Women Can Fish Too!

The purpose of this site is to let all the ladies out there interested in fishing know that it is possible to learn some tricks and trades of the sport. Enjoying the outdoors and the "art" of catching some beautiful trout and other fish species that live in our streams and lakes of Western New York can be done inexpensively also. Not a lot of accessories are needed to be able to tempt some beauties to take your bait and hook! And believe me, there is a lot of tackle out there that is just a waste of time, effort and cash out of your pocket!

I have been fishing on Western New York streams and ice fishing on Lake Erie boat harbor with my husband for over 3 years now. It is fun, relaxing and adventurous every time we go out. I must admit that at first it was like I was the fish out of water, because even though when I was younger I had gone fishing with my grandfather on my father's side of the family and my dad, it had been many years since I had fished. And of course, being a young girl, I was more interested in taking a boat ride then in catching any stinky ole fish! So I really did not pay any attention to what went into hooking into that big fish!

At first, my husband pretty much did everything for me, tying and baiting my hooks and showing me where to throw my line. But now I am tying my own hooks (took some practice, I even took some material to work to practice with on my lunch hours!) putting on my split shots, baiting my own hooks, finding my own fishing holes on the stream and stringing my fish that I catch! I may not come off the stream with the biggest or most catch of the day yet, but like I told my husband, "One day I will find that monster of a fish and put you to shame!" (Not too much competition between us, but it is all in fun!) :)

A Quest LS-7 Series fishing rod, a fly casting reel, 4 to 6 pound line and a pair of needle nose pliers to retrieve that hook that set too far in the fishes throat to reach with just your fingers, are all that I use right now. I have been contemplating using a spin casting reel so that I can use a spinner on my line to see what kind of results I get, but right now I am having pretty good luck with the equipment I have! I also use a bag that has a few neat compartments on it to help keep things away from the salt from the minnows. One compartment is a mess that I can put my stringer in until I need it. The second is a zipper compartment that holds my wallet and chap stick for the wind or sun that dry out my lips. And the third is a snap closing for my pliers and some tissue kept in a plastic sandwich bag. And of course, you have your hip waders or chest waders can't get into that stream without them. The rocks and bottom in most cases will be extremely slippery, don't try to walk through it without setting one foot before stepping with the other. AND, my husband and I found this out the hard way! If the water is high, especially around March in Western New York, what looks manageable may turn out to have a hard under-tow and you could be swept away! My husband ended up in water to the middle of his chest and I was being swept away in water up to my neck! He managed to grab ahold of me by my arm and pulled me to shore. Needless to say that was a very short fishing trip and it took me some time to be comfortable enough again to venture off on my own again!

When you are set with your equipment and have found a good-looking fishing hole, you are now ready to set the bait on the hook. The trick is how you bait your hook. We use salted minnows, the fresher you use, the better the spin you get on it! Remember to add another split shot to your line in the heavier currents or your minnow will float too high in the water and run too fast for the fish to catch. Now in some of the creeks and streams, you can get into that wicked current, and that can mangle your minnow in one or two casts, hitting off rocks also will do this too…and of course you will end up putting on a fresh minnow!

Once you get your line in that nice hole, follow your line with your rod, most times you can feel your minnow bouncing off the bottom. Then wait, you got yourself a nice nibble, one, two…yank up on your rod to set that hook! Now you know how to get yourself a nice brook trout. Told you…nothing fancy…nothing expensive to fish like this, just patience (and a good pair of hip waders and a patient teacher like my husband, most days anyway!).

Somehow my site got a little messed up and I am trying to catch up to where I was...anyway I hope that you will send your comments and emails as I would like to know if this site is a little helpful or at least maybe get some ladies (or gents) interested in fishing. If you have any ideas for me to make this site better in any way, please let me know! Thanks and have fun fishing!

5/10/05

Hello again! I wanted to take this time to tell you about the time that my husband and I were fishing on a stream and he got snagged and lost a hook. He then realized that he left his extra hooks up at the car. Rather than walk back with him, I said that I would stay and continue to fish on.

While he was gone, I wasn't really getting many bites but I took advantage of the beautiful morning by listening to the birds and the gurgle of the water in the stream. About 15 minutes later, I heard a different kind of noise, a sort of rustling of the trees and brush on the edge of the stream. Kind of worried, but also very curious, I looked around. To my amazement, three beautiful deer, one by one, came out of the brush and down the bank to the water. They started to drink and they were not more than 10 to 15 yards from me. I must have been down wind from them and I hardly took a breath. I was never in my life that close to a deer.

