Story of my first day fishing...

[Flash]

Bit of a lengthy story folks, TL;DR is at the bottom (for those unfamiliar with the term, it means a quick summary if you don't want to read my essay lol)

So went for the first time on thursday. Got there about ten in the morning (Durrance), set up shop on that floating dock right near the parking lot. First few casts were actually decent and then I got cocky. Tried to get'er out there and snap. One lure gonzo.

Next I tried weight with a leader with some power bait. First cast was ok, got it out there about 20 yards. Let it sit for about ten minutes while reeling slightly every once in awhile. Nothing.....

I put some power in my next cast and it felt like it went on forever. In fact with the slight rain and fog I couldn't even see where it landed. Reeled for a minute, and then IT HAPPENED... tension. Heart starts racing, I start reeling in harder...

You should have seen the size of it...

a nice 30 foot...

500 pound...

pine tree. She was a beauty. Alright so lost everything in the tree.

A nice gentlemen (Pete was his name I believe) came by and gave us some tips. He told my brother and I to stop everything and really look at the lake. He asked what we noticed. Nothing at first, and then I saw a splash out of the corner of my eye. Holy sh*t the fish were jumping. Now this may be normal to everyone but I had no F'ing idea! So he said the fish are near the top, look around for different bugs floating on the surface and go get some fly's and really small bobbers.

Break for lunch and shopping for bobbers and fly's.

Headed back around 1:30. The rain wouldn't let up, we had good rain gear but my hands were numb and wet and some water went down my back when my hood popped off.

The next 2 hours were miserable. Miserable weather for one. We moved to a different spot and tangled our lines numerous times. It tied in ways I didn't believe were possible around my spool and knotted. By the end of it however I could untangle and fix my lines pretty quick (with cold, wet hands!)

After some struggles, I finally decided to try this one nice spoon I bought. Was scared to use it earlier because of losing it. So I tied it up. Released the bail, swung back and whipped the rod forward. OOPS forgot to release my finger in time, and SNAP my beautiful spoon went flying into the middle of the lake. This was the low point of the day.

A little while later some ladies came by and showed us the 8 fish they had caught. "All we had was a 15 foot leader with a fly at the end, we just let it float and the fish were going crazy!" they said.

Naturally I told my brother to pack up and we headed where they told us. Much nicer spot for sure! Right then a member of this forum came by (which I found out by mentioning the help I'd received on the forum). RenraW is his forum name, and Evan his real. He was extremely nice and helpful. He showed us a few tricks, some new knots and even gave us some new bait and a fly to try! He fished with us for a bit, then headed off. We didn't catch anything, but we were able to cast for a couple hours with no problems which was nice.

The day was coming to an end around 6:30pm. We had some tension on our lines throughout and while we'd love to believe it was trout biting and our incompetency to reel them as the reason why we didn't see any, we knew it was most likely the weeds near the bottom of the lake. BUT THEN it happened again. I threw out one of my last casts and within seconds felt a solid tension. I quickly looked to the trees, I was good. The tension hit to quick for it to be snagging something on the bottom. This was it I thought. I looked over to my little cooler and had visions of myself victoriously placing my first catch in it (after a few pics for the forum of course).

It must have been a small one I thought, because it wasn't fighting hard. I continued to reel it in, as it got closer my excitement grew. It was really close now, this is it I thought. I pulled up out of the water and to my complete amazement.....

I caught MY SPOON I'd lost earlier in the day!! This, funny enough, was the perfect ending to a great day.

Suffice it to say it was a horrible day, didn't catch a thing. But I learned a lot, had an absolute blast and I'm hooked. If I could have that much fun on a crappy day with nothing but problems, a nice day with some fish could be a religious experience.

Thanks for reading!

TL;DR

Was a horrible day, weather wise, but got a lot of help from some friendly people and learned a ton. I'm hooked!

Cheers,

~Kevan

 

[GLG]

All this time you thought about hooking a fish when in fact the fish hooked you.
Great story better luck next time..
GLG

 

[Flash]

All this time you thought about hooking a fish when in fact the fish hooked you.
Great story better luck next time..
GLG

Haha, great way to look at it.

Cheers

 

[Dan]

Welllll that's fishin for ya !
The most frustrating fun you'll EVER have !

 

[Flash]

Welllll that's fishin for ya !
The most frustrating fun you'll EVER have !

That's the best way to put it, frustrating fun! Got to love a good oxymoron. I noticed your post in my other thread, thanks for asking . If you ever head out and would like some company let me know.

Cheers,

~Kevan

 

[Kildonan]

That's one of the better fishing stories I've read around here in a good spell.

 

[Rempy]

a great story to still show that "A bad day fishing is always better than a good day at work"

 

[rendraW]

great report! hilarious that you got back the spoon you lost earlier, its funny the weird things that happen when you are fishing. Better luck next time!

 

[fish stalker]

Sounds like good times. This was my favorite part

BUT THEN it happened again. I threw out one of my last casts and within seconds felt a solid tension. I quickly looked to the trees, I was good.

 

[CVmike]

Good on ya keeping your patience with tangles with numb fingers, my temper goes down hill quick when im flyfishing and tangle my only leader and my hands are too numb to get it untangled lol. That usually means its time to go to shore for a fire though and that brings my spirits back. Better luck next time!

