Fishing

[Plai]

My buddy's son has been catching the big ones at Pyramid Lake. Biggest so far was 17#. 35 in one day! He fly fishes off a ladder. Cutthroat and Bowcuts.
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17#

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12#

Nice Lahontan Cutts! Been hearing good things about the fishery. Nice to see the pics.

 

[VickieH]

I'm not fishing. I've been cleaning the garage. And the yard. And the trailer. And...

So that I can ski this week once or twice.

Guy next door is doing that too ... cleaning, not skiing.

But I think he's doing it so he can sleep inside.

 

[Andy Mink]

Nice Lahontan Cutts! Been hearing good things about the fishery. Nice to see the pics.

They were doing only so so a while back. Then the Pilot Peak strain of the LC were introduced. They grow big and they grow fast. The tribe has a hatchery there and are doing fantastic things with the lake. Back in the day even Clark Gable was catching fish at Pyramid. The largest recorded catch was 41 pounds in 1925, though some of the signs from old photos claim 65.

 

[VickieH]

That's a good eating fish and a little fighter. Love surf fishing.

There's a little story behind the photo. You see, it's not my fish.

I was wandering around at the Gulf Islands National Seashore and stopped to talk to a couple of men surf fishing -- what they're catching, what bait they're using. They catch whiting, pompano, drum, redfish, catfish. One guy had already caught a whiting about 20" long. Told them I'd like to see a pompano, that I've never seen one. A rod bobs. He motioned me over to reel it in -- a catfish and a whiting, each 6-8" long. A little later, something struck hard. He motioned me over and said "here's your pompano; reel it in". So I did.

Applause broke out from down the beach. A young woman came over to see the fish and congratulated us. I walked back with her, answering questions, and then explained it's not my fish, that I just met these men and the one keeps handing me the fishing rod. Her BF almost fell out of his chair, howling about the man tasking his fishing work to a stranger!

Question is -- if he didn't see the pompano surface, how could he tell that's what it was? Do they have a distinctive strike or feel on a line?

 

[Tex]

Question is -- if he didn't see the pompano surface, how could he tell that's what it was? Do they have a distinctive strike or feel on a line?

Yes, with a lot of experience catching the same species of fish, many times you can tell what you got. I really do not surf fish much, just when we go to the Texas coast, which we used to a lot with the kids about 20 years ago. I would catch exclusively whiting. One awesome morning I caught a pompano. It was a beautiful sunny morning, the sun had just come up, no one on the beach but me and the guy driving the tractor cleaning the beach. There was no wind, water was glass with small rolling waves, when the Pompano hit my line, I knew immediately it was not a whiting. A whiting would just sit there and jiggle the line, this fish took off and ran sideways down the beach, then made a u-turn, and went the other way down the beach, back and forth, I'm like OMG what is this fish! When I got it reeled in tractor guy was watching and had parked behind me and watch me reel it in, he told me what it was. I tried to find the picture of it, it was a beautiful fish, I remember it had blue and yellow on it when the sun hit it just right.

 

[VickieH]

this fish took off and ran sideways down the beach, then made a u-turn, and went the other way down the beach, back and forth,

Makes sense now. When he handed me the rod, he started coaching ... reel it in fast, don't give it any slack, keep the tip of the rod up, it might start to fight when you get it in close. Since he really didn't know what experience I had, he was probably happy to see me land it cleanly instead of losing his dinner.

 

[Tex]

Makes sense now. When he handed me the rod, he started coaching ... reel it in fast, don't give it any slack, keep the tip of the rod up, it might start to fight when you get it in close.

You don't want slack because the hook could just fall out of it's mouth, fish could also shack the hook out, I tight line helps prevent that. You keep that tip up allows you to keep the rod bent, and line tight. If you have your tip down, you are not bending the rod, and if the fish runs to you, there will be slack unless you reel faster than it is swimming, which is hard to do. I like to wear them out before I get them too close, so they don't fight as much when you try to get them in the boat. Can't tell you how many times I had a huge one, just for it to shake the hook out of it's month right when you are about to land it.

I don't curse much, but when I lose a big one, you can hear "Mother F***er!!" for miles away.

