outdoors a fishing thread

[The Hot Pepper]

WOW! What state is this in?

 

[The Hot Pepper]

Your previous post too LOL!

 

[The Hot Pepper]

Prodigal, I would also like to know what camera and/or phone that is because wow.

 

[Hybrid Mode 01]

     pr0d, your pictures of trout streams are so good I feel like I can smell the forest.

 

[Pr0digal_son]

     pr0d, your pictures of trout streams are so good I feel like I can smell the forest.

Thanks. Not many people appreciate headwater streams,and that is apparent by the fracking that is going on. This state has suffered the affects of clearcutting and mining,now fracking is going to set it back 100 years.

The native Brook Trout here survived despite our efforts to wipe them out. People tease me for fishing for bait,but it's not always about the catching,I spend more time snooping around the forest than fishing.

And these fish are spooky. Spend 15 minutes crawling up to a pool only to spook them by kneeling on and snapping a small twig. Fuck!!! I enjoy that chess match though.

I never fished for trout until a couple years ago when I decided to start fly fishing. Something about sight fishing that gets me going. And the anticipation watching a fish rise to a fly you tied is fun,and rewarding if they actually take.

P.S. Not a tree hugger....just appreciate nature.

 

[Pr0digal_son]

WOW! What state is this in?

These photos are taken in Pennsylvania in the two million acres of public land called "PA Wilds". The last set is in a section of Susquehannock State Forest called "Hammersley Wild Area".

You can get to some of these areas from downtown NY in under 4 hours. It takes me the same amount of time and I am in the same state. PA Grand Canyon would be a place I would suggest,and within the next three weeks as the leaves start to change. The whole Pine Creek Gorge is ridiculous! Shoot out in AM,sack out in the car,and head back the next day.

Photos are a mix of Nikon D750 and Samsung S6.

 

[Chris Kewley]

Man this has been a off year for me. The trips I've done have been longer & stellar but kinda miss the day trips. Can't recall the last trip I posted in here but the last couple I've done I know I haven't so I'll start there. I've had this one trip planned & researched for well over a year & It would be my first solo canoe trip SOOOOOOO I need to have nothing left to fate. It would be a big drive out to Nova Scotia from Toronto, up to Cape Breton to way inland of the Margeree river then paddle further inland through the wilds of the Cape, bush crash to a set of lakes to finally be picked up on the other side in 5 days. Hardly seeing anyone or anything for the 5 days, there is some population scattered at the beginning & end but in between nada. Also I didn't take a lot of pictures as my first solo outing I needed my wits about me to not get into trouble. Fishing was quite spectacular for wild Brook Trout, biggest being about 3 lbs & I wanted to nab a Atlantic but however was shocked when I hooked into a Steelhead, not big by any stretch 4 lbs tops but long and mean & apparently quite abundant in that river system (locals keep it hush hush). By far the hardest fighting Steelhead I've ever had on my line! The bush crash to the lakes would be brutal, a lot harder than I thought. Covering roughly 1.5km it would take me most of the day to cover that ground, making 2 trips for canoe & gear. Bugs weren't bad but you were aware of them. The river was a easy paddle with a bunch of feeder creeks that would keep you busy well beyond the 5 days I had planned. On the rapid sections most were a easy portage around, one being difficult as you were cutting through a valley but not impossible. I was told to bring a rifle because bears/moose/dear are everywhere but more so for the coyotes which have become a problem the last 10 yrs or so. I'm not licenced to carry & it would be my luck to get nabbed by the MNR so NOPE, did bring bear spray & a flare gun for protection....errrrr signalling, but wouldn't need either as I saw only one dear that scared the shit out me bush crashing, rather uneventful on the animal front. Camping was rather easy as well as long as the weather would hold up which it did in spades. Slight rain the one day but other than that sunny & highs in the low 20's C which is perfect. Food is rather simple with me, a small cooler bag with sausages & hot dogs, rice, water filtration bag, small pot + I'd eat fish I caught along the way. Paired with nuts & pemmican & a few power bars.  I really ought to take a refresher course in bush survival as it's been near 30yrs & can't recall what mushroom & berries are good but didn't need them anyway. 
I would pad out the rest of my touring around the Cape & the south shore. I've been hitting NS for about 30 yrs now & every time I go I find new stuff to explore

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

[ColdSmoke]

Nice brookie

 

[dragon49]

My favorite upstate lakes have been dead lately and I got skunked my previous two trips.  I took last Friday off for a long weekend in the Catskills.  
 
