OhioFisherman

A few buddies and I spent a night in Cleveland's drunk tank when I was 19 - 20 for peeing down the concrete steps of an apartment building as the cops were coming up, it seemed like a good idea at the time? Drunk and disorderly? Who? Us?

I tend to think the number 1 cause of fish fatalities is people eating them, or perhaps other fish. Of course homes on a lake, boating, swimming has nothing to do with reduced water quality?

I took my ex son in law and one of my best friends to Sandusky Bay for some early season smallie action years ago before they had a closed season on them. My son in law caught the first carp, on a tube, just guessing around 25 pounds. I got the second, on a tube around 35 pounds. My best friend's came last, also on a tube and I am betting it was close to 60 pounds, it dwarfed ours and looked bigger than the one in the link by a good deal. Early season and cold water, they are like hooking a freight train. You set the hook, line starts peeling off your spool and you follow them with the boat until they wear out or break light line. Not really a carp fan, but it is different after catching 1 - 3 pound smallies all day. Watching the commercial carp and buffalo netters in some areas was interesting too. They would string a net that seem to be a couple of hundred yards long out from shore by boat and bring it back to shore. Then wrestle carp into a slatted side barge about 8x16 until water was washing over the sides. Those guys got some real hogs.

http://www.sanduskyregister.com/article/4274451

You might want to look for a brass or stainless cotter pin in your spare time? A marine store or decent nut and bolt supplier should have them?

Art, Marinettes were very common in this area, a good boat, I can't recall any complaints from their owners. My buddy had a 28x11 Pacemaker with twin crusaders also a good boat but fuel prices can limit you?

This, I had a 25 foot Searay Sundancer, it had a 70 - 75 gallon fuel tank. 233hp Mercruiser and a top speed of around 33MPH, it could handle rougher water, but you might not at top speed. Gas was sort of cheap back then, a buck forty or so a gallon, with it at or near 4 bucks a gallon now?

I have no idea what the weather has been like on your side of the lake, but I am guessing on our side the mud line is probably close to the Canadian side. We seem to have had almost daily torrential downpours since they announced the start of summer. Most of my area was under a tornado warning again yesterday evening, flash flood warning also. If the amount of dirt and dirty water flowing down my normally dry culvert into the nearest river is any indication? LOL, allegedly the next 3 days will be dry, it may take my yard longer than that. We haven't had what Toronto got, but nothing much better. http://www.19actionnews.com/

My wheelchair has brakes on each wheel, but I don't know how well they would handle a chop!

Weather, don't ya just love it? We had a great spring here, then they officially announced the start of summer and the rains started. We are under a tornado watch right now, and I think we have only had 2 dry days since summer started.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/09/world/americas/toronto-train-flooding/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

I can't picture fishing a conventional wacky rig in 40 fow, I would fall asleep waiting for it to hit bottom. LOL Like mentioned a drop shot rig, tube, jig, blade bait, jigging rapala, modified carolina rig, there just seems better choices to me.

Hmmm... 25 bucks an hour now, 6 bucks an hour in 1973. That new van I bought in 1973 cost 3100 bucks out the door, the cost now? easily 5 or 6 times that? The brand new 3 bedroom split level home I bought in 1975 for 28,900 bucks, easily 5 or 6 times that now? The CEO of a major corporation making 250,000 k back in the 60's and 70's now making 10 mill +, who is the fish? They are making a lot more than 5 or 6 times what they used to have to work a lot harder at? You may live better now? of course both parents having to work to get what they want or need now might be a factor?

In Ohio maps are available for all the lakes i have fished, so it is a lot easier to have a general idea of a good place to start? The safety factor also, we don't have anywhere near as many rocks to hit. I fished with out one or with nothing more than a flasher for years and did OK. They speed up the process of getting on likely spots, but that can be done with out one, it just takes more time.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/08/muhtar-kent-coca-cola_n_1332063.html http://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/The-Coca-Cola-Company-Salaries-E160.htm Just me? I don't buy any product with the intent of feeding the pigs who get rich on the backs of their employees.

My first thought would be to check the plug since it does start, the connection to the plug also. Spark plugs don't usually last as long as engines, and a dirty fouled plug or corroded plug wire connection reduces the spark.

Spawning always made me sleepy afterwards too.

Just another thought, I clearly remember staying at Ken Lea camp in Pointe Au Baril as a teenager and swimming off the main dock with my brothers and cousins. We learned very quickly not to dive too deeply, after you got down 6 - 7 feet it was like stepping into a very cold shower. We never went there until after bass season had started as a family, so that surface temp doesn't mean a lot? One of the reasons fishing points is usually a good place, you just fish the point into deeper water and it can give you an idea at what depth the fish are holding on?

I would seriously doubt a big die off that didn't affect other species as well. One of the challenges of fishing? to be consistent. I have caught largemouth in 17 - 22 feet of water when there wasn't really a logical reason for them to be there. We had a tournament with our club at one of our hot spots, a bay off of Lake Erie. He had a spring tournament there, with a club rule of a 3 fish limit per boat, it took over 12 pounds to get a check. Basically the same crew fished the fall tournament, all regulars on the local bass fishing scene and skilled at it. No one got a fish not even a dink. Did they move? or just lockjaw? The only difference I could see was wind direction. The wind was pushing water out of the bay, the water level dropped 1 1/2 -2 feet during the course of the day. That doesn't explain why they weren't in the 8 - 12 feet deep rip rap banked channel leading into the bay though? It was also a good spot at times.

I wandered across that video, the problems with those species are pretty well publicized in some rivers, I had no idea that they were also in Kentucky and Barkley lakes. 40 tons of carp in two days, two semi loads, it gives a better idea of the scope of the problem they present?

http://www.gophertackle.com/mushroomjig.html These jigheads worked well for me on most plastics and it was nice to have some hook options.

Great Lakes groupers - A.K.A. Sheephead Hoovers - A.K.A. Carp Both can be interesting to catch, but not as much fun when smallies are the target? LOL, dinks to short to measure. I actually had a couple of friends nicknamed dink over the years, I never checked why.

LOL, my recipe for Bean soup is different! At least you got a lot of ham in yours? Glad you are OK Norm! It's a bit early in the season for swimming even here. I recall fishing at East Harbor on day in my boat with a friend, my butt firmly planted in the bow seat. I made a cast and a bass grabbed the lure, when I made the hookset the plastic swivel base snapped right off at the top of the pole. I ended up on my back gazing at the sky! LOL all was good though, my head didn't hit the gunnel on the way down, and I didn't get the pole up my arse!

Most of my fishing for pike with live bait was done using a bobber or slip bobber. Minnows, suckers, perch, got hooked under the dorsal fin. If casting or trolling? thru the lips. Basically the same way I fished with live bait for bass, and I have used minnows bigger than 6 inches for bass. Not sure what the cause of your hookup problems are? I was generally quick on the trigger when I got a hit, bass or pike. A decent size bass has no problem getting a 4 - 6 inch minnow in it's mouth, and a decent sized pike's mouth is much bigger. A lot of the hooks I used came pre-snelled with wire leader and I am not sure of the hook brand? Eagle Claw? but I also snelled my own using Mustad 3407 hooks, both worked well. A pike's mouth has teeth and more hard areas than a bass, don't be afraid to stick the pig. Always thought it was pretty cool to pitch a big chub on a bobber into a pocket in the lilies and watch the bobber sink like a rock, the pike had the bait before the bobber could settle. No problems with hooks, snaps and crimps on leaders? yes, use quality gear. A decent sized hook also, 3/0 - 0/6 should be fine.