Anybody fish?

[drcy]

My maternal grandfather was a professional fisherman by vocation on Lake Superior (nets not fishing rods). Won a Congressional Gold Lifesaving Medal for saving 13 people from a sinking tour boat in the 1930s in one of the lake's infamous storms. He had to board the boat from his fishing boat, hack through the tour boat's roof with an axe to get them out, and lost his own boat in the process. The gold version of the medal is given out to "an individual who performed a rescue or attempted rescue at the risk of his or her own life, and demonstrates extreme and heroic daring." I own the medal, inherited it from him when he died.

He was a hard drinking, pipe smoking guy, missing two fingers and with lots of salty stories. His hobby was refurbishing his 1930 Model A and I remember the fish dinners at my grandparents house right on the shore of Lake Superior.

I used to fish commercially in Alaska, and have been on every type of boat from 28 foot drift-netters in Bristol Bay to 250 foot factory trawlers in the Gulf of Alaska.

Now I live in the lower 48, but have always stayed close to fishing. It's a passion. I can drive an hour for Snake River sturgeon, 20 minutes to the Columbia River for sockeye and king salmon, 15 minutes to many of the finger lakes around for big mouth bass, or 5 minutes to the Yakima River for rainbows and dollies. A fisherman's paradise here in central Washington.

[DHogan]

Originally Posted by pariah1107

I used to fish commercially in Alaska, and have been on every type of boat from 28 foot drift-netters in Bristol Bay to 250 foot factory trawlers in the Gulf of Alaska.

Now I live in the lower 48, but have always stayed close to fishing. It's a passion. I can drive an hour for Snake River sturgeon, 20 minutes to the Columbia River for sockeye and king salmon, 15 minutes to many of the finger lakes around for big mouth bass, or 5 minutes to the Yakima River for rainbows and dollies. A fisherman's paradise here in central Washington.

Stop ! Your making me jealous.

[bigtrain]

I always suggest to my friends that they combine a trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame with a fishing trip. In my opinion, Otsego Lake at Cooperstown is one of the most underfished lakes I have been on. I usually go for bass and Otsego has largemouth, smallmouth and a variety known as Otsego bass. I have also hooked yellow perch, pickerel, walleye, and numerous other varieties. Atlantic Salmon, Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout and Lake Trout are also there in abundance. The lake is a manageable size for a small boat, about 9 miles long and 1 to 1 1/2 mile across but quite deep at 160 feet in some spots.