# Casting for shoreline 'eyes



## AtticaFish

Well it is officially fall, but air temps in the upper 70's for the next week does not make it feel that way. Have my shoreline night gear all ready in the corner of the shed to grab it after dinner. Stocked up on a few new cranks and plenty of jigs and plastics................... but these warm temps have kept me at home so far. Tried getting out on some evenings right at dusk at different times this summer and had no success except for a few largemouth. Did not even spot any glowing eyes on those trips. I know ErieEye posted some success through the summer, but i couldn't seem to find them. Spose i need to just get out there and put in more time (and walking more of the shore) to figure out the when/where the walleye are feeding. Has me wondering if they return to the specific feeding zones because of the water temps or if it is the amount of sun/dark time in the spring and fall. Either way, let the fall fishing begin!


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## fishfinder43420

I have tried a few times the past couple weeks.. Got nothing.. From land and boat..Heard there was another bug hatch from another guy that was fishing.. I'm goin to try in a couple more weeks..


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## ErieEye

I've been out several times over the last 3 weeks. Haven't caught a saugeye yet. Even the bass have been slow. Ya these cooler temps should get em started. The full moon is I think on the 27th. Maybe that will get them biting. It's funny last year at this time I was pulling saugeyes about every time out.


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## AtticaFish

Thanks for the info. Would sure love to see reports come in from some upgrounds. I don't remember for sure when it actually was, but do remember casting from shore at night with shorts and a t-shirt on last year and able to pull in a few walleye. That was only on a couple trips and the weather switched up shortly after. The deep bluegill bite picked up at my local upground at that same time too, and i stocked up.............


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## DeathFromAbove

Ive been waiting to hear from you guys because its such a long drive for me. Sounds like Ill wait a little longer,. We'll be getting them on Erie next month.


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## ErieEye

Tried it again last night. Thought it would be good with the full moon and se wind. Never had a bite. Can't believe how bad its been. We need a good cold front to blow through. I'm guessing this year is gonna be like 2012 was. The saugeye fishing didn't get hot until late October and stayed good right on through the first part of December.


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## AtticaFish

I thought about trying it with the full moon too, then got stuck doing other things. Just looked at the NWS weather forecast and it looks like it should cool off.... a little anyway. Right now it is showing a week worth of highs in the mid 60's and lows in the mid 40's. Good cold rain will bring the water temp down quicker though.

I don't mind it staying mild temps late into the year, as long as those temps do drop off at some point and let the ice do it's thing.


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## AtticaFish

Got out and casted from around 7:00 to 9:30 tonight at Willard......... no walleye. At least did not get skunked though. Caught a 19" largemouth on a blue/white X-Rap. Also got one other bump on a hair jig, but that was it. Used my light looking for glowing eyes but did not see any at all. Water is murky brown at the moment too.


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## ErieEye

I tried Fostoria res 5 yesterday evening. No saugeyes but did catch 2 nice largemouths in the 17 to 18" range. Good to see the bass are moving in, the 'eyes' won't be far behind. Water at 5 is somewhat stained also, but still fishable.


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## AtticaFish

Usually the big bass let you know what they are right away, but this one dug deep and just rolled around. Thought i had a monster walleye hooked. Sure got the blood pumping. 

One nice thing i noticed, the catfish crowd was gone. I was the only person there fishing on the entire reservoir. I like it even better once the crickets die off and it goes silent.


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## fishfinder43420

Went out last night from 6-8.. Caught two small mouths.. No eyes.. Went with crank and stick baits.. Got the smallies off of the cranks...


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## AtticaFish

Wore out my arm and froze my fingers tonight at Willard. No walleye (again) but did catch two bass.... one on a hair jig the other on a scatter rap minnow. First bass (on the crank) went 22"! Did have a walleye follow in my hair jig and missed a few other bumps. Couple other people out. Father and son showed up and the young boy caught a really nice walleye. Looked like they were throwing twister grubs. Getting closer............


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## ErieEye

22" bass WOW! Congratulations. Gonna hit it again next week. Fostoria number 5 & 6 are muddied up pretty good. They opened the gate between the 2 to equalize them. That along with all the wind has taken its toll on the water clarity. We'll see how it goes. They gotta eat sometime.


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## fishfinder43420

Caught one walleye tonight on a stick bait.. 18.5"Caught a big catfish off the same thing also.. Caught the walleye right at 7.. Fished from 630 to 8..


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## AtticaFish

HELL YEAH! Got me smiling. Don't think i can make it back out on Tue. or Wed with my sons elementary cross country and other honey do chit................. but Thurs. sure sounds even better now.


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## ErieEye

Tried Findlay res #2 last night. Figured I'd try Findlay since fostorias reservoirs are mud. Got there just before dark and casted for 2 hours. Never had a bite. I guess I should have tried Fostoria. Probably could have caught a bass or two anyway.


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## Saugeyefisher

I havnt herd anyone mention useing vibes.... theyve been working well in central ohio...


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## AtticaFish

ErieEye - Wondered about Findlay, don't hear much about it.

Saugeyefisher - Just recently got a few blade baits.... but was more hopeful they would work through the ice. I've always assumed the blade baits were pretty strictly vertical baits (from boat or through the ice) rather than casting. Most nights (that i actually catch some) the 'eyes seem to be so tight to shore it would be tough to keep the heavy blades out of the rip-rap bank. Willing to give them a shot though.


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## Saugeyefisher

Ya there awesome casted. Stick with the 1/8 an 3/16.... it takes lots of practice to be able an cast shallow rocks w/o hanging up,even then u still do,sometimes pumping them back sometimes straight retrieve. I use a mediym action fenwick spooledwith 15 or 20 lb brraid an usually get back all my snags. The heavier line imo only helps with a vibe.
Look for transitions from the rip/rap,like rock-sand,or rock-mud. Theyl travel along tgat an you wont lose as many baits maybe. 
Another good option for you woukd be red eye shads or ripnraps. Both fall slower so less snags...
Good luck


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## AtticaFish

Saugeyefisher said:


> .......Look for transitions from the rip/rap,like rock-sand,or rock-mud. Theyl travel along tgat an you wont lose as many baits maybe.......


90% (maybe more) of the reservoirs up here in the NW of the state are upground reservoirs with rip-rap shorline pretty much the whole way around and they simply drop off into deep water... quickly. There might be spots that change from boulders to basketball size rocks to baseball size, but not much change other than that. I do have some 1/8th blade baits and will give them a shot next trip, but those will be expensive buggers to loose. I loose a lot of jigs to the rocks, but not much investment there. Thanks for the tip.


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## TopCat

I just moved to NW Ohio and I'm always looking for new spots to fish. I know about casting some of the breakwalls and shoreline on Lake Erie, but I don't know a lot about the upground reservoirs. Any info, tips, locations you can share?


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## AtticaFish

It is pretty much the same game plan as casting from Erie breakwalls. Stickbaits and cranks are popular, but don't be afraid to try twister tail jigs, swimbaits or hairjigs. Even blade baits as mentioned in the previous posts. Some lakes are stocked with saugeye and others with walleye. For me, biggest difference from Erie is that i am making majority of casts parallel to the shore, they can hold very tight to the shore in the upgrounds. I wouldn't expect to go out and get a limit from these little reservoir, but you never know i guess.

Not sure your where you are located and how far you are willing to travel. Green Springs, Clyde, Findlay, Fostoria, Upper Sandusky, Bucyrus, Willard, Bellevue #5, Norwalk all have them stocked. I think some of the Lima ones have them as well. Indian Lake is one of the very popular saugeye lakes and might not be that far, depending where you are located.

Here is about the best resource i know of. Click the lakes and they usually have species list.....

http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/public-...viewing-areas/lake-and-reservoir-fishing-maps


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## TopCat

AtticaFish said:


> It is pretty much the same game plan as casting from Erie breakwalls. Stickbaits and cranks are popular, but don't be afraid to try twister tail jigs, swimbaits or hairjigs. Even blade baits as mentioned in the previous posts. Some lakes are stocked with saugeye and others with walleye. For me, biggest difference from Erie is that i am making majority of casts parallel to the shore, they can hold very tight to the shore in the upgrounds. I wouldn't expect to go out and get a limit from these little reservoir, but you never know i guess.
> 
> Not sure your where you are located and how far you are willing to travel. Green Springs, Clyde, Findlay, Fostoria, Upper Sandusky, Bucyrus, Willard, Bellevue #5, Norwalk all have them stocked. I think some of the Lima ones have them as well. Indian Lake is one of the very popular saugeye lakes and might not be that far, depending where you are located.
> 
> Here is about the best resource i know of. Click the lakes and they usually have species list.....
> 
> http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/public-...viewing-areas/lake-and-reservoir-fishing-maps


 
Thanks for the great info. I live in Toledo, but within easy driving range of a lot of those reservoirs. I will give them a try. Fostoria, Findlay, Upper, Green Springs, and Clyde are my likely first choices. Any of those better than the others to try first?


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## Raylaser

Been reading some good reports of vibees working right now for the early Fall Steelies on Lake Erie and the Usual Suspects Rivers to the east. I am planning a trip east in a couple weeks to hit the rivers for Steelies and plan to pick-up some Vibees just for that purpose. If they don't pan-out there at least I can use them ice fishing!!!!


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## AtticaFish

TopCat said:


> ........Fostoria, Findlay, Upper, Green Springs, and Clyde are my likely first choices. Any of those better than the others to try first?


Of those options, really only fish Green Springs and Clyde with any frequency myself. I'd say it is a crap shoot. Pick one and give it a try, then post what you find!


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## AtticaFish

Finally got one last night, but sure took a while. Fished from 8:00 to around 11:00. I sure get jealous reading all these posts in other regional boards where guys are catching 10, 15 or 20 a night. Had plenty of action though, 5 bass and a walleye. The walleye measured 18" and was caught on a green/white doll fly jig, last fish caught for the evening. Lost a pile of jigs in the process too.










The big bass were very active, had several other bites i missed and had one jump and spit my hook. Landed 1 on an X-Rap, 2 on black twister grubs and 2 on the doll flies. 4 of the fish measured 18" or bigger! Biggest one topped out at 21". The 5th fish was lucky to go 12".... pretty wild night, the total catch would have ranked decent in a bass tournament.  Beautiful evening with only a light breeze out of the SW.


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## laynhardwood

Nice evening and got a little dinner


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## ErieEye

Good job Attica! Nice to see a fish with teeth finally. I'm still saugeyeless here in fostoria. Not sure what the deal is. How's the water where your fishing, cloudy or clear. The water clarity at fostoria 5 and 6 probably 8 to 10". I enjoy reading those reports from central ohio also. One things for sure you'll never have a 15 to 20 fish night at an upground.


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## AtticaFish

Those big mouths still out number the walleye in the shallows, think the water temps are still too warm. I looked up and last year i was catching them (somewhat) regular starting the beginning of October, but no clue what the temps were then. My memory is pretty pitiful. Water at Willard is still dark color, but visibility is around 12" - 18" or so. I only had one other bite that felt like a short strike from a walleye, but at least did see a few other glowing eyes in the couple hours i was there. It should turn on soon.


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## ress

ErieEye said:


> Good job Attica! Nice to see a fish with teeth finally. I'm still saugeyeless here in fostoria. Not sure what the deal is. How's the water where your fishing, cloudy or clear. The water clarity at fostoria 5 and 6 probably 8 to 10". I enjoy reading those reports from central ohio also. One things for sure you'll never have a 15 to 20 fish night at an upground.


Wow.... Great night of action Attica!! I tried some of that night fishing on the rocks in the spring and lost most of my good jigs and felt I missed some good hits cause I could not see when the jig was near shore. I thought about using a coleman lantern behind me.


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## ErieEye

Believe it or not I started catching saugeyes on August 30 of last year. I caught at least 1 saugeye most nights out. I caught a 25 "er on September 25th and caught a limit on October 3rd. It's amazing the difference from last year to this year. The last saugeye I caught this year was on around September 1st.


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## AtticaFish

Gave it a shot again last night. Only caught 1 big largemouth on a doll fly and a rockbass that was barely bigger than my X-Rap. Almost did not even need a headlamp with the moon light. Maybe this rain and big blow coming will get them moving a little....


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## DeathFromAbove

Havent heard of much going on in Lake erie either. A few here and there east of us. Theyre usually going by now. Its been too warm, but im not complaining about that . Its kept everything else going


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## AtticaFish

Got a really nice 23" walleye tonight! Was the only bite i felt all night. Sure was windy, but i was able to tuck in on the upwind side and not exposed in the full blow. Caught it around 8:30 using a 1/8th jig and 5" Kalins Northern Bluegill twister grub.

Not like i am even close to putting together a pattern yet but........... still not seeing ANY glowing eyes with my light (usually see a ton of them cruising the shoreline) and all my fall walleye (all 2 of them, ha!) have come from out a little deeper using jigs that were bumping bottom. Not way out deep, more like the transition zone between lake basin and rip-rap. Been doing more flipping jigs than actually casting.


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## Raylaser

AtticaFish said:


> Got a really nice 23" walleye tonight! Was the only bite i felt all night. Sure was windy, but i was able to tuck in on the upwind side and not exposed in the full blow. Caught it around 8:30 using a 1/8th jig and 5" Kalins Northern Bluegill twister grub.
> 
> Not like i am even close to putting together a pattern yet but........... still not seeing ANY glowing eyes with my light (usually see a ton of them cruising the shoreline) and all my fall walleye (all 2 of them, ha!) have come from out a little deeper using jigs that were bumping bottom. Not way out deep, more like the transition zone between lake basin and rip-rap. Been doing more flipping jigs than actually casting.
> 
> View attachment 196557


Nice fish Attica! Everything is slow and behind schedule right now even deer hunting. The weather hasn't been cool enough long enough and is going to warm up next week. The recent rain will help but could use a couple more good steady downpours. Either way, that's still a nice fish in crumby conditions no less! Congrats!


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## AtticaFish

Hooked another tonight! Biggest walleye i have caught outside of Erie. Another female full of eggs measuring 27". Caught on my own version of a doll fly tied with white/chart/blue craft fur and thick wool roving under body. Only bite of the night again and not another person fishing the lake.  Beautiful night with no wind at all.


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## fshnfreak

nice fish attica i dont know about you but im ready for some ice


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## DeathFromAbove

Nice Fish Attica! Theyre starting to puond them west of Cleveland Time to start hitting the lake. Weve got some private property south of Monroe we're gonna try .ill post when we get out there
Hoping for a good year , but its sure a late start


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## laynhardwood

That's a big girl nice fish


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## AtticaFish

fshnfreak - Yep, ice will be here before we know it. Love the ice, but don't mind putting a few of these in the freezer first. Would be nice to catch walleye through the ice and not have to go way out on Erie.

