Being in FL yet I still haven't gone tarpon fishing. On my bucket list A big northern pike and also a giant halibut I caught a halibut in New England before but not the size they have in Alaska. I guess halibut in NE are now as rare as honest politicians Now, a dream come true, but far from reality would be a bluefin and a blue marlin
I wouldn't mind giving Marlin fishing a try myself. Almost all of the fishing I have done in my life has been in fresh water, so any of the big ocean fighters would be a treat. I hear the rainbows out west in Utah can get huge, so I wouldn't mind giving that a try as well.
Do you know how to use a fly rod? I've tried and looked like the biggest loser. I broke out my light tackle spinning gear in frustration.
Probably 90% of the fishing I do is with a fly rod. Outside of occasional pond bass fishing and Lake Erie trips, I spend most of my fishing time in the trout streams. It takes some getting used to, for sure.
If you ever make it up to Ohio give me a buzz and we'll have you catching rainbows and browns in no time at all.
Agree with you on the Northern Pike thang. Big Fin has eluded me long enough although I have never fished specifically for Northerns. I have friends who moved to Anchorage JUST FOR the halibut fishing. Did you ever see the video of Sarah Palin chasing a tiny halibut around a fishing boat with a club? Hilarious.
Never fished specifically for northerns, but I've caught them on accident. Northern Ontario, late August, while walleye fishing.
In New England where I grew up, we had pickerel, the itty bitty brother of the Northern. I heard "stories" that there were northerns in the deep, bigger lakes in NH. I took my boat to many of those lakes and never hooked one nor did I speak with anyone who ever caught one.
The rare and elusive beer battered cod fish. I seem to be able to order these in restaurants, but I've never seen a live one.
are you sure it was cod? Some places serve up pollock and call it cod and the diners are none the wiser
"Call me Ishmael. Some years ago- never mind how long precisely- having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off- then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball." Name the book... I thought it an apropos reference given the topic of elusive "fish" and sordid "fish" tales. Carry on.
I've been fishing twice in my life in Norway. I only caught pollocks and mackerels, but loads of them.
Moby Dick...I read that book 15+ years ago and still for some odd reason remember the first sentence of it...Yet I couldn't remember what I did with my car keys last night.
Last time I read it was high school. Audi car company has a commercial based in part on the Moby Dick story of chasing an elusive white whale. In the case of the commercial it's a tow truck driver chasing a white Audi that never gets stuck in the snow apparently. So when I saw the topic of elusive fish, made me think back to Moby Dick,although technically a whale is not a fish. You are correct.
I fished Burntside Lake in far north Minnesota for Smallmouth. Don't think I've ever had a nibble from a Northern even though the lake was full of Northerns and Walleyes. My father and his relations used to fish north Wisconsin (Eagle River) specifically for Northerns. The just look cool and I want one.
I have caught the following "dream fish", fish that I always wanted to catch. I am proud to say that eveyr single one on this short list was released. Golden trout on a fly in Montana. Cutthroat trout on a fly in Montana. A striped marlin in Mexico. Yeah, not a very long list. However, after catching a marlin, I want to catch the biggest fish in North America in fresh water, the white sturgeon. Check out this pic I found. Who would not want to catch that? http://www.portlandfishingguide.com/guided_salmon_photos/home_pg/anglers in river with sturgeon.jpg
I used to live on Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin and people there used to consider sturgeon as a 'trash' fish and caught them mainly for the roe. I don't know if that attitude has changed or not. My sister and her husband have a place on the west coast of Costa Rica. If I could go down there and catch a black marlin, I'd hang up my gear forever.
A real challenge, at least around here, is the Ohio Muskie. They call it the "fish of 10,000 casts" for a reason, as they are very hard to catch. They resemble the pike in many ways, but the fight is better. They will often explode out of the water when reeling them in. I've been lucky enough to catch two of them in my life, both out of Alum Creek in central Ohio while bass fishing. Neither was that big, but they both gave me fights you wouldn't expect from that size of fish.
I'd have to say the tarpon is on my list. I used to fish the canals in Florida, and I'd see the tarpon feeding early evening...as I understand it they have a mouth like leather so setting the hook is difficult and they explode once hooked...typically going airborne like a marlin... The only thing I ever caught in the canals was mainly stingrays using live shrimp as bait. Tarpon, trash to eat, but a challenge to catch.
OH heck yeah, a muskie!!!! - - - Updated - - - isn't it sturgeon which jump and actually injure and kill people in boats on the Suwanee river?
A challenge, indeed.... [video=youtube;Nv1MG_ya7lY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nv1MG_ya7lY[/video]
Hmm..... perhaps you could be right. It might even be Jackson Pollock. It does tend to have streaks and splotches on it.
