Rented Mule

Pennsylvania in the summer, Williston in the colder months. I'm not ready to give away any of my Levy County spots yet, and they are mostly old lime rock pits on private property, but I'd be willing to get together and find some new ones. Lots of places that I always wanted to try.

You aren't the only one who cringes when they see it. It's been a sore spot with me for decades. Hauling them overboard, slapping them against the side of the boat, holding them down on the carpet with their foot. Squeezing them in the "Alabama death grip", tossing them recklessly into the livewell, holding them up and screaming into their face. I consider it rude and irresponsible behavior from people who should show a little more respect for the animal that their life revolves around. I guess they consider them as a constantly renewable resource.The worst are the TV show guys who hold the fish out of water for a minute or two while they prattle on about just how they caught it. I'd like to grab those same guys by the back of the head & stuff their head underwater for the same amount of time and see how they like it. Good post.

Yes, the Susky is one of those exceptions. I've had my glass boat in there several times, but ultra careful about where I went, and could never attempt to get on plane. It was one place where I wish I did have a second boat that was made of metal. But, PA is a big state, and just because you can't fish the Susky, doesn't mean you're stuck fishing sub prime waters. And if you prefer LM's over smallies, the Susky is hardly the place to fish anyway. But regardless, it's a first class destination.

there are exceptions to every situation, but I've always looked at it like this. A guy buys a tin boat and gets passed on the highway by a glass boat, he'll most likely be second guessing his self about not opting for a glass rig. A guy buys a glass boat and gets passed on the highway by someone towing a tin boat. Do you ever think he says to his self " sure wish I had bought a tin rig " ?

JellyMan, nice lookin rig ! PA in the summer, Levy County in the winter( sometimes in the summer too). I'm in PA now, but next week I'll be down on Wacasassa bay for a week or so until the heat gets the best of me, then I'll head back up.

as for the lake being " full" of shiners and smelt, I wouldn't count on that as a forage base for Bass. That might hold true for the other predatory species in there, but just like most all other lakes in PA, the main forage for LM & SM is going to be crawdads no matter how you slice it.

I'd consider it as soon as the water hits 50 degrees for LM's maybe even 45 degrees for SM. You're certainly aren't going to do it with topwaters. When I fish early spring at night, it's usually with a large single spin. My whole thinking changed about night fishing temperatures after reading an article in In Fisherman, not sure if it was Stange, or Csanda, but these guys were catching monster bass at what I would consider "late winter" temps. The article was published in the early 80's. These guys were fishing reservoirs somewhere in the Midwest if I recall. The only reason I was doing it was come late March or early April, my home lakes in PA were getting pounded during the day. During the night, except for some diehard Walleye fanatics, I was the only Bass boat on the lake. You wouldn't catch as many as you typically would during the day, but you could certainly catch them. The thing I remember the most was it was COLD. I'm now both too old and too tired to fish at night. So, don't worry about the temps as long as it's over 50, bundle up and go out and see for yourself. You might just be amazed. Prior to that eye opening article, I would only fish at night in the heat of the summer, when everyone else was too. Have fun

Looking at it from google earth, where you say it's silted in, I'd start there. From GE you can see a nice logjam that's probably in 3-4 ' of water, Guaranteed to hold a fish or two. Plus, there's a fairly well defined creek channel there as well. If there's any weed beds in the lake, they'll probably be there. Plus if you can cruise around with your TM, stand on a cooler or something with polarizers on to get a better view, and look for isolated pieces of wood or rock. If you can get there first thing in the morning, I'd work it with a spook or a devils horse and throw a trap in that creek channel. I'm a shallow water guy, and would start there and work my way deep only if I had to. I live in PA in the summer, Florida in the winter, so I know PA bass, there's probably still going to be some late spawners in late June, especially if it stays on the cool side. If it's overcast , and or breezy, I'd stay shallow all day long. I'd much rather work a 5-10' water column than one that's 30-40'. My trolling motor would be kicking up mud all day long if need be. There's some interesting PFBC biologist reports about the lake if you look. Good luck with it

When I'm throwin cranks around heavy wood, sometimes I'll bend the hooks in just a couple of degrees. When I'm throwin them in open water & having fish just swipe at it, I'll do the opposite & bend them out a few degrees.

