Burning Babies

Certainly under Ohio law it is not. The moment you take possession of a fish, it counts against your daily limit.

Wildlife Officers in Ohio have taken down smarter guys for less. If they are willing to put in the time, they can put a case together.

I would have informed him that what he was doing was illegal. I'd have to be there to say where I would have taken things from there. Around here.... lets say I know people who would be interested in hearing about this.

I'd like to get back into woodsball again. Lots of fun, but not a cheap hobby. I need an A-5 to replace my junk-2000 pump.

You guys both have excellent starts. Might want to look into some toned-down patterns for clear water. I'm not a Booyah fan, but something like this:

The Palomar comes out as the strongest out there, based on every test I've seen, but personally, I find it a PITA to tie. I've been using the Trilene knot for years, and stick to it most of the time.

Nope, but I did do some really rough back-of-an-envelope calculations of how many casts it takes to catch a muskie (while muskie fishing) based on some Wisconsin catch-per-effort data once. I think it came out to a little over 1000 casts per fish, on average.

Those are ODW data compiled from hundreds of angler interviews. We have plenty of fish here, but they see a lot of lures, and probably have more prey resources available than yours do. We've got about 1.6 million anglers fishing around 150 reservoirs (averaging maybe 1000 acres) and a bunch of ponds. It's a different ballgame down here.

I think the catch rate in Ontario is higher than we have down here, largely due to the angling pressure on our lakes. I compiled some stats from our 2005 creel data (10 lakes) to compare. Best Lake – 1.4 bass / hour 2nd best – .9 bass / hour Avg for good lakes – about .7 Overall average – around .5 bass / hour. I've been fishing one of the "good" lakes this year, and probably average .75 to 1 bass / hour.

I fish mostly Nimisila Reservoir in north-east Ohio. I've been meaning to hit the Portage Lakes nearby, but the zebra mussels are keeping me away, as well as Mogadore Reservoir.

I never pair down to less than five rods, but here is what I use in that situation: Rod #1 - baitcaster, 20 pound flouro, 6'6" Medium Heavy - spinner baits, frogs Rod #2 - baitcaster, 20 pound flouro, 6'6" Medium Heavy - bass jigs, worms, flipping tubes, sluggos Rod #3 - baitcaster, 12 lb mono, 6'6" Medium - large topwaters, crankbaits Rod #4 - spinning, 10 pound fireline with 10 lb flouro leader, 6'6" Medium - Tube jigs, finesse worms, light (1/8 - 1/4 oz) Carolina rig Rod #5 - spinning, 10 pound fireline with 10 lb mono or flouro leader, 6'6" Medium - jerk baits, smaller topwaters and cranks I've landed plenty of big fish in open water on light tackle, but a 4 lb bass is going to make a mockery of 12 lb test in slop.

I've fished from both inflatables and canoes, and vastly prefer the rigidity and durability of a canoe.

Yes, they are. There are plenty of situations where I select other baits because overall their design fits the job better, but given a choice between a powerbait lure and an identical non-powerbait lure, I'd go powerbait every time.

A medium action spinning rod should be fine for handling even large pike as long as you don't horse them. My biggest fish so far have been a pair of 36" and 37" muskies which I caught on the same medium light rod. As long as they aren't near a lot of heavy cover, just let them take line and tire themselves out. I mostly look to heavier rods for pike to let me cast larger lures. I wouldn't go over 10 lb test if you are fishing with mono. My choice for a beginner would be 10 lb superline. I have used mostly Fireline for years, but there are a lot of good options, including Spiderwire and PowerPro.

Nile perch are unrelated to Perca species like the European and yellow perch. That would shatter the world record. I wish people wouldn't throw weights around like that. It tends to cheapen the accomplishment of actually catching a fish that big.

Yeah, if I was targeting pike a lot, I'd look to up the power of my rod to medium heavy, rather than increase the length. Of course, a medium heavy spinning rod is much less versatile tool than a medium.

Good Choice !! Agreed. That is my favorite spinning combo for the money. I'd go with a 6'6" rod instead of a 7' personally though. 6'6'' is definately the most widely used, and I find them easier to handle and work with for precision casting.

I wouldn't. First, assuming that that weight is exactly 3 oz is probably incorrect. More importantly, spring scales typically require weights of over 10% of their capacity to get an accurate reading, so you really didn't verify your scale at all. Certified scales are the only way to go for potential records.

Tape the anal vent to prevent loosing any weight that way. Get it weighed on a certified scale immediately. Contact MNR ASAP. Congrats on a beautiful white crappie.

Man, you guys do a lot better than the guys on the big Ohio fishing message board. People would be calling that everything from a grass pickerel to a barracuda over there.

That's a beaut.

I've never heard them called anything but pumpkinseeds. Of course, there are a ton of regional names for fish as well, but I've never heard that one (neither has Google it seems). If you've got the name right, it's very colloquial.

Interesting. I was unaware of that. Probably the smart move. Sure, there are plenty of cases where carp do not have significant impact on other species. However, to quote scientific paper in Oikos (a very well respected aquatic journal I might add), "Introduction of the benthivorous common carp (Cyprinus carpio) has been identified as one of the main causes of loss of biodiversity and water clarity in numerous shallow lakes and ponds worldwide." The negative effects of carp have been well documented. Sorry, but in a pond with that level of nutrients, the oxygen levels are almost certainly too low to support trout, and the summer temperature is probably too high. One probably won't make a big difference, except to muddy the water a bit. But why would you want one? I can think of three scientific papers documenting them eating fish eggs. Here's one: http://www.sgnis.org/publicat/jfe12_32.htm Aquashade turns the water green. Copper sulfate just kills the plants. Be careful if you use the copper sulfate during the summer - killing everything at once will lead to oxygen depletion as it decays, killing your fish. Treat small areas of weeds at a time.

Amur (grass carp) will eat weeds, and are an option. Common carp will muddy the water by foraging, which will reduce light penetration and ultimately weed growth, but a muddy pond isn't ideal either. They also consume gamefish eggs. Other options are also available. The best option is to prevent them growing in the first place, by limiting nutrient inputs with a buffer strip of natural vegetation. Physical removal of the weeds can also help, because you are taking the nutrients stored in the weeds out as well. Chemical applications are available, both to limit plant growth by darkening the water (eg. Aquashade) or killing the plans outright (copper sulfate). If your pond is overly shallow and plants are growing throughout it, dredging it might be necessary to reduce the proportion of the bottom that receives enough light to grow weeds. We recommend limiting weed growth to 25% of your pond area.

I'm still playing with options for my flouro / superline connection, but the one I've been using recently has worked well. I'm using the standard uni / uni knot, but doubling the superline by using a rapala knot to increase diameter the flouro has to wrap around and reduce the strain on the outside bend of the flouro knot. I also add a few additional wraps to the superline uni knot to prevent slipping. I haven't broken this connection yet. I'll also add that my previous experiences with Vanish have been very negative.