 

[dbostedo]

They were doing only so so a while back. Then the Pilot Peak strain of the LC were introduced. They grow big and they grow fast. The tribe has a hatchery there and are doing fantastic things with the lake. Back in the day even Clark Gable was catching fish at Pyramid. The largest recorded catch was 41 pounds in 1925, though some of the signs from old photos claim 65.
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I was looking at Pyramid Lake fishing regs, and noticed they only allow barb-less hooks. I don't think I've ever fished with a barb-less hook... for anyone who does, what's the difference in usage? Does it make it harder to set? Do you have to be more careful reeling in so as not to lose the fish?

 

[1Turn2Many]

I was looking at Pyramid Lake fishing regs, and noticed they only allow barb-less hooks. I don't think I've ever fished with a barb-less hook... for anyone who does, what's the difference in usage? Does it make it harder to set? Do you have to be more careful reeling in so as not to lose the fish?

The big difference is barbless is easier on the fish. Barbless is probably easier to set, just have to keep pressure on line ( no slack).

 

[Andy Mink]

I was looking at Pyramid Lake fishing regs, and noticed they only allow barb-less hooks. I don't think I've ever fished with a barb-less hook... for anyone who does, what's the difference in usage? Does it make it harder to set? Do you have to be more careful reeling in so as not to lose the fish?

The main reason is the ease of releasing the fish. A quick twist and the fish is off. There is a slot limit at Pyramid; you can't keep anything between 19 and 24 inches. Also, you're only allowed two per day (or that's what it was last I fished there). A lot of folks just catch and release. No barb does make it more challenging to keep the fish on. Line tension is key because, as @Tex mentioned above, the fish will spit the hook way more easily with no barb.

I just use a pair of needle nose pliers and crush the hook on regular lures.

 

[Tex]

The big difference is barbless is easier on the fish.

The main reason is the ease of releasing the fish.

It becomes especially more important on fish with thick lips (lots of tissue), like a trout. A bass/crappie, pretty easy to get a barbed hook out. A fish with a lot of tissue, getting the barb out without damaging the tissue is harder. Kinda like if a barbed hook goes in your skin, it will not come out without ripping a big hole in your skin, you got to cut the barb off to get it out.

 

[Tex]

Aways good to check the weather app before you go out on the water...

 

[mikes781]

That does not look like fun!

 

[Uncle-A]

Aways good to check the weather app before you go out on the water...

I have fished from a kayak but never like that.

 

[Tex]

I call these Mohawk crappie, crazy little fighters…

20 in the cooler today…

 

[Tex]

Nice setup.

Thx but you got to have umbrella up for the full effect/set up. It’s really important too that your umbrella matches your boat.

 

[Uncle-A]

Thx but you got to have umbrella up for the full effect/set up. It’s really important too that your umbrella matches your boat.

That green umbrella would match my green kayak. It would provide good shade when fishing.

 

[Tex]

The really name for those crappie is a “Black Nose Crappie”. Other than the strip on its nose, it’s a black crappie. I normally always catch white crappie, I love catching black ones though.

Black Nose Crappie: Everything You Need To Know • Panfish Nation

We've all heard of black crappie and white crappie...but what about a black nose crappie?

panfishnation.com

 

[Andy Mink]

Pulling out the heavy metal. My FiL and I are going deep for mackinaw at Tahoe tomorrow. We troll about 200' down using single strand stainless steel wire on big Penn Senator 113H reels. I think there's about 7-800' of wire out with big flashers and a minnow. It's fun but can tiring as the line has to come in to turn the boat. Hopefully I'll have good pictures tomorrow!

 

[1Turn2Many]

Pulling out the heavy metal. My FiL and I are going deep for mackinaw at Tahoe tomorrow. We troll about 200' down using single strand stainless steel wire on big Penn Senator 113H reels. I think there's about 7-800' of wire out with big flashers and a minnow. It's fun but can tiring as the line has to come in to turn the boat. Hopefully I'll have good pictures tomorrow!
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Good luck. Why do you use wire instead of non-stretch synthetic? Is it for the sink rate? Why not down riggers? Sorry for all the questions. Sounds like interesting fishing.