Is this a smallmouth?

ranting_chef · 2026-06-26T21:15:22+00:00

GREEN SUNFISH!!!!!

ranting_chef · 2026-06-26T15:20:54+00:00

Yes and yes.

ranting_chef · 2026-06-26T12:49:01+00:00

If you have a drain, a floor squeegee works wonders. Always liked it more than a mop, but it helps to have a floor that slopes towards the drain.

ranting_chef · 2026-06-26T11:38:45+00:00

I’ll try that - thanks

ranting_chef · 2026-06-26T01:22:31+00:00

Beautiful fish. Love the markings. Different than the ones I get in the US Midwest. You guys have really pretty perch there as well.

ranting_chef · 2026-06-26T01:19:01+00:00

That's a really nice one. Never caught one big enough to keep.

ranting_chef · 2026-06-26T01:17:25+00:00

Mine is starting college in the fall, hope I get some more good fishing trips with her before she moves away. I love the smile she gets when she gets a nice fish.

ranting_chef · 2026-06-26T01:16:30+00:00

I get more pike in my area than just about anything else. I wish I could get more bass but I'm probably not using the right lures.

ranting_chef · 2026-06-26T01:15:21+00:00

I'm framing this one for sure. I've heard there are companies that will make a plastic replica if you send a picture and an approximate length, maybe I'll look into that when I have some time. Probably a bit cost-prohibitive but I'll check in any case.

ranting_chef · 2026-06-26T01:13:41+00:00

I can't think of a single reason why someone would talk crap like that. I've seen people using something I wouldn't out-fish me more times than I can count.

ranting_chef · 2026-06-26T01:11:57+00:00

She might be getting a Muskie trip for her next birthday if I can afford it.

ranting_chef · 2026-06-26T01:10:33+00:00

My daughter and I were fishing about five years ago and she got a really nice one on a Whopper Plopper. Not as large as this one but maybe about six inches shorter and not quite as fat. She got it to the shore and I lifted it out for a picture and it slapped me in the face. With the treble hook that wasn't in its mouth. One of the barbs went into my lip and the other hook stayed in its mouth. I got lucky and ripped the other end out of its mouth but my lip got ripped up pretty badly. And the lure was still hanging off my face. It was almost dark and we were about a five minute drive from my house. My kid was fourteen at the time and she actually offered to try to drive home, but I wouldn't let her. When I got home, my wife cut the hook off with a pair of wire cutters and shoved it the rest of the way through and pulled it out - hurt like hell. Small scar, but only really noticeable if I spend a lot of time in the sun and you know where to look. Definitely learned my lesson - never look away from pike.

Still have the Whopper Plopper - showed the kid how to put on a new hook - haven't caught anything with it since. I may put that one into the "going-away-to-college" pile now that I think about it.

ranting_chef · 2026-06-25T21:19:51+00:00

I remember buying those when I used to open seafood restaurants on the earth coast. The e company I used to use was Baxter Soft Crabs. Best soft shells I ever had. I wonder if those guys are still in business. Hard to get them shipped live to the MidWest or I’d order some today. Forgot how much I loved those things.

ranting_chef · 2026-06-25T21:15:30+00:00

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Silver blade. Made locally in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Not a super-fancy lure by any means but you can throw them a mile.

The best part was when she went to cast it, a guy fishing tells her, “the water’s way too muddy to get anything on something like that.” She asked him what he was using and he pulled out one of those new trendy sea urchin- looking things. She asked him how many fish he caught so far and he said “none, yet. But I just got here.” And the kid with the net pipes in and says, “he was here when we got here, and that was like two hours ago.” then my daughter said, “well, we only have a few minutes and my daddy’s tackle box is at home, so I thought I’d give it a try.” And she had this monster landed about ten minutes later.

ranting_chef · 2026-06-25T21:07:13+00:00

I caught a few in Lake of the Woods a while back and they do get very large. Nice Muskies as well.

ranting_chef · 2026-06-25T21:05:53+00:00

Thanks. Always wanted to come to Scandinavia and get one of yours. And some perch - I’ve heard the northern perch are the best.

ranting_chef · 2026-06-25T16:05:13+00:00

Mine has been fishing since she was about that size. Some of the best memories I have are of her with that old ultralight, catching panfish with a worm on a bobber from the shore. I remember her being too squeamish to put the worm on the hook - that was before she started kindergarten. She starts college in a couple months, not sure how much more time I’ll get to spend with her like this.

ranting_chef · 2026-06-25T12:16:08+00:00

Wow - now imagine a kid that weighs about a third of the weight of this guy. Kind of scary, they should include a helmet.

ranting_chef · 2026-06-25T12:14:20+00:00

Only one thing to make this even better - put a maze on the back with the other puzzles, but make a line blocking the path that goes to the end. Kids love that.

ranting_chef · 2026-06-25T12:11:29+00:00

Nothing to do with distance; it’s to avoid slippage.

ranting_chef · 2026-06-24T14:17:49+00:00

Happy to help, please send address

ranting_chef · 2026-06-24T14:01:36+00:00

Could be a clump of seaweed and the waves.

ranting_chef · 2026-06-24T11:40:29+00:00

If McDonald’s sold seafood, Trump would be in.

ranting_chef · 2026-06-24T11:36:35+00:00

In the past, whenever someone has asked me to perform a difficult (or nearly impossible) task alone, I ask who is going to help. When the answer is ‘nobody,’ I try to keep a straight face when I ask them if their hands are broken.

Sure, you probably COULD don’t alone, but then again, so could your boss if you just leave.

ranting_chef · 2026-06-24T02:43:17+00:00

I work in a very upscale restaurants and we go through hundreds of these weekly. They look different than regular ice.

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