FastVette

Who said it bothers me? I certainly don't let it. Just because I voice my personal thoughts about something doesn't mean I'm bothered by it. I observe, come to a conclusion, may or may not voice it, then move on. If that's being bothered then I'm in trouble for sure. Why are you bothered that I seem to be bothered by it? Could this go down that road? Sure, but it won't on my part. I don't tend to let things get to me, certainly not opinions being stated on a forum (I run one myself and deal with this stuff a lot, hence it not getting to me). Back to the topic at hand, talking about everyone's an expert.........there's all sorts of these videos out there. You guys ever look at some of the car repair stuff that people put up as supposedly "expert" advice? Some of that will make your head spin. I think every field of interest is inundated with the expert types anymore.

Towards the people making the videos. It's not intolerance at all. Just a basic contempt for people who have this abject need to do anything and everything to try to get followers for some website or social media page. They're free to do as they please though I'll never understand the need. In the end I guess at least trying to do something and record it for others consumption is better than doing nothing at all though.

It's the paradigm shift that has been brought about in society by the connected world. Getting out and doing doesn't matter nearly as much as making sure people are following you. It's really pathetic IMO. People should have more dependency on themselves and less on what others think of them.

Walked into my local Meijer today (one of them) looking for stuff totally unrelated to fishing. HOWEVER.......this store is under construction and LOTS of stuff is clearance. Lucky me. Shimano Syncopate 2500FG 25% off, $26.24 Shakespeare Ugly Stick GX2 Medium spinning rod, 25% off, $29.96 I nearly paid full price for these exact two pieces about 5 days ago but held off. Glad I did. Needed to replace my aging Zebco combo.

Went out twice today (score!)!!! Got off work at 6AM, home at 0630, rustled my oldest (almost 7) up and we went out. Down to a DNR pond just south of the Roush Dam in Huntington. Had a lone strike on a stanley ribbit, my son was using a *** frog. Left there, went to St Claire pond in northeast huntington. Zero zip nada though there was lots of activity. Headed home, stopped at Schoaff Pond in Franke Park by the Fort Wayne zoo. Won't be going back there, that pond is a mess. Skunked in the AM. Slept some, got up, wife and kids weren't home, sent her a message, she said "I'm getting the girls." These are the girls of our neighbors at our old house that come over and stay with us a few times a month. First thing she says is "They want to go fishing." Sweet!! Hit up our local pond. I landed 3 2 to 2.5lb bass off the ned, my wife hooked and landed one of the same on a chunk of hotdog under a bobber, and the girls landed a 4lb channel cat and lost two others to line breaks. My boys both hooked a bunch of gills and perch. Good day, no complaints. Even my son this morning said though, "Daddy, we need a boat."

Finally got out after a few days hiatus. Had some neighbors kids (from our old place) over for a couple days and took them to our development pond for some fishing. Ned rig FTW. Hooked up and landed two, had my wife take a shot of this one cause he's pretty decent. I dropped the Ned in the middle of a group of fry in the middle of the pond and he hammered it as soon as it started dropping. Pardon the expression, she caught me contemplating his size. Got skunked on the topwater frogs which is unusual though because they usually do very well here.

Youch. That reminds me of my worst burn ever. Snorkeling in Guam, mid day, in August. I totally spaced on the sunscreen. I was shivering uncontrollably that night due to how much heat I was losing through the sunburn across my arms, shoulders, and back. It was AWFUL for about a week.

Took a walk last evening to our pond, had two solid hard hits on my topwater Stanley Ribbit frog setup. Ned rig must have spoiled me because I missed hook sets on both.

My neighborhood lake sounds similar to yours, save for we have no docks or cover. I've had good luck using topwater frogs, and crushed them the other day (caught 7 bass total) using the Ned Rig.

I plan to try some different retrieves with it. I did quote you in the Hoosier thread, but for some reason the forum was auto adding it to this thread too. I tried to take it out but it woudln't let me.

No stealing my thunder dang it!! lol Seriously though, I thought that's how you'd normally fish it, like a jig along the bottom imitating a batfish feeding. I figured it's such a similar setup and fish style as a jig (I'm considering the little rubber grub's as jig style too) that it could be classified the same. Either way, they LOVED it. One even took it about a second after it dropped in the water, on the fall. Wasn't expecting that one.

You know what's funny, I JUST heard that acronym for the first time yesterday. Met with a guy who could potentially be installing $6K worth of heads and valvetrain parts into my Corvette yesterday, and I told him I'm not 100% committed yet because of considering a boat. He said "You know what that stands for right?" then gave it to me. Still haven't made up my mind though. What's another $1k here and there on a boat when I've got around $30K into a car right? In other news.....went back to my development pond this morning. No action on the topwater Stanley Ribbit, but I came prepared to give this whole "Ned Rig" thing a shot. That was a mistake..........