DeathFromAbove - These fish are all coming from upground reservoirs, not Erie. Its an hour drive for me to get to any public access up there. Last night was a beautiful evening and there was not a single other person fishing this whole reservoir. Talked to my Dad who drove by Lakeside pier last night and he said there were probably a dozen out casting there at dusk. Good luck at your place!


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## Raylaser

AtticaFish said:


> fshnfreak - Yep, ice will be here before we know it. Love the ice, but don't mind putting a few of these in the freezer first. Would be nice to catch walleye through the ice and not have to go way out on Erie.
> 
> DeathFromAbove - These fish are all coming from upground reservoirs, not Erie. Its an hour drive for me to get to any public access up there. Last night was a beautiful evening and there was not a single other person fishing this whole reservoir. Talked to my Dad who drove by Lakeside pier last night and he said there were probably a dozen out casting there at dusk. Good luck at your place!


Nice fish Attica!! Like the custom doll fly design too, thanks for describing it in detail. We're you fishing Fostoria or Findlay?


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## Raylaser

Raylaser said:


> Nice fish Attica!! Like the custom doll fly design too, thanks for describing it in detail. We're you fishing Fostoria or Findlay?


PS: you can PM me if you you prefer. Thanks!


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## ErieEye

Yup I'm jealous. As soon as I get my deer I'll be back at it. Beautiful fish Attica!


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## DeathFromAbove

Thanks Attica Im in the opposite boat you are. Fostorias about an hour drive for me, but I can run up to Luna Peir in 20-30 minutes. 
Lake Erie is so hit or miss though that I wonder if I wouldnt be better off going to #5 Only thing with Erie is when theyre there, you can hit the big score. Its feast or famine out there Ive been to Lakeside when theres hundreds of fish in there rolling on top of the water like pigs in mud Also been there for alot of " you should have been here yesterdays"


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## percidaeben

Attica, that is some good work you have going on up there. Great pictures also.


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## mrw2713

Ive been casting fostotia's res 5 every wekend since early spring. Ive only gotten 1 10in saugeye but i have gotten tons of really nice bass but cant catch an eye to save my butt lol. Any suggestions?


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## laynhardwood

Try somewhere else sorry could not help myself


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## AtticaFish

mrw2713 - Either switch up baits or switch locations as mentioned above. Jigs have been catching more of both bass and 'eyes for me so far. I know there are others here who fish Fostoria and have had a tough time catching any this year.


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## ErieEye

mrw2713 said:


> Ive been casting fostotia's res 5 every wekend since early spring. Ive only gotten 1 10in saugeye but i have gotten tons of really nice bass but cant catch an eye to save my butt lol. Any suggestions?


The bite this summer was actually quite good. Stickbaits and small crankbaits cast in the evening right along shore. The bite this fall has been non existent.


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## mrw2713

Ive been fishing fostorias #5 &#6 and #1 & #2 at findlay casting cranks spinners and jigs. Like i said i catch a ton of bass but no eyes. Is there a different technique i should try for saugeyes?


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## Chessieohio71

nice


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## laynhardwood

Are you casting stick bait style lures like smithwick rogue or husky jerks?


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## Chessieohio71

Nice fish Attica. Probly see me out there this week. Got the deer hunting outta the way.


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## mrw2713

Yeah i have thrown everything i have. Most of my lures are quite used and are getting a little faded. Im going to restock my boxes over the winter. Any suggestions on brand, size and color that i should get?


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## DeathFromAbove

Thats Funny


laynhardwood said:


> Try somewhere else sorry could not help myself


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## AtticaFish

If the ODNR pages are correct, Fostoria is stocked with saugeye and Findlay is actually stocked with walleye. Thought i read somewhere that the ODNR was shifting away from stocking walleye in reservoirs because it was more costly and less successful than stocking saugeye. Maybe i am not remembering right. I know, not much difference between the species but general thought is that saugeye hang tighter to the bottom and walleye will suspend mid depth at times.

I have a few X-raps and deep HJ's, but they sure are expensive! Keeping it as simple as possible will still catch fish and not break the bank. 1/8th, 3/16th (my favorite if you can find them) or 1/4th jig heads with a couple bags of 4" twister grubs is all you need. Simple all black twisters work, but i like the Kalins 5" grubs. Swimbaits are popular too.


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## laynhardwood

Saugeye can handle warm water better than walleye so they can be stocked in lakes that are much shallower than the upgrounds. The success rate of survival is very low and it's not just bass eating the stocked fish crappie and perch eat quite a bit of stocked saugeyes. http://www.researchgate.net/profile...sableCoverPage=true&origin=publication_detail this is an interesting read .8 -11.5 percent of stocked fish live past year 1


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## Tinknocker1

great job Attica !


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## catfish1605

mrw2713 I sent you a PM.


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## AtticaFish

Really do not hear any talk of the fishing at Outhwaite reservoir, the big one just outside of Bucyrus. Anyone on here willing to admit they fish it or is it just that good that no one wants to open their mouth? haha. Been down there several times for daylight fishing and have always used one of the access points along the E or W sides. Even found some perch through the ice one year. If anyone is familiar with it, is there an overhead flood light at the top of the boat ramp? If there is, that piece of shore might get a little more attention from the fish at night.

I am going to try to get out somewhere tonight. My favorite spot is usually not that great with the E or NE wind in the forecast though so going to switch it up. Anyone else been out on inland waters recently?


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## laynhardwood

I have had some extremely good panfish success there ice fishing and I catch lots of bass there open water. I have caught some nice perch ice fishing not Willard size but 7-9" fish which still taste just as good. It's a long ways from my house and now when I bass fish I mostly go to upper Sandusky . I like bucyrus 4 and I will ice fish it again this year if we get good ice.


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## ress

I was at Findlay #2 yesterday around 5pm and the ODNR was out in a Jon boat. They had a big motor and were making real good time from one side to the other! I met them at the ramp to ask what they were doing. They were placing four nets in different areas to record Walleye, Catfish and White Bass. They set them 2 hrs before sunset and pull them 2 hrs after sunset. Boy I wish I could have been there when they checked them.


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## AtticaFish

laynhardwood - Yeah, i've gotten decent panfish from it for sure and one time must have went through a heard of whitebass, it was all i caught for about an hour and then gone. You touched on all the species except the one i am trying to hunt down right now till ice..... you (or anyone else) ever catch saugeye in there?

ress - That would have been very cool to see what their results are! The map pages on the ODNR site always has results from the 'last' survey but it doesn't say when it took place.


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## AtticaFish

Almost forgot the report.......... fished from 8-11 with only a couple bumps and 1 small rockbass on a twister grub. Rain started earlier than predicted and the wind pretty much disappeared. Only saw one set of glowing eyes all night.


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## 21579

From Toledo, but have been working in Findlay all summer. Will be down here until at least the first of the year.Thinking about bringing my gear and giving the reservoir night bite a shot a couple times. Just wondering if 1 or 2 is a better option... Any suggestions appreciated. Pm if you would like


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## laynhardwood

I have never even seen one in there


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## laynhardwood

After dark with a lantern is when I do my damage on the panfish. The perch are day time and gills and monster crappie after dark


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## AtticaFish

Thanks for the info. ODNR has saugeye listed on the map page and there was a mention about them in the last Ohio Outdoor News with the topo map on the back page of their paper. Outhwaite is just about 20 minutes from my door (same as Beaver Creek & Willard) so just need to give it a try.


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## laynhardwood

I know they stock it but I don't fish for those.


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## ress

Yrick82 if it were me I would fish 2 - the larger one.


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## fshnfreak

ress said:


> Yrick82 if it were me I would fish 2 - the larger one.


attica when i lived in bucyrus 11 years ago i used to catch quite a few saugeyes trolling the edges in the summer but never targeted them this time of year.i would definitely like to try a little ice fishing there this winter though.


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## AtticaFish

Good to hear that someone has caught them at least, hopefully the state has kept up with some occasional stocking. If the wind is not to terrible on Saturday night, going to head down that way i think. Looking at the topo map, can see a couple areas that might be starting points. If there is a light at the boat ramp, probably try there first from the South point up to pump. The shallow section from the parking on the East side up to the corner probably be my 2nd choice.


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## ErieEye

Tried Fostoria res 5 again two evenings ago. Casted for an hour and a half. Not even a nibble. Hard to believe. Wish I had a running tally of how many casts I've made since the last saugeye I caught. The fish of a million casts? You central ohio guys that have Indian or alum in your backyard need to count your blessings.


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## AtticaFish

I know.... i read those reports of limits and throwbacks and get to thinking i will hit them good on that next trip. Then i get the skunk. I'm not up to a million yet though. haha. Kind of funny, but was thinking just last night i wonder how many average hours it takes to get a keeper. I did get out again last night and not a bite either. Saw 2 decent fish sitting up tight to shore so maybe it will get better before we get ice.


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## fishfinder43420

Was out Tuesday.. Fished 4-730.. Caught two decent bass and on small walleye all on crank baits.. Walleye caught right at 7... Other than that slow..


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## TopCat

Anybody ever fish Wauseon Reservoir?


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## TopCat

I had an odd weekday off and drove out to Wauseon Reseroir(s). That wind coming across the open field and then hitting the elevated reservoir made the water look like Lake Erie on a bad day! Talk about white caps! Anyway, I talked with some of the locals who say they get some decent perch out of there, and that they're catchable in the open water with minnows pretty much all the time. I was also told there are decent populations of saugeye and white bass. It was too windy for me to give it good try today, but my interest has definitely been caught.


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## Raylaser

Does anyone know if the Wauseon Reservoirs are open to ice fishing?


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## fisherboy

Yes Wauseon Res is open to ice fishing (at least it was a couple of yrs ago). Caught a few nice perch the few times I went there.


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## AtticaFish

From what you have learned, Wauseon sounds like a place i would visit often if i was closer. It takes time (and a lot of shore line walking) to figure out patterns in these upgrounds.

As for the walleye/saugeye, i've been skunked on my last 3 trips. Still getting nice bass each trip, but no walleye. Took my nephew out on Saturday night to Willard. About the 3rd cast in he hooked into a decent fish. I scrambled over the rocks like a mad man to him with my net to see an 18" bass. I said...... aww sheet, it is just a bass ......he looked at me like i was nuts after the fight he just went through. Made me smile and think how nuts i get about these damn walleye. Made a solo trip to Beaver Creek res with the same result..... big bass but no walleye.

Told my wife tonight that i wasn't going to go out and try again till it was at least 32° air temp and i was having to melt ice out of the eyes. This weather has been nuts. Maybe i will be able to cast from shore all winter long???


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## Raylaser

fisherboy said:


> Yes Wauseon Res is open to ice fishing (at least it was a couple of yrs ago). Caught a few nice perch the few times I went there.


Thanks Fisherboy!! As always you are a wealth of information!!! If it ever freezes this year might give it try there on the hard water.


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## DeathFromAbove

Be careful what you ask for.....mid 20s this weekend in Toledo, at night,, Sunday high of 35 low of 20 I'de rather keep the weather we've been having Been killing the perch and gills in a local marina


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## Raylaser

DeathFromAbove said:


> Be careful what you ask for.....mid 20s this weekend in Toledo, at night,, Sunday high of 35 low of 20 I'de rather keep the weather we've been having Been killing the perch and gills in a local marina


Hey Death, I can appreciate that but I catch a lot of perch and gills ice fishing and since I don't have a boat it's my only time of year to get out to the middle of the lakes and other bodies of water that I can't get to during warm weather fishing. So yeah, I'm ok with the temp drop. Sorry to all the rest of you out there that aren't hard water fishermen but a guys gotta do what a guys gotta do to catch fish,LOL!!


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## TopCat

Did a little more checking with a local bait/tackle dealer, as well as a friend who works for DNR. Wauseon is open to ice fishing. Even without ice, there is good open water fishing through the winter. A recent state survey found very good perch numbers with a lot of fish in the 10 inch range, so there are good numbers of nice eater-sized perch. Saugeye numbers were only fair in the survey, but because of where those fish usually hangout, they are hard to count in the types electro-surveys the state does. There are also good numbers of white bass to target. Channel cat numbers are down, but the size of the fish is good. The bait/tackle guy says to throw small cranks, sticks, tubes, and spinners to catch a mixed bag. He also suggests minnows under a slip bobber for perch and saugeye. Since it's only about 20 miles from where I live, it's going to be a place I'll target frequently.


----------



## Raylaser

TopCat said:


> Did a little more checking with a local bait/tackle dealer, as well as a friend who works for DNR. Wauseon is open to ice fishing. Even without ice, there is good open water fishing through the winter. A recent state survey found very good perch numbers with a lot of fish in the 10 inch range, so there are good numbers of nice eater-sized perch. Saugeye numbers were only fair in the survey, but because of where those fish usually hangout, they are hard to count in the types electro-surveys the state does. There are also good numbers of white bass to target. Channel cat numbers are down, but the size of the fish is good. The bait/tackle guy says to throw small cranks, sticks, tubes, and spinners to catch a mixed bag. He also suggests minnows under a slip bobber for perch and saugeye. Since it's only about 20 miles from where I live, it's going to be a place I'll target frequently.


Hey Top, good info. Thanks for the leg work in getting all that info. Definitely going to make the trip out that way. It's about 40 mins from me but sounds well worth the drive now and after ice-up. Hope to see you there some time.


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## DeathFromAbove

I dont believe there is a useable boat ramp there


----------



## TopCat

DeathFromAbove said:


> I dont believe there is a useable boat ramp there


Right. Not from what I saw. There is a wood planked ramp that you could launch a canoe, kayak, or car-top boat from. No trailer access or parking. I used to have a 12 foot johnboat that would've been great there, so that gives you an idea of what would work. Electric motors only, too.


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## fisherboy

& try pulling a shanty up that thing. I needed help once. The fun of fishing alone.


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## AtticaFish

Got 2 last night... 21" & 23". The bigger fish took me three attempts to net before i got it and there was not much hook left in his lip. Surprised i managed to to get it. Also lost another nice one at the net and was hooked up two other times and they popped off before getting close enough to try with the net. Lots of bites and plenty of glowing eyes roaming around. Was happy to see the fish active, but they did not get moving until late. All the hookups and most of the bites were from 11:30 to 12:30. Tried lots of lures, but all bites came on the Kalin's 5" grub up in 3' or less of water casting parallel to shore.


