OhioFisherman

LOL Wayne they can be funny, stand at the door and holler for the dog and he won`t come, but start the car in the drive and he was on his way. My yard is 1000 feet deep, his bed was in the laundry room that is half below ground level. He would come tearing up the steps barking at the patio door, deer outback 800 feet behind the house. I don`t think he could hear them? so smelled them? At least he had sense enough never to chase a skunk!

My lab mix had to be put down a month ago, he kept having strokes and after 16 years it was time to let the old guy go out with out hurting himself. My neighbors shoot groundhogs in their yard, but they are rather rotund, so they don`t approach the idea of picking up the dead carcasses with the same vigor. Well old Shadow liked to explore and bring home treasures, one day he came back from exploring with what looked like a piece of hairy beef jerky as big as a dinner plate. he though he was bringing the groundhog jerky in the house. Kids took Mr. Shadow for a walk to the store on the traffic circle a mile away (on a (leash), bad plan, he learned of new places to explore. Being the social butterfly that he was if no one was outside around the yard he would go up there on his own looking for some one to play with. So we would get calls, your dog is back here again. He would get in the car with anyone that offered to take him for a ride, even if the offer wasn`t made vocally, he was fast enough to get into the car, truck, van before you could if you opened the door. Stranger? if you are taking me for a ride you are not a stranger! you are my new friend! Him and my long time fishing buddy 2 doors down dog where buddies, another lab. Shadow had a sixth sense about him, Buster just got a bath, time to get him and go play in the mud, wander the creek bed, can`t have him wandering around clean! In his younger days we spoiled him, after Christmas dinner he got the ham bone, bad move, he became a ham bone junkie, no neighbors trash was safe! If they were having ham? he went looking for the bone! and he could knock over a trash can! Nothing major, a good dog and a missed friend.

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-ABU-507-FISHING-REEL-VERY-NICE-/280596610112?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4154dc7c40 A very popular reel for flipping and pitching in this area, no longer made and in demand, the price reflects that. You can toss out a 1/16th ounce lure on 20# test line ( mono ). No line twist and durable.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&hash=item5d2c56045d&item=400175793245&nma=true&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&rt=nc&si=Z5U8vqAGivbN74PQbT2v2QhUEYw%253D Unused in it`s original box can make a 20 dollar item a bit more pricey in time.

It`s official, that is the most hockey I have ever watched. Down here we call people hitting each other with sticks a gang fight. Their game has evolved though, it now includes guns.

Like Garry mentioned what you have may work, it`s more technique than tackle. I used Abu Garcia Ultra Mag Pluses for years, old Shimano reels like the 251 black magnums. I even used some semi closed face reels for casting really light lures. I do like a longer rod, a flipping stick rated for at least 3/8 to 1 1/2 ounce lures. I even have some flipping sticks that were made for a spinning reel for the semi closed face spinning reels.

It is common here on the south side of Lake Erie for the Emerald shiners to form huge schools this time of year along the break walls at the river mouths, a tube can get you smallies, steel head or walleye, what ever is relating to the available food. My preference was for a white tube with silver glitter 3 1/2 - 4 inch.

"To the Canadian fishers, a big foe is the system that -- to prevent excessive harvests and give both commercial operators and sport anglers a fair share -- sets annual quotas on the amount of walleye and perch that can be taken from Lake Erie. A committee consisting of representatives from the province of Ontario and the states adjacent to the lake -- Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York -- determine the limits." LOL fair share? no commercial fishing for walleye on the Ohio side of Lake Erie, Ontario be fair? buy them out like we did?

I grew up in Cleveland in the 50`s & 60`s back then it had a million people and jobs weren`t had to find. Now it is down to 400,000 and good luck finding a decent job. The grocery store rear parking lot ended across the street from the neighbor`s house. Mom used to drag me and my older brother with her to shop and 35 bucks filled up the shopping cart to over flowing. Our first trip to Ontario in 1957, Beaver Lake, a cabin 50 feet from the water, 60 bucks for the week. Of course it took a lot longer to drive there, the interstate highway system was a plan in progress. 3 TV channels, and programs worth watching, now 60 channels you pay to see and still only about 3 channels worth watching. 1973, my first new ride, a Dodge tradesman van, 3100 bucks out the door, if only wages had kept up with the price of cars? 1975 my first new home, a 3 bedroom split level in the burbs, 28,900, brand new. Your average CEO made 30 times what his workers did, now it`s 300 times or more and they still aren`t happy.

