bassnleo

You can put in on the Penninsula at the West Pier Launch (also called Marina bay or lake). It's a large launch with quite a but of parking. There are a number of places to stay that are very close to the penninsula. I personally stay at the Inn at Presque Isle which is the closest hotel to the Penninsula. The El Patio is beside the Inn. If you do a search of hotels near Presque Isle PA, you'll get a variety. If you do book with Inn or El Patio make sure you tell them your fisherman, I believe they both offer discount for fisherman (I know the Inn does). Plenty of places to eat etc....around the area also. http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/14835.shtml Above is a link to a PIB map just FYI

Almost 2 months have gone by to this point. Spoke to the dealer today. My boat is at the Tracker plant. May have an answer next week on the outcome, repair/replace. The wait continues........

I like it. That thing would fit right in here in Pennsyltucky.

Your question has no one answer. Like already mentioned, there are too many variables. I too have caught them in 3 feet and 30-40 feet in summer.

Thanks and make sure you do! I have a jet now for the river, we'll get out and beat up some smallies!

My 02........ Being a LEO here in PA I have a little more insight than most. The Tazer usage in this situation appears to be justified. LEO's follow a force continuum meaning a progression through various uses of force beginning with officer presence and ending with deadly force. The Tazer falls BEFORE going hands on with someone. Tazers were designed to be used before going hands on if someone is not following officers commands. In that regard it has been documented that it has decreased officer and suspect injuries by large percentages (70-90% in most of the studies I read). The officer and other personnel in the video I saw had no way of knowing if the person was drunk, high, possessed a weapon. He was obviously ignoring commands to stop. The Tazer is the next step, like it or not. It effectively ended the persons actions with no ground fighting, struggle, etc. I would have done the same thing and have seen it done with fleeing suspects. I have been carryng a Tazer for almost 1 year and have not used it yet. Tazers do not make you urinate yourself. The only signs of being tazed are 2 small puncture wounds from the darts. The shock lasts 5 seconds and once it is over most people immediately return to normal. The "shock" of the 5 second pain is usually what keeps people down but they are fine and can stand right up. It is 50,000 volts. The vast majority of Tazer related injuries are suffered when the suspect falls. I have been tazed. It was the worst, most painful, 5 seconds of my life. I can tell you one thing, I'd rather be tazed that sprayed with pepper spray which lasts much much longer.

If I were traveling from WV, I would pick Presque Isle. I have fished Dunkirk, Barcelona, Erie PA. Granted, you can catch smallies on all the places, and numbers too, but for accomodations, ramps, and the ability to stay in the bay if the lake is bad, Erie is the way to go IMHO. For example, the lake has not been fishable for the last 2 days and 2 days (at least) to come. Small craft advisory in effect. If you went to Dunkirk your option would be to stay in the room or risk your life. Going to Presque Isle would give you the ability to fish and catch smallies (and largies/pike/panfish if you desire) and would not ruin your trip. If you go back through this section you'll see threads on Presque Isle with additional info.

Why not go to Presque Isle-Erie PA? Fishing is as good, plenty of places to stay and eat very close to the penninsula and you have the bay in case the main lake is too rough. At that time in May there are also plenty of smallies in the bay.

Dude, get with the program, we cops don't call them donuts anymore, they're POWER RINGS. Got it?

Yeah, like the title says, I'm getting promoted. Who did I fool, LOL? May have to change my handle to: LTbassnleo ;D

I'm looking at a Polar Kraft 1680MV and will more than likely go with that boat. If I could find a Lowe 1652VT, I'd jump on that. The newer Lowe's aren't the same as past models. I'm with Burly, I don't like the layout of the new models.

Update........... Boat still sits at the dealer. Has been there since March 13th. The only thing accomplished to this point is Tracker deciding they want it back in Lebanon Mo and one form being faxed to the dealer, then to me, back to the dealer, then to Tracker which they received a few days ago. Was told today that Tracker gives a 2 week window for pick up and once they have the boat back at the plant they "like" to turn the things around in 7 days. So......2 weeks would be May 9th, add seven days-May 16th, lord knows how long to fix/replace and ship it back...another 2-3 weeks or more? I'm looking at probably late May or early June-best case scenerio. 2-3 total months (possibly more) without a boat. This is just plain nuts. I may sell this piece of crap when it comes back, even if they give me a new one. I will never buy another Tracker product again.

