yugrac

Thanks.

Any one here ever fish Hamilton lake in North east Indiana? Not looking for fishing tips, needing to know if its open HP, any boat restrictions, or speed limits? I will be driving with my son, [He is coming from north west Pa.] its a 3 hour drive there [Hamilton] from my house, and I would like to know these things before I head up there. I have not been able to get much info from IDNR, other than its public, and the lake board and chamber of commerce have been no help, they don't seem to know anything. Any info helpful thanks

Do any of you use Fluorocarbon on a baitcaster? Any pros, cons? What brand and weight. Considering it but would like other opinions first.

There is a small [175 acre] water supply reservoir about 45 min. from my home in central Indiana. It is 2 to 3 ft deep on the river end, and about 25 ft on the dam end. Most is quick drop off with some cover in shallower water, not really very weedy, and visibility usually around 6 inches to a foot. I have fished this place the last 2 falls, from 1st of October to Thanksgiving and have done fairly well, having some of the best number days of my year, and I have caught 5 lb largemouth. Problem is, for some reason, I dont do worth a crap in the spring or summer. Using the same methods I use in the fall will not produce the same results for me, and I have tried different lures, presentation, ect but cant seem to do any good, many times getting the big skunk. Wanting to get out this weekend, air temps are forecast mid 60s on Sunday, I dont know what the water temps are, but I was wading in a local river 2 Sundays ago and the water temps were [or at least felt] warmer than what they did on Christmas day. I did catch several bass on an small inline spinner. I am guessing 50 maybe. Any ideas? I know there are quality fish in this reservoir, I just cant figure out why I do so well in the fall, but suck so bad in the spring.

I have caught large clumps of Zebra mussels in lake Erie, I have also caught large mussels, hooked in there mouth opening, in the river I fish when the water is wadeable. Caught plenty of sticks, man its hard to belive how much a long stick feels like a fish for several seconds, fishing a local reservoir one Sunday morn I hooked what I thought was a monster, I am yelling for my wife to get the net out, she was having a hard time pulling the folding handle out, I was giving her hell telling her to hurry when..........out of the gloom a stick with a bunch of very heavy mono wrapped around it came up. She started laughing so hard I thought she was going to fall out of the boat, the rest of the day she could not look at me without laughing.

silicon will glue anything to anything as long as its clean. kevin22"s point is taken, however it will still work, it just takes a little longer to dry. I work in the automotive field, we use silicon to glue everything. Foam is porous, and will allow the silicon to dry.

I have tried these methods, the strumming your line like a guitar string is the only one that I had never thought of, or was not obvious like getting on the backside of the snag. The line "strumming" method however has worked for me on several occasions, not every time, but often enough to try it when hung up. Nothing more annoying than getting stuck on the first cast when trying to work a large piece of cover, then having to go in for your lure only to see a large fish spooked from the spot you were wanting to work!

I always hate when guys post about how great the fishing is in there friends private stocked pond or small lake, where the fish only see a small number of lures in a year, and there are no wake boarders or pontoon boats to deal with. We dont all have the connections to fish these places, and as far as my opinion, they should not even be considered in a poll of this kind.

gundog, you said a mouthfull. I dont smoke, drink, play golf, chase women, [wife would not approve] I sold all my hot rods and collector cars, and I am going to sell my goldwing this spring, I dont watch any sports, a guy has to have something to do, and when the water is frozen, and it does not get ice thick enough to suit me in the area I live in, so no ice fishing, you spend money on fishing gear during the off season. I spent over $1,500 this winter, and did not make any single really big purchase, allot of the things were upgrades.

Its been said time and time again, fishing supply companies are out to catch fisherman , not fish. Do I have too many rods, lures I never fish with and electronics I never use to there full use? 100% yes.

Have not kept a fish since I was 14 years old, [42 years ago] and then all I ever kept were bluegill or catfish. I throw back every thing I catch. The hunt and the catch is what I am after, if I want fish I go to long john silvers.

I was fishing with my son on french creek in Meadville Pa. several years ago, from his boat, [French creek is more like a river in many spots] I was using the lightest rig I own, a 4 1/2 ft ultralight St. Croix, 4 pound test line, using a 1/4 oz inline spinner. Had not had much going on, I had picked up a couple 2 pound Largemouth, he hadnt touched a fish. I cast along a tree laying along the shoreline, water was very murky, all of the sudden I thought I hooked a truck, my rod was bent in a 360 degree circle, I had never felt that much power on the end of a rod in 50 years of fishing, I managed to get it close enough to the boat and up far enough in the water to see a 4 ft. Muskie. My son starts yelling, "its a Muskie, dont let it turn its head!" Well, needless to say once it seen us it went under the boat and "ping" it was gone. The last time I went out last year, I was throwing into a downed tree, in shallow water, again with a spinner, I made about 3 turns on the reel and it stopped. I thought crap I am hung up on my first cast. So after trying all methods of freeing the lure with no result, I started moving the boat toward the snag. As I was moving forward my line kept getting tighter, I was like what the? Then suddenly it hit me, idiot, you have a fish! This thing just started pulling line off like I was not even there, It just swam away moved out toward the middle of the lake and I dont think it even knew it was hooked, then slack line, But I did not lose my lure, It just pulled out of its mouth. Felt like a monster cat. I did manage to boat my first muskie last fall on Ceasars creek in Ohio, but it was only a 2 footer. I heading to northern Pa at the end of May, I am going prepared with heavy gear and braid this time, the one lake we are going to is known for big Muskie and pike, maybe I will get even!

