The Fish that you wish you had More Opportunity For

[Fly-Swatter]

Melbourne: Banana River Aquatic Preserve is fantastic....if you like paddling....a lot.

And, alligators. Lots of those. It's a little unnerving to be in a 15' canoe with similar sizes alligators very nearby.

I was there 20 years ago on a very windy day (bad timing). Even with the reduced visibility from waves I could see schools of large black drum and red drum. The sea grass was pristine (not covered in silt from props).

 

[pete41]

stepped on what I thought was a small island and 6 foot gator came shooting out from under-toss up who was more scared.Kayak is the way to go Hobie is the best choice-awesome fishing-

 

[Kevin82]

My first choice would be wild steelhead on the Pacific coast drainage's, I have never done it, but it intrigues me very much.
And a close second choice would be wild brook trout over 10 inches, I catch plenty of wild brook trout, very rarely over 9-10 inches. Caught one many moons ago that was 13 inches, took it home and had gram make it for supper with fresh homemade bread and fried potatoes, I still remember being with my dad and hooking and fighting that fish, and the ending would not be the same today...

 

[krs]

Trout in PA’s beautiful freestone streams.

 

[jifigz]

So it looks like the majority of folks wish that they had more opportunities to fish the salt. Makes my lowly choice of chain pickerels seem so boring. I like to go to places and fish where others aren't and a sluggish stream with nice and big chain pickerel sounds so wonderful because I've never experienced it. They are always small and very limited in opportunities here.

When I was growing up there were a few years when I lived in South Florida. The saltwater fishing I did was fun but I was honestly too young to properly experience it. I remember having a certain liking for Red Drum, however. What I miss most about south Florida was the sprawling canal works and ponds that were filled with huge crappie and LMB and other exotics I'd occasionally encounter like Alligator Gar. Those ponds were unique and I spent a lot of time fishing them. I encountered the armor plated catfish and I'm pretty sure I caught an early cobra snakehead down there, too.

 

[Bamboozle]

jifigz wrote:
So it looks like the majority of folks wish that they had more opportunities to fish the salt. Makes my lowly choice of chain pickerels seem so boring.

Nothing wrong with Pickerel, I target them at lakes & ponds where the majority of fishermen are looking for Largemouth, although I use conventional tackle for all of my Pickerel fishing.

I hate to say it, but there is nothing like ripping a Senko and watching a 20+" pickerel make a V wake to blast it!!

I don't know about opportunities in your neck of the woods, but the Pocono region is loaded with good pickerel fishing.

 

[afishinado]

Bamboozle wrote:

jifigz wrote:
So it looks like the majority of folks wish that they had more opportunities to fish the salt. Makes my lowly choice of chain pickerels seem so boring.

Nothing wrong with Pickerel, I target them at lakes & ponds where the majority of fishermen are looking for Largemouth, although I use conventional tackle for all of my Pickerel fishing.

I hate to say it, but there is nothing like ripping a Senko and watching a 20+" pickerel make a V wake to blast it!!

I don't know about opportunities in your neck of the woods, but the Pocono region is loaded with good pickerel fishing.

Pickerel are like a mini version of a northern pike. It's too bad PA is a little too far south to hold large populations of good sized northerns (at least I don't know about where they are). NP grow bigger than pickerel and are voracious. Also muskies are definitely a spectacular gamefish but not very densely populated in most lakes or rivers and must be hunted down to find any action.

Fishing for any kind of pickerel, pike or muskie is fun, especially fishing a fly on or near the surface. I can picture that V wake appearing out on nowhere, tracking my fly ready to pounce on it! STRIP STRIKE!!...STRIP!...STRIP!.....Good stuff.

 

[gibsygoldtop]

Any trout that calls Montana home

 

[Bamboozle]

I once watched a video of some folks fishing for huge pike with big flies on big rods in Canada. The swirl under the flies and the enormous size of the fish was amazing. Definitely on my bucket list.

Closer to home I've had Pickerel bite through 17lb test fluoro so I use a wire bite "tippet" when I fish for them.

While fly rod temps me, the craziest pickerel action I ever saw was during a flying ant hatch. I was tempted but didn't have any wire fine enough to fit through the eye of an ant imitation... ;-)

 

[sarce]

I'm glad to see pickerel get a mention, really fun on the fly. In my area I head to MD's Eastern Shore swampy creeks and ponds for a pickerel fix. I'd rather have their larger cousins around in better numbers, but they are still fun.

If I can pick from anywhere in the world, I'd want to spend lengthy amounts of time in the jungles of South America - just so many awesome predators down there, but I can't really afford to travel there.

In the States, I'd have to go with golden trout - the real kind, not everyone's favorite PA fish (the Lightning Trout).

 

[Acristickid]

Humboldt, Paiute and Willow Whitehorse Cutthroat trout.

 

[gulfgreyhound]

Bamboozle wrote:
I once watched a video of some folks fishing for huge pike with big flies on big rods in Canada. The swirl under the flies and the enormous size of the fish was amazing. Definitely on my bucket list.

Closer to home I've had Pickerel bite through 17lb test fluoro so I use a wire bite "tippet" when I fish for them.

While fly rod temps me, the craziest pickerel action I ever saw was during a flying ant hatch. I was tempted but didn't have any wire fine enough to fit through the eye of an ant imitation... ;-)

Unstrand some common wire from an appliance and carry it along. in a pinch it will work for a tippet. I'd use an Albright Special to tie the leader and tippet together. GG

 

[RLeep2]

Pike is all I've fished for so far this year since the ice went out. I have a couple small lakes I walk/wade where I can and also fish the backwaters at Presque Isle. I've done OK. Nothing of any really notable size but quite a few in the 22-28" range and a couple that were an honest 30". They are vicious on the take and usually last under a minute for the rest of the fight. Lots of fun though...

If I were to name one fish I wish I had more reasonably close opportunities for, it would be small stream wild RT. They're hotter than firecrackers and I really got to enjoy fishing for them down south as well as some in Central Wisconsin. I can run up into the Southern Tier of NYS and fish them with a 90 minute drive, but I wish there were closer opportunities that would not come at the expense of brook trout. But, sometimes I'm tempted to not worry so much about this. But usually, through force of will, I fight these improper impulses off...

 

[tomgamber]

I remember enjoying fishing for whitefish in Idaho in the winter. Not something I would go out of my way for but some of the better tailwaters were full of them. If you just weren't feeling the trout, the whitefish could keep you busy all day. And they tasted good too.

These days, I could be happy all day just chasing bluegills around the farm pond. I do enjoy fishing the sound for small drum from a kayak on vacation. Would prefer to wade or just walk for whatever I fish for. The less hardware the better.

 

[krayfish2]

Golden Dorado. Strikes me as a cross between a brown and a pit bull. I hate the heat, humidity and skeeters so...screw it