Dwight Hottle

The Sandbar.

Welcome to BR.

Beaver houses have always been a classic spot for pike. First time I encountered one on Erie it was in the lagoons off Misery bay within Presque Isle Bay. I caught my first lake erie steelhead there in early spring on a jerkbait expecting a pike bite. I encounter them infrequently.

X2 I have them handy in my boat.

X2 Insulated Guidewear from Cabela's. Bibs & parka jacket.

That's a walleye color.

That is what I have heard also. The blanks do not come from Gary's shop. Gary does supply his current blanks to Trey Kistler for Kistler Rods.

I eat a lot of of fish but don't soak it in milk. The idea behind that is to help reduce the strong or fishy taste of some fish as it is supposed to help neutralize the taste. Bleeding fish out just after capture & keeping them cool or one ice helps too.

Original rapala. F09 or F11

It's still an American PB congrats.

Muddy water caused by extreme runoff or high winds tends to put the fish deeper from my experiences.

I check my line for abrasion after every catch or snag just to be sure. I retie at least daily. If I'm catching big fish I will retie after several just to be safe.

I’m a jerk bait junkie. I have lots of expensive baits from Japan and lots of not expensive baits. For sheer numbers of bass caught the rapala husky jerk & smithwick rogues have done a beat down on Lake Erie smallies over the years. The husky jerk deep diver alone has probably put 40-50 six pound smallies in my boat. Very, very effective.

Great write up. Sounds like a you had a fun experience learning & sharing.

I have both baits & prefer the claw hands down. It’s a confidence builder because it gets bit.

Good news Michael.

Lake Erie is where I chose to move for retirement. Plenty of diversity when the bass aren't biting. Winters are best spent south in Florida.

G loomis StCroix Kistler

My condolences Lonnie to you & your family.

I have had a Lowrance, Humminbird & two Garmin units. No reliability issues with Lowrance or Humminbird. I had two Garmins units fail after 18 months use. Based on that small sample I would suggest Humminbird. They did have great customer service when I needed to call them.

I don't think I have ever heard someone complain to a ranger because there is to much debris in the water. LOL.

Sent you a PM.

Shawn Rush on Rodman or Steve Daniels on the big O. Shawn only does shiners, no artificals.

Sweet looking rods Paul. I have two of the old G Loomis 720 SJR IMX rods. They are a mag light power extra fast action. I think they are probably highly similar to your NFC blank. I use them for perch & fun time with smallies. https://www.americanlegacyfishing.com/g-loomis-classic-spin-jig-fishing-rod-sjr720-imx.html If you remember Fish Chris that is the rod he used for casting live bait to sight fish.

Back to back uni works for me.