{OT} Goin' Fishin'

How was the fishing?

This was my 3rd trip up there, and the fishing was the best so far. We were tossing back 12 inch bass, which would be keepers at home. I forgot how slimy northern get and how much of a pain they are to clean. Northern are good fighters but are only so-so eating so next trip, we'll concentrate on walleye and bass. I tossed about a dozen small perch back on the last day of fishing, but in hindsight, I probably could have cleaned them in about the same time as it takes to do 1 northern.

Perch are good eating. Glad you had some good action. Walleye are the best for eating. We buy ours at the local Cub, :)

After comparing the bass, northern, and walleye at the same meal, the walleye definitely get the nod for the best eating!

Lot o'smallish bones in the jack or slough sharks, as we call them in Alberta. Pickerel or walleye, as you properly call them, are much preferred her....so much, that there is a lot of catch and release.

In hindsight, I was keeping the wrong fish! I guess we'll just have to head back up there in the next year or two and try it again!

You talking about these ugly motherfu...er, fellows?

All the real ones I've seen have had their bottom teeth sticking up through their snouts!

Yup, them's the ones! Those teeth are sharp and between their teeth and gills, they have a tendency to cut monofilament line, but only if you have an expensive lure on the line. The more expensive the lure, the more likely the northern is to make you lose it. Once you get the fish netted and in the boat, they will flop and roll around so that your lure gets thoroughly tangled in the net. Once you get the lure out of the fish's mouth and untangled from the net and you pick up the fish, the fish starts secreting a slimy snot-like ooze from its entire body.

Best way to handle them is grab the gill plates from above and squeeze, they settle right down, use gloves because they are slippery. That does not apply to 10 lbs and above however, LOL. On muskys we use a gaff hook or the king sized net, they can really flop around in the boat. Watch those teeth.

Thanks! (That information would have been more helpful a week ago than today) :-)

In the old days, muskie fishermen carried a .22 revolver in the tacklebox to shoot the really big ones still along side the boat. No kidding.

My wife watches too much many chick flicks and reads too many Danielle Steele novels. She would have freaked if she saw even a .22 out in the boat!

I don't do either of those things, & I would've freaked over that, too!

Cathy

I would have freaked if it was the other way around and my wife brought the .22 I would be afraid of richochets when shooting at fish along side the boat. A .357 or .44 would be less likely to ricochet, would dispatch the fish without needing multiple rounds, and makes enough noise to maybe scare the bear away.

I knew a hard core muskie fisherman, from the 1940's and 50's, he showed me right out of his tackle box the .22. He always hunted the extra large muskies. He passed away a few years ago. He used to fish the Chippiewa flowage in Wis. which for a time held the world record muskie ( I've fished those waters many times) until some New Yorker claimed it from the St Lawrence. The record should still be from the Chip., in my opinion. I think that one from the St lawrence was filled with some BB shot.

I would be afraid of richochets when shooting at fish along side the

;-)

I'm not fond of firearms, in general. (And that's putting it rather mildly.)

Cathy

I've never been on the Chippewa Flowage, but it is one of the places I'd like to visit. We passed through the Chippewa Valley on the way to the Boundary Waters, and if the Chip Flowage is anything like the Flambeau Flowage, it is well worth the visit.

I suspect that using firearms on fish is frowned upon in these PC times so we have to make due with clubbing the fish.

I was fishing for Trout in the Sierra Nevadas with my regular fishing buddies many years ago, and they brought a co-worker who was supposedly an avid outdoorsman. He walked around the woods with a huge K-Bar knife on his right hip and a 9" fillet knife on his left. He also brought a .22 Thompson to do some plinking. We set up cans against a nice soft berm about 10 yards from our fishing spot, and all of us drilled the cans except for the guy who brought the gun - he claimed he dropped it and messed up the sights the other day and did not have a chance to re-sight it in (he didn't have an explanation of why everyone else had no problems at only 10 yards). He got PO'd when my buddies and I limited out on trout before he caught any fish, so he emptied the clip at out stringers at the side of the stream. He didn't believe me when I told him of the ricochet danger, and most of the rounds skipped off the water to the other side of the stream, and our fish were unscathed. Needless to say, he was never invited on another outdoors trip again!

They have their time and place ;-)

I'm a responsible gun owner, but I'm pro-choice. Not everyone should own a gun, particularly if they're "not fond" of firearms.

That said, I would have a lot more respect for hoplophobes if they'd place a sign on their front yard stating, "This is a gun-free home."