Fishing Thread

I looked, not at length, to see if there was a thread for the fishermen here.

So, a Vermonter from Shoreham set a state record the other by catching a 44-pound carp.



What's the biggest fish you caught? When? Where? Any heroics involved?

Heard any good fishing tales lately?

(Photo courtesy of Vermont Fish & Game; click to enlarge)

 

A few years ago I was sitting at my desk, just after lunch, when the phone rang. It was a woman excitedly telling me that a fisherman had caught a huge fish, maybe a record, on one of the local lakes. He'd taken it to a local recycling plant to weigh it on their scales.
I tell her to take a picture and send it in, then started doing some googling and decided I'd better head out to the recycling plant to see if I could catch him.
The fish was a 327-pound alligator gar -- the largest one ever caught, anywhere in the world.
The fisherman had been fishing for buffalo on the lake and it got caught in his nets. The gar was about twice as big as he was, and he had to pull it up from the bottom of the lake by hand.

Here's the story I wrote about it: http://vicksburgpost.com/2011/02/20/giant-alligator-gar-shines-light-on-vicksburg-fisherman-3/

And here's the fisherman and his catch:


My favorite part is what happened AFTER the guy got the fish back to shore. He'd locked his keys in his truck and there was a cottonmouth near it. So he picked the lock with some wires he kept handy, just for that purpose, jumped in the truck, grabbed his gun and shot the snake, all before pulling the boat out of the water.

My least favorite part is what happened after I spent an afternoon chasing this story down and cranking out a 50-incher for the next morning. For whatever reason, my ME at the time didn't want to run it the next day. She had other stuff for A1, but insisted on running it there instead of sports.
So she held it for a day.
Then two days.
Then three.
The guy caught the fish on Tuesday morning. My story came together beautifully and was ready by dinnertime. She eventually ran it on Sunday, because she needed an A1 centerpiece for that day.
In the meantime, the story went viral. The guy put a couple of pictures on Facebook, and it got picked up by TV stations on Wednesday. It hit the wire and a number of national outlets picked it up by the end of the week. The guy's story has been retold in dozens of national outdoors magazines since then.
I was literally one of the first people to find out about this thing. Even the state wildlife guys hadn't heard about it yet. I had to give them the fisherman's number when I called to see if it was a record. I showed some good reporter instincts, hustled and produced what I think was a pretty good story in an amazingly short time -- and somehow got scooped on it. Maybe my one shot working in podunk to have a national story I could be proud of on a lot of levels, and it was snatched away from me.
That ME was a good one overall, but I'm not sure I'll ever forgive her for that one that got away.

 

I was into bass fishing as a kid - fourth, fifth and sixth grades maybe?
Anyway, as I got into middle school I gave it up. Just had other things to do.

Since then, I have tried to get back into a couple of times but I just can't.

 

The biggest fish I've shot with my bow is about half that size. It was a silver carp, aka flying carp.

Next week I'm going catch-and-release smallmouth bass fishing in an Ozarks creek. The spring-fed water is cold year 'round, and you get rocks in your shoes, but it's a damn good time.

 

And just where is this smallmouth heaven, if you don't mind my asking?

 

I'm going to fishing camp this summer. It's going to be fucking awesome.

 

210 pound yellowfin off Louisiana

 

I caught me some awful stanky tuna a few times.

I think one of them's name was Meghan.

For growing up in the "rugged north", I sure am not an outdoors man.

I don't like Busch Light, I have never gutted a deer...and the last time I went fishing, I got a hook in my finger.

So my record catch was a few brookies. haha

 

My oldest likes to fish.
My old man likes to fish.
I have been to Canada and Lake Erie to fish.
I hate it.
Doesn't matter if you catch anything or not, at the end of the day, you still stink.

That said, I love to eat fish ... Grilled trout. Blackened catfish. Mmmmmmmm.

I'll stick to hunting.

 

Seven-foot hammerhead off the southern tip of Louisiana is my biggest fish overall. It could have eaten the (estimated) 125-pound tarpon I caught in Boca Grande in probably a bite or two.

If you ever want to catch a true giant, the alligator gar in Texas, this goliath grouper in SW Florida (http://bigwateradventures.com/location/boca-grande-fl/) or giant bluefin tuna off the coast of Prince Edward Island are good to consider.

 

Having connections to the Midwest, I never not delight at Southerners who turn their stomachs at the thought of eating carp. That's a fine eating fish.

 

Two nice smallmouth caught today, the bigger being close to a pound. And I caught my first trout, a rainbow that was a good 16 inches and probably a pound and a half. It put up a hell of a fight with my ultralight tackle.

Damn fine day.