I had a ton of fun trolling from a boat in a beautiful Lake on Friday, but left with nothing to show for it.  Later in the Afternoon, I caught these two Bass:
 
This "smallie" just met the New York State 12 inch minimum:
 

 
 
A few minutes later I caught this Largemouth:
 

 
 
That was all I caught for the weekend.  Not sure what is going on.  I deliberately didn't go fishing the previous weekend because of the heat.  As I mostly shore-cast, I was hoping that the cooler weather would bring the fish closer to the shore.  I'm thinking that maybe the lakes I frequent are mostly fished out and the stocks will replenish with the spring spawning.
 
 
I haven't ruled out future upstate trips this year, but I may be done for the season
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

[Pr0digal_son]

Man this has been a off year for me. The trips I've done have been longer & stellar but kinda miss the day trips. Can't recall the last trip I posted in here but the last couple I've done I know I haven't so I'll start there. I've had this one trip planned & researched for well over a year & It would be my first solo canoe trip SOOOOOOO I need to have nothing left to fate. It would be a big drive out to Nova Scotia from Toronto, up to Cape Breton to way inland of the Margeree river then paddle further inland through the wilds of the Cape, bush crash to a set of lakes to finally be picked up on the other side in 5 days. Hardly seeing anyone or anything for the 5 days, there is some population scattered at the beginning & end but in between nada. Also I didn't take a lot of pictures as my first solo outing I needed my wits about me to not get into trouble. Fishing was quite spectacular for wild Brook Trout, biggest being about 3 lbs & I wanted to nab a Atlantic but however was shocked when I hooked into a Steelhead, not big by any stretch 4 lbs tops but long and mean & apparently quite abundant in that river system (locals keep it hush hush). By far the hardest fighting Steelhead I've ever had on my line! The bush crash to the lakes would be brutal, a lot harder than I thought. Covering roughly 1.5km it would take me most of the day to cover that ground, making 2 trips for canoe & gear. Bugs weren't bad but you were aware of them. The river was a easy paddle with a bunch of feeder creeks that would keep you busy well beyond the 5 days I had planned. On the rapid sections most were a easy portage around, one being difficult as you were cutting through a valley but not impossible. I was told to bring a rifle because bears/moose/dear are everywhere but more so for the coyotes which have become a problem the last 10 yrs or so. I'm not licenced to carry & it would be my luck to get nabbed by the MNR so NOPE, did bring bear spray & a flare gun for protection....errrrr signalling, but wouldn't need either as I saw only one dear that scared the shit out me bush crashing, rather uneventful on the animal front. Camping was rather easy as well as long as the weather would hold up which it did in spades. Slight rain the one day but other than that sunny & highs in the low 20's C which is perfect. Food is rather simple with me, a small cooler bag with sausages & hot dogs, rice, water filtration bag, small pot + I'd eat fish I caught along the way. Paired with nuts & pemmican & a few power bars.  I really ought to take a refresher course in bush survival as it's been near 30yrs & can't recall what mushroom & berries are good but didn't need them anyway. 
I would pad out the rest of my touring around the Cape & the south shore. I've been hitting NS for about 30 yrs now & every time I go I find new stuff to explore

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Thanks for this post....I think. Super jealous right now. We are in a bad drought,no traveling,high anxiety!!! Can't imagine what it is like living in the same house as me right now.

I definitely want to get up there next year and toss some feathers around. I want to cross an Aurora off the list!

 

[Chris Kewley]

Thanks for this post....I think. Super jealous right now. We are in a bad drought,no traveling,high anxiety!!! Can't imagine what it is like living in the same house as me right now.

I definitely want to get up there next year and toss some feathers around. I want to cross an Aurora off the list!

 
If you make the trek to Ontario let me know & I'll get you the tips on what Aurora lake is best for that year, a really good one is/was open this year, pissed I missed it.  

 

[Chris Kewley]

2 trips to the same lake but a week apart. About a 3 hr drive north of Toronto Algonquin park is probably the busiest provincial park in Ontario, however the best thing about that park is pretty much everywhere surrounding the park is Crown Land (like Federal Land in the US I'm told) & no crowds to speak of. Trout season closes September 30th ( for the most part) so it would be a last dig at some Brookies. The weekend of the 22-24 we would camp & hit a few lakes, one was really productive & the other dead, quite bizarre how that happens, so on closer Saturday we would go back & hit the productive lake. All told boated 50+ brookies with the smallest being about 12" , most were in the 14-16" range & the biggest just shy of 19"

 

 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

[dragon49]

