Anyone like fishing? (when taking a break from Trumpet, that is...)

ButchA

I know this is the Off Topic section, so I just wanted to ask a quick question after returning from a little hiatus... When not practicing trumpet, playing gigs with bands, does anyone like to go fishing in their free time?

I pretty much grew up fishing with my dad back in the 60's and 70's and have so many incredible childhood memories, that I will always cherish!

A year or two ago, I got out all my dad's (and my) fishing gear, and made a You Tube video, showing his stuff, tackle box, lures, etc... from my side porch:

As seen in the video:
00:35 - Berkley Tri-Sport T32, Medium/Heavy fishing rod. Spinmaster Diamond reel.
1:25 - Garcia Kingfisher, Light fishing rod. Mitchell 304 reel.
2:30 - Shakespeare TSP 60-2 RT, Medium fishing rod. Garcia 230 reel.
3:03 - Eagle Claw Sun Eagle, Ultra-light rod. Alpha XT 1000 ultra light reel.
3:55 - Heddon 116F, Light action fly rod. 7' 9" length. Heddon 554 reel.
5:00 - Various lures from my dad's tackle box. Some are his (can never be used - sacred to me!) and some are mine....

I thought it was a great video. That was an interesting rig with the eight or nine spoons in a line and one hook on the end. Wonder how that would work down on the Gulf coast? Showing your dad's rods and reels reminds me of my dad. I took a photo of some of my reels back a few years ago. The ones I use most now days aren't even in the photo. You can never have too much fishing stuff. The old Zebco fourth from the left is about 60 years old now. Caught many a white trout, and more coakers, with it when I was a kid.

ButchA

Wow! I though I had a lot of stuff! All those fishing rods & reels are classics!

Going back to my video of the tackle box, etc... The trolling rig that I showed, that we all nicknamed "Christmas tree" back when we were kids, is actually called (if memory is correct) "Green Mountain Troll" and originated in Vermont and Lake Champlain. It is a nylon coated steel cable (i.e. roughly about the diameter of a "D" string on a guitar), and with spoon spinners spaced evenly apart, going down it. Caught hundreds of rainbow trout, brown trout, and the massive lake trout with that giant trolling lure!

djeffers78

I actually enjoy fishing more than playing trumpet. Right now it’s really good fishing in the local rivers and I’ll be out today.

I live down on the Gulf coast so we have both salt and fresh water fishing. I've got two different tackle boxes. One with the salt water stuff and the other with the fresh, just like I have two sets of rods and reels plus fly rods. I used to have just one tackle box but it was huge in order carry everything and it was heavy and always in the way. Both tackle boxes I use now are much smaller and distinctively different in color, shape, size...... don't want to grab the wrong one by mistake and go fresh water fishing with salt water gear or the reverse.

On the coasts of the US it is good to have a buddy with a different kind of fishing boat than yours for both salt and fresh water. My brother has a bass boat and I have a bay boat. We take turns depending on what kind of fishing we want to do.

Kehaulani

I couldn't stand watching an animal gasping for air. Cruel way to die. But I'll let somebody else do the fishing and I'll eat the spoils, so . . .

Went along on a fishing trip with my father-in-law in Arkansas and after a while, noticed that we were floating under overhead moss on the trees. I asked him if there were snakes up there and couldn't they fall in the boat. Yes. he said,, but if it happens don't do anything, I'll take care of it. Right. Comforting.

The last time I actively fished was for my Eagle Scout rating. I used canned shrimp that dissolved into the water. Never caught a fish. Never got my Nature Merit Badge. Never made Eagle Scout. All because of cocktail shrimp.

@Kehaulani the better substitute for dead shrimp....assuming you can't get live shrimp....is the Berkley Gulp for salt water inshore fishing. I never heard of canned shrimp. You must have been living a long way from salt water at the time.

Pinstriper

Kehaulani

@Niner said in Anyone like fishing?:

@Kehaulani You must have been living a long way from salt water at the time.

Hawai'i. A couple of blocks away from the entire Pacific Ocean.

SSmith1226

@ButchA said in Anyone like fishing? (when taking a break from Trumpet, that is...):

I know this is the Off Topic section, so I just wanted to ask a quick question after returning from a little hiatus... When not practicing trumpet, playing gigs with bands, does anyone like to go fishing in their free time?

Even more than fishing, I love catching, especially when my kids were growing up, taking them fishing / catching. My son now, nearly 37, takes his kids down to a lake to fish. The following are some of his catches when he was four and nine.

ButchA

Wow... Excellent photos of fish you guys have shown!

Honest - I have never been saltwater fishing. Never been out in the Atlantic, out in the Chesapeake Bay, etc... and gone fishing. I don't have the equipment (rods & reels) for it. I grew up a freshwater fisherman, all over various lakes, ponds, streams & rivers, etc... The best, most relaxing experience, is fly fishing in a shallow stream wearing waders, and nobody is around to bother you, no boats, no jet skis, and it's just you and the rushing water.

administrator

@Pinstriper said in Anyone like fishing? (when taking a break from Trumpet, that is...):

There's a beauty.

SSmith1226

@ButchA said in Anyone like fishing? (when taking a break from Trumpet, that is...):

Wow... Excellent photos of fish you guys have shown!

Honest - I have never been saltwater fishing. Never been out in the Atlantic, out in the Chesapeake Bay, etc... and gone fishing. I don't have the equipment (rods & reels) for it. I grew up a freshwater fisherman, all over various lakes, ponds, streams & rivers, etc... The best, most relaxing experience, is fly fishing in a shallow stream wearing waders, and nobody is around to bother you, no boats, no jet skis, and it's just you and the rushing water.

