The Fishing and Hunting Thread

I'll hunt the entire five days if I can, I've saved up time off from work. I just want to be back in the woods.

Hunting morels was like a rite of springtime growing up, they are very distinct mushrooms although they can be very difficult to spot. A false morel species does exist that can make you sick but it is very easy to tell the two apart and I've only found false morels once.

 

I shouldn't go to Mills Fleet Farm expecting an in-and-out trip. Nope, rather I walked out with my camo gloves as intended plus a roll of burlap, $10 Slovenian surplus jacket, and plans to make a simple Ghillie suit this weekend. Oh, and a hen decoy. Finally figured out how to do the high-low notes of a yelp and purr with the diaphragm call too, that took some effort.

Less than two weeks to go now.

 

I am going to throw this rig this summer in the sea of cortez and most likely get my ass handed to me. It will have 5 of these 3 inch swim baits on it and it will be tossed in front of schools of yellowtail chasing bait fish, I have about 10 bucks into it.

 

Those umbrella rigs are illegal here, they look ridiculous. Have fun with that. Those swim baits are awesome, I have some mini pike and perch versions.

Fishing opener is May 10th and the girlfriend asked if we could go. "Was that a serious question?" I see slip bobbers and minnows in my future after turkey hunting.

 

Why are they illegal? Here in AZ we can use them but can only have 2 of the swimbaits with hooks in them, in Mexico they don't really care.

 

They have new info in the regs book on them, I was just reading it: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/regulations/fishing/alabamarig.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/regulations/ ... marig.html</a>

 

so you can't throw a spinner bait with double blades on it? By definition that would violate the rule because you have a skirted hook and 2 blades to attract the fish.

 

As far as I know it's only hooks they care about and the definition of a "single lure," which that rig violates. You can have multiple hooks on a single lure, so i.e. a big ass Rapala with three trebles is okay but not if you tied two of them on at once. A jig with a stinger hook attached is legal.

 

You can use an umbrella/Alabama rig here in MN, but only one of the lines can have a hook on it.

You can't use a bare treble hook on the end of a line, either. You need to have at least one bead and one spinner on it to make it a "lure".

You also can't have more than one hook on one line unless it's a crawler harness with the hooks less than 6" apart (I believe it's 6", but it might be 9"). Therefore, sabiki rigs, trotlines, etc are all illegal here. Jug fishing is also illegal.

You're also only allowed only 1 line per angler during open water and 2 lines per angler through the ice.

As far as the spinners go, you can throw as many of those fuckers on as you want. Some of the muskie lures I use have double 13 colorado blades. You need a winch (or a Calcutta) to reel those bastards in. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.muskymayhemtackle.com/Product-SuperModel.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.muskymayhemtackle.com/Produc ... Model.aspx</a>

I also have one of these that I throw when I'm feeling spry. Double 10s, an 8, and two 7s. If feels like you're reelling in an anchor. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.muskymayhemtackle.com/Product-Hurricane.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.muskymayhemtackle.com/Product-Hurricane.aspx</a>

 

As usual the regulations are even more complicated than I thought.

Fun story about jug fishing here, last summer a co-worker had some family from Texas visit and they went up to their cabin near Grand Rapids. They had no idea it was illegal and spent a few days jug fishing in the middle of Pokegama Lake. The DNR had been watching them the entire time and ended up slapping them with very heavy fines and nearly confiscated their boat. I've had lots of fun jug fishing on farm ponds in Illinois but can only dream of it here. It's lazy fun.

Needs more blades. Those muskie lures are ridiculous, the store near my office (Joe's) has a good selection of them and I can't imagine casting something like them all day. The biggest spinners I fish are the Mepps #5s and I don't even use them that often. Do you have any smaller fish hit those, like hammerhandle pike?

 

Having the proper setup for the lures you're casting definitely helps. You can't throw a 1 lb bulldawg all day with a rod with a fast action. You also can't pull big blades without a reel stout enough to handle them or your arm will fall off after 30 minutes.

I have 3 setups for different lures. One is a 8'11" Thorne Bros with an extra fast tip for bucktails. Another is an 8' St Croix that I use for my heavier stuff like bulldawgs and cranks. The last one is a short 7'3" that I use for jerkbaits and topwaters. You can definitely tell the difference if you're using the wrong rod for the lure.

I've had bass come up and smoke my 8" Jackpot before. I've also had plenty of pike of all sizes hit my bucktails and crankbaits. I even had a mid 20" pike hit a bucktail in the middle of the night. I could've swore it was going to be a muskie because I was on a really popular muskie spot and everyone always says that northerns don't bite at night.

 

Jug fishing sounds like something that involves a lot of whiskey.

Prop, is right on the money about having the proper rod/reel to throw that big stuff, for the umbrella rig I will use a 7 foot rod rated for 20-50 pound line, with a medium sized reel with 40 pound.

I stick with 7 foot rods because the fit better in the boats I fish on and they are much easier to go over under in a clusterfuck of people all hooked up on fish, the longer rods also mess up my casting motion.

 

Jug fishing in my experience usually involves at least a case of Busch Light per person but of course whiskey does the job too. You also need a jon boat to retrieve the jugs spotted swimming across the pond (the beauty of it all, you can tell which jugs are hooked up), and a bonfire for lighting and entertainment too. Good times.

It makes perfect sense how you'd need heavier-built equipment to handle the heavy lures. You don't build .458 Win Mag rifles on rimfire frames, I get that. I've always used ~6.5' medium-light action rods rated for 1/2-3/4 oz. lures tops so that's what I can relate to.

 

What kind of beach are you shark fishing off of, is it rocky or just sand.
There are some guys who take the bait out on a surfboard and dump it 100-150 yards offshore so they don't have to cast and that is what I would do, you can use a kayak as well, I would use a good sized chunk of fish and 8/0 hook and a 6 foot wire leader with a 16 ounce lead on it, put on the clicker and wait. You won't need much over 40 pound test line.
Unless you plan on keeping the sharks bring some wire cutters so you can cut the leader when you release the shark, the hook will rust out in a few weeks. If you are going to keep the sharks to eat bring a gaff, those fuckers are mean especially when you try to kill them.

 

If it is a reel rocky beach I would rig it a little different to keep the line off the rocks so when the shark takes a run you don't get cut off.

 

I picked up a three piece St Croix spinning rod on a whim many years ago from Bass Pro. This is by far the best rod I own without question. I've caught literally hundreds of fish with this thing and it's still kicking along like the first day I took it out. Although I don't typically grade casting and spinning rods in the same category I'll easily take my St Croix over my Skeet Reese any day of the week.

 

I was hoping to hit my limit of three birds this year but it doesn't look like I'm going to. Since I killed those first two, I have had two turkeys hijacked by a poacher and have had a hard time talking two others into coming to me.

I had one of the poached birds coming to me like he was on a rail. He was double gobbling the whole way and was closing fast. No sooner than I put my call down and get my shotgun ready... BOOM. Some fucker deeper in the woods, on my father in law's place shot. I assume that he got the bird, I found feathers and I found where he was sitting. I even know that he uses hevi-shot. Fucking asshole.

The second one may not have been a poacher but it was still a sorry move. I had been working that bird for at least 45 minutes. He was coming but he was moving slowly. I'm again assuming that the bird died. I would have been trespassing if I had went to investigate.

After the severe weather we had yesterday and what is coming today, I'm not going to even bother taking off Wednesday or Thursday. I'm sure they'll be tight lipped and not very cooperative.