Thanks to our brothers and sisters up north! Nice to see the board back up! No snow or ice here, but enough rain last night to cause some people problems.

I used the Storm Wee Steelie Warts, they are no longer made, the only difference I could see between them and the regular Wee Warts was a bigger stronger hook, which also made them a great bass lure. You can still find them on ebay but the west coast steelhead fisherman and collectors do drive the price up. Still usually cheaper than the megabass.

http://bassdozerstore.blogspot.com/2010/10/megabass-griffon-6cc-compact-crankbait.html I have fished with a lot of guys using a lot of different lures, the fact that theirs had a Cadillac price didn`t equate to the catching more fish.

Big fish, sad it couldn`t be released, but oh well. "What a massive musky!!!!!I wonder what it was feeding on." LOL Johnny, anything that got too close? One time we went to the Georgian Bay, a bunch of guys were leaving that had been fishing for bass and had kept some. One was torn up, cuts down both sides from teeth, a decent fish 19-20 inches. I asked him what had happened to that one, a ski grabbed it as he was bringing it in, a huge fish that let go when it saw the boat.

JMHO, bad weather was involved.

White bass spawn in the spring, the Sandusky river on this side of Lake Erie used to get a good run of them. I think it was shortly after the spring Walleye run. Going back to when I was a kid I remember one of dad`s fishing buddies stopping by the house with a cooler full of them that were all 14-18 inches. Never saw them that big again in quantity.

The can be cast, trolled. Like any lure they shine when they are the one that is working. I used them as a twitch bait a lot, cast it into a pocket in the lilies or weeds and let it sit. Some times you could see a bass rise behind it and just stare, a little twitch and they were all over it. I used them from 2 - 7 inches, sort of a match the hatch thing Silver and black or Perch finish always worked the best for me.

5. Closed Face Spincast Reel: 1949 — Zero Hour Bomb Company How every kid learns to cast. Dad must have seen enough bombs during ww2, I learned on a Langley bait caster. I didn`t use one until the mid 90`s, but give me any semi closed face Abu 500 series reels over any zebco. They make line other than Stren? Who the heck are their sponsors? Free spool bait casters didn`t get a nod? Hmmm, star drags? I remember having to thumb the spool for drag. The right kind of bait casters, left hand retrieve.

A woodpecker? Heck I was guessing at a drunk lumberjack. I have a King Crimson maple tree in my yard I bought almost 20 years ago. I got up one morning about 10 years and the bark on it was torn to heck, I thought my kids did it, until I saw the deer tracks.

Nice fish Aaron, this is a great time of year to be out there, if the weather cooperates. Tips? window weights, maybe 18 inches long and varying weights usually around 3 pounds or more, just a piece of round cast iron with a hole in the end, snag free. It is easy to clip on an anchor line and drop it to the bottom and drag it along to stir things up. It`s old school, my dad used to drag bricks or a concrete block. Places that replace windows usually have a lot of old ones sitting around. It`s also easy to make your own pencil weights, if you have a contact that does electric work have him give you some cut offs of grounding wire, hammer one end flat and drill a hole, it`s copper, easy to hammer and drill. You can also drill holes in a piece of wood or a thick piece of aluminum and pour lead into it when it hardens push it thru.

Almost all of mine came from open waters (Lake Erie) while fishing for smallies. I never used more than 8 or 10# test on a spinning reel on the lake, and very rarely used more than 10# on a casting reel on the lake. Usually original stren or prime on the spinning reel and original stren on the bait casters. It is important to check your line often for damage, they do run faster and jump more often than a smallie ( steel head never caught a salmon ).

Try a Carolina style rig, have a leader separate the bait from the weight, 18-24 inches. I have no idea what style of hooks you intend to use, all floating jig heads that I have seen use an Aberdeen hook, I would not recommend them for bigger fish. You could just thread the hook through a piece of styrofoam before putting the bait on?

Congrats Johnny! It is a good way to learn. Don`t expect to win or do well every time out, but always give it your best effort.

Get well soon Jack, all the best to you and your lady.

A few hundred between 19-22 inches, but never enough of them when I needed them to make any serious money off of them.

All the shad that I have caught were snagged, I have never had one hooked in the mouth.