Dwight Hottle

Lund Explorer, all trolling mostly reef runners 800 series on inline boards. I have over 80 way points up there.

Here is a screen shot.

Went up to bay of quinte in Ontario for a week of walleye fishing. It was slow going but we managed some double digit walleyes up to 12lb-2oz. fished from 25 to 40 feet deep over water depths of 100-150 deep. Surface water temps were 48-50 degrees. All trolling.

Had a buddy come up for two days of fishing erie before we headed to Canada's bay of quinte for a week chasing monster eyes. We spent the first day in 8-25 feet of water. Very little luck. Changed the plan for the last day. Headed out to 30-40 fow. Marked a lot of bait at the deeper depths. Figured the smallies were already staging deep before heading to their winter lair. We tried numerous jerk baits & colors with no luck. Picked up a nice steelie working a lure erratically. Finally tried a husky jerk deep diver in THE special color & hit paydirt. My buddies first 6lber for this year. Then a second 6lber. He was feeling no pain. Continued to pick at them before heading in at the end of the day. I told Dave we would quit in 15 more minutes. Right at the end of the day I hooked up one more time. A great ending to a sucessful day.

I choose longer rod handles as they allow me to tuck the handle under my forearm to give me more leverage on hard pulling fish. Works well for both spinning & casting. Less strain on the wrist.

nice_bass wrote That's a classic.

Nice long fish. Really nice of you to let your father in law get the bigger one!

Tip on the total charged like in a restaurant.

Nate if you want to get naked hit up PIB in April. ;D

Nate when your trying to locate pike the best single lure hands down is a inline spinner bait, like a blue fox vibrax. The spoon is the 2nd best search bait. Once you have found fish I love using jerkbaits but you can try whatever is your favorite. Swimbaits, topwater etc. Storm plastic swim baits work well as do jigs & hair jigs tied in rabbit fur replicating a black leech. Neutral pike respond best to jigs & plastic swim baits. Aggressive pike will respond to anything. When the pike bite falls off try using the opposite size bait that was previously working. Large jerk baits, gliders & pull baits will often turn them on after they quit biting finesse baits or spinners & spoons. Adversely after the bite shuts down on the big stuff go back to smaller baits.

A-jay wrote If we ever figure that one out there will be a lot more sunburns & summer fish pictures posted up. ;D

I picked up a legend tournament walleye spinning rod TWS70MHM deep cranker this spring. Its a full cork handle instead of split-grip handle. It's medium heavy power moderate action. Same price as the one your looking at except slightly heavier power. I use it for cranks & jerk baits and it has performed flawlessly on lake erie smallies this year. I spool it up with 10lb suffix performance braid on a 2500 series spinning reel. Since your wanting a bait caster look at he LTBC70MHM big cranker before you pull the trigger on the small cranker. It will still handle the smaller stuff but give you more flexibility on the bigger stuff & will handle that trophy bass when you hookup.

Wayne the only reason I am posting is to rub it in. Come on spring!

sodaksker wrote I'm guessing they will move up a third to half of the water column to hit a jerk bait. I know my baits are running down 2/3 of the column most of the time.

Two of each color of my favorites.

Roger wrote Yes I would. With surface temps at 52-53 degrees the smallies are feeding heavy before winter phase. They appear to be carrying as much weight as they do in the spring prespawn. They are full of fight & jumping like crazy if you let them. If I have learned one thing about smallies its the duplication of fall & spring patterns at similar water temps. What works in the spring will work again in the fall, same place, same baits & same time of day.

The fruit of your labors. Congratulations.

If I do I don't tell anyone.

Went out today by myself for a few hours. Wind was supposed to be ESE early & changing to ENE later. It was ENE all day & building as the day went on. My first fish was a 5.5 lber & I was thinking maybe today is my day. Caught five smallies weighing 23.75 lbs. The smallest was 4.25 lbs. I always fish two rods & had a double with 4.5 lbers. The wind was pushing the boat .5 to 1.0 mph. Surface temps was 52.5 degrees.

Those days fishing with your dad are priceless. Very nice fish and on topwater also!

I don't think that was a bass.

Went out today late the air temps was 40 degrees & water temps was 53-54 degrees. Best smallie of the day weighed 5lbs-15oz. Very fat belly, I thought it was one of Paul's pond fish.

Great video. Just goes to show how competitive bass can be when they are hungry.

That is so special.

Search for another lake in your area as they don't all turnover at the same time. If that is not an option work the bottom of your favorite structure & SLOW DOWN.