The Urban Fisherman

solo said it right, beautiful photography, and a great read to go with it. Thanks dude - some nice specimens there! cheers, UF

don't wanna get off subject on Cliff's report, but not yet dude. If he doesn't come by wednesday they might look into inducing. Which would be nice because we don't have the stressful drive to the hospital while in labor. Once again - awesome report Cliff! Cheers, UF

I wouldn't say the pix were as good as magazine pix, but thanks man! I took the ones of myself with a mini tripod I got at dollarama. I do like the colors on the Pumkinseed though. Same as any fish, stick them in the livewell for a few minutes and the colors come out on them. Here's a good video I found on cleaning them. If you're used to just slicing from the gill plate back to the tail, then removing the rib cage afterwards, that works fine for them as well. cheers

Amazing! I can't wait t'I'll mine are old enough for 4 a.m. Solo trips with the old man! Thanks dude! UF

They're just as good if not beter! We had a crappie and gill fish fry last weekend and just mixed them up. Nobody knew the difference. Good fish for somebody who doesn't like fishy tasting fish. I only keep them early in the season when the water is still cold though. The meat is much firmer and has no worms. Cheers, Uf

That carp must have been fun cathching it out of the yak! Were you targetting carp or was it an incidental? I used to have a heck of a time trying to land them from my personal pontoon. Cheers, Uf

wow what a fish leechman! very jealous dude! loved both your reports! keep it up cheers, uf

my favourite report of the softwater season Cliff. I love the reports that involve kids tagging along.... cheers, UF

Thanks dude. I figured I've been panfishing a lot more since my daughter was born so I might as well share some of the things I've learned... I get that from my friends to, but when they're out ridding their street bikes, or drinkin' corona's by the pool, we're out chasing fish! I'm just lucky she loves fishin' so much. Thanks, UF

Hit the reservoir one last time this morning, and decided to do a more in depth report than "went out with the kid and smashed them" So, as most of you have seen, these past few weekends I've taken my daughter out to fish early season Panfish from shore. I've been landlocked seeing as our second child is due anytime. Anyways, the panfish trips, albeit from shore, are a nice way to get into the swing of things, and to get some good eatin' fish early on in the season. This fishing is probably one of the easiest ways to get kids into the sport, but can also be a ton of fun for the seasoned angler as well. It's not all dew worms and red bobbers. Quick and simple, look for warm water, with submerged cover, that has easy access to deeper water and you should find fish. Creek mouths, with early growth vegetation and submersed brush or fallen tree's are good places to start as well. Don't forget to keep your eyes peeled for beaver huts, as they've been very productive for us this season. The crappie will be looking to start their spawn, and although bluegill don't spawn until a little later in the season, they'll be holding in similar areas. And hey, you may even catch the odd bonus fish, like Averie's first encounter with a rainbow trout. Technique #1: One of the best ways to quickly find these tasty, and feisty little fish, is to cast or slowly troll micro crank baits. Most people prefer tiny spinner baits, but I just find that cranks have out-performed spinners for me in the past, and tend to get more hook-ups. Well today, one of my first casts out, I snag a tree, and lose the only micro crank I packed. If I was in my boat I could just head on over and get my bait back, but oh well. In the past I've used Mini Rapapla's, as well as BPS brand micro cranks. Dumbass Tip #1: Always pack more than one crankbait, even when you're hauling everything in by foot....even with a 2 year old on your shoulders. So much for plan "A". When the fish are on, there's no better way to catch Them. Also, the plus side of crankbait fishing for panfish, is it's a big fish technique. You spend more time fishing for keepers, and less time taking tiny fish off your line. Which brings me to technique #2. The good old Berkley Powerbait pink trout worm under a slip float. This bait is hard to beat for spring panfish, the only down-side is you better be willing to weed out the small ones. After about an hour of fishing I must have caught 50+ fish and only had 4 keepers. As soon as your bait hits the water the little 3"ers hammer it. If you're out to get your kids into fishing, this is the way to do it, but if you're out to bring home some eaters, you better have patience. We forgot our pliers this morning, which was BRUTAL. Try getting a #10 or so hook out of a 3" sunfish's mouth. Not an easy feat. So Dumbass tip #2: always bring your needle nose pliers. Once the kids are satisfied that they've caught enough fish themselves, and are busy playing with the fish you've put into a livewell, or cooler filled with water, you can go back to fishing a crankbait, or throwing some larger soft plastics. Technique #3: Something I stumbled upon this year was wacky rigging tiny senko type worms. Fishing them weightless, with NO FLOAT gives you one major advantage, you're always going to end up in the strike zone at some point during the cast. With spring gills and especially crappie, If you're bait isn't at the right depth, they often won't hit. It might be just under the fish, or a little to high to bring them up. With this rig, you just toss it out and let it slowly sink to the bottom. This way, no matter what the magical depth is, your bait will eventually be in their strike zone. When you're float fishing you have to constantly move your bobber stop. Maybe you set it to shallow, then to deep the next cast. With this set up, if there's fish in the area, you're going to get a bite. Another advantage is that, because you're using a bigger bait, with a bigger hook, you tend to zero in on the bigger fish. Anyways, we've taken home a few dozen panfish over the course of the last few weeks, learned a few things and made some solid memories. So do yourself a favor and take a kid out panfishing this season, I guarantee you'll have a lot of fun, and you might just find a new early season species to target. That wraps up my "haresting" for the season. I'm having a baby (hopefully soon or my wife is going to snap) and once that settles it'll be pike action on the bay until bass opener. I know this stuff is all pretty run of the mill info for most of you guys, but my intention is to help out some of the younger, or less experienced members of the board. Or maybe even to get some of you guys to try something new. As usual, have fun, and be safe. Cheers, UF