----------



## 1BigIcehole

Attica, where were you?
Thanks


----------



## AtticaFish

1BigIcehole said:


> Attica, where were you?
> Thanks


Welcome to the site 1BigIcehole. Been fishing at several of the different upgrounds around me. Quite a few of them have decent populations of walleye, just have to put the time in to figure out where and when. Most on here seem to make the drive up to Erie shores since it is so close. Not many people fish for them on the inland lakes that i do. It is one of these................. 




AtticaFish said:


> .................Not sure your where you are located and how far you are willing to travel. Green Springs, Clyde, Findlay, Fostoria, Upper Sandusky, Bucyrus, Willard, Bellevue #5, Norwalk all have them stocked. I think some of the Lima ones have them as well. Indian Lake is one of the very popular saugeye lakes and might not be that far, depending where you are located.
> 
> Here is about the best resource i know of. Click the lakes and they usually have species list.....
> 
> http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/public-...viewing-areas/lake-and-reservoir-fishing-maps...................


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## laynhardwood

I'm hitting Erie tomorrow night with a couple friends. I don't really walleye fish much anymore but since I live less than 5 minutes from the lake I guess I will try it out.


----------



## percidaeben

Couple of beautiful fish Attica. Nice work.


----------



## ErieEye

Thanks for the inspiration Attica. Had no intention to go out tonight since the saugeye fishing this fall has so poor for me. Actually haven't caught a saugeye since the end of august. They turned on in a big way tonight, literally. Caught 4 saugeyes tonight, 3 of which were fish ohios. Caught a 23" and a 21" on consecutive casts. Actually watched a 21 1/2 "er hit my bait at my feet. Literally had 12" of line out. Hot bait was a clown colored hj 12. Did have a few bites on a 5" swim bait but wasn't able to get the hook into the fish. Fish bit for about an hour after it got dark and they were right on shore. Awesome evening.


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## AtticaFish

Outstanding fish ErieEye! This moon might have them all worked up.


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## 1BigIcehole

AtticaFish said:


> Welcome to the site 1BigIcehole. Been fishing at several of the different upgrounds around me. Quite a few of them have decent populations of walleye, just have to put the time in to figure out where and when. Most on here seem to make the drive up to Erie shores since it is so close. Not many people fish for them on the inland lakes that i do. It is one of these.................


Thanks for the info Attica, I'm in BG, so I am close to quite a few upgrounds.
Good fishin
Icehole


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## TDD11

Awesome reports guys! Attica, I'm quite jealous!!! Gonna have to get out tonight.


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## AtticaFish

Got out again on Wednesday night. Didn't see anywhere near as many fish but did see 2 on a stringer another guy caught. I only landed 2 rockbass and had a few followers decide not to bite right at my feet. Moon was very bright and clear sky, could even see the shadows and white tip tail from the couple followers with out even turning on my headlamp. Thinking i might get out again Saturday or Sunday night.


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## ErieEye

I tried Wednesday also. Sure looked like it would have been a good evening with the full moon. However the saugeyes had other ideas. Casted for 3 hours without even a nibble. I guess that's how it goes with these upground reservoirs.


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## 1BigIcehole

AtticaFish said:


> Got out again on Wednesday night. Didn't see anywhere near as many fish but did see 2 on a stringer another guy caught. I only landed 2 rockbass and had a few followers decide not to bite right at my feet. Moon was very bright and clear sky, could even see the shadows and white tip tail from the couple followers with out even turning on my headlamp. Thinking i might get out again Saturday or Sunday night.















Attica, Thanks for the info, it paid off tonight.
Didn't fish very long, about 1.5 hrs. Picked this lil guy on about my 20th cast. 17 incher inhaled the 4" jig.
Thanks again
Icehole


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## AtticaFish

Good job, glad you found one! Hoping to get out tonight again myself if the rain holds off long enough. Shivering in the dark will likely be more productive than watching the game.


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## sizzle32

no eyes but got this fuy


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## AtticaFish

Got 2 last night, 18" & 19" both males. Fished from about 10:00 to 11:30. Threw swimbaits, hair jigs and grubs... both fish came on the 5" Kalins grubs and only had 1 other bite. Had a big walleye keep cruising by in front of me, but would not even chase a jig.


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## 1BigIcehole

Nice fish! Glad you were able to get out.


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## Raylaser

Looking good as usual there Attica!! Way to go!


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## AtticaFish

Got a 25" fish last night on my 3rd cast. Spotted her holding tight to shore just a few feet away and flipped a grub past and she did not let it get by. Bet i didn't have more than 10 feet of line out. Should have just left after that, no other walleye to the net for the next 2 hours. Could see a few other active fish and had one (something) hooked briefly but never got to see it. Did get a big 19" bass though. The walleye had a 4" bluegill in its stomach.


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## TopCat

If I'm wearing a headlamp or have some other sort of light source with me, should I be able to see the glimmer of the eyes if they're cruising close to shore? I never gave it a lot of thought, but it's something I should be considering. I'm going to try to get out to Wauseon at some point this weekend.


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## AtticaFish

You can absolutely spot their eyes glowing and from quite a distance! But, you have to be careful not to keep it pointing at them too long or they will get spooked and take off. One of the reservoirs right now is dropped down so low, when you are walking around the top edge you are easily up 30 feet away from the waters edge. I have been walking up top to spot them and mentally mark the spot. Then slowly and quietly make my way down to the water 20 feet or so away and cast to where they were. 

The one from last night, i caught a quick glimpse of the glowing eyes only a few feet from me, so quickly pointed my light away and turned it off. I actually got down to that point so i could cast to a different pair of eyes i could see in another spot. Even if they do get spooked from the light sometimes, it has taught me there are specific rock piles that they like to hang out around.


----------



## TopCat

Attica, thanks for the info. I will put it to use probably tomorrow night at Wauseon.


----------



## Raylaser

TopCat said:


> Attica, thanks for the info. I will put it to use probably tomorrow night at Wauseon.


Hey TopCat: Let us know how you do at Wauseon. I fished there a couple weeks ago (afternoon only) and no bites. Hoping to hear some better reports about night fishing there. Thanks!!


----------



## TopCat

Raylaser said:


> Hey TopCat: Let us know how you do at Wauseon. I fished there a couple weeks ago (afternoon only) and no bites. Hoping to hear some better reports about night fishing there. Thanks!!


Will do. I talked with a guy from ODNR District 2 yesterday who gave me a lot of good info on Wauseon. Good numbers of saugeye and perch in the main reservoir. He also says Archbold Res could be a real sleeper, too. He claims not a lot of fishing pressure there, and good numbers. I'm going to fish Wauseon this afternoon and evening, Huron River in Michigan for steelhead on Saturday, and Lake Erie for walleye on Sunday. My weekend is pretty well booked!


----------



## Raylaser

TopCat said:


> Will do. I talked with a guy from ODNR District 2 yesterday who gave me a lot of good info on Wauseon. Good numbers of saugeye and perch in the main reservoir. He also says Archbold Res could be a real sleeper, too. He claims not a lot of fishing pressure there, and good numbers. I'm going to fish Wauseon this afternoon and evening, Huron River in Michigan for steelhead on Saturday, and Lake Erie for walleye on Sunday. My weekend is pretty well booked!


Wow, you are a fishing-fool my friend (and I mean that with the utmost respect and admiration)!! Wish I could get out there that much but have to work this weekend. Good luck and tight lines! Fish On Bro!!


----------



## TopCat

I fished Wauseon for a short time Friday night. I didn't get to spend the time there I wanted, but I still had one good hit. The fish hit a pearl swimbait. I dragged it a few feet, but it got off. I talked with a guy who was walking his dog there. He says he catches a lot of saugeye out of there on cranks or jigs, and does equally well with either. 

As for the rest of my weekend, instead of steelheading on Saturday, a friend invited me to go out with he and his dad out of Huron, OH on his boat. We got our limit trolling for walleye. No steelhead this morning though in Michigan.


----------



## AtticaFish

TopCat - You may be on to something, hope you can find a few.

I got out last night from around 4:00 until 6:30. Did see a few, but no bites.


----------



## fishfinder43420

Personal best fish Ohio caught out of port Clinton.. 28"


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## Raylaser

Nice one fishfinder!!! Was that caught last night from the pier? My buddy was out there Sunday night and got skunked. What seemed to be working for you bait-wise, body baits or something else? Lot's of reports with Husky Jerks and P's getting the nod out there lately. Was trying to decide where to fish this Friday since I have the day off work and was hoping to narrow it down based on some recent intel. Thanks!!!


----------



## AtticaFish

Ended up with a pair of 22" fish last night, both females very fat with eggs. Had several good bites and had another fish hooked up briefly that i never got to see. Both the walleye i landed were hooked deep but only light taps when they bit. Did get a bass too....... my bucket measures 17" so guessing the bass was around 18" or 19" and it sure pulled harder than the walleye. There was absolutely no wind at all and mist was falling the whole time, very quiet night. I didn't get to the reservoir until 9:30 and did not get a bite until almost 11:00. All the bites came on a 4" Kietech swimbait in blue/silver just underhand pitching them out. The 2nd walleye hit up very high in the water right when i closed my bail, it had to only be a foot under the surface. The other fish and bites came while bumping bottom. One of the walleye had a 4.5" bass minnow in its gut along with 2 other smaller panfish.


----------



## DeathFromAbove

Went to Fostoria #5 Sunday night. Got Nada. One bump. Did alot of shining and didnt see a fish. Did meet a guy who had one of the biggest Saugeyes ive ever seen. When he pulled it out of his bucket, I first thought it was a cat at first, the head was so big. 26 inches with the body of a Lake Erie female. 6 lbs easy.He caught it out deep about an hour before sunset on a quarter oz head and 3 in. white tail. Go figure. Way more pronounced belly than those 2 Attica just posted. A real Pig.


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## TopCat

Looks like one of those walleyes enjoyed a baby bass dinner!


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## laynhardwood

Nice fish Attica


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## ErieEye

Gotta love that fish porn.


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## fishfinder43420

Raylaser said:


> Nice one fishfinder!!! Was that caught last night from the pier? My buddy was out there Sunday night and got skunked. What seemed to be working for you bait-wise, body baits or something else? Lot's of reports with Husky Jerks and P's getting the nod out there lately. Was trying to decide where to fish this Friday since I have the day off work and was hoping to narrow it down based on some recent intel. Thanks!!!



Body baits.. Has been slow by the lake.. Just about one a night has been caught between 9 guys.. Just have to be there when they come in.


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## AtticaFish

ErieEye said:


> Gotta love that fish porn.


Was fighting with myself if i actually wanted to go out last night.......... then i read your post and saw your fish from yesterday. That made my mind up.


----------



## Raylaser

fishfinder43420 said:


> Body baits.. Has been slow by the lake.. Just about one a night has been caught between 9 guys.. Just have to be there when they come in.


Thanks Fishfinder!! I'm thinking of hitting PC or Catawba later on Friday. Think I'm gonna start my day in Michigan though up around Bolles Harbor and work my way back to Ohio. Will keep you guys posted. Thanks again for all the intel. And Attica - as always NICE FISH DUDE!!!


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## 1BigIcehole

Nice fish! That fish was not getting off with that hookset.


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## flyfishtrout

I've only ever fished beaver Creek reservoir, buckeye, and Indian lake ... I keep hearing about one of the fostoria reservoirs and the one in Willard ? Are they worth a try and which side of the reservoir is generally the best


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## AtticaFish

flyfishtrout said:


> ...........keep hearing about one of the fostoria reservoirs and the one in Willard ? Are they worth a try and which side of the reservoir is generally the best


They both have walleye/saugeye populations, just don't expect to be catching limits of fish. At least i've never been able to get a limit. Bellevue #5 also has some. From my experience, the fish seem to hold in a specific spot one day and then are completely scattered the next. Giving pinpoint locations, even just saying North shore or West shore, i don't think would do much good on these upground reservoirs. My starting point tends to be the closest spot to the parking lot and i work from there.  You really have to put in time casting and swim something past their nose. In my case since i don't usually get started until late in the evening, i loose hours of sleep because i keep thinking that next cast is going to get stuck in a toothy mouth. Can guarantee i will be stopping for some coffee on the way home tonight.... my butt is dragging today!


----------



## flyfishtrout

AtticaFish said:


> They both have walleye/saugeye populations, just don't expect to be catching limits of fish. At least i've never been able to get a limit. Bellevue #5 also has some. From my experience, the fish seem to hold in a specific spot one day and then are completely scattered the next. Giving pinpoint locations, even just saying North shore or West shore, i don't think would do much good on these upground reservoirs. My starting point tends to be the closest spot to the parking lot and i work from there.  You really have to put in time casting and swim something past their nose. In my case since i don't usually get started until late in the evening, i loose hours of sleep because i keep thinking that next cast is going to get stuck in a toothy mouth. Can guarantee i will be stopping for some coffee on the way home tonight.... my butt is dragging today!


OK thank you, I'll give them a shot sometime


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## ErieEye

My advice would be to pick the closest upground to where you live that is stocked with walleyes or saugeyes. Put your time in and learn that reservoir. My opinion is there isn't an upground anywhere that's worth making an hour drive to for night bite eyes. It's entirely too hit and miss.


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## DeathFromAbove

Ill second that, but my dumb ass does it anyhow


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## fishfinder43420

nothing big but a nice 20" keeper.. Missed two other bites.. Seen one fish Ohio taken and for others taken.. Fished 5-9 in port Clinton again.. Cold and windy..


----------



## Raylaser

fishfinder43420 said:


> View attachment 199273
> nothing big but a nice 20" keeper.. Missed two other bites.. Seen one fish Ohio taken and for others taken.. Fished 5-9 in port Clinton again.. Cold and windy..


Hey, you got 1 had a couple other bites and saw a few other fish caught (one a Fish Ohio!!). All in all, makes for a fun night of fishing my friend!!


----------



## AtticaFish

Glad i eeked one out tonight......... sure was cold this evening! Temp on my dash was floating between 21° and 24° on my way home. The wind was nasty when i first got out around 9:00 but did calm down and shift more out of the SW later. I tried a spot in the wind right off the bat and froze my nuts off so retreated back to the upwind bank and just hunkered down and casted for a while. Once it switched a little to the South, moved to a different area and caught this 20.5" walleye on a Kalins grub. Good deep hook-set, she was not about to pop off and put up one heck of a fight. Thought i had a monster.  Threw swimbaits, hair jigs and X-raps... but that was my only bite for the night. These fish are obviously taking advantage of the small bass venturing out at night to find a meal. I do see bluegill here and there, but they sure hold tight to (or under) the rocks The baby bass are a little more confident and raise up out of the rip-rap more........ till Ms. Walleye passes by anyway. Caught her very shallow in a spot i know they frequent because of some big boulders in the area.