It would be me. I've NEVER caught ANY fish on any type of jig. EVER. Went to my development pond here in Fort Wayne this morning, two rods in hand. My trusty baitcaster and Stanley Ribbit combo, and my spinner. After a little while of no action on the topwater frog, I decided to put together this "Ned Rig" thing that I got the kit in for over the weekend. This is the most stupidly simple thing ever. Fish it like a jig I was told. I figure there's no way this is going to work, especially in a small 2-3 acre pond. The only thing I disproved was my inability to catch a fish on a jig anymore. No pic of the first one because I was too excited. Had a BIG one break my line, and lost three more in the air on the shake. Landed 7 total in about 2 hours of fishing, and could have been 11. I am VERY impressed with the Ned Rig to say the least. The last one I caught I watched him cruise through then head towards the deeper water, so I just flicked it out about 20 feet and swam it in towards me, and he went right after it. Fish can't control themselves around this lure. I'm truly amazed.......and a pretty happy guy this morning!

Went out to Chain of Lakes and "Simpson Pond" just south of Rousch Reservoir today. No boat, and both were total washes. Just nothing but algae and much around the shores. I think I made a total of 10 casts all day. On the plus side, all the trapsing around the ponds by foot with no benefit got my wife to concede maybe a boat isn't a bad idea.

That was going to be my next question, a good deep cycle. What type of CCA should I look for, if any? I am NOT doing an optima, I've lost faith in them over the past few years.

I REALLY want to purchase a boat. My wife isn't having it (yet) and I'm knee deep in some costly upgrades to my fast toy. But........two places I'm likely to fish the most have john boat rentals and will allow a personally owned electric motor to be put on them at rental. Figure it's a good compromise. I have a gander mountain local to me and I'm looking at this particular minn kota model, the endura max 55 model (advice I've seen was to get the most thrust you can afford, and getting a 55 isn't a problem for me). http://www.gandermountain.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Minn-Kota-Endura-Max-55-Freshwater-Transom-Mount-Trolling-Motor-42-Shaft&i=716255&r=view&from=grid Thoughts, suggestions?

I'm new here but would love to join in.

Huh......convenient. That's Schoaff lake in Franke Park by the zoo......about a 2-3 minute drive from my house. Local reports I'd seen said that it's pretty dry for bass, but they're older too. The dam he's fishing is probably Rousch Reservoir Dam just south of Huntington, or perhaps a little farther south on Salamonie's dam. I've fished below both, struck out below the Salamonie dam because I wasn't prepared and had never been, and below the Rousch dam it's mainly drum with the random sport fish tossed in. I'll be getting out to both for sure once I quit working overtime so much, lol.

Hey guys, anyone have any luck on Chain Of Lakes or anywhere near Fort Wayne? I'll probably end up at CoL on Monday or Tuesday next week, not sure about anywhere else local though.

Thanks for the welcome everyone. I'm looking forward to broadening my knowledge (and thus capability) and from everything I've seen so far this site is fantastic!!

Cliff Notes: Got bug, will fish. Originally from Tulsa OK, haven't been an avid fisherman since I was in my teens back in the mid 90's. I was really turned on to fishing while living with my father from 87 through 93, as he had a nice Grumman bass boat we always took to Keystone Lake just outside of Tulsa. Left my fathers custody for my mothers in 1993 and continued to fish the finger ponds we lived on in Scottsdale AZ, though that was primarily gills and perch, maybe a bass here and there, and carp. Between 1995 and 2013 the only fishing I did was a deep sea day trip from Diego Garcia in the middle of the Indian Ocean. THAT was fishing. Fast forward to 2013, now living in Fort Wayne, IN. Took up fishing with my wife and at the time only son who was 4, simply because it was cheap entertainment. Little bit here, little bit there, lots of little guys, good fun for the little one. Earlier this year we closed on a house in Fort Wayne in a nice little subdivision that happened to have a private pond on it. At closing, we were talking with the sellers and they said there's good fisihing in that pond. Cats, Bass, and all the bluegill and perch we could manage. A few weeks ago we finally start fishing it a little. They weren't kidding. For myself, I initially started with a typical spinning setup, bobber, and bait. Quickly realized that I missed throwing a baitcaster rig, so went and got an Abu Garcia Black Max 2 combo and a variety of lures, my favorite of which is the Stanley Ribbit frog on a 5/0 EWG hook. That proved to be a mistake, because I now have the bug. Bad. My wife and kids (have a 2 year old now too in addition to the older 6 year old) continue to do WELL with the good old bobber fishing, using hot dogs as bait. Here's some recent picks: I thought I was doing good. My wife drills this guy on a super light Ugly Stick spinning combo, off a dang chunk of cheap hot dog: My oldest and a couple of his catches (threw the cat in to show what else we pull). Got him on vid landing that bass above: Needless to say the entire family is hooked.....for lack of a better term, lol. Truth be told I'm REALLY wanting a boat right now but as my screen name implies, I have another toy and I'm making some changes to it currently, so a boat this year is out of the picture. Hoping next year to get one. We're planning on getting out in to the local area and doing some fishing as my work schedule allows. Chain of Lakes we've done before but not with me bit like I am, and we will be going back there. Salamonie Reservoir, Roush Reservoir, etc will all be hit up. So that's me and the fam in a nutshell. Happy to be a part of the site, thanks for having me!