I have several LTA's and beside the Z-Bone, they are my favorties sticks. I'm hopeful that in the near future the micro guides will be offered on the LTA's. They are awesome on the Z-Bones.

I commonly use 20 lb braid with a 6 or 8 lb fluoro leader. I use a double uni knot to attach the two lines. I use this set up on spinning tackle for finesse applications like drop shotting, shakey heads, sometimes tubes.

I currently have the straight jackets. I also had half jackets and fives, sold those. The lenses are good, no doubt. I found that they do not fit me all that well. The other issue I had, the arms are the straight style (not curved downward like most conventional glasses). When I wear a hat the back of the arms always hit my cap (most of my caps are the softer low profile style), That is really annoying. I found myself having to wear the arms over the hat. So, in a nutshell, the sunglasses are quality but I found they just were not for me.

In addition to what RW said, I have also found that during high water periods that coincide with the spawn, smallmouths will move into creeks to spawn. In these creeks they seem to prefer hard bottom, chunk rock close by, slight current. I believe the current helps keep the bed free of silt. On shallow rivers at normal water levels, I find beds in areas having gravel or chunk rock accompanied by a hard bottom, and again a slight current. The depth of the beds is relative to the overall depth of the river. I've seen beds as shallow as 1.5 feet in an area where the river is generally is 4 feet or less.

I was given a pack of the Trokar flippin hooks when they first came out. Broke two of them on my first trip, was flippin heavy weeds. The breaks occurred just below the eye and on the hookset. I was using 65lb braid, hook was snelled, flippin stick. Decided to stick with the BMF hook.

I agree with calling, possibly as much as is necessary..........but........don't ya think it may get to a point where Tracker says "To hell with this guy, pain in our $%*, we'll sit on this repair and watch 'em suffer"? I'm just afraid of reaching that point. I'm actually looking for another boat. If I find one I'm buying it. When this ordeal ends, new boat or repair, I'm selling it. I just can't go much longer without a aluminum boat.

It is coming to MO......... I will be calling Tracker directly. More to follow.....

IMHO the issue is not bed fishing but rather bed fishing and NOT immediately releasing the fish back to the bed. Had you not kept the fish in the well for an hour, more than likely the carp would not have caused havoc. This topic has been beat to death, and then some, on many threads here. Touchy subject with many. Bottom line is that each angler has to decide ethically or morally if they are for or against bed fishing. There have been a multitude of studies to suggest that bed fishing bears no impact on reproduction numbers. The comment "to each his own" comes to mind.

During the Spring and Fall it's not so much about lure selection. LOCATION is key in those seasons. In fall the bass are schooled up chasing bait. In Spring the bass have love on their minds. Summer finds bass spread out just about everywhere which would explain wny you caught fish in that season and not Spring/Fall. Your luck should change soon. In any event, pick up some soft stickbaits like the Senko. Texas rig it with a 3/0 or 4/0 EWG hook, cast it out and let it catch fish for you. There are tons of tips on this site regarding color selection, how to fish it, etc....

Some of you may remember my thread about my Tracker Grizzly. Just over 1 month ago I discovered that the aluminum ribs welded into the boat had all cracked. The welds holding the front deck to the hull also cracked. I was instructed to gut the boat and take it back to the dealer which I did within a week. It's been sitting there since about the second week of March. This week I finally got kinda fed up and started inquiring what the heck is going on. The tech I'm in touch with at the dealer has been pretty good with me, I'm sure he's at Tracker's mercy. He's spoken to Tracker, e-mailed pics of the damage. Today I got word that Tracker now wants the boat back at the plant to inspect it and determine if it is repairable or it needs replaced. How long will this take? I'm without a small boat for our tournaments on hp restricted lakes which are common in this area. Tournament season is underway. To make matters worse, I've been looking for a specific jet outboard for the boat and I've finally found one. Problem is I have no boat to put it on. I've about hit my wits end with Tracker. The saga continues.

I tried..... It seemed no matter what date I picked, it wasn't good. There are a few guys meeting sometime in June I think. If you get a day and want to come over, give me a yell. FYI, I'd think about coming SOON. It's been good and will only get better.

I have no idea what that is.......but it sure does look tasty. Send me one cause I'm sure whatever it is isn't made up North here. Better yet, bring me one, and pack your tackle with you, the Erie smallies are biting .

Awesome as usual!