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Big Walter's day off...

Started by mattknepley , May 09 2013 08:54 PM

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6 replies to this topic

#1 mattknepley

NANFA Member

Smack-dab between the Savannah and the Saluda.

Posted 09 May 2013 - 08:54 PM

Or, why I spent the day chasing the little ones.

After seeing Ben Cantrell's success with micro-fishing, I was encouraged to give it a try. I special ordered some incredibly tiny hooks, took to the stream, and failed miserably. Wasn't disheartened though, as I was trying to use previously frozen mysis shrimp for bait. They patently refused to stay on the hook, and I didn't really give the effort the ol' junior high try, let alone a genuine college try.

Today, with slightly more forethought, I took to a small cove in Lake Greenwood, SC. The results were much better. I caught numerous small to medium fish. The largest, a bluegill, would have been about 8" long. Naturally, being the "big one", he self-released just as I was landing him and there is no photo. And as a friend of mine says, "No photo? No fish." The following finny fellows have no alibi. I got 'em... Just keep in mind that I am horrible at estimating lengths, and this is a fish story, so fishes mentioned may actually be bigger than I claim. :^o

Most of the fish taken were bluegills. This one was about 4" long.

When the wind and/or current pushes small fry chow into the cove, the yellow perch will be following. This one ran ~5".

This bluegill was the smallest fish landed today.

I caught several other smallish bluegills before I ran out of my bait- one small worm!

Learned a lot today. Mostly, microfishing is fun, there is more challenge to it than you might first think. Just tieing the microscopic hook on was a major chore. Bait goes a loooooong way in this style of fishing, though. Different sized fish, even in this sub-bantam class, required different techniques to land. Little fish were feisty and fun to play, while the 6" and above monsters required a fast finesse, as they could easily throw the hook. Being so tiny, the bait needed to be kept moving, or it would be in the fishes intestine before you realized you had a bite! There is much more, but suffice to say I had fun, found a new way to sample fishes, and could have even served up a small mess of fish for lunch if I had wanted.

Thanks, Ben! And not to throw you under the bus, but if you were looking for a reason make it to an upcoming NANFA convention, I'd be very interested in attending a B.C.-hosted microfishing clinic. Heck, maybe we could even have a tournament! (Of course, I'm talking like I'll make it next year!) [-o<

Matt Knepley
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."

#2 Guest_BenCantrell_*

Guests

Posted 09 May 2013 - 10:58 PM

Good stuff! When you venture into the realm of microfishing you realize you're really gone off the deep end. There's no sense in explaining it to people. I remember getting a strange look from the bait shop guy when I bought a package of size 26 hooks. He said something along the lines of "what the hell are you going to catch with these tiny hooks?". The funny thing is, they choose to keep them in stock so someone must be buying them (making trout flies perhaps?).

Unfortunately the conventions keep moving further away from me. I'll make it to one eventually though, and yeah a microfishing outing would be a lot of fun. It's the cheapest way to fish in terms of gear.

#3 Guest_sbtgrfan_*

Guests

Posted 10 May 2013 - 12:25 AM

You ask any bass fisherman and he'll tell you no photo means biggest fish ever.

Good pics, looks like you had a good trip.

#4 Guest_davidjh2_*

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Posted 10 May 2013 - 10:55 AM

Many years ago I found some tiny crayfish jig bodies in the bargain bin of a Kmart. I would use them while wading a local river. I would catch 50+ tiny sunfish mostly redbreasts in a days fishing. I loved it, rather then try and catch a big bass or catfish from the same water I would throw the jigs along the bank or around logs and catch sunfish literally until I was tired of it. I would catch the occasional small bass or yellow perch but that river is chock full of redbreast sunfish that most anglers just ignore.

#5 Guest_exasperatus2002_*

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Posted 10 May 2013 - 11:13 AM

Many years ago I found some tiny crayfish jig bodies in the bargain bin of a Kmart. I would use them while wading a local river. I would catch 50+ tiny sunfish mostly redbreasts in a days fishing. I loved it, rather then try and catch a big bass or catfish from the same water I would throw the jigs along the bank or around logs and catch sunfish literally until I was tired of it. I would catch the occasional small bass or yellow perch but that river is chock full of redbreast sunfish that most anglers just ignore.

While gills & sunnies can be a pain to alot of fisherman, we all have to admit if it werent for them, we'd have to say we got skunked alot more often!

#6 Guest_davidjh2_*

Guests

Posted 10 May 2013 - 04:14 PM

While gills & sunnies can be a pain to alot of fisherman, we all have to admit if it werent for them, we'd have to say we got skunked alot more often!

Amen to that brother

#7 Guest_steve_*

Guests

Posted 10 May 2013 - 05:25 PM

When you venture into the realm of microfishing you realize you're really gone off the deep end. There's no sense in explaining it to people.

Good point. I had a neighbor drive by while I was fishing for creek chubs in a small stream with a 3wt fly rod. He just stopped long enough to say "There ain't no fish in there" and then drove off laughing. I knew I couldn't explain it so I just laughed with him.

mattknepley, thanks for posting your trip and sharing the photos. Microfishing adventures have been some of my most fun and memorable trips. Glad you're enjoying it.