OT: MGoAnglers Random Questions
1. What's your favorite method of fishing?
2. What's your favorite species to target?
3. Fish in solitude or in the company of others?
4. Dream fishing trip?
My answers:
1. I still use conventional gear from time to time, but fly fishing has become my passion. I love tying flies and have found species other than trout that I think are a riot on the old whippy stick.
2. Smallmouth bass- I have some pretty good streams nearby that I have gotten dialed in and to me, there's nothing that fights harder (pound for pound) than a smallmouth bass.
3. Most often I wade fish by myself, but enjoy a float down a river with a couple friends and a cooler. Late last summer I got a 3 man driftboat style raft, so my trips with a couple buddies will increase.
4. #1 on my bucket list is Tarpon on the fly, maybe down in Key West (although I've heard guides can be surprisingly hit or miss down there). I also would love go to the Bahamas for bonefish, and want to go back for redfish again (they bested me last time).
Slovenia and Croatia are dirt cheap. Really. As with all trips, the bottom line will be dictated by flight costs. We did our homework and got really cheap flights. Secondly, the camper van/camping saved us some dough. One thing- if you go, fishing licenses are VERY expensive. (I think like $50 for 24 hours- edit- 12 hrs) but the trout are so plentiful you don't really need a guide.
Wow, interesting in regards to the licenses. Did you have to pay $50 per 24 hours? Or was there a longer temporary license?
For 12 hrs- Literally lasts from sunrise to sunset. The offset is that they take care of their fisheries with that money. Pristine.
1. Conventional spinning rods, but will be getting into fly fishing this year.
2. Trout fishing is my favorite. Growing up in the U.P. you could spend days walking up and down streams finding trout holes..never gets old. I do like going for bass, walleye, pike every once in a while as well.
3. If I'm going for trout, typically wading streams alone. I do have a few buddies willing to beat the brush for day of brookie fishing. Always fun to do a camping/fishing trip later in the summer on some inland lakes with a good group. A couple buddies, cooler full of beer, and an ultralight while the bluegills are bedding is always a good trip.
4. Coaster brook trout Apostle Islands, Isle Royale, Superior shoreline.
I hope to do Coasters sometime too, just have other species higher on the list right now. My dad wants to go to Stannard Rock in Lake Superior and jig for lake trout on light tackle. I am planning it for his 60th birthday
Nice! I have friends who fish Stannard Rock quite a bit, and they always do well for lakers. I've gone as a guest, but don't have a boat, and all the proper gear for the big lake.
I fished for Coasters off Isle Royale via a kayak. Didnt catch any, but the pike were plentiful.
I've been to Isle Royale three times with a canoe, but I haven'd fished for coasters, or the Nipigon yet.
1) I usually use White Claw but will switch it up with truly once in awhile
2) I go for tall blondes
3) I prefer to let my personality shine thru on my own.
4) The playboy mansion
Nevermind wrong kind of fishing.
That's some serious trolling!
1. Ice fishing by a mile these days. I think it’s because I have more time and I just really enjoy the peacefulness being on the ice in your own shanty with the heater going and your sonar, it’s just great.
2. Love fishing top water for either large mouth or small, hula popper all the way!
3. Like to fish with one or two others, or more than that or else it gets too distracting.
4. Would love to go fish peacock bass in the Amazon or fly plane up to Canada for walleye and northerns.
Peacock bass would be amazing. I have only seen the videos and have a friend of a friend who has done it, but man do those things EAT.
I fly fish almost exclusively these days . The exception is when I'm invited to target walleye or salmon etc in a friend's boat. I do like wading for trout, but that part isn't exclusive. I like sight fishing shallows for smallies or carp, getting bluegill dinners off the beds or later in the season with a dropper rig. It's all pretty good.
dream trip? Nothing specific, but it would involve the cultural or tradition aspect of the trip as much as the fishing. Steelhead in Patagonia? Trout in NZ? Bones off Abaco? Permit anywhere? Slovenia? Labrador? Newfoundland? It all sounds pretty fun. Fortunately I'm pretty happy wading with my boy in the Au Sable, Boardman, Fox or Ontonagon.
