Fishing - Big fish

mikek said:
Yeah bluefish are awesome (never caught any big ones but I stay away from saltwater because it just gets too crowded for my taste). But for blues, I think you have to use a steel leader for 'em because like you said, their teeth are just too much for mono or even braid to handle. They are viscous...there are a lot of stories of people losing fingers to 'em. If I ever catch a big one, I'm definitely gonna be really careful in handling them lol.
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I use steel braided leaders. I haven't been bitten by a Blue Fish, but they bite and they bite hard. I use 50lb line because the Blue Fish, especially the big ones, have very strong pulling power. The biggest one I caught was only about 33" long but it pulled and fought. They are pretty tough fish. Lol.
 
KennyGS said:
Yes! You need steel leaders, and they will mess up your hand/finger if not careful. They like whole squid as bait.
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That's what makes it fun to catch them. Lol. I used bunker fish in steak strips. They like blood.
 
My biggest catch. A 35" Bluefish off a pier. I had to use a 50lb test fishing line bc this fish has a good pulling power. I probably could have settled with a 30lb or a 40lb line, but they snap when I snag the line.
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Dar-Dar said:
My biggest catch. A 35" Bluefish off a pier. I had to use a 50lb test fishing line bc this fish has a good pulling power. I probably could have settled with a 30lb or a 40lb line, but they snap when I snag the line.
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Wow that's an awesome catch! 35" bluefish is very big...especially from shore. Very cool.
 
those are some crazy *** big carp you gettin there mikek. this seems pretty normal around me in sw suburbs of chicago, fox river in north aurora. anyone from northern IL know any good shore hot spots? co workers been telling me kankakee is good but they have a boat =\.

i was raised fishing since a kid but for the past ~8 years i havent gone as much as i use to. my dad is trying to plan a fishing trip to northern wisconsin ~8hrs from me where his coworkers get some prime fishing in.

*pic was 4 years ago*
 

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Thanks rain91! Although I'm not from northern IL, one thing I do when looking for big fish waters is that I look at state records and citations for trophy fish on the state's department of natural resources website.

And that's a cool fish you posted. That almost looks like a "sucker fish" which looks similar to a common carp (cyprinus carpio) but actually belongs to a different family of fish. But then again, it might be a common carp because it's sometimes hard to tell from pics. Cool fish regardless.
 
This thread is cool! Im a crappy angler and only ever caught this one weak looking fish. I think it let me catch it out of pity lol. But i live in the ozarks and missouri has no restrictions for catching carp, i think im gonna give it a try!
 
I went fishing yesterday from 4ish am to 11am. The rigs I used are size 5 Matzuo Octopus hooks (very sharp and don't rust), 30 lb test steel leaders and 3 oz sinkers. The lines are 50lb test and my rods are 10'.
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I was hoping to catch some big blues, but I kept snagging snappers (baby bluefish). I guess they are done spawning. :( Here's a snapper that I hooked. It's so tiny. Lol.
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mikek said:
Thanks! I'm in northern VA about 30 mins away from DC.
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Yeah That explains a lot. I have been fishing carp here in down in southern Va for years and nothing ever close to what you have pulled out. I have seen a few 15lbs but nothing like this.
 
Flippercon said:
Yeah That explains a lot. I have been fishing carp here in down in southern Va for years and nothing ever close to what you have pulled out. I have seen a few 15lbs but nothing like this.
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You might want to try Lake Prince which is about an hr away from VA beach. I believe the VA state record for the common carp came from there at 49 lbs. But you're right, specific venues and location is really important when targeting the bigger fish....some lakes and reservoirs just don't have the right conditions to grow fish to it's maximum potential.
 
VNPP said:
I fed some big carp my french fries the other day at lake of the ozarks, they were huge!
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Missouri does have some great fishing. The catfish there get very big as well (over a 100 lbs). I think Missouri could definitely produce common carp over 50 lbs (the 40 lb range is typically the maximum common carp will grow to).
 
I took my coworker and his family fishing recently before the kids went back to school. We had a great time although I think the carp were a bit too strong for them (too young for carp I think) but I know they'll remember the experience forever because this was their first time fishing (I still remember my first fishing trips when my father took us).

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I'm going to try to catch striped sea bass next year (mid-April) by surf fishing in one of the beaches here. It's still bluefish season. Hopefully, I get a chance to fish for blues a few more times before the end of Fall.
 
I went deep sea fishing this past weekend with a couple friends for a bachelor party. We were catching Red Snappers and Amberjacks. Unfortunately I did not catch anything, well I caught something but a nice 7-8ft shark decided he wanted it more than me. The shark ate my fish about 3 ft away from the boat.
 
That's cool. Amberjacks are pure muscle. Lol. It would have been nice hooking the shark and catching it.
 
I had to hold it down with my foot to get a decent picture. It's 18".
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One of the fishermen caught a 21.5" Fluke. I should have taken a pic. He tried filleting it on the sink on the edge of the pier and the fish flopped and fell back into the water. His face went blank for a while.

Fluke -1 , Fisherman - 0.
 
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