Mark K

No offense taken and none implied .

good same here.

Some random thoughts on being successful at catching big fish .

 

Time on the water has a lot to do with it but only if you make good use of it . Learning from every experience good or bad , learning how to translate book learning[books , magazines, videos , internet , etc.] into on the water knowledge , seeing , learning and remembering as much of the flow as possible , identifiying spots that will be productive at different times of the year while fishing year round all play into it . Being observant and aware of the natural cues and signs including noticing what certain plants and/or animals are doing when you are doing well helps you to not only have success but to repeat your success . Things like noticing over the years that when the herons are active so are the fish . Paying attention to how local climatic conditions can affect your water and learning how to adapt to them also plays a role .

 

Learning as much as you can about the fish you pursue while remembering that they will still do the unexpected as no one will ever know it all ,learning as much as you can about the other species they interact with with the same caveat , learning as much as you can about how moving water works, trying and perfecting as many techniques as you can than chosing the ones that suit you and your style most effectively also play a role .

 

Realizing that you will never know it all but still striving to learn as much as possible and to try and learn something new as often as possible .

 

Above all developing a sense of confidence that you will catch a fish on every cast and the ability to maintain that feeling no matter what the results have been so far that day .

Don abnd Norm-Sorry about the tone of that. regarding the "woman" crack. I was trying to be funny, does not always come accross over the web. I was going to say that you sound like your former business partner, but that would have been mean.

I took the above quote as condescending and the stuff that outdoor writers rehash over and over and over. Perhaps it was not intended that way. I consider myself top be a pretty observent guy. I observed that when the water gets cold, there are fewer fish on the end of my line.

None of the above means anything to the guy who steps in the water on saturday morning. Either the fish are there and biting or they are not.

This debate could go on forever.

This came up in conversation between Tim Smith and I.....ah yes, the power of positive thinking

 

Just get out there if you can. Autumn weather, beautiful leaves, migrating waterfowl and the hoot of an owl. That and so much more, are all parts of a good days "catch".....

 

Stopped by a small river after work last night and this evening. Very clear water. Bite didn't turn on until I couldn't see to tie a knot.

Don- In the immortal words of Todd Rundgren..."We gotta get you a woman"

Both of you should sound like "wannabee be outdoor writers". Do you think I'm a stupid person???

The s@#t has gone over my waders.

I'm outta here.

Fast shallow , slow shallow , fast deep , slow deep , with a check of the midsection of the flow for fish feeding up .

case in point...

doesn't this translate to "fish the whole dam river".

I catch more big fish from November thru March than the rest of the year , sometimes close to a 2 to 1 margin on twenty inch or bigger fish .

I've never caught a 20" smallie in my life. I've never even seen anyone catch one. I've caught and measured 1 maybe two 19" fish. A good amount of 18s and lots of 16 and 17s. and if I never peel a 10" smallie off a twister tail again, it will be too soon.

i know you can catch big ones in fall.

You guys are a different breed than me. A lot more serious about this. Log book? Thermometer? Not me. Thats too much like work.

For the average schmuck like me that gets out 5 or 6 times a year for a few outtings it gets tough this time of year. I fish one stretch of water on the Kank basically Davis Creek down to Area 7. I don't deviate from that stretch. reason being I know where to go and know the water like the back of my hand. And I just like being there. If it's a matter of fishing anywhere else, I'm probably going to go to a different body of water.

In summer I can throw on a topwater and cast blindly and still catch fish. It so easy any idiot can do it.

I like fishing live helgies because the fish get even stupider. The times I have caught fall fish I have found them to be stacked and those were out of a canoe. Float trips are something I no longer have time for. I can't remember the last time I floated the Kank. I can't remember the last time I fished more than half a day. Covering enough water in a short period by wading is tough. And the fish ain't exactly commiting suicide.Usually it's two or three hours at the most. I have to be believe there is no substitute for time on the water. So in a nutshell, summertime, warm water and stupid, aggresive smallies are more condusive to my style of fishing.

Lastly, I'm serious about the shotgun thing. I've had pellets rain around me twice. No where near a duck blind. Lethal or not thats freaking scary. In the times I did float the Kank in Fall, it was even scarier, since you go by so many duck blinds.

