More than just fishing.

[Darth-Baiter]

I love all the accouterments of fishing.  but if I am being frank, it is mostly about catching fish.

[NorthernBasser]

4 hours ago, Jar11591 said:

.I miss the sound of the loon calls when I first launch my boat in the foggy morning almost as much as I miss sticking a hawg.

 

Gosh, you're not kidding. The most beautiful sound to my ears. A few years ago my buddy and I were fishing the Turtle Flambeau Flowage in northern WI. Just an absolutely beautiful lake. So much wildlife. 

 

Well it's getting to be dusk. The sun is behind the trees. No other boat to be seen. No other sounds to be heard. The water was glass. As we're fishing we see a single loon off in the distance. And then it stars calling. I swear you'd be able to hear it from miles away. That echo.

 

For that small moment, everything was right in the world. It was so beautiful. Just everything about it hit me. Next thing you know there's a tear running down my face. And then my friend yells "are you crying?!!". Thanks for ruining the moment, a-hole. Lol.

[Will Ketchum]

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

 

You are young, Grasshopper.

 

In most of my fishing reports, I report on more than just fish caught. I note the eagles and herons seen.

 

One of my favorite moments is launching my canoe in the dark. For me, a solo woman, there's a bit of danger arriving at a launch site in the dark. However, once I push my canoe away from the shore, even though it's dark, I immediately feel safe and beyond that, it's thrilling. I have caught so many bass on my first cast. Second and third casts too.

 

I know that most people would feel unsafe in a tippy canoe in the cool dark, but bad men aren't on water at four in the morning. It would scare them. They'd want lights and noise and company. I like being alone in the night, when the creatures don't fear me. Beaver and geese come up to me, their innate caution erased by the lack of light.

 

There's a long time between first light and sunrise and that stretch is my favorite time to fish.   

 

 

You forgot to mention the joy of mosquitoes after sunset.

[Jar11591]

30 minutes ago, NorthernBasser said:

 

Gosh, you're not kidding. The most beautiful sound to my ears. A few years ago my buddy and I were fishing the Turtle Flambeau Flowage in northern WI. Just an absolutely beautiful lake. So much wildlife. 

 

Well it's getting to be dusk. The sun is behind the trees. No other boat to be seen. No other sounds to be heard. The water was glass. As we're fishing we see a single loon off in the distance. And then it stars calling. I swear you'd be able to hear it from miles away. That echo.

 

For that small moment, everything was right in the world. It was so beautiful. Just everything about it hit me. Next thing you know there's a tear running down my face. And then my friend yells "are you crying?!!". Thanks for ruining the moment, a-hole. Lol.

I definitely get that. My main lake has a pair of loons that have lived there for at least the past 7 years. They’re constantly calling to each other from opposite ends of the 150 acre lake. I love it. I have so many close up photos and videos of them. I’ve watched their chicks grow up over the course of a year. They’ll swim right up to my boat while they’re hunting. They like to chase my spinnerbaits occasionally so I never cast if I’m in the vicinity of a loon. I’m lucky that at least 75% of the Adirondack Mountain lakes that I fish have nesting loons. If I hear a loon call, I know I’m in a good place on earth. 

[Swamp Girl]

12 minutes ago, Jar11591 said:

I definitely get that. My main lake has a pair of loons that have lived there for at least the past 7 years. They’re constantly calling to each other from opposite ends of the 150 acre lake. I love it. I have so many close up photos and videos of them. I’ve watched their chicks grow up over the course of a year. They’ll swim right up to my boat while they’re hunting. They like to chase my spinnerbaits occasionally so I never cast if I’m in the vicinity of a loon. I’m lucky that at least 75% of the Adirondack Mountain lakes that I fish have nesting loons. If I hear a loon call, I know I’m in a good place on earth. 

 

Heck, yeah! It's a pity cowboys never heard loon song, since they love lonesome songs. My all-time favorite moment of the 2022 fishing season was fishing in a steady rain and having the biggest bald eagle of my life fly low over me twice.

[Susky River Rat]

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

I hear that.  My current fishing friend lately has 4 legs.

 

 

My dog LOVES the boat. 
 

I enjoy being out when there is no one on the water. Sadly most places I go are plagued with people or power plants. When I get into a rhythm start catching fish, it’s like the whole world goes away. Everything goes on auto pilot.

[MAN]

Yup...no radio's or music allowed on my boat. (even though I'm finding it harder and harder not to hear others). 