Wife and I were THIS close to pulling the trigger on a NZ trip, then we were blessed to find out she was pregnant. Since then my fire for going there and chasing trout has waned a bit. Maybe someday. Have you ever seen the Todd Moen video of mousing in NZ? That is what sparked my interest to begin with.
can recommend NZ. honeymooned there and we fished a bunch during what is their winter. mostly nymphs and streamers, but the fish were dynamite. loved the people. have a picture of dear wife holding a beauty rainbow with an equally beautiful rainbow in the sky behind her.
Flies only. Fishing is what I do. I've been fishing my whole life, the last almost 30 years solely with fly rods. I've been guiding in northern Colorado for 15 years.
Started in Michigan, Battle Creek, Marshall and Chelsea areas, Thornapple Lake, with summer trips to to the UP and Ontario. Spent 10 years down south mostly fishing for LMBs. Then back in Michigan, hard with the trout bug, total fly guy at that point, many many days on the PM in particular.
I fish for everything, and came to Colorado for the trout fishing. But I spend most of my time fishing for either wipers, stripers or white bass, and carp. My favorite stuff is all saltwater: stripers, bones, permit, redfish, tarpon.
One should select who one fishes with more carefully than whom one sleeps with.
I've done several of my dream trips at this point. Northern Alaska, for instance. Spent a month late last year with my poling skiff in the Keys. Had a major and long-planned tropical saltwater trip for this spring postponed by the pandemic.
Sounds like you are living the dream!
Where at in northern Co? I've fished mostly southwest T-Ride area, but have fished northern CO a bit.
I've lived in Longmont since we had our big floods in Sept 2013 and the Nat'l Guard had to fly me out of the mountains, but we still have our place near Estes Park.
Having been here in Boulder County over 25 years, I know my water well, from the Continental Divide to I-25. And in fact beyond. I buy annual Nebraska and Kansas licenses, and fish a good bit in SW Nebraska and the Sandhills especially.
I've got some good hookups on quality private water, and know the backcountry of Rocky Mtn NP (where I've guided over a 1,000 trips) and Indian Peaks WA well. I've got a cabin on some small ponds outside Estes Park, where the ice is coming off now, and there will be a good bite for rainbows kicking in any day now.
Nice. Ive never fished RMNP. May have to make the trip sometime.
The park is great. Granted, there's way more people here now, and way more anglers, than when I got here. Guiding has taught me everything about navigating crowds. If you have a late start trip on a weekend Fourth of July situation, you better have some tricks. But many of places around here are better than they've ever been (or I'm a lot better than I was when I got here).
Estes Park is beautiful. Never fished in Colorado, but we visited Estes Park on a family vacation when I was a kid.
Any tips on trout spots in the Ann Arbor area?
You might have to be willing to travel a couple hours up north if you want to get into some trout.
I know (or used to know) a couple spots south of GR but I have no trout spots in SE Michigan. My own fishing in Washtenaw County has been on farm ponds west of the proving grounds. Bass, bluegills, catfish. Mom's family has lived in that area since the 1880s.
I know there's a stream that gets stocked near ann arbor, but I can't remember the name of it. Contact your local fly shop and they should be able to help out (even if you're not fly fishing). The Painted Trout is in Dexter and Schultz Outfitters is in Ypsi. Schultz specializes in smallmouth, but they could probably point you in the right direction
I work for CPW doing GIS primarily for the aquatic section. You may have seen my regulation maps in the brochure or maybe you have used the Fishing Atlas?
https://ndismaps.nrel.colostate.edu/index.html?app=FishingAtlas
If you are ever looking for info on Colorado fisheries, I might be able to help you out.
Nice, yes, I've seen this and used it. Are you in Denver? Do you do any work on the hunting atlas too?
And might you have any intel on Banner Lakes SWA, by chance? I heard some things recently, haven't been out to check.
I'm also a software developer with some background in mapping and experience with building on ESRI's platforms, so I'm pretty interested in GIS applications. Nice work!
I'm also the sort of guy who's regularly checking for new fish survey summaries this time of year, like daily. I'm on CPW's site regularly. Hit Ben Swigle or other area managers with questions from time to time.
