how many fish can you catch?

[osprey]

In my prime , and before the accident at work , that took my left leg off below the knee , I had a little ritual thing that I did which was to put a small pebble (we used to call them "lucky stones" as kids) into my pocket every time i caught and released a trout. At the end of the day , and this was an all day outing , dawn to dusk , I would count the pebbles and put them in a jar. On what I considered a "GOOD" day there would be around 20 pebbles in my pocket. Between 20 and 30 is what i would have considered , slaying them.

 

[allan_s]

My usual fishing trip lasts about 2-3 hours and I would say I average about 10-15 fish per trip. I have never been a big one for keeping track of numbers, but I last year I started midway through Summer and it confirmed this. As for Frank Nale, say what you want just don't fish behind him because that is the quickest way to get the skunk or close too it. I made the mistake, unknowing, twice last year. I now know what vehicle to avoid. haha

 

[dryflyklesse]

30+ opening day in potter co 8am till 12 then 3pm till dusk with a prize winning 23" palomino that I got on a woven nymph. Combine between 4 of us we probably got about 60 or more trout. Some might have been caught more than once that day but it was great to be the only fly fisherman and catching all the fish haha

 

[mike_richardson]

I dont typically count that much anymore.

WInter 5+ is a great day
Spring anything double digits is great I would say 20 is slaying them.

I love the day after the fishing rodeo on the little conemaugh. I landed 40 in 2 hours. This is nothing special though since there are around 500 put in for the rodeo and typically only tagged fish and large fish get taken from the stream. It was a blast but it is what it is, fishing in a hatchery pretty much.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

If we're talking warm water species, I'm sure I've had triple digit days. Especially the pan fish. I don't even count when I'm out on warm water (I'll count how many SMB, but I don't count the panfish). The streams around me are just littered with panfish.

 

[fishngun]

The best fishing, number wise, I have ever had was one summer a number of years ago. In the course of a little over a month, fishing a few hours 3-4 nights/week, I landed roughly 300+ fish. Mostly stripers, some walleye, and a few smallies. During that period I also had 3 musky encounters that were not won by me , and lost the biggest smallmouth I have ever seen in a river at the net. No these are not embellished number either. I was on fire and knew what to tie on and where to cast it depending on the river level/color, cloud cover, and moon position. It was awesome!

 

[pcray1231]

It really, really, depends on the situation.

I've only topped 100 in a day once. But I've done 70-80 in a day many, many times. These are typically on streams where on a summer day, catching 50 or more is the expectation, anything less is a poor day. That said, on the same stream at some points in the winter, 15 or so would not be looked at as a poor day.

And there are other streams and situations where you're happy just to catch a single fish, and 3 or 4 would be a good day.

Most waters fall somewhere between those extremes. But the point is that you have to measure "good" vs. "bad" days by the expectation going in, which differs wildly depending on the stream, time of year, weather conditions, water conditions, etc. It's just too broad a question to give a straightforward answer.

 

[DaveS]

Well I don't really count my fish, but if you are noticably catching fish steadily, then its a pretty good day. A for WW? Now back a few years ago you could stand on the wall below a certian Power plant on the Allegheny River and catch sauger after sauger. WE'd drop a Castmaster, a jig, you could have used a fly, whatever, along the wall, lift it back up it would have a fish on it. You could get hundreds, but it was pretty silly after a while. Didn't even used the reel. Just enough line so if you lifted the rod straight up you could grab the lure and release the fish. Hundreds. Honestly.

 

[NickR]

Usually dont pay attention to numbers... I stop counting after about four. I have a really short attention span for numbers and counting.

 

[pcray1231]

I did keep a log for a while. At that time, I fished a lot more than I do now, probably 100ish outings/year rather than the 10-20 I get these days. Kids and work will do that to ya. Those outings tended to be shorter, partial day type (before or after work) deals too, whereas the 10-20 I get now are generally all-day events. I also tended to fish more limestoners for wild browns during this period, and it was very rare to rack up 70 or 80 in a day like you can fairly routinely on a good brookie stream, which I do more often now.

So how it all compares I dunno. But FWIW, during that time, I was in the vicinity of 1000 fish/year, plus or minus a few hundred. Highest numbers were spring and fall. I always remember the goal of 100 before the trout opener, which I usually made, but barely. Things would pick up quickly after that, though.

 

[azjackstraw]

"thats 20 fish an hour? thats not that hard,"

I must be a pretty horrible fisherman, along with everyone else I have ever fished with, including Charlie!

 

[Biggie]

I never catch more than a couple or a few. Especially when meeting someone I don't know on a stream. But even the skunk count is considered a good day to me if I'm on the water.

 

[midgeman]

I landed over 80+ on the gunpowder in the winter of 08 in one day in one run. This doesn't count the fish I leadered. Then my number would have been 100+. The fish were stacked and they were gorging themselves during a crazy hatch. I had to have caught the same fish over and over again. I just can't imagine there being that many fish in that run. However, the gunpowder had many more fish and they were bigger back then. That all changed after the flood...

 

[k-bob]

I count streams, not fish.

 

[SBecker]

I caught 231. Frank Nale was my mentor.

They say if you say his name 3 times. Frank Nale......Frank Nale....... Frrrrrraaaaaannnnnkkkkkk Nnnnnn. I can't do it.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

Right on k-bob. I'm much more interested in how many waters I fish.

 

[midgeman]

I just googled Frank Nale....
he put the D in Douche

 

[k-bob]

fish counting can get tail dog wagging.

 

[LongWader]

I agree that whether it is a smoking day or not depends on the time of year, the resource, and what you typically expect from a body of water based on past experience. I might get 80 fish on a small river with wild trout that does not get a lot of fishing pressure, however most of the fish would be small to mediums. On highly pressured public waters in the Winter, any day in the double digits might be a really good day. On the main stem of some rivers that tend to produce a few big trout, a day in the double digits is tremedous day. Then there are the few trips that only come once in a long time where you have a stupendous day beyond all expectations. Those are the trips you will always remember and it is even better if you get to share it with one of your fishing buds.

 

[k-bob]

Dont get me wrong, put me on a stream and I focus on catching fish (particularly if I have never been there before). But I have had a few great trips lately, catching just a few fish in really cold water in streams not even on the nat repro list.

Fish counting can be fine, but letting it become the point has issues. Good to admire the fine scenery and streams we have, do well given the conditions, learn something. Sometimes these things happen even without catching too many...