Shopsmith Forums

Put sunscreen on your toes?

Too bad it wasn't a '70 Cuda, with the 440 engine!
(Or, just a few cubic inches smaller, say, 426?)

steve

I actually was out fishing today and caught a couple of bass. The largest one was about a foot long, maybe it could have been used for bait???

At least the two I got today were big enough to count, the ones other day they were so small I hated to even catch them, just babies. Since I've just started fishing again it was nice to catch something. No one else seem to be catching anything so I must have been doing things right again.

I've never fished in an ocean and never had any really big fish like that on line. I have a feeling it is a whole different ball game. Not on my bucket list either so not likely to ever happen.

Ed

Ed, MOST of my fishing experience has been off-shore.

You get LOTS larger fish there.

But, since I'm currently landlocked, I do my "fishing"
at the grocery stores. (They clean them, too. Except
the "Asian" markets.) One place has LIVE crabs and
crawdads. Thinking about getting a couple, to play
with my cats. (Seeing a cat run through the house,
with a crawdad stuck to his nose. PRICELESS!)

steve

Growing up in northern WI we had lakes and rivers/streams/swamps/springs in every direction so that is where I'm from and what I'm use to. The glacier left a lot of holes that water filled. This over view doesn't show the smaller lakes but it gives you an idea.
Now that I live out of state I can't afford to fish there but I sure love to.

Ed

skou wrote:Ed, MOST of my fishing experience has been off-shore.

You get LOTS larger fish there.

But, since I'm currently landlocked, I do my "fishing"
at the grocery stores. (They clean them, too. Except
the "Asian" markets.) One place has LIVE crabs and
crawdads. Thinking about getting a couple, to play
with my cats. (Seeing a cat run through the house,
with a crawdad stuck to his nose. PRICELESS!)

steve

The X hated the boat, "Sues Displeasure" , her father was a golfer, and was a member at one of the most prestigious private CC as he said, "cant be golfing and spend the same time on the water" but the boys loved the time out there.

reible wrote:I actually was out fishing today and caught a couple of bass. The largest one was about a foot long, maybe it could have been used for bait???

At least the two I got today were big enough to count, the ones other day they were so small I hated to even catch them, just babies. Since I've just started fishing again it was nice to catch something. No one else seem to be catching anything so I must have been doing things right again.

I've never fished in an ocean and never had any really big fish like that on line. I have a feeling it is a whole different ball game. Not on my bucket list either so not likely to ever happen.

Ed

Never found Bass to be tasty!

ERLover wrote:

reible wrote:I actually was out fishing today and caught a couple of bass. The largest one was about a foot long, maybe it could have been used for bait???

At least the two I got today were big enough to count, the ones other day they were so small I hated to even catch them, just babies. Since I've just started fishing again it was nice to catch something. No one else seem to be catching anything so I must have been doing things right again.

I've never fished in an ocean and never had any really big fish like that on line. I have a feeling it is a whole different ball game. Not on my bucket list either so not likely to ever happen.

Ed

Never found Bass to be tasty!

Try it without all those fancy sauces/seasonings.

reible wrote:I actually was out fishing today and caught a couple of bass. The largest one was about a foot long, maybe it could have been used for bait???

At least the two I got today were big enough to count, the ones other day they were so small I hated to even catch them, just babies. Since I've just started fishing again it was nice to catch something. No one else seem to be catching anything so I must have been doing things right again.

I've never fished in an ocean and never had any really big fish like that on line. I have a feeling it is a whole different ball game. Not on my bucket list either so not likely to ever happen.

Ed

Funny you should mention the bait. We had trolled around near the beach for an hour or so using artificial lures, which gained us nothing but a seasick daughter. So we dropped her back off at the marina, and then headed a couple miles offshore to an artificial reef, where they had dumped some old railroad cars and concrete rubble to create fish habitat. The fish there weren't particularly interested in the artificial lures either.

So the crew switched over to some large dead minnows, and before long we hooked a fish. I gave the teenage boys first crack at fighting/landing them. My son landed the first, a 22" King Mackerel. The minimum legal limit for a keeper was 24", and this one had been injured, so he become baitfish.

Fish #2 was a 23" King Mackerel, landed by my daughter's boyfriend. That one was released.

Daughter #2 was also a bit seasick by now, and averse to the fish blood. So the next fish was earmarked for my wife, who was raring to go. At least until she saw the boat captain struggling with the fish that took the 22" mackerel, after setting the hook. She wanted no part of that one, so suddenly it was my turn at bat.

It turns out that landing a big fish in the ocean really isn't very complicated. The fishing reel was loaded with 30-lb test line. The drag on the reel clutch was set somewhere around 20 lb. When the fish wanted to run, the reel let him, but kept constant drag on the line. When he wasn't running, I was working him back in, keeping constant pressure on the line. It's really an endurance contest with the fish -- keeping the pressure on until he is too exhausted to fight any more.

We never saw the fish until the near the end, and there was much speculation as to what we had on the line. The crew's leading theory was a good-sized shark. Whatever he was, wearing him down took about a half hour, and then I finally got him close enough to the surface to see him. He still fought for another five minutes, swimming in circles against the line pressure, before I could get him up next to the boat. Then the mate landed him with that gaff hook in the pic. That fish was a pretty good load to hold up with one hand for the pic. We didn't weigh him, but guestimated about 40 lb.

The crew told us that barracuda meat contains something that is toxic to humans, so this bad boy was not destined for the dinner table. I released him right after that photo was taken. But based on the crew's measurement, I'm supposed to get a certificate from the state of North Carolina for landing a really big 'un.

I haven't done much fishing since I was a boy in Tennessee. That was mostly crappie and bluegill, which are small, but fight like crazy. Pound for pound, it didn't seem like the barracuda fought as hard, but it was hard to tell with the reel clutch set so low. But without a clutch, that guy would surely have beaten me.

Y'all need to hook an 8' sailfish. Trick is to not rest. While thee rests the fish recovers.

Beautiful when they clear water about 75' out.

Yes it hangs on my wall Acalpulco 46 years ago(honeymoon!).

Did we ever get sunburned!!! We are both red heads.