Rich

East. Winds from the east stir the bay's prevalent mud bottom up pretty quick and put pretty much every species in lockjaw mode.

Dunnville? You sure that wasn't a nuclear test site?

Nice catch. Anybody get a weight?

Long Point can be brutal if you don't know the area, since it all looks the same at first glance. Weed choked and bowl shaped. You'll catch bass everywhere, but finding decent fish is tough to do. Also I don't believe rentals come with electric motors.. so that'll make it tougher. I'd say head north before heading to LPB.

Decent pike, perch and crappie fishing. You'll have a good time. You'll wish you went after bass opener though.

I think catching BIG bass consistently is very location-oriented, based on the local diet. Kawarthas it's scum frogs & jig/pigs.. around here (for me anyway) it's big plastic worms and buzzbaits. Just dying to get out bass fishing.. thank god it's almost here! Oh yeah, and I sure don't catch them consistently.. so I guess I'm not one to talk. LOL

Power to throw heavier tackle and pull fish out of cover. That's why I use 'em. Accuracy is nice, quiet presentation as well.. though with practice both can be achieved with a spinning reel too. But once you toss that plastic bait into that little pocket in the brushpile with your spinning reel, good luck horsing him out with light line!

Yeah, you better erase that picture and have the part of your brain removed where that memory is located. As if something can't count for a PERSONAL best. Jesus. Nice smallie, congrats on the catch. Glad it was released unharmed as is the only true rule that applies to incidentally caught OOS fish. And 6lb bass on Simcoe are sure not a rarity. Check out the winning weights of any tournament there! Insane.

Sugarpacket and I took our nephew Isaiah out fishing this afternoon in hopes of some big carp. Unfortunately Isaiah by pure chance never had any takers good enough to set the hook into. Sugarpacket and I each got into a fish. The one time Isaiah's rod doubled over he was far too distracted by the snails he picked to play with. lol Either way, we all had fun. Isaiah really loves to fish and didn't really mind at all not catching any. And yes, those are flowers in our hair. LOL Kids make ya do the strangest things. The flowers were "good luck"

Now that's a boy who's born to fish!

Agreed, I bought that combo (at least I believe it's the same one) last year. Been very impressed with it for 40 bucks.

Chartreuse Big O trolled behind the boat 2.6 - 3.2 mph depending on the day... if you're launching at Steve's just ask him. He'll put you on them.

What are you trying to catch? Drop a white jig/pink jighead tipped with a piece of worm anywhere near the dam and you'll catch sheepies and channel cats all day long.

Hittin' pretty good.

Chuck Norris catches neither smallmouth or largemouth bass. When he's done, they have no jaws.

Mini marshmallow on a hook

Straight up braid unless you're fishing toothies!

If you fish a lot of big fish, carp, salmon, trout, channel cats.. the rear drag is convenient. No chance of your fingers touching the line and losing the fish of a lifetime. If you fish bass, walleye and similar species.. the rear drag is really of no benefit to you. More of a convenience thing.

If you drop your boat in at Dover head east about a half mile out from the grain elevator. You'll probably see other boats. There's a weedbed and small hump in the area that holds them. West of Dover off the pumphouse can be good too. Or just go randomly and watch the fish finder for signs of life. Often they just roam the beaches out there. South of the pier about 200' from the west side (where the tourists walk) there is remnants of the old pier. I hear of people doing well there, personally I've only caught the odd pike, sheephead and rock bass in that spot though. Oh yes minnow over the side of the boat is best 90% of the time.

Good stuff Marko! Looks like fun. Carp fishing and an evening dip. Been there too many times! Trout fishing especially... been known to climb on overhanging trees to plunk a bait in a nice looking hole. Not really knowing what to do when a big fish actually hits. lol

Jerkbaits/crankbaits the rod needs to be lighter, with more give. Helps keep from ripping the trebles out on hooksets. Spinnerbait rod needs to be more sturdy. One big hook, so it takes a little more power to drive it in. Flippin'... well I just can't do it without a flippin' stick anymore. Don't know how I ever lived without one. The power to drive the hook home and get the fish out of the heavy stuff fast. Way less lost fish that way. And I usually bring a 7' M spinning rod out for the other stuff I don't use so often. So yeah, 4 - 5 rods is usually enough for me. I think after that it's just a convenience thing. Less knot tying. In tournament fishing, time is money. That 30 seconds to tie a new knot could be one less fish I suppose.

Chandos Lake is a good choice too. Ontario's full of big pike, head north you shouldn't have trouble finding a decent lake.

Yeah, our lakes can't possibly sustain a year round bass season. Much better off to tow the boat to the other side of the Niagara River and do it over there. After all, the bass on that side of the river have a year round growing season. I'm not advocating OOS bass fishing, but I would definitely advocate a change in bass season here in Ontario. I've always said what would be best is keeping it open until the beginning of April, then closing from April til end of June. That would sufficiently protect bedding bass.

Sugarpacket and I headed to my favourite Lake Erie tributary carp spot with high hopes this afternoon. Though the decision to go was made far too quickly and without thinking I grabbed one of my spinning rods rigged with 8lb Fireline. Don't get me wrong, I love Fireline, but when fishing on bottom around a lot of logs, sticks and pads for big fish, the stuff don't stand a chance. Long story short, any and all big carp I had on today (3) were lost rather abruptly due to frays and break-offs. My advice (to myself) .. always stick to the mono when carpin! That being said, after losing a couple packs of hooks I did finally land a small carp. Sugarpacket stuck with worms while I used corn.. she was slaying just about every species in the creek except for carp. Rock bass, perch, bullheads, channels.. most notable fish for her tonight was a sheephead though. All good fun as usual, but I was pretty peeved about losing those big girls to break-offs. Kicked myself in the teeth all night about bringing the wrong rod.

Here's a couple of fish from a spot about a block from my house.. just pulling off some pics from my cell. Figured I'd share.