Well, a few years ago, a Indiana fish biologist who had a website called "Big Indiana Bass" addressed the issue of "no fish here" He said during electroshock surveys, there was never a shoreline, on any lake they surveyed, that did not have fish come to the top. My daughter and her husband both work for the National Forest service. They work in a national forest in California. Due to the drought conditions the last few years, some river fish on the threatened list had to be relocated due to falling water levels. I asked her about this, and she told me they brought up fish through electroshock on every stretch of river they worked. So just because you dont catch fish there, does not mean they are not there.

jitterbug, if your fishing P.C. And Summit, I can understand your issues in Indiana, The state that I also hail from, [although an Ohioan by birth]. Yes Indiana is a tough state for bass fishing, they are out there, but if your like me, its hard to get very far from home. Sunday is really the only day I have to get out, and if you go much more than 90 minutes from home, and have to work on monday morning, it cuts down on your chances in this part of Indiana anyways. If your still on here, where in Indiana are you? I live about 30 minutes from Prairie creek, and 50 minutes from Summit, maybe we could compare notes.

I have had some of my best days when the "book" says dont even bother going, and been skunked on days that should have been perfect, and thrown every lure, style, and water depth and clarity there was on sometimes more than one lake, with no results. The thing about weather conditions is the are very localized. I was fishing with my son last spring on a local reservoir, from 6am to 11am, nothing. Loaded up the boat and went to a lake straight south about 15 miles and picked up a couple dozen largemouth using the same lures and methods. The moon phases effecting the tide? Yes, I will buy that BUT, how much tidal effect do you get on a 60 acre lake? same thing with the baro pressure, I had read a report someone had done on how it effects water pressure and how it had an effect on the pressure in fish swim bladders, however this study was done on a large saltwater fish that had a huge swim bladder, and the biologist who did the report said it would have no or little effect on any freshwater sport fish. I think local weather conditions have the most effect on the lake your on at the time,as far as what they want. My son and I last spring were on Lake Erie, Presque Isle Bay, and then on a lake in Waterford Pa. and its creek outlet before we started getting on fish. If we would have stayed in one place maybe by that time of day we would have caught fish there, who knows. As far as the baro and moon charts go, I look at them, but I dont pay any attention to them. I only get to go 20 to 24 times a year due to my work and taking care of my home and cars, ect. so I go when ever I get the chance. As my son always says, you never know if you dont go.

You did say famous bass fishermen right? I was a little confused by some of the responses. I would also pick my son, IF her were a famous bass fisherman, but he is not. Famous fisherman? Bill Dance hands down.

I fished with this rod 75% of every trip out, the lures I use on this rod are my staple "go to lure" 90% of the fish I catch were on this rod with a 1/4 oz joes fly, I know how it used to feel, and how it feels now. Not my imagination.

The rod is a PS60ULF six foot ultralight fast taper. I bought this rod for one use only, to cast 1/4 oz Joes Flies inline spinners. The first 3 years it was fine, I could get very long cast, but most of last season it just kept getting worse as far as performance in that aspect. I went to using a BPS brand $49 rod i had bought my wife that she would not use for some reason, and it out performed the St Croix. Both are the same taper and power, but when "flipping" the rod even with no lure the difference in the flex in the rod is very clear, and the St Croix rod was not that way when I bought it. As I said, I too have rods I have owned for decades that still feel the same as they always did, this issue with this rod just seemed strange, and I just wondered if anyone else had ever had this happen. I have a half dozen other St. Croix rods that I am perfectly happy with, so I am not bashing there rods, I would but another one. It just seems that this rod has went limp. Its still fishable, but it no longer performs like it used to. Almost all my rods are fast taper, so I know how they feel compared to softer tapers, I have a couple moderate, and extra fast taper, so I do know the feel.

Yeah, the rod I have is a St Croix, but I have other St Croix rods older than that, and have not felt this in those. I have a old, 42 years old, shakespear, fiberglass rod, I have kept for sentiment, still has the 42 year old reel, and I fished with it a few years ago, and it still feels the same!

I have a higher end ultralight rod, I am not going to name brands, but it is a rod that is made in the USA and cost about $125. I have owned this rod for about 4 years, but the last year or so it just does not feel the same. Its a fast taper but it almost feels like its turning into a slow rod, almost parabolic, I dont remember this rod feeling like this, and the lures I bought this rod for dont seem to cast as far as they used to, even with the same reel and line type. I have several other rods from this same manufacture that have not done this. Have any of you guys ever had a rod go limp [pun intended] I am replacing the rig for this season, I will give the old one to my son, I mean its still fishable but it just does not feel the same to me, like its lost its backbone, may just be me, the rod has no damage, its kept in my rod locker in the boat with a rod cover on it. Even without a lure on it when you whip it back and forth it bends almost down to the handle, I have rods I have had for over 40 years that still feel the same. Just kind of strange.

OK, how about Andes?

Anybody ever try Maxima?

St. Croix, nothing else to say, just ask anyone who owns them

I was looking at the p-line cxx lines, didnt know if they had as much stretch as c-21, says on there website it does not, but I have never handled it. Money is not really an issue, but dont want to spend big bucks on something that I dont get the product I am after. Thats what fishing forums are for, and I greatly value the opinions of the members as long as they have experience and are not talking out there butts, Good response on this question and I Think I have a few ideas to run with Thanks again. WRB, I will most likely go with your opinion, I will see how I score for Bass Pro gift cards here in a few hours, My son may be down to see me in Jan. I told him we may make a run there [BPS] I can evaluate better then.

I use 4#, 6# and 8# depending on the rig, but mostly 6 and 8 The 4# is on a small very light rig I use top fish creeks with low hanging limbs and narrow areas.