Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[MustangMike]

Much appreciated. Smallmouth fishing is a blast. Pound for pound they are one of the scrappiest fish. Especially when they get into that 3lb+ range. Second only to striped bass IMO on the size vs. scrappiness scale.

I don't have much experience with Smallmouths (but I hear they are great fighters) but comparing Striped Bass ... pound for pound, Bluefish easily outfight them, as does anything in the Tuna family.

Hook a Bluefish weighting in the teens on a spinning rod, and you will have all the fight you ever wished for. Striped Bass twice their size will not give you as much fight. Too bad Bluefish are not good eating because they are the scrappiest fish I have ever caught (and be careful when you unhook them, or you will be scarred for life - and they will go for you!)

A brief marinate to remove the fish flavor, and some Oregano will make them edible.

 

[djg james]

Speaking of bass fishing. I started pouring my own Midwest finesse jigheads. The tackle shop is now charging around $8 for 4 jigheads. I don't know about you guys who fish, but I can lose twice that many in an outing working plastics on the bottom. I already had a Lee lead pot so all I needed was a mould.View attachment 1192800View attachment 1192801View attachment 1192802

Good heavens! $8/4? I use to pour 1/8 oz jig heads for white bass but they cost only a little more pre-made at the local bait shop.

 

[Sampson]

I don't have much experience with Smallmouths (but I hear they are great fighters) but comparing Striped Bass ... pound for pound, Bluefish easily outfight them, as does anything in the Tuna family.

Hook a Bluefish weighting in the teens on a spinning rod, and you will have all the fight you ever wished for. Striped Bass twice their size will not give you as much fight. Too bad Bluefish are not good eating because they are the scrappiest fish I have ever caught (and be careful when you unhook them, or you will be scarred for life - and they will go for you!)

A brief marinate to remove the fish flavor, and some Oregano will make them edible.

Yessir. I've never heard of bluefish being caught around here but there is some tuna fishing out with deep sea charters. Something to add to the bucket list I suppose!

 

[Sampson]

Good heavens! $8/4? I use to pour 1/8 oz jig heads for white bass but they cost only a little more pre-made at the local bait shop.

Granted, your currency is worth more than ours so we're probably talking closer to $6/4 down south. Either way you slice it, still seems overpriced to me, especially when you can pour your own.

 

[farmer steve]

Much appreciated. Smallmouth fishing is a blast. Pound for pound they are one of the scrappiest fish. Especially when they get into that 3lb+ range. Second only to striped bass IMO on the size vs. scrappiness scale.

When my backyard was the susquehanna river mainly all we fished for were smallmouth. I liked using my ultralight trout rod with 4lb test line. Lotsa fun. Occasionally we would hook up with a channel cat and have a fun time. That would happen using a floating jighead and live minnows.

 

[MustangMike]

Yessir. I've never heard of bluefish being caught around here but there is some tuna fishing out with deep sea charters. Something to add to the bucket list I suppose!

Catching the smaller species of the Tuna family (like Bonito in the North and Blackfin Tuna in the Carribean) on spinning rods can be a lot of fun. Often, they are in the 8-12 pound range.

The Bonito used to come in off the Jersey shore for about a week or two in late September. My Dad used to have a 25' Bayliner and we would go about 3-5 miles offshore and catch them (and Bluefish) in about 60' of water. We went out of Shark River Inlet.

We had spinning rods set up with 20-25 pound test ... was a lot more fun than trolling with the heavy-duty stuff!

For Bluefish, we used either diamond jigs (with a pattern) or banana splits (a diamond jig with a surgical tube). We would cast them out, let them hit bottom, then yank them up real hard, then stall for a second, then yank again and we would often have a hook up. Ironically, the florescent orange worked well on bright sunny days and dull green worked well on overcast days). You would have thought it would be the opposite.

