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fatboyjack1

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Everything posted by fatboyjack1

  1. lol.....we saw the barge heading towards us Sunday morning.....no way was I getting in its way. It was an absolute zoo in 40 to 50 FOW. People heading every direction. Did you get to see the regatta heading out right around 6:am ? I was so glad they didn't head west off of the point. We took a 2 man ticket of 18" to 22" fish in about 3 hours. First hour was trying to locate them and set up a program. Took 6 off riggers with pink backed hammered spoons, and the other 6 on a dipsy with spoons. No plug bite, and no lead-core hits. The lake laid down and the bite peckered off. It was a great day on the water, one of the few where the lake was almost too calm !
  2. My boat never sees fuel with ethanol in it, and it is made to handle it. I always go for ethanol free, even if I have to pay more at the marina. I won't trust my $15,000 motor with regular pump gas. The problem I see is, the price of ethanol-free is going up as the demand is going up. It used to be 20 cents higher, now it is 50 cents higher per gallon. As the government allows us to buy what we want, they realize there is money to be made. Try getting ethanol free in Indiana though, the gov't keeps bailing out farmers by allowing the ethanol plants to produce an abundance.
  3. Problem Child........ I kill my fair share of walleyes myself ! It is about the only fish my wife will actually eat. Drum are a decent eating fish.....not my favorite by far, but not too bad. Smoked is pretty good, but the texture is what turns most people off. It isn't a very white or flakey meat. There is a grain to the meat, kinda like the texture of a shrimp (not sure that is a great example). I enjoy them over an open fire, gutted and head removed....and skin on. I usually let it burn on the outside pretty good. When it is done the skin pulls right off and you can pick it apart with your fingers. It is really good with a green tomato put on the open fire beside it, then cut into chunks and paired with the fish. Lots of beer is also good with sheep-head ! Maybe that is why we think it taste good !! Never.....and I mean never deep fry it !! What a terrible fish deep-fried. White bass are a bit more oily than perch, but I think they have more flavor. I have had fish fry's before where most people didn't know the difference. Again....probably the beer. Going to hit the lake again Saturday or Sunday if weather permits. If not, off to catfish at Pymy.
  4. Thanks J. Sparrow......it was a rough day with some of the guys getting a bit of dock rock and spilling their beans, but we all toughed it out. The chum seemed to help !!! lol. Steelie, yep.....I eat them quite a bit. I understand that is quite a change from the guys that kill them needlessly.....but my moral ethics tell me that if you are going to kill it, or harm it....you best eat it. Two of smaller drum were attempted to be released, but they were not going to make it. They just can't handle the quick depth change from 60 FOW up to the surface. If I can't catch and release, I catch and eat. No matter what species it is, a true sportsman's obligation is to make sure the animal does not go to waste. I even eat carp if they can not be released unharmed.
  5. Location : North East marina, NE PA Conditions : 2-4's.....occasional 5. It was a real cookie tossing machine today.....like a washing machine. Species caught : Walleye, perch, WB, catfish and sheep-head Report : Stopped at East side angler to get bait and to get a good fishing report. Was told to head west rather than east. Decided to not follow directions and head to NE marina anyways. Left the launch and headed towards the mountain, setting up in 45 FOW. Trolled east up to about 70 FOW. Decided it was too rough to head the few miles to the mountain. Trolled with the waves till about 8:00am, NOTHING. Decided to troll against the waves back west. Picked up one 19" walleye on a stinger, a few decent drum on a tail-dancer, and one perch on a harness. Decided to return west and hit some schools I marked on the Humminbird. Set up in 62 FOW and proceeded to have a decent day with the perch, but had a hard time keeping anchored. So, decided to drift. Best fish of the day was a 10ish pound channel cat. Ended up with over 20 decent perch, 3 drum, catfish and single walleye. Walleye was grilled for dinner last night, perch and white bass will be for a fish fry......and drum will go on the open fire come Friday.
