I often tell people the best way to fish in saltwater is the find a friend with a boat…….I should take my own advice . But yes it’s definitely a drain on the wallet, beyond boats the gear (especially for bigger game) is just insane.
It’s also different in the intensity aspect too, I used to fish/flyfish a lot for trout and trout and there was always something so relaxing about it. From the views, to the only sound being the flow of the river, crisp air, being able to hike into new spots, get in my truck and leave whenever, not having to deal with other people. None of that is part of the saltwater game at all haha.
Had a pretty solid year last year. Started the year with a guided float on Lake of the Woods in Minnesota. We hammered 'eyes and Sauger for three days with a few Northerns mixed in.
This was our haul on day 2.
I dig northern Minnesota. The north woods are amazing. We caught a ton of fish drifting within 1/2 mile of the Canadian border.
A couple of weeks after returning home, my wife and I went fishing and camping for our anniversary. We had the rare treat of getting to watch a fairly large tornado from a nice safe distance.
The cell came our way after the tornado roped out. We sat in the truck until the rain and small hail quit, then went back to fishing.
Didn't take long to get an eating-sized Northern.
We then headed to the lake that we were camping at. I caught 16 trout. I took a few videos but not a lot of pix.
On another trip I got a chunk of a trout on the first cast, followed by another eater pike.
I took off work early one afternoon and fished until dark. I caught four trout and had a pike bounce out of the net.
I was quite surprised to catch trout on the giant pike spoon.
We went night fishing. The wind was blowing like hell. We sat in the truck for a bit and watched everyone else leave when it started raining. 20 minutes later the wind laid down and the rain stopped. We had the place to ourselves. We caught six trout and enough mudbugs for a good meal.
This is only the second time I have gone through an entire season without getting skunked at least once.
2024 mission is to catch a Tiger Musky and a 40"+ Northern.
We used to fish out of Ely as a kid, and then further north in Ontario when I was a little older. There’s nothing like the northwoods.
Ken
BBI: ...”you better not forget the safe word because shit's about to get weird”...
revchuck38: ...”mo' ammo is mo' betta' unless you're swimming or on fire.”
If we're going to play the Lake of The Woods card, here's one of my wife's muskies from this past August.
Supposedly fishing for smallmouth bass, but she was in muskie mode:
In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man
That would be a Lake of the Woods trump card, sir.
What a beast! To heck with smallies with gators like that lurking about!
The muskies were going that week. I didn't bring any of our musky gear though. I was content to just get back on LOTW and relax. We hadn't been there for a coupla years due to her battle with lymphoma. Just glad to have her back up there and fishing.
All her muskies hit little topwater baits, except one. It hit a small pike alongside the boat and wouldn't let go. She played tug of war with it for nearly a minute until it finally let go. The little pike was able to swim away but I don't think it did it much good.
I had to hand land that fish as it was too big for the net. She wanted a pic.
In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man