I used to float fish them exactly the same way you drift for steelhead....just make sure you have a long enough lead so your bait bounces on bottom. The other way is to put a slip sinker on your line, then tie a swivel and add a leader that goes to your hook. Cast it out and let it sit on bottom, just like you're carpin'. This way if you break off you'll still have your slip sinker and swivel. Also, the sucker won't feel the weight like it will if you use splitshots. Worms, raw shrimp, and gulp have all worked for me in the past. Good luck dude! They're lots of fun. Cheers, UF

Limey did a report at some point this past winter that would probably help you out alot. He video taped his graph, and you can actually see the fish coming up after his jig. The new graphs are pretty kick ass - you can easily learn how to use it inside of a day once reading the manual that comes with it. When I got my new Humminbird I was more than confident, marking fish and able to read bottom by the end of my first day on the water. Keep in mind that I was out that day to LEARN MY GRAPH. I barely picked up a rod, other than to drop a jig down below my sensor to see what it looked like on the graph. Cheers, UF

All I can say is that your salesman is a boob. If you do decided on a princecraft at least do yourself a favor and don't buy it from him. If all he can do is bash the competition, how nobel and accommodating do you think he'll be if you need to have anything fixed shortly after the purchase? Personally I'm a G3 guy, but that's because I own a G3 and have fished out of my friends 17 footer for the past two years. I can't give you any insight on any of the others, as my only other boat was an old school starcraft. Good luck with the purchase, and be sure to post some pix of your new toy. cheers, UF

There's certain things you can do to "trigger" full out labor, and Ginny want's to have him already, but she's not down with my way of inducing..

yeah man - you won't be the only student looking for work. Go early if you can. It won't only help you get a jump on other people, but it'll show that you know your priorities, and that you're on top of things, not waiting t'il the last minute. you're a little younger than I was when I went to school, but all I can say is don't get a job at a bar! It doesn't take from your fishing time, but it sure does make it hard to wake up for those inevitable morning classes. Good luck - wish I could help. cheers, UF