  6. Location : Lake Erie, East Ave Launch. (Shades is closed...FYI). Time : 6:am to noon Depth : Trolled from dumping grounds, started in 42FOW, headed NE into 58 FOW. Spread : 2 riggers, 2 dipseys set on 3 at 80 out to 150. One lead off the chute, two small offshore planers port and starboard. Report : Began the day off East Ave launch, headed out towards the old dump. Sat up rods in about 42FOW, trolled NE to 58FOW, then made a turn back. Marked many pods of fish early in the AM (assuming perch, mostly in the 48 FOW range). Missed one assumed walleye at the boat using a spinner, caught 1 pellet-head off a red/white DW spoon in 55 FOW, and one whitey off a small reef runner. Decided to try perch jerking for the remainder for the day. Didn't get one bite, didn't catch one perch. Talked to many guys out and no one was doing any good. Sat up by the red boat for a while and never seen them pick up one perch. Talked to guys at the launch.....nada for most everyone. Fished from beach one all the way over the light house, then went out off the point. Called it a day around noonish. The pellet-head went about 8 pounds.
  7. Run them behind cowbells......right off the bottom in deeper water for Lakers (fish the mountain area). The spin and glow is a cool tool for Ontario, but never heard of them being used much on Erie. I will run them behind a spin doctor now and again, but in my experience, usually see them behind cowbells for lakers.
  8. You got that right......this was only the second year I fished the bay on Memorial day, NEVER AGAIN. I don't like fishing the bay even when it isn't Memorial day, but the smallie reports had my blood pumping to go. I really was hoping to get on them out in the main lake so we could avoid the bay, but just didn't happen. However, I will never forget the little fat lady in the sailboat who flipped me off. I was overtaking them on my Starboard side (their port) and honked my horn twice (per the law) at them so they knew I was overtaking them. They had sails down and were under power of an engine. They were starting to turn in front of me.....just trying to be courteous to them and avoid collision. I understand they were the lead vessel and didn't have to maneuver out of my way, but their obligation is to keep course while being overtaken (they were the stand on vessel). My two horn blast was to give them opportunity to acknowledge my passing on the left (whereas one blast for passing on the right). I took her middle finger as an acknowledgment, and they proceeded to turn in front of me anyways (lol). If you don't know the laws, educate yourself. If they wanted me to wait due to them turning into a port.....they needed to give me 5 short blast to let me know it was NOT OK TO PASS. Glad it is over and looking forward to staying out on the main lake. Good riddance to PIB !!
  9. Hit Presque Isle bay and the main lake with my Dad on Sunday. My Dad come up every year from Indiana State to fish for a couple days. Fished from around 6am to 6pm. I hope to give a detailed report here, without being too long winded. Launch : Chestnut St boat ramp Bay temp : 74 Main lake temp in 5-15 FOW : 65 up to 68 Main lake fishing 6am up to 10:30 : I have been wanting to fish the rock piles (breakwalls) on the NW side of the bay for years, decided to check it out for some smallie action. Started out at the first rock pile, which is about 10 foot deep. Water clarity was around 15 feet. Seen bass everywhere, but could not get a bite going. Threw jerks, in-lines and cranks (I refuse to fish tubes on beds). I caught 3 or 4, Dad picked up one. All smaller males. Was a beautiful morning on the main lake, perfect ESE wind, light yet variable. Waves were nonexistent. I actually saw one guy skiing on the main lake. We fished about 7 of the rock piles and decided to move towards Hammermill. Fished about 2 miles of shore from Hammermill towards Shades, didn't get much to show for the effort. I stayed inside the 15 FOW mark.....problaby should have moved out to the 20 where the bottom was not easily seen. Lots of followers, very few bites other than a couple red-eyes. Bay fishing 11am to 6pm. Fished about every area of the bay with the exception of Misery and Horseshoe. Started on the park side, about 10 FOW off the ledge. I picked up 3 smallies, and my dad picked up 1 or 2 I think. The gills were relentless ! Must have just came off their beds. I caught the smalles on in-lines, dad caught one on a crank if I remember correctly. Way too many sight fishermen targeting beds (illegal at best)....could not bear to watch any more so I decided to make a move. Went to the yacht club and fished around the houses, picked up a bunch of gills and a smallie or two. Moved to the condos and picked up about 5 million gills, even on cranks.....gills were everywhere. Dad also picked up a nice 12-14 inch shad, and I picked up a 15 or so inch Sheep-head (best fight of the day). I also pick up the only LM of the day, which went about 2 pounds. Bay was way more rough than what the main lake was. CONCLUSION : Bass boats have no concept of No-Wake zones (With-in 500' of shore on park side, within 100' otherwise). Jet-skies should require a coast guard course before you can drive one (bunch of idiots). If you take a kayak out in the middle of the bay on mememorial day, you will get to swim back to shore with your kayak. Sail boats.....I just don't understand it ! Sight fishermen trolling around looking for bedded fish are pathetic. The law specifically states you can't do it. Unfortunately 90% of the bass guys I saw were doing it. I am not talking about the guys casting and inadvertently catching them, I am talking about the guys who go right to the nest and drop vertically in hopes of annoying the fish into biting to protect it's nest. Also, met Bo and Luke at the ramp (conservation officers). The one had his belly hanging out from under his vest (classic). Nice guys other than tying up the ramp at Chestnut. They were doing general safety checks which I am all for.....just let me get my boat out of the water first !! I had a bit of an attitude and didn't want the small talk.....I told the one guy "lets cut to the chase", what do you need from me so I can proceed. I provided my info and safety gear according to the law and we parted ways. Lessons learned : I am more of a main lake and off-shore trolling guy. Questions : Just ask. My new Mercury 115 4-stroke is an awesome motor when compared to my 1974 Mercury 115 2-stroke.
  10. Pellet-head = Steel-head. lol. I have seen quite a few people going to the spoon/harness combo, looks sweet ! Might have to try it this year. I have been wanting to try short leads off the ball, but have a hard time wrapping my head around it. The days where you can do no wrong it might work to keep them tucked in. I seldom run any more than 50 off the ball, which seems to work well for me. I have also put on a 5-7' diver and ran the longer lead, trying to get the diving lure under the ball. However, in my experience, you have to run a stouter release to us the diver on the rigger. It makes it easier to drag a fish though. Learning to read the tip is key when you fish for walleye. When in doubt, reel in and reset if needed. It is also key to have rods that are identical. I use the same two for my riggers, same two alike for dipseys, and two alike rods for small boards. Wow, 150 back off the ball....that is a long way to keep your depth correct. If you are running 1.5-2mph, not sure how you positively know the actual depth. However, like anything trolling related, it isn't about dialing riggers in at one certain depth, it is about repetition once you find the sweet spot. We fished out of point breeze NY last year and I forgot my heavy balls. I only brought one 12# and two 8# balls. We were tuck in a crease in about 80 foot of water, but the blow-back was very severe on the 8# balls. We had no idea the actual depth of the lure. I was freaking out ! A valuable lesson I learned is that it doesn't matter the exact location of the balls, it is dialing in on the depth the fish prefer. We were putting down over 100' of rigger, but were probably only covering the 60-70 FOW zone. In order to keep things alike, I used both 8# balls and left the 12# in the holder. You would think I would have used the one 12# ball to help eliminate the blow-back, but it was easier to repeat my set-up using 8# on both riggers. I made a change on the port rigger to 70 foot of cable down.....wham, fish on. From here I was able to set the other rigger up to 65ish down, wham....fish on. The depth of the balls is irrelevant, as long as it is where the fish prefer to be. Same with walleye fishing guys....dial it in, dial it in......dial it in.
