Dwight Hottle

@Swamp Girl @Susky River Rat We found some dark fish out in open waters with good visibility down to 20 fow. We were fishing 20-25 fow. Conversely we caught some light washed out looking fish in dirty water over a sand bottom in shallow water 5-15 fow.

Last day on Lake Erie of our four fishing days. Much warmer air temps up to 69 degrees but the wind was a steady 20-25 almost all day with a recorded guest at 41 mph. We could not get to our favorite spot out on the lake but settled on a secondary spot. Max water temps for the week were 48 degrees out in the lake & 50 degrees in Presque Isle bay. Deep diving jerk baits to start & finished with blade baits. Our best five totaled 27lbs -4 oz. All in all we had a great time even with the cold/wind & the two really good fish we lost.

And it has finally started.

Rob & I were just talking about Roger at dinner a few hours ago. Rolo was a class act very knowledgeable & a great multi species angler. He kept all the hand written letters of correspondence he had with Al Linder of In-Fisherman. He was very analytical in his thought's & research about fishing. My sincere condolences to his wife Lois & family. I will miss him greatly as we had some great discussions about the sport we both loved.

Day four on Lake Erie. Sunny all day & warmer temps with much lower winds. Biggest fish was 5-2 & 5-1. Caught a bonus Waldo too.

Day two on Erie was a blow day with 30-40 mph winds. Today day three was 33 degrees to start with a high of 41. Wind speed was brutal with steady 15-27 mph winds. Small craft warnings again but we fished anyway. We were very limited as to where we could fish. Needless to say it was a slow catching day. The bites we did get were very noncommittal. Rob dropped 6 or 7 fish boat side before he put his first in the net. They were smaller fish so we didn’t really care just quick releases. I landed by first fish but not a picture fish. Then I hooked something really big. It moved very slowly but didn’t head shake. Finally pulled off near the boat. We never saw it but I don’t think it was a smallie. We were fishing all bottom contact baits. The primary bait was a metal blade Dimiki vault in 3/4 oz. That’s part of the reason for so many pull offs. Rob hooked a giant smallie which we saw boat side by all three of us. It was a heart breaker because it was definitely a new PB for him & probably was a new PB for the boat. I saw it broadside at the boat & it had a massive girth with a long frame. A real downer. I got a nice fiver on a big buck tail jig in white/green chartreuse & another nice fish on a jerk bait before we quit.

Terrible news but let’s hope & pray they get you back to good health. Keep positive & start planning your next fishing outing.

First day back on Erie. Three over five with a 5-4, 5-6 & 5-14. We dropped a solid 6 plus & two others over five that jumped or were seen boat side before coming unhooked. Anyway a good start for first day.

Since I already insulted A-Jay I’m finally on the board. My biggest today I dropped half way back to the boat. My second biggest went 5-14. Thats 5.875 divided by PA record 8.5 equals.69.11 x 100 for 69.11 total.

Seems to be fixed for me.

@Lottabass I think this is the answer to your problem. These are made to replace trebles with a single hook with a large eye for attachment. If you’re still concerned with hooking your self just pinch the barb down with a pair of pliers. They provide a conversion chart so you don’t have to guess what size to use. They make a regular & an extra strong.

I'm sitting here racking my little pea brain about how to best insult you. The best I can come up with is the time you had me reel in your new to be PB smallie at that time because you were already fighting what you thought was the bigger fish. That was a classic. 😀 If that doesn't qualify as an insult I'll just say your pea brain is smaller than mine.

Not that I remember but I could have been.

Cleveland Indians were my lifelong team until they abandoned their name & heritage. No skin in the game for me now. 😥

@softwateronly it’s all about timing when fishing the Great Lakes region. And you’re taking advantage of it. Keep up the good work. 🤙

There is only one way to find out. The bait monkey agrees. I will tell you usually the better grade blanks from any manufacture will be more sensitive in hand. They provide better feel & bite detection. This applies to mod fast, fast & extra fast blanks especially. Most guys don't care when your talking about moderate blanks.

@Swamp Girl Looks like I'll beat you to it by a day. I'll be launching on Lake Erie PA waters this Monday. Let's pray for fishable weather for us all. I can't wait as I'm sure you can't either.

Modern day individual that comes to my mind is Mike Bucca owner of Bucca Baits & master fisherman. His understanding of fish behavior & how it relates to the baits he designs & builds & tunes is remarkable. He is an accomplished multi species fisherman that targets largemouth & smallmouth bass, stripers, musky & peacocks.

Nope I'm retired and live in a condo so the HOA covers it & we cover the HOA,

Second day on Headwaters lake. Two best today.

@softwateronly Sweet.

@softwateronly I have got brown bass envy after reading your report. Headwaters girl from today.

That truly sucks but like Katie mentioned you were going to release her anyway. You still caught a DD and that doesn’t change. Congrats.

Everybody advises rest & relaxation when going through chemo. But if you can try some push ups or resistance exercises if you have the strength. The muscle loss past the age of 50 is really tough to regain.

9-10 release.