Buckeye1955

Dang, never thought of that one. Haven't ever froze mine up, but I don't believe it reads very accurately either. Might be hard to get the air back out of it in the spring if you bled it. You'd have to bleed it again in the spring under pressure to get the air out so it would read correctly again.

Right on the money! Thanks!!!

I was getting a hair cut and had about 30 seconds to look at a Bass magazine I think it was. They had an ad for a floating frog with the hook underneath with a weed guard. Said it floated with just the eyes out. Advertised it as the best ever or something to that effect. I draw a total blank now. Any ideas what it was and where I can get it? I think it was maybe a late spring edition. June maybe.

Thanks! The reason I was looking for something on the lake was I hoped to find somewhere with a slip. Found a sweet condo on VRBO with a slip included. And while I'm there there are several pros going to be staying near-by prefishing the upcoming tournament. Should be a great opportunity to politely pick up some tips! I've never fished Norman before, but from what I've read and the fishing Hot Spots map, it appears that most people target the docks. Hope I don't throw too many up on top of the dock with the big boys watching....... Had a lady down on the St. Johns river some out of a house madder then heck because I'd hooked up with her dock. Figure they are used to it at Norman!

Yep, above Charlotte. There are al ot of hotels at Mooresville, but I don't see anything with dockage. Several condos listed on VBRO. May have to go that way. How's the bass fishing on Lake Norman in April? The one owner I talked to said there is a large tournament about the time I was looking at.

Thanks guys! I fish Champlain in July and the wind there can be a problem too at times. Taking the wife is a problem as I traded her for a bass boat several years ago. Boy did that guy get a bad deal! Just have to drink beer I guess! Buckeye

Any suggestions on where to stay and fish on Lake Norman? I'd like to find a place on the water. Maybe a condo as I don't see any hotels with dock access or cabins at the state park. It's a pain to load and unload the boat and go to a hotel every day. Thanks!

We are starting to put together an april bass trip and are considering Kerr Lake in the Clarksville area. This would be around April 16th time frame. Any thoughts on this time frame? Good time to come? Bad? What would weather/temperature be that time of year. Got to be better then Ohio in April! Are there any decent golf courses in the area if the fish aren't biting? Thanks!

I've started a couple times to pull the trigger on some of the hard swimbaits. Most are about $20. Hate to put some more wasted money in the old tackle box. I'm looking at the Strike King King Shad or Spo's BBZ-1 shad. What do you like in a hard swimbait and why?

I had reservations at Henry's Sportsman's Cabins starting June 28th - July 12th (two separate weeks - two different cabins) and had to cancel. It is rare that an opening comes up for there. At Alburg, Vt on Lake Champlain. Terrific fishing! Largemouth, smallmouth, pike, walleye. Sheltered area - easy to fish out of the wind on a windy day. Golf courses/restaurants/antique stores near-by for the family. 10 hour drive from northern Ohio. Great camp with nice cabins and great dock with swim platform. Wonderful family owns it. I hated to leave them in the lurch on the cabin rental and I hope someone will be interested. I have pictures if you would like to see it. Gwen & Bob Brown, 218 Poor Farm Road, South Alburg, VT 05440 Tel. (802) 796-3616 Here is the web site. http://www.vermontproperty.com/detai...n-rentals/139/

I picked up several new frogs this winter. I'm looking forward to giving them a try! I fished the chatterbaits hard a couple years ago, but did better on spinner baits last year. When you do get one on a chatterbait, it is usually a good one!

Never thought of that! Ipicked up a herd of paddle tail swm baits this winter. I'm curious to see how they do. We did really well last summer fishing spinner baits over the grass.

The guys are right. Inline spinners - Mepps/Rooster tails are good for about everything. White grubs/twister tails fished on lead headed jigs. Spinner baits. And any cranks that look like shad or blue gill. I like the Berkley Gulp minnows on lead headed jigs too. Tried some vertical jigging last year with some of the new veritcal jigs with the hooks at the head. The Walleyes liked them a bunch. The local guys do well below the dams fishing topwater stuff ripping it at high speed for stripers. Where are you fishing the Ohio? I fish the Bellville and Willow Island pools if you would like any info.

