BigMinnow

So in this new year I'm trying to add some fresh fish into my diet. So I figured, hey why not put my favorite hobby to use and catch my own while ice fishing this winter. So like any responsible angler I went and read the regulations on length and limit which were pretty straight forward. But the one part I was confused about was the condition that the fish must be maintained. Here's the bullet points I'm not quite getting: It is unlawful for any person to possess a fish in any form or condition other than whole while on or when unloading the fish from a boat, while wading, or while fishing from shore on any waters in this state where a fishing license is required. So if my understanding of this is correct, if I'm fishing (in any form, boat, shore, ice fishing, etc,) I HAVE to keep the fish whole. Is that right? Fillets must be kept whole until an angler reaches their permanent residence, or until the fish are prepared for immediate consumption. This does not apply to anglers with a receipt from a fish cleaning house or charter captain which states the date, number, and type of fish possessed. Fish must be transported whole or as a complete fillet while returning from the Lake Erie islands on a commercial ferry boat. Here's where I'm getting a little tripped up. If I have to keep the fish whole, in what instance would I have fillets? Would I be able to somehow lawfully fillet my fish at the sight, properly discard of the extras, and then only take the fillets home? (that would be ideal). Or do I have to wait until I get home to fillet the fish? Can someone clear this one up for me? Thank you

Fenwick® Elite Tech™ River Runner Spin Model#ERR72L-MFS-2 It is two pieces, I love this rod. Just a tip for you if you consider buying this rod, twice now I've had the rod tip break off, both were completely not fish related. Once it got caught in my front door hinge and another it got caught in the corner of my dashboard and my windshield. Fenwick did replace my rod each time but Fenwick is TERRIBLE at answering emails and having prompt customer service. They ~have~ always manage to replace my rod when it breaks but not until after I have some very frustrating and redundant email conversations with them. Buyers be warned if good customer service is important to you. Going out again tomorrow, I will definitely have to try some sweep sets instead. I have no way of measuring poundage for drag but maybe I don't have it set tight enough. It does seem to slip on my hooksets, but my hooksets are snapsets so maybe that's why. I'll try tighten it down a half turn and see if that helps. Thanks for the tips!

Hey everyone, So a few days ago Fenwick finally mailed me back my replacement ultra light spinning rod (that I ordered in April ?) and I was finally able to get out and use it this morning. I took it to the Scioto river this morning and took my spool off of the rod I've been using lately, got my line rod all set up and tied on my ned rig, outfitted with the hulastickz zman plastic as well as a 1/16 oz. white zman mushroom head jig. I was so psyched to get out, this setup always decimates the fish in my area, I literally never go more than 15 casts without getting a bite on this rig, and today was no different. Bites left and right, but I was having a terrible time on my hookset today. My rod is a 7'2' medium fast ultralight spinning rod and I was using small hooks and 4lb fluorocarbon line (I don't know if that matters) but almost every other fish was popping off today. I caught tons of dink smallies but anything over 12 inches would fight for 5 seconds, maybe jump once, and then pop off before being anywhere remotely close to landing them. I felt like I was keeping tension on the fish and I gave a solid hookset each time but still couldn't land more than half the fish today. Any tips you guys can give me? Now that I think about it I've had this problem in the past too. I just cant seem to set the hook correctly with an ultralight. Aside from the hookset dilemma today I caught my first common carp and strangely enough it was on this ned rig setup. It was a 2lb fish, but with current and an ultralight rig it was an awesome fight! I was able to land it and I think it was really only because carps have really gummy mouths and the hook definitely wasn't coming out of that mouth anytime soon. I never expected a carp to take my ned rig though so that was a sweet treat for today.