For Bonito, we would both chum and fish with dead Spering. Use a small black hook and hook them through the eyes. Bonito have VG eyesight, and if you did not do it right you caught nothing! They were usually about 30' down in very clear water under the Albacore! It was a real challenge to catch them! Bonito were delicious, Albacore were not good eating! (Caution - in different regions, the names are the opposite).

 

[Lee192233]

Speaking of bass fishing. I started pouring my own Midwest finesse jigheads. The tackle shop is now charging around $8 for 4 jigheads. I don't know about you guys who fish, but I can lose twice that many in an outing working plastics on the bottom. I already had a Lee lead pot so all I needed was a mould.View attachment 1192800View attachment 1192801View attachment 1192802

You spelled mold wrong.

Just messing with ya....those are some good looking jigs!

 

[WoodAbuser]

Time for some CIT:

Is a 10" chocolate chip cookie to large to be considered a single serving?

Banana bread will go good with my morning eggs.
Cast iron for the win!

 

[MustangMike]

While I have seen days when the water was boiling and the Bluefish would bite anything, it is not always like that.

My brother and I caught 64 one day. About a half dozen boats crowded around us, but none of them caught anything! Most were using bait, while we were using lures.

Knowing what to use, and how to use them can make a big difference. Plain diamond jigs NEVER worked as well as the ones with a pattern on them, etc.

Also, letting it go to the bottom, pulling it fast and then stalling it for a second was key to hooking lots of them.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddr...1&cvid=8e2f6c24ceb04c4f956a3d1f240adaab&ei=12

 

[djg james]

While I have seen days when the water was boiling and the Bluefish would bite anything, it is not always like that.

My brother and I caught 64 one day. About a half dozen boats crowded around us, but none of them caught anything! Most were using bait, while we were using lures.

Knowing what to use, and how to use them can make a big difference. Plain diamond jigs NEVER worked as well as the ones with a pattern on them, etc.

Also, letting it go to the bottom, pulling it fast and then stalling it for a second was key to hooking lots of them.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddr...1&cvid=8e2f6c24ceb04c4f956a3d1f240adaab&ei=12

Sounds like whit bass fishing. Boiling water and boats.

 

[SS396driver]

Limped home with the Frontier today . Scanned it and found the crank shaft position sensor circuit A malfunction. Ordered a Hitachi replacement . Don’t trust autozone advanced crap hell even Napa has gone downhill

 

[SS396driver]

Didn’t even move when I went out on the deck

 

[SS396driver]

Nice stone walls and prayer flags.

My property is nothing but rock . I hit boulders ever time I plant trees used to be hay farm there are walls going everywhere . Several are up the mountain in the woods

Wife has them and a wishing prayer tree on the property

 

[MechanicMatt]

Daughter wanted some cash for the county fair

Made her earn it

 

[MechanicMatt]

Tonight she cleaned #5 Winchester 94 to make it to the man cave

Kid cracks me up sometimes, so much talent

Wonder sometimes if she’s really mine

 

[MechanicMatt]

Hey SS396/Mark, ever eat there??

I can NOT believe how good the steak was!!

I had written them off as a Hippie joint, but WOW can they cook

Wife was tired of all the other spots in town so we gave them a second shot, so glad I did

 

[xraydaniel]

Speaking of bass fishing. I started pouring my own Midwest finesse jigheads. The tackle shop is now charging around $8 for 4 jigheads. I don't know about you guys who fish, but I can lose twice that many in an outing working plastics on the bottom. I already had a Lee lead pot so all I needed was a mould.View attachment 1192800View attachment 1192801View attachment 1192802

Excellent!

 

[xraydaniel]

Lost a bowfin tnite who bit through the 20lb fireline with Gamakatsu octopus and a fat earthworm. I was stunned. Hate losing a hook to a big fish.

 

[farmer steve]

 

[svk]

We got into some yellow fin tuna last fall when I was fishing out of Louisiana.

Experience of a lifetime to catch them and at the same point after catching the first one it was necessary to pass the rod around to others to take turns fighting the rest. The meat was so awesome too.