I've always found fall fishing to be highly overated. The water gets too clear and the fish are way less aggressive because the water gets colder. And nothing makes a fishing trip like having shotgun pellets land near you.

year after year I keep saying I'm going to start fishing for trout and salmon.

True, Mark. Fishing isn't normally effective aerobic exercise.

 

BUT, if losing weight is the issue, 4 miles is 4 miles. Most weight-loss programs prescribe walking, not running. Adding the resistance of walking in the water also adds to the work necessary to cover a given distance and increases the total number of calories burned.

 

Also, if you're lifting your knees and driving forward into the water of moderate depth and your heart rate is accelerated and you're breathing hard while you walk, you could get into the aerobic range. Usually when I'm wading like that, I'm making far too much noise to fish. Walks like that usually happen on the way back to the truck.

 

It doesn't make much sense as a work out routine...but as an EXCUSE TO FISH ("But honey this is my workout and I have to do it at least 3 times a week all year long")...priceless.

4 miles is about 400 calories. A plain whole wheat bagel, no cream cheese is 360. Bon appetite.

That said I'm going fishing, I have my miles in for the week.

Jim, do tell about Don's exploits .

 

I have trouble breathing and feeling refreshed after sleep. I've waded a couple hundred miles this year to "lose weight". It's not the lack of exercise. I've had 2 or 3 8 + milers this year. Anyone that's fished with me knows I keep going and going. The amount of water and stuff I carry seems to put pressure on my breathing in a bad way, plus I focus the whole time.

 

So I get shoulder and neck tightness which further restrict my breathing. Been trying alot of yoga which helps.

 

I have a very slight sleep apnea. Trying to improve my lung strength. It hasn't really helped doing lots and lots of walking, so running or bike and more vigorous workout are in order.

 

I also have done a bunch of run and gun wades. Nearly non stop, tossing nothing but a buzzbait. Great target practice. Keep moving until I find fish.

 

Sorry for the hijack, Norm. Get well.

The reason that wading is not effective excercise is because it is not consistently strenuous and it is not continuous enough. And you need to excercise nearly every day. I've never been on a wade that felt the equivelent of jogging 5 miles. Fishing is not effective excercise. Period. If it were, some guys I know would be in the olympics.

As far as losing weight goes, that comes from diet AND exercise. I know avid cyclists that ride 2000+ miles a year and still have a spare tire or a big booty.

Actually a lot of cyclists are fat. Well...they are not super fat, but spandex tells all!

Most people don't realize how little calories excercise actually burns. Again the numbers are truly depressing. To sustain your current weight take your weight and multiply by 13. Thats how many calories you need per day just to sustain your weight. A pound of fat is 3600 calories so to lose 1 lb per week, which is good plan you need to subtract roughly 500 calories per day. Going over your total JUST 100 calories per day ( a third of bagel) can put on as much as 10 lbs per year!

It's like a checkbook, cept having too much in the bank is a bad thing!

As far as excercise goes running burn approximatly 100 calories per mile. So if you run 20 miles a week, which is what a lot of people who call themselves runners do it burns about 2000 calories. The equivelent of a Big Mac, Large Fries and Large Coke. In training for the marathon I ran 156 miles in three weeks and put on 2 lbs. I dropped 4 lbs running the marathon it self, but that was from a total depletion of glucose which takes water with it. In a few days it was back.

A typical tuesday night bike ride I do with a very fast group on a 30 mile ride. It's thru a very hilly course and there is lots of hot dogging going on and the average speed when all is said and done is over 20 mph. I wear a heart rate monitor that has a calorie counter. this ride only burns a little more than a thousand calories. I am physically destroyed afterwards. Mainly because most of it I am over 85% of my maximum heart rate. Sometimes 100%

Which leads to my last point. aerobic vs anerobic. Aerobic means "with oxygen". Aerobic excerise is roughly 60-70% of you maximum heart rate. Rule of thumb your breath rate should be elavated but you should still be able to hold a conversation, at least full sentences. Aerobic excercise sources fuel from fat. anerobic sources from glucose in the muscles, one reason you can't do it for very long is because you run out otherwise known as "bonk"

It can be difficult to stay in this zone because you feel like you are going too easy.