So I was fishing a local pond about a week ago and I'm just now getting around to sharing it here. I wasn't having much luck the day that I went but I stuck around because I knew we had some rain moving in and I was positive I could get SOMETHING to bite on a prefrontal day. So I had made my way around to one of the big rocks that jut out into the pond. The rocks are surrounded by some shallow grass beds and I figured it'd be a good area for me to fish my lipless crank. Well about 10 casts in the wind started to pick up and shortly after that it started to lightly drizzle. That's when I think I snagged a carp. I was reeling my lipless in ripping it off the tops of the grass beds and as I was reeling/ripping all the sudden something SLAMMED my lure and when I say slammed I mean that if I hadn't been holding onto my rod and had good footing I would be been easily knocked over and into the water. It peeled drag for a good 30 seconds before it just stopped. I didn't feel any head shakes and I had tension on the line the whole time but it was just like my lure just popped out of whatever it was. I was so shaken because I've never caught any bass more than 12" out of this pond. But I do know that this pond has a VERY healthy population of common carp and some nice size catfish too. But I've never had either of those fish take lures before, especially not a lipless crank. I looked around in the water below me and every now and then I could see some of the carp swimming shallow and I casted my lipless to them and none seemed even remotely interested. It was a pretty steady light rain by now and I was determined to hook back into whatever I had hooked into before so I stayed and threw another 30 or 40 casts before, WHAM!!! whatever it was hit hard again. Same thing, peeling drag for about 30 seconds but this time I gave a little give with the pressure I was putting on the fish to avoid my hooks popping out. I got some chances to reel in slack after some incredibly long runs but just like last time, all the sudden it was like I just hadn't hooked into anything. No head shakes, no acrobatics, no broken lines, no bent hooks, whatever it was seemingly just casually spit out my lure after it had had its fun. I was kinda frustrated and I was done getting wet so I made the decision to leave. So what do you guys think it was?? I think I just hooked into the back of a couple carp and not very deep either. Just enough for a good short fight and then the pressure on the line caused my crank to pop out. But I'm not sure.

So today I was fishing one of the local ponds and noticed that most of the bass worth catching we’re all on beds. I was able to entice one to bite after about ten thousand casts a color switch and about an hour’s worth of jigging a soft plastic in front of its face. Some of the bass were very tight to their beds, not moving more than a couple of inches to shoo away any nearby bluegill or smaller bass, while others would chase away fish that were a few feet from the bed. How do you guys get these fish to bite? From what I’ve read, it is notoriously hard. Sometimes bass would see my lure, rush up to it, then just kinda stare at it and float away. And that seemed to happen whenever I moved to a new spot and casted to a bed for the first couple of times. But after 2 or 3 casts the Bass didn’t seem to care about my jig any more. I even tried switching to a Jerkbait and a shallow diving crank to try and get the bedding bass to try and chase my lures away but neither of those worked. So yea, any tips on getting these bass to bite?? side note, every now and then I would stumble across a small school of bass (maybe 4 or 5) and they seemed to be chasing the bluegill but whenever I cast out my cranks and soft plastics they would dart away or barely look twice at it. Is this also part of spawning behavior or are these bass just very aware of artificial baits (it is a highly pressured pond).

How many pitches do you guys usually give laydowns?? I recently caught me new personal best off of a laydown and I only pitched to it twice. And this was my first time pitching laydowns ever. I had pitched and flipped to a couple of laydowns earlier in the day easily giving them 10-20 pitches and flips each. But it seemed that when I managed to catch a fish off a laydown (caught 3 yesterday off laydowns alone) they were within the first few (maybe less than 5) pitches. So is there a magic number? Is 10 too many or should I hit 100 before moving on? Might be a silly question but I’m just curious because I want to up my pitchin and flippin skills now that I’ve got a lot more confidence in it

So last Christmas I was bought myself a brand new Flippin’ n Pitchin’ setup. It was my first rod that I bought for a specific technique and above all it was my very first Baitcasting Rod/Reel setup ever! Well I haven’t had the opportunity to use this rod how I imagined I’d be using it until yesterday. I started out yesterday morning casting spinners and lipless cranks around some local ponds, caught a few dinks, nothing even remotely big but still nice. But once it hit around Noon - 1 o’clock ish all the fish had left the shallows and I couldn’t find anything. That’s when I pulled out my flipping and pitching setup I had been hauling around with me all day. And yah know, I have to admit, there’s something a little intimidating about purposefully chucking a lure into the branches of a big tree thatsfallen in the water. But I quickly remembered all the YouTube videos I’d seen and posts I’d read about guys pulling absolute pigs out of laydowns and I was able to convince myself that losing a soft plastic isn’t the same as losing a $5 lure and went ahead and started flippin and pitchin all the lay downs I could find. And boy and I glad I did! My first few lay downs weren’t super productive but I’m still rusty at getting my bait in the water quiet enough not to spook any fish and I basically had to stand on the tree that I was pitching to because I couldn’t get a good casting angle off the bank. So I’ll attribute my lack of fish from those spots to that. But after a few not so good pitches and flips I found myself at the laydown that has taken at least 5 or 6 of my lures over the years from casting at it from the other side of the pond. I could see two big bass hovering around the branches of the tree and my heart immediately started racing. I tried my headrest to very quietly get into a good casting position and once I did I pitched out my T-Rigged soft plastic as quiet as I could. It landed on the trunk of the tree and immediately all of the nearby bass were super interested. I could see a few 2 pounders just hovering over my bait. I ever so slowly twitched my lure up the body of the tree, watching one of the bigger bass get closer and closer as it inspected my bait. My heart was pounding at this point. I had gotten my lure as far up the tree as I could before I had to twitch it off the side of the trunk. As my bait fell down into the deeper water, immediately the big bass rocketed down to the bottom! I held on for dear life for what I thought was about the be the most jarring bite I’ve ever gotten in my entire life!... but nothing. I was so fired up that I immediately pulled my bait right back out of the water to do the exact same sequence of events over again, but as soon as I pulled it up I had wished I left it down there for an extra second with a few good twitches. When I pulled it up I saw the bass follow it up and then swim back into the deep part of the tree once my bait broke the surface. I didn’t let that discourage me though. I pitched my bait right back out there. This was the pitch that will stick with me for a very long while, and to be honest I’m not sure when I felt the bite but all of the sudden I knew I had a head shaking largemouth bass on the end of my line and II wasn’t about to let it get away. I set the hook hard and with a grunt ripped that fish right out of the water as soon as I possibly could. The fight was short but the reward will be with me forever. I pulled up what was easily one of the biggest bass I’ve ever seen pulled out of this pond. I let out a celabratory ““Yeah!” While holding my fish and the guy across the pond from me did the same! Even he knew it was a big fish or this pond too!! Luckily I managed to snap a few pictures while trying to awkwardly hold the fish and position myself in view of my phone camera. I know this fish is only about 2 pounds (maybe) but it was still a catch I’ll always remember!

