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).
I spent a LOT of time fishing the Huron upstream from AA. It's one of the better smallmouth fisheries in the state.
Ima make note of that for when I'm next in the area. Hoping to pull the boat over to LSC for muskies late summer.
1 - conventional gear
2 - Musky & walleye, really miss those UP trips.
3 - Usually go with the wife, if we're taking the boat, we'll have some friends along as well
4 - Alaska
1. What's your favorite method of fishing?
Currently spinning reels...haven't needed a baitcaster
2. What's your favorite species to target?
Mostly target pike and bass
3. Fish in solitude or in the company of others?
Company of others, since my friends own the boats. Definitely catch more busch lights some days.
4. Dream fishing trip?
I would love to do a guys trip to Canada and fly in and target huge pike and walleye.
FYI if you know how to filet a pike, they are up there with walleye...deep fried. Very good, you just have to know what your doing.
cut out them Y-Bones and you have yourself a delicious meal
I don't kill many fish, a handful of brookies a year mostly, a few fish in Canada, but I do like pike even better than walleye.
1) Casting. I like having the rod in my hand and manipulate the lure to make the fish hit. Not a big fan of trolling but it has it's time and place. (Stream) Fly fishing isn't really for me. Too relaxing.
2) Muskies. Something something about the apex predator. Just the rush you get when one follows. It's similar to the adrenaline rush when bow hunting and a big buck walks out.
3) I would rather be with a buddy or 2.
4) Tarpon would be awesome. But for me it would be marlin fishing. Yeah, yeah, it's trolling but still.
I am not really a fan of trolling either. It's part of the reason I haven't gotten into big lake fishing here in Michigan
Trolling has its time and place... That is the time and the place. It used to be better for kings when I was in my teens, but there are still some out there. A big king can damn near spool you before you know it. Same with those lake run rainbows (steelhead). It would be higher on my list if it was still as good of fishing as it was like 20-30 years ago.
State has significantly cut down on stocking kings. DNR says alewives population is too low to sustain the numbers of the past. My friends who run charters say they're not sure that's the case. Supposedly the DNR surveys similar depths for alewives based on where they have been traditionally, but charters are catching lake trout in deeper water that have bellies stuffed full of alewives. They think numbers are fine for alewives, they've just moved further out. Who knows though?
Charters don't want the reduction to be true because it impacts their bottom line
The USGS (feds) do two trawl surveys: one, the bottom trawl, is in the same 7 ports that it's been done since the 1970s. That's what the charter guys point to
The other survey is the acoustic survey, which surveys the entire water column and surveys the entire lake, with locations randomly selected in a bunch of different regions. (un)surprisingly the charter captains who like to holler about the bottom trawl being wrong rarely if ever reference the acoustic survey, which basically confirms the same trend as the bottom trawl.
Plus, the DNRs around the lake cut back stocking a few years ago and bait rebounded and the fish size got better - exactly what the DNR said would happen.
So I'd trust them, the experts, personally
Thank you for the education on that topic. You're not kidding, never once have my charter friends mentioned the acoustic survey, ha! Always good to hear the whole story
Spinning, or hand lining. I haven't taken the time to learn to fly fish, as I know it'll just become yet another expensive hobby (I have enough of those).
Most anything except catfish. Love to fish streams, saltwater flats, surf, inshore from a boat, whatever. Just get me out there.
I prefer solo.
Tarpon, GT
Tarpon are surely one of the greatest fly rod species. I've not done any billfish or other off-shore fishing, but my first big poon was the one time I got a little bit scared holding a fly rod. It's a bit like shooting your elk -- oh shit what have I done?!! And then of course staying pinned is incredibly challenging, which is why we count fished "jumped" -- hooked, leaped, tossed the fly -- you'll be there on your first poon, your guide yelling DROP THE ROD DROP THE ROD or BWO TO THE FISH BOW TO THFISH BOPW TO THE FFFFIN FISH -- and you'll instinctively reef back, and then comes that sick feeling of a limp line. My first time I was standing there with my hands shaking and saying LETS DO THAT AGAIN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
Saltwater fly fishing is hard and humbling, and expensive, which is why I finally bought a skiff and have been towing it all over North America. No, actually, I was always going to buy a skiff; the only reason I finally did was that I could finally afford one.
