What kind of fishing have you done? What was/is your favorite type of fishing? Do you prefer a boat, shore, stream, river, lake, aquarium, or ocean? Do you prefer lure, bait, fly, net, spear, snag, dynamite, or by hand like a southern bubba catfisher? Tell us all, don't hold back! Type of rods, reels, creels, lures, flies, bait, or maybe preference in a willow stick. What types of fish have you caught? What countries, states, provinces, etc., have you fished? My favorite was stream fly fishing for native trout. I was never good in a boat drifting or even anchored. I did prefer lure over bait. Once on the ocean but got sick before any fishing commenced. I have fished in Colorado, Texas, Arkansas, New Mexico, Oregon, Alaska, and Montana. I quit fishing 30 years ago with no regret. I started at age 4 so 37 years of fishing was enough and it offers no excitement for me anymore. The only kind I like to watch is someone reeling in a sturgeon, a prehistoric fish still the same as they were in prehistoric times. I have caught trout : native -rainbow - brown, salmon: kokanee - coho -steelhead, crappie, bass both large and smallmouth, sunfish: both blue and yellow gill, catfish: channel - blue -yellow - bullhead, grayling, carp, and squawfish.
When I was a kid , my folks would load up the 53 Buick with food and camping gear, put the old wooden boat on top of Grandpa Bailey’s old Ford, and spend several hours driving way up into the mountains to some little mountain lake. We would spend the weekend camping out, fishing, eating trout and pork and beans, and finally returning home late on Sunday afternoon. Sometimes we fished from shore and sometimes in the boat, and I enjoyed both. Mainly, my folks went to high mountain lakes where they caught trout, although I remember one time when we were at a lower lake, and Grandpa Bailey caught a bullhead catfish when we were fishing after dark. As an adult, I enjoyed taking my kids fishing, and it was something that we did as a whole family. We mostly fished from either a lake or river, and with live bait, although my husband loved fishing with lures. He enjoyed catching bass, and we often fished until late at night. When I caught a bullhead (which was often), I refused to even touch the ugly creature, so I had to wait until my husband came back for another lure or bait and ask him to please remove the catfish for me. All three of my kids, and my grandsons enjoy fishing, too; so I guess that it carried on in the family. I got really sick with the ocean fishing thing, too, plus very sunburned. I could barely walk when I tried to get back out of the boat, I was so dizzy. Other than that, I thought it was great fun !
Done a lot of rainbow trout fishing, in No Wake area, in our old bowrider boat, on Chatfield Reservoir off of E-470 freeway in Littleton, CO area. This is a CO State Park. Water depth was around 35 to 40 feet, three rods/reels and earthworms. They loved the earthworms we put down for bait. At times, we had all three rods/reels with a trout on them. One time, caught a nice size brown trout. Took trout home, filleted and put in freezer. Had a good electronic Fish-Finder/Depth Guage on the boat. Also had rod holders installed on the gunwales, so we didn't have to hold the rods. Sometimes, we leave our boat hooked up to Durango after fishing on Saturday AM and go out after church on Sunday. Have a full tackle box for lures, line, line-cutter, hooks, etc. and our fishing licenses. When we moved to North Carolina, decided to consign the bowrider back to the dealer we bought it from. We kept all of our freshwater gear when we moved to North Carolina and then to Florida. After arriving in Florida, we bought each of us saltwater rods/reels along with some saltwater stuff in a tackle box. Bought the boat we have now (1992 Celebrity 200 Cuddy Cabin w/5.7 V8 350 engine while we were in Florida (2009). I installed rod holders on this boat also. Now, for the shocker: after buying both the saltwater gear and the boat, never once went saltwater fishing. Not once. Sold the saltwater gear in a garage sale and gave the saltwater tackle box to the marine mechanic we used for our boat repairs. As it was, we found out, without even trying saltwater fishing, that we were a "freshwater fishing" couple not saltwater. Ended up taking the rod holders off and filling the holes with epoxy glue. So, the entire time we were gone from Colorado, we kept our freshwater rods/reels and all of the tackle (two tackle boxes now). We have also bought some cheese trout bait in jars, but we've pretty always had better luck with Canadian Nightcrawlers from 7-11. Darn near need to use a tri-hook for fishing with cheese. Now, that we are back in Colorado, but NOCO this time, we go to Boyd Lake State Park. Reinstalled the rod holders and got a new electronic Fish Finder/Depth Guage. Bought fishing licenses last year, but was able to go fishing on the boat once, but too late in the day to catch anything. The rainbows were showing up on our Fish Finder, but definitely weren't biting. Two weeks ago, got our new fishing licenses for this year. Hopefully will get on Boyd Lake and get some rainbows this year. Sorry this reply is so long, but, this is our fishing experience. And, BTW, no problem with boat fishing. Remember, I was in the Navy onboard Destroyers, my uncle had a ski boat that he took me out on and my wife's family had a lake cottage in Michigan w/a ski boat also.