----------



## Rip n rap

AtticaFish said:


> Glad i eeked one out tonight......... sure was cold this evening! Temp on my dash was floating between 21° and 24° on my way home. The wind was nasty when i first got out around 9:00 but did calm down and shift more out of the SW later. I tried a spot in the wind right off the bat and froze my nuts off so retreated back to the upwind bank and just hunkered down and casted for a while. Once it switched a little to the South, moved to a different area and caught this 20.5" walleye on a Kalins grub. Good deep hook-set, she was not about to pop off and put up one heck of a fight. Thought i had a monster.  Threw swimbaits, hair jigs and X-raps... but that was my only bite for the night. These fish are obviously taking advantage of the small bass venturing out at night to find a meal. I do see bluegill here and there, but they sure hold tight to (or under) the rocks The baby bass are a little more confident and raise up out of the rip-rap more........ till Ms. Walleye passes by anyway. Caught her very shallow in a spot i know they frequent because of some big boulders in the area.
> 
> View attachment 199365
> 
> 
> View attachment 199366
> 
> 
> View attachment 199367


----------



## Rip n rap

How far north are u hooking into the walleye


----------



## AtticaFish

Rip n rap - I am fishing about 45 minutes to an hour South of Erie.


----------



## Rip n rap

Rite on I'm still after my first walleye but the area live in which is in between Delaware reservoir and alum haven't heard of them being caught around these parts


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## ErieEye

Now thats dedication! Great job. I hope to try it tonight.


----------



## AtticaFish

It was cold, had to melt ice out of my rod eyes every 10 minutes. I put braid on my new walleye rod and this is the first i have ever used braid in below freezing temps. It gets stuck pretty bad going through even a little ice in the eyes.


----------



## laynhardwood

Braid makes below freezing fishing not fun. It makes everything freeze up quicker than normal. Hopefully your new Walleye outfit came with two spools. Although this season has been pretty warm so far.


----------



## AtticaFish

It only came with one spool.... thinking i may have to get an extra. I like the braid, can feel a jig bump over every rock but It did make both casting and reeling quite difficult last night.


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## ErieEye

The way it looks that might be as close to ice fishing as you're going to get this season.


----------



## Capt. Crude

Attica, I always use braid too, love the strength, no stretch, sensitivity,etc. I have been switching to nanofil when it gets cold, fished last night on Erie, and I only had to clear my top eye of ice two or three times(we fished from 6 to 1030), that stuff is great for ice, and still will give you the sensitivity you are looking for. I didn't throw any knots either..


----------



## Skippy

That low-vis green Nanafil is all I've been using all year. Never found a need to tie on any kind of leader either. Stuff is slick and you have to watch what kind of knot you tie your snap on with. Haven't found any need to change out to different kinds of line for different seasons or fish. Stick to one kind and just get used to it. Firm believer in KISS


----------



## AtticaFish

I bought Fireline, it was in the 10, 12 or 14 lb range, can't remember which for sure. Have read quite a bit about different braids on forums and it seems like it comes down to a debate like Ford vs. Chevy usually. They all work, just a preference thing? The Fireline was about mid to bottom 3rd in the price range and some of those lines get pricey! Just wanted to give the braid a try and have learned i really like it for throwing heavy/bulky jigs so am willing to spend a little more when i go to re-spool it in the future. The braid really helps to feel the difference between rocks and bites with jigs. Personally don't feel much difference while fishing cranks with braid except that instant feedback on a bite while you are cranking. I think i pull it out of the fishes mouth sometimes though before they actually eat it... seems like i get more missed hits. Just a personal preference thing again probably.

I will have to try the Nanofil, there are many who prefer it over some of the other more costly lines. Another thing i did notice was that the top 3 guides on this rod in particular are quite small and was something i did not think about when i bought it. I try to find ice rods with a nice wide open eye on the tip...... but did not even cross my mind with the walleye rod. It was the most $$$ i have ever spent on a rod too! Lesson learned i guess, but it is still usually only a short window of time that we have to worry about the guides freezing up.


----------



## Capt. Crude

AtticaFish said:


> I bought Fireline, it was in the 10, 12 or 14 lb range, can't remember which for sure. Have read quite a bit about different braids on forums and it seems like it comes down to a debate like Ford vs. Chevy usually. They all work, just a preference thing? The Fireline was about mid to bottom 3rd in the price range and some of those lines get pricey! Just wanted to give the braid a try and have learned i really like it for throwing heavy/bulky jigs so am willing to spend a little more when i go to re-spool it in the future. The braid really helps to feel the difference between rocks and bites with jigs. Personally don't feel much difference while fishing cranks with braid except that instant feedback on a bite while you are cranking. I think i pull it out of the fishes mouth sometimes though before they actually eat it... seems like i get more missed hits. Just a personal preference thing again probably.
> 
> I will have to try the Nanofil, there are many who prefer it over some of the other more costly lines. Another thing i did notice was that the top 3 guides on this rod in particular are quite small and was something i did not think about when i bought it. I try to find ice rods with a nice wide open eye on the tip...... but did not even cross my mind with the walleye rod. It was the most $$$ i have ever spent on a rod too! Lesson learned i guess, but it is still usually only a short window of time that we have to worry about the guides freezing up.


----------



## Capt. Crude

The Nanofil is pretty expensive.... I really only use it this time of year when we get sub freezing temps. I was using power pro 10#, on Friday night and I ended up losing 40 yds. of line due to ice (seems to me most braids absorb water then freeze on your spool creating many problems) I casted out many knots and was constantly cleaning my first 4 eyelets. The Nanofil is slick and water wicking to a point, it also casts like nothing you've ever seen (making it another advantageous move for fishing from shore), glad I switched before we fished on Saturday for sure.


----------



## ErieEye

In my opinion fireline is the best braid out there, even though its not technically a braid. It's got the best knot strength of all the "super lines ". It always amazed me how easy it is to break 40 lb powerpro/spiderwire. As you use them the knot gets progressively weaker, line cuts into itself at the knot. The only suggestion I would make with the fireline would be to set your drag a bit lighter than you otherwise would with mono.


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## flyfishtrout

Been out the past 6 nights, not a thing from lake erie to reservoirs, not a single bite .


----------



## ErieEye

I've fished the last 3 nights, haven't had a bite.


----------



## AtticaFish

Thanks for all the input on the braid. I do love it for throwing the jigs, there won't be any worries of it freezing tonight. Heading out shortly...... hope i have better luck than you guys. Moon seems at the right phase, but it sure is bright tonight.

flyfishtrout - I saw your post on the Erie thread. I have only caught 1 fish from a reservoir this fall with a crank bait. First thing i am throwing is either a swimbait or twister.


----------



## percidaeben

Hey Attica, give P-Line Flouroclear a try. It's a less memory coated flourocarbon. It actually works great on a spinning outfit and the costing keeps it from absorbing water. At least in the 6-8 pound test that I have used. Not as sensitive as braid but nice line.


----------



## AtticaFish

Thanks for the info on the line percidaeben. Lately i have been carrying around 3 rods. 2 medium weight and 1 a little heavier. Have the braid on 1 of the medium weight rods and use the heavier rod for casting the stickbaits. Don't think i want to change out the mono on the crank rod yet, but think i may experiment with line on the other med-light rod.

No fish tonight and only 2 bites. Both felt more like rockbass though.... tap-tap-tap. Set hook and nothing. Only spotted 1 walleye and had no interest.


----------



## flyfishtrout

AtticaFish said:


> Thanks for all the input on the braid. I do love it for throwing the jgear, there won't be any worries of it freezing tonight. Heading out shortly...... hope i have better luck than you guys. Moon seems at the right phase, but it sure is bright tonight.
> 
> flyfishtrout - I saw your post on the Erie thread. I have only caught 1 fish from a reservoir this fall with a crank bait. First thing i am throwing is either a swimbait or twister.


I've had luck with both in the past, I just don't think to grab them since I keep them mostly in my bass and walleye run gear, I'll have to remember them next time !


----------



## DeathFromAbove

Anyone been doing anything at Luna Pier? Its been hot out east, but I havent heard much about this end. Thanks in advance for any replies.


----------



## TopCat

DeathFromAbove said:


> Anyone been doing anything at Luna Pier? Its been hot out east, but I havent heard much about this end. Thanks in advance for any replies.


 I have only heard of a few fish being taken at Luna Pier or Sterling State Park this season.


----------



## TopCat

And to all of my friends here on the "Casting for Shoreline 'Eyes" thread, Merry Christmas! May the season bring you tightlines, heavy stringers, and catches worthy of telling tales!


----------



## Raylaser

Fished that area for 'eyes' yesterday and not a one to be seen or caught. I did however manage this nice steelie!!


----------



## ErieEye

Merry Christmas to you too topcat and to all my fellow OGFers. And nice job on the steelhead raylaser. Hard to believe all the years I've been fishing lake erie I have yet to catch one.


----------



## Raylaser

ErieEye said:


> Merry Christmas to you too topcat and to all my fellow OGFers. And nice job on the steelhead raylaser. Hard to believe all the years I've been fishing lake erie I have yet to catch one.


Was targeting walleye with bombers when she hit hard. Thought wow, that's a nice eye until she barrel rolled and jumped twice, then I knew it was a sreelie. Caught me off guard but a nice surprise to say the least. Merry Christmas guys and God Bless!!


----------



## AtticaFish

Nice steel Raylaser! I was thinking about heading out last night, but the rain made me think i should drink a few beers instead. Hopefully will get back out at it, but not at least until Saturday. Letting the fish celebrate Christmas in peace. Merry Christmas everyone.


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## DeathFromAbove

Same to you and yours


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## fishfinder43420

Went out tonight fishing in port Clinton.. Seen 5 pulled no luck for me.. Fished from 6-830.. Just have to be lucky I guess.. Lol


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## AtticaFish

Fished on Saturday...... with my ice rod & flasher at the docks in my Dad's marina.  Brought home a meal of panfish, so absolutely worth sticking it out in the wind. Wanted to get out tonight to chase walleye again, rain changed my mind. Forecast for Tuesday night sure looks fishable though................. going to be out somewhere casting in the dark.


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## ErieEye

Looks like I'm done casting for a while. Both fostoria res 5 & 6 are brown. Looks like they've pumped both of them up at least a couple feet. Good to see even though it screws up the fishing. Res 5 was down a good 10 to 12'.


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## AtticaFish

Willard had been dropping pretty steady, guessing it went down at least 2 feet since i started this thread. It is way down overall too. Guess they could be pumping in as well since it has been so long since we have had a significant rain.


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## pacodog

Planned to make trip for shore walleye tomorrow Wed 12/30 around port Clinton, leaving from outside Toledo. Is it worth it with recent rain / runoff?


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## AtticaFish

These 2 threads have better/current info for Erie shores.............

http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/threads/fall-night-shore-walleye-bite.266513/page-49

http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/threads/eyes-on-water-reports-wanted.291412/#post-2112211


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## fshnfreak

with all the rain and the high winds id stay home and let erie settle down


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## AtticaFish

Fished for a couple hours @ Willard last night - skunked. Had 1 huge thump that took me by surprise and never got a good chance to even set the hook. Did a lot of walking to some of the areas with bigger boulders, but only saw a few fish cruising.


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## AtticaFish

Fished again tonight at Willard. Cold and dang windy evening! Had 3 bites total (all one swimbaits) and only caught one of them............. it was a 15" largemouth.  Both of the other bites felt solid as heck and when i set the hook they did not hook up.  Even pulled some of my drag on one of the hook sets, but still no hook-UP. My swimbait came back barely hanging on the end of my hook. After i got home, sat at my desk tonight and pre-rigged a few of my favorite colors with treble stingers. Actually broke off on my last cast for my swimbait rod, so one of these will get tied on my next trip out. Cold temps in the future forecast so will be lucky if i can still cast on softwater Sunday or Monday night.


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## ErieEye

I rigged up some stinger hooks on my swimbaits a while back. Trouble is the fish shut off after I did it so I don't know how well they will work. The way it's looking I might not find out till spring.


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## Kenlow1

Atticafish, what brand swim bait/grub is that in the pic? Looks like a killer bait/color! Thanks.


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## AtticaFish

They are Keitech Fat Swing 3.8", even still have the Japanese label on the package. They are pricey and would not get them if i didn't have a gift cert. Skinny back to a big wide paddle tail so they kick at the slowest speed. Front ends tear up fairly easy though if you try using a lead barb keeper. Color in the middle (silver shiner) is my favorite..... almost a match of the Kalins bluegill grub color. Sexy shad is the bottom color and solid black on top.


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## Raylaser

Nice looking rigs Attica. I love stinger hooks on my pike tip-ups for hard water fishing. Gotta give 'em a try rigged on a jig like you've done. Have you ever fished a stinger like that during the Walleye Run on the Maumee? Curious if it could increase hook-ups. Problem in that situation could be the fact that it would get costly given the number of snags and lost hardware I experience fishing the "Run"!! Thanks as always for your detailed posts and pics!!


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## Capt. Crude

You can't use stinger hooks in the river during the spring run.... your jig can only have one hook (no larger than 1/2" from point to shank). They do use stinger hooks in Lake Erie during this time (Maumee Bay and the reef complex).


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## Bucket Mouth

They use those stingers on the Detroit River as well, especially during the run.


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## AtticaFish

I've only used treble stingers a handful of times (in live bait rigs) over the years. Not only are they more prone to snags in the rocks/wood but they also tend to pick up a LOT more weeds as well. Again, these were put together after a couple frustrating back to back skunks where i was getting bites but no hook-ups. I just tied the treble to 8lb mono and a split ring at the other end. Thread the split ring on the hook eye and there is still enough room to tie directly to the hook eye.

Since i am fishing rip-rap, am assuming i will loose some of these easily. I did get out once and fished with them and surprisingly, did not have any more snags than usual and did not loose any jigs at all. I was fishing the middle one which is rigged on the new Bat Jig Do-It mold jig with an eye forward balance, so that does help some with the snags anyway. But on that same surprised note......... i got a good thump and it was still a swing and a miss! Betting i had a look of utter and complete defeat after that bite. Then the cussing began. They must just be sucking in the paddle and using it as a pacifier until i rip it out of their mouth.


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## Raylaser

Capt. Crude said:


> You can't use stinger hooks in the river during the spring run.... your jig can only have one hook (no larger than 1/2" from point to shank). They do use stinger hooks in Lake Erie during this time (Maumee Bay and the reef complex).


Thanks Capt. that explains why I've never seen anyone rigging them during the "Run", LOL! Better to loose fish than money in fines!!


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## AtticaFish

Couldn't stand to stay at home tonight.............. fished from around 7:00 to 9:30 and did get one on a Kalins grub.










