bassnleo

Yo also! I grew up in the North Hills, moved North about 15 years ago. Whereabouts in Gibsonia?

Leaving for Pittsburgh in an hour, headed down to the show and for the final weigh-in. Will try to grab a few photos. Gonna try to hook up with flyhatch (member here). Should be interesting to see what unfolds today. It's still anyone's ballgame. More to follow

flyhatch hit the nail on the head. These river fish bite when there is current and color to the water. There wasn't in 2005, hence, the FLW event is producing more and larger fish. Had the 2005 Classic had these condtions you may have seen similar results. Both tours have great anglers.

Still a shootout at this point, quite exciting I must say. Yes, bigger fish are showing up. Hack had 2 fish over 3 lbs today. Just shows how different these rivers fish depending on conditions. GO DAVE!

Nixon and Lefebre can see each other, but they're not on top of each other and neither angler feels threatened by the other's presence. Lefebre said he has two specific rocks within the area that are 50 yards apart. Amazingly, those two spots produced 25 keeper smallmouths today. As far as presentations are concerned, Lefebre understandably didn't want to get into specifics although he admitted he is fishing both slow and fast. The above is from the interview. I took it to mean that Lefebre has 2 specific rocks within an area about 50 yds apart, those 2 spots produced 25 keepers for him. Either way, 25 keepers is outstanding for that fishery. BTW, I just got home, drove over the Allegheny here(about 70 miles North of Pittsburgh). It's absolutely ripping and rising, turning browner also. That will definately affect the Pittsburgh area late today or tonight.

I dont know if it is a good thing or a bad thing actually. His co got a limit which included a almost 3 pounder. So either he is on them or he stung a lot of them. Either way 10 fish and a few culls is a lot of fish to burn on one day on the rivers.Watch for Ike and Adam Wagner (BFL guy). I read that Lefebre caught 25 keepers on day 1, talk about burning some fish. Strangely, his co didn't weigh a fish...

uuhhh, forget my last comment 'bout rain. It started raining here at about 2:00 AM and hasn't stopped. Lots of rain on the radar. If we get the 1/2" to inch of rain that it appears will fall, those rivers will toss a curveball to the anglers. Drains and anything that breaks the current will be key Oh ya, GO DAVE!

We didn't have all that much rain here today in the Upper Allegheny Basin, probably not enough to affect the lower portions of the rivers. Just enough to keep the water colored and moving like it is. I believe you'll see a few more decent strings tomorrow. KVD's total weight in the 05 Classic should be surpassed tomorrow. It appears that this event is shaping up to be a good one and will almost certainly come down to ounces.

Why must you start a second thread where you basically belittle the whole FLW cup being in Pittsburgh? Wasn't your other thread enough? Some of us may be appreciative and actually excited to see it all over again, like we were when the Classic was here in 2005. Lighten up a little, huh?

The robber got what he asked for. I do feel sorry for the man who was forced to shoot. He and his family are probably traumatized, but I'm sure they are at least relieved that they are ok. Hopefully there will be no lasting affects.

I'm guilty of this. But I'm a mile or so, off shore, on Lake Ontario. I drop the buoy, then drop a waypoint. Then I drift to where the I'm a 100 yards or so away, and drop another buoy and waypoint. I might have 4 or five buoys out there. Its never been an issue. When you are out in a vast expanse of nothing, the markers give you real, visual conformation of what you are seeing on your GPS. My buoys all have my name and cell# on them. I was using a buoy 2 weeks ago on main Lake Erie. I had walleye trollers skirting my buoys all day. One boat even hooked the line with a planer board (all while I was yelling at them to warn them about the buoy). I posted a question on a local website about why the walleye boats are trolling so shallow (20-25 feet) and all I got was grief from the charter captains about how a buoy isn't necessary and I have no right to claim a piece of water with a buoy......idiots Anyway...I agree with you

What kind of rate are you looking at? I got 5% for an eight year old boat a month ago. Must admit I haven't looked in a few months but back in Feb -Mar the rates I was quoted were anywhere from 7.75 to 9.5 percent. 5% for a used boat is quite good! Mind if I ask what company?

Knock on wood......We have been pretty quiet here. It's a weird phenomenon when things all seem to happen in a short period. Wish there was a way to predict it...Just seems sometimes that people get kinda nuts for no apparent reason.

Zero....... 1994 ProCraft I bought 5 years ago for cash. BUT.........I've been very close to buying a newer Ranger this year. What has stopped me to this point is the financing rates being offered (even for someone with excellent credit). My wife has actually told me several times...."Go get it" but that payment has been what has stopped me.

Not illegal here in PA.....unless your transporting fish from Lake Erie to an inland waterway.

Don't forget to use a snell knot, makes a world of difference. Also don't try the punch skirt idea, it dosen't work 8-)

Sent you a PM

Awesome! Glad some of my advice helped! You did good by thinking outside the box.....those fish see alot of topwaters, spinnerbaits, but not many swimbaits, and by your account conditions were right for it. Good job for using your melon and fishing the conditions! Feels good to win, doesn't it? Yep, clean grass equals bass 8-) Sheephead, LOL! I must have caught 40 of them in my 5 days there. They do fight good but get really annoying when your hoping it's a giant Erie smallmouth. Too bad you didn't have any main lake luck, maybe next time! Congrats!

