I caught a fish!!

[sageadvice]

lol, usually not such a big deal and it really wasn't this time either except for the fact that this particular 2 pound rainbow was the first fish that i caught this whole calender year!

Maybe to some of you, not getting out and catching as often or as much as you used to is just how it's going. I'm not used to that. The facts are that i've gone fishing at least once or twice a week for my whole life and not until these past 5-6 years have i slowed down a bit on the hobby.

While in College in Tucson, i'd go fish fishless golf course ponds just to be doing it. During winters, i'd ride my bike 5 miles to fish bass ponds that looked like yesterdays coffee full of cream. I paid extra in rent once because there was a little trout creek that ran under the place. I actually caught a trout out of my living room window. I like to fish!

Hopefully this first trout of the year is just a starter. I plan on really getting after them here pretty soon. I hope you guys too start doing things that you really love doing. Yeah, i'm getting older, gonna turn the big 60 in a few months but come on, first trout not until October? Gimme a friggen break! lol

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"

 

[trophyhunter]

Congrats on you trout...enjoy the trout at the dinner table...good luck on putting a few more in the freezer this year

))))------->

 

[NickW]

Sic em, Joey!

 

[eelgrass]

Good going Joey! I heard the lake was turning over. It's funny how catching a fish can rejuvenate the soul! Feeling that tug on the line can be pure heaven some times. It puts a smile on my face every time!

"I actually caught a trout out of my living room window."

That's the coolest quote of the year right there!

Back in the early 70's we moved to Stevenson, CA. It's in between Los Banos and Kesterson National Wildlife Refuges, close to Merced. One night we had a big rain and our back yard/field got flooded and stayed that way for about a week. One morning I got up and peeked out the window and there was a flock of wild Mallards in the yard. I grabbed my shotgun and shells. I tapped my wife to wake her up and told her to plug her ears. I eased the window open and shot and got three.

So....you caught trout out the kitchen window and I shot ducks out the bedroom window! We're brothers for life, you and I.

Eel

 

[sageadvice]

"So....you caught trout out the kitchen window and I shot ducks out the bedroom window! We're brothers for life, you and I."

Love it!! lol

Yeah, it really got my attention when the very tip of my fishing rod, a old yellow blanked Fenwick, twitched ever so slightly. I gave the fish some slack line, giving him time to get the taste of that crawler in his mouth and feel comfortable in swallowing it.

When i finally set the hook, my rod bent double and the fish took drag right off the get go. That particular moment when you can feel that you're hooked up, IMO, is one of the greatest feelings known to man. It could be a monster or a just a 6" planter but all the time you put in is paid back in full when a guy feels those first couple thumping indications of a fish on the line.

Thanks Guys!!

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"

 

[Hardway]

I have killed 2 pheasants, a couple coyotes, and a bunch of squirrels from my bedroom window when I lived at my parents house.....One time about 6 in the morning I was woke up by a loud BOOOOOOOM.....It was my brother dropping a coyote with his 300 win mag out of his bedroom window....LOL

Never have caught a fish from the inside of the house but when the San Jauquin flooded in '97 it flooded the flood plain behind the house and I caught a 16lb catfish off of the back lawn

 

[Calif_Mike]

Nice! But you should be down on the Sac, the salmon have been running good!

 

[sageadvice]

Calif_, Aside from smaller version of andlocked Kings and a few different varieties of other salmon caught in lakes thru the years, I've never landed a big salmon from a River.

Years ago on the same trip that i landed my 17 pound Steelhead,

We had not sooner launched at a old cement bridge way up the Chetco when we drifted down into what looked to me to be a nice big ideal fishing hole. The Guide had us bouncing big ol ghost shrimp off the bottom must have been twenty feet down when my rod kinda stopped and the line started moving a tad up-current. I hit that fish with what i had and the guide hollered to hit him again! I was hooked up and my emotions were flowing!

I soon had more than i wanted on the line and that fish made no bones about the direction that he wanted to go, that being down stream. The guide was telling me not to let him out the hole so i had my thumb clamped down on the line in the bait caster but the fish seemed not to notice the added pressure or if he did, it didn't seen to concern him as he shortly was down toward the bottom and moving.