Right as i was getting ready to leave a couple guys pulled up. Chatted for a second and they headed off to a corner i had just fished fr the last 45 minutes. Guy casted out and hooked a 20" (maybe 22") fish on his first dang cast! 

Did not spotlight any fish at all. Water is super clear now so i kept my light off as much as possible outside of climbing down the rocks. This one was full of eggs and had a gut full of baby bass and bluegill! First fish of the year for me.


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## ress

Nice looking Walleye and a great bottle of beer. Did you pop the top on that after you cleaned the fish?


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## 1BigIcehole

Nice fish Attica.


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## AtticaFish

ress - Certainly did drink it up! I've had a few different types of bourbon beer in the past...... this one was my hands down favorite. Tasted more like the smoothest bourbon you could ever imagine rather than a beer. Pricey little 4-pack though. Next one is going to be consumed with a steak off the grill........ or even better grilled walleye.


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## ress

KBS is a great smooth stout also. Six dollars a bottle if you can find it. Been hitting #2 after work lately and pulling a few crappie. One day last week caught a pair of 11 inch Walleye. Minnow under a slip bobber.


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## laynhardwood

AtticaFish said:


> Couldn't stand to stay at home tonight.............. fished from around 7:00 to 9:30 and did get one on a Kalins grub.
> 
> View attachment 200279
> 
> 
> Right as i was getting ready to leave a couple guys pulled up. Chatted for a second and they headed off to a corner i had just fished fr the last 45 minutes. Guy casted out and hooked a 20" (maybe 22") fish on his first dang cast!
> 
> Did not spotlight any fish at all. Water is super clear now so i kept my light off as much as possible outside of climbing down the rocks. This one was full of eggs and had a gut full of baby bass and bluegill! First fish of the year for me.
> 
> View attachment 200280
> 
> 
> View attachment 200281


Nice fish, I remember many posts ago someone was trying to remove all the bass because they were hurting the walleye population. It appears if the bass are gone the walleye will have less forage


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## AtticaFish

I'm always amazed at the number of 2"-3" fish you see in the rocks. Just about every 5th rock has some type of small fish hiding under it. Multiply that by 2+ miles of rip-rap shore! It is no wonder why the 'eyes patrol the shallow rocks. The walleye do seem to prefer those little finger size bass though...... 3:1 by the walleye from last night. ha

It is hard to keep a balance. From numbers i've caught and seen brought back to the dock from boats..... the bass have a major advantage right now. Would kinda guess they always will because they can spawn there and not really sure if the walleye are successful at spawning at all in these reservoirs? Thought you needed current of some kind (like the Erie reefs and rivers) for them to be successful. No current at all in Willard and no open water reefs, it is all just deep water. Bellevue #5 can get a wicked current some days but it is all just deep water too with even less gravel spawning areas than Willard. Guess i see the walleye as more of a put/take resource that the state maintains in these upgrounds.


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## ashtabulacountyman

Which resevoirs are you guys hitting. I'm near van wert 1 and 2 but it's been a few weeks since I've hooked into any wallys. Just looking to be led in the right direction


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## ErieEye

Your killing me Attica. The ice still has me locked out here in fostoria. Oh well at least it looks like the ice is gonna survive this warm up. Still hoping for some hard water fishing by the end of the week.


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## laynhardwood

AtticaFish said:


> I'm always amazed at the number of 2"-3" fish you see in the rocks. Just about every 5th rock has some type of small fish hiding under it. Multiply that by 2+ miles of rip-rap shore! It is no wonder why the 'eyes patrol the shallow rocks. The walleye do seem to prefer those little finger size bass though...... 3:1 by the walleye from last night. ha
> 
> It is hard to keep a balance. From numbers i've caught and seen brought back to the dock from boats..... the bass have a major advantage right now. Would kinda guess they always will because they can spawn there and not really sure if the walleye are successful at spawning at all in these reservoirs? Thought you needed current of some kind (like the Erie reefs and rivers) for them to be successful. No current at all in Willard and no open water reefs, it is all just deep water. Bellevue #5 can get a wicked current some days but it is all just deep water too with even less gravel spawning areas than Willard. Guess i see the walleye as more of a put/take resource that the state maintains in these upgrounds.


New London has good reefs and structure for spawning every spring I catch them and they are constantly Milting. The average size is smaller in New London but I think that is because they are much easier to catch in that reservoir.


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## AtticaFish

Should have went back out tonight while it is still warm. If weatherman is right, even the big reservoirs may finally lock up in the very near future. Corner out of the wind last night had a few spots with a foot or so of shore ice but everything else was wide open.

ashtabulacountyman - If you go back through the posts here, all of the reservoirs we have been hitting are listed. If you have gotten into some in the past at VanWert it is probably just as good as the others around. I've said it before..... just have to put in the time and get lucky.

ErieEye - I've had 4 skunks in a row until last night. My wife was starting to think i was crazy for going back. I just couldn't pass up 40° temps at night and very little wind.


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## ashtabulacountyman

I got out today at the spillway of grand lake. Landed two lunkers one at 8 lbs one 6. Not bad fish. Lost another big one. The warm weather bought everyone thiugh. 20 people or so shoulder to shoulder almost


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## AtticaFish

Those sound like some great spillway fish, congrats.

Looks like it is time to put away the long rods and big walleye jigs till spring. The walleye in my freezer will have to make it through because i sure can't figure out the walleye through the ice on the upgrounds. Or at least not yet. I may have to head out for some after dark attempts on the ice if the ice gets good. Ice is going to have to feel really safe though for me to get out after dark...... doubt anyone else will be out then so would likely be going solo.


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## ErieEye

AtticaFish said:


> Those sound like some great spillway fish, congrats.
> 
> Looks like it is time to put away the long rods and big walleye jigs till spring. The walleye in my freezer will have to make it through because i sure can't figure out the walleye through the ice on the upgrounds. Or at least not yet. I may have to head out for some after dark attempts on the ice if the ice gets good. Ice is going to have to feel really safe though for me to get out after dark...... doubt anyone else will be out then so would likely be going solo.


I couldn't agree more. Upground eyes are definitely a challenge through the ice. I've caught a total of 5 keeper saugeyes in the last 2 ice fishing seasons out of fostorias reservoirs. I've taken a few on tip ups and a few on small hair jigs. Have yet to catch one on a spoon or blade bait.


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## TopCat

If it freezes up well enough, and you don't want to go alone, I can usually be talked into it. As for the upgrounds, I'm still learning them, but one of the people I've talked with who fishes Wauseon says they do pretty well through the ice for saugeye and perch. He says they mostly fish minnows. If it freezes hard enough, I'm going to give it a shot.


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## Raylaser

Any hard water fishing opportunities that present themselves are worth trying in my opinion. As for this year, it looks like you will need to be selective as to where you will fish given the limited season we are going to have. That said, I will mostly be targeting my reliable favorites in Michigan once it freezes up. If the ice lasts long enough I am definitely going to hit some reservoirs in NW Ohio though. Nice opportunity to fish the entire res vs. just the shoreline!!!!


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## percidaeben

Attica, you are having a fine winter, and always seem to have a great beer with you. Love it man.


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## AtticaFish

It did turn out to be a decent fall & early winter for me, just took a while to finally get the walleye going. All were good quality size too, don't think i caught a single walleye under 17" and got quite a few bass over 18". Last trip ended with a fish so can't ask for much more. Walleye is on the menu for the family Friday night! Maybe a beer or 2 as well. Going to do my best to try and find a walleye through the ice on one of these reservoirs..... got a new buddy heater at Xmas for the shanty so will be able to spend a few hours after dark a lot more comfortably than in the past. I may take one of you up on that offer for company on the ice!


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## percidaeben

I know the walleye eggs have to silt free to hatch. Most fish eggs do and the bass will tail tan their nests, but walleye lay, fertilize and leave.


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## percidaeben

"Tail fan" I mean


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## TopCat

The Maumee is packed with ice from I-475 all the way into Maumee and Perrysburg. You can see where it has broken and refrozen. If it's cold enough to do that, I think some of the upgrounds like Wauseon, Delta, or Archbold are probably getting close to safe. I also heard Wiregrass is fishable, but I haven't been out there to check it out.


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## whiskerchaser

Its that time of year time to start chasing the shoreline eyes. Anyone been out yet..


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## AtticaFish

Heading out as soon as i put some cool weather clothes on and get out the rods. I will post back with the good, the bad and the ugly. Water needs to still cool off i think, but fingers are crossed.

I have been out twice so far. Total skunk on first trip. Got a decent bass on the 2nd trip. Did see a few glowing eyes up tight to shore, but they were all moving fast and disappeared quickly. The weeds where i fished were as thick as they have been for several years now. Not sure how that will change things yet for this fall.


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## Fishindays2

I've been wondering about getting out and doing some trolling out at beaver creek reservoir in Seneca county. Haven't heard much about the reservoir though, according to ODNR they have stocked quite a bit of walleye in there.


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## Nightcrawler666

AtticaFish said:


> Heading out as soon as i put some cool weather clothes on and get out the rods. I will post back with the good, the bad and the ugly. Water needs to still cool off i think, but fingers are crossed.
> 
> I have been out twice so far. Total skunk on first trip. Got a decent bass on the 2nd trip. Did see a few glowing eyes up tight to shore, but they were all moving fast and disappeared quickly. The weeds where i fished were as thick as they have been for several years now. Not sure how that will change things yet for this fall.


I was just telling the gf that if it wasn't a 45 minute drive to the nearest above ground for me to try, I would be heading out right now. Lack of experience/confidence is keeping me in though.


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## percidaeben

Nightcrawler666 said:


> I was just telling the gf that if it wasn't a 45 minute drive to the nearest above ground for me to try, I would be heading out right now. Lack of experience/confidence is keeping me in though.


Only one way to gain that experience and build that confidence man.


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## whiskerchaser

Time is always key to learning... Matter fact you never stop learning chasing eyes always changing little things...I'm sure water not at temps we would like but their getting close enough to start looking for them good luck guys hope to hear and report good reports... Stay warm and safe this season


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## AtticaFish

Did see a few glowing eyes, but only one of them even showed any interest and followed a jig. All the others just were cruising through. Fished 3 different areas..... one completely out of the wind, somewhat of a point with wind blowing across it and on the full blown wind bank. Switched it up between twister grubs, swim baits and cranks. Caught a decent sized rockbass on a swim bait and BIG cat (25") on a smaller jointed deep husky jerk. Put some fish slime on my hands, so not a bad night.




















Nightcrawler666 - I have 5 separate walleye/saugeye stocked UG's all right around 20 minutes from me so pretty easy for me to get out and give it a try. Even with a 45 minute drive, i would probably get out a few times.

Fishindays2 - I don't get up to Beaver all that often but do know people get a few there.


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## AtticaFish

Gave it a shot again last night. Huge difference in the number of walleye i saw cruising up high out deep as well as tight to shore. Got there around 8:00 and fish were all over the place...... unfortunately, i could not get hooked into one. I had a giant one follow a husky jerk in and then just stop short and stare at me. It had to have been a FO size walleye. Had several others follow jigs, but none wanted to play. All fish were up near the parking/ramp area with the over head lights. At around 10:00, the bigger fish seemed to disappear and a bunch little walleye that looked about 8" long moved in. Next time i go, going to try closer to dusk. I did catch 1 rockbass on a Kalins grub, but that was the only action for the night.


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## Scum_Frog

I still need to meet up with ya and fish! You will have to let me know and maybe one evening after work ill stick around and meet up! Reminds me I need to find my headlamp or go order one lol


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## whiskerchaser

I'm heading out tonight going to test out my new J5 joshys.. Might throw the husky out some but I think it gonna be a swimbait night for me... Just gotta figure which of the four upgrounds around me I'm gonna hit


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## ErieEye

AtticaFish said:


> Gave it a shot again last night. Huge difference in the number of walleye i saw cruising up high out deep as well as tight to shore. Got there around 8:00 and fish were all over the place...... unfortunately, i could not get hooked into one. I had a giant one follow a husky jerk in and then just stop short and stare at me. It had to have been a FO size walleye. Had several others follow jigs, but none wanted to play. All fish were up near the parking/ramp area with the over head lights. At around 10:00, the bigger fish seemed to disappear and a bunch little walleye that looked about 8" long moved in. Next time i go, going to try closer to dusk. I did catch 1 rockbass on a Kalins grub, but that was the only action for the night.


That's a good sign. Hopefully I'll get my buck in the next few weeks so I can get back at the saugeye grind.


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## whiskerchaser

Well big strike out tonight didn't get to test my J5 out but threw 5 other swims varying in size and color nothing... Threw crank for while nothing went back to pink swim got a thump and was like ok something might happen..Nope... May try again in morning maybe different upground


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## AtticaFish

ScumFrog - I will be over there (or out somewhere) at least once a week from now until my lures start bouncing on top. Need to restock the freezer..... down to 2 bags of walleye in the freezer!!! Yikes. Good thing thing Mother Nature made bluegills. 

ErieEye - It was nice to see fish cruising the shore. That hog that came in and gave my HJ the stare down sure got my heart beating. It was BIG, period. Usually i try to keep my headlamp off as much as possible down by the water, but noticed it when i was trying to fix another rod that had line fouled up. Picked up the HJ rod and stared out in a straight line just enough away from his eyes and did not move my head. It followed that HJ all the way up within 15 feet of me. Damn did that get me pumped and probably made me stay out and keep casting longer than i should have.

whiskerchaser - Yup, have to get the zero nights out of the way. I've been out 3 nights now this fall and have not caught a walleye......... yet. It will happen, and i can't wait. My last 2 bags of walleye are from May, so need to get some now to get me through winter.


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## percidaeben

Attica, might try keeping headlamp off. I know it spooks the saugeye down here in central.


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## AtticaFish

Yep, i know it can spook them. This spot is a little forgiving though. There is a set of large overhead lights that are on every night and keep the area pretty lit up around the boat ramp. You can get away with using the headlamp a little more often under those lights as long as you don't point it directly at them. I've watched them chase and hit lures quite a few times. Just have to point far enough away from them but still catch the light with their eyes and not move your head. It is pretty cool to see. The entire rest of the lake has no lights at all and you pretty much spook the fish immediately with a light anywhere else. In my head it makes me think the walleye are used to seeing the lights in that specific area....... so maybe they get confused and think my head lamp is just another overhead light as long as i hold still?


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## ErieEye

Was too windy for the treestand this evening so I tried casting for an hour and a half. Never had a bite. Tried both swims and sticks.


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## percidaeben

Attica, I think you are right! Man I would Love to spot fish walleye/saugeye!!!! That is some cool stuff! Always enjoy your reports, and fish on brother!