Had a similar issue this Spring with my Mariner 150 EFI. First, what cadence is the alarm? Steady beep? Beep beep beep? The type of cadence will tell you which type of alarm it is (either overheat or oil). I believe a steady beep is overheat. The other is oil system. My alarm was beep beep beep style and long story short, the Oil Warning Module on my motor was bad. Having it replaced solved the issue. If yours is an oil alarm it could be coming from a couple places/problems and I'm no expert so I'l refrain from fix it advice. If it is an overheat alarm, you should be able to see your temp guage go up and stay up. Is your motor spraying water? Do an online search of "Mercury 150 alarm". That will yield you some possible causes or solutions.

Yes, launch is out of the same area as the 05 Classic.

I and other from this area have fished the 3 Rivers many times. The rivers were definately off in 2005 when the classic was here. It will hopefully be a little better this year. It's my opinion that these guys should have a test to see who is best. Like the US Open in golf. Pittsburgh is a perfect place to do that. I was on the edge of my seat the entire 3rd day weigh in for the 2005 Classic, it was awesome. Ask KVD if he minds only catching 13 lbs to win the most coveted trophy in bass fishing. Just wish I could go this year :'(

I have not had a week off from work since last October. I was in low stress mode and little stuff like that didn't bother me. I deal with enough crap at work and don't let minor issues get to me when I'm relaxing. No big deal

Bass boat traffic was minimal other than the tournaments participants. Recreational traffic was really bad around Presque Isle. Walleye traffic to the West of the Penninsula was HORRIBLE. The walleye trollers were targeting 20-30 feet, unfortunately the same depth as bass structure. I had walleye boats trolling around me all day out on the lake. I had one boat actually take away my marker buoy! I could see that they were going to be really close, I was yelling and pointing MARKER MARKER MARKER to the crew. One of the mates ran to the front and finally saw the buoy, he yelled "Awww, we're alright" disgustedly. Whelp, I knew they weren't, the buoy passed between their boat and one of the planer boards. One of the rods out the back of the boat got my buoy line and they drug it awhile. They finally reeled it up, wound it up, then the friggin mate tosses it over board about 150 yds away from me and yells "HERE IT IS, COME AND GET IT". I was a little jerked but decided cooler heads prevail, I idled out, picked it up, then went back to fishing. My Co-Angler told me he would have flipped. It wasn't worth it far as I'm concerned.

I was lucky enough to spend the last 5 days on Lake Erie, what a fishery! I spent last Wed and Thurs practicing for 2 tournaments that took place Fri and Sat (2 day T) and a single day T on Sun. Wednesday the lake was pretty flat. I ran around hitting various spots, not fishing much, looking for new spots. I did manage 2 nice keepers both in the 5 pound range. Thursday morning the Lake was flat again, did catch 1 keeper. The bonus was marking a bunch of new structure. Tourney day 1 dawned to a flat Lake and winds light out of the South. I ran to my first spot and immediately caught a 4.98 smallie, then the wind quit and so did my bite. Later in the morning I hit a deeper rockpile and caught 2 more 3.5 lb class fish. With only 2 hours left I really needed a limit (4 fish) and ran to Presque Isle bay to flip up a largemouth. Managed to find a 3.5 lb largie to round out my limit of 15.57 and in about 8th place for day 1. Day 2 the wind howled. Lake was off limits due to a small craft advisory and we were restricted to Erie bay. With the flippin stick I caught over 60 largemouth but only managed 3 keepers that weighed just under 6 lbs. Going in I figured I was out. I needed to get into the top 6 to qualify for our federations state classic. Low and behold, the leaders above me did not catch 'em and I snuck into 2nd place with a total of 20.93 lbs. Nice payday at $870 plus I made the state classic Sunday was our second district event and we had it connected to the other event figuring we would get additional boats. Day 2 dawned with a fishable lake at 1-3 footers. I started just outside the bay and could only catch freshwater drum :-[ About 9AM I ran to a spot where I caught 1 fish in practice. I pull in and in the first 1/2 hour only catch rockbass. Finally I boat a 5.18 smallie but the bite dies and so does the wind. I make a short move and it's slow with the drop shot. Ready to leave I fire out a tube and WHACK, another 5 lb class fish. Next cast, WHACK, a 3.5 class fish. Hmmmm, am I on to something? I run back to the spot I caught my first one on, and long story short I boat 5 more smallies culling up to a pretty big bag (so I thought). I head in to weigh in thinking that I had enough to be in the top 5. Low and behold I weigh my fish and the scale settles on 18.91 lbs for a 4 fish limit, my largest limit to date on the lake. To my surprise I win that event and another $644 payday Soooo, 5 days and $1500 later I'm a pretty happy guy! The place is so diverse, and awesome to fish!

Is your charter for bass? Usually they are walleye and perch charters. In any event, like flyhatch mentioned the fish are there and most are just coming off the spwan. If it's windy, drag a tube with a 1/4 to 3/8 oz internal head. If it's relatively calm, drop shot w/ 1/4 to 3/8 weight, gobie imitators, minnow style baits, 4" worms. Two colors will just about do it, green pumpkin and watermelon (or variations of them).