Anerobic burns more calories and builds muscle so you should do some. Most people don't stay in the aerobic zone, they are either too low or too high.

staying too low does nothing and going too high leads to fatigue and failure.

If walking raises your heart rate into the aerobic zone (doubtful) than so be it. Running is great excercise, i love it, but I think it's too hard when you are overweight (been there). The risk of injury is too high, especiallly if you don't know what you are doing. On the other hand it is very ime effective.

Cycling is great. It's fun, low impact (unless you fall off or get hit). It's hard to hurt yourself. The only bad part about cycling is it's time consuming and there are too many a-holes in cars to make safe to ride on the road. If you have a bike trail around you thats the way to go.

Swimming is great excercise, unfortunatly it does not burn fat. Partially because your body is horizontal and because of the temperature, but mainly because most people, like me suck at it and struggle and go anerobic.

Personally I'm an outdoors person, not into the gym scene. But some of the machines like an eliptical look effective, just not my bag of bananas.

I would see doctor before doing any of this, something I didn't do. It was risky.

I was seeking treatment for a heart arrythmia last year. A very scary period in my life. I was fit enough that it took 19 minutes on the stress test to raise my heart rate, which even then never maxed out. My resting pulse is in the high 30's, half of most peoples. They saw signs of the arrythmia on the cool down, but figured since I stayed on the treadmill that long I was okay. i went to a furthur specialist an electro physiologist who insisted on the CT scan to know for sure if there were any blockages.

the result came back 19 ot of 400 something. The descrition of the score "You have mild heart disease." See your doctor about a diet and exercise program.

Going into the level of exercise I did 50lbs heavier without seeing a doctor was downright dangerous.

Good news for those of us in the age 50 range . I read an article in the paper that said they have come up with an X Ray technique to check the colon . You wouldn't need the tube slipped up your backside unless they needed to remove polyps . I know I'll be asking about that .

Actually they have a device to scan your heart for blockages. It's called a 64 slice CT scan. It takes 64 cross sections of your heart. I had one done in January. The only drawback is it's expensive and a lot of insurance companies won't pay for it. My cardiologist (actually electrophysiologist), a cool dude, pushed it thru.

Norm- sounds like your on the right track. The Kank trail is nice to ride, your lucky to have it in your back yard.

Trying to slow the cigarettes, but know I NEED to quit altogether.

Tried the menu my doctor gave me.

That worked for about 2 days....I'd shrivel up and blow away on bird food and bran muffins.

Great explanation of exercise too.

I've been in a physically brutal construction job for 24 years now, and the Doc still says that isn't the right kind.

WILL POWER.

I bet that is the saving grace for all of us when the word comes down to shape up...or ship out.

Slow down....riiiight. Is there such a thing?

I smoked my last ciggy in april of '95, I think it was. Smoked for about 12 years, pack and a half a day. Quitting was really, really, really hard. It took me like three tries. Everytime you quit and fail, you have to learn from it and figure out why. Remember too, that cravings only last 10-15 minutes. Then they go away. I did not know that in my first attemps. Set you watch next time you get one. The most important thing to remember is if you have even 1 drag you will go back to smoking. I felt like crap for about a year and a half afterwards. It was still totally worth it.

Ironically my best friend gave my first cigarette. Knew him since we were kids. Best man at my wedding. He couldn't quit.

We burried him 2 years ago at the ripe old age of '39.

Your construction job, is probably mostly anerobic exercise (kind of like weight lifting). Your doctor probably wants you to get more aerobic exercise (like jogging, running, biking, exercise machine etc.). You have to elavate and sustain your heart rate to around 60-70% of it's max (roughly 220 - your age) for half hour to an hour a day. At least a few days a week.

2 days is not enough to reap the benefits of a good diet. If you eat a high fiber, low fat diet with some lean protein and good carbs. You will eat WAY more food and have WAY more energy. Count calories, do the numbers, it's amazing.

