Got to go fishing

[HairyMooseKnuckles]

For the first time since my eye surgery, I got to go fishing. I was happier than a kid at Christmas. They were stocking trout that day and since I've never caught trout, I was pretty anxious. My wife, mom and I had a terrific day. It was mighty nice talking with other fishermen/women. There were around 30 to 40 fishermen waiting on the truck to show up. They released 2009 rainbows of nice size and we all begin to fish. 

I let my Mom use my new Zebco 33, my Wife used her 33 and I took my very old Zebco 38 bullet, a can of corn and a pack of #6 hooks. 1 after 1 they were pulling them up. I was catching lots of fish, but never did catch a rainbow. It seems I had found the bluegill hole. I caught a few nice ones and a bunch  of dinks. 

My wife caught herself a nice rainbow! My Mom got skunked. I mean nary a bite! We all had a ton of fun though. My wife cooked hotdogs on the grill, but I had a hard time breaking free of the fun I was having long enough to eat. I took quite a bit of ribbing from several strangers for catching bream instead of trout, but fact be known, I think they were jealous of the honeyhole I had found on the dock. 

I noticed I missed quite a few due to not being able to see my line.  Unless my face is less than a foot away, the line disappears into the background. I may have to start using a cane pole and tying a piece of yarn so I can see it move. I don't know if it will work, but it's  worth a try.

You know what? I didn't see many kiddos fishing. I would figure a day like trout release day would be a good time for parents to bring them. It was a school day, but if you can't play hooky on trout release day, when else can ya! Back in my day, I looked for excuses to skip school and if I couldn't find one, I made up a national holiday.

Anyways, I wanted to touch base with you guys and see how everyone was doing. I'm doing ok I guess. Some days are better than others.

 

[JUNGLEJIM1]

I have good success fishing jigs under a float for trout. A fluorescent orange float is easy to see so you might try that. Another option is a small spinner like a rooster tail that you don't need to see. Just cast and reel until you feel the strike. Hope the sight gets better for you soon. I plan on fishing for the first time this year today.

 

[hookup]

Alway nice finding the honey hole.

Try fishing with either stren blue or yellow or chartreuse braid - both lines stand out in the water.

 

[slammingjack]

Great thing to wet a hook and catch a mess of fish. Winner winner chicken dinner.

 

[AtticaFish]

Glad to hear you made it out and got some fish on your line. If there is any therapy in the world that would be good for me, that would be it.

For vision issues, it makes me think of how i fish after dark. For crappie fishing in the spring, we do a lot of it right at dusk and keep going into the night. I pretty often use a small weighted float and clip it on about as deep as i can and be able to cast. Use as small of a jig as possible too so you keep the fall slow. Cast out and wait for the jig to sink. Then start a very short stroked and slow jerking cadence. Just enough to keep the float moving so you can keep an almost tight line to the float. Do some larger pops every once in a while but make sure you reel to catch up on the slack line. When you feel the any remote resistance, set the hook! Like i said though, keep it very very slow and pause it so the tiny jig has time to sink back down again. We have nights where we can't see a thing and use this process to catch a nice mess of crappie. My low light and after dark walleye fishing is all done by feel as well. Those nights are either spent bouncing minnow jigs and swimbaits off the bottom or slow jerking stick baits. Just have to wait for that thump. Sometimes the walleye try to pull the rod from your hand.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Sounds like the trout still had jet lag. How were the other fishers doing?

 

[HairyMooseKnuckles]

I saw a few caught, but not a bunch.


We went again today. Mom and I were the only ones on the dock to catch anything and we caught more sunfish. 1 got 2 and Mom got one. Wife got skunked.

I sure wish I could get me a rainbow! I talked to several people today and they said it had been slow all day. We fished from about 4 until 6. Sunfish started to bite just as we were leavin, but it was dark and We were hungry .

 

[Jig Man]

Good to see your up and around again HMK... Unusual ya'll didn't ketch any trout. They usually cut the feed to um a couple days before release. The fish are hungry when released and the tanks are easier to clean...Oh well at least you got to go

 

[Jig Man]

Good to see your up and around again HMK... Unusual ya'll didn't ketch any trout. They usually cut the feed to um a couple days before release. The fish are hungry when released and the tanks are easier to clean...Oh well at least you got to go

 

[HairyMooseKnuckles]

Just getting out and about is real nice. I'm looking forward to crappie spawn.

 

[duffy]

Even if you didn't catch a bunch just think of it as practicing for the spawn.  Can't think of much better therapy! Glad to hear you got out.