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Bass Fishing

Don’t you live in SD? The state where walleye thrive
(don’t have to answer for security reasons if you don’t want to)
Yes, I do, but the only boat I've ever had was the little 14' aluminum boat that my dad had when I was in high school and college. I got used to wading and/or fishing from shore, which sharply curtails the walleye season. Also, fwiw, I just didn't like the methods for fishing for them for most of my life. I've come around now, but it's still not as simple and as exciting as wading a trout stream or fishing for bass with a topwater. If I want to catch walleye, my brother is always ready to go. I actually don't like going except for those times late in summer when it's tougher fishing when you have to work harder to find them and pattern them. I like the challenge. I didn't even go out for walleyes last year, and I've only been out a handful of times in the past few years, all together.

My favorite place to catch walleyes is between Fort Randall Dam and the Standing Bear Bridge, and the truth is they're a bycatch there as I'd usually be fishing for bass or crappie.
 
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I grew up in western Iowa. Used to go up to Ft Randall quite a bit. I was with my pops when he caught his 13 lb 7oz Walleye below the dam at night. I live in northwest Indiana now, just been starting to get a few nice bass in some small lake/ponds and been catching some coho off of Lake Michigan. Anywho, this is a topic I will probably be more involved in. Tight lines and GBR.
 



I grew up in western Iowa. Used to go up to Ft Randall quite a bit. I was with my pops when he caught his 13 lb 7oz Walleye below the dam at night. I live in northwest Indiana now, just been starting to get a few nice bass in some small lake/ponds and been catching some coho off of Lake Michigan. Anywho, this is a topic I will probably be more involved in. Tight lines and GBR.
I don't actually fish directly below the dam because, again, I don't have a boat, and I don't like just sitting on the bank, waiting. I think that the last two SD state records were caught there, and a good friend of mine who is very believable says that he's caught and released females there recently that will/would be state records in the spring when they're full of eggs. I wouldn't mind catching walleye like that, but it doesn't really fire me up very much. I guess that I mostly feel that way about "trophy" fish in general. A former student of mine caught a 5 1/2 lb bass out of a tiny lake nearby a couple weeks ago (right after ice out), and he kept it to get it mounted. I didn't mind because that lake has too many young bass as it is, so keeping her there to eat more of them would have also meant that she was going to lay all of those eggs first, and I guesstimated her to have about a pound to a pound and a half of eggs inside of her. That's a HUGE bass for SD, so it is a trophy around here. I wouldn't want it mounted though. If one of my kids caught it, or if my dad had caught it, yeah, maybe.

The fish that I most want to catch are the ones that I can see (either with my own eyes or on a screen), but I haven't yet been able to catch. I also have a bias against fish you don't eat, such as carp, even though I can't remember the last time I ate or cleaned a largemouth, and I'd love to catch a musky that I'd also never kill.

Right now, more than anything, I want my wife to think that I should go catch a bunch of trout to eat so that she's okay with me leaving her alone with the kids all day. Stocked trout, of course. If that happens, then I'm hoping to convince her that the kids and I need to go catch a bunch of crappie later in the week to eat from another small pond that has too many of them. It's our way of contributing to the fight against Covid-19. ;)
 
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I used to fish a lot of bass ponds in holt county and rock county, just south of fort randall. lots of small ponds there, in the 5-12 acre size, and some real good fishing there.

Also fished dozens of times in northern minn, and I miss that so much. To hear you speak of it BlueHowl, makes me so envious. I loved the country up there. fished mostly between the triangle of Intl falls, bemidji and out to the arrowhead. im planning a summer fishing trip for 2021 to nw ontario with my son. Need to slay some pike, small and lg mouth.

Blue Howl, where is your place at up in no minn. ??
 
I have used the yellow beetle spin with a split tail, to catch as many fish as any luge i have. many fish in nw ontario have bitten a beetle spin tipped with a minnow, pike, walleye, bass, muskie, crappie. Ive caught all five of those fish once with that lure all from the same place we anchored, without moving the boat. All with the yellow beetle spin. instead of a steel leader i used a mono leader of about 40 lb test instead.
 
I don't actually fish directly below the dam because, again, I don't have a boat, and I don't like just sitting on the bank, waiting. I think that the last two SD state records were caught there, and a good friend of mine who is very believable says that he's caught and released females there recently that will/would be state records in the spring when they're full of eggs. I wouldn't mind catching walleye like that, but it doesn't really fire me up very much. I guess that I mostly feel that way about "trophy" fish in general. A former student of mine caught a 5 1/2 lb bass out of a tiny lake nearby a couple weeks ago (right after ice out), and he kept it to get it mounted. I didn't mind because that lake has too many young bass as it is, so keeping her there to eat more of them would have also meant that she was going to lay all of those eggs first, and I guesstimated her to have about a pound to a pound and a half of eggs inside of her. That's a HUGE bass for SD, so it is a trophy around here. I wouldn't want it mounted though. If one of my kids caught it, or if my dad had caught it, yeah, maybe.