Done both, trust me.

quote name='Norm M' date='Oct 10 2007, 09:39 PM' post='14538']

All I can say is that it is entirely my own fault . I did not take care of myself and I did not get regular checkups which could have caught it much earlier . I owe it all my to my wife who finally convinced me to get checked out .

Do yourself a favor and get your health checked and take better care of yourself with your diet , smoking and drinking . The earlier you change your lifestyle and the earlier you catch the potentially life threatening problems the better off you will be .

Good advice Norm and don't beat yourself up too much. It's about a third your fault. I would blame a third on genetics and a third on the fact that we live in a society that makes it damned hard to eat right and exercise.

Finding the time to get enough aerobic exercise (no fishing is not exercise, neither is bowling or golf, even walking unless you're old or pathetically out of shape, I guess) is damned hard.

You take it out of your recreational time. Kiss that TV good bye.

Eating right? HA!

Kiss fast food good bye. McDs can make a salad high calorie if you let them and Portillos can turn it into downright junk food. To eat right, you have to refocus your life around it. A friend gave me some advice: "Never eat for pleasure or taste." To be absolute that is probably impossible for most people, but to stay I found it handy to keep in mind. I count calories on everything

I took to weighing my food for a while (then ate it anyway). What that gave me was a sense of what a serving is. Don’t ever let anyone see you weighing food, by the way.

For me it was one way of putting a number on things and man how depressing. About as much as weighing a fish.

White sugar and white flour are both poison. And they are everywhere and in everything.

Meat…forget it a serving is so damn small it’s not even worth eating, except for the protein.

I used to hate oatmeal. I forced myself to start eating it. Man, I used to gag just trying to get it down. Eventually you get used to it. Now I eat it everyday. Plain, no sugar.

Eventually all this stuff becomes a normal lifestyle, and it’s not as hard. Eat a donut and it tastes over the top greasy and sweet

One you do get on track with what is considered a healthy lifestyle, you will be labeled a “health nut”. When in actuality, you are only doing what should be normal.

If it’s any consolation, it’s no harder than quiting smoking. Face it, if it were easy everyone would do it? Right?

Good luck. See you on the bike trail?

Norm- Fortunatly for you there are so many Americans with heart disease that the doctors have got darn good at fixing them. I even have some mild blockage, probably from years of smoking. You'll be fine. Give me a call sometime, pm me if you don't have my #

Mike- I was just kidding. It wasn't that bad. The first 20 were easy. It gets progressively harder with the last three miles being a bear. I'm a little sore still, but not too bad.

Jim- No matter how hard I tried I could not crack 3:30. I did 3:31:30. Lost it towards the end. The closed the race at the halfway point at noon. I was done at 11:30ish.

The marathon organizers are getting a lot of flak. I thought it was a blast and well organized considering the circumstances.

Mark ,

 

Grab the ultralight , a Thill mini stealth float , bb shot , size 10-12 hooks, bee moth or red worms catch a dozen chubs and put them in the bucket . Sometimes a small white rooster tail spinner really gets the big chubs .

 

Grab your regular gear and catch some pigs on the chubs .

Norm- That sounds like sound plan. Lets hook up. Perhaps and old B.C. crew.

Joseph- I can now think again, but as I went thru Wrigleyville during the marathon I was showered with "Fanfare for the Common Man" (ELP version going on in my brain), from fans lonley for someone to cheer for. I bow my head in humble thanks from all those Cub fans. It was nothing short of incredible.

That and I promised God on 35th street (mile 20 something), that if he would let me live, I wouldn't break any Cub fans balls.

I didn't say anything about flyshop owners though....

Max told me to tell you all that practical know how, years of experience and exceptional customer service only goes so far. You need a fish tank...and a big one. And some beef jerky. A minnow tank would be nice, and some crawlers, when we need them. And some hotties behind the counter....okay I added that part.

Yes.

 

1) Take the BPS hat off of your son's head.

 

2) Use that.

It's been a long hot day. I don't have enough oxygen in my brain right now to think a clever comeback. So here...you just get rasberries.

Is there a way to do this solo?

I would just like to quickly snare a dozen r so for an outing as fast as possible, whats the best way?