Here's some more advice. As far as looking into a college that has a fishing team, personally, I think that's silly. College is a huge step as far as financial & time considerations, pick a college based on what will carry you through life , not fishing. If the college has a fishing team , great, but it would be the last criteria on my list as far as choosing a school. And as far as a " marketing degree", try googling the ten worst college degrees, and I'm sure marketing will be ranked right up there with Art History, Communications, Journalism, and religious studies or " sports medicine". You'll be fishing after college all right, but probably because you'll have a lot of spare time on your hands, & it'll probably be from the bank in a pair of leaky waders in the evenings, ' cause during the day, you'll be working at McDonalds. If your going to go to college, go for petro / chem engineering, mathematics, electrical engineering/ bio-medical, software engineering or something along those lines where you can command close to 6 figures when graduating. Then you can buy a big shiny boat and all the baits you want. You won't need any sponsors I'm more than familiar with kids graduating with worthless degrees. I've got a family full of them.

think twice about the kind of line you are using Tidewater = Barnacles

I applaud your effort at writing this article, You seem to have a flair for writing & I enjoyed it. But, at the same time I have found it to be oversimplified and misleading. I'm not intentionally picking apart your article, but when you write something on a public forum, you can expect some differing points of view and perhaps some constructive criticism, so please take it as such. As far as "permission" it's not like getting a permission slip for a class field trip. It starts with plans being drawn by a civil engineer, many hoops with agencies such as the DCNR, EPA, Bureau of Dams and Waterways as well as local zoning boards/ commissions. Unless of course you happen to be in Hooterville or somewhere and can get an agricultural exemption. As far as digging, you don't dig ponds with a backhoe. You use a bulldozer, a track loader or a combination of hydraulic excavators and off road trucks, and then of course there is compaction equipment for the earthen dam. A 5 acre lake like the one you're describing is a major undertaking. It doesn't go in the "center" of your land, ponds are usually sited in the lowest area of elevation on your land. Wildlife will be attracted to it no matter where it is sited. And, as far as having a stream diverted or utilized to fill your pond, that's the worse thing you can do, especially if the stream drains any agricultural properties. A stream can be a point source of silt, nitrates/ phosphates and insecticides. Also, it's against the law to alter the course of a natural waterway , no matter how small it is. If you divert a stream to fill a pond, the local Fish & Game dept. will charge you with murdering aquatic life downstream from the diversion point where the stream used to run. As far as "planting and decorating", " Plant the coves pretty heavily with Hydrilla" ? With the depths you indicated, an average of 2-5', the pond will be totally unfishable in a very short time. Introducing fish by catching them from one water and transporting them to another body of water? More than a few states have laws regarding that very subject. Our state plainly shows in the regs that is illegal to do that. Probably never enforced, but still a very gray area. Not only is it borderline illegal to transport species, it demonstrates poor aquatic / environmental stewardship. Think Snakeheads, Asian Carp, Gobies, predatory non native crayfish and so forth. The list is long. As far as introduction of other species, were there any species you left out? If I was going to all the expense of creating a dream lake, I'd pay a qualified fisheries biologist to give me a recommended species and stocking rate. Not some of these and some of those. Like I said, nice article, but not very realistic. You left out water supply, aeration and weed control too. And, I am qualified to give an opinion here. I've dug hundreds of ponds, lagoons, levees, reservoirs, been involved with port structures and beach replenishment projects. I was sitting on a bulldozer when I was in the first grade ,more than 50 years ago. My family owned the largest excavating & utility company in the county, and that's a county of a half a million people. So, keep writing, but next time a little homework will go a long way.

My last boat held 24 gallons, and I often fished in some remote areas where you just couldn't pull into a marina & fill 'er up. I lived by the rule: a third of a tank to get to where you're going, a third of a tank to get back, and third of a tank for safety/ emergency.

