worms into thinking it's raining and they come to the surface to avoid being drowned.
There are worm charming championships in the uk.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks2bA1gWHsE

Of course there's always the old: turn over a rock and grab the worms, option. Often used that one too. 

Those emrod things look interesting.
I suppose for US bass style angling (stupidly strong breaking strength line and a bullying approach) they would work really well.
We tend towards giving the fish a chance in the uk, so the longer rod lets you control the fish much easier and prevent line breakage.
It's not that unusual for us to go after double figure carp with 4lb breaking strength line. A longer more flexible rod is essential for that.

My little telescopic rod packs down at least as small as an emrod. So for transport there's no obvious advantage.

But yeah, interesting idea, I'd like to try one out sometime. 

Here in Houston fishing is serious business. You have two types of fisherman here. The catch and release sport types who use gear that give the fish a sporting chance and then you have types like me that like to EAT FISH.

We are the merciless killing machines that use 50lb test on a 5lb fish because we like the taste of fish and we don't care about giving them a sporting chance.

When hunting with primitive gear I won't kill an animal that is too oblivious. I find that feels wrong to me. But when fishing... Well...

https://youtu.be/C3zQ_cZ29jc

Just call me Arnold.  8-)