They drank their fill and must have heard my husband coming back up the stream then and turned and went back the way they had come out of the brush. I told my husband and he said that he had seen them heading back into the brush.

I am always so happy to be out on the stream, we always have an adventure that is different every trip, can't wait for the next one!

I'd like to give a little proper care tips when you have caught your fish. One secret to preserving your fish is to keep it alive or cold. Usually a stringer will do the trick. This is a string at least two feet long. One end has a long, almost like a big sewing needle, the other end has a loop or ring that once you have threaded the needle end through the mouth and then out the gill opening you put the needle through the hoop or ring. We like to tie the needle end then to a loop on our hip waders. The fish then "swim" while you continue to fish.

Another method of keeping your catch alive is to use a wire basket. The fish are kept in this while the basket is kept in the water. We haven't used this to keep our fish alive as we only walk the streams. If using this method on a boat, remember to lift the basket to the inside of the boat while moving from spot to spot.

When you do get back to your vehicle, it is a good idea to have a cooler with ice to put the fish into. Your fish will spoil pretty rapidly once it is dead. Once you get home, clean and filet the fish as soon as possible. We use freezer paper and mark the date on the paper when the fish was caught. That way you are assured of a delicious meal.

I'd like to share a favorite recipe my husband enjoys for his brown trout on the grill, (any trout will do or bass).

Spread butter on a large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Wipe the fish with paper towels and place on the foil, (if fish is fresh and not frozen). Season with onions and garlic powder on both sides. Seal the package and place on hot grill. Cook for 4 minutes. Turn the package over; turn the foil ends up to avoid losing juices. Cook for 4 more minutes (this can depend on thickness of filets, you will be able to tell when fish has that white, flaky look) Unwrap the foil carefully. Test the fish with a fork; the flesh should flake easily. If not, rewrap it and grill a few minutes longer. Enjoy!

June 19, 2005

Went to our favorite fishing stream and took our Boxer, Mocha with us. Was the first time we took her with us. At first she acted like the water was poison or something. Boxers usually are not good water dogs, but with a little push and pull, she finally accepted that this was the only way she was going to be with us. This breed of dog is really a big ole lap dog and will do just about anything to be with their owner. We brought along her cable that is about 8 feet long and we found a nice tree log that had been weather washed white to tether her to. But of course the 5 feet that she was away from us trying to fish was too far away and she put up a fuss, barking, digging and chewing at the cable. My husband then put her to a piece of heavy wood to help her be closer to us and if we had to move, then we helped her drag the wood to the next spot. This helped to settle her down so we could some fishing while she then entertained herself by digging a hole here and there and finding a stone or two to chomp on (which I tried to get her to stop as I didn't want her to crack a tooth or something by giving her a biscuit).

When my husband brought up a small brown trout, he tried to get to get Mocha interested in the fish by showing her it. She sniffed at it, but then walked away from as if to say, "Whew, get that smelly thing away from me!" My husband ended up with just the 2 small fish and a few nibbles and I ended up with just a couple nibbles myself. Now that WNY is starting to heat up quite a bit (98 degrees the other day) fishing on the streams are not really going to pay off as trout are cold water fish and they are going to be sluggish and not really active this time of year. Quess we'll be waiting until fall time to fish on the streams again! But we had fun with our dog Mocha this past Father's Day and probably will take her with us again.

This past July 7, 2005, I lost my dear dad. He had been ill with Diabetes, Kidney Dialysis, Heart Disease and just recently Bladder Cancer. He was a great inspiration for me to be involved with fishing and my husband fell in love with my dad and enjoyed his visits with him while they both sat over a beer and told their fish stories.

He is greatly missed by his whole family, including his wife, my mom who never got the fishing bug, but allowed him his time enjoying the sport. My two nieces, Emily and Maddie were just getting into the sport as grandpa had just gave them their first fishing poles and was showing them in the backyard how to cast.

So as we as a family have the task of going through all of his personal articles and the many, many fishing lures and fishing poles, etc., I feel that it is time to give up my blog and move on and maybe some day coming back with more of my adventures, but for now I just am not motivated and I hope that maybe a few people saw this and enjoyed the blog, just a little. Take care and have fun fishing!