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I bought a fishing license

Started by Guest_EricaWieser_* , Jan 05 2012 08:37 PM

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#1 Guest_EricaWieser_*

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Posted 05 January 2012 - 08:37 PM

I bought a fishing license today!

I moved to North Carolina in July, and it was so unpleasantly awfully hot that when we went out, it was to snorkel. For a while now the temperature has been getting cooler and I've been wanting to go out fishing. But I, the Cleveland Ohio native, figured that once the temperature started to dip that it would be winter and that meant no more outside activities until it thaws.

The high on Saturday is 61 degrees.

I'm so excited! I went out today and got a fishing pole, a floating bobber, weights, and size 10 hooks. The whole thing cost twenty bucks, so it's not hard on the wallet. I'm hoping to go out Sunday (high of 54 degrees, ha ha Cleveland suck it) and am planning to look for blue spotted and black banded sunfish for a fellow NANFA member. Two of my friends are planning to go with me, and we're bringing a picnic. I plan to take pictures of whatever we catch, and will post them here when I get back. yay

Do you have any tips for a first time fisherperson? I tried to find barbless hooks but they didn't sell any. The barbs are very small, which is the best I could do. I plan on salting the bucket that I put the fish into, and I have a cycled setup ready for them to live in temporarily until the NANFA member can come pick them up. And I chose a spot in the Yadkin Pee Dee drainage, where there aren't any banded sunfish that I could possibly confused with blackbanded sunfish (if that happens). The state's endangered fish are the Cape Fear Shiner (Notropis mekistocholas), the Spotfin Chub (Cyprinella monacha), and the Waccamaw Silverside (Menidia extensa), none of which are sunfish that I could possibly confuse with the fish I'm looking for. And I already located a bait shop and called to make sure they're open on the day and hour I'll be en route to the state-endorsed fishing pond. *nods* I think I'm doing this right, but if anyone has any pointers, I'd love to hear them. How does one fish for sunfish? Every time I ask someone, they just tell me to try to fish for something else. ...

#2 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 05 January 2012 - 08:50 PM

Take a pair of pliers and smash the barb down on those small hooks that you bought... doesn't make them exactly barb-less... but it does reduce the impact to fish mouths... and good luck Enneacanthus are really skittish... but you are very likely to have a good time and catch some Lepomis... have fun!

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#3 Guest_CreekStomper_*

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Posted 05 January 2012 - 08:53 PM

In the last year, I've fished almost entirely in small sloughs and creeks for small fish/sunfish. I used an ultralight rod (more sensitive and shorter) with ultra-thin braided 4lb line, a small bobber set to about half the depth of wherever I'm fishing (usually was set at about 1.5 - 2 ft) with a size 10 hook. I sometimes went larger than 10, but you stop catching the really small stuff when you start going bigger. I most often used wax worms and small nightcrawlers. Nightcrawlers I always used in two ways: quarters, thirds and halfs hooked several times through and whole worms hooked by the head with the rest trailing. The first method works for many sunfish like bluegill/greens/longear. The second is better for more predatory strikers like crappie and small bass. Most often I just cast as far as I can out, then real slowly towards me, watching the bobber carefully. With this sort of setup in creeks and small rivers, I almost always catch something on every cast. Granted, in the polluted waterways around here, it's most often greens, blues, and chub. Sunfish are the easiest thing in the world to fish for, in my opinion.

Granted, I've never fished specifically for the species you're fishing for. they may be less aggressive and thus require a more patient method of fishing, like traditional bobber fishing.

Josh H

Edit: Michael reminded me: I always take hemostats (or other forceps) which act as pliers to remove hard-to-reach hooks that have been swallowed. In this manner, I can leave most fish relatively unharmed.

Edited by CreekStomper, 05 January 2012 - 08:55 PM.

#4 Guest_az9_*

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Posted 05 January 2012 - 09:48 PM

Just be aware Erica that some times when fishing and you're out to get a specific species it turns out you catch everything but that species!

:mrgreen:

Edited by az9, 05 January 2012 - 09:49 PM.