Are seined minnows better than store bought ones?

Does anyone do this regularly?

about 40K miles. There's kind of a weird smell when she puts on the defrost/heat but that's about it, that and it getting hit while parked in a lot in the city. If you're looking at 4WD though I'd go with a Subaru Outback(or if you need to tow anything). Overall it's great bang for the buck.

HA. Between my stinky wading boots and bike clothes, the odor coming out of the defroster will be a breath of fresh air.

I'm waiting for the new Jetta Sport Wagon to come out. It will be available in a TDI version.

i got the rivers runs video for a xmas gift. only 5 good minutes in the whole film . afew fishing and the final ending .

If you wrote a movie script just about fishing, it probably would be lame. Back in the 80's "Breaking Away" got me and a freind into cycling and bike racing. It had very little to do with cycling, though it made the sport seem so appealing. It was the characters, the script and the whole package.

I thought a "River Runs Through It" was a good film. It would not however get me into flyfishing. The book is just better, it might. I can't think of any thing I disliked about it. It just wasn't great.

Brad Pitt is great in just about everything he does, my favorite roles of his being in Kalifornia and 12 Monkees. I think he is one of my all time favorite actors. Jason Borger is the stunt flycaster, in case you didn't know.

Rich-read the book.

I also thought of an old Rock Hudson movie called 'Man's Favorite Sport". Something like that. He plays a tackle rep that is totally ignorent to fishing (there is a Cabelas joke somewhere in there). His boss sends him out to a resort to enter a tournament and he has some hot babe teach him how to fish. Stuff people found highly humorous in he 60's I guess. I watched the whole thing, it was humorous in it's lameness and knowing what we now know about Rock...

The Blair Witch Project might be the scariest movie I have ever seen. There is a scene where they happen upon two anglers on a stream, I forget the circumstances but I remember everything in that movie being very realistic. Honestly, it scared the crap out of me.

I mentioned Boys in the Hood. Good scene at the beginning with Lawrence Fishburne and the kid that plays his son, fishing out on a break wall somewhere. Really good flick.

someone at my work brought up the following titles as having fishing related scenes, I haven't seen them:

Crocodile Dundee

The Magnificent Seven

The Quiet Man

The last two are on my list, though I'm not a big John Wayne fan.

Umm...Er...ah there was that one about the two cowboys...that liked to go up certain mountain "fishing" together. Not that I saw it mind you.

Boyz in the Hood

Fried Green Tomatos.

Castaway (Spearfishing, does that count?)

BTW regarding a River Runs thru It, the book is even better than the movie.

In Lethal Weapon I can't remember if there is actual fishing, there is a lot of talk about it.

Office Space

Lord of the Rings

there was one with danny glover and Joe Pesci, it wasn't very good as I remember.

Bike has to go in back. Too $$$.

No worries.

 

Tell his Mamma the little guy's gonna have to stay up late tonight to watch the Cubs.

 

Joseph

Mamma is a rabid White Sox fan and does not aknowledge the Cubs. She's not even keeled...like me.

I bought Budd's hanzo sword and had Madsen sign it. I keep it in my car and use it on carp.

Ok..ok..so the second part isn't true. But the first part is.

Here's a good site to check out all the stats on what you're looking for:

http://autos.msn.com/research/category/def...category=wagons

I highlighted wagons for you.

The ultimate being one of the BMW sleds. I'd love to have one of those.

Too cool. Thanks for the link.

My wife has a Matrix(same thing as the Vibe), great car-excellent gas mileage. It could have a little more accelleration but it's small 4-it's powered adequately. I carry the kayak on it with a Yakima rack, since it's a hatch there isn't a trunk to lift it over so that's nice. I can run 7' rods from the hatch to about the front visors, if I was doing that with a passenger I'd probably want to fix them to the center somehow. The nice thing about the Matrix is the hard plastic when you fold down the seats, you can really get a ton in there, my wife just took her bike to the loop the other day and didn't have to remove any wheels.

Lot of nice cars out there but the Matrix is winning out of cost, mileage and cargo space.

how many miles so far? No problems yet?