Rich

Great report Ryan. Life is good.

"Greaser", "snake", "hammer handle", "smash" How bout "look at that thing run" .. kinda funny when you talking about water dwelling finned creatures. "Setting the hook" sounds more like you're making hooks in a mold "Bucktail" ... I wonder how many ppl hear that and thing we are cutting off deer tails and hanging them under a bobber? Lol One my friends always seem to laugh at "a fish just BOILED over there by my bait"

That is awesome Mike but I think the thanks should go the other way, to you guys for going out of your way to organize this auction!!

There is chain pickerel in Lake Erie. AND there was recently an article about how Lake Erie's grass pickerel numbers are dropping on the north shore. North shore.. thats us.

Thanks guys.. Corn on the hook. I've never liked hair rigs at all. Last day out carpin there, I couldn't keep them off corn on a jighead. Yesterday it had to be a three way swivel setup to get the hook in them and keep it there.

Was raining so hard we couldnt see the road coming home, lots of lightning wow! It was nasty and definitely looked tornadic for a short time.

What an evening. Nothing interesting to tell in technique. We set up on our favourite run on a Lake Erie trib for the afternoon/evening to try for the big girls. Regular canned corn on a three way swivel rig did the trick. Though we were losing fish left and right, which made it feel like a terrible evening... When we looked at the pics, we realized : today was epic! Great evening on the water with a longtime friend.

Blocked PM? Excuse me? I dont even know how to do that buddy. I remember replying with an entire page of questions you ignored, actually. I took the hint, not you! Lol

My non-fishing friends always seem to laugh when I suggest using 'jerkbaits with the stop and go technique"

Thanks I'll have to give it a shot at my pike spots!

Thanks sir!! By the way, the cats are still here for a couple weeks if ya ever want to do a simple shore night fish!

This is kind of an odd story. But my dad's tournament partner for years ; hated sheephead (freshwater drum). He hated them so much, that he used to kill every one he caught. Until young Rich (and I mean young, like 6) went pre-fishing for a tourney with me and dad one day. That day we were fishing the nanticoke outflow, and his friend hooked what he thought was the bass they were looking for. It came up to be a big sheephead. He angrily tossed it on the rocks. I being a righteous kid, piped up "go and throw him back right." He shrugged and said "those are garbage fish." I then went on a rant only a child could muster up in rage as a kid brought up to respect our natural laws and resources; "what if you were born ugly? Really ugly? So ugly no one would look at you? Then one day one of those people threw you on rocks to die?! How would you feel?!" He got out of the boat and put the sheephead back in the water. He never killed a sheephead again. Has a child ever taught you a lesson in such form? That is by the way, 100% true story, from the heart. It makes me tear up writing about it.

I always use either a jighead (shameless plug for Due North Lures affordable and effective jigheads ) or a big #2 or #3 circle hook, right through the eyes. With live bait, i always have better hookups & landed fish with a single hook.

My dad has offered me up his 19' hydra sports bass boat with a 150hp fast strike. Motor works great. The boat needs to be rebuilt though. The hull is fine. The wiring and carpeting, bilge and livewell need replacing. Anyone have any helpful tips - namely: to save money on the restoration?

May I ask was your bait on bottom or below a float?

Now that is enlightening. People keep telling me to try my catfish baits for pike and I never do. Maybe it's time to try again!

Though I dont have a lot of experience, I saw on Charlie Wray's show years ago thay predator fish attack head-first at their bait most of the time. Since then I have always hooked live bait through the eyes and let me tell ya your next post will be about removing deep hooked fish if you try it!

No kidding! In season or not they are really an annoyance!! Lol

Yeah, go to dover.

Funny, I had a local tell me to use chicken livers on bottom. He had apparently had similar results. All I caught was catfish.. though using frozen shads seems to work well for the pike. Like I said, I'd rather not use bait, live or dead.. but i do always keep a rod rigged for it just in case.

Okay, well I am fishing weedy (very weedy) shallow lakes. One has a max depth of 20 feet, and the others top out around 16. I know for fact they can be found in the deepest spots in the summer, but have only had success with live or dead bait fishing deep. I hate still fishing if I don't absolutely have to do it. Lol

Try the pier in Turkey Point or Port Rowan, minnows under a float will get em

Excellent suggestions and a huge thanks! Will be trying some of this stuff next time out for sure. And obviously the results prove success but fly fishing for pike is a step a few years ahead of me I think!

How big of a tube do you like? Do you think a 4" would be big enough? Sorry, noob questions. I just like to know if I'm on the right track, haha

Interesting tip, and much appreciated! I imagine you let it sink into heavy weeds and rip jig, almost as though for walleye? I can see this being very deadly where I fish!!