Anyone else in the community like to get out fishing? Post your fishing adventures and stories here. And if they're road-related, all the better.
I for one, am an avid fisherman and it's the one thing I enjoy more than roadgeeking. Here in Wisconsin, I pursue walleye, bass, trout, pike and muskie; really whatever's biting. I can entertain myself for hours with mere panfish. And stream fishing for trout is utterly delightful. I'm not a fly-fisher though; my streams are far too brushy. Live bait or spinners does the trick.
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Here are some of my records:
Walleye 28.5" (Canada)
Northern Pike 40" (Canada)
Muskie 46.5" (Wis)
Brook Trout 13" (Wis)
Brown Trout 16" (Mont)
Largemouth Bass 19" (Wis)
Smallmouth Bass 18" (Wis)
My father and I (and my brother to a degree) love to fish. It's what I look forward to most in my trips up to the Adirondacks and New England! I don't have any big stories to tell though :-/
The beauty of fishing is you don't need to catch a monster to have a great time. A 12" bass that launches itself clear out of the water and makes a run for that brush pile or those lily pads is just as fun as the lunker that has your boatmate fumbling with the camera.
That's one of the things I love about stream fishing for trout in Wisconsin. Usually it's just a matter of dropping a chunk of worm into a promising pool. But to do that, I like to have to trudge a half mile into the woods, maneuver my rod among the branches and flip a cast that misses a dozen obstacles to land in the perfect spot in where the current will drag that worm under the overhang in the deep pool and entice that 8" trout to race out and snatch that bad boy up. Then I've gotta set the hook before he gets back to cover and keep him from wrapping me in overhanging branches until I can wrestle him to the bank. After all that effort, a quick photo (if that) and he goes back into the stream, free to be the apex predator in 5 cubic feet per second of crystal clear water.
I can't emphasize enough how rewarding that experience is. Especially when you flush a grouse and watch a big ol' frog jump out of the way and hear some songbird scolding you for being too close to its nest just to get to that point. A person who has never had a dragonfly land on their person on a lazy afternoon with a rod in hand really hasn't lived. I tip my hat to the dragonfly and say, "Go get 'em" because I know they prey on the same loathsome parasites that might otherwise bite me. And their larvae are a staple food source for many of the fish species I pursue. Seeing that food web in action and occasionally participating in it really lets one experience a connection with the natural world that's out of mind for most people.