#5 Guest_frogwhacker_*

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Posted 05 January 2012 - 09:54 PM

I'm excited for you and I hope you do well. I've never fished for Enneacanthus, but around here I've used a fishing rod to catch fish from muskies to minnows(not the same rod). I'm sure you'll be surfing the net to find the type of territory their likely to be in(probably grass beds, but I could be wrong). You'll probably find that where the fish are is also where the snags are, but like I've always heard; "If you not getting snagged, you're not fishing in the right place". There's usually a happy medium somewhere there though.

You may or may not need your weights. The more weight you have on, the better your rod will cast, but your bobber will probably provide enough weight for you to cast as far as you need to. The hook and a small worm will by itself most likely sink enough and will cause less disturbance than it would with the weight on it.

If you find a place that just looks like it ought to have fish then be patient and let it set for a while. You never know what might be looking at your bait just before you bring it in. On the other hand though, you never know what a better placement might do also, so you just have to weigh it out. You might try several kinds of small baits. Live baits usually have the best results.

I also usually have better luck if the sun isn't to my back. When you cause a shadow on the water, fish see the contrast really well. I've even noticed this when I'm feeding my pets. If the majority of the lighting is coming from behind me they can sometimes get a little nervous. Light colored clothes may help this too if you really want to get technical about it.

I hope this helps some. Main thing is; Have Fun!

I think you'll do well, Looking forward to seeing pictures and hearing how it went.

Steve.

#6 Guest_keepnatives_*

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Posted 06 January 2012 - 12:04 AM

If you have a small file you can file the barb down. I'm not sure what kind of bait bait shops would have useful for bluespot and blackbanded sunfish angling might work for the larger specimens but the best for an aquarium are between .5 and 2 inch fish, don't think an earthworm is even small enough. If they have small thinner worms just barely thick enough to get on the hook or tiny grubs. I wonder how some tiny flys like for fly fishing might work. Either way I'd find some clumps of bushy plants or bladderwort and drop the bait or tiny fly as close to it as possible or in it. If necessary wear waders and get right up to the plant clumps that's where the fish will be. It seems a stick and light line would be plenty for these small sunnies. Good luck.

#7 Guest_MichiJim_*

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Posted 06 January 2012 - 03:00 AM

Welcome to the club! Fishing has been part of my life as long as I can remember. The best advice I can give is to keep your weights, floats and stuff as small and light as possible. This will help you keep in touch with every thing that happens on the end of your line.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

#8 Guest_davidjh2_*

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Posted 06 January 2012 - 01:00 PM

I can guarantee you that you will hook into a huge fish of some kind and here's why

1) Beginner's luck. Beginner's luck in fishing almost always results with the biggest fish in the lake hitting your line.

2) You're a woman. Women always hook into monster fish while fishing especially if they are fishing with a husband or boyfriend. The fact that you are a beginner and a woman doubles the potential.

3) you're trying to catch a small fish and some of my biggest fish have come while using light tackle for small fish.

#9 Guest_fritz_*

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Posted 06 January 2012 - 01:25 PM

I've never heard of anyone catching either of those little sunfish by hook and line. But that is the only legal way to take them since, unfortunately, they are classified as a game fish. Wish you luck.

#10 Guest_nativeplanter_*

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Posted 06 January 2012 - 02:04 PM

A size 10 hook might even be a bit too big. What you want to do is look at fly fishing supplies; I'm thinking a size 14 would be better. I wouldn't cast or use the bobber, because you aren't likely to feel the take if the line is long, and I don't think this species would do much to a bobber. Just flop a baited hook into some weeds and wait for really tiny movements in the line. Now, as for what to bait it with... that's a whole 'nother issue. Maybe baby crickets from the pet shop. The only other thing I can think of is getting some pre-tied flies at the fly shop. Flick these out and let them float on the surface in weedy areas. Twitch them ever so slightly every now and then.

Good luck - I'm interested in seeing if this can be done.

#11 Guest_gerald_*

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Posted 06 January 2012 - 03:18 PM

Yes but you've never seen how Erica can thread a blackworm onto a hook!
Other possible bait you might try:
>> amphipods? (in leaf litter in shallow water, still or flowing)
>> Hydropsychid caddisflies? (on dam spillway or big rocks in flow)
Get a cheap pair of 3.00 diopter reading glasses at a drugstore for baiting hooks.

