Super User ol'crickety Posted February 13 Super User Share Posted February 13 I loved catching white bass in the Mississippi River (Lake Pepin) and on the Fox River (Wisconsin). As far as I know, there aren't white bass in Maine and I sure miss them. Why? Well, they fight as hard as smallmouth and I caught them two and three at a time. I'd drift with two minnows, set the hooks on both, and then cast a jig to hook a third. What a circus when you have three fish hooked at once! I also miss bluegill fishing. I caught them with a worm and bobber in Ohio farm ponds. I'd love to see a bobber dance again. I don't miss muskies. They're too scary from a canoe and casting billy club-sized lures was just too hard on my body. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User MN Fisher Posted February 13 Super User Share Posted February 13 Trout - growing up in MA I fished a small stream near my house and caught lots of brookies and rainbows. Living in Bemidji, I'd sometimes trip down to Park Rapids to fish the Straight River for the same. There's no decent trout streams near enough to me for the time I have to fish on the days I can get out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User gimruis Posted February 13 Super User Share Posted February 13 I definitely get a hankering for smallmouth. Mostly because I don't get the opportunity to specifically target them nearly as much. I don't miss catching northern pike. Those things are just a slimy tackle-wrecking nuisance here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reel Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Tarpon- no explanation needed ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User A-Jay Posted February 13 Super User Share Posted February 13 My last 15 years or so in the service, I was supremely addicted to Striped Bass fishing At Night ! Loved the complete solitude, the spinetingling intensity that included just enough dangerous to capture my soul. I chased these line sided ghosts up & down the east coast from Maine to North Carolina. I always knew the state of the tide as it ruled my life back then. Fished from the sand sometimes but most of the best action happened on the blackest of nights way out on the end of a 2 mile long rock jetty off southern NJ. October & November new moons were epic. Some of the best 'spots' required a bit of a 'swim' to reach the very tip of the rocks. Always got my attention and my headlamp needed to be water tight - Takes a special kind of crazy and if I 'stayed too long', as the tide came in, the swim back to the rocks was that much longer. Dry suit was mandatory. Something I do not miss are sharks ravaging so many succulent bottom fish while offshore bottom / wreck fishing. Hated that. Reeling up just the head of a big red snapper is a giant bummer. For me, not the sharks. A-Jay 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User ol'crickety Posted February 13 Author Super User Share Posted February 13 1 minute ago, A-Jay said: Something I do not miss are sharks ravaging so many succulent bottom fish while offshore bottom / wreck fishing. Hated that. Reeling up just the head of a big red snapper is a giant bummer. For me, not the sharks. Been there. It's a bummer. You fish is fighting, your fish is fighting, and then suddenly, no more pull and you pull only a head out of the sea. That striper fishing sounds fantastic. It also sounds like something for the young. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User A-Jay Posted February 13 Super User Share Posted February 13 9 minutes ago, ol'crickety said: Been there. It's a bummer. You fish is fighting, your fish is fighting, and then suddenly, no more pull and you pull only a head out of the sea. That striper fishing sounds fantastic. It also sounds like something for the young. Wish I had GoPro's back then . . . . Most of it feels like a dream now. But being able to 'see' it all on video again, would make it more real for me. A-Jay 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User ol'crickety Posted February 13 Author Super User Share Posted February 13 I wish they had GoPro back then too, Buddy. Then you could watch your striper videos and we could too! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greentrout Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Cherry Creek State Park Reservoir, Aurora, Colorado. Bass, Bluegill and Trout. Used spinning gear only with inline spinners to catch Trout. Good Fishing 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User FryDog62 Posted February 13 Super User Share Posted February 13 There aren’t any Stripers or Wipers in Minnesota… but there some rivers and lakes with a good population of White Bass. When I lived there I found 2 lakes with low-medium density, but the average size was 17-18 inches. A friend of mine and I caught some 19.5-19.9 and within a few ounces of the state record (4 lbs 8 oz). They were great to catch before the bass season opens in Minnesota in Mid May (silly, I know). Whities were legal all year round yet very few spent any time pursuing them. This despite being ferocious fighters and good table fare. I’m not sure which fights harder - a 3 pound smallmouth, or a same sized White Bass. If I had to put a wager on it, I’d probably pick the latter especially in cold water. When I first got Livescope a few years back, I really learned its value in chasing around wolf packs of those silver slabs! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User gimruis Posted February 13 Super User Share Posted February 13 @FryDog62 the white bass whisperer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User ol'crickety Posted February 13 Author Super User Share Posted February 13 @FryDog62: Those are huge white bass. I'd sometimes sit on top of schools of 18+-inchers on Lake Pepin, but they were so strong that I could only fish with one rod at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User J._Bricker Posted February 13 Super User Share Posted February 13 I miss fishing for salmon, specifically King Salmon off the coast just outside the Gate or in the rivers. The decline of this fishery is due to state and federal water politics, poor CDFW management policies and drought conditions over the years. I’m at a point where I’m just thankful I was able to experience with family and friends at a time when the fishing was good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User FryDog62 Posted February 13 Super User Share Posted February 13 19 hours ago, ol'crickety said: @FryDog62: Those are huge white bass. I'd sometimes sit on top of schools of 18+-inchers on Lake Pepin, but they were so strong that I could only fish with one rod at a time. That's where I cut my teeth on white bass - with my dad fishing near Wabasha, or Camp Lacupolis, etc. Back then we didn't have electronics, we'd just watch where the birds would land in the water and cast a Mepps. Ancient times lol... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User ol'crickety Posted February 13 Author Super User Share Posted February 13 11 minutes ago, FryDog62 said: Camp Lacupolis Ha! Haven't thought of that place for years. Yeah, I'd watch the gulls and jump fish too. I wonder if we were ever there at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User Jar11591 Posted February 13 Super User Share Posted February 13 Big northern pike. I used to catch so many pike, and lots of large ones every season. The last several years I have only a couple dozen pike bycatches, and maybe just 3 of them have been of any size. The only reasons I can see for this change is the environment, and people keeping all the large ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User Further North Posted February 13 Super User Share Posted February 13 2 hours ago, gimruis said: I definitely get a hankering for smallmouth. Mostly because I don't get the opportunity to specifically target them nearly as much. I know a guy who can help you with that. 😉 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User gimruis Posted February 13 Super User Share Posted February 13 8 minutes ago, Jar11591 said: The only reasons I can see for this change is the environment, and people keeping all the large ones. Exactly what has happened here over the long term. Winter spearing and anglers keeping larger ones while releasing smaller ones created a massive problem in many lakes here. When I was an intern for the DNR way back in 2005, it was already a problem they were trying to fix. Not a whole lot has changed either. It takes about 10 years for a northern pike to reach considerable size (30+ inches is classified as a big pike here now) in a colder climate. It takes 20+ years to reach 40 inches or larger. Removing just a couple fish of this caliber from a smaller body of water is a long term mistake because the apex predator has been removed in the absence of muskies. Big pike eat small pike too. So in the absence of larger ones, the small ones proliferate. And they are an aggressive eating machine. Its become such a problem here that the DNR has increased the daily bag limit in most of state to 10 fish per angler. The only stipulation is that 9 of them have to be under 22 inches. Most people have no interest in keeping a livewell full of 21 inch slime darts. I'm afraid to say it, but the last stronghold to target consistent trophy caliber-sized northern pike is in Canada. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global Moderator Bluebasser86 Posted February 13 Global Moderator Share Posted February 13 I miss muskies. Haven't caught one, or even fished in a lake with them for several years. I took a weekend off in October to chase them from my kayak though after my tournament season is over. I don't miss crappie. Our lakes have tons of them, big ones, and there is nothing that ruins a good day on the water faster than a hot crappie bite or even worse, the spawn. Everyone is the best fisherman in the world during the crappie spawn and it brings out some of the rudest fishermen that will be on the water all year. Then they go and harvest way over their limits of spawning 12-15 inch females that are full of eggs, and when the population crashes, they blame the bass and catfish for eating them all 🙄 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted February 13 Global Moderator Share Posted February 13 Don’t miss stocked trout, love saving on the license too 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
volzfan59 Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 For me, I really miss wading for smallmouth bass and trout fishing in east TN. We don't have either here in south Arkansas, none miles from the Louisiana border. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global Moderator 12poundbass Posted February 14 Global Moderator Share Posted February 14 There are times I miss sucker spearing. I had so much fun with my friend in our mid to late teens wading the rivers, holding a lantern in one hand, and a spear in the other. I’d like to do it again but I don’t eat them and I’m not going to waste them. I’d like to chase after walleye again just once or twice. NOT TROLLING THOUGH. I’m not a fan of the hammer handle pike. They destroy lures and are slimy. If it were a 30” plus pike, I’d make an exception. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VolFan Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 I miss hybrid stripers above the dam on Ft Loudon/Tellico and real stripers below it. I also miss trout on cool, foggy mornings on the Clinch River below Norris. Eastern Tennessee is truly heaven. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted February 14 Global Moderator Share Posted February 14 @VolFan, come back across and let’s go but I’ll drop you and @volzfan59 off below Norris dam and I’ll go bass fishing above it sometimes I get mad just thinking about trout fishing 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User Further North Posted February 14 Super User Share Posted February 14 There's several species in my "don't miss fishing for them" list... Trout, walleye, and panfish top the list. Not because I think it's dumb, or silly to fish for them, but just because fishing for them doesn't suit me. There's nothing in my "What do I miss catching?" list because I'm still fishing for all of those... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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