Listened to Old Man and the Sea with my kids on a car ride. Now feeling like catching BIG FISH is something manly to do. Any one been?

Knew it was going to be a bit pricey but surprised at how pricey it is. Six people, probably $1000 all-in. Not sure I'm man enough for that.

EDIT: talking Lake Michigan. I'm not going for Marlin in the Atlantic.

_________________
Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

aka Betsy Devos fishing

_________________

$1000 for a six-pack is pretty reasonable for an all day trip.

Most offshore trips for bigger fish, marlin/sword/tuna/sailfish/Wahoo, turn into expensive, long, boring boat rides.

I have a lot of experience fishing in the Florida Keys and Mexico.

You have the most action, which translates into fun, by fishing fairly shallow reefs and wrecks. By shallow I mean 15-60 feet deep. These are cheaper trips too.

In May/June, it's the best time to go offshore(Keys) for Dolphin and Tuna. You're pretty much guaranteed great action.

What other questions do you have?

_________________

Just saw your edit.

I don't know shit about fishing Lake Michigan. Call Mac.

_________________

What do you do with all the fish you catch down there?

_________________
Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Sarley would no. Also there was a Chip or something on the radio up out of Evanston area? 1k sounds like a lot for me but I have not done it in years.

The problem for me is not the price. You see it and if you want to go you pay. My problem is it usually is not me and some dopes in a group. It is me, wife, kids and maybe a friend of theirs or whatever. Then there is no splitting and I am on the hook so to speak.

This happens to me a lot whether fishing, camping, boating, skiing you get the picture.

_________________
Elections have consequences.

Toss it back. Give it to the captain. Take it to restaurants that specialize in "cook your catch". Occasionally deep freeze and bring home.

At the last place I fished in Mexico, there was a small processing plant a couple blocks away. They clean the fish, smoke it, vacuum seal it, deep freeze it and box it for the flight home. Very reasonable.

_________________

https://vanwormerresorts.com/hotel/2/playa-del-sol

That's where we stayed. You can negotiate deals sometimes. Me and a buddy stayed 4 nights, fished 3 days and were all in for flight/room/fishing/ground transportation about $1250 each. It was stupid cheap. We even caught a direct flight each way.

If we go down again with 4 guys, we'll vrbo a house on the beach.

_________________

It's not manly if you have to use someone else's equipment, have them take you to the spot, have them tell you where to cast, have them tell you how to reel, and then have them land the catch for you. Might as well just have them cuck your wife while you're at it.

_________________

When I went on a charter in the Keys we caught a whole tub of yellowtail and the captain immediately took them down to the galley and fried them up for lunch.

My ex-wife's late stepfather was a superior fisherman. He used ultra-light tackle. I watched him work a grouper that had to weigh about ten pounds for about two hours before gently landing that fucker. On the way back to Key West which was a pretty long trip as we were probably about 3/4 of the way to the Dry Tortugas, the captain cooked up the grouper Thermidor style. Just great.

My ex-mother-in-law and I also caught two large dolphins (Mahi Mahi). The captain cleaned those and we sent some back to Chicago. My wife's stepfather liked to bring his fish into bars down there where they would charge you $5.00 a plate to prepare it. I could tell some places didn't really want to deal with that though. But he bullied them anyway. New Trier grad.

_________________
General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

Well, before I buy my own fishing boat and F250, I thought I might see if I actually enjoy it.

_________________
Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

_________________
Elections have consequences.

I will go you one more. Before you buy any of that stuff and realize you will have a learning curve calculate ALL THE costs. If those are $800 a month annually and you can fish say once a month from May to October paying $500 to someone else six times makes sense.

_________________
Elections have consequences.

_________________

It's always best to fish your own gear...especially in Mexico. I took my nephew with me a few years ago down in Playa del Carmen. We went out on a little panga with a capt and a pretty weak mate. I didn't bring any equipment down. We hooked up a medium sized white marlin and the mate grabbed the rod and proceeded to lose the fish. Moron. While the mate and capt were bickering a few minutes later, I kept my eye on the rod. We hooked back up. I got to the rod first, no chance I was letting these guys touch it. The old Penn reel almost exploded and nearly melted during the fight...but I landed her. Had to pour water on the reel to cool it down.

_________________

My F250 and other toys in a hole I dug.

I won't post a Pic of the boat...which Irma sank in a hole in the ocean. You need a lot of fuck you money to own boats out of state. I don't have fuck you money it turns out.

_________________

Now, that’s an odd mascot, a marlin.

Of course, pound for pound, it’s the smartest fish in the ocean. With its sword-like snout, it’ll carve your eye out and not think twice about it.To this day, if I walk into a seafood restaurant and I see a marlin on the wall, I just grab my wife and leave!

You ever been alone in a room face to face with a marlin? No matter where you go in the room, its eye follows your every move. You should try it some time. It’s a rush!

_________________

What kind of boat, Jet?

I used to have a nice bass boat, but honestly the trailer is just a pain in the ass (plus they're expensive).

I got an old 12-foot deep V with a 3 horse gas and a nice, big electric motor and I couldn't be happier. I just got a hitch extension to carry it on my truck.

_________________

Where are you going to fish in Orlando? The St. John's?

_________________
General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

Isn't 3HP too small to get you out of a jam? Or do you take it on HP limited lakes?

_________________
Elections have consequences.

Not sure yet. I'm using a guide service one of the days.

But I'm also just going to hit up some ponds on my own from the bank. The place we are staying has a couple, and there are many more in that neighborhood. That's where those big fuckin bass are - way bigger than bass up here. God, I can just feel a 10-pounder crushing a top water right now.

_________________

Yeah, just smaller lakes and, rarely, rivers. I don't go anywhere where you can get in too much trouble.

_________________

If you're a bass man, you have to fish Crab Orchard. Best spot in the Midwest.

_________________
General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

Head to lake Tippecanoe or maxedkukee or wawwasee, 50''Pike and musky. Glacier lakes 2 hours from your house and hell of a lot cheaper.

_________________

I think I have. Isn't that down by Rend Lake?

_________________

Yes.

_________________
General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

Nice.. take some pics

_________________

Will do.

_________________

When I was a kid my grandfather and I would fish the bayous of southern Louisiana. We would pack two outboards in the trunk of his Mercury Marquis. One was a 3.5 horse Johnson and the other was a 5 horse Evinrude. These fucking things were ancient. Maybe from the 40s. I think we brought both because they were always breaking down. My grandfather was a pretty handy dude and he could do basic repairs on them. He machined his own shear pins. But those engines were unreliable. They would often break down miles down some river and guess who would have to paddle that rowboat? I did all the work while the old man sat in back using his paddle as a rudder and steering the boat.

One time we hooked up with this guy who took us out fishing for gafftops in the Gulf. His boat wasn't very big to be out there in a fucking ocean. I think it had a 25 horse Mercury. I was a little scared but I figured these old men knew what they were doing. Giant oil tankers would come by and nearly swamp every so often. When we tried to get back into the shipping channel to head home we were at the mouth of it and this goof had the engine wide open but the current was so strong we were going nowhere. I thought I might end up lost at sea. Thankfully a guy with a proper boat came along and gave us a tow into the channel.

_________________
General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!