OhioFisherman

I like woods and water, never been to that area but I have seen pictures and it is beautiful, hate to see it getting burnt. Have you seen the pics of the fires in Texas? I can`t imagine living in a place that is so dry.

http://www.piercecountyherald.com/event/article/id/39109/

Some lakes are great?

Ya I have a couple of old tackle boxes full of one fish wonders.

The one that is working best on a given day. A hard question to come up with an answer for? I like throwing a crank bait ( Storm Wee Steelie Wart ) it`s not always the best lure for the location or conditions. Probably caught more fish on a soft plastic worm-lizard-tube-jig than anything else.

Big take a look at the bamboo fly rods on ebay, you might find the same one?

Don`t spend the money before you get it. There were a lot of bamboo fly rods made, and not surprisingly in Japan, close to the material? I have one myself from the 40`s or 50`s, not worth much at all.

It stormed here too, and cut the kids bonfire short. Nice to have the cooler temps though! They are calling for a high of 63 here for Monday? You guys up there might see a frost? LOL

A couple of friends own and operate the Lunge Lodge, Steve Z and Mike P, they also are top notch fishermen.

It looks like a piece of cake drive for you also except for the distance, but if you are spreading it out over 4 days it should be no problem. I-81 appears to end at I-40, take that west into Knoxville Tennessee and I-75 branches off and heads south. No idea what the area was like before so I can`t really tell you if it is built up more.

Ulmerton road is sort of the main road through Largo, a connection to the highway I-275 north and south and to Gulf BLVD along the gulf. Largo mall is on Ulmerton along with a lot of other shopping and dining. Gulf BLVD is sort of the vacation district? Hotels and lodging in both directions, also restaurants and gift shops. Watch your speed on Gulf BLVD, cops sit on it frequently.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Indian+Shores+Florida&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x88c2f93fa7ba3e11:0x6415b57b311cb470,Indian+Shores,+FL&gl=us&ei=FcxgTrCZMcqutweNh5n_Dw&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CDcQ8gEwAA A couple of choices listed on the left, it seems pointless to head to Ohio to pick up I-71 to I -75, never been on I-79 but it should be a good road also. LOL of course driving anywhere in December might pose issues?

Have you ever been there before? My first trip that far south was in late July until Labor day weekend of 2009. Indian Shores is right outside of Largo ( a nice suburb with plenty to do ), about the only difference is Indian Shores is shore line and Largo ends a mile from the beach. LOL it seemed to me that every few miles of beach was a different community, to keep control of tourists dollars? I drove, no small task for me being disabled, it`s a long ride for a person that isn`t, and I would suggest breaking it up into at least 2 days, I didn`t, a couple of attempts at naps, but almost a 24 hour drive for me. Interstate 75 was the best route for me once I took interstate 71 out of Ohio, it puts you right in the area, a decent road, and no serious issues. Use the bypass to avoid Atlanta GA, especially during week day rush hours times. Just guessing that any north south interstate that will connect to interstate 75 is the best way to go. My van only gets about 13 miles to the gallon, so I stopped fairly often for fuel along I-75, all hours of the day and night, and no issues. The people seemed friendly and polite. There are some fairly long stretches with out much around, so don`t wait until the last minute to fuel. Interesting scenery, especially for folks that don`t venture south often. If you are coming through Buffalo, Ft. Erie? BillyBob might know of a route that will connect to I-75 easily? I didn`t even need a map, south on I-71 to I -75 it was easy. Georgia seemed like the drive through hell, it seemed to take forever to clear that state! There are plenty of sea food restaurants, gift shops, a place to see the Manatees in the area. I didn`t attempt to fish, no interest at all in salt water, and any fresh water may have gators, and I can`t outrun a turtle. LOL

1.) Plastic worm or lizard, I prefer Zoom but it`s your choice. Junebug is always a starting color for me on any body of water, you can mix up the sizes, from 4 to 8 inch and fish them weightless, texas style, carlolina style, or even on a jighead. Carry a lighter color such as watermelon or watermelon blue glitter. 4 inch size works well for smallies. 2.) surface lure, you do want to be able to strain the water, cover all depths. Hard to beat a buzzbait as a search lure, it will cover water quickly, again choices. A weedless frog, tiny torpedo, jitterbug, hula popper, devils horse, zara spook, even a Johnson silver minnow and pork frog. 3.) shallow runner, your choice bandit and manns makes some good ones. 4.) medium runner, bandit, storm. 5.) dredge, a jig and pig, deep running crankbaits, slow rolling a spinnerbait, jigging a blade bait.

Ya there is a different feel when you set the hook on a torpedo.

Poor tools for the job, take that from an expert, at losing them! LOL Do you really want to endanger the fish? It can be done, but not regularly. There is a reason why they sell muskie tackle.

Great pictures and report Lew, LOL a week to get 12 feet of Muskie? You need a 50 or 60 feet of bass day.

1.) What Garry said, it really comes down to practice though, you should be able to cast all day and have few or no issues. 2.) What Roy mentioned with a twist, LOL I am sure he knows a lot more about crocheting than me. I believe Dentek makes a small dental pick that is plastic and stainless steel that would also work well for line tangles, you can find them at your local drug store or Walmart for like a buck or two. 3.) I use mono on my baitcasters, from 10-20# test, and no real issues.

Unfortunately a study here says almost 50% of them didn`t plan properly for retirement, they will be lucky to afford food, shelter, and health care. A lot more choices out there for the recreational dollar now than 50 years ago. At 3-4 bucks a gallon for fuel? the price of fish went up? and a world of instant gratification, most won`t put in the time to really learn how to fish.

Environmental Consultant? Is talking dirty involved?

Sort of tough using a baitcaster for 1/8 ounce lures, most don`t handle them well and almost none right off the store self.

Pitching really isn`t limited to a casting reel. http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/fishing/more-freshwater/2003/06/do-little-jig http://www.flwoutdoors.com/ap/photos.cfm?mid=97939 Ron Yurko is formerly from my area and won a bunch of cash on a regular basis, he could flip or pitch with what ever reel he had in his hand. I used the same reels for light lures, it wasn`t a casting reel.

Tools, use the one that works best for the task? I have casting reels, spinning reels and even some old school spin casting reels. It just depends on the target species and the water I am fishing.

http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=en&source=hp&biw=&bih=&q=Fishing+tackle+in+Chattanooga+Tennesse&btnG=Google+Search#q=Fishing+tackle+in+Chattanooga+Tennessee&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=3C5&sa=G&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=s&prmd=ivnscm&source=univ&tbm=plcs&tbo=u&ei=FDM8ToH-DaXj0QG0mcTbAw&oi=local_group&ct=more-results&resnum=1&ved=0CDYQtQMwAA&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=79fb20f9171e77c6&biw=1013&bih=593 No personal experience with any of them.

Most of my fishing the last 40 years was using lures, it takes an investment of time to learn how and what to use, some lures are multi-species, others limit you. Probably one of the easiest lures for a newbie with them to use is a white 3 inch plastic twister tail fished on a jighead.