bp_fowler

Got some intel on a couple new spots…rumor has it they both are filthy with bass. First up is a creek that connects two man made lakes that I have fished previously. However I’ve never tried to fish the creek until now. Caught three small ones with the below fish being the largest. Next day I tried the other spot which is a reservoir. I had high hopes seeing as how it was off the beaten path. While the rumors were true that it was filled with bass but unfortunately they were all this size A little frustrated with the lack of quality I returned to the New Reservoir where I did slightly better from a size perspective and a lot better numbers wise.

The struggles continue here. I’ve pretty much been camping out at the crappie hole since I can’t catch numbers anywhere I figure I might as well go for the big ones. Unfortunately the big ones did not cooperate today. After two big hits on the Mayor, but nothing to show for it, I switched to the Ned hoping to avoid the skunk. It worked but I all I caught were dinks with the below fish being the largest.

The fishing has not been kind to me of late. After our heat wave we had a few nights that got down into the 40s. Couple that with sun and clear skies it’s been tough. Last 3 days I’ve returned to wade the tail waters of Dillon lake on to find the water level had dropped there as well. Three days of grinding produced a dink LMB along with a dink channel cat. Today cloudy weather was forecasted but after waiting until 3PM I was getting antsy so I decided to just go conditions be damned. Since I didn’t have a ton of time I went to the crappie hole which is the closest to me. I started out drop shotting around the dock the houses the spillway riser, but no takers there. I moved to the other end to fish the shallow flat where I caught my PB in July. I was working my shaky head along the bottom and got a hit but when I went to set the hook my line broke at the leader knot. I shrugged it off and figured I must has tied it wrong since it was kinda a rush job. I retied it, being a little more thorough this time. I was out of shaky heads but I had a single solitary tube left over from my Canada trip so I tied that on and got back to fishing. I worked the tube across the flat a couple times and caught the nicest LMB since this summer. Unfortunately after releasing it I spotted another even bigger fish floating out in the middle. My stomach dropped thinking this may have been the one that broke me off earlier. It was too far out for me to reach it. In my defense there were a couple guys fish in my that area when I pulled up, and I didn’t see ten feet of leader line dangling from its mouth. Either way my heart wasn’t in it anymore and I decided to pack it in and head home. When I looked out the fish was no longer there so I guess there’s a small chance it’s okay, at least that’s what I’m telling myself.

The only places I’ve been able to fish lately are the ACE reservoirs (Dillion and Burr Oak). They are only ones that aren’t 3-4 feet below pool like the local reservoirs closer to me that are maintained by the state or local municipalities.

I had one, fished it a lot, and caught tons of fish with it. Considering the price it’s one of my favorite rods. I did eventually break it but that was due to my own clumsiness rather than a defect with the rod.

Oh yeah, it fought like hell. Now that I know that there 3 species of bass in that stretch of river my goal is to catch the trifecta in one outing.

Finally back out on the water today. We had a bit of a heat wave here since I’ve been back from Ontario so I haven’t been too keen on going out. Went to the Licking River just below the Dillon dam. Last time I was there my son and I witnessed quite a few good sized smallies jumping, but unfortunately we were skunked. This time I made way out onto a gravel bar and fished around it and the various currant breaks and eddies. The first hour of so I couldn’t get bit but of course my luck changed the last 30 minutes. No smallies but managed two largemouth and one hybrid striper, my first ever of that species.

That would be ideal. I’ll contact them and see what they have to say. My concern is that since it wasn’t damaged during shipping nor was the rod defective and I already used them they might tell me to go pound sand. That being said it’s good to have options if I have to DIY.

Recently I purchased a Daiwa Tatula 7’ Medium Regular Model TTU701MRB. On a recent trip I believe I developed a loop in my braided main line which wrapped around a guide. On the cast it ripped this guide out and took another two with it. (The last three guides before the tip) All of the guides were cleanly pulled free of the wrappings. My question(s) is this can I repair this myself? If so, is there a specific kit or epoxy anyone could recommend? Anything I need to be aware of while completing these repairs?

No too bad. Fishing slowed down a bit here after the last of the blue gill were done spawning. About mid July it started getting too hot to walk the bank for hours grinding for a hand full of dinks so I resorted to night fishing. Not all bad news though as I did catch a new PB. Also, I Just returned from a trip up north where I had some success. This week will be cooler but next week we’ll be back into the 90s. I recent discovered that a nearby river holds smallmouth so I might pick on them for while before the fall season starts.

You should go anyways. You won’t regret it.

Well with three folks in a small boat we had been doing a pretty good job avoiding each other’s rods on the back swing but my dad caught the tip of my MH with the tip of his musky rod and my rod lost that battle. 😅 The cranking stick however I’m not really sure. My theory is that my braid developed a loop and when I went to launch my crank bait, that loop caught on the rod guides and managed to rip three of them out.