Reds are one of the easiest saltwater species, a good starting point for sightfishing. Sometimes you gotta put the fly right in their faces, parctically bonk em on the forehead to get their attention. They're not always pushovers, but they tend to be more tolerant and calmer. Bones are an order of magnitude harder. Spookier. Permit are the holy grail (or maybe giant trevally).
I fished for Reds almost exactly a year ago today. Admittedly, I got skunked. Father in law and brother in law each caught one on spin gear. There was some funky weather the days before our trip and the guide said that could have had something to do with our low numbers that day (maybe he was being nice and I just stink). We had lots of opportunities to cast at the huge school we chased around all day. It was a blast and I learned a lot; can't wait to go again.
1. Fly fishing
2. Steelhead
3. Either
4. Colorado, Montana, Wyoming
1. Trolling or casting
2. Lake Trout or Walleye, I live up in the Traverse City area and there is nothing quite like a Lake Trout slamming a jig or spoon out in Grand Traverse Bay. GTB is known for the crystal blue water, but also is one of the most underrated big bodies of water for putting trout/smallmouth/cisco/fall-time salmon in your boat. Another surprisingly pound for pound fighting fish are cisco's (some call them lake herring), terrific fish to eat and they are all over GTB. I also enjoy fishing some of the bigger inland lakes like Lake Leelanau and Glen Lake.
3. I enjoy company of others while fishing, but also enjoy the solitude. I have a 19" deep-V boat and love it. I have Traxtech rod trees set up so I can have a few people in the boat and can run a fishing system with several rods at once. Break out the MinnKota trolling motor and follow specific contours and have a blast!
4. Dream fishing trip is in up in northern-tip of Canada on an Artic Char fly-fishing trip. IMO they look like the most beautiful fish in the world.
I've fished the arctic char run on the Ribdon and tribs on the North Slope of AK and on the same trip fished some tundra lakes for lakers and BIG grayling. Yeah, do that. Highly recommended.
That sounds like an absolute dream, would be a bucket list for sure.
1. Fly-fishing, but I do it all- spinning, bait and trolling
2. Currently, mostly trout, but tarpon are my favorite. Yellowfin tuna and GT are great, too, but they don’t jump like tarpon
3. Either solitude, or with my wife and a guide
4. Golden Dorado in Bolivia (I have been fortunate to fish all over. If anyone would like suggestions on certain species or locations, let me know)
1 Swinging streamers for steelhead with a spey rod, although not a fly purist by any means
2 Indicator fishing for same with same. Beads, where legal, are stupidly killer.
3 Hopper fishing. I don't chase hatches much, too reliant on timing, etc. Mid-summer into September is primetime.
4 Walleye fishing in any manner. Love jigging, love trolling, and reallyreallyreally love casting cranks after dark
5 Salt. Have really enjoyed poking around inlets in Fla, bridges in the keys, inlets in SC/NC. Sea trout are a favorite, reds and snook as well.
6. everything else in a tie. Rubber spidering bluegills, smallies at Waugy or anywhere, big pike on cranks, trolling Lk Michigan, tossing spinners for trout.
Favorite places? St Mary's rapids, lower AuSable, Burt/Mullett lakes, coastal S Carolina, and most of all NW Montana in late summer.
avatar checking out.
have you been doing any good out there, or haven't you started yet?
just spent a week at the cottage, fishing Sturgeon and Pigeon primarily. Was ok, not great. Scenery and water was spectacular though.
Back in west Mich, now is the clown rodeo on the rivers. Honestly, I try to avoid anything popular. Prefer trolling the beach for browns and early cohos this time of year.
1. Spinning gear - top water plugs are my favorite way to catch fish, regardless of species. I use artificial lures about 99% of the time.
2. whatever is biting. Bass, Pike, Salmon, Redfish, Snook, Trout, Tarpon, and Sharks.
