bp_fowler

Ontario side of Lake Huron, place called McGregor Bay. While I’ve been told there’s both LMB and SMB I will be targeting predominantly small mouth since I’ve never really fished for them before. My Pops will be going for Muskie though.

Right now I’m in the midsummer grind. The bulk of the fish have moved offshore out of my reach. Earlier on it very productive as I had developed a pattern that was broadly applicable to most of the places I fish. That being targeting shallow cover near bluegill beds that were also adjacent to deeper water. I’m sure that is pretty elementary to most folks but it was new to me and more efficient than the prescribed “make long casts parallel to the bank” method that had been my primary focus for most of my time as an shore angler. Now that the dog days are upon us my focus has switched to night, or fishing during low light periods albeit with mixed results. Also have been spending time and money upgrading gear and organizing tackle for my fishing trip to Canada next month.

Got out to the Crappie Hole with my boy for some birthday fishing. That was a great present in itself but as a bonus I caught a new PB.

Went out today for a few hours. Didn’t much want to drive to a bigger bass fishery or deal with the logistics of night fishing. Went to the old reservoir and braved the midday heat. Water was down a bit and the water has cleared up a lot. Caught 6 burning the UV speed worm along weed lines and over grass beds. Nothing special but I still had a good time.

Shore: 6/10. This is my bread and butter. I like to cover water as a bank angler and I’m pretty good at catching numbers. I’ve been upgrading my quality a bit but still have a long long way to go. Canoe/Kayak: 0/10. I tried this for the first time a few weeks ago and it was an unmitigated disaster. I spent most of my time fighting the kayak and managed to lose the only two I hooked. Despite this I hope to purchase a kayak soon and the good news is I have nowhere to go but up. Bass Boat: 1/10. I haven’t done this much. Mostly fishing out of the back of a buddy’s boat. I caught my fair share while beating the bank or working shallow cover but the further away from the bank we got the more lost I became to the point where I was just casting aimlessly and randomly.

I have the Nexave 2500. I love it. The only thing I would change is that it lacks an AR switch.

For me fishing from the bank at night or hours of darkness, here’s what I do… I usually carry multiple light sources. One is a headlamp with a red light setting. Obviously this is for when I need both hands like when unhooking a fish or when I need to retie. As others mentioned the red light doesn’t wipe out your night vision as much. Another is your standard flashlight. I use this mostly when I’m moving between spots. As a rule I always move under white light no matter how well I know the area. Lastly I also carry a small batter Powered lantern. I will set this up several yards from the bank and will cache my extra rod(s) and equipment. Serves as a beacon of sorts so I don’t lose that stuff in the darkness. Normally when fish in the light of day I’m constantly moving down the banks or changing spots. However during the night time I slow down a lot. I do fish mostly the same lures that I fish in daytime. The colors may change though, usually darker. The only exception to this is that I don’t fish anything with treble hooks. As far as safety, I fish alone and I know thats probably not the smartest idea but I make sure someone knows where I’m at and when I plan to be back. I have my cellphone fully charged. I’m usually in fairly remote areas so my chances of running into roving gangs of criminals is pretty low but never zero. If I were fishing the Scioto in the south end of Columbus at 1:00 AM I probably would take additional precautions and use the buddy system. In either case know your environment, what’s normal, what’s not. If you’re aware of your surroundings you can avoid most problems before they start.

Got out early this morning for a few hours before I have to man the till at my wife’s yard sale. Went to the gun club for the first time in long time. I had been avoiding it as it usually gets beat to death once the weather gets nice. Managed 4 with mayor. 1st fish caught near the floating dock. Next two were along this bank. Last and biggest fish was caught by an isolated clump of weeds kinda hard to see in the picture but it’s about where the trees’ reflections are in the water.

I use it a lot, mostly because green pumpkin sells out frequently and watermelon red is usually the next best thing. Like others have said it works best form me in clear water, preferably in sunny conditions.

They catch fish and are pretty tough. I also like that they’re easy to skip.

Night Ops at the Crappie Hole. It was pretty muggy out and I sweated through my shirt after the first 10 minutes. Caught 3, all with the Crush City Mayor…not everybody’s idea of a nighttime lure but strangely effective for me recently. First and biggest fish of the night.

