The Urban Fisherman

yeah man, I was only tossing it on a 5'5"UL with 8lb braid (equal to 1lb mono I believe) and a 4lb fluoro leader and could zing it as far as any big pike bait. It's actually pretty heavy for a tiny bait. That reservoir has bow's and brown's in it so I'm betting the trout patterned one would do well also. Cheers

Quick update for those who were asking - My local CO phoned me back tonight about the net and nobody has any permits to be down there of any sort, so he's heading down to rip out the net tonight....if the owner hasn't already claimed it. cheers, UF

memories that'll last a lifetime dude....great report!

yeah man, I've caught everything there, bass, pike, pannies, catfish, carp, trout, bowfin you name it.....I'll look into it at some point tomorrow and see if I can come up with any info....

I'm hoping somebody from around the long point area know's somebody from the MNR on here...otherwise I'll just look it up. And yeah that little perch works great. It's best used as more of a search bait, strolled behind the boat...once you get 1 you can switch it up to a float and micro tube or trout worm and destroy them.....but I'm sick of float fishing so I stuck it out with the crank and got my first two crappie of the season. When strolling I find the mini floating rap has better action, but when casting this one is better because it sinks...so if the fish are in 5 to 8 FOW you can let is sink before retrieving... cheers, UF

good work teamate! you're 1 up on me buddy. Cheers, UF

Well another weekend has come and gone, and with all the house renovations I've got going on I'm only able to sneak out from 5 a.m to about 10 a.m. After seeing some quality carp reports I decided to put the little pontoon aside and hit my carp "swim" for the first time this season. The morning started off just right, slept well, up before the alarm and out the door to watch the sun rise on my way down the road.... The mosquito's were ferocious, but I was stoked to make my way through the bush, down to my perfect little carp spot. It's barely 5 minutes from my doorstep and always produces a good half dozen or more carp, even on short outings. The second I cleared the bushes I was shocked to see a net strung across the creek. There was dead and struggling carp the whole way across. Some had no tails left but were still gasping for air..... I don't know if the ministry would do something like this as some sort of carp control but it seems like a cruel way to do it. It's not like they were taking over the area, and even if they were, this creek dumps into Erie which has plenty more carp who'll run up-stream. Anyways, I fished the area for a short while and didn't even get a tap. On Saturday my new Humminbird 141c came in the mail. I had to rip the cupboards out of the kitchen as promised to the fiance, but the second that was done I was in the garage installing it onto the personal pontoon boat...I was excited to test out the humminbird, and am also anxious for bass season so the game plan was to find suspended panfish near deeper weedlines and get them on crank baits. Like fishing for tiny bass... It wasn't long before I marked some fish and started piking them off with a perch pattered micro Rapala. Most fish were caught in around 8 to 10 FOW right off the weed edge...the wind was howling so staying in the right area was a bit of a pain....I think I'll be buying a wind sock soon. Water was 70 degrees and the big bluegill were guarding their nests in about 2 FOW. Kept 1 gill just to add a little more meat to the table but left the other bigguns alone for genetic stock. Dinner - Gotta get my Omega 3's for the week Snag.... Ended the weekend off with the family down at my own private little lake in the backyard...it's almost finished Good luck out there UF

awesome read - I'd rather be able to write like that than catch big giant fish any day....wellllllll......maybe not, but writing never really was my strong suit... come to think of it catching big giant fish on a regular basis isn't exactly my "forte" neither... I blame the writing issues on growing up bilingual.... 1 second it's french and the next it's english... thanks for the read dude!

On a side note - Kelly lake does hold pike, and if the wind is right there's no smell at all! Used to be some gators in there years ago but I haven't fished it since I was probably 15. There's not a whole lot of pressure on that lake for obvious reasons, so there must be some biggun's in there still...if you're willing to brave possibly being down-wind.

