The value of a fish's life

[FarmerDave]

pete41 wrote:
smoked [d]whitefish[/d] sheep testicles are a Rocky mountain treat---

There, fixed that for you.

But yea, my mother-in-law, loved smoked whitefish. It is apparently a big deal in the UP as well.

 

[pro4mance]

My father used to stop every Friday on his way home and pick up a whole smoked whitefish, he loved them. it's an acquired taste. It took me forever to enjoy it. Every now and then they are available at my local Giant Iggle

 

[dc410]

I really enjoy catching Fallfish on the fly rod as well. Occasionally while targeting smallies in the summer I run into some very aggressive, good sized Fallfish smashing poppers on top. Lots of fun!

 

[Prospector]

I watched a fellow on Sugar creek a few years ago throw out every chub he caught. It's been a long time since I've seen someone do that although I've seen the remains on the bank of other streams just not often. As others have said, it was a more common practice 40 years ago.

It's a shame the fall fish numbers are down in the North Central streams I fish. They used to be fun.

Speaking of north central PA, I was asking about a certain stream not having as many wild browns as when I was young. Seemed like back in those days the Brook to brown ratio was about 5:1 and now I haven't caught a brown trout there in years. He was a local and said other locals may cleanse their favorite Brook trout stream of their German cousins.

 

[streamerguy]

Char_Master wrote:
If you hook a 14" Chub in a Brookie stream or a 20" Fallfish in SCPA and it takes you for a ride, jumps a few times, and fights like a champ, then why would you complain. Chubs, Suckers, and Fallfish are all native species and put up great fights, rivaling wild Trout of a given size and certainly much better than stocked Trout.

Exactly. We all see and read about it all the time...... Someone hooks a fish, a good fish, it makes some runs, bulldogs along the bottom, some good head shakes.....man, this is a nice fish!! The fish is putting up a fight, time to adjust the drag a bit.....this thing better not get off!! Heart is pounding, it's the nicest fish of the day....super pumped!

.......and then you see what it is. A big ol sucker, drum, bowfin, fallfish, whatever. Awe man. Oh well.... Just gonna pretend it didn't happen.

I don't get how anybody can be upset with any fish that gives you that much excitement, even if it wasn't what you were targeting. Sure, you may have wanted to catch a different species of that size, but it still provided some action. Better than not catching anything at all

 

[pete41]

Prospector wrote:
I watched a fellow on Sugar creek a few years ago throw out every chub he caught. It's been a long time since I've seen someone do that although I've seen the remains on the bank of other streams just not often. As others have said, it was a more common practice 40 years ago.

It's a shame the fall fish numbers are down in the North Central streams I fish. They used to be fun.

Speaking of north central PA, I was asking about a certain stream not having as many wild browns as when I was young. Seemed like back in those days the Brook to brown ratio was about 5:1 and now I haven't caught a brown trout there in years. He was a local and said other locals may cleanse their favorite Brook trout stream of their German cousins.

out in Montana's Madison river everyone was sure rainbows far out numbered browns..then they shocked the upper river and mid river and to all of we know it all's surprise the browns outnumbered the rainbows in both areas about ten to one I believe it was..one reason advanced for that gross misconception is browns are the dominant type and other trout have to settle for less desirable lies..and also browns tend to feed more at night--maybe you could get them to shock those waters--you might be shocked..TIC

 

[bigslackwater]

Who wants to join the South Central PA chapter of Chubs Unlimited?

 

[Acristickid]

Stocker - $12

Wild - priceless

 

[hooker-of-men]

pro4mance wrote:
My father used to stop every Friday on his way home and pick up a whole smoked whitefish, he loved them. it's an acquired taste. It took me forever to enjoy it. Every now and then they are available at my local Giant Iggle

Am I missing something in this conversation? Most Jewish delis and plenty of grocery stores sell smoked whitefish/salad. It's amazing on bagels. Better than lox, in my opinion. Are y'all talking about something different?

 

[FarmerDave]

streamerguy wrote:

Char_Master wrote:
If you hook a 14" Chub in a Brookie stream or a 20" Fallfish in SCPA and it takes you for a ride, jumps a few times, and fights like a champ, then why would you complain. Chubs, Suckers, and Fallfish are all native species and put up great fights, rivaling wild Trout of a given size and certainly much better than stocked Trout.

Exactly. We all see and read about it all the time...... Someone hooks a fish, a good fish, it makes some runs, bulldogs along the bottom, some good head shakes.....man, this is a nice fish!! The fish is putting up a fight, time to adjust the drag a bit.....this thing better not get off!! Heart is pounding, it's the nicest fish of the day....super pumped!

