splashhopper

fished the shady side till 8 o'clock tonight... not hits... used a Senko and my top water frog... moved to directly across the pond .... same thing tonight,,, except for two small smallies on the Senko I think the BIG wind that blew through had a lot to do with it also. The wind blew the humidity right outa here Will try again in the morning... thanks again splashhopper

I have two places that I have been catching some LM bass the last two weeks on Top-water tactics. I prefer fishing at dusk right now, but the bite seems off this week. I am wondering if it is because I am fishing on the east side of the pond and it is still pretty bright with light there until 9pm.. The west side of the pond has a long stand of mature trees creating a very shaded area... I don't fish it much as the access to the water is pretty dense and steep. My question is: At dusk, should I try fishing in the shady area earlier(6:30pm till dark?) instead of waiting for the sun to drop on the east side of the pond. The fish seem to be hitting around 8-9 pm on the east side. I have another place with the same situation that I am going to try next week after work and am wondering the same thing there. Thanks again Splashhopper

a BIG one

see "botbot brought her friend" .. for a belated Father's day of fishing.. with pics

I finally got around to uploading some pics from Father's day on to www.photobucket.com . My daughter, Botbot, wanted to bring her friend fishing with us. I was a bit hesitant at first, as I wanted to have the day for just the two of us. My daughter has a "certain way" about her when it comes to getting me to do stuff for her that I may not want to do... can any of you other dad's appreciate that...lol So, off to Walmart to buy another spinning reel/rod combo for her friend.. Botbot tells me: "make sure she will catch a fish dad, it's her first time out". Um, yeah honey,,, no problem Off we go to a little carp spot that I am pretty sure we will get some action. After a five to ten minute "lesson" on how to hold the pole(rod tip up) and us chumming the hole with some DelMonte corn, we were "ready". They got set up on the rocks and "started fishing" A few minutes later and Botbot is into one.. Another 10- 15 minutes later and her friend catches her FIRST FISH EVER( check out the smile) Botbot soon learns that it takes patience teaching a person how to fish for the first time and needed to fish by herself for a few minutes I got a call from my friend who was fishing for perch along the Lake Erie shore and we decided to go meet him and try for some perch ourselves. Botbot likes fishing with him as he is a very gentle fishing coach and she knows that he is the one who gave me my board name here We meet up with him just in time for him to be releasing a sheephead By this time, I am getting "just a little" frustrated with the whole "teaching a kid how to fish thing" and my friend takes over. I get a chance to throw the line in and relaaaax... I like meditating when I am fishing alone and this was one of those "moments with my Higher Power" that I will NEVER forget. I felt like He had made my friend call me that day to give me a reminder in GRATITUDE... My Higher Power gave me one of "His nudges" and planted this thought in my head: " why are you being so impatient this morning? don't you think your friend would give ANY THING to have one more day of fishing with his son?".. (My friend's son was murdered a few years ago, and here I am in a prissy little mood about not having Botbot to myself on Father's day.) I got "THE message".... I took my friend aside and gave him a father's day hug.. we both choked back a few tears... Then, as the fishing god's would have it, Botbot yells out: "FISH ON DADDY and it's BIG daddy !" She and her friend are squealing with excitement and I know, I am a blessed man... Botbot pulls this one up and asks for the OFC sign A few minutes later...... Botbot yells at her friend to yank on her pole... ( her friend was starting to doze off on the rocks in the heat) Her friend is startled but has an auto re-flex.. and hooks this one Thanks OFC community for helping my daughter and I with our fishing questions... and Thank You to my Higher Power for reminding me what's really important on Father's day... Splashhopper and Botbot

welcome aboard bro...

our prayers are with you and your family... sincerely, Splashhopper and Botbot

hmmm... and I was thinking that maybe I might overdo it by going out in the am as my wife leaves for work at 5:00 am... hmmm

I have been going out to a local river and pond after work about 2-3 times per week for the last couple of weeks. Always in the hopes of catching a few fish... OR, trying out the latest lure or bait technique ... But mainly I go to unwind and find some new local places to fish.. I know I am also blessed to live in a city much smaller than Toronto( London) and am withing a 15-20 minute drive in most directions for some reasonable fishing. My daughter,botbot, has started coming out with me since school has finished once per week too. ( Taekwondo the other 4 nights for her) How many of you are fishing after work and why? Thanks Splashhopper

Fishnwire: I just started top water fishing two weeks ago myself... what a "blast" I am having difficulty sleeping now thinking about the next big one..lol Top water fishing has also opened whole new bodies of water for this boat-less fishermen to enjoy as well. Maybe take a scroll back through this Topic post for some very helpful hints from everyone that has helped me in my new addiction.

we did throw the frog back out, still attached to the lure... it played possum on the open water... but as soon as it was near the vegetation.. it kicked up a fuss....nothing came after it...we tried once more... same thing.... so we let it go to live a long and happy life.... Been working the jitterbugs,,,, but can't work em around weeds... keep getting hung up...

