Fly Fishing

In this blog we will be talking about Fly Fishing. Its a distinct and ancient angling method, most renowned as a method for catching trout and salmon, but employed today for a wide variety of species including pike, bass, panfish, grayling and carp, as well as marine species, such as redfish, snook, tarpon, bonefish and striped bass. This method of fishing is commonly found in British Columbia because of the Trout and Salmon (Choho) The Salmon and Trout are usually found in the Fraser River which is located in B-C. Unlike other casting methods, fly fishing can be thought of as a method of casting line rather than lure. Non-flyfishing methods rely on a lure's weight to pull line from the reel during the forward motion of a cast. By design, a fly is too light to be cast, and thus simply follows the unfurling of a properly cast fly line, which is heavier and tapered and therefore more castable than lines used in other types of fishing. This method of Fly Fishing started in the 2nd century by Claudius Aelianus. Fly Fishing is really popular today, you would use it in shallower waters and not deep lakes or rivers. You would never use a live bait, always use a fly bait. Need anymore info on Fly Fishing, comment.

History on Fishing

Fishing is an ancient practice that dates back at least to the Paleolithic period which began about 40,000 years ago. Isotopic analysis of the skeletal remains of Tianyuan man, a 40,000 year old modern human from eastern Asia, has shown that he regularly consumed freshwater fish.The ancient river Nile was full of fish; fresh and dried fish were a staple food for much of the population. The Egyptians had implements and methods for fishing and these are illustrated in tomb scenes, drawings, and papyrus documents. Some representations hint at fishing being pursued as a pastime. In India, the Pandyas, a classical Dravidian Tamil kingdom, were known for the pearl fishery as early as the 1st century BC. Their seaport Tuticorin was known for deep sea pearl fishing. The paravas, a Tamil caste centred in Tuticorin, developed a rich community because of their pearl trade, navigation knowledge and fisheries. Fishing scenes are rarely represented in ancient Greek culture, a reflection of the low social status of fishing. However, Oppian of Corycus, a Greek author wrote a major treatise on sea fishing, the Halieulica or Halieutika, composed between 177 and 180. This is the earliest such work to have survived to the modern day. Pictorial evidence of Roman fishing comes from mosaics.

What is a fishing rod?

A fishing rod or a fishing pole is used to catch fish, usually for the sport of angling. A length of fishing line is attached to a long, flexible rod or pole: one end terminates in a hook for catching the fish. Fishing rods go back to ancient Egypt, China, Greece, Rome and medieval England, where they were called "angles" (hence the term "angling" as a synonym for fishing).Prior to widespread availability of synthetic materials, such as fiberglass and graphite composites, fishing rods were typically made from split Tonkin bamboo. The type of fishing line you would use on a fishing rod depends on the flexibility of the rod itself. Their are 8 different kinds of rods that are used today and they are: Bass Rods: for bass fishing; Spin or Bait caster Rods:designed to hold a spin casting reel, which are normally mounted above the handle; Ultra Light Rods: used for smaller species of fish; Ice Rods: used for Ice Fishing; Sea Rods: used for big fish in the ocean; Surf Rods: its a kind of Sea Rod for Surf Fishing; Trolling Rods: used for troll fishing and Telescopic Rods: designed to collapse down to a short distance and open to a long rod. Need anymore info on fishing rods, comment.

Methods on cooking fish.

In today's blog, I will give tips on how to cook fish my way. Usually for certain fish I would cook it by frying it, but theirs always different ways to do it. For Pickeral, I usually beer batter it then fry it, but I also BBQ it. Put the fish in foil, add some salt and pepper or Montreal Steak Spice, which is also good and add a lemon wedge for the steaming process. I would never put fish directly on the grill since it might stick and you can damage the fish. If you don't want to steam, lay tin foil on the grill, put some olive oil on the foil and grill that way. Tarter Sauce is the most commonly used sauce for fish, especially battered fish like Halibut or Pickeral. Its a sauce made of pickles and mayo and seasonings. Another method is to bake it also or even pan fry it, not deep fry. Their is a difference between the two. Pan fry is to shallow fry the fish in a bit of oil and deep frying is to use alot of oil. Even baking the fish is good, you can use the steaming method or even use the broiler in the oven. If you would like other tips on how to cook fish comment. Here is a recipe on Beer Battered Halibut/Pickeral:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
3/4 cup beer
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
2 pounds halibut fillets
2 quarts vegetable oil for frying

In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking powder, and dill. Add beer, milk, and eggs; mix well.
Place fish fillets in batter mixture, coat well, and let stand for 15 minutes.
Heat deep fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees Celcius). Place fish in hot oil, and fry until golden brown. Cook fish in batches to maintain oil temperature.And serve.