So yesterday I finally caught my first bass of the season. It wasn’t anything huge but it was nice to finally feel a pull on the line that wasn’t a snag or a giant clump of grass. I’ll slam a picture in here too just because i can. But I guess what I’m curious about is why I couldn’t catch more than one. I was only there for about 2 and a half hours and within the first hour I was seeing tones of tiny blue gill near the algae (or grass?? I don’t know) that line the shallows of the pond. This was the first sign of life I’d seen in any of the local ponds so I figured where there were blue gill there must be bass. I threw a lipless crank for a short while before getting fed up with having to take the goop off my hooks after every cast. By that time I’d been there about an hour now so I decided to switch to a top water because I had been seeing fish break the surface all day. And miraculously on my first cast with a whopper Plopper I had one hooked! It was awesome to pull it up and finally say I caught one after like 12 unsuccessful fishing trips. So I snapped a quick pick and released it back and went straight back into casting out my top water. But other than one more half assed attempt at taking my lure, no bass seemed interested. And I can say that none seemed interested because I could literally see them sitting in the shallows and ignoring my lure. So I guess I got caught up after all the excitement of finally catching one that it took me way too long to give up on my top water and start using something else. What I want to ask you guys is, what is your go to lure when the bass are (seemingly) actively feeding in the shallows? A buddy of mine came in a few hours later than me and said he caught 6 in the short time he was there, but he’s notorious for not letting anyone know his tips or tricks so that he can keep catching them. Any tactics you guys recommend that I should try on my next outing??

Hey guys, if you could only fish one day out of this week, based on this weather pattern which day would you fish and why? What baits/lures would you use?? I was thinking Friday because it seems like it’s on the end of a 3 day warming trend. Maybe I’ll parallel some primary or secondary points where deep water is close to shallow water. Maybe throw some cranks or jigs depending on water clarity. FYI: we’ve been averaging around 40° days so this 70° weather coming up will hopefully get them stirred up.

Ugh! I’m getting so impatient for the weather to warm up! It’s been in the high 50’s for a few days now but it’s rained every day this week ?. It’s almost warm enough to get the fish moving and maybe the shallow bite will finally start up sometime next week. I’ll keep my fingers crossed though because I know how crazy this central Ohio weather can be

Thanks for the suggestion, I’ll look it up and read some reviews. And I meant that my budget for each piece of the setup was $100-$170. So no more than $340 total before tax. Sometimes you really do get what you pay for, and then some, so I like to stick right around the middle price range on rods and reels. IMO $400 rods are for the pros and $50 rods are good for beginners just trying to feel it out. So a ~$150 rod is probably perfect for me, i.e.; Someone on a budget with a moderate amount of experience.

This rod is going to be specifically for shallow to mid diving cranks. I was going to buy a separate 7’ MH Fast action rod for my Traps, Spinners, Chatterbaitts, and Buzz Baits. So do you think I should still look for a MH for my shallow cranks or do you think this loadout would be good??