so far... I have 1- 13'ft fenwick for trout float fishing 1- 10.5 -- trout and bass 1- 6.5' - medium-- bass 1- 6.5 - heavy duty - bass 1- 7' medium heavy-- bass I can see me getting a bait caster real soon too... maybe another heavy duty rod(one piece though) with it by summers end so... in two short seasons of fishing, I can see I have a mild obsession building already....

wtg for bringing your sister out fishing with you... glad to see she caught some fish too you keep posting pics of her with bigger fish than you though, and pretty soon some of the young guns on this board are gonna be inviting her out to fish with them too (siya ay isang pretty pangingisda partner para sa ilang mga binata)

Kept my frog on,,,, tossed it out a whole 10 yards,,,,, got frustrated trying to get the rats nest out tonight... so i cut about 20 yards of line off... then I went fishing... got two hits within minutes.. missed the hook sets... and then it just went dead... no fish rolling... two other on shore and in a canoe.. had the same thing tonight... not meant to be for tonight.... but hey... I am getting the practice in tossing the frog at logs and shore lines to the right/left of me under trees and near bushes etc.... soon guys... i am gonna get me a BUCKET mouth outa there to be proud of.... splashhopper

Was thinking the same thing oh.. and niiice :feeesh" too, eh

Ok.. so i stopped using the swivel on the Power pro... I went out yesterday morning and got the rats nest of a life time on my new line.... now what? I can't even seem to get the line out of the reel far enough to get past the last big loop in it yet... i think I am gonna lose about 30 yards of the new stuff already.... any suggestions guys? thanks splashhopper

His smile says it all....

nice smallie from Wildwood... wtg

Found these on Kijiji just now St Thomas>> http://london.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-bo...QAdIdZ140057792 Strathroy>> http://london.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-bo...QAdIdZ137774395

good luck with the contest.. and remember,.,, it ain't a REAL wedding without a knock down drag em out fight right before they get married... you got my vote

Those frogs are very territorial.... two of them came at my top water frog at the same time a few minutes later.... I started tossing the frog about a yard shorter, in the hopes that all their "natural commotion" might bring attention to another bass or two.. no such luck splashhopper

here is a BIG THANK YOU to all who replied and shared their Experience and Knowledge with me on the topic I started called " top water lures- (what , when, why)" I went back out yesterday with my buddy and his canoe and was rewarded with this 23" smallie > ( click the pic to make it larger... you can then see where its tail was ) ( note to self... set the camera to flash all the time... not much time to find my OFC 2009 sign/take the pic/ and get the fish back in the water ) The help on that particular thread guided me to do the following in regards to the top-water fishing for bass ( in no particular order): 1) wait, wait, wait ... and then set the hook( like that was "easy"-- NOT ) 2) cast the lure out.... let it sit till the ripples stopped... retrieve with some erratic twitches ... let it sit again... 3) re-line my reel to 30lb Power Pro to cut through the weeds better 4) use a medium to medium/heavy 6-7ft rod to be able to pull the fish out of those damned weeds 5) Tie the line directly to the lure for better action ( got a little frustrated with the afternoon fishing and had a swivel on one of my lines though) 6) fish the edges of the weed beds where they end and the open water starts ( couldn't do this much with a canoe though, but this has opened up a whole new area for me to fish wherever I go now without a canoe ) In summary... the OFC site has been a real blessing for me, and my daughter botbot, in sharing all your experience and knowledge with this novice fisherman. I hope to post more of my summer fishing experiences with this form of fishing... (maybe even catch something bigger than this from yesterday too...... it hit the top water frog I was using >>> Thanks again. Splashhopper and botbot PS.. I checked our team entries and we don't have a bass on there yet... so hey, for now at least, I have finally contributed to adding some inches to the team.

Well, I got out on a river that I like fishing for pike and bass. have been putting in the time and effort this last week with the top water lures thanks to all the suggestions and tips from everyone on this thread... and ... Here's the results of today's efforts... Tossed about 10 cast in just after we launcched the canoe and WHAMMMO... WAIT... wait... wait..... SET THE HOOOK ! Ta-dah >>> a 23" smallie!.... ( we didn't realize that the flash wasn't on, on the camera but look closely, you will see how big this fish is) and hopefully I am on the board for my team, finally.... I haven't looked at the time of this posting... My buddy got three "snot-rockets" in the next thirty minutes... and I had one more hit... then Nothing for the rest of the day.... WE were anticipating a huuge day with the start we had....but alas... the fishing gods had other ideas.. I did end up with this bugger on my black top-water frog lure>> also.... does anyone know how deep this stuff grows below the surface of the river>> and no, it isn't the "Hydroponic gold" Thanks for all the tips and support this week everyone.... you made my week Splashhopper

thanks for the adventure with your son.... WTG Caleb with the big bass.....