Ice-Free Ice Fishing

[Bodeen]

It would have been so much better through the ice though.

[Jason]

Nice catch
But man those things are ugly . How do they taste .
I guess obviously they are good enough to eat or they wouldnt be laying in you sink .

[Bodeen]

Walleye Ugly And they ain't laying in no sink cause they wouldn't fit. Do you see a friggen drain in there? Stainless counter top in my current fish shed. Wait until I get the new building up, with the back section drywalled in heated and air conditioned. Not to mention the hip roof design so I can have my collection upstairs in my Rapala "loft"

Or were you just putting me on At least they weren't trout eh

[Jason]

Yah they are ugly They look like a squaw fish . At least trout have some color The perch looks pretty cool though .
And as for your stainless table looks to me like the big sinks we had on the farm when I was a we lad . Sorry I didnt no you were so sensitive about your ugly fish and nice counter top

[Bodeen]

I read your message Jason at about 4:30 this morning and didn't have a response that I thought would fit. I still really don't. I thought about people and their flyrods getting a thrill out of catching a 8 inch trout in 12 inches of water, but figured you would come back with lake trout.

So I guess I will have to go with this response. Fresh water popularity rankings....

1 Bass, I don't agree
2 Walleye
3 Catfish

Trout ain't even ahead of catfish. Of course, real men don't fish for trout Salmon is okay though and steelhead as well

[nathenpd]

Trout, the stereotypical fish that "everyone" fishes for. Why do all the clothing and home decoration companies assume that all fishermen fish for trout? The only trout fishing i have ever down was for seatrout. Walleye fishing beats trout fishing anyday, no matter how ugly the fish may look.

[Jason]

bodeen said:

I read your message Jason at about 4:30 this morning and didn't have a response that I thought would fit. I still really don't. I thought about people and their flyrods getting a thrill out of catching a 8 inch trout in 12 inches of water, but figured you would come back with lake trout.

So I guess I will have to go with this response. Fresh water popularity rankings....

1 Bass, I don't agree
2 Walleye
3 Catfish

Trout ain't even ahead of catfish. Of course, real men don't fish for trout Salmon is okay though and steelhead as well

Bodeen with out words

Well I guess I must start with asking why you guys think all I fish for is Trout . .. all though I do like catching them : )
There is so many different kind of fish around here you couldnt even imagine . I could list 10 time's the fish you guys have to catch . Granted I also have some salt water and brakish water .


I will though for the most part agree with your rankings . Bass fishing is cool , but way over rated . It just happens to be the one you can make some money at if your good enough . I guess ?

Walley ? well I honestly couldnt tell you . You guys like catching them , so they must be cool .

Catfish hmm Taste good . But they are a dime a dozen and no fun to catch unless you are out sleeping on your boat . Nothing better than waking up to your drag ZZZingggg to a 20 lb cat . At 3: 00 in the morning still drunk tripping over your self and every one in your way

I dont really have an ending to this other than , If you think I fish with a fly rod we need to talk .....

[Bodeen]

OMG we agree on something, bass fishing is over rated. I personally think they are too easy to catch. Walleye are better tasting than perch, and everyone likes perch.

Catfish is one of my favorite fish to catch. Catching them on light line is just awesome.

I will give you the fact that you have more waters to try. I would love going after snapper, snook, and redfish to name a few. One of these days I need to come down there and show you how to catch em

[Jason]

Most of the Snapper and the red fish and snook are way down south of me . But I wouldnt mind going down that way

[indafishinhole]

Pike fishing is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo boring.

[jsr5]

You guys must be crazy if you think walleye are ugly

[unipsychofishman]

indafishinhole: If you think pike fishing is boring I have some advice for you:

1. Stop pike fishing so you don't have to complain
2. stop throwing tiny, finger-long baits if you want to stop catching wimpy, trout-sized hammer-handles. Start throwing something at least the length of your hand if you want to have a chance at a decent fish.
3. If you insist on throwing small lures, downsize your gear to match. Catching even a one or two pound hammer-handle on ultra-light gear can be a lot of fun and it gets especially fun and rewarding when you land a six pound or greater fish which might otherwise have bored you to tears.

Also a piece of advice not pertaining to pike fishing:

4. make sure your replies do indeed pertain to the topic of the thread you are posting in so as not to annoy those on the forum wishing to read about a particular topic. (though I am just now breaking this very rule to tell you)
You will notice that this topic covered walleye and trout; their relative appearance and sporting qualities as well as mention of a fish shed and a few other fish species but no where in the posts prior to yours was there any mention of pike.

Now as to the claim of walleye being ugly I have to disagree. Call them intense if you must but there are far uglier fish. I personally find the range of coloration in walleye to be refreshing and beautiful; from the olive green with flecks of gold of a boreal forest walleye to the dusky tan-gold of a foothills river 'eye and the bright shining gold of a prairie lake/reservoir walleye. They are a beautifully colored fish.

[cdj711]

well, i do not like eating pike as much as i like eating walleye, or zander, since we do not have walleye here, but i know how walleye taste; they helped me survive a week out somewhere in the middle of canada some 25 years ago.
even if i do not like to eat pike, unless they are coming out of the baltic see around sweden, i like to catch them a lot.
just this summer i was lucky to catch some in my lake on gurglers; and best of all, my wife videotaped the whole thing; it just is amazing when you see the wake of a fish coming to your fly, and you have to stay calm and wait for the attack and not strike before you feel the fish; no mans eye is fast enough to see the actual attack; all you can see is a big spray of water and a jump; it does not matter much if the fish is 15, or 20, or 30 inch.
and best of all, you can relive all this now on your own TV when the dead of winter is here and the lake is all frozen.
as suggested by unipsychofishman, just use the right kind of tackle and any fish will give what you are looking for, even if you dont like to eat them.

last year we had this ice-free ice fishing around here all winter; the lake was frozen just for 1 day in december, and then it got warm again, and the water stayed open all january and february, and also here the fly was the lure to go for, because you can fish it nice and slow.

and i know this is rapala board and all, and to tell the truth, i have caught a fair share of pike on SSR, but also some on Bagley top gun, illex arnaud, lucky craft sammy, mepps spinners, ... none on CDJ or big stuff like J13 or super shad cause the water is too shallow for all these big lures.

best,
w.