OhioFisherman

Nice report, home lakes? nice to have a clue on spots that held fish, even nicer if they decide to stay home? Almost an adversion to practice days on lakes I fished before, it can mess up finding fish by thinking they should be here or here. Losing a fish in a tournament is never fun, a few ounces can change the whole experience.

Don`t get caught up in the number of ball bearings race, the number of ball bearing has little to do with the ability of hook and land fish.

Your water always tended to be clearer up there than most of the waters I have fished here, and I still never saw a valid reason to switch to floro for fishing slop. I didn`t even use braid 17# test original Stren worked well for me, no problems with knots, I do wet the line before I pull them tight. A 4-5 pound bass shouldn`t be causing the line to break, a 40+ inch muskie or pike maybe. Run your fingers down the last foot and a half of line from time to time, if you feel knicks? cut and retie! Light wire hooks are not a good choice if you want to put fish in the live well,you can bend them pulling a pig from cover. Some line I have tried is junk right out of the box, find one that works and stuck with it, less headaches that way. Every extra knot in your line can be a potential problem. LOL Garry, always nice to have line heavy enough breaking it is a problem?

Pretty hard to beat a 200 series Shimano Curado for all around fishing, either a new one or a gently used one off of ebay. You can buy the old models used for less than 100 bucks, and a decent reel. Citica`s aren`t bad either. Abu`s all seem to be made in Korea now? Not sure of the newer models history of problems.

Nice fish cudz, they call that region the 30 thousand islands? they didn`t bother to count the 30 million rocks. 25 years or so of going to just one small area of the G/B, and it seemed every trip you could find new smallie spots.

No, I prefer some thing with a track record, a history of catching fish. Cheap lures? soft plastics.

Sorry about the thumb Johnny! I lipped one in a hurry one time and not thinking, them teeth do some damage! 17# mono was all I used for fishing slop, it does the job, at least for bass and smaller fish. Great pics and report, get well soon. By the way they have a rubber thumb protector, you see the in offices or banks sometimes, it might give some protection? Not the same thing but might help? http://www.thumbdinger.com/

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=8&ved=0CDYQFjAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.greenpeace.org%2Fraw%2Fcontent%2Fseasia%2Fen%2Fpress%2Freports%2Fcoal-fired-power-plants-and-th.pdf&ei=P-ZATMyZDouinQeP-cTVDw&usg=AFQjCNGa_DKaUPERau_q8-8F12FR3c1beg Despite decreasing population of most rust belt cities electrical power generation from coal fired plants continues to increase.

They actually shed their shell-skin when they come above ground, they don`t have wings until it`s shed. You can see them once in a while stuck to trees.

The new adventures of the Keystone cops? Cops investigate the public, the public should be allowed to investigate the cops.

We seem to get them to a degree every summer, although some years are far worse than others. I took my kids to a small lake near me about 10 years ago and there were so many the noise they were making was disturbing. Enough of them together and they give off a low humming that is far worse than the loud noise they make. If they land in the water fish eat them.

If you are fishing from shore? walk the shore line and cast. Let the fish tell you what spots they prefer. Not all areas on a lake will hold fish lack of visible cover may mean they are using weeds or even the changes in the rocks for cover. Look for any concentrations of bait fish near shore, bass will school and herd bait fish into shore and trap them. Rock shore? like granite or like rip rap? Rip rap is an excellent home for craw fish and it also provides shelter for bait fish. In some lakes with out much cover bass will cruise the shore line searching for food, but there are always spots along the shore line they prefer. If you don`t see bait fish? small blue gills can become the food source, look for numbers of them near shore. Cast at 45 degree angles from shore, you are searching for likely areas, you cover a larger area that way. Creeks entering the lake, any where storm water run off may enter, it brings in food, either for bass or for bait fish which attract the bass.

http://www.ontarioparks.com/english/stur.html

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Eumeces_fasciatus.html cool, strange what you can run into wandering about.

Nice pics! Fall here is the time for the bigger fish, October, November. Sort of like Bay of Quinte? Some big fish show up for the fall bite. The Island area is a lot more scenic than fishing off of Cleveland.

"Sounds like a big waste of money to me...taxpayer money. In 25 years we are going to have a whole bunch of broken down windmills and no electricity" ??? Do you believe the current electrical supply system is maintenance free? and probably billions of dollars alone spent in the USA trying to figure out how to dispose of the hazardous waste by products? Truck loads of fly ash from the coal fired plants everyday heading to dumping sites, so using fuel also. New gas fired plants creating an increased demand and cost for natural gas. Have you ever seen the mess strip mining coal can make of an scenic area? and the costs and time required to return it to a some what natural state? Population x2+ since the 50`s? think coal and oil will last for ever?

The water treatment plants remove solids from the waste water( sewage, including stuff you deposit in your toilets)they make a mound at the water treatment plants, and allow farmers to come in and take it for fertilizer. er, stuff happens?

If you think that is bad? imagine how it was before Ohio put a closed season on them! I have been fishing Lake Erie for almost 50 years here on the south side. Spring of the year, during the bass spawn it wasn`t unusual to see people walking the shore line dragging stringers of smallies. A lot of those morons were the same people that screamed the loudest when numbers dropped. If the fish aren`t allowed to spawn, undisturbed, the numbers will drop! Egg eating fish and weather are enough threat to a spawn, why allow other factors?

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4400884&id=172693626347#!/photo.php?pid=4259271&id=172693626347&fbid=179534806347 Payne`s has changed since the mid 70`s, the people were friendly though. Actually the channel there heading out isn`t a bad place to start. It is the only way back into the back bays so a migration route, and a good mix of shallow and deep water. Boat traffic can dictate how easy it will be to fish though. A lot of the points on the islanda in the back section of the bay held smallies, and really no lily pad bed is to small to check for largemouth. The Shawanaga river held cats up to 25 pounds when we went, also caught walleye there mid summer, it can be hit or miss though. Lots of gar in the river.

Look on line? might be different where you fish, most of the lakes here are man made and some sort of map is available for most of them. What is on shore can give you an idea of what is off shore, a rocky point going into the water usually means the rocks continue out away from shore. Burning a blade bait, like a heddon sonar above the rocks can trigger strikes, guess it looks like fleeing bait fish.

Dudes suit looks a little thread bare, lend him a tutu.

Each retailer is different, but Old Milwaukee should cost around $16.29 for a 30 pack! US prices! My beer budget is about 15 bucks every 3 years or so.

The rubber slide in worm weight stops work pretty well also.

Like mentioned by others a lizard is usually the stand by bait on a Carolina rig. I have seen a variety of soft plastics used though, craws, tubes, and wide paddle tail worms. I usually went with a 6 inch zoom lizard.

No idea if this is any help to you, I have seen sealed head pop rivets. The part that the shaft goes through has a sealed head, which I assume is to prevent liquids from flowing through. No idea where you might find them in your area though. A nut and bolts supplier? My personal preference would be to have it fixed right the first time though. http://www.bylerrivet.com/products/blind-rivets.aspx