Category: fishing

i love fishing in the wisconsin river. i really do love it. the fishing is consistently good on it around point. this afternoon i went fishing with bart, an old friend from missouri, on the wisconsin and witnessed him make one of the strangest catches i have ever seen.

we were fishing in an eddy along some pretty swift current when he hooked onto something and said he wasn’t sure if it was a fish or a stick. he thought it was just a stick but it just didn’t quite feel like a stick normally does. when he pulled up his lure he discovered that he had just caught a working gander mountain guide series im7 graphite spinning rod and reel combo (worth about $60). the above photo is the rod he caught. first fishing trip i’ve ever been a part of that paid for itself in something other than meat.

btw, he caught fish too.

this is the one i caught today. i also missed another one.

i’m 40 yeaqrs old and i have been hooked by fishing lures quite a few times BUT i have never been hooked to the point that i had to push the barb all the way through my skin and cut it off to remove the hook until today. the above photo is what my left thumb looked like after i had removed the hook (for some reason i didn’t think to take a photo of the hook still stuck in my finger). it was my own stupid fault too.

adam and i had been fishing a total of 20 minutes and had already caught six good fish. then we each hooked one at the same time. adam’s was hooked pretty deep so he asked me to see if i could unhook it for him. in order to do this i brought my fish in and laid it in the bottom of the boat. BIG MISTAKE. you never do that because then you have a two pound fish with a hook in its mouth that now has something to push against for a jump that can hook you. i knew this but i did it anyway. STUPID!

anyhow, if it ever happens to you here’s a link on how to remove the hook. basically push the hook’s bend until it punctures through your skin, cut the barb off, and remove the hook. it hurts a little but it’s really not that bad.

the worst part of the whole thing was that it took me 20 minutes to remove the hook and bandage my thumb. this ate up the little fishing time we had for the afternoon. by the time i was bandaged we only had 15 minutes left to paddle back to our spot and fish some more. adam and i both thought it was too much effort for too little reward and thus headed home. having started off with 8 decent smallmouth in 20 minutes (including the time it took to paddle to our spot) meant it was probably going to be a great day.

just thinking about the wasted fishing irks me.

i have now taken pam and both the boys smallmouth bass fishing and they have all caught their first smallie. a lot of people around here hate smallmouth bass fishing but this wisconsin transplant loves it. they are so much fun. of course, the place i go for smallie fishing also brings out the occassional walleye and catfish which make for good eating.

anyhow, here is everyone’s first smallie.

yesterday sergio went fishing for the first time. this morning he wanted to catch something and eat it. the above picture was sergio’s lunch. we went to what is known as the “lagoon” and caught a decent number of catfish. this was the smallest of the bunch.

sooner or later i will stop posting about fishing but the point area is simply some of the best fishing i have ever experienced. i’ve lived in 6 states and fished in many more and i have to say that known of them have compared to what i am experiencing in the stevens point area. i might not always catch the biggest fish but there are always plenty of fish to catch.

today’s disc
course – mead
holes – 18
score – +2

thanks to my parents i now have an old town guide 147 canoe. oh yeah. next comes the fishing in it and the pimping out of my canoe. i’ve already order a 48” boat rule to put on the lip for purposes of measuring the killer muskie i plan on catching. 😉 it’s the first of many canoe hacks.

my run for the day
distance – 12.01 miles
time – 2:18:32
pace – 11:33/mile
weather – 77º/WINDY