Great Barrier Reef- Black Marlin

ButchA

@SSmith1226 said in Anyone like fishing? (when taking a break from Trumpet, that is...):

Great Barrier Reef- Black Marlin

WOW!!!!

That is one massive fish! Gotta be the catch of a lifetime!

SSmith1226

@ButchA
The fish was catch and release. Estimated 500 pounds. Had an estimated 900 pounder on for a short while and pulled the hooks. Had a 800-900 lb Blue Marlin on in Puerto Rico that looked considerably larger then the boat we were on. We released him, or I should say, he released us after about an hour of playing with us. Coincidentally at the time we were in Puerto Rico to attend the Heineken Jazz Festival with Arturo Sandoval as the headliner. See !!! I made it about Trumpets after all.
Here is s photo of a catch and release 150 lb Tarpon at the side of the boat at home in the Florida Keys.

Tobylou8

Love fishing. Prefer wading mountain streams with ultra light gear. White Miller maybe the best lure I've ever used. It catches everything. Nothing like landing a 3 pound trout or large mouth bass in clear mountain water only 2-3 ft deep! I did catch a 5 pound Largemouth in a muddy pond whose eye was bigger than the spoon on the lure!! Will try to find the pic on my phone and post later.

SSmith1226

@Tobylou8 said in Anyone like fishing? (when taking a break from Trumpet, that is...):

Love fishing. Prefer wading mountain streams with ultra light gear. White Miller maybe the best lure I've ever used. It catches everything. Nothing like landing a 3 pound trout or large mouth bass in clear mountain water only 2-3 ft deep! I did catch a 5 pound Largemouth in a muddy pond whose eye was bigger than the spoon on the lure!! Will try to find the pic on my phone and post later.

I understand completely the thrill and challenge of ultra light gear, which uses 2-6 lb test line. Everything is relative though. The tarpon above weighing around 150 lbs was caught and landed on 20 lb test ( the heavy line in the photo is the leader). It dragged us over the flats (2-3 feet deep), into the channels ( 10-15) feet deep, tried to drag us under a bridge, and the fight lasted about an hour before we could get the fish to the side of the boat for a release. I’ve been in sailfish and marlin tournaments where we were given 17 lb test line that was required to be used, and released fish at the side of the boat. I’ve also caught pacific sailfish on fly rod with 16-20 lb tippets. Everything is relative. For example the tarpon above would be the equivalent of catching a 15 pound fish on 2 lb test given equal environmental issues.

ButchA

@Tobylou8 , you mentioned photos... That got me thinking, so I had to go way back to old photo albums and scan an old photo of me.

Yes, this is me -believe it or not- as a little kid (age 10 = 1971) on Lake George, NY! I am holding a smallmouth bass and a perch that I caught by myself while fishing with my dad, and caught more than he did! Note the old 5½hp Johnson Seahorse outboard!

Butch.LakeGeorge.jpg

SSmith1226

@ButchA
Butch,
Your post brings back fond memories. I also got my love of fishing from my father. When I grew up up in the 1950’s, my father owned a 1940’s 3 1/2 hp Scott Attwater outboard engine. He would rent a row boat from Cameron’s Boat Rentels in New Rochelle, NY, mount the outboard engine, and off we would go catching flounder, porgy, bergal, weakfish, blackfish, Boston Mackerel, or what ever else was out there.
As time went on, he purchased a 16 ft boat with a 35 hp Johnston engine, then a 21 ft boat, then a 30 ft Criss Craft Sea Skiff. He then followed the pattern of many boat owners and the boats started getting smaller until all he had was a 3 1/2 hp Scott Attwater engine, an Evinrude 5 hp outboard, and an old used row boat that he bought from Cameron’s Boat Rentals when they upgraded their fleet of rental boats. When the wood row boat rotted beyond repair, he was left with the outboard engines.
Interestingly, I followed the same pattern, advancing to a 34 foot charter fishing boat, that I had in charter for 12 years in Marathon, FL., and currently I am very happy to be boat-less. If I want to go fishing, I will charter someone else’s “headache”, and catch more fish then I would on my own.
For what it is worth, the above photos are of my father’s 30 ft Criss Craft Sea Skiff with me standing and him sitting in the stern area.

Tobylou8

@SSmith1226 said in Anyone like fishing? (when taking a break from Trumpet, that is...):

@Tobylou8 said in Anyone like fishing? (when taking a break from Trumpet, that is...):

Love fishing. Prefer wading mountain streams with ultra light gear. White Miller maybe the best lure I've ever used. It catches everything. Nothing like landing a 3 pound trout or large mouth bass in clear mountain water only 2-3 ft deep! I did catch a 5 pound Largemouth in a muddy pond whose eye was bigger than the spoon on the lure!! Will try to find the pic on my phone and post later.

I understand completely the thrill and challenge of ultra light gear, which uses 2-6 lb test line. Everything is relative though. The tarpon above weighing around 150 lbs was caught and landed on 20 lb test ( the heavy line in the photo is the leader). It dragged us over the flats (2-3 feet deep), into the channels ( 10-15) feet deep, tried to drag us under a bridge, and the fight lasted about an hour before we could get the fish to the side of the boat for a release. I’ve been in sailfish and marlin tournaments where we were given 17 lb test line that was required to be used, and released fish at the side of the boat. I’ve also caught pacific sailfish on fly rod with 16-20 lb tippets. Everything is relative. For example the tarpon above would be the equivalent of catching a 15 pound fish on 2 lb test given equal environmental issues.

Oh, I'm not against deep sea fishing, I'm just cheap!