[gim]

21 minutes ago, Darnold335 said:

Sadly most places I go are plagued with people

Yes, that is the case where I mostly fish too.  I can generally encounter "less" people by driving a little further though.

[Big Hands]

6 hours ago, Catt said:

I love the smell of a fireplace or bacon in the breeze.

 

I love the smell of a fireplace AND bacon in the breeze.

 

4 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Beaver and geese come up to me, their innate caution erased by the lack of light.

 

Beavers, to put it mildly, can have a bit of a bad attitude at night, LOL.

 

4 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

I like being alone in the night, when the creatures don't fear me.

 

I don't mind fishing alone at night to say the least. Somewhere behind night fishing, I also love mountain biking at night. But I almost never go mountain biking at night alone. Even having my (then) young children with me made me feel much safer, which doesn't really make sense, but it is what it is.

 

I have had some close encounters with wildlife at night while mountain biking, in addition to a poacher that was shining from his truck and told me the the green light on my light's remote switch (I was riding with the light off by the light of the full moon) looked like the eye of a coyote and that the main reason he didn't take the shot was because he only saw one eye. Then he looked puzzled like I should have thanked him for it.

=====================

We have a coyote that will follow me along the shore where I am fishing for quite a while. If I stop to fish a spot, he will lay down and just hang out, and then move along with me as I go for up to a couple of hours as though he doesn't have a care in the world. I am very surprised at how close he will get and then lay down at the water's edge facing away from me and take a nap. When he hears a hooked fish jump, he perks up. Pretty sure he gets shore lunches (probably little stripers) donated to him on the regular.

[Swamp Girl]

3 hours ago, Big Hands said:

Even having my (then) young children with me made me feel much safer, which doesn't really make sense, but it is what it is.

 

I totally get this. When I had kids with me, I was fearless. Alert, ready, and fearless. We have to be fearless when we're guardians. Cowardice is a luxury guardians can't afford. 

 

Cool story about the coyote. 

 

Beavers make a lot of noise at night, but they've never messed with me. Early one morning, I had a huge one swim under my canoe. I loved that moment. 

 

So cool that you've caught a 12+ lb. bass! Can you share the photo?

[Big Hands]

6 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

So cool that you've caught a 12+ lb. bass! Can you share the photo?

 

Thank you! I have also caught a 12 lbs 4oz (I don't have a pic of that one), and this one was 12 lbs 14 oz.

 

[Woody B]

It's really nice to be alone on a lake.  During the Summer that's pretty much impossible for me.  During the day time the lake is full of wake boats and jet skis.   At night there's plenty of people catfishing.   I enjoy watching (most) people.   The jet ski people love me.  IF (big if) I'm in an area with jet skis, but it's not crowded I'll slow down some and zig zag as I go down the lake.  They LOVE jumping the waves.  If anyone here ever goes fishing with me you'll notice a bunch of jet ski people waving at me.  I HATE wake boats, but someday I'd like to try wake boarding.   I'm real good on a water ski but never tried a wake board, or even surfing at the beach.  

 

The wildlife is cool too.  Even in the heavily developed areas there's deer everywhere around the lake.  A friend of mine who live on the lake has a deer that him and his wife hand feed.  I talk to the deer and birds, but so far none have talked back.   

[GRiver]

On 3/15/2023 at 9:19 PM, Columbia Craw said:

everything that comes with being on the water.

The preparation the night before, the boat ride to your spot. Floating in silence, after lowering the trolling motor and, everything in place. Watching the horizon start to glow as nature wakes up, while I’m drinking coffee and having an egg & cheese biscuit. The casting, the scanning the next place to cast, lure selection….. It’s all good.

On 3/15/2023 at 9:19 PM, Columbia Craw said:

 Fishing can offer more than catching.

This statement says a lot….. 

20 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

However, once I push my canoe away from the shore, even though it's dark, I immediately feel safe and beyond that, it's thrilling.

This one does too….the mindset changes, the millisecond, you shove off, most would  think it would cause anxiety. It’s the total opposite with me. It has a calming effect.

[GRiver]

On 3/15/2023 at 9:19 PM, Columbia Craw said:

everything that comes with being on the water.

The preparation the night before, the boat ride to your spot. Floating in silence, after lowering the trolling motor and, everything in place. Watching the horizon start to glow as nature wakes up, while I’m drinking coffee and having an egg & cheese biscuit. The casting, the scanning the next place to cast, lure selection….. It’s all good.

