not ocean, i'm in central alabama close to a few lakes and rivers but don't know if any are decent fishing locations. not super interested in bass fishing because i dont see the point if i'm not going to eat it.
Well, you can eat bass, catfish, or brim easy enough as a fish fry. But otherwise, google tells me the only trout are at Lewis Smith Dam, located between Cullman and Jasper on the Sipsey Branch of the Black Warrior River. The easiest way to start is to pick up a spinner rod from walmart and get some rooster tail spinners or a bobber, a hook, and some worms, crickets or corn. Then find a spot and toss it out and see what you get. There's also fly fishing, which is more involved.
To piggyback from billdozer , I'd start with a medium spinning reel combo from Walmart. Something that will hold over 100 yards of 8-10 lb test line. Get some split shot sinkers and an assortment of standard hooks. Size 6,4,2,1 maybe. Can't go wrong with a few rooster tails. Grab a pack of 1/8 plain jig head and a pack of chartreuse 2-3 in grubs. (Curly tail). A pack of bobbers and some worms, crickets, or minnows. And don't be caught without a fishing license.
Alabama is blessed with a variety of red eye bass that live in the rivers throughout the state. it's very unique and i am jealous of the guys who get to fish for them.
I narrowed down my choices to the Orvis Clearwater, Echo Dry/Trout, Redington Classic Trout, Fenwick Aetos, or Sage Foundation. First I went to my dad's and tried his rods out. He has a 7.5' Clearwater, an Orvis Recon, Scott Radian, and Orvis Henry's Fork. The Radian casted the nicest, of course it's the most expensive. Went up to Chattooga fly shop and tried out a few. The Echo Trout was really nice, so I splurged a little bit and ended up with a 9' 4 wt Echo Trout. Probably going to try and test it out Sunday. My dad also let me borrow the Clearwater as he's driving to Montana for 2 weeks on Monday.
Anyone here have a boat, but live far from where you's use it? I grew up fishing the Chesapeake Bay & miss fishing. My dad owns an older 20' Grady White, but has a nearly knew engine and wiring. He's getting older and thinking about getting rid of it, said he'll give it to me. My issue is I live in Atlanta. I'm 5 hours from the Gulf, where there is plenty of fishing opportunities w/in 15 miles of the coast...but no close. I could use it on the lakes around Atlanta for some summer water time. My other issue is I'd need to buy a truck/trailer so I could move it, or I'd have to pay a few hundred a month and leave it on the coast in a Boat Hotel place...then I wouldn't have it in Atlanta. I'd hate to give up a free boat...but at the same time wondering how often I could leave and drive 10 hrs to fish for 2 days...
My dad had a 17 foot sailfish boat. He sold it about 2 months before I got my kayak and got back into fishing. Really upset bc he would have gave it to me had I known
I did think about storing it in Atl b/c Jax is close too. but I don't know much about fishing there or off GA/Savannah.
I know very little other than my little neck of the woods. I honestly have very little interest anythjng off shore. Too much of a run time and effort. I'd rather stay in shore and target them.
it's not what has stopped me from owning a boat, but i have no interest in the level of maintenance my boat owning friends accept.
Kinda same, now wanting to take my kid out with me eventually will change my mind, but doubt I have soemthing super fancy.
Can you store it at your house or would you have to pay to keep it at a storage lot? If it will fit in your garage, backyard, or you have a free place to keep it then your only cost would be getting a trailer. I’d absolutely jump on that. Grady Whites are great boats but do have wood construction, I think in the stringers and transom that likely would need attention at some point. However if the transom was in good shape when your dad Re-powered you might be good.
Yeah I could Def fish for striper on Lanier. My dad does fish for blue cats in the rivers of VA. Didn't think about them in Ga Fresh water fishing just gives me little excitement
I could put it in my drive way, it just might be tacky as fuck. I think lots are like 100/mo so not bad at all. Yeah, Gradys are nice, and expensive. 70-80k for it new I would need to buy a truck. Planned on a new car in a heat or so, so it wouldn't be any different payment wise
That’s a lot of boat to pull from Atlanta to the coast. I think unless you are doing it once or twice a year, it would get old fast
5 hours pulling a boat that big gets old, fast. It gets old pulling my 17 ft skiff down to flamingo. traffic, people not caring you are towing, gas mileage going to shit, then throw in things like a trailer tire blow out (which happens) making sure your hubs are good etc for 5 hours isn’t my cup of tea I’m also curious on the total rig weight. It’s probably not as light as you think. edit- idk why I thought it said 26 foot. But still think a 20 GW is heavier than you think
I think the boat is somewhere around 3000 pounds. That's w/out trailer. I've never trailered a boat, it's always been in dry storage.
pulling it isn’t the hard part. It’s the other people on the road and stopping in a hurry that gets tricky
i need to buy a new net, really have needed one for a while and have been sharing one with a friend for a while. I will blow $40-50 on flies and other tackle without blinking, but can never bring myself to spend $50 on one of these dumb things. i am posting this because i received a gift card for father's day and have had a net in my amazon cart for a few days.
Yeah, I was wanting to replace mine too and saw the price of them. When it comes back in stock, I think I'm going to get a Fishpond replacement net and just replace the net in my current one. May have to screw some of the wood back together.
the net i have been sharing, is one that i fell on and smashed. my friend asked if he could take it and maybe use the webbing, he used wood glue and electrical tape to put it back together. we have been trading it back and forth for 4 years now. i think you can make it work, hell i follow some guys who made their own with sticks, twine, and netting. Spoiler
Whatever you decide on, buy one with rubber netting. I have a Fishpond Nomad hand net and love it, but totally understand not wanting to drop that amount on a net.
i think the fishpond nets sitting right next to the nets in the price range i am comfortable with is part of my problem. the basic nets looks so shitty next to the fishpond gear :( i always try to respect the fish slime, no string nets here.
Going to be staying in a house on lake oconee for a week after the 4th. Any tips? I'd like to get a striped bass as I've never caught one, but looks like that's not realistic. Neve targeted bass in a lake that big and deep
We catch stripers on worms (fake and real) in the deep Texas lakes They are fun to catch, they fight like hell all the way till you get em to the surface , then they play dead
From what I've found online, seems like the lake gets too hot for them and there are better lakes around to Target them. Can find them deep sometimes They have hybrids there like we stock here in florida (we call them sunshine bass) I've caught a few of them when I was younger and used to go out on lakes with my grandpa Really just looking for input on largemouth. Guessing it's pretty much the same. Docks/structure with rubber worms and jerkbaits? I think I have some frogs in a bag somewhere might bring them for morning/evening
If you could find a spot that's not as fast and safe to get to, I bet you could get some bigger fish on a streamer. When it's muddy like that they get a lot more aggressive. You'd have to be familiar with the normal layout of that spot to know if there's cover or not though.
Finally caught some fish. 3 white bass and 1 less than 12" walleye that I didn't get pictured. Spoiler
Someone was selling a still in the plastic covering 8'6" 5 wt Redington fly rod for $40 on Facebook. It's an older model, but decided to grab it that for that price.