I think for the most part a lot of boat insurance claims are from minor incidents. Such things as someone backing into your rig in a parking lot, or you backing into your own garage door. Major accidents in the fishing world involving serious injury or death appear to be not that common in proportion to the amount of boats insured. However, when a major accident happens, it's usually something very bad. For example you're fishing a tournament and for whatever reason your partner would be ejected from your boat and be very seriously hurt and sues you and your insurance for 500K and your coverage is only 100K. Take a wild guess where the other 400K is going to come from. Say good bye to your house, your bank accounts and your vehicles. Probably the only thing they can't take from you is your pension or retirement account. Get the highest protection you can afford, as another here already said, it's less expensive than you would think. Personally, I fished 200 days a year more or less, and I did a fair amount of high speed running on some populated waters. I usually carried 250K of liability, but I also had a multi million dollar umbrella policy which would kick in and cover any difference in the event of a catastrophic loss. Umbrella policies are surprisingly affordable. It let me sleep very well. But you yourself have to gauge how much exposure you'll have . Obviously if you're fishing millponds with a small , slow boat, you could easily get by with the minimum.

Here's what I think. Older Bass boats, especially that old, are for the most part a losing proposition. Of course there are exceptions. They're not like guns or golf clubs, they just don't age well. You'll constantly be dumping money into it, and your dumping money into something that isn't really worth squat anyway. If the trolling motor craps out, figure 500-700 for a decent replacement. Rotted stringers, waterlogged transom, deteriorated wiring on the boat and trailer are all possibilities as well. As far as the Mariner Mag, I had one for decades. Blown stator, carb rebuilds, lower unit replacement, blown power packs, oil injection demons, poppet valves are all part of the fun of keeping one of those beasts running. And, any one of those mechanical fixes could in itself be worth more than the engine. And , there's nothing like being ready to fish and have a boat's that's not. It'll suck the fun right out of fishing. Unless your financially able to keep it running and maintain it, I'd go for a newer rig with a newer engine. Possibly aluminum, where there's a lot less hidden dangers. I had a '84 18' Stratos, and fished out of it for 30 years, I kept it in immaculate shape, and it still sucked money out of my account on a yearly basis. And although it was probably worth a few grand, I gave it away to a young aspiring bass fisherman who could never have afforded a glass boat. I gave it to him for one dollar, perfectly functioning. You should have seen the look on his face. Good luck whichever way you go

yes, it has been thought of before, and yes it works. If'n you been around long enough, some of you may remember in the early 80's a lot of boats were running what was called the Bass one system. 2 6 volt golf cart batteries. I had one of the first 18' Stratos ever made, it came rigged with the bass one system. I used 2 interstate 6 volt golf cart batteries and a cranking battery as well. That was a great system, I ran the boat that way for at least 25 years. Never had a problem, and I fished a lot of electric motor lakes only. At that rate, I went through batteries about every 2.5- 3 years. But over the years, the popularity of that system faded, but I'd run the same set up again in a minute.

You did ask for thoughts, here's mine. Forget about the lake contours unless you have some good electronics and are well versed at reading deep water, otherwise, you're wasting your time. Forget about the dissolved oxygen, plankton, thermocline, gamma rays, sun spots or anything else. Get a good copy of the lake map, then fold it up and put it somewhere where you can't find it. Tie on a spinnerbait a crankbait or a jig, put your trolling motor in the water & just go around the lake & use your eyes. It's only a couple hundred acres. That will tell you more about the lake than any map ever could. My first instinct would to be to find out what the forage base is in the lake. That shouldn't be too difficult. I'd start in the north end where the feeder creek comes in, and it looks like there's several hundred feet of an old abandoned pier with rubble in the water. In the northeast corner, looks like there are plenty of downed trees along the bank. I'd spend a whole day just in the northeast corner. And even though I wouldn't even bother fishing more than 10-12' deep, I'd certainly keep my eyes open for bird / fish activity out in the open water. Some of these bowl shaped lakes with little or no shoreline cover can be sleeper lakes for offshore schoolies. good luck with it