So anyone else into fishing?

[MedicineIsGood]

I'm not very good at it, but I love fishing and its always goes great with a comfortable chair and a dubie.

MedicineIsGood Reviewed by MedicineIsGood on 09-09-2008. So anyone else into fishing? I'm not very good at it, but I love fishing and its always goes great with a comfortable chair and a dubie. Rating: 5

[FlyGuyOU]

i love fishing. when im in michigan i try and catch as many largemouth bass as possible. i was in colorado over the summer and the trout fishing this year was phenomonal!! we caught enough trout to have a fish fry for the 60+ people at our family reunion.
I've recently tried my hand at catfishing, which is easy a lots of fun too
I'm a huge Phish Phan!

[epilepticme]

Regular fishing and ice fishing go hand and hand with cannabis where I live.
A part of Adirondack life!

[8182KSKUSH]

Fishing and angling both! Love it, been doing both since I was able to walk. Everywhere, farm ponds, to small lakes, large resevoirs, banks, and from boat. I have fished a handful of "club" bass tournaments, years ago.
Now I am not angling at all, just fishing from the bank with my son. So far he has caught all the largemouth this season. He's 4.
I do have a 17.5 foot Skeeter Bass Boat, that hopefully I will register someday, and get be able to take out and do some more serious bass fishing! I only live about 5 minutes drive from the lake!
I would really like to get to Diamond Valley Lake, it's supposed to be where the next world record large mouth is going to come from!:jointsmile:

[xweefernationx]

I love to smoke a lil herb and go what i call "high fishing" where your burn a long blunt and sit back to catch some of those4 giant florida cats :thumbsup::

[d4twamp]

I love to fish too, all species bass, trout, salmon, catfish, panfish, I 've even went crawdad hunting in the ditch across the road (for bait of course) I live less than 1/2 hr from a couple good lakes and a few minutes walk to the river and ponds. But I can see the new Largemouth record comin outta the California Delta. there's some biggun's in dem waters

D:S5:

[MedicineIsGood]

I just started up fishing again just a few months ago and I probably go to either Santa Ana River Lakes or Irvine Lake about twice a month. Yeah, they're pay lakes, but its nice for relaxing because it doesn't get all crazy there with noisy jet boats and screaming kids.

I got a 5 lb catfish a few weeks ago at SARL. I'm a rookie so that was the biggest fish I ever caught! I was so excited I celebrated with a dubie. Then I celebrated having a dubie by having another dubie. Fishing is great and even if I come home empty handed, I still really enjoy relaxing at the lake. I still have a lot to learn about catching fish.

[MedicineIsGood]

oh yeah, so help me out folks! Any tips would be greatly appreciated. The lakes I go to have trout, catfish, bass, crappie, bluegill and carp. So far I've stuck to using a egg sinker/swivel rig with about 2 ft leader using night crawlers, powerbait, mealworms with marshmellows, inflated worms, shrimp and waxworms.

I got the 5 lb catfish with shrimp, but thats the only time I've ever caught a catfish with shrimp. Usually I get the 2 pounders with worms. I usually spend about 7-8 hrs out there and feel pretty damn lucky if I reel in 2-3 fish.

[8182KSKUSH]

oh yeah, so help me out folks! Any tips would be greatly appreciated. The lakes I go to have trout, catfish, bass, crappie, bluegill and carp. So far I've stuck to using a egg sinker/swivel rig with about 2 ft leader using night crawlers, powerbait, mealworms with marshmellows, inflated worms, shrimp and waxworms.

I got the 5 lb catfish with shrimp, but thats the only time I've ever caught a catfish with shrimp. Usually I get the 2 pounders with worms. I usually spend about 7-8 hrs out there and feel pretty damn lucky if I reel in 2-3 fish.