  11. DJ, We vary our lead length. Usually 20-30 back is a start for us, but have went 50 back for tough days. From my experience on Lake O, where you are running 5-10' off the ball, short leads can be tough with walleye (again, in my experience). There are days where I would like to run longer leads, but my riggers are fairly close together, and when you get 4 dipseys or boards out, plus the 2 riggers down, the long leads can become an issue (at least for me). I am a bad driver....lol. I rarely pay attention to my heading, so I certainly make a lot of "S" turns. My riggers are steel cable. I initially bought them for Lake O, so didn't see the sense in changing them out just for Erie. I like steel. However, I have thought about tagging a few feet of lesser test braid or steel so my ball can break off when I snag it up. Let's face it, it happens. Lake O is a different critter, only ball I have lost up there is because some idiot (me) forgot to snap the clasp. I have however snagged up good on Erie's bottom. I pour my own balls (8# and 10#, with rubber coating), so losing one isn't a big deal for me. It is hard on my gunwales when you come to that sudden stop ! I like spoons, in fact, I have hundreds of them. They are a confidence lure for me when I can pick up my speed, mostly because I have years of experience running them. They are simple, not speed sensitive, and when you get 9 of them down in a short space it makes for good action (2 small boards with guppy weights, 2 dipsey rods, 1 lead-core off the chute, and the 2 riggers with stackers/sliders). Worse thing with spoons is you will get a pellet-head or two, and they can likely ruin your spread in a heart-beat !!!!
  12. We run riggers late in the year for walleye out of Erie PA. Usually run stingers and scorpions, but always have a variety of other brands (specifically moonshine). We stack lines and run the top spoon about 10 feet above the bottom spoon, using a 3-5 foot lead. We catch plenty of walleye this way, and typically catch the larger guys on spoons. 90% of the time we get the strike on the top spoon. We also run sliders if fishing down deep and want the second spoon to stay at the 50-50 mark. We get our share of Sheephead, but very few white bass. We also get a bonus pellet head now and again. Got 1 nice cat on them a few years back as well. However, there have been days that the sheephead were gladly welcomed, expecially when the bite is tough and the kiddo's want to catch something. Nothing worse than a boat full of kids and no action while trolling. In the last 20 years, spoons have been left behind on lake Erie and most people viewpoint is that the pellet head and laker guys only use them. I can't say they out-fish spinners, but certainly worth a try on a slow day. I think walleye fishing has more to do with presentation, speed and depth. Some days I swear you could throw down a pop can with a hook and catch them. Other days I swear the walleye hate me and won't bite on anything.
  13. Hey guys ! Great new site, I have always enjoyed LOU and the advice and courtesy you get over there. Everyone has always been helpful and didn't make you feel like an idiot (which for me, it isn't hard to feel like an idiot....lol). I hope this site is better than fisherie......and stays away from politics and government. I have spent many a weekend at the Big O and love the people and fishing community around lake Ontario, everyone gives everyone advice.....as well as says where the hot bite is. Erie has always been more "hush-hush". I hail from Meadville PA, can usually be found on Lake Edinboro, Conneaut Lake and Lake Erie with my trusty yellow lab "Dudley" (if I can keep him in the boat). If you see a dog swimming next to a yellow boat.....that is probably me. My boat is a 1974 Reinell, bright yellow with a new 115 4-stroke mercury. Usually can be found on Erie running rods (planers, divers and riggers), or floating for hours on end picking up perch. I can also be found at the boat launch skunked and crying.
  14. I added a new 115 Mercury 4-stroke to replace my older 1974 Mercury 1150, replaces all lights and bearing on the old trailer, added trolling motor sonar (Helix 5) in the bow, upgraded both batteries, put 19" LCD 12V TV in the rear of the boat connected to my Hummingbird 858HD DI for better viewing while trolling, repositioned my Big Jon's and added swivel mounts. Heading to Lake O for a few days in a week, and then will hit Erie most weekends. Lakers are heating up !! Wife says I am done for 10 years.
  15. Nice to see others with some classics still. Mine is a 1974 Reinell open bow, 18', heavy fiberglass, all original with factory "dump" trailer. Motor up until this year was a 1974 Mercury 115 (1150) in-line 6. I just installed a new 2016 Mercury 115 4-stroke on it last week at the tune of $12500. Made some transom upgrades over winter to handle the extra 70#s. Glad to see this site.....was always nice to visit LOU before my trips up to Lake O, so it will be equally as nice to have LEU for my trips up to Erie -
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