any fisherfolk out there? (Page 1 of 2)

I'm a fisherman.  I live nearby the upper Potomac River, which is my normal spot for my favorite quarry of smallmouth bass.  My favorite "can get to it at least once a year" location is the New River in West Virginia.  My favorite kind of fishing is whatever I can do at the time, but I do surf fishing, small stream fly fishing for native trout, big river "full contact fishing" for smallmouth bass or trout from a kayak or raft in up to class 3 whitewater, paddle easy around a lake tossing lures to lily pads largemouth bass fishing, and sit on the bank soaking worms and sipping beer while passing the time conversing with a friend and wondering if there are actually any catfish in the region fishing.  You name it, I like it.  I'm not good at it.  But I like it. 

I live in northern Virginia, and we are blessed with outdoor opportunities.  Within a two hour drive I can be at famous freestone native trout streams like Yellow Breeches, the Potomac River (actually in fifteen minutes), the beautiful and rocky Shenandoah River which was just MADE for canoeing, the Chesapeake Bay, big, big, big river water of the tidal Potomac or the Susquehanna (which in parts is huge, wide and flat like the tidal Potomac and in other parts is like a karst limestone strong current river nearly a mile wide, essentially a Shenandoah River on steroids), little spring creeks in the Shenandoah and George Washington National Forests, great big impoundments like Lake Anna, and any of dozens of hundred to two hundred acre placid lakes.   If I want to go a little further for a weekend, I can get to the world-famous Delaware, open Atlantic beaches like Dewey or Atlantic City, MD (or NJ), or barrier island beaches like Assateague, MD or the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  The longest I'd have to spend in the car for any of this is five hours. 

Here's some pictures from a trout trip I took on the Colorado River headwaters in the summer of 2007.  Awesome day.  Probably my best ever day of fishing.  I broke my previous personal best trout record five times that day.  There's nothing like a big brown trout born and raised in a big, strong river.  I fought one on a fly rod while standing on the front of a cataraft that was going down a long class 2 rapid - laughing the whole time.  The fish was still strong when netted and released back to the river to go make more fish just like it. 

http://picasaweb.google.com/HalfFastPad … utFishing# 

There are a few other fishing and outdoor related albums on my site.  You're welcome to browse around.  Ignore the family wedding and kid birthday albums as they would be boring to anyone not in our family. 

- Zurf

I've done a little fishing, myself. Chased after them bass tournaments for several years. Won some money - spent way more money than I won. Caught a whole lotta fish and had a whole lotta fun. Got started fishing for catfish a few years back - all with rod n reel. Learned me some stuff about catching the big-uns and I do quite well. Usually catch at least a half dozen over 50 pounds a year. YES - that's what I typed. Our best was a 1 day total of 4 blue catfish that weighed 229 pounds. Now I'm sitting home 'cause my boat has a blown engine.

Nela

Staunton isn't terribly far from my area.  It's not terribly close either.  Let's stay in touch and try to work something out.  Maybe we can get together at a campground.  Jets60 and Oldnewbie are in this area too, and I've never worked it out to meet either of them yet. 

There's good fishing in the Staunton area, particularly if you aren't particular about catching fish. 

- Zurf

Yes.  I often have state freshwater licenses from Virginia, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.  Some years I also get a Maryland.  In-state Freshwater License in Virginia is about $12.50, add another $12.50 for a trout stamp if planning to fish stocked water (I usually don't).  There's another stamp to purchase for fishing in a National Forest, but I don't recall the value.  Out of state licenses for Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia are a bit more expensive but still affordable.  In the $30 range, I think.  I'll often buy a five-day pass rather than an annual pass, which is a lot less expensive.  For West Virginia, there's an initial cost of $12 or $15/year for an out-of-state, but then you can pay just $3/day for the days you actually fish (advance payment of course, you have to have the valid license on you when fishing). 