The fish that I most want to catch are the ones that I can see (either with my own eyes or on a screen), but I haven't yet been able to catch. I also have a bias against fish you don't eat, such as carp, even though I can't remember the last time I ate or cleaned a largemouth, and I'd love to catch a musky that I'd also never kill.

Right now, more than anything, I want my wife to think that I should go catch a bunch of trout to eat so that she's okay with me leaving her alone with the kids all day. Stocked trout, of course. If that happens, then I'm hoping to convince her that the kids and I need to go catch a bunch of crappie later in the week to eat from another small pond that has too many of them. It's our way of contributing to the fight against Covid-19. ;)
Yeah I prefer the sport fish for sure but if you get a walleye ..... now that’s good eating. The only thing ever kept to eat is a walleye. Everything else goes back in the water.
 



The only thing ever kept to eat is a walleye. Everything else goes back in the water.
I'll eat anything that will help to keep the system in balance. I won't eat anything that doesn't taste good. I never knew what to do with all of the stunted bluegills and sunfish that are so common in small ponds, but now SD changed the law so that we can use those for bait. I approve.
 
Between about 10 years old and around 30, Bass fishing was my go to fishing. I loved fishing for Crappie, Catfish and even ocean fishing, but Bass fishing was the thing. While working in a gated community in Boca Raton, I was on my lunch break and had driven my own vehicle that day(I usually rode to work in the company work truck) and had my pole in the car. I decided to fish in one of the lakes on one of the golf courses there and had caught something like 6 Bass, all around the 4 to 6 lb. range.

I had about 10 minutes left of my break and was about to finish and put my pole back in my car, when I noticed the water break about 6 feet away from me, so I casted just past the break and after maybe three full cranks, WHAM! The water exploded and my pole bent and my line reeled off. I yanked back with some force setting the hook, realizing I had something big on my line, I eased of just a bit so as not to break my line. After about a 5 minute(give or take) tug and pull, I finally pulled in the largest Bass I've ever caught.

14.1 lbs. A co-worker came up just as I was getting the fish to the shore, I had him grab my fishing pole as I ran down to the waterline and grabbed the Bass. I got him out of the water and was whooping and hollering as I couldn't believe what I had caught and just how big the fish was. The belly was swollen so I figured it was either really old, or pregnant or both. Just then, a home owner from the neighborhood came by on his golf cart. He stopped and was amazed at how large the Bass was. I was already thinking where I would have it mounted on my wall, but the guy tells me that per HOA rules, I could fish the lake, but I couldn't keep anything I caught. I was like WT F!!!

At this point, he could see I wasn't too happy, my co-worker is cracking up thinking it was hilarious, it wasn't. Then the guy tells me that he is head of the HOA and he understood, but said rules are rules. He had a camera in his house and asked my to stay put for a couple of minutes. He returned with his SLR and shot about 12 pics of me with the Bass. I had no choice but to release the Bass back into the lake. The pics actually came out great, as he gave them to me roughly a month later. Unfortunately, I've since lost those photo's along with 1,000's of other pics due to one thing or another.

It's not the biggest fish I've ever caught, but it's definitely the biggest fresh water fish I've ever caught. A good friend of mine caught some 30+ lb catfish and decided he was going to filet it, but the meat wasn't any good and it had mites or worms or something, I can't fully recall, I just remember he had to throw it all away, which sucked because he could have released back in the water.... but oh well. I'll never forget jumping in the lake and grabbing that Bass and hauling it in. I haven't fished even one time since I've lived in Nevada, I have fished when back in Florida, but usually in the ocean on my brother boat.
 
Between about 10 years old and around 30, Bass fishing was my go to fishing. I loved fishing for Crappie, Catfish and even ocean fishing, but Bass fishing was the thing. While working in a gated community in Boca Raton, I was on my lunch break and had driven my own vehicle that day(I usually rode to work in the company work truck) and had my pole in the car. I decided to fish in one of the lakes on one of the golf courses there and had caught something like 6 Bass, all around the 4 to 6 lb. range.

I had about 10 minutes left of my break and was about to finish and put my pole back in my car, when I noticed the water break about 6 feet away from me, so I casted just past the break and after maybe three full cranks, WHAM! The water exploded and my pole bent and my line reeled off. I yanked back with some force setting the hook, realizing I had something big on my line, I eased of just a bit so as not to break my line. After about a 5 minute(give or take) tug and pull, I finally pulled in the largest Bass I've ever caught.