The WYC (Windsor Yacht Club) Fishing Tourny

Hey guys, I'm here to talk about another of my experiences in fishing tournaments. This time it was at the Windsor Yacht Club. I was 12 at the time and I was all in the sport by now. Their were alot of people at this tourny and I was affraid that it would be hard to win. In total their were about 40 anglers. Me and my grandpa signed into the tourny and started to fish right away since we had a limited time to do so. I used a Pickeral rig, used to catch Pickeral, Perch, Bass, Sheepshead. The kind of bait I used was worms. So I started to fish and about 30 minutes into it i caught a Pike, it wasn't the biggest fish but I took it in anyways just incase. They mesured the fish by length in this tournement. It was about 10 inches, a baby Pike. It was about 11:30am and I was getting a little impatient because I only caught one fish and it ended at 12:00. But all of a sudden I caught a 23 inch Sheepshead. I was in AW when i saw it. I thought this could be the winner. At about 11:58am someone caught a 25 inch Catfish, I lost it their because I thought I would win, luckely they were to late to mesure it. At the end of the day, I won the tournament with a 23 inch Sheepshead. I got the trophy and got a picture taken for the Windsor Star. It was a great experience.

The Wally's Baits Tournament

Alright, enough from the fishing bio's and too my life in the fishing world. One of my favorite tournaments to fish in was the Wally's Baits Fishing Tournament. Me and my uncle Jeff entered this tournament as we thought as underdogs. Once we got the boat in the water, it seemed like weather was pretty fair, sunny, with a light wind and little swells. The tournament started at 6:00 am and ended at 13:00. We got out there and for 2 hours we couldn't catch a Walleye. I was like " whats going on here, no fish". Well at about 9:30, we finally got a "fish on". It was a really good sized fish. But we thought not enough to win, but we still kept it because, Walleye are a good fish to eat. At about 11:00am, the wind was out of control, but still sunny. The waves were crashing on the side of the boat and water started to enter the boat . When it was time to go in for the weigh-in, in total we caught six walleye. The ride back to shore was a nightmare. Since we were fishing on the American side of the Detroit River, we had to cross it while getting drenched by water crashing on the sides of the boat. Once we got back,we were soaked.We got back to the weigh-in, and in total,all the Walleye weighed 13lbs. In our minds it was good but not good enough. So once the awards were announced, I felt pretty confident i would make atleast top five. Well, I did, I got third place out of 100 anglers. I was really suprised. The fish were really hard to catch that day because of the dirty water and the jigs weren't going straight into the water but on a angle. Anyways, me and my Uncle Jeff enjoyed a fish and chips dinner to celebrate the third place win. (On the right side of my blog you can see me and my Uncle at the tournament holding some of the fish we caught)

Bluegill/Sunfish

This blog will be focused on Bluegill/Sunfish. Bluegill is a species of freshwater fish sometimes referred to as bream, brim, or copper nose. It is a member of the sunfish family of order Perciformes. It is native to a wide area of North America, from Québec to northern Mexico, and has been widely transplanted to stock game fish for anglers. It is commonly fished in Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas, and Louisiana, and is the state fish of the U.S. state of Illinois. It is renowned as an excellent tasting fish. They are relatively common and easy to catch. You can use any kind of bait, like minnows, worms (most common), hot dogs,raw chicken etc.I even used Kraft Singles to catch these fish. Don't use frogs or crayfish because they're to big for the mouth of the fish. Heres a very simple tip, don't use bait that are bigger then the fish itself. They mostly bite on vibrant colors like orange, yellow, or red, chiefly at dawn and dusk.The bluegill is a schooling fish with schools of 20–30 individuals. These fish spawn in June in nests in the shallows. Some of their predators are the Largemouth Bass, Muskie and Pike.