About "Catch & Research"

Welcome. I found my passion in ecological economics and fishing. They are all about pursuit of unknown and uncertain objects. I always enjoy the seemingly reckless pursuit itself. This blog is a record of my long journey in research and fishing. Your comments are welcome and appreciated.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Lake Trout

Well, well, it snowed today here upstate New York... D%$# it! I really don't want to call it a season yet. I will go out one or two more times before freezing. During the off season, I decide to revisit dusty pictures of my old catches.


When: 04/25/2007
Where: Lake George, NY
How: trolling small minnow bait

It was my first lake trout and the only one. Capt. M and I went out Lake George on a still chilly Spring day.  We put tiny minnow bait and trolled around at the east side of the lake. I was in charge of watching rods, while Capt. M was controlling his canoe. I occasionally checked each rod for fish. After one hour, we reeled in and found big trout was hooked! I was a dumb. Actually, I brought an ultra light rod, and the rod didn't show much change of bending (as I insist).

It was a beautiful fish. Unfortunately, it was deep-hooked. Imagine that the fish was trying to swallow the tiny minnow bait for long time. It was exhausted and didn't give a good fight. I brought the fish home and later smoked it for picnic. Its flesh was pink and very tasty. It was quite close to Salmon.


By the way, Lake George was gorgeous at sunset! The view of high peaks from the lake at sunset is truly magnificent! If you live upstate New York, Lake George is definitely the destination that you don't want to miss. Ah, Lake George has also healthy population of large and small mouth bass.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Rod Tip Fixing Kit

I received a package from St. Croix. The rod tip fixing kit was simple, including new tip guide, glue and instruction.

I didn't know that it was that easy to remove the broken tip: put it on fire for a few seconds. Then, I cleaned up the tip part. I put new tip guide on the part. Well, I found that new tip was visibly short to my rod.

I called St. Croix, and they told me that there was design change (model TRS66MF2): tip part for newer version is shorter than older one. They promised to send me a new tip guide for my "old" rod.

If you have followed my posts, you may know that I am a budget angler. I try not to spend much on equipments. From my experience, in case of rod and reel, my recommendation is to buy low-end models from top brand tackle makers. Name brand provides reliable services, which you may need once or twice in your fishing life.

Update (11/8)
I received new rod tip from St. Croix today. Wow, it took a while. Its length matches with the original tip guide, but it is bigger than the original one at a glance. St. Croix seems not to have the matching part for my rod. If it is the case, they should have noticed me before I ordered. Very disappointed about my favorite rod maker. I will try the new tip guide anyway to see if it normally functions and worth for $5.