OhioFisherman

An independent cabin or at one of the Pointe Au Baril resorts?

I used that type of markers on Lake Erie all the time, I was surprised at how many people tried to take them. Mine were homemade, and worked very well, I could drift a mile or more away from them and still see them using binoculars. I never messed with anyone's markers, but i had a better understanding of the intent? It does seem extreme to blow up on someone though.

I think it has something to do with Lake Ontario being a much deeper lake, it might not get as much chop to the waves.

Like Steve, I think that might have been the big difference? Fighting that constant current has to expend a lot more energy, and I can guess it would affect smallies that tend to frequent a different type of water than largemouth more. 6+ plus largemouth were the big fish the first two days, just guessing that they came from areas with little or no current?

" A lot of folks think that if they had the same boat and gear as the pros, they could be as successful. It just ain't true. " That is so true! You could look at our areas tournaments and the results, some guys seemed to be consistent on any body of water they fished, others once they got off of their home waters seemed to be lost, they just didn't seem to be able to find a pattern on new or less frequently fished waters quickly. There were plenty of guys driving 40k bass boats here, it only seemed to make a difference in their tournament results for a few.

LOL, I don't want to get political, so I don't get spanked! Roy has a paddle! I have seen some of those southern boys fishing tournaments where there are hydro dams, when they increase the water flow it seemed to trigger a feeding frenzy, but of course it wasn't constant 24/7 like he larry. Also read stories about Billy Westmoreland smallie fishing, different down there than here too, but he made it work.

It looks slag to me too, we had a number of steel mills here in Cleveland back in the day, and sometimes it was used instead of gravel before concrete drives were put down. Most if not all limestone had to be hauled or trained in from out of the general area, so it was cheaper.

Yes, I am sure it hurt the tourism and travel industry. I know people with kids that no longer go to Ontario, they just can't justify the added expense and or hassles involved in getting passports for the family. I used to make a few long weekend trips to the Canadian side of the falls when I was younger and my kids were young, most young families can't afford to do that now? But our southern border still seems wide open?

Brian, I think they were allowed to fish both sides of the river, but it seems to me someone mentioned they had to contact someone when they crossed over? No idea if that involved any down time or inspections. I can't really picture them guys wanting to sit around waiting or go out of their way to be inspected? LOL, of course the fishing is better on the Canadian side, it's probably cleaner!

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/04/us/giant-hogweed-feat/index.html A CNN story on the giant hogweed today.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round_goby " Round gobies actively feed both nocturnally and diurnally, and are believed to detect prey only while stationary. The primary diet of round gobies includes mollusks, crustaceans, worms, fish eggs, zebra mussels, small fish, and insect larvae. " I can picture them being a problem during the spawn, but I am not sure how much afterwards, it seems like a zebra mussel would be easier to catch for food? " I saw the pros bouncing all over the place like ping pong balls. A few of them stuck to the same spot all four days, but most of them were running and gunning looking for bites." That was the norm even on our lakes here, and most are under 3000 acres. Just my experience here on Lake Erie for smallies, a spot can be dead for 5-6 hours and then in 15-30 minutes you can catch a limit of hogs and then it goes dead again. For me the best time of the day for smallies on Lake Erie was between 2-5pm, LOL it meant a late start didn't hurt.

Mr. Simon, was it your first time there? I wondered how much time some of them spent fishing areas sheltered from the wind and current? It's probably a given for the guys that were fishing for largemouth, but sheltered areas off islands and points on the river. They are pros, some probably had to try them?

I don't know what the connections look like in the newer models. Years ago I was using a Minnkota electric on a weedy and windy lake and it stopped working, it was just a simple pedal cable control. One of the spade connectors overheated and burnt thru and broke off. I replaced it and all was fine, yes there was a burnt electrical smell.

Great pictures! looks like a beautiful area even if the fish aren't cooperating.

The difference in fisheries manitou? I saw an article and pictures last week of snow that had been piled up from last winter in parts of New York still melting. I heard a couple of the anglers involved in that tournament make references to the concept that the spawn had just finished and the smallies hadn't moved en mass to deeper water? I only fished a couple of lakes in extreme western New York, and both seemed to have a summer climate a lot closer to Ontario's than us. Once summer hits here smallies shallow seem an oddity, I have caught more walleye casting to rocky areas of the lake Erie islands mid summer than smallies.

Cool article! I can agree a summer in Pittsburgh is probably hell on earth! LOL, but so is one in Cleveland.

http://www.bassmaster.com/tournaments/bassmaster-elite-st-lawrence-river/leaderboard Yes, Evers won, I think this was two in a row on the Elite series for him? I didn't see any great lakes silver bass caught? ( sheephead ) maybe they don't show those? LOL Different though, I had no idea they spent that much time fishing shallower water for smallies there, here it is a deep deal in the summer months. Smallies here in back bays is almost always over and done by June.

I also used this style of snap, those in size 1 though probably aren't strong enough for some fish, I stuck something night fishing on a lake in New York one night and ended up with a twisted piece of wire to show for it. That lake did have pike and skis in it, and whatever I stuck was no bass! LOL I never had a problem using size 2-3, but I avoided size 1 after that. The style in your picture? I also had issues with, I had fish pull the wire loose from the catch and bend it straight. Even had an issue or two with Berkley cross lock snaps on wire leaders, bent. Outsized fish generally weren't a problem here, unless they were carp.LOL In an area where they are common? Might go with these? http://stringease.com/products.php?cat=snaps&id=staylok_snaps

Ike also can stick gobies and walleye! LOL

" The fishing, for me, was only consistent between 8-9 pm. For whatever reason I got skunked at all other times of the day no matter the lure, for any species other than rock bass! Why? I don't know but always open to suggestions from you guys.?? " I have seen some areas on lakes shut down pretty good once the boat traffic started, on others they seemed to stay shallow to take advantage of the waves created by boat traffic scattering baitfish and crawfish to feed. Hard to say, some lakes here seem to have no night bite at all, on others that is the time to be there. Years on going north, and only 1 northern pike after dark, was it me or the water?

I don't have a particular favorite, but kudos to all of them, even the ones not fishing today. Most of the lakes I fished in tournaments were 2000 acres or less, and being able to find fish consistently and get them to bite could be difficult. I can't imagine trying to do the same in a 100 or so mile long area. LOL, there has to be a million spots that look good? Modern electronics has sure made their jobs easier? The hot lure for Muskie on the St. Lawrence next week might be a struggling smallmouth finish?

As near as I can tell from this ike has 3 for 10# it's early, he will need more. http://www.bassmaster.com/tournaments/basstrakk

I saw a couple of the tournaments you guys had there, 7 pound smallies with this crew could also get interesting? Seems like a great group of people to hang out with.

It would be interesting to see them hold an event on Lake Simcoe?

I am just guessing that most of those largemouth came from back bays and areas sheltered from the current, they aren't dumb enough to fight that current full time. LOL