The hardest part about my yearly trek to Massachusetts to catch 50 pounds of cod fish is usually the packing of the fish for storage in the freezer. Even though Eliza and I have a very good Foodsaver sealer I always dread the amount of tedious work it takes to properly pack away our fish for the year. But not anymore, thanks to Ziploc’s vacuum bags.

No, I’m not getting paid for saying that. Yes, I wish that I was.

Ziplock’s vacuum bags and pump is really the easiest and quickest I’ve ever been able to pack fish for freezing. What took me 4 or 5 hours last year using the Foodsaver only took me 2 hours this year! I highly recommend these products if you store stuff in the freezer and dread taking the time it usually takes to do it right.

Here are some photos from the process.

Neat app from Microsoft. Photosynth.

(Watch in HD by clicking on HD on the player.)

We all had a great time and ended up coming home with about 40lbs. of cod fish filet each (there were 6 of us). I’m sure I can speak for the entire group and recommend Ann Rowe Charters (our photo is on their site too) to anyone that wants to have a great day at sea.

(Taken with a SeaLife SL320/SL32.)

(Taken with a SeaLife SL320/SL32.)

Photo credit: Eliza Devroe.

Yesterday we had the opportunity to go fishing for the first time this year. I didn’t catch a thing and only had a single bite but it is early in the season and that isn’t really why I went.

My main objective was to get my new pole and reel set up and to test my new waders. It took some getting used to the new reel, it is a Shimano Symetre RJ 2500, because it has some releases on it that gave me some trouble. I got used to it in short order and I’m liking the feel of the reel, the drag settings and the bail. The weight of it seems about perfect too.

The waders, as you can see from the photo, worked well. The water was cold but the felt-bottomed boots kept me from falling into the drink. Last year I didn’t have waders and it limited my ability to get access to certain areas of the river. Hopefully this year I won’t have any excuses and will be able to reach the fish wherever they may hide.

Next time, I’ll catch some fish.

Photo credit: Eliza Devroe.

After a friend and I were talking about fishing this weekend I noticed that I never posted a photo of my biggest catch this summer – a 5-pound bass.

As you can see from the photo I was soaking wet. Eliza, my friend Johnny, and myself walked to our fishing spot (about a mile off the road) only to have a downpour come at us about half-way there. We figured we’d continue even though we were soaked.

The rain brought out a lot of frogs and toads that were jumping back and forth on our path. Just before we got to our spot I grabbed a toad that I was going to use for a few minutes instead of our night crawlers that we brought with us. The toad was fairly big so I knew that they only fish I’d get to bite would be a whopper.

You see, the thing about bass is that they love to feed after a hard rain. Rain washes insects, worms, and other critters into the river and so bass just sort of swim up stream and gobble up pretty much whatever hits their mouths. Fishing right after a decent rain fall, when the water is all murky from the rush, is the best time to get a fair amount of hits.

It wasn’t too terribly long before my toad disappeared under the water. It was like a vacuum was turned on under the surface and the toad simply sunk straight down. But then the toad popped back up a few feet away, only it was no longer on my line. My line was being dragged away. The bass didn’t put up much of a fight and I brought it in pretty quick.

The bigger the fish the older the fish and some would say that a bass this size is probably not great for eating. But I wasn’t about to throw back my catch of the summer. Nummers!

A few photos from fishing the other night with my friend Johnny. I posted a pretty wicked toothed Walleye on that night but we ended up with a pretty decent catch in a relatively short period of time. Huzzah.

Eliza and I did a little fishing with my friend Johnny and his kids Kristopher, Micailyn, and Nicolas on Wednesday. Fishing with kids is always an adventure.

John and Kristopher Weinert fishing. We won’t mention the current score between the two fishing this year. (Kristopher is most likely ahead.)

Paul fishing from the middle of the river. What a gorgeous night to be out!

I wish I had taken a lot more photos (I didn’t even get everyone in a photo). I’m looking forward to camping at least one more time this summer (and hopefully for more than just one night). All-in-all a great short trip and everyone seemed to have a good time.

Date taken: September 26, 2007 | Set it and forget it.

[tags]idaho, photos, tattered fly, fishing, outdoor, rainbow, sleet, weather[/tags]
[slug]boise-south-fork[/slug]