14.1 lbs. A co-worker came up just as I was getting the fish to the shore, I had him grab my fishing pole as I ran down to the waterline and grabbed the Bass. I got him out of the water and was whooping and hollering as I couldn't believe what I had caught and just how big the fish was. The belly was swollen so I figured it was either really old, or pregnant or both. Just then, a home owner from the neighborhood came by on his golf cart. He stopped and was amazed at how large the Bass was. I was already thinking where I would have it mounted on my wall, but the guy tells me that per HOA rules, I could fish the lake, but I couldn't keep anything I caught. I was like WT F!!!

At this point, he could see I wasn't too happy, my co-worker is cracking up thinking it was hilarious, it wasn't. Then the guy tells me that he is head of the HOA and he understood, but said rules are rules. He had a camera in his house and asked my to stay put for a couple of minutes. He returned with his SLR and shot about 12 pics of me with the Bass. I had no choice but to release the Bass back into the lake. The pics actually came out great, as he gave them to me roughly a month later. Unfortunately, I've since lost those photo's along with 1,000's of other pics due to one thing or another.

It's not the biggest fish I've ever caught, but it's definitely the biggest fresh water fish I've ever caught. A good friend of mine caught some 30+ lb catfish and decided he was going to filet it, but the meat wasn't any good and it had mites or worms or something, I can't fully recall, I just remember he had to throw it all away, which sucked because he could have released back in the water.... but oh well. I'll never forget jumping in the lake and grabbing that Bass and hauling it in. I haven't fished even one time since I've lived in Nevada, I have fished when back in Florida, but usually in the ocean on my brother boat.
GREAT story sir. Oh what a feeling when you get that big one and that’s gotta be one big ass fish. I’ve watched bass fishing tournaments and the pros haven’t been close to that size.

I have heard the big catfish ( thus much older) are not as tasty.
 
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GREAT story sir. Oh what a feeling when you get that big one and that’s gotta be one big ass fish. I’ve watched bass fishing tournaments and the pros haven’t been close to that size.

I have heard the big catfish ( thus much older) are not as tasty.
Thanks.... reading back over that, I see many poorly written lines, but the bottom line is, I really caught that Bass. I've thought about it several times over the years and subsequently wondered if that bass lived to be several years older, or was it caught again and not released. It is one of the biggest highlights in my hobby of fishing of my lifetime.
 



I haven't fished even one time since I've lived in Nevada

Aren't you in the foothills of the Sierras? What the heck is wrong with you? If you're in northwestern Nevada, you've got great trout fishing all around you. I've fished the CA side of the Truckee (and the Little Truckee), and I've fished a little bit in the lakes of the Desolation Wilderness, but I would love to go back and fish the NV side of the Truckee and especially Pyramid Lake. Every time you go snowshoeing in the Sierras, you're walking past streams and lakes that hold trout,... and you're NOT fishing. That's wrong.

I have heard the big catfish ( thus much older) are not as tasty.

Generally true of all fish, but especially catfish. Big flatheads have better meat quality at any size than the other catfish. Also, cold water catfish have better meat quality. If it was a large, warm water blue catfish? Yeah, don't eat it. Catch and keep the 1-2 lb fish, and you'll have better table fare. @ksuhusker, can I get an "Amen!"
 
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Aren't you in the foothills of the Sierras? What the heck is wrong with you? If you're in northwestern Nevada, you've got great trout fishing all around you. I've fished the CA side of the Truckee (and the Little Truckee), and I've fished a little bit in the lakes of the Desolation Wilderness, but I would love to go back and fish the NV side of the Truckee and especially Pyramid Lake. Every time you go snowshoeing in the Sierras, you're walking past streams and lakes that hold trout,... and you're NOT fishing. That's wrong.



Generally true of all fish, but especially catfish. Big flatheads have better meat quality at any size than the other catfish. Also, cold water catfish have better meat quality. If it was a large, warm water blue catfish? Yeah, don't eat it. Catch and keep the 1-2 lb fish, and you'll have better table fare. @ksuhusker, can I get an "Amen!"
I wouldn't call it the foothills, but you are correct that I am surrounded by excellent fishing oppurtunities. I just haven't taken advantage of it. I bought two poles when I first moved here, and they have never seen the great outdoors. I've got my reasons, mostly bureaucratic in nature, but it is what it is.
 

I bought two poles when I first moved here, and they have never seen the great outdoors.
Well, there's your problem, right there. You need to get rid of those "poles" and get yourself a fishing rod instead. Name your budget, and we'll help you out. You have a Cabela's in Reno, and this is a good starter outfit that's on sale there, right now: https://www.cabelas.com/product/fis...0/orvis-encounter-outfit/3169986.uts?slotId=0

Get the 5-weight, and you'll have 90+% of all trout fishing situations covered. You're welcome.
 
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