OhioFisherman

It seems like just a couple of weeks ago they were talking about how much ice cover was on Lake Erie? http://www.cleveland19.com/story/37606166/northeast-ohio-enjoys-early-taste-of-spring-in-parks-on-lake

It's not that big of a boat, as I recall one of my buddies procraft with a 150 would hit the low 50's, his was a 19 foot boat, just guessing you should be in that range. Art knows a lot more about driving that style of boat than me, a 17' 6" fish hawk style boat would have done everything I needed it to do. LOL, been in a lot of bass boats, never even had the urge to drive one.

Congrats! They are claiming 57mph on the gps on this one with 2 people and a 115.

LOL, you are only about 250 miles due north of me as the goose flies? I have seen posts on another site from guys 200 miles south of me already fishing open water. We still can get some serious snow here in March, but the serious cold is usually gone. I am seeing 3 days below 40 here in the next 15 day forecast.

The birds starting hitting my yard en mass last week, might not be much winter left?

They used to do that on this side of the lake too, we have a couple-few rivers that are more or less infamous for their ice related flooding. I - 90 crosses the Vermilion river here just south of the small city of Vermilion, the ice regularly jams up below the bridge and there are marinas, restaurants, homes, and other businesses before you get to Lake Erie. Right at the mouth of the river is a big steel breakwall, one year the ice jam let go all at once and washed like 50-60 boats that were stored on cradles at a marina there out to the lake and into the breakwall. One of my friends lost his 30 foot Searay when that happened, the surprising thing to me was how many people though that only carried boat insurance " in season ".

Part of the fun of fishing to me Bill, figuring out what lure was going to work on any given day. You can look like a hero one day and a zero the next?

I drove a truck here stateside, only delivered to a couple of area prisons, but it was pretty much the same procedure. My pocket knife had to be left at the gate until I left.

LOL, it was a forced retirement! I know there are good ones there, and I would still rate PAB as my favorite place to fish!

It's interesting how locations and personal experience can dictate lure choices? A surface lure here would be about last on my list for targeting smallies. I caught a lot of bass at Pointe Au Baril on surface lures, but I can't recall any of them being smallies. The 90 mm size looks smallie size, just guessing a 110 mm would be too, but I didn't see that size in a knock off. The 130 looks more largemouth - pike sized to me, but it could work for crazy smallies?

I'm pretty sure the bottom one is a top raider Bill. I used to like the sound of a jitterbug coming across the water.

Changing the hooks on some lures can throw off their action, you have to be careful with hook size and weight. No idea how that lure would work with a steel or floro leader, throwing expensive bass lures around toothy fish is a bad plan to me.

http://www.tackletour.com/reviewosprudra.html https://japanlureshop.com/osp-rudra-130sp-14465.html

No idea, isn't there some kind of standard though? Are vin tags different on cars made in other countries and sold in yours? I would just guess that the information on them is easily available and traceable?

Dang, those teeth might scare a muskie!

Kick, I am pretty sure the sizes on them now is 90-110-130-190. I got a couple off of Ali Express to have a look at https://www.aliexpress.com/item/ALLBLUE-Whopper-Popper-Topwater-Fishing-Lure-13g-9cm-Artificial-Bait-Hard-Fishing-Plopper-Hook-Soft-Rotating/32848403111.html?spm=2114.10010108.1000014.5.607b37dctrg7DS&traffic_analysisId=recommend_3035_null_null_null&scm=1007.13338.80878.000000000000000&pvid=7e846603-26d9-48b2-9642-bb885887bdec&tpp=1 A 130 and a 90, the 130 at like 1 1/3 ounce is heavier than just about any lure I used for bass here. The 90 from that seller isn't quite as deep in the body by the front hook as the original, so it may seem even smaller. The hooks are sticky sharp and finish is very good, on the 90 though the gap between the body and tail section seems a bit sloppy to me. An easy fix might be to strip a piece of insulation off a wire a similar size to the wire shaft, split it a place it between the ball and wire coil on the back.

Yes it makes sense to me kick, kind of like a buzz bait with and without a clacker blade on it? but they both sound more metallic to me also. So what's old is new again?

OK, can't say I recall hearing of that one though.

I thought I had heard that name in the distant past!

Raf, correct me if I am wrong, but haven't the top raiders been around for a long time?

Every lure is a pike lure up there! LOL

I liked buzzbaits, but they don't look like anything a fish should eat, and pausing them just makes them sink.

Yes Brian, there are a couple of other sizes out there too, a 90mm 3 1/2 inch and a 110mm 4 1/2 inch? Also a lot of knock offs and I have even seen blank bodies that you can paint yourself? https://www.aliexpress.com/item/SeaKnight-SK050-SK051-Whopper-Plopper-Fishing-Lure-Set-5PCS-Lot-13g-90mm-39g-130mm-Floating-Bait/32841120421.html?spm=2114.10010108.1000013.2.6e9b4d8fK6GLJZ&traffic_analysisId=recommend_2088_1_90158_iswistore&scm=1007.13339.90158.0&pvid=17a2b920-253f-4d53-b643-1db8bc06cf85&tpp=1

I can certainly see where it would have it's uses, and up there with pike and muskie around it doesn't look like a steel or flouro leader would hurt the action.

Hot or hype? Thoughts?