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## acklac7

AtticaFish said:


> Yep, i know it can spook them. This spot is a little forgiving though. There is a set of large overhead lights that are on every night and keep the area pretty lit up around the boat ramp. You can get away with using the headlamp a little more often under those lights as long as you don't point it directly at them. I've watched them chase and hit lures quite a few times. Just have to point far enough away from them but still catch the light with their eyes and not move your head. It is pretty cool to see. The entire rest of the lake has no lights at all and you pretty much spook the fish immediately with a light anywhere else. In my head it makes me think the walleye are used to seeing the lights in that specific area....... so maybe they get confused and think my head lamp is just another overhead light as long as i hold still?


The whole headlight thing is a border-line myth. I mean it may very well spook the big, big girls, but most of the time those Eyes don't care. I fish several spots where Eye's stack up in water that is literally Bathtub-Clear. You can shine the a Mag-light into the water and they usually could care less. Hell, I've spooked them off the bank at other spots, then flicked my headlamp on only to see them turn around and just chill off the bank staring right at me.

For the most part they don't seem to care.


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## ErieEye

For me it's always lights out. The only time I'll turn my headlamp on is when I'm fighting a fish. I just can't justify the possibility of spooking a fish in an upground reservoir. You just don't have that many opportunities in any one given night. I always get a kick out of when the central ohio boys talk about what there experiences are down at say Indian lake or alum creek. We don't have the numbers of fish in these upgrounds that you guys do down south. Whereas a good night of saugeye fishing down at Indian might be 10 fish plus. A good night in an upground, in my experience, would be 3 to 4 fish. Anything over that would be a spectacular night. I've caught 1 6 fish limit in my life casting after dark in the fall in an upground. With that being said I think the overall size might be better in a good upground.


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## Skippy

I've seen it both ways. Had a good bite going and a guy pulled in with his bright lights on and totally shut the fishing off. Then again there's a street light buy a boat ramp and that light doesn't bother them at all. I don't shine the water at all. I guess, to be truthful,,,,, I'd hate to be fishing an area and not doing any good then shine a light and see eye balls. Just makes we wonder just what in the heck am I doing wrong.


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## BFG

I think it likely has more to do with the light moving, vs. ambient light. 

We stayed on a house on Middle Bass a few years ago and fished right out in front of it at night. You couldn't catch a fish unless you turned the 10 floodlights on that faced the lake. The light draws the bait, and the bait draws the predators. IMO, this is why dark piers tend to not produce as much as lighted piers.


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## whiskerchaser

As far as light goes big lights don't affect fish as much..with headlights I think it has more to do with the fact it's more of a beam of light and moving as mentioned.. I vary rarely turn my light on when fishing dark upgrounds...I have Indian lake 30 mins from me and 4 upgrounds 10 mins from me.. Indian does have good fishing but it's hard to figure them out not fishing it like the regulars.. I'll stay home and fish upgrounds over Indian a lot I just have more confidence in them


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## acklac7

Skippy said:


> I've seen it both ways. Had a good bite going and a guy pulled in with his bright lights on and totally shut the fishing off. Then again there's a street light buy a boat ramp and that light doesn't bother them at all. I don't shine the water at all. I guess, to be truthful,,,,, I'd hate to be fishing an area and not doing any good then shine a light and see eye balls. Just makes we wonder just what in the heck am I doing wrong.


Sometimes I swear those Eye's are Sleeping. Seriously.

There's been two or three times I've literally, literally nearly stepped on them while wading. Each time I was able to slightly kick the fish and wake him up, only to have him just sort of cruise off nonchalantly...


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## crown419

Attica.... are you fishing Lake Erie or upgrounds??


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## AtticaFish

crown419 said:


> Attica.... are you fishing Lake Erie or upgrounds??



I do fish Erie anywhere between Huron and Catawba on occasion, but vast majority of my time is spent at upgrounds. There are several UG's with walleye/saugeye that are only a 20 minute drive from my front door..... any piers on Erie are close to an hour drive. All the fish i have posted about in this thread have come from an upground reservoir.

Will be out casting at an upground tonight. Not my favorite direction for the wind to be blowing out of for the place i plan to hit, so i may be doing a lot of walking to try and find me my first 2016 Fall walleye.


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## Fishindays2

Heading out for my first time going for walleye at night, hopefully I'll get some beginners luck and hook into one.


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## Minnowhead

Good luck! Should be a good night for it!


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## ErieEye

No bites for me tonight. Shoulda hit the treestand instead. Oh well at least I got home in time to watch "It the great pumpkin Charlie Brown". Lol


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## crown419

AtticaFish said:


> I do fish Erie anywhere between Huron and Catawba on occasion, but vast majority of my time is spent at upgrounds. There are several UG's with walleye/saugeye that are only a 20 minute drive from my front door..... any piers on Erie are close to an hour drive. All the fish i have posted about in this thread have come from an upground reservoir.
> 
> Will be out casting at an upground tonight. Not my favorite direction for the wind to be blowing out of for the place i plan to hit, so i may be doing a lot of walking to try and find me my first 2016 Fall walleye.


Do you think that your tactics can be applied to Erie? Reason im asking is that I have a cottage on Erie in Oak Harbor. I've only tried shore fishing for fall 'eyes once without any luck. Just wondering if you think it'd be worth the time investing.


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## Fishindays2

Nothing going tonight, , didn't stay out for too long because of the Indians game


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## crown419

Goo Tribe! I'm going for crappie tomorrow I'll post report in my Route 2 thread (thumbs up emoji)


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## AtticaFish

Woo hoo..... got the first one out of the way!! It was a helluva fish too. Final measure went 26.5" once i got home. Thought for sure i had me a Fish Ohio when i....... landed .......her. Quite the story there. Lets start from the beginning tho.............

Got to the reservoir early, by 7:30 tonight since the kids had things to do and wife said go. Not a damn bite or seeing any fish activity for a long long time. Finally around 10:00, i start seeing a few juvenile 'eyes coming up and cruising the shore. Was switching up between hair jigs, twister jigs & HJ's the whole time. Finally got frustrated and downsized the weight of my twister jig head from a 1/4 to a much lighter 1/8 mushroom head. Game on! The slower fall must have been the ticket. Had one iffy keeper walleye come unbuttoned at shore. Had a mid air quick release of a little cigar size walleye. Took a 200 yard walk down the shore to one of my other known big boulder areas and got a GOOD thump. Landed this decent 22"-24" (did not measure) channel cat..........










Next cast goes out the other direction and another HARD thump. Well sh!t...... nother cat. But this one doesn't feel quite the same. No big drag squealing run and just thumps and rolling around. Get my headlamp on and see glowing eyes.  Scramble to pull my short net out of the back of my carhart bibs. She is RIGHT there in front of me. Dip the net and all at the same time................................ i realize my net is quite small, she turns and surges toward the deep water, my rod goes limp in my hand!!!!! WTF?!?! Instead of under handing the net, i toss my rod to the left and flip the net so i can attempt to overhand her in the net. Get about half in and half out, NOT good. So i dive in. haha Literally went in the reservoir up to my elbows and some how manage to pin her between two big chunks of rip-rap. Worked a finger behind the gill and pulled her on dry land. Quick put the stringer clips in and snap some pics. 










Of course, my eyes are bigger than my go nads and start thinking i have me a Fish Ohio walleye. Texted the pics to my wife, a buddy and my Dad.......










Well................. once i get home and measure with a yard stick instead of counting the lengths of my leatherman tool, she is not quite a FO walleye. But still a heck of a fish at 26.5". It has been since May for caching any walleye, so i guess that may be a reason for the over excitement.










Either way, great first walleye to put in the freezer for the fall!


----------



## AtticaFish

crown419 said:


> Do you think that your tactics can be applied to Erie?


I have always assumed that jigs would work just as good on Erie (if not better?) than the stick cranks everyone throws now a days. Back in the mid 90's, the few people who braved the elements on the piers in the fall were ALL throwing rattletraps. If you weren't ticking the bottom and loosing traps each night... you weren't catching fish. With some of the bigger swim baits and Kalins twister grubs of today, i am thinking you could do some damage up there. But it will take some hours just simply casting and not catching anything. I had 4 skunk nights just this fall before catching one today.


----------



## kingfisher72

fwiw...

I have done well from shore on Erie at night with 4" white/pearl tube jigs on a 1/8 or 1/4 oz head. I have caught them without a rattle, but jig heads with a rattle have worked better for me. I don't push the jig head all the way into the tube. You want an inch or more of tube beyond the hook eye. Rigged this way it kinda walks the dog underwater and sinks in a huge loop on a slack line. Like a dying shad. I have caught fish on the thumper tails also but I don't fish them as much. I use the Lunker City 4 or 6" thumpers but imagine brand doesn't matter. Those are just the ones I have. I usually just reel them in like a crankbait.


----------



## laynhardwood

AtticaFish said:


> Woo hoo..... got the first one out of the way!! It was a helluva fish too. Final measure went 26.5" once i got home. Thought for sure i had me a Fish Ohio when i....... landed .......her. Quite the story there. Lets start from the beginning tho.............
> 
> Got to the reservoir early, by 7:30 tonight since the kids had things to do and wife said go. Not a damn bite or seeing any fish activity for a long long time. Finally around 10:00, i start seeing a few juvenile 'eyes coming up and cruising the shore. Was switching up between hair jigs, twister jigs & HJ's the whole time. Finally got frustrated and downsized the weight of my twister jig head from a 1/4 to a much lighter 1/8 mushroom head. Game on! The slower fall must have been the ticket. Had one iffy keeper walleye come unbuttoned at shore. Had a mid air quick release of a little cigar size walleye. Took a 200 yard walk down the shore to one of my other known big boulder areas and got a GOOD thump. Landed this decent 22"-24" (did not measure) channel cat..........
> 
> View attachment 222411
> 
> 
> Next cast goes out the other direction and another HARD thump. Well sh!t...... nother cat. But this one doesn't feel quite the same. No big drag squealing run and just thumps and rolling around. Get my headlamp on and see glowing eyes.  Scramble to pull my short net out of the back of my carhart bibs. She is RIGHT there in front of me. Dip the net and all at the same time................................ i realize my net is quite small, she turns and surges toward the deep water, my rod goes limp in my hand!!!!! WTF?!?! Instead of under handing the net, i toss my rod to the left and flip the net so i can attempt to overhand her in the net. Get about half in and half out, NOT good. So i dive in. haha Literally went in the reservoir up to my elbows and some how manage to pin her between two big chunks of rip-rap. Worked a finger behind the gill and pulled her on dry land. Quick put the stringer clips in and snap some pics.
> 
> View attachment 222412
> 
> 
> Of course, my eyes are bigger than my go nads and start thinking i have me a Fish Ohio walleye. Texted the pics to my wife, a buddy and my Dad.......
> 
> View attachment 222413
> 
> 
> Well................. once i get home and measure with a yard stick instead of counting the lengths of my leatherman tool, she is not quite a FO walleye. But still a heck of a fish at 26.5". It has been since May for caching any walleye, so i guess that may be a reason for the over excitement.
> 
> View attachment 222414
> 
> 
> Either way, great first walleye to put in the freezer for the fall!


Ha ha now that's dedication. A 26.5" walleye from an above ground is a monster nice job.


----------



## Nightcrawler666

AtticaFish said:


> Woo hoo..... got the first one out of the way!! It was a helluva fish too. Final measure went 26.5" once i got home. Thought for sure i had me a Fish Ohio when i....... landed .......her. Quite the story there. Lets start from the beginning tho.............
> 
> Got to the reservoir early, by 7:30 tonight since the kids had things to do and wife said go. Not a damn bite or seeing any fish activity for a long long time. Finally around 10:00, i start seeing a few juvenile 'eyes coming up and cruising the shore. Was switching up between hair jigs, twister jigs & HJ's the whole time. Finally got frustrated and downsized the weight of my twister jig head from a 1/4 to a much lighter 1/8 mushroom head. Game on! The slower fall must have been the ticket. Had one iffy keeper walleye come unbuttoned at shore. Had a mid air quick release of a little cigar size walleye. Took a 200 yard walk down the shore to one of my other known big boulder areas and got a GOOD thump. Landed this decent 22"-24" (did not measure) channel cat..........
> 
> View attachment 222411
> 
> 
> Next cast goes out the other direction and another HARD thump. Well sh!t...... nother cat. But this one doesn't feel quite the same. No big drag squealing run and just thumps and rolling around. Get my headlamp on and see glowing eyes.  Scramble to pull my short net out of the back of my carhart bibs. She is RIGHT there in front of me. Dip the net and all at the same time................................ i realize my net is quite small, she turns and surges toward the deep water, my rod goes limp in my hand!!!!! WTF?!?! Instead of under handing the net, i toss my rod to the left and flip the net so i can attempt to overhand her in the net. Get about half in and half out, NOT good. So i dive in. haha Literally went in the reservoir up to my elbows and some how manage to pin her between two big chunks of rip-rap. Worked a finger behind the gill and pulled her on dry land. Quick put the stringer clips in and snap some pics.
> 
> View attachment 222412
> 
> 
> Of course, my eyes are bigger than my go nads and start thinking i have me a Fish Ohio walleye. Texted the pics to my wife, a buddy and my Dad.......
> 
> View attachment 222413
> 
> 
> Well................. once i get home and measure with a yard stick instead of counting the lengths of my leatherman tool, she is not quite a FO walleye. But still a heck of a fish at 26.5". It has been since May for caching any walleye, so i guess that may be a reason for the over excitement.
> 
> View attachment 222414
> 
> 
> Either way, great first walleye to put in the freezer for the fall!


Nice job! Love the dedication of jumpin in after her! That's a solid cat too. Hahahaha good report Attica. I'm going to get out after em within the next week for sure.


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## Scum_Frog

Nice job again man thats awesome!!!!!! I need to remember to toss some gear in my truck this wknd so I can meet up with ya one night this week!


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## fritoking

Has anyone done well at the Marblehead lighthouse ? My gf and I want to try for shore eyes, but have no experience


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## AtticaFish

Most of the discussion here has been about inland reservoirs. Not sure if you are allowed to fish the lighthouse area after dark. You might get your answer quicker by asking on the thread running on the Erie board right now. I do know there are people who fish at Dempsey access (bay side), Lakeside pier, Mazurik access and Catawba State Park pier that are all in that general area. Always wondered if anyone fishes off the Portage River break wall. Plenty of people fish the downtown Sandusky area also.


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## fritoking

AtticaFish said:


> Most of the discussion here has been about inland reservoirs. Not sure if you are allowed to fish the lighthouse area after dark. You might get your answer quicker by asking on the thread running on the Erie board right now. I do know there are people who fish at Dempsey access (bay side), Lakeside pier, Mazurik access and Catawba State Park pier that are all in that general area. Always wondered if anyone fishes off the Portage River break wall. Plenty of people fish the downtown Sandusky area also.