Okay last one. Unfortunately I did manage to break both of my new Tatula Casting rods during the trip. My grandpa used to joke the if you left me alone for too long with an anvil I’d find a way to break it. Honestly though I was upset, I didn’t really miss them all that much since I only caught a handful of fish, cranking or with other power techniques. Most of my damage was done with Medium and Medium Light spinning setups. Particularly 3.5” stupid tube and 3.3” Keitech. Here’s the part where I have to eat some crow. Previously on these boards I’ve been open in my disdain for the Ned rig and the Drop Shot. Mostly because the Ned rig is a nightmare to fish in my typically weedy home waters and until this trip I’ve never caught a single fish on a drop shot. However when conditions were tough I leaned on these techniques to catch fish and in fact a few of my best catches of the trip were with them. I guess you could say I’ve seen the light. Here’s some more drop shot/Ned fish

A place called McGregor Bay, it’s kinda between the North Channel and Georgian Bay on Lake Huron.

I was going to make a separate post for these but unfortunately I hit my limit for pictures on that one also. So instead of making 3, maybe 4 new topics I’ll post the remaining pictures here in this thread. Now, where were we… Day 4 My Boy caught his biggest of trip this day. Day 5, some more exploring, some more fishing. There were a couple patterns we started picking up on. The first were flats with mixed cover, either a rocky bottom with some patches of isolated weeds, or weeds with some patches of rocks both with adjacent deeper water. The second was shear rock faces/bluff banks the were getting hit by the wind/current or in the shade especially during the middle of the week when we had a run of warm sunny days with bluebird skies.

This is my summary of our trip to McGregor Bay ON, from 10-16 August 2024. My Pops, my Boy and Myself made the trip up from Ohio. My Pops has been coming with his Fire Department buddies for almost 25 years. This was The Boy and my first time there and if you’ve never been the area is a labyrinth of bays, coves, inlets, channels, islands and rocks. It’s dotted with cabins and small cottages, some folks use them as summer or vacation homes, some rent them out to people like us, and some folks are fortunate enough to call this home year round. After arriving at camp that afternoon we settled into our cabin. It was raining off and on but everyone was pretty excited to get out on the water so we decided to use what day light was left to do some fishing since after all that’s why we were there. The first place was a sheltered cove accessed by a narrow inlet. I hadn’t yet set up any of my tackle besides one of spinning outfits with a Keitech tied on. Within a few casts I hooked a dink LMB, my first Canadian Bass. After a few more minutes I got another bite, then another and another. All large mouths. Although I was happy to be catching fish right off the bat I couldn’t help but wonder where all the Smallies were. I didn’t have to wait long. My first Small Mouth Bass. And another one on the next cast. And on the cast after that. Pops got his first shortly after that. Not to be out done The Boy got caught one and got the skunk off the boat. Not long after that I got one fought like no fish I had ever had on before. When I finally got it boated I was stoked, it was a pretty decent fish too. I got one more LMB to end the day. Day two we had some more rain. But we explored a few different places. The fishing stayed good and we caught seemingly endless numbers of dinks with some decent ones mixed in. And of course the random LMB The Boy caught a more than a handful with is trusty tube. Including this beauty. Meanwhile in the back of the boat… Speaking of pike all of managed to hook a few but fortunately not too many and the I only lost two baits to them thankfully. Okay no more snot rocket pictures, I promise. Now we return to our regularly scheduled programming. Day 3 was a lot like day 2 except even rainier. Which is fine when you’re catching fish but it was dink city for the first half of the day. Fortunately it cleared up and some bigger fish started to bite. And we added a few more LMBs to the tally as well. Alas, I have hit the limit on how many pictures I can upload for this post, so I’ll have to post a part 2. Edit: instead of making another topic I posted the of the pic in the latest cast thread.

I’m sure I’m in the minority but Catfish all the way for me.

I’ve caught no shortage of dinks in my time. This one on a swim jig And this one on a crank bait.

Yes but I do change some things during the summer months. Firstly I tend to use heavier (for me 1/2 oz and up) and slow roll them bumping along the bottom. Usually close to breaks. I like white and white/chartruese. I don’t always use a trailer for this method but when I do I like a split tail grub. Second thing is I fish a big single Colorado blade at night with a paddle tail trailer. Always black and blue. I like to target shallow cover and flats adjacent to deeper water. I have been catching fish on a Spinnerbait since February and I just caught a new PB with one a few weeks ago. So I have a lot of confidence in the technique.

3/16, 1/4, 5/16. Which one I use depends on depth, water clarity and the fish telling me what they want. I do use lighter 1/16 and 1/8 weights for swimming worms which even though they are technically a Texas rig I don’t think they are the subject of this conversation.

Is there an all of the above option? Seriously though I use many of the stuff folks have already listed: rage swimmer, bellows gill, curly tail grub, Zako, spilt tail grub. I’ve also used nothing at all. All have worked for well me.

Rod just arrived today. Daiwa Tatula 7’1” MH/XF Now my Tatula Reel finally has a home. Another Tat reel for my recently ordered cranking rod.

Stocking up for my Canada Trip next month. 🇨🇦

Got my new reel today. My first foray into nicer equipment. I really like how it fits in my palm and can’t wait to get it on a rod and put it through its paces.

Thanks! Definitely outside my comfort zone. But you can’t get better only doing the same old same old.