Chesapeake Bay licenses are curious.  They are sold for the boat, and are valid for all persons aboard the boat up to the Coast Guard approved maximum occupancy.  This is very convenient for the charter captains, because they license their boat for the year.   That way when their daily customers come aboard, the captain doesn't have to worry about whether the customers are individually licensed.  His boat license covers the customers.  Pretty slick.  The Chesapeake is partly Virginia water and partly Maryland water.  Each state licenses, so captains have to be careful about where they are fishing.  GPS units and marine maps save them a ton of money each year in fines.  It's real easy to drift from one state to the other unawares without them. 

I don't know if there's a saltwater license to fish in Virginia.  I mostly fish salt in North Carolina, and that's been a while.  They were speaking of instituting a license, but I don't know if they ever did.  If so, I'm sure it's affordable.  That's big business for them down there, and they're not going to do anything to interfere. 

- Zurf

I bought a fly fishing kit last year. So far I have used it twice. First time I used it I caught a wee brownie up the spey dam, second time in a very windy day I gave up after 15 minutes and got the spinning rod out.
I do a lot of spinnig for trout and salmon if i am lucky enough for one to bite up the spey river.
I also go to loch Awe for trout and recently started fishig for pike there too.
Not done it for a few years but I was always sea fishing from the shore or a small boat.

And I started when i was 14 years old down the firth and forth canal fishing for perch.

There are a few...ok loads of other lochs in scotland I fish and rivers but too many to name.

Ken

I love to fish. Just dont like taken the family with me. Its something I like to do alone. Me and my Tio used to go all the time, but since he passed not so much. Got a trip planned in May with my dad. New Mexico's got some of the best fishing in the world (personal opinion). Nothing beats getting away for awhile. I could even careless if I catch anything. I just dig the solitude.

Doll - you never cease to amaze me. I should have known you were an expert fisherwoman. Good on you! I wish you good luck on your salmon fishing trip to Alaska, something tells me you meet most of your goals. I bet you know how to cook your catches with perfection also!

I'm going in July.  I'll raise a glass to Lena the Magnificent each night after dinner, from another bald man with an affinity for whiskey. 

After the July trip, I will begin figuring ways to save money and work leave to take my family to New Zealand for a couple weeks.  If I can get there, there is no question about whether I will hire a guide for at least one day of trout fishing. 

- Zurf

Emerald Green with envy Zurf .

Take loads of pictures to post here. I like to see images of the places im destined to visit. It helps with the manifestation of same.

Beautiful mystical dense fog over our Island here this morning. Not good for drivers im sure, but its so peaceful . We get this phenomenon when we get warm sunshine at this time of year.
Just  thought id share this with you all.

Saoll fáda chugat.  [ long life to all.]

Dia Linn

Old Doll.

Thanks for the advice NELA.  We're going at what we hope will be the right time for king salmon in the rivers.  We're going to an inland lodge.  Only ten fishermen are permitted per week.  They have several planes.  Each pair of fishermen gets a guide.  We sit down with the guide at dinner each night and figure out where we're going to fish the next day.  The guide works it out with a pilot (if he's not a pilot himself) and then they fly you there for the day of fishing.  The lodge is right on a river, so I'm hoping that I can get a van shuttle upriver a bit and paddle down to the lodge at some point during the trip.  It's pretty much 24 hour sun then, with the middle of the night being no darker than twilight gets in my neck of the woods.  Or so I hear.  Given that, there should be plenty of time to work in some canoeing, if I'm not exhausted from catching large trout and salmon. 

Lena, no worries on the pictures.  My wife gave me a new digital SLR camera outfit for Christmas so that I'll be able to take a bazillion photographs.  I'll be happy to share. 

- Zurf

Reminds me of a great song by Pat Dailey. (Will change all naughty words)

This post appears to violate the chordie policy against posting of lyrics

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Sorry, tubatooter, I am sure it was an honest mistake. I like Pat Dailey too, but rules are rules. If you have a link to any of his songs with chords & lyrics, I'd love to see it.

Topdown (Jeff)