.......and then you see what it is. A big ol sucker, drum, bowfin, fallfish, whatever. Awe man. Oh well.... Just gonna pretend it didn't happen.

I don't get how anybody can be upset with any fish that gives you that much excitement, even if it wasn't what you were targeting. Sure, you may have wanted to catch a different species of that size, but it still provided some action. Better than not catching anything at all

I told this story a few times on here, but it's been awhile. I once hooked into what I though would have been an Ohio state record largemouth bass on a fly. It sipped the cicada pattern on the surface. I landed what would have been state record grass carp had I kept it and entered it. It was a lot of fun. I rod, reel, and even the fly were all antique.

I checked the record books, and found at the time there was no entry for white amur, therefore, it was a state record.;-) But it was huge. I'd estimate about 40 lbs, and on 4X tippet, too. It measured about 5 inches longer than the 37" butt section of that old cane rod.

I was targeting largemouth bass under the trees, but we all have targeted carp before. Admit it.

 

[FarmerDave]

hooker-of-men wrote:

pro4mance wrote:
My father used to stop every Friday on his way home and pick up a whole smoked whitefish, he loved them. it's an acquired taste. It took me forever to enjoy it. Every now and then they are available at my local Giant Iggle

Am I missing something in this conversation? Most Jewish delis and plenty of grocery stores sell smoked whitefish/salad. It's amazing on bagels. Better than lox, in my opinion. Are y'all talking about something different?

Whitefish are not all that uncommon as table fare even outside of Jewish communities. Talk to a UPer. But in nature they are not in the shape of a tub and you have to add your own mayo.;-)

 

[pete41]

reel men don't mayo--

 

[PennypackFlyer]

I put every fish back into the creek. And I won't even kill a snake or muskrat that swims near me.

 

[JerryC]

The first time fly fishing on the West Branch of the Delaware I hooked what i thought was a trout turned out to be a fall fish. I've caught quite of few of them and creek chubs since then. Another fish I enjoy catching are golden shiners. Not only do they take dries and nymphs, I've caught them on small poppers and when they get up in the 10 to 12 inch range they put up a nice fight.

 

[PennypackFlyer]

Almost every fish gives a good fight against a 3wt rod.

 

[streamerguy]

FarmerDave wrote:
I told this story a few times on here, but it's been awhile. I once hooked into what I though would have been an Ohio state record largemouth bass on a fly. It sipped the cicada pattern on the surface. I landed what would have been state record grass carp had I kept it and entered it. It was a lot of fun. I rod, reel, and even the fly were all antique.

I checked the record books, and found at the time there was no entry for white amur, therefore, it was a state record.;-) But it was huge. I'd estimate about 40 lbs, and on 4X tippet, too. It measured about 5 inches longer than the 37" butt section of that old cane rod.

I was targeting largemouth bass under the trees, but we all have targeted carp before. Admit it.

That sounds like a hoot.....and on 4x tippet!!! Neat story. Just goes to show that you can have fun catching big fish(regardless of species) without needing the latest Sage 22ZX7 Turbo Charge Graphite Switch.

Carp are definitely a fun fish on the fly. Got my first(and only) grass carp over the summer during the cicada hatch. Though I was actually targeting them :lol: Well, the regular carp.....the grass was a surprise. Wasn't quite as big as yours

What stinks is when I'm probing the runs for tailing carp on the local river and I spot a really good one, then I make the long cast, my fly drifts down, see some movement and feel some tension, set the hook.......and one of those rubber rainbows comes leaping out of the water :roll:

 

[poopdeck]

The great sucker run is one of my favorite times of the year. They spawn soon after the shad disappear. It's also hard to beat a live sucker for flatheads.

 

[Hook_Jaw]

Good musky bait

 

[barbless]

I used to bank chubs, fallfish and suckers routinely, but I haven't done it for many years. Although I've never kept one to cook, I'm told that suckers are good eating in the spring spawning season. The flesh is said to firm up then. Otherwise, it's supposed to be too soft to make good eating.

I killed a smallmouth on the Magalloway once, but only because they're invasive- not merely exotic- in that part of Maine. The DFG up there instructs anglers to kill any bass caught in the river.

 

[moon1284]

I don't kill them, but I do not like fallfish and I do not think they fight nearly as hard as trout. And I've caught a bunch, mostly on dry flies. I can tell as soon as I hook them.