Me too, I rely heavily on my 16 y/o to show me these things. 😂

With my phone after I select the photos there an options menu on the lower left that lets me select full size, small, medium, or large. Of course that might depend on the kinda phone you have. Lots of folks on here use photo hosting sites like photbucket too.

Spinnerbait - My most consistent reaction bait 9 months out of the year. Texas Rig - Most versatile, worm, creature, beaver…bottom contact or swim them lots of options. Weightless Soft Plastic - fluke, senko, trick worm. Flat out catches fish for me in various types of shallow cover.

Made it out to my favorite milfoil patch for an hour today before the weather hit. Got 4, 3 on the chatterbait, 1 on the crush city mayor.

Rough one today folks. First time fishing from a kayak. I borrowed it from my brother in law. Spent more time repositioning and orienting than actually fishing. Got two bites, got them both to the boat then promptly lost both at the boat as I fumbled around with my rod and paddle while trying to lip them and not capsize at the same time. Few lessons learned: - Need a larger kayak. I’m not a huge guy but I was super cramped and when you add two rods and an over the shoulder tackle bag I felt like I was flying economy with Southwest. - Net is required equipment. I used to wonder why folks in kayaks/canoes didn’t just lip them. Now I see why. - Strongly considering a peddle drive of some sort. Have to constantly pick up the oar and put down my rod was not the most efficient use of my fishing time.

Yeah the Palomar worked well for me. Also after doing some research I found the uni knot ( which is what I normally use) wasn’t the best braid without some modifications.

Yes, I definitely noticed a difference in sensitivity. The first time I used it I can’t tell you how many times I set the hook because the sensation of running into weeds was so jarring it felt like a bite. As for the rods…I have noticed that I’m having an easier time with my M/F spinning set up. Most of my issues have been with the baitcaster (MH/F) especially moving baits. I do think that rod has something to do with that but also I’m a bit more comfortable with drag adjustments on a spinning reel so there’s that.

I’ve used braid to leader also. Recently went to straight braid. I’ve used straight fluoro and mono on spinning reels before too. When I got wind knots it’s almost always the result of using certain baits that require me to snap, pop, twitch, or otherwise use the rod tip to provide action to it. Especially if I did the above with any slack in the line. It didn’t matter whether I was using braid, mono or fluoro I could still get wind knots or at the minimum some fluff on the reel. I recently experienced a spate of breaking off at the leader on hook sets that made me reevaluate using braid to leader. As it happens it was actually my fault because after I had disassembled, cleaned and lubed my spinning reel I forgot to reset my drag and had it locked down. So of course when I went to set the hook it broke the leader knot easily. Now I’m using strait braid exclusively but that’s not because I think it’s the end all be all but because it makes sense for places I fish. There have been times in the past and there probably will be times in the future when using braid to leader, or straight mono or fluoro will make more sense. In other words…right tool for the right job. If braid to leader isn’t working for you, fine. ***** can it and move on to something that does. Always remember you do not owe any loyalty to anything but that which works best for you and your individual situation.

Hit the crappie hole this morning from 5-7 am. Caught 4 on 6 bites. Unfortunately all smaller than average for this body of water. Trying a new body of water Sunday, from a kayak no less. Hopefully I can report back that I boated some quality fish.

I went out early this morning to give it another shot. Unfortunately I managed to break off at the lure on my first two bites one with a chatterbait another with a Texas rigged worm. As suggested I had my drag backed off and after I changed to a Palomar knot there were no further issues there. I kept a little slack in the line and slowed my hook set down…way down. Much more slow and deliberate. This seemed to do the trick and I managed a half dozen or so dinks with the worm before I called it and most importantly I did not have any come off.

Thanks all! I’ll try out the above suggestions tonight and report back. Thanks again for the help.

Got a gift card for Father’s Day. Used it to pick up some summertime favorites.

I hear you man, the scariest predators around are the ones with two legs.

I’m a recent convert to using straight braid on both my casting and spinning setups. My reasoning for this is that the bodies of water near me that hold larger and more quality fish tend to be very weedy. I’m having issues with fish coming off. Either before or after I’ve landed them. Also a higher number of misses on the hook set than is normal for me. I’m think my hook set maybe the issue. My question is do you change up your hook set when using straight braid? Or is it somehow different than what you would do if you were using Mono/Fluoro or a leader?