2 trips to the same lake but a week apart. About a 3 hr drive north of Toronto Algonquin park is probably the busiest provincial park in Ontario, however the best thing about that park is pretty much everywhere surrounding the park is Crown Land (like Federal Land in the US I'm told) & no crowds to speak of. Trout season closes September 30th ( for the most part) so it would be a last dig at some Brookies. The weekend of the 22-24 we would camp & hit a few lakes, one was really productive & the other dead, quite bizarre how that happens, so on closer Saturday we would go back & hit the productive lake. All told boated 50+ brookies with the smallest being about 12" , most were in the 14-16" range & the biggest just shy of 19"

 
 

 

 
 
 
What's your limit and how many did you keep?
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 

[Chris Kewley]

We have a limit of 5 around here, ended up keeping 3 from deep hooks otherwise I'm mostly catch & release.

 

[Pr0digal_son]

We have a limit of 5 around here, ended up keeping 3 from deep hooks otherwise I'm mostly catch & release.

Glad to see you are letting some of those shitty tasting char/trout go.


Biggest difference between federal and crown land is our federal lands are owned by the energy industry. So,you are allowed to fish,hunt and camp on them,but the streams are polluted and if you build a fire it will ignite 700 miles of natural gas wells!

 

[Chris Kewley]

Glad to see you are letting some of those shitty tasting char/trout go.


Biggest difference between federal and crown land is our federal lands are owned by the energy industry. So,you are allowed to fish,hunt and camp on them,but the streams are polluted and if you build a fire it will ignite 700 miles of natural gas wells!

 
Can't tell if serious or not but Brookies are by far my favorite Trout to eat, Pike would be my absolute fav from freshwater.

 

[dragon49]

 
Can't tell if serious or not but Brookies are by far my favorite Trout to eat, Pike would be my absolute fav from freshwater.

I was also planning on asking him if he was serious  Earlier this year, I bought some Idaho Brook Trout fillet at one of my local supermarkets and was very disappointed.  It had no taste at all.  I've seen some internet comments about stocked trout not being too tasty,  I'm guessing that the hatchery feed is to blame.  I wonder whether the fish I bought was farmed or stocked as opposed to having spawned in the wild.  
 
People in the area where I freshwater fish tell me that local Walleye is the best tasting, but I've never caught any.  I've found Chain Pickerel to be the best tasting freshwater fish that I've caught.

 

[BigB]

all that fresh water stuff is crap compared to what you can get in the salt lol. but i've had walleye before that i've caught. not bad

 

[Chris Kewley]

I was also planning on asking him if he was serious  Earlier this year, I bought some Idaho Brook Trout fillet at one of my local supermarkets and was very disappointed.  It had no taste at all.  I've seen some internet comments about stocked trout not being too tasty,  I'm guessing that the hatchery feed is to blame.  I wonder whether the fish I bought was farmed or stocked as opposed to having spawned in the wild.  
 
People in the area where I freshwater fish tell me that local Walleye is the best tasting, but I've never caught any.  I've found Chain Pickerel to be the best tasting freshwater fish that I've caught.

 
This is very true. Stocked & farm fish have a muddy taste (hense why we call them Mud sharks) but once stockers are released & allowed to grow for a few years they loose that taste when a natural diet takes hold. Natural trout will have a darker meat at a younger age & will taste better for sure until they hit around 4 years old when they will almost be the same as stockers (slightly less colour in the meat for stockers) We have lists on stockers which help identify which year class they might be.
 
 

all that fresh water stuff is crap compared to what you can get in the salt lol. but i've had walleye before that i've caught. not bad

 
 I'm not going to say all saltwater is crap but man come on, catfish, pike, walleye, brook trout, I'd put up against some of the top salt species anyday. I do love me some Swordfish & Mako but you can keep the Grouper (although not sure what grouper gets served as table fare so it could be just the type)  yuk!!!

 

[BigB]

 I'm not going to say all saltwater is crap but man come on, catfish, pike, walleye, brook trout, I'd put up against some of the top salt species anyday. I do love me some Swordfish & Mako but you can keep the Grouper (although not sure what grouper gets served as table fare so it could be just the type)  yuk!!!

 
 
to each their own I suppose. never had pike, but catfish and walleye is o.k. I'm not a fan of the real fish/fatty flavor of trout, and i've had rainbow trout that I've caught up in the mountains of oregon so about as fresh as it comes. Can't say i've ever had mako, but swordfish is good, doesn't really impress me. i'd honestly rather conserve the fishery, especially now that they just approved long lining again in florida after it being illegal for  so long.
 
what's wrong with grouper in your eyes? Grouper is some of the best table fare out there, very versatile. good grilled, fried, blackened, sauced  up, tacos etc.