You can speak in generalities alot, and I could give you general tips. But the best advice I can give you would be, go hang out, drive around the lake. Look for the old man, or old woman, that is sitting alone, ontop of a five gallon bucket with a zebco 33, and a cooler with beverages, and a smaller one with bait. Sometimes they have the screen bag cage things, usually they are just chucking their hauls into the bucket they are sitting on. This is specific, if you find this person, (and there is usually at least 1 at every lake I have ever been to) then go talk to them. Pick their brain. Every body of water is different, and they all have their own little quirks. But one constant is that this "local fishing guru" is usually there.
If you are specifically fishing for cats, one thing to keep in mind that many people forget, is that catfish have an overbite. This is important, because it is common knowledge that they are bottom feeders, however, it is actually difficult for them to actually "pick" the bait off the bottom. So if you can rig so that your presentation is such that your bait is an inch or so off the bottom, then you will have better bites. Otherwise you will get alot of annoying little bites, this is usually the cat trying to nibble at or disturb the bait so that they can get it in their mouth. That being said, I have had success fishing directly on the bottom with chicken liver, it is tricky until you get the hang of it, but it is also buoyant and will easily lift off the bottom with minimal effort on the cats part. If you have a boat you could try jug lines, (not sure about regs here in Cali). Goldfish are great as long as you don't get caught using them! Set lines work well to if you are close to your spots and can check them daily. Also, I have always had the best luck for cats, at night. Hopefully this gives you something to ponder. If you use liver, and don't like the chicken, try beef, it's a little more firm, but I love the chicken liver, it has always worked better than anything else that I have ever used. (Shrimp, dough baits, worms, etc.) I usually just use a treble hook, not on a swivel, but one of the things that looks like a swivel, except it just has two rings that can freely turn, (cats like to torpedo, and that combined with brush, teeth, rocks, etc, can break you off easily at the eye of the hook if it can't spin freely. Then I usually use a bell sinker, (size depends on your needs) somewhere around 8-10 inches up the line. You can actually just tie the treble hook first, then go up the line where you want the sinker, double it over, stick it through the eye of the sinker, then pull through a little, then take the treble hook and drop it through the loop you made. I have never used leaders. One thing I don't like about them is that if you tie a leader on that exceeds your line test strength, then it will simply snap off no matter how beefy the leader is, because it is tied to your line. For example, you are using 20lb mono, with a 35lb leader, well, the weakest link is the not that you tied with the 20lb mono. Even if you have a 100lb steel leader, doesn't matter, it will still break off at you lines rating! Now you are out a hook and a leader! I just check my line for abrasions, and retie when needed.
Breaking off is unavoidable and will happen, but I would rather just loose a hook, than a hook, leader, and sinker! With my rig, 9 out of 10 times, you will just loose the hook.
Another trick when cat fishing that I use, is once my line is out, I slowly tighten the line so that there is no slack, I get in a comfortable position with my rod in hand. I then use my trigger finger, and very gently with the hand that I hold my rod with, pull the line ever so slightly, not so that I am moving the bait, but just so I can feel the tension, if you do this, you will be able to feel a fish fart on your bait. It can be kind of nerve racking at first, because you will feel lots of ticks and what not, but just be patient, if it's not hard enough to violently straighten your finger that's on the line, don't worry about it. It's probably a yearling cat, or bluegill. If you try to set the hook on those hits, you will drive yourself crazy! I am going to stop now, I could go on and on forever. Good luck to you!:thumbsup:

[8182KSKUSH]

One more thing!
If you are brave, and confident.
I know this flies in the face of conventional wisdom, but hear me out.
There are 2 schools of thought on equipment for catfishing.
1. Big, Beefy, Muscle them around. There is a time and place for this obviously!
2. What I like, a nice 6.5 or 7 foot medium action spin cast, 14lb test, check the ratings for the reel and rod, should be on them, I never use anything bigger than 14lb test though. Usually 10 or 12. (DO NOT OVERFILL THE SPOOL! THE HEAVIER THE LINE THE LESS YOU CAN PUT ON). If using a braided line, put a layer of mono on first as backing!
Just use the equipment the way it was intended! Set your drag properly so that you don't get snapped off right away by a larger cat. I think using the lightest equipment possible is way more fun than using heavy action gear and just muscling them around! Don't get me wrong, I have done plenty of fish water skiing, but the lighter equipment is not only more fun with the bigger fish, but it is more sensitive too, and increases the odds of you landing more of the pickers, (littler fish) and having more fun doing it!
Just a thought!
Now use your judgement, if you are fishing in an underwater forrest, or thick matted lilly pads, choose your gear appropriately, but when you can get away with it, I always opt for the lightest gear possible! No matter what I am fishing for. The lighter your line, the farther you can cast, the faster you bait gets into the strike zone, the faster it sinks, the more sensitive everything is too. Especially if you use the trigger finger trick.
I will leave you alone now! Good luck!