Good luck keeping Gambusia and small Lepomis off the bait.
You might catch dollar sunfish which are pretty cool - like a mini-longear.

I've never heard of anyone catching either of those little sunfish by hook and line. But that is the only legal way to take them since, unfortunately, they are classified as a game fish. Wish you luck.

#12 Guest_rickwrench_*

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Posted 06 January 2012 - 06:36 PM

Always remember that it's called "fishing" and not "catching".

I've done quite a bit of "micro" fishing using worm bits on ≥18 hooks for small species (gambusia anyone?). Keep in mind small fish are, of course, delicate. I like to use extra long shank, fine wire dry fly hooks (either barbless or with the barb filed off to minimize injury), or a "circle hook", usually home bent, either barbelss, or with the barb filed off or bent down. When you catch fish with a circle hook, 99% of the time the hook is through the corner of the lip area. This is where the circle hook is superior, the hook wound is in a far less critical area, and as there is no "setting" involved, lip or jaw injuries are rare. A slow gentle pull as the fish runs, and the hook sets itself in the fish's lip. Perfect for beginning fishermen.
The biggest problem with circle hooks is finding them in very small sizes. The smallest I've seen is the Eagle Claw L702 in size 12. Small, but still too big for the tiniest fish. What I've been doing is bending my own. I buy a pack of small (size 20 or 22) regular thin wire dry fly hooks and start bending with the forceps. The wire is tempered a bit so your bends need to be smooooth, or else the hook will break. The point needs to be aimed inside of the eye. The hook I have pictured below is bent around a bit too much, but still works very well.

Top hook is an unbent #22 dry fly hook, bottom hook is a bent/circle hook with a bent down barb.

Posted Image

With a long shank hook, removing a deeply hooked fish is much easier than a conventional hook. Care should be taken when setting the hook as you can very quickly tear up the lips/jaws of the smaller fish, but you do need to set the hook as soon as you detect a strike to avoid a deep/gut set. Regardless of how careful you are, with conventional hooks, barbless or not, there will be instances where a fish is gill hooked (aka "dead"). In -very- deeply gullet hooked fish, it is often better to clip the hook and release the fish, than dig around with a pair of forceps. The thin wire of a dry fly hook corrodes away quickly in the gullet environment, and the fish has a pretty decent chance of surviving the experience.

On the little gold Eagle Claw turned up eyelet "salmon egg" hooks. They sorta look like circle hooks... but are fish killers. They are impossible to safely remove and are nearly always deep or gut hooked. That said, with a few minutes of forceps work, they can be turned into relatively safe, quite small circle hooks. They are also very easy to bend.

Worm bits!
Good luck, take pics.

Rick

#13 Guest_nativeplanter_*

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Posted 06 January 2012 - 07:24 PM

Rick, those hooks are simply fantastic! I would have never thought to try that with 22s. Do you put them in a vice first? I would think you must, or they'd go flying across the room when you try to bend them (at least, if it were me trying to bend them).

The next question is - what sort of flies could successfully tied on a circle hook (of any small size)? I mean, outside of the obvious like the San Juan worm, Salmon egg, or Y2K. I'd love to somehow get a nymph or dry on one of those,but can't think of how to do it without having a shank. Maybe something that lets the material stick out beyond the eye somehow.

#14 Guest_frigginchi_*

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Posted 06 January 2012 - 08:09 PM

Hot dogs;)

#15 Guest_don212_*

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Posted 06 January 2012 - 09:39 PM

A size 10 hook might even be a bit too big. What you want to do is look at fly fishing supplies; I'm thinking a size 14 would be better. I wouldn't cast or use the bobber, because you aren't likely to feel the take if the line is long, and I don't think this species would do much to a bobber. Just flop a baited hook into some weeds and wait for really tiny movements in the line. Now, as for what to bait it with... that's a whole 'nother issue. Maybe baby crickets from the pet shop. The only other thing I can think of is getting some pre-tied flies at the fly shop. Flick these out and let them float on the surface in weedy areas. Twitch them ever so slightly every now and then.

