fishing reports
- Thread starter bueller
- Start date
bueller
Moderator
I agree. I caught a 28" walleye in 2013 while on a family vacation and I choose to have a replica made. It wasn't the coveted 30" that most use as a standard to mount walleyes, but with the small amount of walleye fishing I have time to do, and where I do it, I may never catch a bigger one in my lifetime. Plus I caught it on a spinnerbait over 25' of water while fishing for pike and bass in a lake not known for walleyes let alone big ones. It was a total shocker. It was also our first family vacation in which we had our own private pier to dock our boat for the week. The boat was my father in laws who passed away in 2008. I'm sure he was smiling ear to ear that morning.
phil@thesidehill
5 year old buck +
I don't have any fish mounts and I've caught a lot of pretty big fish in both salt and fresh.....I primarily snap a few pics and send them back on their way...but if I'm keeping fish it's for the table...so anything other than a replica is pretty much out of the equation. Last time I looked into replicas, really quality ones were pretty pricey....to me a good pic is just as well and a lot cheaper....and the fish goes back in the drink with less handling.
bueller
Moderator
The prices on replicas vary greatly, even from the same "painter". The cost is in the blank. And the quality of the finished product is directly related to the quality of the blank. Even the best painter can only do so much with a cheap blank. I went with a high quality blank from a taxidermist with a long history of doing good replica work. Yes it cost me some $$$, but the mount looks superb.
And it was a priceless moment when I released the fish and explained to my 5 year old son why I was doing so :).
phil@thesidehill
5 year old buck +
thats a real nice fish Mike. Ive never caught one...mainly because i have never targeted them....but they are on my to do list.
bueller
Moderator
I have to agree with that. I don't musky fish but I will never forget how awesome it was when I caught a 48" sturgeon while catfishing!
shawnv
5 year old buck +
Muskie, more like hunting than fishing. Kudos to your catch!
My only report is this has to be the worst ice fishing season I can remember in my area. I had a couple people tell me there was too much food under the ice for whatever reason and that's been the issue. Otherwise, it's been ok if you drive a 1.5 North like I did yesterday. The action started out slow and most left the lake early but my son and I stayed and ended up with 14 perch, 12 just large enough to keep and fry up for lunch today.
My only report is this has to be the worst ice fishing season I can remember in my area. I had a couple people tell me there was too much food under the ice for whatever reason and that's been the issue. Otherwise, it's been ok if you drive a 1.5 North like I did yesterday. The action started out slow and most left the lake early but my son and I stayed and ended up with 14 perch, 12 just large enough to keep and fry up for lunch today.
SmallChunk
5 year old buck +
We got home from Webster, SD area yesterday after a weekend of catching perch. Of course we missed the "good bit" by a week but it was still fun to get out with buddies. Biggest we caught was about a pound and a half. We heard from numerous guys out there that the week before guys were pulling out limits of two pounders. It is mind boggling how big those suckers get out there!
phil@thesidehill
5 year old buck +
i havent caught many very large fresh water fish....I've caught my share of LMB's in the 5-7lb class and some big pickerel in the 3-5lb class, but nothing much bigger. I was however fortunate to have lived along the salt for a good number of years and I have caught some very big striped bass, bluefish, fluke, dogfish and i have been offshore for tuna a few times. Thats one thing i really miss now that i am landlocked....i miss that salt air and prowling beaches at odd hours catching big fish!
chummer
5 year old buck +
I lived in Boston for a year and made friends with a guy whose grandfather had a shark charter. He took me out a half dozen times. What a rush, we caught tons of blue sharks in the 200-300 pound range. That is a work out! We tried for tuna a couple times but never hooked up. As fun as it was I still would take 12" perch through the ice as my favorite fishing. Normally I would be stocked for the year by now but our lake has been unfishable since the end of January because of the snow on the ice. Thus, the freezer is empty.
B
bat man
Guest
They were popping good when the sun went down last night. Unreal to be on the river after dark in MN in March with no hat or gloves.
bueller
Moderator
Super secret spot :p :D. Within sight of the 21 bridge ;).
Terrific_tom
5 year old buck +
Fishing was good on Sunday in Northern Vilas County before front came thru. Today 44 degrees with a 20 mph wind. Whitecaps on the lake we are staying on. Snow tonight and highs in low 30's for tommorrow. Got a feeling that the fishing is gonna suck for a couple of days.
