NateFollmer

How big is this lake? If it was a big plane and wasn't very deep, it should show up on satellite view on google maps HAHA. Don't let a cold front scare you, just slow down and downsize and you'll be fine!

Well if it was round and oblong (like a football) it may have been a football head jig or it could have just been a standard ball head jig too. Either one is great, but I like jigs with thinner heads when fishing rocks (like swim jigs, they aren't just for swimming you know!)

Brands - Bass Pro Shops and Tru-Tungsten are the 2 I use, but there are a lot of great jig brands out on the market. I haven't found anything better in the football head jig than BPS though. Power and Length - I use a Medium action 6ft. 6inch. rod. Most people go 7ft medium heavy though. I just like having that extra sensitivity in the tip but it is sometimes harder to be accurate when flipping. I use braid with a 4 to 6 ft. flouro leader, depending on the water clarity. And, depending on the cover, I'll throw anything from 20 lb. braid, all the way up to 65lb braid. My leaders are anywhere from 12lb to 20lb flouro. Just use heavier line for thicker cover. I'm going to tell you right now, and remember this - You're going to lose a lot of jigs while you learn! I bet I lost about $40 worth of jigs learning to fish timber and rocks. Wood is a real pain to learn on because if you set the hook into wood, its over. Unless you can reach the jig, you won't get that hook out of the wood.

It's sort of hard to explain, it's something you have to see, but you have to keep your line slack... but tight at the same time, almost like having a slight bow in your line. I do this by letting it fall but lift up on my rod a little as it drops. Rocks are a pain and I lose a lot of jigs in them. You might want to switch to a lighter jig. What style were you using? I try and use swimming jigs or jigs with a pointy end when I'm in the rocks. Football heads and rocks don't mix for me... I'm not a very skilled jig angler though so take my advice for what you will I know enough to be dangerous, but I know most of these guys on here would smoke me with a jig haha.

Cranks are great, especially if the grass is in or near some fast current. I think I've told this story before but I was standing beside a grass patch with about 6 inches of line in the water and a sexy shad crank on the end of the line. I was looking through my tackle box about to change lures and right out from under me, out of the grass, a smallmouth darts out, grabs the crank and I picked it right up out of the water. Pretty boring fight but I think that shows how well a crank will work in grass haha.

Finally, after nearly 10 years, I got back to Colyer Lake near State College Pa! I don't know why I haven't been back since then, but I really regret missing all the fish I could have been ripping out of there! Although the dam is cracked and the water is very low (it went from about 40 to 20 at it's deepest point) the fishing was great. We made the mistake of using the east access area located off of Lake Rd. It was an old dirt launch with a small dock. You can't even get a trailer close to the water anymore, so we had to carry the boat in (it only weighs about 300 lbs, nothing we couldn't handle... ha). If you decide to go to Colyer, use the west access off of Lingle Rd. As soon as we launched, I heard an angler in a canoe yelling "HEY.....HEEEEEEEY". As he approached he said "can you take my picture?" and he extended his arm to show me this nice pig: He took that on a swimbait on a swimming jig. He told us the fish were holding at 6 to 8 ft. (which was the key to the entire day). After getting all worked up over that fish, I took the boat out to the main point on the lake and saw a school of what looked like about 10 fish. Guess where they were suspended? 6 to 8ft... I tossed a Shadalicious swimbait down to them and after several passes I switched gears and dropped a jig down the steep bank. My jig was a peanut butter and jelly colored football jig with a Rage Craw as the trailer (I bite off the last two body sections. They tend to lay better on the jig and fall with more claw action this way). As soon as that jig got to the magic depth of 8 ft a nice bass picked it up! That bass ended up being about 14", nothing to brag about, but it's a fish! We caught a few more off that same bank and then I lost the school on the sonar. I moved us just off the point to an area of heavy grass and timber. I switched the Rage Craw to a Texas rig and tossed it into the slop. I covered EVERY inch of that area with no hits. I put the craw back on the jig and on the first cast, BAM! I watched a nice largemouth fly out of the grass and nail the jig. Seemed like they wanted that larger profile over the T rig... I also tried many other baits, but where we were sitting, the Rage Craw on the jig was the only thing I could get them to commit to. One of many Colyer Dinks! I wish I could have hooked up with a bigger fish like Andy's (that's the guy that was yelling at us haha), but I didn't make it over to the grass flats where he was (plus I wanted to give him his space, he was there first). A fish is a fish to me though and I don't care what size they are as long as their biting!

Just saw a guy this weekend rip out a huge pig on a grassy flat with a Strike King Shadalicious swimbait. He was slow rolling it and just clipping the tops of the grass at about 5 to 6 ft. I'd stick with the soft swimbaits if minnow are in the area. Unless you want to go with a hard bait, then I would throw an X-Rap.

boneil - Thanks for the info! What I meant when I said it's too short notice is I'd need to get the money together and I want to buy a couple extra rods and stock up on the lures before I go I want to plan ahead for next year because I'd only rush and fail if I tried getting in now haha. DoD - Sorry no one has answered you yet, I hate to steal your thread! If I was closer to the bay, I'd help you out but I'm a good 4 hour drive from it.