Yes, those horrid bullheads! I was 5 when I caught one while visiting my grandparents on a willow pole with a short line and jerked it out of the water and its top fin embedded in my leg. I still have a scar there. It was very painful and hard to heal. My grandmother dug all the fin out as I yelled and screamed. My grandpa dumped combiotic he used on his cattle on the wound as he said such wounds got infected easily. It was after that that I got a short fiberglass pole and a Zebco reel and learned to untangle or just cut off line.
Cody, Have you ever fished the Four Corners area? Navaho or Vallecito? Navaho is great for boat fishing and would make a great vacation for you. You could head up to Durango and take in an evening of cowboy fun with a chuckwagon-style dinner, comedy, and music with the Bar D Chuckwagon suppers. You would love it and fit right in with your hat, boots, etc. They have all kinds of activities including mechanical steer roping. I worked for them when they first started as a sound engineer. I also did a bit of comedy and guitar playing. Great food and fun or at least it was 50 years ago. Navajo Lake State Park - State Parks (nm.gov) https://www.bardchuckwagon.com/supper
No, only Chatfield Reservoir/Lake. There are lakes that don't allow motorized boats, so that leaves us out. Aurora Lake is one of them. Right now, until we put a new engine in our Dodge Durango, we will drive no further than north to Cheyenne or south to DIA (Denver International Airport). As far as the "cowboy fun" goes, in Durango, we are more into the rodeo scene than that kind of thing. Although, it was cool watching the chuckwagon cookoff at Cheyenne Frontier Days. This coming July, we will be renting a car and going to CO Springs for the Pro-Rodeo Hall of Fame Ball and Induction of a couple of rodeo champions we have met and talked to.........Trevor Brazile and Bobby Motes. And, after the Induction, heading over to the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo for upfront reserved seats for great viewing. And, btw, we completely "fit in" with the Ball, Induction and rodeo. Before the Ball, Induction and rodeo, we will be going to the Greeley Stampede Finals Rodeo. Again, upfront reserved seats.
All righty then, back to fishing. I remember visiting Northeast Texas relatives back in the mid-1960s, age 14. spending a few days with two girl cousins on Lake Texoma. They had a large raft or floating platform and we all had our rods on the U hooks on one end and while bikini suntanning in lounge deck chairs, we slowly paddled along keeping the lures spinning. All of a sudden my rod jumped and shot out into the lake and disappeared. Come to find out it wasn't a rod and reel that was to be used by anyone by their dad. After we all put on what looked like a diving search and rescue effort but to no avail, a big raft with several Speedo-clad older teen boys came over and assisted in the diving effort, again to no avail. After a detour and realizing how badly sunburned we were, we headed back to my cousin's family summer camp where cold showers were taken and aloe vera was applied. I confessed to using the rod out of ignorance. Uncle said no problem, he only told his daughters that it was a special expensive setup and not for their use because they had a habit of leaving it with a tangled line, necessitating changing the line before he could use it. He said it had a habit of getting bound up so catching a fish didn't always have the drag work, giving slack until one could play the fish, and reel it in. It jammed and that is why it abruptly went flying out into the lake. "It probably had a big record-breaking bass on it," he mused. Avoiding a scolding and avoiding debt was a relief, but the pain of that sunburn was punishment extraordinaire. All the extra time in the sun searching for the rod was no doubt what caused the sunburn and the time spent over at the boy's FFA camp where we played beach volleyball while rock and roll-top 40 blasted on the big transistor radio, had no bearing on it. Uncle was out of hearing range when Auntie said, "I am surprised those boys didn't insist to rub suntan lotion on y'all." My well-endowed cousins 16 and 17, giggled with a touch of teen girl judgment. "Stop it 'you guys'! I am only 14, Auntie." I snapped. Looking at my chest she said, "Aw, I now see your dilemma." My comedian Auntie was my role model in becoming the "piece of work" I am today.