I'm in the Fort Collins office and do a little bit of work on the Hunting Atlas but my main areas are aquatics and analyzing wildlife activities on potential oil and gas lease areas. The whole GIS Group at CPW works across the agency but we all have a few focus areas too.
I would need to know what specific info you are looking for with Banner Lakes. I haven't been in the office for weeks so I haven't caught any gossip. Of course Ben is probably the guy to ask about that anyway.
You sound like you are checking for updated summaries way more than I am. I always hope they name the pdf the same thing so they don't break all my links but that is hit-or-miss at best.
I don't really want to pass on my contact info here but if you send an email to the Fishing Atlas admin at [email protected] and just say you are trying to contact the Michigan Football fan who works on the site, that will get to me I am sure.
Couple of my favorite annual things:
Usually time of year I'm running to the Sandhills to fish for pike and musky. Not this year. Very bummed.
Around Memorial Day, I pull the boat to northern Manitoba for a 10 days to fish for pike, lakers, walleye, smallies and few very large brooks and bows. Fly fishing lakers is not for everybody, but if you can cast a type 7 10wt line all day -- and it's a long day up there at that time of year -- you can tie into some pigs.
In the fall, I head to TN to fish for stripers on the TVA reservoirs. This past trip was tough because an early Nov arctic snap drove the fish very deep before I got there, but I still got a few, and a nice mixed bag. We get some very large fish there.
Anytime I can go to FL, anything SW to the Keys -- Pine Island Sound to Choko to Flamingo to Islamorada to Nine-Mile Bank -- I go. Last trip, piggybacked on annual TN striper trip, was the first time I had my own boat down there, which was idk maybe the greatest fishing thing I ever did, being in the Everglades backcountry and out on Florida Bay alone.
Where do I find the application to be your friend? Will you need referrals?
You come through Colorado, I'll put you on some fish.
The Fryinpan River is one of my favorite destinations. Usually by early April, I've been out there two or three times, because it's so great early when the crowds are thin and the fish are waking up on midges and blue-winged olives. The days are still short enough for good drinking time in the evenings.
The only memorable things I've ever caught were a cold and a fastball to the face. I have nothing of value to add except I admire you guys conquering the great outdoors!
My father wasn't much of a fisherman. We went fishing a few times when I was a kid, but we never caught anything. After awhile, it just didn't seem like much fun. Not that I'm much more knowledgable than my dad, but in the pond behind our current house they are many bluegills and catfish that are pretty easy to catch, and for a few summers my children and I had great fun with it. Here in Oklahoma, there are some who swear by catfish noodling. It's not something that interests me nor do I know anyone who does it.
- Spin casting. My son and I drop a canoe in the Paw Paw River just up from the St. Joe and paddle upstream a couple miles. We troll spinner baits or body baits for bass or northern. Then we'll stop at some hot spots and drown worms looking for walleye before drifting back down and casting to the weed beds and deadfalls.
- Northern pike. A big one is like fighting a semi truck. The 15 lber below pounded a Heddon River Runt.
- My son is 18 and goes off to college in the fall. Fishing with him has been one of the highlights of my life. I can't believe how empty I feel when I think of him leaving. (cue ♫♪ The Cats In the Cradle ♫♪)
- When I was growing up, we'd go to Houghton Lake and borrow my uncle's pontoon boat. My dad, two of my brothers and I would spend our days catching plate-sized sunfish and blue gills. When I got to college, my roommate (a hard core fisherman like me) and I would borrow the pontoon and nail the walleye. I'd like nothing better than to take my son up there and do the same.
1. Trolling Lake Huron/Michigan. Using downriggers, leadcore, dipsies, copper.
2. Chinooks, but pretty much any type of silver fish.
3. Withm my kids or a select handful of buddies and family members.
4. Be pretty cool to catch one of those giant Alaskan chinooks, but i wouldn't mind to do any type of fishing in Alaska.
Wading the rivers for salmon and steelhead is my passion. I like to fly fish for steelhead, and toss hardware for the early season kings. Lately I have been getting more into centerpin fishing which has been a lot of fun too. I don't have any angler friends, so unless I'm with my father I typically just go out by myself and enjoy the solitude.
