OhioFisherman

Crawl a heavy football jig with a frog trailer along deeper weed edges. Same with slow rolling a heavy spinner bait in deeper water.

It seems a bit early in the year to have to fish deeper than that for walleye. It's been a long time since I fished, and it was restricted mostly to the western basin of Lake Erie for Walleye which supposedly warms faster, but before the 4th of July 30 feet or less was where they were. I would catch them burning a rattle trap or Sonar in 3 - 6 feet of water searching for smallies near rocky shores of the western erie islands.

LOL, my last one had to be 200 pounds, a back breaker to pull off the bottom!

A ten foot jon boat should be fairly light, a ten - 12 pound anchor should be ok. Navy type, river style mushroom and 3/8 anchor line should be fine. The paint can concrete anchors are fine in mud bottoms or places with a lot of rocks to get snagged on, you don't want to be buying a new anchor every trip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlowiV_NVLI It's not a fishing video and I have no idea of it's location in relation to where you will be staying, but catching bass there doesn't seem like it will be a problem.

Is the problem actually with the battery? The wiring? or the trolling motor itself? It seems to me that you have more that one place to look. Can you put the trolling motor into a garbage can of water at home and see how long it lasts off the boat? Did you test the battery when you got home?

Walmart and others used to sell a fitting that screwed on, just a couple of bucks and worth the price. Hit it with a shot of grease every year and no problems. I had my boat for 22 years, it got greased every year.

I did in the past, most of the rods I used for casting crankbaits were 7 foot medium action fast tip, I do have and have used some slow action rods also though. The water I fished dictated the line, on the main waters of Lake Erie there really wasn't a need for more than 10# test line, not many snags unless you got a rock on the bottom. In waters with weeds and more junk 12 -14 # test and original Stren was always my favorite.

The farmers in my area are already complaining that they are 2 weeks behind getting into their fields. It's been colder than normal and wetter than normal. Last year was er... normal, at least until May hit and the rain stopped and the heat was record setting. 2011, Noah was building arks here, it seemed like some farmers didn't catch a dry break to plant until the end of June. Abnormal may be the new normal?

LOL Two, that's discrimination! I can swim, is this a color issue? Cormorants? Like we need more, they enjoy the tropical weather on this side of the lake. Hmmm... for target practice? I am sure the NRA here would support that issue, the gun nuts might run out of morning doves, er... or people. I haven't fished in years now, seasonally it didn't seem to be too hard to find a steelhead or few years ago, even when smallie fishing. I would imagine the stocking would be limited to them, it's more of a warm water fishery here, and judging by their past luck with Salmon they probably won't go there again.

Agency on trout restocking mission in Great LakesPublished: April 20, 2013 4:00PM SANDUSKY, Ohio (AP) -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has begun a six-week mission to restock trout in Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. The agency says 200,000 trout yearlings will be released into the lakes through late May. The restocking began last week in Lake Erie off Sandusky and Fairport Harbor then headed to stops off Erie, Pa., and Dunkirk, N.Y. The Lake Ontario restocking will follow in mid-May. The yearlings are the first raised in the Allegheny National Fish Hatchery in Warren, Pa., since an incurable fish virus was detected there in 2005. The hatchery was decontaminated and received trout brood stock and eggs from other hatcheries.

Hmmm... it was snowing here this morning, now let me think, why didn't I go farther north until June? LOL

They had on the news here on Monday I believe that the water level of Lake Erie off the Vermillion river here in Ohio was down 18 inches from the same time last year. If that is the same for areas like the G/B and French river it could be a problem? You folks have a lot more rock than we do.

There seemed to be a good number of them around Pointe Au Baril, we never intentionally fished for them but they were an incidental catch quite often when using live bait. Never caught one on a lure, never saw a small one, average size seemed to be between 4 - 6 pounds. I netted one for a buddy though that was pushing 20 pounds, a tank, and a good fight.

I went from Bass to Mickey D's fillet of fish, I am not spending nearly as much on tackle and don't need a boat.

Well thanks, but really no sympathy required, it's been for the most part a fun life. 10 years for me now, it hit the year I had planned on retiring, but I did get that out of the way! The younger people that get it and are faced with dealing with trying to earn a living and keeping a roof over their heads and food on the table could use it more?

I am aware, I have it myself, but primary progressive, a constant progression. I believe like 85% or so are diagnosed with relapsing remitting, LOL I had to be one of the lucky ones! Needless to say retirement isn't going the way I had planned? Oh well, stuff happens, I guess it was my turn! LOL

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/08/showbiz/annette-funicello-obit/index.html?hpt=hp_t2 She was in bad shape from MS for a lot of years, Oh No!

I fished in bass tournaments for 30 years, from 10 boats to 150 boats, every one was fun and different. I finished anywhere from first in some smaller tournaments to last, each though was a challenge. I knew the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, JK, and also had a part in one where none of us er... experts caught a legal sized fish! If I couldn't count on the fish? I could usually count on some laughs!

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Well I had a 1987 Smokercraft that I bought new and had for 22 years. It was also the Pro Angler model but single console, I can't think of any complaints on the boat except I should have gone with the maximum HP on it, it was rated for a 60HP and I bought it as a package with a 35HP. Two other guys in our bass club had the same boats, none had problems and none seemed in a hurry to get something else. Mine was labeled as 17 foot, but specs said 16' 8" and of course given the model year it was narrower, like a 73 inch beam. Just a suggestion, if you can swing the upgrade to a 75? go with it, it's nice to get off big water in a hurry if it starts to kick up.

It is the same here in my area stateside. My drive way is 180x22 and gravel.

Didn't fish get a lateral line to help them find things they couldn't see? Bass fishing with a friend at East Harbor off of lake Erie, we pulled out of the marina and started casting. He had 4-5 bass boated and I didn't have a hit yet, just fishing plastic worms rigged on a jig head, but different color worms. It was enough for me, I took off the worm I was using and switched to one the same color and brand as his, magically I started catching bass. The jig head had stayed the same. Tournament day a year or so later, the same body of water. I stuck a couple of pigs early and lost both due to light wire hooks on the jig heads I had made. Same deal, a plastic worm rigged on a jig head, even the same partner. The action then stopped, 15 minutes or so before we had to head back? I switched from a worm to a hellgrammite looking lure on the same jig head, a completely different color lure though, and had 3 bass in 3 casts over water we had just covered. LOL at least lures are cheaper than shoes? Take a look at how many pairs some ladies feel a need for?

I always fished for them, take a 12 - 16 hook flatten the barb with a pair of needle nose pliers and snell it with 4 or 6 # test line. If you can use a spreader and two hooks legally in your area it makes it faster, just fish under a small bobber with a maggot or tiny piece of worm for bait. Those real small hooks may be hard to find outside of a fly tackle shop, and trying to get anything bigger than 6# test thru the eye to snell them was also a problem. As a kid at a local reservoir I used to watch one older guy that seemed to be a regular there use a cast net for them around a bridge that crossed the lake. He would attract them with bread crumbs or oatmeal and then make his casts, it seemed to work for him, at least when the net didn't get caught on the rip rap around the bridge. With a minnow trap and a 1 inch limit? to the opening? You might have trouble getting large enough ones to enter? They are deeper thru the body than emerald shiners, and you don't usually see emeralds much over 4 inches long?

Berkley has one for 40 bucks 7' 6" 5/8 - 1 1/2 ounce lures. I have used their lightning rods and never had a problem with them.