On 3/15/2023 at 9:19 PM, Columbia Craw said:

 Fishing can offer more than catching.

This statement says a lot….. 

20 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

However, once I push my canoe away from the shore, even though it's dark, I immediately feel safe and beyond that, it's thrilling.

This one does too….the mindset changes, the millisecond, you shove off, most would  think it would cause anxiety. It’s the total opposite with me. It has a calming effect.

[Swamp Girl]

8 hours ago, Big Hands said:

 

Thank you! I have also caught a 12 lbs 4oz (I don't have a pic of that one), and this one was 12 lbs 14 oz.

 

 

That looks like a viola, the way it bulges. Magnificent!

 

However, before you feel too big in the britches, I can equal your California catch with a mere three of the biggest Maine bass I can catch and some duct tape. I'd write more, but my village is wondering where its idiot is. 

[Jonas Staggs]

On 3/16/2023 at 7:34 AM, gimruis said:

I hear that.  My current fishing friend lately has 4 legs.

 

 

 

Some of the best memories of my life were going fishing with my Best friend. Enjoy your time with him. Glad to see he's wearing a vest.

[A-Jay]

Fishing for me, checks so many of 'the good boxes' it's hard to list even half of them.

It started early in my life and then became so much more.

Been fortunate to experience several different 'kinds' of it,

from international to inshore, offshore and off course the sweet water I fish now.

Seems the trump card is that every bit of it, makes me feel like a kid again.

And at this point, I need that. 

 

A-Jay

[Captain Phil]

On 3/16/2023 at 7:52 AM, Mobasser said:

Good post. I realized that the older I get, the more I enjoy these things. I come to catch fish, but I also enjoy nature and being out there.

 

I have a lifetime of fishing memories. Most of them are not about fish.  Things I remember most were the smell of sugarcane cooking when I fished Lake Okeechobee in my youth. That smell permeated the air for miles around.  I remember fishing with my teenage son when he and I were fishing buddies. I remember freeing a bird caught up in fishing line deep in Everglades National Park and the helpless look it had before I cut it loose. I remember watching a mother racoon walk down the bank followed by three baby raccoons tumbling along behind her.  I remember the people I met. I remember sitting in my boat before light in the rain waiting for the tournament to start.  I remember the tournaments I won.  I remember the majority which I lost.   Fishing is not about fish, it's about the experience. 

[TnRiver46]

10 minutes ago, Captain Phil said:

 

I have a lifetime of fishing memories. Most of them are not about fish.  Things I remember most were the smell of sugarcane cooking when I fished Lake Okeechobee in my youth. That smell permeated the air for miles around.  I remember fishing with my teenage son when he and I were fishing buddies. I remember freeing a bird caught up in fishing line deep in Everglades National Park and the helpless look it had before I cut it loose. I remember watching a mother racoon walk down the bank followed by three baby raccoons tumbling along behind her.  I remember the people I met. I remember sitting in my boat before light in the rain waiting for the tournament to start.  I remember the tournaments I won.  I remember the majority which I lost.   Fishing is not about fish, it's about the experience. 

I’ve seen that raccoon scene many times along the river bank. The first time the doggone thing saw my worm hit the water and ran down there into the water and grabbed it. Then he tore thru the woods with it but luckily dropped it haha. I had another one grab a crankbait once so I ripped it away. The bait hit the side of the boat and the bill broke, silly trash pandas 

[Darth-Baiter]

I LOVE fishing with friends and acquaintances.  the S-Talking and just talking and catching up is the best.

 

one time my friends and I were joshing around and we all starting singing some song (badly).  it was nice not worrying about stuff and not taking ourselves so seriously.  just three dudes trying to remember words to a song.  (can't remember which)

 

we were laughing so hard.  and some ladies in SUP came by looking like Sirens. one said we should name our bass fishing club..."boy band fishing".  hahahha.

 

we did crush the bass, so that part didnt suck either.  for the record making less than 10 nylon stickers that say "Boy Band Kayak fishing club" cost like $1000.  hahahah.

[Deleted account]

Not me, I can be one with nature, watch sunsets, shoot the bull with buds, breath the fresh air, watch eagles soar, and yadda, yadda, yadda, without any tackle in hand or fish on the mind. When I'm out fishing, I'm looking to catch fish, everything else is consequential.

[Darth-Baiter]

its mostly about catching fish,  no doubt.  and it is more fun for me to catch them in a social environment.

 

lots of lone wolves in this group.