I went to Oakthorpe Reservoir in Ohio today and used a Green and White Scum Frog and caught this nice 4 pound bass.
4 pound bass
The bass were on their beds as the water temperature was 74 degrees.
There were quite a few boats and I didn’t see anyone else catch anything.
Bill Walters of New Straitsville,Ohio caught this nice 5 pound 6 ounce bass at Dow Lake by Athens, Ohio. Bill was using a spinnerbait when he hooked the big bass.
Bill Walters and his 5 pound 6 ounce bass
Nice fish Bill!
A friend of mine Rick, suggested I get a trailer for my little boat so it would be easier to load and unload. The little bass hunter fits right in my truck and I have a winch and ramps to load it but the more I thought about his suggestion, the more sense it made. So, here is what I came up with: The first picture is the trailer and the second is the trailer loaded with the bass hunter.
trailer
A nice 5 lbs, 4oz largemouth bass caught by Brian Stanton of Columbus, Ohio on April 20th, 2009. The big bass was 22 inches long!
Brian caught this on April 20, 2009 in Columbus, Ohio
Good job Brian, you’re in the running for the $25.00 bass picture contest for the end of the month! Good luck to you and thanks for sharing your picture.
A female bass with lay between 2,000 and 20,000 eggs, 10 or less will make it to 10 inches in length.
If a male is the one who fans the nest why does the female bass get a red tail? Because when they carry the eggs it makes them not swim correctly and it rubs the tail on the bottom.
I was fishing Oakthorpe Reservoir yesterday and the one thing I noticed most was all the trash around the lake. There was paper and junk everywhere!
Most of the lake shore is connected to private property, so can you imagine how the property owners feels looking down towards the lake and seeing all the trash? How long does it take to pick up a piece of paper to keep the area looking nice?
Everywhere you fish nowadays people just don’t give a damn, they leave their junk right where they used it. For example, yesterday, three kids apparently camped out overnight at Oakthorpe, when they left the fire was still burning and they just left it. First off, there is supposed to be no fires at Oakthorpe, second how long would it have taken to just get some water and put it out? I mean they are right by the lake!
Then you have the ATV’s! According to the game warden, no atv’s are even allowed there but they come in, make ruts everywhere and make it rough on people who try to fish from shore. I have seen them go right up on private property and ruin the land with the ruts they make.
Then you have the idiots that runs their outboards wide open on the lake. First off, read the damn website from the ODNR, it is a trolling motor only lake. I have told people that and what do they do? Start their outboards and go across the lake.
The problem with Oakthorpe is no one cares! Kids come there and do their drugs, it is known to them as “Reefer Lake”, I have seen drug deals go on there too. I also seen people in their big 4 wheel mud trucks get back to check on their crops where no one else can go.
Then the weeds get so high every year that you can’t even fish from shore because when you go back to cast, the rod hits the high weeds on the shore by the ramp. I think they might get cut once a year, if that!
Then you have all the drinkers that go there to drink their beer and etc. Everytime you go there you see a couple of people sitting in their vehicle drinking.
The main problem is no one cares about this little lake! I haven’t seen the game warden there in years! ODNR sets a bad example by leaving the place go to hell, people think if they don’t care about the lake, why should they? ODNR could post signs about being a trolling motor only lake and no ATV’s but they haven’t and won’t until the ATV’s sets the place on fire in the summer and burns the caretakers house down or some other house around the lake.
We need this little lake policed by the Fairfield County Game Warden, Buckeye Lake Lake Patrol Offiice and Fairfield County, Ohio Sheriff Office, if just for a little while to let people know someone actually cares.
My friend Bill and I went bass fishing in Ohio yesterday and here is a nice 3 pound bass he caught. He caught it on a black worm!
3 pound bass
Notice how happy he is to be fishing with me? 
Oakthorpe Reservoir, as most know who read my blog, is one of my favorite places to fish but this year the catch has been extremely slow.
Joe and I went out yesterday, Saturday, April 11, 2009 and never had a strike. Last year at this time we were doing pretty good. The wind was blowing hard, the water temperature was about 54 at the highest we found and the water was stained!
We tried spinners, lizards, worms, jigs and never had a strike.
The last few times I have fished there with a partner, we haven’t done very well at all. We seen and talked to a few other anglers there and they weren’t catching anything either.
Everyone can pick a crankbait out of their tacklebox and throw it haphazardly but if you do that you’re going to lose a lot of fish and confidence in your lure and fishing both.
Here are some things you should know about the crankbait you’re fishing:
Does it look good going through the water? If it does, you’ll have better confidence in the bait and you’re fishing too.
What depth does it run? If you’re fishing in deep water and your bait is only running 3 feet deep when bass are holding up at the bottom, what good does it do? Know the depth your lure runs!
What is the slowest speed the lure can run and still have the action it needs? Also, know the opposite…what is the fastest speed it can run and still have the action you want it to have?
We all know that erratic action can produce strikes, watch your crankbait in the water and see the action it makes. What is the best way to work the lure?
What conditions are you fishing and what crankbait do you want to use? Does the crankbait float? Does it suspend or sink? Know when to use your particular crankbait for certain conditions!
What size do you want to use for the fish you’re catching or want to catch? Overall and in general, bigger bass like bigger lures.
What color crankbait should you be using? What are the bass eating in their natural state? Shad? Crayfish? Trout? Bluegill? Whatever it is try and match your crankbait to the same color.
What is the right size for your bass? If they are eating shad or crayfish or both then a shorter crankbait is usally the answer. There are some exceptions so try different crankbaits and see what you find.
What sound does your crankbait make? Does it rattle? Does it clang? Does it make a clicking noise? What exactly does it do and how will that help you? For example, if the forage the fish are feeding on are crayfish, a clicking or rattle may help catch more bass because the crayfish may be making that same noise.
The next thing to know is the water displacement….is is a wide wobble? Is it a short wobble? How does it displace the water? This could make a difference in how many bass you catch. It seems less water displacement may do better in clear water while a bigger displacement may do better in muddy and stained water. Experiment!
Whiles it’s easy to just grab a crankbait and start thowing it without knowing anything about it, you’ll find once you do find out what is actually does, you’ll not only catch more bass but also have more confidence in your fishing.
For a great forum about bass fishing visit my friend’s Rick website at:
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