Hey dude, Wish I could help you out - most local lakes that I fish back home are off the beaten trail, walk-in or quad-in type lakes. There's no way I could explain how to get there without taking you out. I have a few bass lakes that are easy to get to but that won't help you at this time of year. Believe it or not, growing up in suds, I never really fished a whole lot locally. My old man and I used to always drive a couple hours away to our fav. fishing holes. I've got 1 really good pike lake 40 minutes from downtown but the only way in with a car is through private property, and you'd have to rent a cabin (which are most likely already booked). Good luck! UF

Hey buddy, as you know I love my bluegill and I would try rock bass but for whatever reason the rockies in the lake that I fish are usually infested with those little black spot parasites..... I don't see why they wouldn't be tasty though! cheers, UF

Right on guys! I haven't chased any carp yet this year. Been to busy with the bluegill and in-land bows......Tried once but Ginny threw away my corm that was in the freezer.... she almost got an ass whopin' for that one! heh Cheers, UF

oh man that's awesome! congrats to your daughter...can't wait until mine's old enough to wrestle with carp! Cheers, UF

wow great report dude and congrats! cheers, UF

I got your back GCD - nothing beats the taste of early spring gills...not even the famed walleye!

Sweet score Cliff and good on ya for the donation Lew - We used the exact same one on a 20-some odd foot bass boat on Erie a couple of weeks ago and it worked great...i'm sure it'll be plenty for your tinny Cliff... cheers, UF

Mercer all the way... but if I had to pick some show's - I do like Linder's Fishing Edge, and The Bass Pro's as well.

dude that's a big bass - I've seen 22 inch (SKINNY) smallies weigh 6.25lbs and that thing's 23inches....well over 6 in my opinion - probably over 7. Anybody who tells you it's a 4.5 to 5.5 lber is nuts! Cheers, UF

"Another Relaxing evening in the YARD" and " I headed down the lawn with my rod.." you're an ass! haha thanks for the report - keep 'em coming dude! Cheers, UF

Hey team mate - Garry2rs gave some great advice! I know that like many of us you're on a budget when it comes to buying gear. So take Garry2rs advice and buy a few different colors to match different scenario's. (over time or course) I always buy my confidence colors first. For x-raps I get the silver/black x-rap first because it's a good imitator of most baitfish in the area's that I fish. So be it a sunny day, rainy day, or wether the water's clear or murky, at the end of the day it still looks like a minnow to any fish it crosses paths with. Whereas if it's a bright sunny day, in crystal clear water and you've only got a firetiger x-shad...well you get the point....My second choice would be a perch patterned x-shad (which I've seen catch plenty of walleye and pike). If you're looking for numbers, don't go with a GIANT sized x-shad. Get a smaller to mid-sized bait. Bigger fish will eat smaller baits as well, and you'll even catch some smaller fish to keep you going in-between. And keep in mind, size does matter. Earlier in the year, your baitfish, and perch etc. are going to be smaller than in the fall so a smaller sized bait might just "match the hatch" a little better. After that it's all about experimentation. I don't have any x-shads in any other colors right now, but pink x-raps have given me much more success in muddy water than clown...just my experiences though....best thing to do is just keep trying and experimenting. And even though having different colors for different situations can be important, don't forget about presentation. Sometime the way you work your bait is the ticket. So get out there and grab an x-shad. Work the crap out of it until you start catching some fish with it (and you will eventually figure it out) then you'll gain confidence in it and use it on a regular basis. I went down south a few weeks back and a buddy of mine said he wasn't going to throw anything but flippin' jigs all day just to get the hang of using them and to build up confidence. At the beginning of the day I was switching up like crazy, got 1 fish on a spinner bait, a couple more on a swim bait etc. etc. He wasn't catching much on his jig, missed a few fish, but stuck with it. By around dinner time (8 hours later) he had finally figured out the bait and in about hour or so he came back a whoped my butt catching fish after fish. anyways - good luck and keep us posted! cheers, UF

yepp - i'd use 'em dude!

awesome dude! I'm in no rush for fall to come along but I do look forward to hooking into a few of those big ole salmon again! thanks for the report! cheers, UF

boat looks awesome dude! Love the Johnson to! I grew up fishing with my old man and he had the exact motor! cheers, UF

Just let me know dude - not often I get to share the water with other people - toner's always ready to go on weekends.... They used to stock lakers in there?!? no way! It'd be the perfect lake for me if it had some walleye in it! I think I'll be chasing trout until bass opener so who knows - might hook into a brown or two...and call me a deush but I don't know what a Highland Reservoir is by definition..... Nope - tragged 'em around the side of my little pontoon all mornin - not a whole lot of room on it for a cooler full of ice!

This is the second time I've "previewed" a post, then hit "post" and it's come up twice.....