The DOs and DON'Ts of Night Fishing

[tharreld]

I guess we all have different taste. I notice a difference between young fish and older fish. Holds true for a lot of meat. Really noticable difference between a 12 month old hen and a 12 year old rooster. Even the dog wouldn't eat that 12 year old rooster.

[Scudly]

Well I ate several bigger trout this summer and they tasted great. Nice pink mild flaky meat. If I cannot eat all I take what is left and add mayo, pickle relish, garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper and make a sandwich or two for lunch.

Trout is a salmanoid is it not? We buy big wild salmon fillets in the store and people like them. Personally I like trout better. Mild flavor and not fishy smelling like salmon.

[blackdog1101]

If I cannot eat all I take what is left and add mayo, pickle relish, garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper and make a sandwich or two for lunch.

Good idea. I do that with panfish I get ice fishing, but never thought of it for trout.

[benbosh]

ive used 1/2 night crawler for trout with luck. with the chub tails do you just cut off the head and use the rest of the body/tail?

[Scudly]

Chubs that I catch are generally 3-5" long. I just chop the tail leaving 2-3" long. Then a larger hook like #2 right by the dorsal tail or slightly below. You have to let them run with it a little. My first time I tried this year I'd set the hook right away and it would just pop out of their mouth. A big hook allows you to get a good hook set and also prevent a deep hook set although deep hook sets can happen if you wait too long. Somebody here suggested strips of tail and I tried that and did not like it. The chubs would just gnaw on it until there was nothing left. A #2 hook may seem big but the chub tails I use are usually 1" thick. So after bait there really is not that much hook sticking out.

Clarify on crawlers. If it is a stout crawler, leave as is. If it is long, consider cutting in half. I think 3" fat crawler is ideal. Use the smallest split you can get away with. I like a #6-8 black metalic finish. Avoid the gold hooks. They rust out too fast. Eagle claw seems fine for me.

[tharreld]

A gut hooked trout is a dead trout.

[Driftless]

i would say high probability

[Scudly]

Hook Shedding and Mortality of Deeply Hooked Brook Trout Caught with Bait on Barbed and Barbless Hook. Robert B DuBois and Julie M Pleski. Wisconsin DNR, Bureau of Endangered Resources. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 27: 1203-1207, 2007.

This study shows 2/3 gut hooked survived. Bet if you land a hog trout asap, no bleeding, and minimal handling the survival would be even higher.

[tharreld]

If you are refering to me, my name isn't Kevin.

Every angler needs to decide what makes sence for them. Early in my Trout fishing years I wanted to keep fish. I used bait. After awhile I enjoyed catching the fish but didn't want to keep them. I transition to lures because there was less chance of gut hooking the fish. I now fish flies because I enjoy the experience more. to me it's not just about catching the fish.

If you're looking to harvest fish; bait might be your best option. If you don't plan on keeping fish I would suggest that you use lures or flies to reduce the chance of mortality. I think that might apply for all fish not just trout.

[tom_w]

Bet if you land a hog trout asap, no bleeding, and minimal handling the survival would be any higher.

Sad.

[Driftless]

Another DON'T

Don't get brainwashed by the c/r crowd and let go a trout that probably is going to die.

[Scudly]

Apologies Monkey shine. Thought you were a Kevin I know from MNTU board.

How did you come up with monky shine? I fly

fished exclusively for 13 years and found scuds to be an effective fly year round.

[tharreld]

Pulled the name out of thin air. It seems fitting for some of these forum boards.

Lharris, I practice C&R. It's a personal choice. I'm not aware of any brainwashing going on. But then again maybe I'VE been brainwashed.

[fishkid]

you guys should try stream trout fishing through a 2x3 foot hole in the winter and sight fish for them in northern mn now thats fun specially when you smoke them when ya get home! college kids diet sounds terrible dont it lol

[Driftless]

monkey so

Mark gets dissed no matter what he did with that big trout?

Let it go because he has been conditioned to believe c/r is the way....

and if he kept it he is dissed because that is against the c/r

way.

Guess if I was him I would keep every big fish he catches from now on because he is going to be messed with no matter....

least then he will have a nice trout to eat.