3. By myself away from everyone. The farther away the better.
4. I’ve already lived most of my fishing dreams after having caught tarpon. I’d say going after Marlin or Sailfish.
If you love topwater, then try to eventually do a trip for yellowfin tuna (Panama would be the best) or GT in the South Pacific. The topwater take is an explosion. That gets your adrenaline pumping like nothing else.
1. What's your favorite method of fishing?
I LOVE ice fishing. I love sight fishing for walleye and perch on Saginaw Bay. Nothing like watching a school of jumbo perch in your hole. I've only done it once, but 3 summers ago I went camping in the UP for a week and fell in love with spin casting for stream brook trout. Been jonesing to get back ever since.
This question has me realizing all the different types of fishing I do. Jigging for walleye and perch through the ice, pike spearing, fishing for largemouth and gills in my pond, trolling for walleye and salmon, sucker spearing in the local creeks/ditches in the spring.
2. What's your favorite species to target?
Perch followed by walleye, salmon and brook trout.
3. Fish in solitude or in the company of others?
I enjoy both. I love the solitude of ice fishing where I can be alone and clear my head but also enjoy the times on the boat with my buddies.
4. Dream fishing trip?
I would love to fish for halibut or salmon in Alaska.
I recommend halibut fishing. I honestly enjoyed that more than the salmon fishing we did, and halibut is one of the best tasting fish in my opinion.
1. Ain’t no nookie like Chinookie. I have a crew of buddies and we like to wade, float, and stay on the Pere Marquette for Steelhead and Chinook. We have also made it up to the Two Hearted in the UP
2 An occasional small mouth, large mouth, perch and panfish day is always fun sitting in my Dad’s small fishing boat
3. Lake Erie for Walleye
4 Ocean Reef for flats fishing Tarpon and Bonefish as well as wreck fishing and sailfish all from the same harbor.
1. What's your favorite method of fishing?
Spinning tackle - mostly live bait.
2. What's your favorite species to target?
Probably panfish of every sort, second Pike.
3. Fish in solitude or in the company of others?
Prefer people, but fish more by myself.
4. Dream fishing trip?
Inland Canada monster Northerns.
Before I get to my questions I have to share some sad news. We were getting a new deck put on our pontoon this winter and it was supposed to be delivered Friday. Late last week we got the call that the deck was almost finished but bare and that they were shutting down operations for CV-19. (We are on a private lake and would be launching from our yard and dock so aside from the drop there would be no social distancing rules broken) That is going to make for a lot longer of a summer not having the boat.
I am a standard bait and tackle guy. I run a lot of spinners and cranks, however I have found that at least on my lake the night crawlers are still the best bait. (aside from having to fend off the bluegill)
Our lake is fortunate enough to have only one other fisherman on it and is private so there are a ton of small and large mouth in here. They are my favorite to catch, although last year I did land a pike and that thing was a battle for sure. (luckily I was using braded line)
I am mostly a solo fisher except when we have company (remember having company and people visiting your house) then we will usually troll around the lake or even just stand on the seawall and cast towards the canal which is a hotspot for us.
All deepsea fishing is great to me, nothing better than strapping in for a 30-40 minute battle with a big boy. Although crushing salmon on lake michigan is always a great time. (miss you grandpa)
our Gov. closed the boat ramps last week. Just when the crappie are getting on the beds.
My father was an outstanding fisherman...open-faced reel. He was a great teacher...and I was the oldest of his 4 sons. Our usual summer vacation included a Canadian fishing trip. He established his own aluminum boat manufacturing company when I was 15...started as a very small operation that, 20 years later, grew out to 150 employees-and Bayliner made him an offer he could not refuse. Some of you may have been in one of our boats.
Trout and walleye. I will give the edge to very small stream brook trout fishing. It is a very special, spiritual-like experience. Clearly this puts my in the "solitude" class.
No bucket list...too many good times already. As a 10 year old sitting in a little boat on a portage lake north of Rainy Lake-catching walleye as fast as we can get them unhooked and the line back down. Stalking brook trout (very successfully) on a little tributary of the Ontonagon . Catching lake trout in shallow water on a fly-in lake north of Lake Superior soon after ice out. Opening day trout season in Northern Indiana...third grade-what a morning!
