ever been electro-shock "fishing"?

[armedoldhippy]

got to tag along & help a crew in the mountains here the other day. a year or two back they built a waterfall in an attempt at keeping non-native rainbow trout from the upper reaches of a small brook trout stream. so, of course, they wondered if it had worked. i have fished this stream before, generally catching 8 to 10 pretty little brookies over the course of a few hours & several hundred yards of rock climbing up the stream bed. in a mere 100 yd stretch ( NOT the best water) these folks rolled up & netted and measured over 60 fish! granted, several were young parr from last falls spawning efforts, but WOW! plus, nary a 'bow was caught. had a ball, hoping to do it again...

 

[unregistered190]

I remember listening to Jerry Clower telling about Claude and the game warden.

Claude was the only one in the community catchin’ any fish. Folks was goin’ and they wasn’t catchin’ nothin’. Old Claude Ledbetter, he’d come with a pickup truck loaded down. So the State Game and Fish Commission of Mississippi decided they’d go fishin’ with Claude, just see how he was catchin’em. Claude told ’em – popped off – said, y’all don’t know how to do it. Y’all ought to just go with me and watch me.
Well, the game warden got in the boat with him and they took off out in the middle of the river.
The game warden said, “Alright Claude, I’m gonna see how you catchin’ all these fish when cain’t nobody else catch none.”
Claude raised the lid on the boat seat, got a big, long stick a dynamite. Lit the fuse on it. Let it go down kinda short, then drawed back and chucked it. Boom! Them big catfish come turnin’ they belly up, whoopin’ it outa that water, and Claude was just gettin’em by the tub full.
The game warden said, “Boy, that’s against the law, you cain’t do that. Don’t you know you’re breakin’ the law?”
Well, Claude done lit another big stick a dynamite, handed it to the game warden; it goin’ phsssssh!
The game warden took that stick a dynamite and said, “You idiot! This is against the law! You cain’t do this!”
Claude said, “You gonna set there and argue, or fish!”

 

[BOMBAYCAT]

In my wild youth I was visiting relatives that were game poachers etc.. Anyway we went dynamite fishing at the local river. The fishing was good but my idiot cousin almost took out a bridge because he used too much dynamite.

 

[k-s-p]

Have done it quite a few times. Did a lot of Blackside Dace surveys in the early 00s.

 

[brickweeder]

In the early 80's, i worked one summer at fish and game, used a back pack electro shocker in a super small stream in what I was sure was devoid of fish because of the low volume. I was wrong, lots of small trout in the 3-6 inch range. Had to have a spotter in case I fell in below wader height and shocked myself. Also used a skiff mounted electroshocker in a lake, had electrodes sticking out front and maneuvered the skiff next to bushes to shock them.

 

[troutman]

Leave my trout alone.

 

[Switcher56]

It's called fishing gents, not catching! It's not the destination that counts, it's the journey

Follow the old wives tale... When the wind is from the East fishing is least, when from the West, fishing is best. The moon controls a lot of shit on this planet, learn from it, and it doesn't only apply to fishing.

 

[brickweeder]

Leave my trout alone.

shock and release, that was my motto then. now its catch, revive and release.

 

[armedoldhippy]

shock and release, that was my motto then. now its catch, revive and release.

i haven't kept a trout i caught in over thirty five years. had a BIG brown i caught which was going to the taxidermist. damn freezer died very quietly & i lost my trout. never again. when i forget the challenge/thrill of catching a notable fish, having him (more likely her) hanging dead on the wall won't help.

 

[k-s-p]

Years ago I worked for a natural heritage program as a field biologist. We worked in the mountains censusing fish and clam communities. Because trout were not native to the streams we worked, my boss killed every trout we seined up. He had a pathological hatred for rainbows and browns. Would just throw them up on the bank and let them die. He was a weird dude.

 

[brickweeder]

i haven't kept a trout i caught in over thirty five years. had a BIG brown i caught which was going to the taxidermist. damn freezer died very quietly & i lost my trout. never again. when i forget the challenge/thrill of catching a notable fish, having him (more likely her) hanging dead on the wall won't help.

you got me beat by a few years...haven't kept a trout since before 92' which is when I started fly fishing. They are some really cool looking creatures...remind me of reptiles adapted to water...

 

[brickweeder]

...The moon controls a lot of shit on this planet, learn from it, and it doesn't only apply to fishing.

You know, I've blamed a lot of slow days on the previous night's full moon, but it was really probably me not being able to figure out how to get the fish to bite...

 

[armedoldhippy]

remind me of reptiles adapted to water...

browns would have to be the bad boys on the block. ever seen any of the videos of folks catching the Taimen in rivers in Mongolia and such? a version of brown trout (allegedly) that gets up over 50 lbs. huge damn fish...most recent record catch reported was one from Siberia that was over 107 lbs...yup, on a fly. one was caught and weighed years back (not on certified scales) that was over 200 lbs in Russia someplace. no info on what it was caught on. probably used a 5 lb chum salmon for bait...

 

[armedoldhippy]

Would just throw them up on the bank

i've done that with gar, they get thick at times. but trout? if i killed them, i'd eat them.

 

[brickweeder]

browns would have to be the bad boys on the block. ever seen any of the videos of folks catching the Taimen in rivers in Mongolia and such? a version of brown trout (allegedly) that gets up over 50 lbs. huge damn fish...most recent record catch reported was one from Siberia that was over 107 lbs...yup, on a fly. one was caught and weighed years back (not on certified scales) that was over 200 lbs in Russia someplace. no info on what it was caught on. probably used a 5 lb chum salmon for bait...

im gonna have to check them out...haven;t seen the vids. Browns sure are a pretty fish, how can anyone not release them after a catch?

 

[armedoldhippy]

im gonna have to check them out...haven;t seen the vids. Browns sure are a pretty fish, how can anyone not release them after a catch?

they and native brookies both spawn in the fall, their colors then are phenomenal...

here is a Pennsylvania brook trout. their belly fins look like they are bleeding...

 

[k-s-p]

Speckies are one of the most beautiful of game fishes. I guess I really learned how to fish catching them in beaver ponds when I was a kid.

 

[Switcher56]

You know, I've blamed a lot of slow days on the previous night's full moon, but it was really probably me not being able to figure out how to get the fish to bite...

I believe you missed my point good buddy. I fish the lunar time table, it's like an almanac. I use it and wind direction amongst other things of course: lay of the land, under water structure etc... proper fly. I remember one day the trout were lighting all around my fly and never took mine (the closest I had). Living only about 8 miles away. Went home, spun a couple of flies to mimick what was on the water. Went back hooked on the 2nd cast, caught 3 it was at the tail end. Good supper After that night I had a portable fly tying set up with me in the truck.

 

[Switcher56]

they and native brookies both spawn in the fall, their colors then are phenomenal...
View attachment 18829576
here is a Pennsylvania brook trout. their belly fins look like they are bleeding...
View attachment 18829577

Don't remember what causes the deep red colouration on some brookies. IIRC it has to do with the soil of the effluent, ponds ect... and where some brookies taste like mud. 3tbs white wine will cure that, just rub it over the fish in and out.

 

[armedoldhippy]

Don't remember what causes the deep red colouration on some brookies. IIRC it has to do with the soil of the effluent, ponds ect... and where some brookies taste like mud. 3tbs white wine will cure that, just rub it over the fish in and out.

the change in coloration only occurs when they are going into spawning season. two months earlier, still pretty but not glowing like they are on fire.