Joe and I went to Oakthorpe Thursday and never caught a fish! We didn’t even have a good strike let alone a bass. It has been pretty slow lately, my friend Larry who usually slaughters them hasn’t done real well either there.
Joe went again today and never caught a fish again.
Hopefully things will pick up.
I do know the Division of Watercraft are watching this lake and looking for people who run their outboards since it is a trolling motor only lake. I hope they catch them!
Every time I go to Oakthorpe Reservoir there are idiots who are running their outboard motors even though it is a trolling motor only lake. So, I politely tell them it is a trolling motor only lake and then they get upset and tell me it isn’t even though all they have to do is go to the ODNR website and see that it is….the very first sentence says trolling motor only lake.
The good news about all this is that I talked to a Division Of Watercraft Officer and he assured me Oakthorpe was going to be patrolled for people who run their outboards……..woohoo, that is good news! Thanks!
Oakthorpe is a very small lake only 46 acres and why people think they need to run their outboards there I will never know.
I read an article back in the early sixties that 1 out of every 100,000 bass eggs make it to an adult. This really concerned me and before B.A.S.S. or most any other fishing organization was formed, I began to preach to others about catch and release.
Now you have to realize back then almost every one ate the fish they caught. One such person was a good friend of mine named Joe. Joe loved to fish for bass and was quite a sportsman but what he caught he kept. Well, I talked to him about catch and release but he wanted to still keep the fish. I tried everything I knew to keep him from keeping all the fish he caught.
One day he put a nice bass on his stringer and I began about how I couldn’t believe how he was going to keep that fish. How only 1 in 100,000 made it to an adult and how that was a female bass and it would produce more bass if returned. I kept on him for about an hour.
I would do this every time we went fishing. One day he agreed with me and returned the bass he caught and very rarely did he keep a bass after that at least that I know about.
Here is the deal. I have seen people keep every bass they catch, I have seen guides who tell their customers to get their fish mounted and even include it in the price they charge when they catch a nice bass. I have seen others especially older people keep all their fish. Somewhere along the line it is going to effect the number and quality of bass both. You have to realize older people lived in the depression years to and were brought up to eat fish, it was a way to survive when others had nothing, so I have no qualms about that but now they don’t need to keep everything they catch.
Now, I don’t mind people keeping a bass every once in a while if they like to eat bass but just remember the big bass are females. They will be the ones who produces more bass for all of us to enjoy in later years.
A few good friends got together on Feb. 21, 2010 to watch the Bassmaster Classic. My fishing partner Bill invited us down to his house for food and to see the 2nd day of the Classic.
Jim Rempel and Beth was there, Bill and his wife Kathy, Gary (a guy who fishes with Bill, and myself. Of course, we talked about bass fishing a lot.
Bill had made some barbecued rabbit that I just new I wouldn’t like, hell, I love it….it was absolutely delicious, he also made some chili that was really good. Beth made macaroni salad that was the best I ever ate.
Bills dogs were watching with us, I determined they are all lap dogs within the first 5 minutes I was there. Not spoiled either lol
I had a really great time visiting with my friends and teasing Bill and getting teased about our fishing. There was a mention or two about someone fishing in the trees for squirrels but I’m not mentioning any names about who they were talking about or when.
We all had an excellent time.
Thanks Bill and Kathy for inviting us.
Lizards are one of my favorite lures to fish, especially the Zoom Lizard. I used to fish them about all the same way, throw the lure out, let it sink and then move it by lifting my rod tip 6 inches to a foot at a time. I did pretty well with this technique. Then….
I moved to Florida and fished with a guy that caught twice as many bass on a lizard as I did. I didn’t think to much about it and thought it was his lucky day. We went fishing again, using the same lizard and line and guess what? He caught twice as many bass as me again. Now..
He has my attention and I started watching him. Finally, I just ask him what he is doing different. He says the tails and legs on a lizard are made to work and catch fish, so he uses that to his advantage. He reels his lizards in just fast enough to make the legs and tail move and keeps it on a steady retrieve. I tried his technique and caught more bass.
I came back to Ohio and tried his technique and sometimes didn’t do nearly as well as just moving the lure slowly along the bottom by lifting my rod tip 6-12″ at a time. So, what is the difference?
Well, the difference is the activity of the bass. If they are feeding and you have a lot of activity then swim it like he did making the legs and tail move on a steady slow retrieve. If the feeding activity isn’t quite as good then try moving the lizard slower by raising your rod tip 6-12 inches at a time and let it drag along the bottom.
I have also found this works with many plastics, like worms. If the bass are active then make the tail work, if not slow it down and use your rod tip.
Try it!
Way to go Bucks, Good game Ducks! Congratulations to both teams for a good game played!
Happy New Year!
As most of you know, a plastic worm has won more B.A.S.S. tournaments than all the other lures combined. There’s a reason for that…ready? They catch bass!
I wrote this article a while back and thought this was worth posting again. I have had a couple of people ask for it and hope it helps you catch more fish.
The Lowdown on Worms
We all know that plastic worms are one of the most productive lures there are, but did you know certain worms have special uses? I have a whole tackle box with nothing but plastic worms in it, hundreds of them!
Here is what I use a certain worm for:
Floating Worm…I use this worm in shallow water and mainly in the spring. I use no weight whatsoever and like to use it when the fish just start thinking about spawning.
Stick Worm…..I use this worm in 60-70 degree water. If you use it wacky style it will vibrate on both ends.
Paddle Tail…..This is one of my favorite shallow water lures. When I fish vegetation I use long casts and just reel it back in slowly.
Gator Tail…This is also a shallow water worm that I use in the summer. It’s also great on streams and rivers.
Curly Tail….I use this worm in the summer around stumps, docks, timber, lily pads and it’s one of my favorite when I fish deep water to 20 feet.
Straight Tail…This is one of my favorites for docks, timber and brush. I have found it doesn’t wrap around brush like most worms do.
French Fry….I always Carolina rig a French fry and use it in clearer water. The action of this is amazing when you move your line and the weight comes up the line.
Ribbon Tail…I read about 30 years ago of people fishing with a 10 inch ribbon tail at night. I’m here to tell you this works, I have caught some nice bass on a big ribbon tail. I use a regular ribbon tail when fishing 10-15 feet of water too.
If you like to worm fish now, try some of the types of worms above for specific conditions. I think you’ll like the results.
I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I hope you have a great fishing year in 2010.
Thanks for visiting my site and reading the posts.
Merry Christmas!
This is from Rick’s board but I just had to post about it.
Larry, John, Roger and others decided to fish Dow Lake in Ohio! Now that’s not unusual, what is unusual is they had to break the ice on the lake to even get their boats in to fish.
Here is a picture of the path they took to fish…notice all the ice:
Larry caught a very nice over 4 pound bass! You can see the bass picture and read more about it here:
http://fishtalkfishingreports.yuku.com/topic/6508
Good job Larry, nice fish! Now it’s time for your meds, my friend.
Talking about die-hard fishermen!
My friend Rick found these Ice Fishing Safety Tips and I thought they were worth posting. They could save your life!
http://fishtalkfishingreports.yuku.com/topic/6492/t/Ice-Safety-tips.html