You need to think farther south. I'm at the extreme south eastern corner of Ohio and am headed to nothern florida that time of year. You won't have much rise in water temperatures until mid-may or even later.

FYI -The Ohio DNR is attempting to put in to place a two year trial program on 5 smaller fisheries that currently have a 9.9HP limit that would allow boats over 9.9HP to operate on those lakes at idle speed. This will open up some great new fishing areas to the guys with bigger boats. For more info you can find quite a discussion on the subject at the Ohio Game Fishing Community forum, including a poll on the subject. If you fish Ohio, drop by and let your voice be heard. There will be public meetings put on by the Ohio DNR asking for input by the fishermen using those lakes. There is quite a body of 9.9 users trying to stop ths initiative. If you would like access to more fishing waters that your tax dollars and fees suport, your input and support would be appreciated.

Now on the other hand...... the zebras have dramatically cleared up the Ohio river, enough so that we had a bumper crop of grass and such along the banks this year for the first time in my life time. Great place for the minnows, etc to hide and the bass to feed. You have several feet of visabliity for the first time I can recall other then drought conditions. Very useful little creatures in out neck of the woods. They filter their weight 9 times a day. That is alot of river crap!

Yep, already have some. They are bigger then I like and I wasn't impressed with the paint job. I have several of the Basstrix Paddle Tails and the ones from Hi's Tackle shop too. The Basstrix paint job/finish is much better then the Bass Magics. (My .02 cents worth). And I really like the smaller sizes over the California monsters. Those big sizes just scare the bass in my area........

http://www.reactionstrike.com/ The Fathead Jr. - says it is available this month. Good variety of sizes and the construction looks very similar to the Basstrix Paddle Tail. The listed price ain't too bad either. Says it is a split bodied/tube style paddle tail bait.

I believe you can get up to 5/O at jpjigs.com. I ordered 4 and 5 there. They are bottom weighted EWG hooks with the screw on retainer. You can get them in red even. Called BassTwitchers. He may have them bigger then 5/O, I just don't recall for sure.

Go to Berkley.com and you can pre-order them now for shipment in February I believe. I seem to remember like $9 for 5, but check to be sure. The only drawback I saw was they were 5 inch. You can get the 2 1/2 adn 3 1/2 inch from Basstrix which I wanted.

Thanks! If you want a good buy on one. I just ordered mine from a fellow I've dealt with quite abit. Has some really good buys and is opening an on-line tackle store in the near future. He said he had several more Patriarchs coming in. http://stores.ebay.com/Ralphs-Supreme-Tackle-Store

Not mine, but the buddies. And boy did he deserve it! I fish only artifical and the buddy knows it. We needed to wait out the fog on the river and moved back into a cove to fish. I didn't notice he had one pole laying on the deck with his tackle box on it and was throwing a crank with the other. Then he yelled! When I turned the pole on the deck was about 2 ft off the river and about 6 ft from the boat heading for the river at high speed! I was like what the heck? What did you have on that thing? "A worm............" Well deserved! But the story doesn't end there. He snarled his other pole, so I pull one out of the boat and loan him one. About 15 minutes later he gets snagged. Gives a big yank and breaks my pole right in half!!! I dang near made him walk back.....

http://www.usacproshop.com/ or Ebay. With the knockoffs coming out, the prices have come down quite abit on Ebay. A good place on Ebay is http://stores.ebay.com/Ralphs-Supreme-Tackle-Store. The Bass Magics are pretty good at Bass Pro Shops. Another one I like is http://www.histackleboxshop.com/. They have the Rainbow Worms Bowfish. There is also the Money Minnow and several more. Berkeley is coming out with their own and you can go to the Berkeley site and pre-order them now. The best way I've found to rig them is the Basstwitchers at jpjigs. com. I guess that's all I know......... except for the Double Top Secret Bass-Erator I've invented to rig them on!

I agree that the Booyah is better. I have a herd of the Chatterbaits and have caught a few on them, but the Booyahs are better. I've had my best luck fishing them jig like. Let them fall and work them like a jg then bring it in slow. I've caught a couple hogs that way. I think the Booyahs are better because of the flex they have built in and the paint stays on the a whole lot better.

These are new models. Has anyone given them a try yet? I'm looking at purchasing one.