 

[Seafever]

Good story.....but , alas, even "beginner's luck" seemed to absent.....

Flash:- I know this may seem all too simple....but.....next time out you might want to try:-

Float + 2 to 3ft of 6lb test leader + small BB split shot about 4 inches up from the #6 hook + dew worm that covers the hook completely. Slide the worm on to the hook like a sleeve, leaving a bit on the end that wiggles.

Used with:- spinning reel (waaaaaay easier to use for a novice than baitcaster)

Just about any good 6ft to 61/2 ft trout rod will be adequate.

The addition of some X-10 on the worm is also good.

I like the "torpedo" floats. They cast farther than those red+white jobs. They are a bit of a pain in the sphincter to thread the 6lb test thru sometimes. Which is why I carry a length of 40lb mono with me. Just loop the 40lb in half....then loop your 6lb or 8lb onto it and pull it through the float. You have to twist the rubber tubing inside the float to make the line stay put.

I've caught 85% of all my trout on this rig......works for bass too, at times.

Cheers........

 

[Fish Assassin]

Good read, Thanks for sharing.

 

[Flash]

That's one of the better fishing stories I've read around here in a good spell.

I'm glad you enjoyed the read, hopefully the sequel goes a bit better lol.

 

[Flash]

a great story to still show that "A bad day fishing is always better than a good day at work"

Funny, there was a couple times I was losing my patience a bit until I had that very thought

 

[Flash]

great report! hilarious that you got back the spoon you lost earlier, its funny the weird things that happen when you are fishing. Better luck next time!

Thanks again for helping out a noob that day man, honestly that was one of the reasons I had such an enjoyable time.

 

[Flash]

Sounds like good times. This was my favorite part

Oh man, if you're ever there look up into the trees and your bound to see half of what I bought for my first time haha.

 

[Flash]

Good on ya keeping your patience with tangles with numb fingers, my temper goes down hill quick when im flyfishing and tangle my only leader and my hands are too numb to get it untangled lol. That usually means its time to go to shore for a fire though and that brings my spirits back. Better luck next time!

I hear ya, and I was losing it big time. Especially in the beginning when every tangle looked like the world's most difficult puzzle (I'm totally serious there lol)

 

[Flash]

Good story.....but , alas, even "beginner's luck" seemed to absent.....

Flash:- I know this may seem all too simple....but.....next time out you might want to try:-

Float + 2 to 3ft of 6lb test leader + small BB split shot about 4 inches up from the #6 hook + dew worm that covers the hook completely. Slide the worm on to the hook like a sleeve, leaving a bit on the end that wiggles.

Used with:- spinning reel (waaaaaay easier to use for a novice than baitcaster)

Just about any good 6ft to 61/2 ft trout rod will be adequate.

The addition of some X-10 on the worm is also good.

I like the "torpedo" floats. They cast farther than those red+white jobs. They are a bit of a pain in the sphincter to thread the 6lb test thru sometimes. Which is why I carry a length of 40lb mono with me. Just loop the 40lb in half....then loop your 6lb or 8lb onto it and pull it through the float. You have to twist the rubber tubing inside the float to make the line stay put.

I've caught 85% of all my trout on this rig......works for bass too, at times.

Cheers........

Wow Seafever, I really appreciate the instructions . Would it be alright if I PM'd you before my next time out just to clarify some things?

Cheers

 

[Big Green Machine]

That's one of the better fishing stories I've read around here in a good spell.

X2 You are a good writer!

 

[Seafever]

Flask:- some more info if you are in the mood for it:-

Floats:- I've found that it as far as color goes it doesn't matter what color the float is. I've tried all sorts of colors...even painted some camo ones (green and brown) to look totally "natural".
Wasn't any better than any other....be they clear, pink, red +white, orange, lime green, chartreuse etc.

The one thing that DID make a difference.......especially if there is a slight breeze or light chop:-
Take a clear torpedo float and stick a couple squares of aggressive-pattern chrome prism tape on it.
The ordinary chrome "fish scale " tape isn't that good ....you need a chrome prism tape that "twinkles" pretty good .

When the float is bobbing around.....it will act like a flasher. If it's in dead calm water.....the sun will usually catch it at some angle and shine into the water.
A lot of people think this will scare the fish away but in my experience it's been the exact opposite.

Trout don't scare as much as people think they do.
I've fished places where the tourist's kids were hucking rocks into the water ( while the parents stand around with the "that's my boy" smile on their faces) and still get hookups.

As far as casting lures go........In my experience the BLue Fox Vibrax Weighted Spinner will nail more fish than any of those "croc"-type weighted casting spoons. Probably because to get the spoon to perform "action" it has to be travelling pretty fast through the water whereas the spinner can go slower and still send out a big message.

The Blue/Pink Blue Fox works extremely well for me in the spring/summer.

Sometimes the fish like a moving bait instead of a stationary one. If you don't get hits on the float/worm...then try casting a spinner...or.....cast the float/worm out and then slowly reel it in so it's moving.

Cutties will take either but frequently like a "moving" lure.

If you want to p.m. me.....feel free to do so.....