(No fly zone) Non fly caught fish pictures

[caloosa bug 0]

 Caught a nice 30 in slot fish this morning in the boat.  When I hooked up he went airborne, with a double flip. Then a some tail walking. An awesome sight after 6-7 outings of getting skunked.

[niveker 0]

Persistence pay off again.  Nice fish.  

[caloosa bug 0]

Had a ball this morning. Landed 4 snook. 2 were over slot, one under, and one just right for frying. All on 15lb mono, 30lb leader and a rapala x-rap.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Very nice… catching one that was slot size, a bonus…

[Poopdeck 0]

1st Striper of spring 2023. Only fish caught today but it’s way early. This might be the earliest I’ve ever caught one. Not a trophy but a respectable chunky 31” that weighed in at 15lbs. I broke my rule of never taking a picture of fish. Actually my buddy broke the rule and took the picture. 

[niveker 0]

8 minutes ago, Poopdeck said:

1st Striper of spring 2023

Nice, that exactly how I imagined you'd look too.  

[Poopdeck 0]

I haven’t put my ice holes away yet. 

[cphubert 0]

15 hours ago, Poopdeck said:

might be the earliest I’ve ever caught

Great! I'm looking forward to an early striper run a little further north. The big ones will come in with the shad up here, waiting on water temp and schoolies, impatiently I will add!

[Poopdeck 0]

The shad have been around for a few weeks here. The stripers are spotty but around. 1st trip two weeks ago my buddy boated a 34”  and hooked but never landed a 2nd equal or larger fish. Last week nothing and this one this week. Typically the early ones are the big ones so it’s a little disappointing to see the earliest ones at just over 30”. Every year is different though so we will have to wait to see what happens next.

[niveker 0]

 

2 hours ago, Poopdeck said:

The shad have been around for a few weeks here.

Just heard a report today that a few were caught around here.  Have never been, always wanted to get one on the fly rod.     

[cphubert 0]

our water temperature at Old Saybrook is still 43-44 degrees a little cold still. 50 degrees is the magic mark we might have a few early fish in but the big runs wait for the temperature historically.

[cphubert 0]

2 hours ago, niveker said:

always wanted to get one on the fly rod

poor mans salmon!, they are a great fight and on occasion a big bass will clean you off during the battle! flies like a bead head jig fly are good - bright but not too much flash or a simple wet style with red tail, silver tinsel body, and red a wing, chartreuse, pink, orange are good colors. best to fish (Connecticut River) from a small boat for casting room and the ability to follow fish if needed. good table fare if you can bone them and they smoke well.

[Poopdeck 0]

1 hour ago, cphubert said:

our water temperature at Old Saybrook is still 43-44 degrees a little cold still. 50 degrees is the magic mark we might have a few early fish in but the big runs wait for the temperature historically.

Yep same here. Our temps have been running around 46, 47 for the past week. Historically May is great for numbers but I’m thinking another week or two the main run will be here. It surely will be early this year. Good luck!

[caloosa bug 0]

On 4/4/2023 at 6:22 PM, Poopdeck said:

1st Striper of spring 2023. Only fish caught today but it’s way early. This might be the earliest I’ve ever caught one. Not a trophy but a respectable chunky 31” that weighed in at 15lbs. 

 

👍 Awesome. Tell your friend to keep taking pics for you to share.

[caloosa bug 0]

Surprise catch last night while snook fishing. Caught him on a rapala Xrap with 15# mono. Realized halfway through the fight that it wasn't acting like a snook. Thought I snagged a gator till it got close enough to spot with my head light. Biggest catfish I've ever seen in person.