How Far would you Go?

[Ham]

On 11/13/2022 at 8:10 AM, Johnsfolly said:

That was my first recognized warmouth. I caught my first pumpkinseed and brown bullhead when I was in grade school. It's all about location.

I’m not hating, just shocked. You should have said something in Texas. I would have made sure you got one there. 

[Ham]

On 11/11/2022 at 2:00 PM, BilletHead said:

                  @Ham drove to the BilletHead's to catch a channel cat on the fly rod. He did and I hope it was worth it Soooooooooooo  

Best decision ever. Tough conditions, but we got it done. 

[Terrierman]

On 11/11/2022 at 10:44 AM, FishnDave said:

Its bucketlist stuff.   I'm not planning to do it all in one year.  Unless I find out that's all I got left. 😅

Y'know... "Going out with a bang"-type situation.

 

 

Oh I get it now.  I thought it was all trips you had done.😎  I've driven to Puget Sound for ling cod. Port Aransas Texas for Speckled Trout and Sheepshead.  Florida as far south as Key West for Amberjack, snapper of various description and my once in a lifetime honest to pete big Tarpon.

[FishnDave]

1 hour ago, Terrierman said:

Oh I get it now.  I thought it was all trips you had done.😎  I've driven to Puget Sound for ling cod. Port Aransas Texas for Speckled Trout and Sheepshead.  Florida as far south as Key West for Amberjack, snapper of various description and my once in a lifetime honest to pete big Tarpon.

That's AWESOME!!!  Tarpon is still on my list, for sure. I'll be satisfied with a small one on the fly rod.  

[Johnsfolly]

10 hours ago, Ham said:

I’m not hating, just shocked. You should have said something in Texas. I would have made sure you got one there. 

It wasn't a priority on that trip.

[bfishn]

Cool adventures, all. Can't say I ever travel to fish more than 120 miles. That range covers a good bit of all the puddles and creeks discussed here on OAF, and I haven't begun to master all that (yet). Guess I did go to Canada for smallies once, but I was a tagalong, on an organized company trip. Got invited 'cause I'd drive their motorhome and trailer while they got drunk. Fun times.

If traveling with fish counts though, when I was raising trout, I did an 18 hour straight haul of 250 lbs (~1500) of live 6-8" rainbows to a ranch outside of Uvalde Tx. That size requires a lot of oxygen, and I had 4-12V agitators (that consumed most of my alternator output), and 2 big bottles of compressed oxygen on flowmeters and commercial stones. No backup, no way to get more. My sphincter could have pinched a hair in two the whole way. $3K that I desperately needed to buy feed. My fish were jumping out of the net on delivery, just what you want. Buyer was pleased. When I asked for a check, he asked, "You want paid now?" My heart fell, I had maybe just enough money to get home on. He said if I'd go by his office in Houston tomorrow (a Saturday), I could get my check. I agreed. Houston from Uvalde looked like "all across Texas" on the map. I only had a few more hours of driving in me, but made it to a Motel 6 a block from The Alamo in San Antone. Crashed for ~14 hours.

Made it to Houston by 9AM Saturday, to my surprise, my check was waiting on me. The only problem was, all the branches of the bank it was drawn on were closed on Saturdays. (back in the age of phone books). No choice but to see how close to home I could get. Gassed up at a Sams that let me get $50 cash and take a check for the gas. The clouds parted a bit.

Drove till I couldn't, ended up at a tiny AGFC park in far SW AR at 2AM. Crashed till the sun came up. Super foggy, When it began to lift there were deer all around me. A beautiful little lake too. Can't remember the name, it was south of Murfreesboro. Made it home in one piece (on fumes), the check didn't bounce, and life was good.

