I can't remember last time it even rained here in Springfield.

Welp, I'm out of ideas.



No wait. Sometimes Game and Fish will stock certain waters using a small plane and just dump them from a hundred feet off the surface. Sometimes they miss. Sometimes they accidentally stock a random neighborhood. Got any fishable water nearby?

Get good gear. You’ll need it for tarpon. If you can swing one, Mako reels are worth it. And Loomis NRX or Scott Meridian rods. Good thing about top quality gear: it doesn’t need replacing. Once you get it, you’re set for life. But fishing for massive salt water fish is not the time to scrimp. You’ll curse yourself if you lose a lifetime tarpon because your reel’s drag breaks or you don’t have the spine on the rod to tire the fish.

Also, if you’re interested in coming on our annual SW Alaska fly fishing trip in early to mid September, drop me a PM. We are already setting up next year’s trip.

I get to pick our summer vacation next year....so will I pick something beachy and carribbean (for tarpon fishing) or something moutnainy and cool (for trout fishing)? Because every vacation I choose has fishing at the root and I always take a day or two to myeslf for that.

https://www.startribune.com/muskie-m...eler/601177652

Fishing record-chaser Arthur “Art” Weston has seen his share of big catches with nearly 40 yet-to-be-beaten world records under his belt. But when Minnesota muskie expert Nolan Sprengeler took him out on Mille Lacs last week to go for a new muskie record, Weston tried something he never had before — night fishing.

“Having never night fished before was a wild experience for me,” Weston, who lives in Kentucky, said in a statement to the Star Tribune on Thursday. “Casting these massive lures into the darkness and the depths is frankly a bit unnerving.”

But the experiment worked.

On Oct. 29, his second night on Mille Lacs, Weston, with Sprengeler as his guide, landed the mother of all muskies, a 54.33-inch or 138-centimeter fish (measured from the tail to the fork) which he believes is likely to set the all-tackle length world record for the species. The record is currently pending and under review by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA). The fish measured 57.5 inches from the tail to the tip.

Weston had never fished with Sprengeler before, but had heard good things about him from other anglers. Weston, who last year made headlines for catching a 283-pound alligator gar, contacted Sprengeler to come up with a plan to try for the all-tackle length world record for muskie. They agreed to fish at night, Weston said, because the bigger muskies can often be the most “lure shy.” Possibly they’ve been caught and released before. Or they are old enough and smart enough to recognize an artificial lure.

After no luck the first night, the pair set out at about 6:30 p.m. on the second to a few of Sprengeler’s favorite spots. Weston’s lure “got smashed” about 30 yards out from their boat just before midnight. The hit made him let out an audible “Ooof,” Weston said.

“The strike was not what I was expecting, it was like a Mack Truck grabbed my lure and headed the opposite direction,” he said.

Sprengeler had told him to reel hard and fast and as he began to see the torpedo-like silhouette come to the surface, Weston yelled, “It’s big!”

Most Read

Outdoors

DNR says Minnesota’s longtime 6-walleye limit is headed for extinction

Twin Cities Suburbs

13-year federal sentence for Mexican cartel employee caught with 30 pounds of meth, lab in Shakopee
Red and blue circles show how Minnesota counties have shifted politically.
Elections

Where Minnesota’s politics have shifted over 20 years and 6 presidential elections

Duluth

Police find five dead, including two juveniles, from shootings in two Duluth homes
To that Sprengeler yelled back, “I know!”

After netting the fish, the fishermen looked at each other and Weston remembered shouting in excitement, “It’s long!”

In similar fashion, Sprengeler responded, “I know!” telling Weston “I think this is the one.”

https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedi...54A.jpg?&w=712

Holy shit thats a MONSTER, dude just put Jeremy Wade to shame :eek:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I have mixed feelings about this one.<a href="https://t.co/tEkgF5gAeB">https://t.co/tEkgF5gAeB</a></p>&mdash; Community Notes &amp; Violations (@CNviolations) <a href="https://twitter.com/CNviolations/status/1884100338648551920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 28, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I'm going to Turks and Caicos in June. I'm going to do some bonefishing and i'll do a day of deep sea as well. Lets' go!

That's a ****ing huge musky. I bet it was a hell of a fight.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1u49e5nMdm4?si=QAFFwYktydEkFr5z" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

How do they do this , not having to remove the hook:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MFWLPjXyCyQ?si=8D5ZQ54RKp7l3s0B" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Nice bump Hog, a good reminder that I need to get some new line on my reels

Yeah, for sure, starting to get the itch.

I got the itch. Been 2 years or so and my bother gave me my Dads old boat. Needs a transom since a 1984 sea nymph but prime condition other wise.

I did something new this winter. I had an opportunity to get 200 rainbow trout for free and out them in my pond and another.

The last nice weekend with ice I had about 20 kids here for some ice fishing. They caught 5-6 trout and a half bucket of bluegill and bass. My parents came over Thursday afternoon to fish because it was super nice out and caught 2 larger trout.

I grilled them in a foil boat today and we ate those for the first time. It was good and I’m looking forward to catching and eating more while the water is clean…and before water temp gets too warm and kills them.

Shit

How do they do this , not having to remove the hook:


Barbless hooks.

That sounds like a blast!
How did you get 200 Rainbows?

I'll be getting out to Buena Vista to fish the Arkansas in a few weeks, then the week after that we're going to Gunnison for 5 days to hit the Taylor.

My parents are coming out in June and we will likely go to the bottom of the black canyon to catch big dumb browns before heading to Ouray to fish the Puk Puk.

I have a neighbor who she’s a fish farm/sells fish for stocking ponds.
People sometimes order trout for ponds for ice fishing. They taste better in winter/spring but apparently die when water gets above 68.

Someone who ordered backed out. They didn’t have room to keep and knew they’d die so asked me if I wanted them. Why not.

I figure we have 2 months. They’re early aggressive and do t seem to hard to catch right now on small spinners. They fight surprisingly hard too.

Visiting a friend in angelfire NM we did some lake fishing for rainbows.

He used a light spinning rig with a small treble using Berkley power bait. I think it was a simple lindy rig and the powerbait floats, so it would float off the bottom. They were pretty tasty on the grill in foil.

I love the Taylor and Black Canyon. Great waters and beautiful everywhere. I imagine water levels have to be high? I was thinking that area got some good snow this year.

Just got to the lake. Off next three days. Don't expect much this go around but shall see. This is the third time out here this month and not even a bite.

Fish still have to eat.


Find them.

Have you fished the northwest side? That bank gets the first and most sun in the spring.

Also, I’d work between 8-20 feet. Vertical jig or similar slow action technique. Fish probably aren’t shallow yet.

The Gunnison watershed is right at 100% of it's snow pack, so it should be a solid run off, but nothing spectacular.

I really don't mind fishing through runoff too much. It keeps a lot of people off the river and the fish still have to eat.

The Taylor will probably get its first spring bump on April 1, but I'll probably spend some time up on Cochetopa Creek and fishing the Gunnison as well.

Three dead, three injured in boating crash during fishing tournament on Smith Lake

CULLMAN, Ala. (WBMA) — Three people are dead and another three are injured after a multi-boat crash on Smith Lake Wednesday morning during a Major League Fishing tournament.

I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often

My local lake has a tourney every weekend during warm months, and they all fly like hell going from one planned out spot to another while racing against the clock... they really get aggressive