fishing reports
- Thread starter bueller
- Start date
BuckSutherland
5 year old buck +
I took my nephew with me up north last weekend to help me install weed mats and mulch on a bunch of my trees. We got up close and very personal with 4-5 black bears (mom and cubs) in the middle of my woods. We kinda ran into each other in the woods and the bears scurried off like they normally do. One of the cubs came running back right at us about 3 mins after they fled. It got within 20-30 feet of my nephew. I yelled and it took off running the other way. As we tried to leave the woods for a while we found out that mom (300 lb sow) and 2 babies decided to climb into the biggest oak tree on my property about 50 yards from where we encountered them. They were nice enough to pose for a few pictures and videos.
Fish were biting. We did well with crappies, sunfish and bass. My nephew now has a new PB for walleye (25.5"), crappie (14.5"), bluegill (10+") and pumpkin seed. I also caught a huge crappie that I think was probably 16" and my new PB as well. They were too pretty to keep. We threw back a few dozen HUGE sunfish. We each took some of the smaller crappies and sunnies for the frying pan.
Fish were biting. We did well with crappies, sunfish and bass. My nephew now has a new PB for walleye (25.5"), crappie (14.5"), bluegill (10+") and pumpkin seed. I also caught a huge crappie that I think was probably 16" and my new PB as well. They were too pretty to keep. We threw back a few dozen HUGE sunfish. We each took some of the smaller crappies and sunnies for the frying pan.
swat1018
5 year old buck +
I know that spot!
Bill
Administrator
holy crap that's a big crappie
BuckSutherland
5 year old buck +
They were huge. I still get pretty excited catching world class crappies. Those 10+" bluegills are getting damn hard to find as well. It was a real treat catching those big dinner plates.
Angus 1895
5 year old buck +
St. Croix 545 am
Angus 1895
5 year old buck +
St. Croix 545 am
Bill
Administrator
We probably should have watched that ourselves. I’ve cleaned smaller tuna but never one like this. Took 2 of us 45 minutes. The hardest part was moving it. 250 lbs of slippery fish is tough to toss around. Basically we bear hugged it to put it in the truck. Thankfully the marina has a block and tackle at the dock.
Then I went to the convenience store for more ice. Covered in blood and smelling very fishy.
Bill
Administrator
It was a blast. probably should have told more of the story. We were expecting, (hoping) to run into some yellow fin in the 30 to 50 lbs range. When it hit and ran that's what we figured. we let the fish take drag and kept trolling for a short time hoping for a second hookup. after that I throttled back and my son and friend cleared lines and just kept the pressure on the fish.
We use Penn 30's with 1500 yards of 120 lb braid with 100 foot of 80 lb mono as a top shot.
I got some serious experience backing up and turning the boat in reverse. It was a 2 hour fight. My son had mono on the reel 8 times in 2 hours but the fish kept just taking it back. It took all three of us to catch that fish working together.
Mortenson
5 year old buck +
What do you guys know about push button micky mouse reels? My youngest two are still using that style, and I can't make them work well, even more expensive brand name ones like zebco and shakespeare. I respool with 4 or 6 lb line and they usually work for a few casts and then always ended up casting 10' and stopping tight. Should I be putting more line on the spool? I guess the line is grabbing those little teets?
Bill
Administrator
I could never get those things to work. Get them small spinning reels. When my son was little I got him one and set up a bucket in the backyard. Practice throwing to the bucket with a nut or bolt tied on the end of the string. It’s a game then and they’ll pick it up pretty quick.
