Got Out Today!

[Curt]

Managed to get our for 4 hours today and take advantage of the nice weather we had.

Only landed one bass, but it was a decent on.



That was it for the day. Definitely better than a skunk 

[fishon-son]

looks good ....my son took a run up to Saginaw river  1 1/2 hr drive for some hot walleyes action.....2 nice walleyes and 12 channel cats...of all fish to get channel cats ...jigging twister tails ...in 25 ft of water.....got off work today and notice my lake was all ice free .. great warm weather we are having  65,70,68 so far and more to come...put the batterys on charge for Saturday afternoon....got to go out   its killing me    maybe run to Detroit river walleye bite is starting ...we also wade fish the Maumee river in ohio

[Curt]

Glad you're going to be getting out there too!

I was out again today for just two hours. Had three in the boat and missed one more. Nothing big, but, hey, three bass in 2 hours isn't too shabby 

[JackJ]

Good job Curt!

[fishon-son]

your doing good  ..   both lakes I put the most time on have now gone ice free...Saturday afternoon will be the first time out for me.........got to love that

[Curt]

Thanks guys 

No fishing today or yesterday. My wife and I spent the day out and about today, celebrating our 33rd anniversary 

Did a bit of shopping. Took advantage of a Dick's Sporting Goods gift card or two and stocked up on fishing line for the season 

Also ordered a new Abu Garcia Pro Max 3, which is supposed to be arriving by Wednesday of next week. Once I've had a chance to give it some on-the-water time, I'll be writing a review on it over at TackleTest.com

If it's anywhere near as good as the Pmax 2, it'll be a great reel 

[fishon-son]

well never made it out Saturday..to big of a honey do list after work...but with the snow gone and 6 dogs  it was quite a job .., it was finished and  the garbage man wont like me .....today my son and I went shopping for a boat for him..hes still on the fence on what he wants  ...we liked a couple at bass pro today and they seamed layed back and not as pushy as cabelas..more and larger boat selection too..sons not jumping on anything yet. wanting the best deal he can get...they have a no haggle sales staff so its there price and that's it...looked around at the tackle picked up a few more items and back to the house.....son did get a few walleyes and channel cats this week...reports on Detroit river are hit and miss...Saginaw river has mudded up and closes Tuesday for walleyes...great lakes will stay open all year.. still early water temps 36/38 deg...Detroit dosnt get going till 45/47   and the walleyes seam to hold to that temp...casted off the dock on my lake ..nothing there but did see a pike sunning and a few carp under the other docks..was shocked at that.. no gills up yet.but last year I didn't see many like the years past...my lake is backed with small gills  if you get one over 5 inches your doing good...dnr have been stocking walleyes for the past 10 years and I think its starting to work...no perch left and bass are 14 inches or better  I haven't got a small bass in 4/5 yrs...I don't think that's good for the lake. but you cant stop the dnr ..heck I think this is what they want....another lake down the road is dead.. not many fisherman on it..a very large lake local park..and no fish..over stocked with walleyes I fished 8 hrs there 2 yrs ago and never got a bite....so I don't go back.....

[Curt]

It's sad that so many state agencies have no real clue when it comes to fisheries management. Most states need to take lessons from Texas. Their bass fisheries bring in billions of $$!!

Where I live, in Rhode Island, they have a hands-off management philosophy. They believe the best management is no management at all.

Connecticut does a slightly better job, but even they have made some serious mistakes. One lake near me used to have a great LMB population, and it also had some slammer smallies. I've personally caught 2 smallies from there over 5 1/2 lbs. 

These days, if you can catch a LMB over 14 inches, you're doing good. And you have to wade through several dozen 10-12 inch bass to catch that one 2 lb. fish.

Smallies? They're nowhere to be found these days.

This all happened after they instituted a new 16 inch minimum length for this lake several years ago. Way too many little fish now.

Another lake in this area used to have a great bass population. It was one of my favorite lakes to night fish. It used to take 15+ lbs. to win a tourney there at night. And then the DEP introduced Walleye. The bass population is now feeble and small. We had a night tourney there this past year and it was won with less than 7 lbs. for 5 fish. The guy who took 2nd, had one fish that weighed 6 1/2 lbs. And we hear this same stort over and over again from any clubs that are crazy enough to hold a tourney there. Very sad 

[fishon-son]

the lake I live on was the best bass fishing lake in our county ...then the lake down the road was number 2  ....now both lake have a large population of walleyes and bigger bass but nothing coming up to fill in when the bigger ones die off...soon to be another dead lake....I would think the money is in bass fishing for our inland lake and walleyes ,trout,salmon for the great lakes   . where I live theres a ton of lakes within 25 miles..none man made...and all now have walleyes....our state will not stock bass..we tried to have them stop with the walleyes and start with smallmouths    ... nope  we don't stock bass..thats what I was told ..so we asked if they could just stop with the walleyes...no was the answer and we could stock bass our selfs but need a permit ( free ) then $2.75 per bass 5000 min. 3inch min. on there stocking day with no notice givin...wtf is that...got to love government regs.   a-holes

[Curt]

Yep.. you have to wonder where their common sense is sometimes