hamer08

You better go talk to some guides. I've used guides several times and generally have had good experiences. But, it is beyond me how they can make enough money to have a decent standard of living. I'm sure the number of guides that can command prices high enough to enjoy a decent standard of living with a reasonable number of hours of work is very few. If you really enjoy fishing, you'd be better off to get a job that provides the money and time off to enjoy it. I am much happier to be able to afford a guide, rather than be a guide.

In my area, we have alot of public water that is "access-challenged". Some of my favorite places to fish require you to portage a boat or canoe a half mile or more to access them. Although these lakes tend to be more about quantity than trophy fish, you get to see alot of nature to make up for it. For larger fish, lakes with limited access work better. These are lakes that get fair fishing pressure which is limited to specific geographic areas. These are usually lakes that don't have easy boat access, but offer some bank fishing. I then portage in my canoe and hit the bass out of reach. I bought a canoe trailer for my mountain bike this winter, so I plan on pushing the limits even further this year. So my secret is knowing people are lazy and not willing to walk very far to fish (yet alone portage a boat).

I would think a bass would hit it head first, so I would hook it near the head. I would rig it weightless and fish it like a top water lure. I think they would work well if they are small (12"). I only see bigger snakes (>30") in semi-open water, those little snakes are always within 6" of shore and hug the bank. The smarts ones must know they are on the menu and try to avoid getting out where the larger fish roam. You should video tape your experience.

Since it is private, you'll need to work with the POA to encourage better management of this resource. This may be a tough sell in an era of tight budgets. Maybe you can help by organizing cover building projects (xmas tree drops, etc) with POA approval. Another good strategy would be to encourage catfish recruitment (add spawning resources) and make a good catfish lake for the food anglers. Catfish and bass don't impact each other too much.

The numbers I usually see recommended for harvest rates are 10-20 lbs of bass per acre per year and 50-100 lbs of bluegill. Although some very productive and fertilized lakes can support 3 times this amount. New reservoirs are typically more productive than 10+ yr old lakes. Because alot of the brush, timber and cover dissapears with age, which limits recruitment of new fish. Is this a private or public lake?

Its only a matter of time before they establish populations in the great lakes. I'm not really worried about their impact on the great lakes. The quagga and zebra mussels already mop up all the phytoplankton. These carp prefer zooplankton, which need phytoplankton. While the rivers in the Mississippi drainage are packed with phyto and zooplankton thanks to all the agricultural runoff. This will probably increase as more acres go into corn production for ethanol. There impact on other species is not clearly understood. Plankton levels haven't been dramatically changed but they make compete with other species for non food resource. For sports fisherman, I think the bigger issue is will be this will develop into a commercial industry within the next 5-10yrs. With the dollar dropping and food protein costs increasing they will find an export market for these fish. Its already one othe largest aquaculture species in the world. Then these fish will have an economic benefit and lobby, which will alter how the rivers are managed. One good thing about these fish are they are probably helping reduce the size of the dead zone in the gulf of Mexico, which in caused by zooplankton from the mississippi decaying and consuming all the oxygen in the water.

I think it depends on the given lake and forage base. If the musky are eating primarily big gizzard shad, then bass are less affected. But, if bass are a bigger portion of their diet you can bet the population holds tighter to cover. I have one smaller lake (14 acres) I fish, that started stocking muskies 6-7 yrs ago. Those initial muskies are now probably 36" and prefer prey 20-30% of their length. So 8-10" bass are now on the menu. Last year I noticed the bass held extremely tight to cover. I caught a lot bass vertical jigging right next to standing timber, in the past the breaklines were more productive. I'm not sure if its the barracuda in the pool or something else has changed. I need another year or two to see if the pattern keeps changing. I also plan to try to catch some muskies to get a better feel for their population. I haven't seen any Gizzard shad in the this lake so bass and other pan fish are on the menu. Walleye and white bass don't seem to impact the location of bass, but seem to limit the growth rate and recruitment of bass.

It doesn't seem like recruitment is an issue at the lake if he can catch fish daily (or its being stocked). Either way, he is probably not doing much harm to the lake, except improving the growth rates of the remaining bass. It seems like I hear the opposite problem more often. No one will harvest bass and the population becomes stunted with a bunch of skinny fish. If your that worried contact whoever manages the lake and find out the managment strategy. If your area doesn't have a fish biologist, lobby your DNR to get one.

It may have been a Drum, they can look like carp and get big. They are much more likely to hit or follow a lure than a carp. I catch a couple every year while fishing for bass.

12-18" Slot limits have changed my nomenclature a little. Now a dink is <8-9", a "keeper" (to be eaten) is 9-12". Everything else is C & R.

I would adjust your timing and expectations, rather than location. In July and August, the best fishing will be very early in the morning and late evening (little pleasure boaters). You should talk to your guide(s) for their suggestions. I know one guide liked to be on the water 1/2 hr before sunrise and fish from ~4:30 -7:30am, but caught boat loads of white bass. I personally would rather get up at 3:30 in the morning, than deal with the heat, sun, pleasure boaters and poorer fishing at high noon. Then you could also try bank fishing for catfish at night.