Good luck - I'm interested in seeing if this can be done.

it would be hard to find a bobber small enough, i've heard that brook trout fly fishermen, using wet flies, sometimes use a dressed dry fly as a float/indicator, i believe it's called a dropper rig, maybe you could tie a dry fly above your tiny bait, and you might even catch something on the dry fly

#16 Guest_rickwrench_*

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Posted 06 January 2012 - 11:27 PM

Rick, those hooks are simply fantastic! I would have never thought to try that with 22s. Do you put them in a vice first? I would think you must, or they'd go flying across the room when you try to bend them (at least, if it were me trying to bend them).

I use a small set of needle-nose pliers and my fingers to do the bending. I grab the point end between the jaws, right at the barb and squeeze the barb flat. Then I push the hook up as far up into the jaws as I can - until it starts to stretch open the hook gap a bit, point end still between the squeezing faces. Most needle nosed pliers have round backed jaws, so, squeezing the pointed end firmly, you can just bend the shank around the rounded back.
It depends on the hook's temper, too. I've had a few batches that were really brittle, others that were very bendy. Sometimes I break half the hooks I try to bend, others can be bent, unbent, rebent, straightened out, bent again... It takes some practice, but hooks are pretty cheap.
For Erica's trip, maybe bending a few #12 or 14 Eagle Claw salmon egg hooks into circle hooks, barbs smashed flat, would make things easier on the fish.

The next question is - what sort of flies could successfully tied on a circle hook (of any small size)? I mean, outside of the obvious like the San Juan worm, Salmon egg, or Y2K. I'd love to somehow get a nymph or dry on one of those,but can't think of how to do it without having a shank. Maybe something that lets the material stick out beyond the eye somehow.

I've tied flies/nymphs on short shank hooks with extension wires many times. Put the short shank/circle hook in the vise, start the thread, clip a piece of solid electric guitar string (the "B" works well, high "E" works... ok) tie it on the back of the circle hook and use the wire extension as the nymph body core. In the old days a small drop of varnish would be dabbed on the join, these days we have crazy glue. I've also seen thick monofilament used. There used to be a lot of extended body nymphs tied that used a very short shank #8 or 10 hook, an extension, and then a #20-22 hook tied to the end of the extension (the "stinger"). On the dry side, extensions are used for dragon/damsel flies, crane flies, etc.

I don't know how well circle hooks would work for fly fishing though. It's been my (humbling) experience that fussy trout spit flies out as fast as they hit them. Since you can't really "set" a circle hook, and need to let the hook pull nearly out of the mouth before it catches on the way out, it helps if there is something tasty on the hook to encourage the fish to keep it in its mouth during the pull.

Rick

Edited by rickwrench, 06 January 2012 - 11:31 PM.

#17 Guest_star5328_*

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Posted 08 January 2012 - 01:10 AM

rickwrench is spot on here as far as how I go about catching small fish (minnows) I use fly hooks similar to what he shows there, and little white berkley powerbaits 1/4-3/8" long. Sometimes 1/3 or 1/2 of the powerbait. They come in little packs and are scented or something to that effect. Also no bobber, usually a tiny splitshot sinker because without that your bait is practically weightless.

#18 Guest_gzeiger_*

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Posted 08 January 2012 - 03:29 PM

Where do you buy those? I've never seen a hook for sale smaller than 14.

Erica, in my experience Enneacanthus is most likely to be found in still, shallow water with moderate vegetation such as lilies. Due to their small size they will be on the margins of larger bodies of water where the bigger predators are vulnerable and therefore less of a threat.

#19 Guest_EricaWieser_*

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Posted 08 January 2012 - 03:48 PM

The second park we went to, which was a less desirable backup due to its fountain and manmade banks, had zero fish life visible except for three large goldfish.

Now I'm stuck with red worms, which my fish (Elassoma gilberti, guppies) can't eat and I don't know what to do with.

Edit:
Oh, and how random is it that the parks in North Carolina apparently close in the winter? Our parks back in Ohio didn't close for the winter and there was actual snow on the ground. Here in NC it hit 70 degrees yesterday, on January 7th. There is absolutely no reason to close down the parks.

Edited by EricaWieser, 08 January 2012 - 03:52 PM.