The guide wanted to keep the boat in that hole instead of chasing so he decided to beach the boat. We got out and started running down the shore, mind you, the fish was still taking line as he had from the beginning and was maybe even more so as he was now a good 100+ yards away.

While running and trying to get back in some line, I came unbuttoned, the fish was gone. He felt just like i had hooked on to a 55 gallon drum of fuel that was rolling down the River. My first and as it has turned out, only shot at a big salmon was a dandy i'll always wonder just how big it might have been and not ever forget.

Joey



"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"

 

[Jingow]

Hell of a steelhead Sage, but some might question the weight of the fish, but knowing your physical stature it is every bit of 17lbs. Side note. The fish are really turning on in Almanor at this moment. Go get um and give us a report.

 

[sageadvice]

Yeah, i could understand too, someone thinking that fish less than 17 lbs. I do have another pic of me with him but it wouldn't load for some reason. I think the other pic shows the weight of the fish better. That pic was taken several hours after i caught him where he then was placed in Ice under the Guides seat.

The Guide Ken Black, if i remember correctly, wouldn't let me turn the fish back as i requested him to do. It was the only good one we caught in three days and he needed to replenish his supply of Roe, that's what he said, with the big hen. He also weighed and posted the weight on boards up there at the time as it was the biggest brought in from the Chetco so far that season and he wanted the business. If it wasn't 17 pounds, that's news to me! lol

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"

 

[eelgrass]

Nice to meet you brother Hardway, and your brother too. lol

That's a dandy steelhead Joey.

I got out today for a little rock fishing. It was an interesting day to say the least. I was fishing between the two jetties that lead into Humboldt Bay. I always fish the incoming tide there because if something goes wrong, the tide will pull you into the bay and not out to sea.

I was only about 10 yards from the rock wall that is the north jetty. I was pointing out, and had to buck the tidal pull just to maintain the spot I was fishing. That's just what you have to do.

I wasn't having much luck with a swim bait so decided to switch, and jig a 3oz. Laser Minnow. I was switching and glanced up and my kayak was being sucked OUT instead of IN, and it was really moving! Judging by how fast the rocks were flying by, I would guess 6-8 mph! How could that be? I know I read the tide book right. Besides this was running much harder than a tide current. Whatever! I better get going before I get sucked out. I was fighting to just stay in one place. All of a sudden the current started to slack and I was making good headway. Whew!

I looked behind me toward the ocean and I see some waves coming and they are breaking white caps. Not good. I turn my kayak around to face them. They were about 4' tall about 6-8 seconds apart. That's not too bad but they were steep! There was only about 10 of them, but that was plenty. I took on lots of water but thanks to scupper holes it all drained out as fast as it came in. And then it was over. Back to nice and calm again. I looked around and there wasn't a soul in sight. Nobody else even saw it as far as I know. The tide was coming in again like nothing happened. It was spooky.

I like to think I survived a tsunami, but who knows??? One of the strangest things I've ever seen.

It took me a while to settle down but I decided to make the most of it, and I ended up releasing one under sized lingcod and kept two nice blacks.

Eel

 

[sageadvice]

Dang Steve, what you described sounds like classic tidle wave to me...an you survived it in a kayak!! My hero!!

Hardway, that's a great catfish!! Of the thousands, yes thousands of delta Catfish i have caught, dang few were over 5 pounds. Out of fresh water lakes, that's another story and another thread but Channel cats as long as my leg were the game and i was the guy for the job. lol

Jingow, BTW, Thanks for the tip on Almanor. I was out to Pratteville and the West shore today...working not fishing. But the Lake sure looked good, about perfect!

Joey



"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"

 

[Califelkslayer]

2 coyotes out of my house windows. .22 out the side French door of my bedroom, and 3" mag, #2, lead out the screen of my bathroom window.

My wife was looking over my shoulder on the .22 shot and said I missed. I saw him rock from the impact and found him that afternoon about 60 yards downhill. That one was trying to lure my bird dog into the sage/bitter brush. The day before it had showed up at daylight. I heard my dog barking. The coyote would retreat into the brush. My dog would follow but stop on the edge of the lawn. When my dog retreated back to the house, the coyote would re-appear on the lawn. This went on about three times until I yelled and the coyote left. Next morning, not so good for the coyote. The hardest part of the shot was firing when my dog was clear as they were actually mere feet apart.