1.Real fisherman use spinning gear.
2.Smallmouth with walleye being a very close 2nd.
3.Solitude or small group.
4.Goliath grouper or a trip to Echoing Lake Camp.
Can Jews call them Jew Fish?
1. Spinning or casting gear - casting artificial lures. It can be for crappie, bluegills, bass, smallmouth bass, or walleye. I just like to fish for whatever may be biting. Spent Monday on the Detroit river catching walleye, it's just that time of year.
2. My favorite fish to target is red drum inshore around Mobile Bay and Orange Beach Alabama. I go once or twice a year, they taste great on the grill and fight like mad on the rods.
3. I prefer to fish with one or two others in the boat, normally my son. I have no problem fishing alone, I was self-distancing on the Detroit river by being the only person in my boat.
4. Dream trip for me is fishing for tuna, wahoo, or other open ocean fish in the Gulf of Mexico. I have some that fished oil rigs out of Venice, LA and they absolutely killed the yellowfin tuna. It looked amazing! Others went to Costa Rica and fished open ocean for sails and marlin. Any of those would do for me.
1. What's your favorite method of fishing? Probably with live bait.
2. What's your favorite species to target? Bluegills, brook trout.
3. Fish in solitude or in the company of others? Usually with grandkids or a buddy. We have a lake behind our house loaded with huge bluegills. The grandkids have a riot catching them.
4. Dream fishing trip? Brook trout fishing in more remote regions of Ontario.
1. Miserable fishing - on a river in northern michigan in the fall, so cold i can't feel my fingers or toes.
2. Steelhead. Because obviously.
3. With family- dad and kids.
4. Patagonia.
Surf
Pompano
Solitude
Tarpon
Fly fishing the flats, hands down. Tarpon/bone fish/reds. But I fish a whole of different methods. Depends where I’m and and who I’m with. But I do a whole lot of fly fishing in the flats down here in florida. Pro tip, let the big tarpons go after a few jumps, the fight kills them.
Two summers I did a pike fly trip in Alaska. Monster pike, pretty insane. I’d highly recommend it, midnight sun pike fishing trip.
His house boat burned down last year, not sure if he’s back operational yet.
this year I had a trip lined up in Alaska where you catch lake trout in thigh deep water. Shallowest has place in the world you can catch a laker, would have been pretty cool. but whole corona deal.
too many bucket list trips left to list, but I’ll say I’ve been pretty fortunate with some of the trips I’ve been able to do.
my advice find a friend/sibling/parent and share these Experiences.
1. I mostly fish out of my kayak (Old Town Topwater) for bass. Fishing top water (poppers/poppers/spooks) and swimbaits are my favorite, but I catch probably 60+% of my fish on a Ned rig.
2. Smallies in current. They fight so hard.
3. I like fishing with a buddy in their own yak. You've got some company, but both can do their own thing if desired.
4. I'd love to head up to BC and catch a big ol white sturgeon. Those things are living dinosaurs.
1. What's your favorite method of fishing?
Fly fishing and/or tuna trips out of SD
2. What's your favorite species to target?
This is really hard. I would like to say trout, but I'd have to say Calico sea bass. One of these days I would love to target Calicos with a fly rod.
3. Fish in solitude or in the company of others?
This is hard again. I love solitude while I'm fishing, but company of others when the fishing is done.
4. Dream fishing trip?
Spend months touring around Europe fly fishing
1. What's your favorite method of fishing?
Man, that's tough to answer. There's something amazing about standing barefoot in the sand and surfcasting as the sun rises. Any non-boat fishing is great.
2. What's your favorite species to target?
Steelhead, maybe. Spanish Mackerel are a blast too. Stripers...
3. Fish in solitude or in the company of others?
Solitude, or with one close buddy.
4. Dream fishing trip?
Catching a Belize Bonefish on a fly I tied and a fly rod I built was pretty cool, but someday I'd love to fish for Peacock Bass on top water lures.