. Thanks. I asked in a thread there and no one answered. I've always heard Huron is good but elbow to elbow. I've not fished for them without a boat.


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## Scum_Frog

attica told you some good areas....if you want a nice comfortable area to fish from land definitely try lakeside or catawba state park is even better....huron is a long walk and definitely elbow to elbow. Good luck!


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## Fishindays2

So here is a very general question. My question is when going to a reservoir for the first couple times, what's the best way of determining a good place to start for night time walleye fishing? I assume there are some factors that make certain spots on a reservoir more favorable to fish than others? Any information would be appreciated


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## ErieEye

Look for an irregular shoreline. Any areas that have larger rocks or boulders along the shoreline. Another thing you want to do is keep moving. What I generally do is cast in one spot making 5 or so casts in either direction paralleling the shoreline. Then I'll move along the shoreline to the end of the previous cast and repeat. Just keep moving till you find em.


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## Fishindays2

ErieEye said:


> Look for an irregular shoreline. Any areas that have larger rocks or boulders along the shoreline. Another thing you want to do is keep moving. What I generally do is cast in one spot making 5 or so casts in either direction paralleling the shoreline. Then I'll move along the shoreline to the end of the previous cast and repeat. Just keep moving till you find em.


I appreciate it!


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## Hoosier77

crown419 said:


> Goo Tribe! I'm going for crappie tomorrow I'll post report in my Route 2 thread (thumbs up emoji)


Hey crown, we'll be at Turtle Creek this weekend and going to try the crappies after perching for awhile. Staying at TC campground. If you are there look me up. "Ofishally Crazy" on the side of my crestliner


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## whiskerchaser

Nice fish Attica that's way to start year off.. I took a break from upgrounds for the week didn't catch any eyes but hammered the lmb mostly 12 13 inches but got one about 19 inches and just a complete butterball. Gonna go hit a corner of upground in morning nothing but big boulders all lined in whole corner of res. Should be something crusing thru there


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## AtticaFish

ErieEye nailed it, he is doing it pretty much the same way i fish most nights. Any spots that have an out of the average size of rocks are my first stops and where i end up spending more time. Even see them right up against the pump house some nights. One of my favorite spots is standing in an area that has all smaller gravel on the bank but then has large boulders to both the left and right. Would guess i have pulled more fish from that one spot than all other areas of the reservoir combined. My personal biggest though (from last year) came on a jig that bounced off the pump house. I do see them sitting in odd places though also.... sometimes in the middle of a big stretch of plain jane shore.

One out of the norm (for me anyway) thing i have seen this year is some bigger fish cruising just below the surface way out deep. They are usually swimming with a purpose, very quickly come into view of my light and then disappear just as fast. Pretty much everyone of those fish look like big apex predators though. Been seeing lots of the little spike size walleye up close in the rocks, but that is probably more of just a cycle thing for that particular lake.

Hopefully get back at it again later this week.


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## AtticaFish

Got out last night (11/1) for an hour and a half of casting. Went 1 for 2 with the walleye and landed a bass as well. The walleye i lost was my own fault, drag was set so loose i couldn't get a decent hookset. It was bigger than the one i landed.... or at least it looked and felt that way. All bites came on a blue back X-Rap which has a hole in it somewhere and no longer suspends. Walleye went 19" and the bass went 16". It was amazing how warm it was, even a few crickets trying to sing.


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## TopCat

Channel 13 had this. http://www.13abc.com/content/news/Catch-big-walleyes-from-shore-now-400075821.html


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## ErieEye

Nothing going in fostoria yet. Been out the last 2 evenings casting from shore. 1 17" smallmouth, 0 saugeyes.


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## AtticaFish

I was out again on Friday and didn't catch a thing. Got what i thought was a decent hit, but my braid shredded when i set the hook. Will hit it some time this week, moon will be full by next Monday.....


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## whiskerchaser

So the start of the season not Been so great..tendonitis is getting best of me after being busy went out real early morning in the wind other night and didn't last long due to fact hard to hang on to rod after 4 5 cast... So put on a brace and went back out to try tonight. First spot was a bust so moved to deeper water and less wind and bam had an explosion right at my feet on 5in swim bait.. Missed em was nice 18 20incher. Ended up switching to smaller swim and got one about 14 inches... Seemed like good night but after hour and half the wrist had enough but ohwell got that first eye out of the way for the fall and the brace helped me a lot just hope it doesn't last all fall and winter


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## AtticaFish

whiskerchaser said:


> So the start of the season not Been so great..tendonitis ........


Sorry to hear about the wrist, that would drive me crazy. I don't think i could stand it if it had an impact on my fishing time. I would be trying every brace and home remedy out there. I hope it improves for you. Also, good to hear you caught a walleye!


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## AtticaFish

Got out tonight in the wind and at least did manage 1 fish. Only saw 1 set of glowing eyes and that was a surprise right at my feet when i was changing out a lure. Fished the South end of the res so the chop (white caps at times) made it tough to spot them i think. Got this 24.5" on a Helsinki Shad HJ in what was less than 2 foot of water. Was perpendicular to the wind direction and trying to cast parallel to the shore. That cast, thought for sure i was going to dig into the rip-rap on the first crank, but got a nice big thump instead. Female that was jammed full of eggs but not a thing in her stomach. Nice thick body though, the meat strips and cheeks seemed larger than normal for this size fish. Think i need to carry a bigger net, had a hell of a time getting this one also.


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## whiskerchaser

Nice fish Attica your sure are catching some dandys... I tell ya the wrist thing does drive me crazy but it is way it is and got to fight thru it.. Good thing is after fishing for couple hours last night with the kids it didn't bother me so hopefully it's healing..


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## Raylaser

Nice job there Russ!!! Interesting that her stomach was empty cuz she sure has been feeding on something to get those meaty fillets!!! I always like to look at the stomach contents as well to see what they're feeding on. Hate fishing those windy conditions but sometimes they prove well worth it, just have to stay with in and in your case it paid off nicely!!


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## AtticaFish

Guessing the fish have to be feeling the change that is coming this weekend. Along with the big moon, may be able to find a few willing to eat. Think i will be giving it a shot tonight unless something else comes up..........


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## Raylaser

Unfortunately "something" always seems to come up at just the wrong time for me, LOL! If I don't make time and/or schedule time (out of the office etc.) I would never get out to fish! Not like when we were kids and just said, "hey Ma gonna go fish see you whenever". Man I miss those days!


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## Raylaser

OOPS looks like the post was entered twice!


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## whiskerchaser

I'm hoping they are feeling Something like my hook going out late tonight.. Other night went out and hammered lmb it was fun but not the eyes did get one eye hopefully tonight is good.. Prob going to hit it this weekend with freezing weather eyes tend to like that stuff


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## AtticaFish

Dead calm and quite foggy last night. Saw lots of walleye but none caught. Only fish i managed was a rockbass, but did miss several bites. 2 of those bite i am pretty confident were walleye because i spotted them sitting completely still up in the rocks and was casting to them. Kalins grubs were the only bait that got bites. Next chance i have to get out is Saturday, and the weather could change my plans.........


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## fritoking

I know this is mostly about inland lakes and reservoirs, but I think I'm hitting catawba sate park Friday night. I have never done this...what lures do you recommend I throw ?


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## Fishindays2

fritoking said:


> I know this is mostly about inland lakes and reservoirs, but I think I'm hitting catawba sate park Friday night. I have never done this...what lures do you recommend I throw ?


Husky jerks.


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## AtticaFish

The stand-by that is probably used most on Erie is the 12 & 14 Husky Jerk. I would guess any crank that wiggles at a very low speed will work. Rattle traps were very popular many years ago and still hear a few people talk about using them.


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## fritoking

Any color recommendation?I'll assume fire tiger , clown...any others? I'd like to get my girlfriend into them


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## AtticaFish

!HELSINKI SHAD! Silver Blue is 2nd favorite. Standard Silver is up there too. (probably all personal preference though)


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## tmorrow

Would flicker shad work?


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## laynhardwood

I think smithwicks also work very well.


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## Fishindays2

fritoking said:


> I know this is mostly about inland lakes and reservoirs, but I think I'm hitting catawba sate park Friday night. I have never done this...what lures do you recommend I throw ?


I went to Catawba tonight, not a single fish caught by anyone. I fished from about 6-7pm so I could have just hit it at a bad time!


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## AtticaFish

laynhardwood said:


> I think smithwicks also work very well.


I bought a few SW's last year and have yet to catch a fish with one. Don't know if it has to do with my style of fishing, but they just don't 'dart & jerk' the same as HJ's or X-Raps for me. I keep putting them on hoping i will get the feel for them but end up switching back. Maybe the SW's are more suited for the slow and steady retrieve....... i tend to add a lot of stops, jerks and twitches.


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## laynhardwood

After dark slow and steady has been the best for me.


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## percidaeben

AtticaFish said:


> The stand-by that is probably used most on Erie is the 12 & 14 Husky Jerk. I would guess any crank that wiggles at a very low speed will work. Rattle traps were very popular many years ago and still hear a few people talk about using them.


Back in the 80's on up through the 90's we used to slay walleyes off the Casino Dock there on Kelleys Island. The chrome with blue top and orange belly was best. Even would trick a steelie every once in while. Don't know why people stopped using them.


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## laynhardwood

I hit Attica's favorite reservoir tonite and only caught 1 largemouth on a white and clear smithwick. I had a nice size eye follow it in but not eat. My nephew had a bass hooked that got off near shore on the blue and chrome HJ with orange belly. I had one bite on a swim bait but that was it. Tough sledding tonite but it was fun to get out and try.


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## AtticaFish

I think i saw your truck in the lot. It was sure nice out last night. My kidos were in the parade there in downtown (i bet you heard the sirens) and i drove up around the top of the res before we headed home. I was thinking it might be a good night to be out with the big change on its way. May head up there tonight and just tuck in to the upwind corner.


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## AtticaFish

percidaeben said:


> Back in the 80's on up through the 90's we used to slay walleyes off the Casino Dock there on Kelleys Island. The chrome with blue top and orange belly was best. Even would trick a steelie every once in while. Don't know why people stopped using them.



Yeah, if you were not throwing rattle traps off the piers, you got laughed at. I still have a few of those blue/silver and all silver traps. Just looked at them the other day. Have tried them in the reservoir and have not caught any walleye with them. If i wanna fish deep anymore, i tend to just throw big grubs or swimbaits...... a lot less costly to loose in the rocks.


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## laynhardwood

Cool man good luck if you go. I am trying my best to get all my stuff finished so I can go again tonite but I'm not sure if that's a possibility just yet.


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## whiskerchaser

Went out late last night and struck out big lost my tuned hj and a swim bait.. Hit 3 diffrent upgrounds fished all diffrent contours and wind and not one bite may head out again tonight not sure yet.


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## Redhunter1012

Tried my local spot last night. Had several follows up to shore but no takers. Only follows I got were on HJ 10's. Nothing on swims or vibees


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## AtticaFish

Hit it tonight (11/22) and brought home 2, woo hoo! Just got done cleaning them and into the freezer. Have pics i will try and post tomorrow........... today.  22" walleye on an X-rap and a 19" walleye on a big 'ol bass sized swimbait. Shades of blue are the only thing that are getting bit, not sure why that is. Should have come home with 4, but dropped a couple other decent fish. 4 of my 5 total walleye that made it to the net this fall have all come from the same very precise spot. May be on to something.


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## undertaker

Hopefully Friday night and Saturday weather cooperates ,


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## AtticaFish

Sorry for the blurry pics... macro setting got switched on and didn't know it.

(ps - Rheingesit Truth tastes too good and has too much kick to be enjoyed on a Tuesday night)


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## whiskerchaser

Nice job


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## Raylaser

Yum Yummmmm!!! Nice job there Russ, persistence pays-off for sure! Fish On Bro!


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## laynhardwood

Nice fish Attica


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## Workingman

Tuesday is the new thursday!!!


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## AtticaFish

Got another last night fishing from 9:00 to 11:30 and sure missed a lot of bites. Even had a bite on a belly spin hair jig. All other bites came on swim baits and they must have been just grabbing the tail and pulling. Plastic would be nearly pulled off the hook after each one and just couldn't get them to hook up. Tried downsizing and that did not help. Only saw glowing eyes in one area up shallow and majority of bites were out deeper scraping bottom.

The fish i caught went 21" and came on a 5" swim bait going as slow as i could to keep it just ticking the rocks. Didn't play around either, he ate every bit of the bait and hook was in the roof of his mouth. Finally caught it around 11:15 when the wind kicked up and it got cold and started some snow. Maybe their attitude was going to change...... but it was too late for me. Gave in at 11:30.



















Dog was very happy that i cleaned it inside away from the outdoor cats. She gets all the bone & belly scraps..... if you look close you can see the drool was strung from her mouth all the way to the floor while she was waiting for me to give her some.


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## Raylaser

Some nice cheeks there Russ (uh I mean the Walleye cheeks of course), LOL! Great report, can't wait to get out but work has me too tied-up for the next 10 days or so.


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## laynhardwood

AtticaFish said:


> Got another last night fishing from 9:00 to 11:30 and sure missed a lot of bites. Even had a bite on a belly spin hair jig. All other bites came on swim baits and they must have been just grabbing the tail and pulling. Plastic would be nearly pulled off the hook after each one and just couldn't get them to hook up. Tried downsizing and that did not help. Only saw glowing eyes in one area up shallow and majority of bites were out deeper scraping bottom.
> 
> The fish i caught went 21" and came on a 5" swim bait going as slow as i could to keep it just ticking the rocks. Didn't play around either, he ate every bit of the bait and hook was in the roof of his mouth. Finally caught it around 11:15 when the wind kicked up and it got cold and started some snow. Maybe their attitude was going to change...... but it was too late for me. Gave in at 11:30.
> 
> View attachment 224555
> 
> 
> View attachment 224556
> 
> 
> Dog was very happy that i cleaned it inside away from the outdoor cats. She gets all the bone & belly scraps..... if you look close you can see the drool was strung from her mouth all the way to the floor while she was waiting for me to give her some.
> 
> View attachment 224557


Nice fish and report. It looks like it's going to be taking a turn towards a colder weather pattern at the end of next week. I hope to get out and try my luck this evening.


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## AtticaFish

Good luck tonight, thinking i may give it a shot again on Saturday night. Sounds like the bottom may fall out on the temps.... getting closer to walking on top rather than casting. Can't wait!