It was an awesome ride - I met a ton of great fishing freaks like myself, and no matter how much I see Dave spending time with kids it always puts a smile on my face. He spends time with each and every fan, but always gives the kids a little extra. My own daughter is a huge fan of Dave, and the show, so I can really appreciate what he does for them as a new (ish) dad. I doubt my wife will agree, but I'd love to spend more time on the road, meeting more fishing fans next time around! Thanks to the awesome folks at Subway, as well as to Dave's other sponsors, he's able to share his knowledge with the world, and sometimes just plain out entertain. Cheers, Ryan

yeah man - they're good little fighters to.. they put their shoulders into it and giv'er - way better scrappers than the crappie so do I! He's takin' his time. Waiting for trout opener is my guess? The doc said he'd be born before thursday this week so it's crunch time... haha no cab's where we live dude - My mother in law was at the house with her....and when we got back, mom-in-law even cleaned our fish!

I'd say that's bigger than 8" to dude! I could be way off but it looks just as big as the ones I got the other day which were around the 11 inch mark. good job dude - hard to beat table fare like that. cheers, UF

If I were in your shoes I'd have slimmed that boat weeks ago brother! haha (i'm talkin' fish slime by the way) Congrats dude, 50mph is fast enough for me, and you'll get some sweet mileage out of that 4 stroke yammy. Cheers, UF

Thanks guys - being a daddy rocks, but you have to get used to fishing for panfish! haha One of these days I'll have a report for you guys that involves catching fish over 13 inches! It's going to be a few more years before she can handle those big lake erie smallies....and a few more years again before her little brother will be able to take them on.....and I can't wait! Cheers, UF

cool ride. before you know it, it'll be pimpin like jedi's Yak. Not my cup of tea when it comes to fishing, but it sure as heck beats fishing from shore! Hope you enjoy the new ride. Cheers, UF

Thanks dudes! I was hoping the little guy would be born yesterday but to my wife's displeasure he's holding on for dear life! haha The rain started this morning and they're callin' for cold temps all week. That should push the crappie and gills back down a little so I can pound them again in shallow when the temps go back up. Cheers, UF

Thanks dude! Did you get out on the bay this weekend? I tried saturday afternoon/evening but the 3+ footers were just a little much for me. Ginny's 9 months pregnant and I went fishing Irish...least I can do is take care of the dishes! lol Not to mention I caught and cooked the fish! Come to think of it she's one lucky girl! haha

Hey guys, Well my wife is about 2 minutes away from going into full blown labor and giving birth to our baby boy, so I figured that the best thing to do today was to take my daughter Averie out to the local reservoir and pound on some panfish lol We had to walk in to get to the good spots because I don't have a boat small enough to haul down the rocks on my own. First cast we got a thick 8.5 inch gill and I knew from that moment it was going to be a gong show. I didn't even take any pictures down at the water because it was just to fun laying a beat down on them! lol Here's a video of averie with a smaller one... We fished for an hour or so and landed fish after fish until we figured we better go check on mommy... Back at home mommy took a shot of us with 2 of the bigger fish. Sure an 11 inch crappie isn't much to brag about, but take a look at that 11 inch bluegill! Anyways - we took a dozen home for tonight's dinner. Grandpa and Uncle Derek stopped by on their way back to Toronto to visit and we all enjoyed a fresh fish fry. Averie always gets upset when her "out of town" family leaves after a visit and refuses to give them a hug. So we had to do the forced group hug. Anyways, it's prime time for hammering the panfish on my fav. reservoir, but with the cold temps coming up this week I'm sure they'll be thrown off a little. Man I wish I had a little car topper so we didn't have to fish from shore. On a side note, we were float fishing them with 6lb fluoro, on a #10 hook tipped with RED Powerbait Honey Worms. Good luck out there! Cheers, UF

Been dealing with it for close to 3 weeks here. My 2 year old and preggo wife had it pretty bad and I somehow, so far managed to dodge it. My wife even spent 2 days in the hospital because it got so bad. She was vomiting uncontrollably as well.