Growing up in the foothills of Mt. Level (i.e., flatter-than-a-pancake Illinois), we children fished with a cane pole, line, sinker and worms on a hook. Given the muddy rivers we were blessed with, carp and catfish were about all we caught and they were few and far between. In the summer between 8th grade and HS, several parents got together and thought some of us kids would benefit from a roughing-it stay up in an old lumber camp of in Canada. Up there we had to fish to eat and I caught a good deal of northern Pike. I gave up fishing for work, cars and girls going into high school and didn't start again until after graduating from college. The canoe was always the favorite fishing vessel. Memorable fishing trips as a young adult included pulling a 20 lb. flathead catfish out of a small stream and flying with my neighbor up to Holland MI to fish for lake trout in Lake Michigan. Another time we took the kids on a fishing trip up to Lake St. Germaine in WI where I went Musky fishing for a week. Caught nothing but the kids had a great time and fondly remember the trip to this day. After cooming to New England, I did a lot of bass fishing with both fly rod and rod and reel. I could always catch something on the fly rod with a bug or small popper. I finally got tired of hauling and wrestling a canoe around , sold both (i.e., a 1-person and a 2-person Nature Bound) and gave up fishing to concentrate on a return to woodworking. Below is a pic of the last of my two canoes up for sale. Putting a marine battery in the bow to power the trolling motor made for nice balance in the 1-person canoe. Also, I always like outboard flotation for the stability it gave the canoe.
Since I live not far from the North Branch of the Susquehanna River, I have fished it a lot. It’s primarily a smallmouth bass fishery with walleye, muskie, northern pike, and channel cats. Flathead catfish are an invasive species and they are starting to appear in numbers. River height is always a factor. It can go from flood stage during rainy periods to low flow in late summer so we would either bank fish when it’s high or wet wade in the current when it’s warmer. It freezes in cold winters. When it comes to lakes, the most notable for me is a place called Snag Pond. When I was younger I would get up at 3:30 AM to be there just before sunrise which was the most productive time for largemouth bass and I always used a 6 inch Creme plastic worm on a weedless hook with no weight. It was cast out, sunk slowly and pulled across the bottom a little at a time.The largest I ever caught was 8 lb. and it now hangs on the wall. I once owned a 12 foot Sea Nymph powering it with an electric motor for lakes. I also had an Old Town Loon 111 kayak. Both are now sold. On of the many faces of the Susky. This at flood stage. Late summer. Winter. Kayak on Harris Pond. 8 LB., 24 In. Largemouth Bass
I have done just about all kinds of fishing I can think of, but my favorite, just for the joy of it, is sitting on a pond in the South fishing for large mouth bass. The most productive fishing was using a small (non-commercial) drift net and caught 264 fish in a short afternoon.
My favorite was also fishing for largemouth bass. Best of all was running top water or weedless lures through the weeds and having them explode up to hit the lure. Best entertainment ever this side of riding. Having tired of cleaning fish at an early age, I was always into catch & careful release.
I was fishing in the St. Johns River once and caught a really ugly fish. I asked an old gentleman nearby what kind of fish it was. "Well, ma'am," he replies, That there's a plank fish." "A plank fish?" "Yes, ma'am, you bake that there fish on a plank. You chop up some onions and some taters and put them all around that fish and then you put some ketchup on it. Bake it in a hot oven for 'bout thirty minutes. Then you throw the fish away and eat the plank. Have a nice day now!" I still don't know what kind of fish that was but the plank WAS mighty tasty.....
I see some of us don't like bullheads. Yes, they have those nasty spines. But I love the meaty quality of the fish. I have a pond that freezes over and stocking it does not work because of that. I thought of putting in a windmill for a pump but have not done it. Anyway, I am looking for a place that can sell me some bull head fry. They can handle low oxygen better than most. Waterbirds bring in eggs on their feet but mostly I have seen only frogs and minnows. My first experience with bullheads, I had no idea how to kill the things let alone clean them. My neighbor next door (from Taiwan) was chuckling watching us struggle with 32 fish we had brought home. He explained you just drop them in warm water, from cold, to kill them and then just cut a slit behind the head, pinch the skin with a pliers, index and middle finger straddling behind the pec fins, and peel the fish like pulling off a sock!!! Easier than scaling. Since then, we had found a fish farm a ways from here to take the kids and grandkids. Although we had to pay for the fish, there was no boredom, there were grills right there and everyone had a great time and caught fish. As a matter of fact, we had to yell at the kids to STOP catching fish as there was a no throw back policy.
To clean bullheads, my father would first drive a nail through their head to secure them to the step part of a door frame and then peel off the skin as you described.