I know this has been said before, but change the attitude. Confidence is your number 1 tool! A lake is a lake, all 'rules' hold true no matter what the lake, so you shouldn't hate any body of water with fish in it! Anyway, I could type all of my post cold front tips here, but I'll just quote the article I wrote in my WFN Ambassador page:

Haha at least their admitting there is an oil spill in the gulf "its bacteria!" Anyway, there are plenty of lakes around so don't let that spoil the fun. I'm heading to Colyer tomorrow (which is only about 60% full because of the crack in the dam) ill let you know if its worth the drive from where you are!

I don't have an iphone but most of the android apps were originally for the iphone so ill tell you what I have on my droid... Lunar tables - I would just use websites and look it up, unless there's a free app out there. There's a link to a lunar table on this site. Logs about fish - I use two programs. 1 is called My Tracks, it plots gps tracks, and all kinds of other info right on google maps. I can set markers and take photos and info for those markers. The second log app I use is 3banana notes. I use this when I don't care about the location. Plus, the iphone and droid cameras both save the gps coordinates of any pic you take, so you really are already plotting your spots if you take photos at the location.

Senko pretty much summed it up as best as anyone could haha. I tried to do this a few times. I have about 20 designs on paper and some modeled in 3d (along with the mold models). I know a guy with a cnc machine so my molds weren't included in this cost, but for me to start up, get all the tools and materials (and pay the $75 to get a business name in pa) it was around 2500 dollars. This was for 5 gal. Of plastic, a bunch of color, scent and flake, misc. Tools (gloves, pots, etc...) and bags and coffin cases. I recommend lure craft, delmart and bears baits, they all helped me a lot. Check out tackleunderground.com also, you will find everything you need to start over there.

You want to learn how to use these lures, ONLY take those three out and nothing else. I can't believe the jitterbug or the DT lures aren't working for you. They are great producers for me. I have never used the berkley frenzy lures, but I just saw them on G3 sportsman the otherday (they were cranking for river brown trout). Try a stop and go retrieve with the jitterbug. Use the DT lures around grass lines, they are my highest producers when cranking around grass.

Boatnik, the sunbury times did two articles on the fish dying. If you google walker lake crappie they both pop up (sorry I'm on my phone and can't get the link). Its really bad. I just went up a few days ago and it smells of dead fish all over the place...

I saw him play on tv with axel rose and they claimed to be GnR, but I think axel was the only original member... buckethead is an awesome guitar player though. He is one of my favorites as well as eric clapton, bb king, john petrucci, and so many more. If you like crazy guitar playing without the heavy stuff and the screaming listen to Dream Theater. Also look into some Finnish Metal like Amorphis (there old stuff is heavy but the newest 3 albums aren't.)

Use an alberto knot, you'll never feel it hit haha. My max leader length is only about as long as my rods are.

Great fish! The way your holding it and standing makes it look like your going to crush the fish haha. HULK SMAAAASH!

I like the olive green and anything darker in color. I find that the white is too strong and usually doesn't get bit.

Like I said in the other thread (which has been deleted), Buy them both... Get basic colors and then 1 or 2 wacky colors and you're good to go!

I still don't understand why they don't have multiple shut off valves through out the ENTIRE pipe system to close off any breaks or leaks like this? There should be better safety measures in place for things like this! Sorry to get all tree hugger on everyone but this is just ridiculous. There is no reason the oil should still be coming out of there...

Nothing will replace the Xrap... I know they are expensive, but they are WELL worth every penny. I've started putting dressed trebles on some other jerks and cranks and they do seem to improve strikes a little. But they just don't have the same action!

I honestly don't know. I looked on the PA Fish Commissions site and there isn't an access area on that lake so I'm going to say no. Even if they do, with it's small size, I bet it would be electric only. Walker is electric only and Faylor is no motors at all (but I like to row, keeps me from getting too lazy haha). Faylor is owned by the PA Game Commission and they fight with angler's all the time and won't change the rule.

Well, I use the Bill Dance Select Baitcasting combo and it's been working great for years. I really like Quantums and I think this is a great entry level product. http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_104129_100003001_100000000_100003000_100-3-1 Another option is the Daiwa StrikeForce Combo. I had that one until it got smashed in a car door http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_10205081_100003001_100000000_100003000_100-3-1 The Bass Pro Shops combos are great too. Although I have never owned one, I know a few people that have them and they perform great.

Thanks for the input guys! I'm going to head over to Quantums site and get my reel schematics and see how far I can get into this before I mess it up.... Mike - I'll keep your number on speed dial in case I have to send you an emergency reel. HAHA I'll drive it out myself if I have to!

I leave my rod and equipment inside the car at all times. I leave all the windows cracked though. The only issue I have had was my softplastics get softer and rip easier. I need to stop doing this but I never like to be without my stuff! You never know when you could be fishing.