@Fishingmickey what about as a shallow cranking rod? I’ve read that a medium powered rod with a moderate action is good for shallow saquarebills

Do you think this would be a good setup for a shallow (1-12ft) crankbait rod reel combo? My budget is ~ $100-$170. This rod would be getting a TON of use and I don’t really know brands too well so I just wanted to ask you guys what you thought and if I could trust these brands to hold up for at least a few seasons. Shimano Curado Crankbait Casting Rod 7’2” Medium Moderate Action Glass/Graphite $159.99 Quantum Smoke S3 PT Baitcast Reel 6.1:1 $169.95

Do you think this would be a good setup for a shallow (1-12ft) crankbait rod reel combo? Shimano Curado Crankbait Casting Rod 7’2” Medium Moderate Action Glass/Graphite $159.99 Quantum Smoke S3 PT Baitcast Reel 6.1:1 $169.95

Hey guys, im looking to buy a nice casting rod. I don’t know what to look for in a rod as far as power and length go. I’ve read a moderate action paired with a medium heavy power will be good for pretty much anything I throw (cranks, spinners, and ChatterBaits) but I don’t know about length or good brands. Any input you guys can give would be great. Right now my budget range is $100-$175 i cant really fathom spending more than that seeing as how I’m still trying to pay rent while in college lol.

I’ve tried a few, - t-rigged plastics - lipless cranks - spinner baits - jigs - dropshot with a 6 inch worm Not a single bite on any of them, but I usually can’t stay out for more than an hour at a time though. It’s cold and I have classes

So since it’s so cold still and my ultra light is still in the repair shop, I think I’m going to have to find a different pond to fish. The pond I made this post about is little, but not so little that I can cast to the deepest part from the shore. There’s no signs of life in shallows yet so even if I wanted to chuck my Ned Rig as far as I could I don’t think I’d get anything. Thanks for the input though, once it warms up and the bluegill start showing up in the shallows I’ll definitley be trying more finesse tactics! Whoops I didn’t even realize. Haha but fisherman are notorious for having a different definition of the word “big”

Hey so I’m fishing a pond near a college campus. The air temps have been hovering around 45° for about a week now and when it’s not too windy I’m able to get out for an hour or two. Unfortunately this pond is fished by any and all anglers on campus because it is the only pond nearby. That means the fish have probably seen anything and everything imaginable. I’ve been to it 3 times and got skunked each time. Do you guys have any tactics that you use for VERY heavily fished ponds? PS. The pond is basically a big shallow circle with its deepest point in the center. It’s small too. Small enough to walk around the pond in under 10 minutes.

@roadwarrior why did you link to this sight??

O-H! Lol, yeah man I’m from the Mentor area but I’m down at OSU for school and I’m not used to having all these reservoirs within an hour’s drive. When I’m not kayak fishing I’m usually fishing small local ponds. These ponds usually aren’t mapped and right now I know all the fish are holding as deep as possible (winter just won’t end). So being able to cast the Deeper Pro + and see if I’m actually fishing the deepest area of these ponds would probably really help my hookup ratio. Maybe one day I’ll have the money to put a separate, actual Fishfinder in my kayak but for now I need something I can use for both bank and kayak fishing. Thanks for for the helpful reply!

I watched a few videos and I tried again. A lot of people I watch say target points leading into shallower spawning areas. That being said, would these green areas be a better bet for more fish? I think these could all be considered secondary points inside a creek arm on the north side of the lake. I heard that when it’s early spring, the north side of the lake is best to fish because it warms faster. Again, this is all done while assuming the fish are in the prespawn stage.

Hey so I recently learned that some guys use topo maps to identify places bass might hold during the winter, and then move to when they’re spawning. They then draw lines from the deep ridges to the flats that they think would hold some solid prespawn largemouth. This is my attempt at just one small portion of this reservoir. Can anyone give me some insight if these red lines would be good lines to fish, assuming the fish are in prespwan.

Thanks to this thread, I’m seriously considering the Deeper Pro +. I think it’ll do everything I need it too. I already use topographical maps to identify key areas to find fish depending on water temps and other things so using my Deeper in my kayak would be solely to identify any underwater structure that topo maps can’t give me. On my days where I don’t have a lot of time, my Deeper would be used from the bank to actually check for fish so I don’t end up wasting time. All the reviews I’ve seen are pretty much pro Deeper other than the cost, but sometimes you really do pay for what you get

Do any of you have the Deeper Fishfinder? I’m a kayak/shore angler and I’ve fished all my life just by intuition and experience but I think the Deeper might be an awesome addition to my gear. What are your guises experiences with it? I like the fact that it makes topo maps of the lakes and stuff. Is there a better Fishfinder for the price? I need something I can use both in a kayak and onshore