Who loves fishing ?

[Amarok]

Nice little feed of saltwater blue crabs View attachment 55805

I love all those photos you put up. Lots of keepers, including the lovely lady.

This crab photo though, brought back a cherished memory of an event that you probably just consider part of a normal day:

When I was a teen, we were on a family vacation on Vancouver Island. This trip was the first time my 40-ish dad ever saw the ocean. We were out in Tofino on the west shore and my dad started shooting the shit with a guy who was putzing around with a small fishing boat. The guy ended up inviting us out with him for a ride. He lived in Victoria, but would drive out and tend his couple of traps, more as a hobby than for any practical purpose.

Anyway, this guy let us help with pulling the traps, showed us how to sort through and throw back the ones that weren't wanted, and then scooped up a big pot of seawater and proceeded to cook up a massive feast of fresh caught crab. No cutlery, no napkins or garlic butter, just the best seafood I have ever eaten. Our whole family was covered in crab juice and carnage and we needed to be run through a car wash, but holy shit was that amazing.

That was our last big family holiday, and my parents had saved so we could act like "big shots" for once in our lives. We stayed in Vancouver on that trip and ate some ridiculously expensive and wonderful meals in some rightfully famous restaurants. I recall eating grilled swordfish and duckling a l'orange, but nothing came close to that fresh caught crab.

 

[Amarok]

They remind me a lot of our Ling .

Strangely enough, one of their common nicknames is the ling cod.

 

[Ramjet159]

I love all those photos you put up. Lots of keepers, including the lovely lady.

This crab photo though, brought back a cherished memory of an event that you probably just consider part of a normal day:

When I was a teen, we were on a family vacation on Vancouver Island. This trip was the first time my 40-ish dad ever saw the ocean. We were out in Tofino on the west shore and my dad started shooting the shit with a guy who was putzing around with a small fishing boat. The guy ended up inviting us out with him for a ride. He lived in Victoria, but would drive out and tend his couple of traps, more as a hobby than for any practical purpose.

Anyway, this guy let us help with pulling the traps, showed us how to sort through and throw back the ones that weren't wanted, and then scooped up a big pot of seawater and proceeded to cook up a massive feast of fresh caught crab. No cutlery, no napkins or garlic butter, just the best seafood I have ever eaten. Our whole family was covered in crab juice and carnage and we needed to be run through a car wash, but holy shit was that amazing.

That was our last big family holiday, and my parents had saved so we could act like "big shots" for once in our lives. We stayed in Vancouver on that trip and ate some ridiculously expensive and wonderful meals in some rightfully famous restaurants. I recall eating grilled swordfish and duckling a l'orange, but nothing came close to that fresh caught crab.

Yeah I can so relate to your story . If your not half covered in crab juice then you haven’t feasted accordingly . They are truly a dish to savour and in my opinion much better tasting than lobster . As you described , all you need is an appetite and the Crab meat . A couple beers to wash down doesn’t go astray either ?

 

[Ramjet159]

A mate displaying a Blue Morwong . Not a bad table fish . Caught in approximately 90 ft

 

[Ramjet159]

These things were a real gift . I was at work one day and the school of Snapper swam under our hull . 10 minutes later .......breakfast as fresh as it gets . Super aggressive feeders

 

[Amarok]

If this is my view, I'm a happy man. Floating down a river is one of my favorite things. In a canoe is great, but in an inflatable it's even better. You can be completely silent. I've drifted past a black bear so close I likely could have whacked him with my paddle before he saw me and crashed away into the trees.

 

[Amarok]

So.
You are ice fishing. You have a camera down on bottom and then this happens.

View attachment WTF who is that.mp4

 

[Ramjet159]

When you can see from a Google earth image where the Professional net fishers have ran the foot line of the net over the sandy bottom . The tree huggers would love this one hehe

 

[High kev]

The great sacandoga lake. Home to north America’s biggest northern pike

 

[High kev]

So.
You are ice fishing. You have a camera down on bottom and then this happens.

View attachment 55824

Wtf

 

[Gweedo's Growroom]

I've allegedly have been known to have a spot where I can smash huge bluegills in numbers sufficient to have a nice whole family fish fry in about an hour

 

[Ramjet159]

The great sacandoga lake. Home to north America’s biggest northern pike

Only the dedicated . That’s looks cold Kev . My balls shrunk just watching it . Nice fish ?

 

[Ramjet159]

How we used to fish. I worked with a few of these lads over the years

 

[Gweedo's Growroom]

I'm not gonna lie I love catching more than fishing lol I've logged a lot of hours bank waiting catfish at night, smoked a ton of weed caught a few fish, but crappie and bluegill are great I like the fast action when you get on em

 

[High kev]

How we used to fish. I worked with a few of these lads over the years

How do u guys just slap them onto the boat and the hook magically comes off???

 

[Ramjet159]

How do u guys just slap them onto the boat and the hook magically comes off???

The hook has no barb Kev . The impact on the landing mostly dislodges the hook from it’s hard lipped jaw . Occasionally the hook sticks a bit and you have to kind of wiggle it and it pops out . That’s the most commonly asked question . I’ve had a couple of those hooks stuck in my back , I’m glad there’s no barb ?

 

[High kev]

So there is a story i here from people around the great sacandoga lake area that they were scuba diving there inspecting the dam to make sure it’s safe. While they were down there they went to go move a huge 8-12 foot log that was up against the dam to inspect behind it and the log swam away. Only to realize it was a northern pike.

 

[Amarok]

Wtf

It's actually just my buddy's camera. He was turning on the light so I could make the positive ID. I just figured it would make a good creepy moment if posted without context. It's fun the explanations that your mind can come up with, no?

It's a blast when we have 3 or 4 or more cams down and we're all calling out the action.

"Three burb coming your way"
"whitefish cruising through about 5 feet off bottom, he's heading for your jaw-jacker"

It's even more fun when the water is clear enough and you can watch your bud hook and land a fish from the underwater view.

 

[Ramjet159]

So there is a story i here from people around the great sacandoga lake area that they were scuba diving there inspecting the dam to make sure it’s safe. While they were down there they went to go move a huge 8-12 foot log that was up against the dam to inspect behind it and the log swam away. Only to realize it was a northern pike.

Gotta love a good fishing story . Like fishermen or scuba divers would ever lie ?

 

[Amarok]

So there is a story i here from people around the great sacandoga lake area that they were scuba diving there inspecting the dam to make sure it’s safe. While they were down there they went to go move a huge 8-12 foot log that was up against the dam to inspect behind it and the log swam away. Only to realize it was a northern pike.

Never saw one quite that big, but one evening I was in the zodiac on a lake known for huge pike, casting toward shore and I felt something tapping and missing a few times on the retrieve. I was drifting toward the cast and watching to see if I could spot the fish when I noticed a tree trunk on an angle. It looked like it was wedged in the bottom, but I couldn't actually see bottom.

I was keeping an eye on it, as it could potentially damage my boat, when the fucking tree swam away. No way of being sure, but I figure well over 30 lbs. I've caught numerous 20+ from there, and have seen many more, and this thing made them look small.

I tried a while longer, but never was able to hook her or even get another look, but my heart was pounding for quite a while.

People make fun of hammer handles/snot rockets, whatever nickname you use for the little guys, but a huge pike is an apex predator for a reason. They are crafty and strong, incredibly fast and a very worthy opponent for any angler, imo.