Lip Ripper 87

I live in ohio and fish all my local waters including: tappan, saltfork, leesville, portage, ohio river etc. each of them present their own set of challenges but once you figure one out it can yield a good day of fishing. Also of course Erie is no Doubt the best fishery in ohio.

Went out this last Tuesday evening (5-815) for our first Tuesday night tourney. 20 boats and 4 fish were brought to the scales. Big girl was 5-05. I caught one fish on a jerk bait but measured just under 12". Water temp is slowly rising. I am going back out this weekend to fish some deep water close to shallow flats that I somehow forgot to fish. Will also check the north end bays. On deck is a jerkbait, crank bait, jig & pig, and tube. Also forgot to mention, this lake has no vegetation till early summer. Tight lines

And the addiction begins. Let me remind you, there is no cure

Always good to have a small honey hole to redeem yourself. I do the same 8)

Thanks guys, ill just keeping grinding it out till I can stay on them. I imagined it would be slow considering it was the first two nice days of the year.

Hi I went out the last two days at Tappan lake in ohio. I fished from 10-5 both days. Water temp at its lowest was 42 and highest 48. Water clarity is stained and visibility of 2 feet. It was sunny with slight winds. I fished everything from main lake points, drop offs, rock piles, secondary points, riprap. Techniques used varied from jerk bait with long pauses, slow rolling spinnerbaits, Carolina rig with 1 1/2 ft leader with 7 inch worm, buckeye mini mop jig with uncle josh pork trailer, and tube baits. I fished slow and methodical with no success. I found huge balls of shad in multiples places and tried to match the hatch and also throw something completely different. Does anyone have any in-sight or advice for my last two days. I'm not discouraged just trying to recap. Thanks in advance

Well saidJigfishn10, you saved me from typing for a few minutes

Pitching to cover with them has been the best producer for me. T rigged with a 1/4 Oz weight. x2

I've been fishing open tournaments all of 2011 and off and on for the past 5 years. I am ready to dedicate myself and my time to fish a tournament series or in a club. Just not too sure where to start. Any experiences or advice? What do i look for in a club and how do i get started? I live in Northeast Ohio. Thanks Casey Hay

Thanks guys! Cant wait for an upgrade!

A few big fish lost will wish you always had a net. Part of my organization right before i hit the water is to get the net set in a accesible postion. Just remember, Any cast can be a fish of a lifetime

I fish a lot of tournaments out of my 17ft Ranger Sport R72 but it isn't big enough for what i do. I can only fit one of my 7 rod combos in my rod locker which i stumble over constantly on my deck. I am looking at a 2002 Triton TR20 Dual Console with a Yamaha 225. Anyone have one, fished out of one or really looked into them? I want a boat that has alot of storage space (biggest rod 7'11") , a good livewell system, is comfortable and handles well. Any opinions, thoughts, or concerns are appreciated!

Look up info on drop shot, it can be fished from shoreline and is sometimes actually easier. The pro senko fished the same as the original can have the same results. I would adjust hook size to fit the smaller worm better and use a spinning combo to throw the light worm better. Results can vary no matter what your fishing. Don't be afraid to try different things.

Sure would be nice if the fish would always bite like we wanted. But the truth is.... they dont. Thats why you need to adapt and overcome tough situations. If your not dedicated when fishing is tough then overall success will be a lower percentage.

If you have a good Sonar unit use it to find something different on a ledge. ( Structure on structure ) You can start by running parrell to the ledge throwing deep cranks to find active fish, when you do slow down and hit with Texas rigs, jig, drop shot, etc. Fish may be active enough to fish the crank baits the whole time. Try different things. Throw top to bottom then bottom to top, parrell, fast, slow. It all takes alot of time and experience to hit a pattern fast and make the constant changes to stick with the fish. Even then sometimes its hard to get bit. Dont expect to be overly successful fast. Just saw you mentioned night fishing. depending on depths, fish will come up and hit a topwater if conditions are right. Maybe not be exact info your looking for but hopefully helps.

Does anyone know where to find an archive of Bassmaster Tournament videos? ESPN isnt working. Also what channel and times are the current series played on TV? Thanks

For a situation you explained i used a punching setup as followed. 1oz tungsten bullet pegged, a suitable colored skirt then a heavy flipping hook with a good keeper with usually a 4.20 Sweet Beaver rigged weedless obviously. I use the pitching technique but instead of a quiet no splash entry, i loft the bait into the air and use momentum to crash through the pads. 9 times out of 10 if your going to get bit punching it will be when it first comes through the pads or cover. You can hop one or twice but i usually let it hit bottom, do a test pop and bring it back to the boat to hit another target. It takes practice but can pay off when you pull a monster from such heavy cover. Also for such a technique i would get a Heavy 7 1/2 ft casting setup with a fast ratio reel (around 7:1) so there is no question weather you can pull a hawg out when you need to. Hope this helps

I used pro senkos for my drop shot rigs and shakey heads. I use regular senkos weightless texas rigged and wackey rigged. Both are a denser material that weighes more than a normal worm. WEightless dead sticking in ponds can make the bigger/wiser fish strike.

Ended up ordering a Dobyns 703 for my application. From what i hear i will be more than happy with it. Thanks for all your input!

Anyone try Cashion Rods?

Thanks for all your input. Price range is up to $250 maybe $300 area. I just started dipping into more of these higher quality rods, didn't know what i was missing out on. Would hate to trial and error it because its alot of $$. Anyone else??

I am looking to upgrade from my one of my casting rods and not exactly sure what my best option is. I want a rod that will be able to throw weightless senkos, shaky heads, up to 1/2 oz jigs and Texas rigs. I know that's a lot to ask for. Sensitivity to feel light bites is my main focus.I was looking at the G Loomis GL2 worm and jig 7'1 MH (853CJWR). Will be paired up with a Diawa Viento. I own a GL2 flip/punch and love it. Detailed insight or opinions would be greatly appreciated.

I have went out the last two days. Caught 2 the first day, also losing the big one. Screw 6lb test on my finesse setup! The second day i fished a tournament and got skunked. Second time this year. The water temp was almost 90 F !! i think my record this year is around 20/22.

Last year we built a pond on our property. About 1 arche. We left it substain for one year. This spring we stocked it from a hatchery. 50 bass , 100 bluegill, 100 perch, and 1000 minnows. Also 27 other bass, catfish and bluegill from nearby water holes. The biggest bass in our pond is around 16 inchs. All the baby bass that we put in were about a fingerlength long, now they are around 9" !!! We feed them everyday around 7pm and they're ready to eat when we come. pariannas! Before we loaded the water with fish, tadpoles almost completely covered the bottom. Now there are none. Lots of frogs still though. Good food for growth ;D I am excited to see the growth in the next couple years. Maybe i'll post some pics later. I kind of got carried away, but with most manmade ponds, with the right speicies of fish and food for them, the pond will maintain its self. There is still more to it than that, just have to do some research. Should be found easily. Hope this helps. -Casey

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