[Flysmallie]

I drove to China, Nuevo Leon, Mexico to catch a stinking bass. (It was a really nice bass though) Little over 1,000 miles. I could go farther if anyone is ready. Driving has never bothered me. Used to leave Springfield for Lake Fork on Friday after I got off work. Fish all day Saturday, half day Sunday, and then drive home. We would do that 10 0r 15 times a year. One day I will retire and try to put a million miles on some poor vehicle. There is no fish too far. The only thing holding me back is cash. 

[BilletHead]

9 hours ago, bfishn said:

Cool adventures, all. Can't say I ever travel to fish more than 120 miles. That range covers a good bit of all the puddles and creeks discussed here on OAF, and I haven't begun to master all that (yet). Guess I did go to Canada for smallies once, but I was a tagalong, on an organized company trip. Got invited 'cause I'd drive their motorhome and trailer while they got drunk. Fun times.

If traveling with fish counts though, when I was raising trout, I did an 18 hour straight haul of 250 lbs (~1500) of live 6-8" rainbows to a ranch outside of Uvalde Tx. That size requires a lot of oxygen, and I had 4-12V agitators (that consumed most of my alternator output), and 2 big bottles of compressed oxygen on flowmeters and commercial stones. No backup, no way to get more. My sphincter could have pinched a hair in two the whole way. $3K that I desperately needed to buy feed. My fish were jumping out of the net on delivery, just what you want. Buyer was pleased. When I asked for a check, he asked, "You want paid now?" My heart fell, I had maybe just enough money to get home on. He said if I'd go by his office in Houston tomorrow (a Saturday), I could get my check. I agreed. Houston from Uvalde looked like "all across Texas" on the map. I only had a few more hours of driving in me, but made it to a Motel 6 a block from The Alamo in San Antone. Crashed for ~14 hours.

Made it to Houston by 9AM Saturday, to my surprise, my check was waiting on me. The only problem was, all the branches of the bank it was drawn on were closed on Saturdays. (back in the age of phone books). No choice but to see how close to home I could get. Gassed up at a Sams that let me get $50 cash and take a check for the gas. The clouds parted a bit.

Drove till I couldn't, ended up at a tiny AGFC park in far SW AR at 2AM. Crashed till the sun came up. Super foggy, When it began to lift there were deer all around me. A beautiful little lake too. Can't remember the name, it was south of Murfreesboro. Made it home in one piece (on fumes), the check didn't bounce, and life was good.

                           Great story man! 

[Quillback]

11 hours ago, bfishn said:

 

If traveling with fish counts though, when I was raising trout, I did an 18 hour straight haul of 250 lbs (~1500) of live 6-8" rainbows to a ranch outside of Uvalde Tx. 

 

Curious as to why someone in TX would want a bunch of 6-8 inch bows?  

[bfishn]

7 hours ago, Quillback said:

Curious as to why someone in TX would want a bunch of 6-8 inch bows?  

So was I. He had a spring fed pond about an acre in size way out in the boonies. I delivered about this time of year, so the water temps should have been OK till at least spring, but he told me he planned to feed them out on catfish feed. I told him that wouldn't work, but he didn't seem to care. I think he was just a richie rich that thought it would be cool to be the only guy with a pond full of trout that close to the Mexican border. 🤔

After I warned him of the risks involved and he still wanted to go, I decided I didn't care why. He said 2 other trout farms in Missouri had turned him down due to the haul distance, and I knew those guys had liquid OX which is the only way anyone in their right mind would haul that far. It was just the perfect storm, he had the money to blow, and I was just desperate and crazy enough to do it.

I live hauled to customers with various plans and desires. Made regular winter trips to a couple striper guides on Quachita that used them for bait back when Quachita had net pens with winter releases. Obviously it wasn't legal to use them for bait, but it was legal for me to sell them, so I didn't care. Hauled many loads to a guy in Kansas, OK that had built a series of dams on a ravine stream on his place that was really a leak from the nearby pumpback lake just over the ridge. He charged the Tulsa TU chapter to fish there thru the colder months. His last check bounced, then he died.