Beer & Fishing

[PackRat]

I accumulated two great signs over the years. Each of them in one of the two previous campers I had. One in an old Alaskan and the other in a Lance....

" BEER IS PROOF THAT GOD LOVES US"

and another attributed to the ancient Sumerians or some long, lost civilization...

"THE GODS DO NOT DEDUCT THE TIME FROM MEN'S LIVES THE TIME SPENT FISHING"

 

[Squatch]

On the way to visit an old fishing bud at his new place in VT Mama Squatch found a cool cabin sign in a diner we stopped at. I bought it for his house.

Fish Camp
If you don't fish you have to cook.
If you don't cook you have to fish.
If you don't do either you have to leave!


We fished and ate well the entire week!

 

[PackRat]

Maybe a revised version would be...

If you CATCH fish, you don't have to cook.
If YOU don't catch fish, you have to cook someone else's fish.
If you don't do either one, you have to CLEAN UP.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

What happens if you are a "catch and release" fisher?
Frank

 

[PackRat]

Well....I guess you either you eat canned chili or you go hungry.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Well....I guess you either you eat canned chili or you go hungry.

Man that's not much of a choice,bummer.
Frank

 

[PaulT]

What happens if you are a "catch and release" fisher?
Frank

Shouldn't that be: "Catch, fillet, & release?"

Paul

 

[PackRat]

Kind of a step further than..."Fish....or cut bait!"

 

[Squatch]

Note it doesn't say you have to cook fish you catch. Or catch fish to eat.

For the most part my Bud and I are CPR fishermen. Catch, Photo, Release.

Normally I river fish for smallmouth bass. This is a slow growing fish with a long life cycle. They take a few years to mature into breeders. A large trophy size fish is often a very old female breeder.

I don't eat smallmouth. Mainly just panfish. I only eat them fresh. As in the day they are caught.

But occasionally we will eat fish we catch in small quantities. In the case of this trip we did eat one lake trout which are quite common in the lake it was caught in. And it was delicious!

And just to stay on topic it was eaten while drinking a fine Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale!

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Thanks Squatch.
I have been know to eat what I catch,but only if I am in or near camp.
I don't put fish on a stringer for later.
Actually most of the places I fish are 1. don't catch anything, 2.can't keep what I catch, 3.to far from a cooking source to eat.
So to catch,photo,release works.
I love fresh fish just don't get the chance to do that on a camping trip.
Frank

 

[PackRat]

I'm really more of a CPR fisherman myself...or just CAR. I don't plan my trips to the Sierras without food for every meal so catching my dinner isn't really the object though anyway. However I must admit upon rare occasions when a particularly big trout presents himself to my bait/lure I have succumbed to making it my dinner. I always carry a fresh lime (for the Cuba Libre!) and a fresh lemon (maybe for the trout) as well as a small array of spices, etc. that will allow me to prepare one for dinner if the opportunity arises.

Swear to God...the biggest trout i ever caught was not from the shoreline or trolling deeper down from my aluminum boat...nope, one time I had trouble restarting the motor so I used the Armstrong Method (oars) to get back across the lake. I left my Salmon eggs on a hook trailing the boat about 25 feet and as I was rowing like crazy my wife said my rod/reel was bouncing like crazy and line was peeling off of the reel...I grabbed the rod and played that fish for awhile before securing him alongside the boat. The fact that he was a big one changed my mind that afternoon and we had Mr. Trout as a kind of sundown appetizer with fresh lemon juice drizzled on it and a nice crisp Pinot Grigio.

 

[Vic Harder]

PackRat, what do you call a "big" trout in this case? As my knees age, I am thinking I might take up fishing to keep enjoying the outdoors!

 

[PackRat]

Now Vic....you know ANY "fish story" tends to grow with age, right? Longer, fatter...harder fighter....whatever.
I guess "fish stories" give us the opportunity to brag about it being "THIS BIG" but I have a photo somewhere of Mr. Trout on a plastic cutting board that is possibly 15" long so I guess I gotta fess up to that one being just that length since they don't shrink between the lake and the cleaning/gutting as far as I know. I'm trying to recall if the cutting board was 15" or 16" or something like 18" and I can't remember so I'm going with 15" which is what I think a couple we nowadays have measured out as.

 

[PaulT]

Before long you guys will be saying that you stand out in the lake on step ladders to do your fishing in order to get above these large trout or some such. Sheesh.

Paul

http://pyramidlakeguides.com/index.php/tag/ladder-fishing/

 

[Vic Harder]

Good info PackRat. I've seen fish that big, so now I know what others consider big enough to eat. Thanks for not exagerating, toooo much!

 

[Squatch]

Legal size is big enough to eat. Many fish aren't as good eatin' when they get trophy sized. Old and tougher. All depends on species.

Spring must be approaching. The talk has turned to fishing!