I'll probably get out as soon as possible. I'll bring my thermometer and scout my favorite areas, just to see how they warm up in the spring time. I would geuss once the water temps hit the mid 40s, fishing will pick up. But you can catch bass ice fishing so it is possible. You just have to put it right in front of thier face.

I like the BPS extreme combos. It is hard to beat for the price, most of mine were $99 for the combo. All mine I bought online and I like the wide range of options. I'll second the gander mountian guide series rods/reels. They do use rebadged Pflueger reels and our local one offers great customer service. They offered to exchange a yr old reel without a box or reciept. I typically buy these as combo also, usually $99-$129. I personally prefer to have more combos (specific to the type of fishing, lure, gear ratio, power, action, etc). Than have fewer slightly higher quality equipment. I would rather have six $100 combos than two $300 combos. good luck

I had friends that lived on the river that did it when I was younger. I tried, but I wasn't a good enough swimmer to do it effectively at this location. We did it under a small falls in 6-8 ft of water, it was hard with the current and having to dive and hold your breath. You had to do everything by feel, it was hard enough just to hold your position. Snakes and turtles need to breath, so its unlikely you'll find them in a catfish hole. I'm sure a big flathead would eat most water snakes if given a chance. I've never heard of any problems or run ins with snakes or turtles specific to noodling.

I would spend the money on a guide, especially since you need to rent a boat. That time of year, you could do an early morning guided trip and get big numbers of white bass. Then spend the rest on the time in a more leisure mode.

I have been waiting to try one myself. We have fun snagging them in the summer. The average size is probably 20 lbs, with the biggest probably running 35 lb, good fighters.

It seems odd to have that as a lake specific regulation, especially given its specially mentioned in the IL fishing regulations. Although you do have to follow creel limitations for harvest (some lakes gills must be 8"). http://dnr.state.il.us/fish/digest/digest.pdf pg 2.

To be fair, most of the water we fish is man-made impoundments. So this don't have alot to do with nature or playing god. These are managed lakes with different stockings, creel limits, slot limits, etc. I think I would be happy the lake was being actively managed by a fish biologist with trophy bass as a goal. Maybe you can email the fish biologist involved with the project and ask him for additional references on Pike/bass managment to ease your concerns.

I fish several lakes that actively manage LMB and muskies. I haven't noticed any problems. It seems lakes that try to have LMB, muskie and walleye have much less LMB. I think too many bass stunt the populations. I know lakes you can catch 4"-10" LMB on every other cast, but no big mamas. Likewise, lakes that have good populations of 2-4 lbers have much less bass under 12". I wouldn't worry too much, the worst case is you'll start catching pike that can eat a 10" bass. I don't consider that a big problem.

I've never used bluegill for bass. When I use them for catfish, I hook them under the dorsel fin with a hook about 2x the width of the bluegill. I've caught some LM bass on cut bluegill on the bottom when fishing for cats. This was in IL also (where its legal to use gills for bait). I may have to try them myself this summer. I can think of a couple of lakes that only have a few large bluegills. These are usually in lakes with activately managed bass and muskie populations.

I took a guided fishing trip in FL earlier this winter and it only seemed to make the cabin fever worse. One thing I did get out of the trip was how much fun it was to fish with big live shiners. So I've taken this off season to develop a plan to get and maintain some fair size shiners (4") for my spring fishing pleasure. The local bait shops (central IL) only stock small fatheads for crappie and walleye. I think I have the details worked out and a setup in place. I just need towait until mid march to put the plan in action.

Its hard to judge lb for lb, but I'm the most tired after messing with carp. It may be they are just so much bigger (typically 25 lbs), but when you hook them, they shoot down stream and you fight you every inch of the way back to the boat. Once they see the boat, you get to repeat the process. Smallies are problaby the hardest to land, since they shake the hook out frequently.

I'll be down in Orlando for a business trip next week and was thinking of adding an extra day to squeeze in a fishing trip (Monday 12/10). Can anyone recommend a guide, preferablly one that can provide everything? I don't want to drag everything down to FL.

Ghoti, I see your from central IL also. I too see a problem with the slot limits. The picture I posted on pg 3 is a bass from Banner Marsh and is common for lakes with slot limits. Hopefully, the DNR will modify the limits some and encourage a little more harvesting of the dinks. I may try a few myself once the water cools down some more.

I tend not to keep fish because its a PITA to carry and clean them. We also have a protect slot at most lakes (12-18") for bass. I would prefer to see it 16-21". I think most of the lakes could use some more harvesting of 12"ers. Most of the bigger bass I catch tend to be long and lean, which to me suggests not enough food to support fat bass. I can usaully catch alot of 1-2 lbers so more harvesting wouldn't hurt. Here is a 3 lb, 12 oz that is long and lean and typical of what we catch.