Come summertime, I fish for bass and walleye at my cottage. I also have a trout pond there that we keep full of rainbows, browns, and brookies. That makes for a fun hobby.
I have a one year old at home now and another on the way, so my available fishing time has shrunk substantially. I just recently bought a child carrier and took him out on the river in the backpack for the first time. Hopefully it will be the first of many trips.
I did the same with my daughter last summer. My advice: short trips, snacks, sunscreen, and take a break from fishing every so often and just let them get down and run around. I never fly fished with her on my back. I think I would be fine, but hate the idea of a backcast getting away from me and her getting a hook. If you are braver than me, make sure your kid has sunglasses on.
I started my daughter fly fishing at 5. It's such a joy to watch her fish. One of the proudest moments of my life was watching her work a brown sipping PMD emergers on July afternoon up in RMNP until she finally stuck him. I pointed him out, got her in position, set out a couple tips and ideas, then stepped back to watch... she'd look over after a couple casts, and I'd make the "take a step forward" motion with my fingers. When she put the fly on a drift I knew was going to get eaten, I was like oh yeah, and bang.
Can't wait for those moments
All good thoughts, though unfortunately I already learned the sunscreen reminder the hard way. An hour and a half in the woods in April was enough to give him rosy cheeks (sorry buddy).
In order to avoid any potential backcast issues, I decided to use the centerpin and float fish. That way I could make certain to keep my casts under control and eliminate the risk of flying hooks/user error.
1. What's your favorite method of fishing?
Conventional spinning/baitcasting has always been my "go-to" but I'd love to get into fly fishing. Anybody have any decent fly rod recommendations for a beginner?
2. What's your favorite species to target?
I've always had a soft spot for Northern Pike - still have to go after Musky.
3. Fish in solitude or in the company of others?
Mostly in solitude. Nothing beats spending an afternoon by yourself wading the Huron River.
4. Dream fishing trip?
Canadian fly in pike/walleye trip
Temple Fork Outfitters makes solid rods that are relatively affordable. They have a great warranty and excellent customer service. I lead a fly fishing club where I teach, and we have a bunch of combos from Cabela's/Bass Pro that the kids use. You can usually find those combos in the $100-$150 range. My recommendation: only get one "cheap"-ish set up to start. That way you don't break the bank if you end up not really into it, and you can save money for nicer gear as you get more confident. In my opinion, beginners don't need sweet rods. I didn't start noticing the difference between rods until I became fairly competent at casting.
Edit: I would also add, even as you get better and think you are ready for an upgraded rod, I'd buy nice fly line first. There are endless brands and types and people all have their own favorite, but quality fly line has almost as much to do with casting well as the rod you have
That's very good advice -- don't cheap out on the fly line. You don't need Scientific Anglers' $130 embossed line, but assuming your rod is not junk, having a good and appropriate line for your rod and the fishing you're trying to do is critical. "Appropriate" can be a mind-boggling choice these days, when we have so many great lines designed for such specific applications.
The best fly lines in the world imo are made by Scientific Anglers in Midland, Michigan.
Agree on Scientific Anglers
Several months back I was able to cast the Orvis Pro line and that stuff is slick. I believe Orvis lines use the same costing technology as SA. When they have those demo days I want to cast the Amplitude lines from SA.
Orvis owns SA now, and SA is making Orvis lines (again).
There's better entry-level fly tackle available than ever. TFO, as suggested, has some great options, and their custom service is excellent if you ever break a rod. Redington has some great rods for the price, as does St Croix. It's trickier imo if you're thinking pike and musky. I go sometimes as light as 7wt if I'm wading for pike, but I'm usually fishing a 9 or 10 for pike, and 10 or 11 for musky. Many of the low-end rods in that class are real clubs, and you're also getting into some saltwater overlap where it might be a good idea to look at the mid-range rods from Sage (like the new Payload or new Maverick), Scott or Hardy.
My go-to pike rig is a 10wt with an intermediate line.
If you wanted to throw out some details on what you're thinking, I could give you some better specifics.