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## Raylaser

AtticaFish said:


> Good luck tonight, thinking i may give it a shot again on Saturday night. Sounds like the bottom may fall out on the temps.... getting closer to walking on top rather than casting. Can't wait!


I second that one for sure!! Since I don't own a boat, hard water fishing is my favorite because I get to go where no "man" has gone before (without a boat that is, LOL!). Bring on the cold baby!!


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## laynhardwood

I know the hard water season is approaching and I also can hardly wait for it. I really hope some of the above grounds get good ice this season.


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## Larry D Von Deylen

AtticaFish said:


> 90% (maybe more) of the reservoirs up here in the NW of the state are upground reservoirs with rip-rap shorline pretty much the whole way around and they simply drop off into deep water... quickly. There might be spots that change from boulders to basketball size rocks to baseball size, but not much change other than that. I do have some 1/8th blade baits and will give them a shot next trip, but those will be expensive buggers to loose. I loose a lot of jigs to the rocks, but not much investment there. Thanks for the tip.


----------



## Larry D Von Deylen

AtticaFish said:


> 90% (maybe more) of the reservoirs up here in the NW of the state are upground reservoirs with rip-rap shorline pretty much the whole way around and they simply drop off into deep water... quickly. There might be spots that change from boulders to basketball size rocks to baseball size, but not much change other than that. I do have some 1/8th blade baits and will give them a shot next trip, but those will be expensive buggers to loose. I loose a lot of jigs to the rocks, but not much investment there. Thanks for the tip.


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## Larry D Von Deylen

Try jerk baits.. They are working in central Ohio


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## AtticaFish

Going to get out tonight once the rain stops. Looking at the up coming temps, it might not be long before we start seeing skim ice near shore on calm nights.


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## Raylaser

AtticaFish said:


> Going to get out tonight once the rain stops. Looking at the up coming temps, it might not be long before we start seeing skim ice near shore on calm nights.


Comon Russ, stop teasing me with all this talk about ICE!!! LOL! Look forward to seeing your pics from tonight, I have this feeling you are going to have some success tonight, it's that kind of weather pattern!


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## AtticaFish

I did make it out on Tuesday... not a single bite casting for 3 hours or so on that cold and misty night. Saw 2 other shore anglers (1st i have bumped into ANYONE at this particular reservoir) that night. They said they got 'a couple' walleye, but i never got close enough to see what they caught. Did watch them catch and release 1 fish, might have been a bass though.

I was thinking about getting out again tonight, but dang is it gonna be cold with this wind blowing! Will have to see how adventurous i feel after dinner.


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## AtticaFish

Wow, is it ever blowing a chit-ton of cold nastiness around outside tonight.   



















Not a monster, but this 19" fella made it all worth it though! Not even getting frozen, will be on the menu tomorrow night. Hit a Helsinki Shad HJ12 maybe 10 yards from shore. Did not spotlight a single set of glowing eyes tonight so was making a lot of casts out deeper. Think i have settled on my favorite braid line being FireLine. It was COLD (22° to 25° actual air temp) and windy the whole time and my 2 rods with FireLine froze up far less than my rod strung with PowerPro. The FireLine seems almost waxy compared to the PowerPro and only had issues with casting when my entire end rod eye froze shut. I broke my favorite Helsinki HJ as a result of my end eye freezing shut as a matter of fact. Ooops. Likely my last walleye of 2016.................. BRING ON TH ICE ICE BABY!!!!!!!!!


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## AtticaFish

Gave it a shot last night and can't even begin to guess how many walleye i spotted swimming up close to shore. Very shallow too, less than a foot of water where ever the bigger rocks were. Unfortunately, the whole time i fished i never saw a single fish that even gave a hint of interest in my lures.... and i tried one of just about everything and lost several jigs in the process. I'm assuming they are in full on spawn mode because a lot of the time there were a pair of them together.

Didn't get up there until around 9:00 which was after the light was completely gone for the day. Next time i head out i am going to try and get there earlier and maybe get lucky if they get hungry right at dusk.


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## AtticaFish

Got into some action last night. Wind was blowing good out of the NE and i fished the South end, waves were rolling pretty good... water is now crystal clear. Got there at 9:30 and spotted a few from the top of the bank so went straight down and started casting with stickbaits. Not a bump with them but for some reason i stuck with them for way too long. I was convinced the wave action would have them chasing the stickbaits. Turned my light on a few times and was not getting any follows. Switched spots, saw more glowing eyes from top of the bank, casted sticks and nothing. Took 3 different spots before i decided i should try something different.

Started making my way back to where i started and stopped at a place i have caught quite a few in the past. Did not see any from the top of the bank but grabbed my swimbait rod and slow rolled it ticking the bottom. About the 3rd cast in, i saw a big dark shadow come right up to me feet practically. Couple more casts and caught a 14" walleye. Bingo! I don't believe there is a size limit here, but the shadow i saw looked bigger so i released this one. Ended up catching 2 other walleye (both 20") that went on the stringer, a 13" bass and a big ol 16" bass. Every bite was on a Kalins Norther Bluegill swimbait. One of the walleye was even caught by sightfishing it. Spotted it from the top and noted where it was by a specific rock. It hit hard too. Got back in the car to head home at 11:45.





































When i got them home, noticed something sticking out of the throat of one of the walleye. It was the head of a bluegill.  The color and size of the 2 walleye was quite different even though they were the same 20" size and both males. One was much darker colored and a way thicker body. Could really tell when i filleted them with how thick the meat was. Pretty sure they are NOT different species because as far as i know ONLY walleye are stocked in this reservoir.... just different gene pools i guess.


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## laynhardwood

Nicely done. This is the exact weekend I started catching them there last year also.


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## AtticaFish

Put a couple more fish in the freezer last night. Warmer weather is bringing out more anglers..... some guys were fishing slip bobbers off the dock, another young kid roaming around casting and a couple that i think were catfishing. Not positive exactly what they were doing. I honestly like the foul weather better, keeps the strange folk from 'hanging out' at the reservoirs.

Got to the ol' faithful upground around 9:15 and got a few bumps but no hook-ups until close to 10:00. All my 'bumps' were coming on swimbaits. Switched to a big husky jerk and got my first walleye and then started getting good size bass too. If you notice the tail on the bass, looks like it has been fanning a bed. Could see quite a few glowing eyes swimming around in groups of 2's. I missed a really good size walleye, hit it while the HJ was at a dead stop which does not happen often for me. It popped off while still out pretty far so never got a good look at it.

Switched back to a bunny strip hair jig and got 2 more walleye.... one short and the other went 22". I actually tied the jig the night before.  Lots of activity but it seemed like a switch went OFF at around 11:00. The glowing eyes just disappeared. I packed up and left around 11:15.


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## laynhardwood

Nice work! Were those beauties from the "secret spot" ?


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## AtticaFish

Yep, hard to go the other direction when i see so many of them swimming around. ha There are are definitely more people up there when it starts to warm up like this.


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## AtticaFish

If anyone has an upground with walleye nearby.... get out now! They are active and before long will disappear for the summer. 

Made it out last night and fished from 9:30 to midnight. Ended up catching 5 walleye and a nice bass. Had a couple other walleye hooked up, but no monsters. Kept a 20" walleye and had 2 others that were borderline keepers (16"-17") that i released. Caught them on both shallow stick cranks and swimbaits. Lots of fish up close to the rocks but all the fish i caught were out away from shore. They were all up high last night, could not get a bite ticking the rocks. 3 or 4 second countdown with the swimbait and then slow and steady reel. I tried a cheap little Cotton Cordell floating stick and it worked just fine too. With the cold rain/mist coming down... i had the whole lake to myself.


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## laynhardwood

AtticaFish said:


> If anyone has an upground with walleye nearby.... get out now! They are active and before long will disappear for the summer.
> 
> Made it out last night and fished from 9:30 to midnight. Ended up catching 5 walleye and a nice bass. Had a couple other walleye hooked up, but no monsters. Kept a 20" walleye and had 2 others that were borderline keepers (16"-17") that i released. Caught them on both shallow stick cranks and swimbaits. Lots of fish up close to the rocks but all the fish i caught were out away from shore. They were all up high last night, could not get a bite ticking the rocks. 3 or 4 second countdown with the swimbait and then slow and steady reel. I tried a cheap little Cotton Cordell floating stick and it worked just fine too. With the cold rain/mist coming down... i had the whole lake to myself.


If I lived closer than and hour and fifteen minutes, you would see me quite a bit up there.


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## sopo716

Attica, what swim baits you like to use? Big Joshy? 
Also you talk about seeing fish a lot, are you walking around with your light on all the time or just occasionally to see if you can spot anything?


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## AtticaFish

sopo716 - I have some Keitech FAT swimbaits from Jann's but most are Kalins Sizmic Shad. Both styles are ribbed body with a big tail that kicks no matter how slow you go. Have a ton of Kalins 5" grubs and have to order those direct from them to get the colors i like.... sucks that the quite making the swimbaits in Bluegill color. That is my favorite of the 5" grubs and loved the color in the swimbaits too.

I probably keep my light on half the time when i am just down fan casting. If you walk with the light on and move it around a lot, will spook them quickly. If i keep my head still it doesn't seem to spook them as bad, but there are a couple large over head lights in the area so maybe they get confused and think i am a light pole? If i do turn my head and spot one, i look away and try to hold my head steady. I have caught a few where i could watch their glowing eyes dart at my bait. Pretty cool to see but doesn't happen often. I do also search for them from the top of the reservoir. Just walk with my light on and pointed towards the ground. About every 20 yards i quick scan the area. If i spot one.... turn off the light, mentally mark where it is and then scramble down to cast at it.


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## Redhunter1012

I fished my local upground last night and didnt catch or see squat. Thats the first time ever that I've walked it and not seen eyes up shallow. Fished from 9-midnight


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## ress

Cottonwood started to fly yesterday! Another week or so..


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## Redhunter1012

Hit a local reservoir last night from the boat this time. Trolled the edges with lures of all sorts, and harnesses. My FIL was with me. He landed 3 nice gills on his harness, 2 of which are 9", and about a 7.5". Threw back lots of smaller ones. I never had a hit until right at dark I switched to a large blade harness with half a worm and caught a large saugeye. I couldnt get a precise measurement last night, but I think it's real close to 21". I have them in the fridge. I will measure and snap some pics before I clean them this morning and post them up a little later


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## AtticaFish

Awesome. Makes me want to get to my favorite spot early to hit the bluegill too. In the spring, i can go to an area where the big gills spawn and catch a bluegill on one cast and a walleye on the next when it gets close to dark. Usually fish the area with a lightweight jig head (1/32 with #6 hook) that has enough hook to handle a walleye but also get the bigger gills. Thread on a half a crawler and cast way out past the spawning beds. Countdown and try to swim it through about mid-depth nice and slow.


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## AtticaFish

Got out last night close to home and caught my first ever saugeye. Thought it looked like it was (hard to see, does have the spots between the fins) but was not positive what was getting stocked in this particular reservoir. Got confirmation today though. Must be a healthy population too.... i had a different one briefly hooked up and saw one on another stringer as well. Only trouble is the rip-rap here eats twice as many of my jigs as the other main reservoir i fish. It must be big chunk rock all the way out to the basin. I lost 3 swims and 3 hair jigs. ugh



























I mainly went up to try for bluegill but decided to throw in my walleye rod and some swimbaits after _almost_ catching one a few weeks back. My UL rod with a tiny panfish jig could not quite handle it though. Only caught 1 bluegill last night but the crappie are still going crazy. Getting hit or catching fish on every cast, no bait needed, hair/twister/tube jigs will catch as many as you want. Problem is, i have yet to see one over 9.5". Word is out too, counted 14 vehicles in the lot when i got there at 8:00 (could have been more in the side entrance) and i was the only one left by 10:00 or so.


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## flintlock&longbows

res. 5 will get you at times. but it has some big walleyes and crappies


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## ress

I think all rocks at Findlay have magnets! Don't really ever get anything back. Not any shallow water either. 5 ft off shore is 5 ft deep.


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## laynhardwood

Reservoir 5 has saugeye. The crappie have been on fire also. The amount of people fishing all the local reservoirs has really increased the last couple years.


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## AtticaFish

It is crazy how many years it has been since i have caught a saugeye from #5. Always thought when i was younger they were all walleye in there, now it looks like i might have been wrong. They look and taste close enough that i never cared back then. In the 90's when you could still drive up top would see a lot of them being caught. I honestly thought they quit stocking it back in the early 2000's.


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## ErieEye

AtticaFish said:


> It is crazy how many years it has been since i have caught a saugeye from #5. Always thought when i was younger they were all walleye in there, now it looks like i might have been wrong. They look and taste close enough that i never cared back then. In the 90's when you could still drive up top would see a lot of them being caught. I honestly thought they quit stocking it back in the early 2000's.


Back in the 80s all the eyes stocked in fostoria were walleye. Not sure when they did the transition but now all they stock are saugeyes. Honestly I preferred it when they stocked it with walleyes. Walleyes seam to be less temperamental than saugeyes.


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## AtticaFish

ErieEye said:


> Back in the 80s all the eyes stocked in fostoria were walleye. Not sure when they did the transition but now all they stock are saugeyes. Honestly I preferred it when they stocked it with walleyes. Walleyes seam to be less temperamental than saugeyes.


I haven't learned any difference yet. This reservoir is the same 20 minute drive as the other that is stocked with walleye so hopefully i will spend the time to learn the difference. I know i won't have the luxury of sight fishing them here with my head lamp. The water is full up to the top so hard to spot them from a distance....... i have not spotted any here in three trips.


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## Brandon Carter

Im starting to get my local upground pattern figured out. I got myself a limit friday afternoon and a PB smallie earlier in the week. Ive been catching quite a few eyes here and there, along with the smallmouth but this is the first time limiting while casting at an upground.


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## AtticaFish

Way to go! I have been out throwing at these upground eyes for quite a few years now....... my freezer stays well stocked with the two or three i get on good nights...... but i have yet to limit. I have not gotten out to chase them in the last two months but i might just have to give it a try this week. I like these cools nights.


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## AtticaFish

Got out on Wednesday night and fished from about 9:30 to 11:00. Had one good bump on a swim bait and that was it. A ton of 5"-6" walleye were swimming all over the place. Could point my light out to deeper water and watch 4 or 5 dart away when the light hit them. Only spotted 2 or 3 total fish that looked catachable. 

Had an interesting..... run in .......with what looked like a very BIG walleye though. Was casting to my left somewhat parallel to the shore from the same spot for probably 15 minutes or so. For quite a bit of that time i had my head lamp on, mostly just looking around to hopefully spot a few glowing eyes. I know, spose to keep it off, but that was after casting for over an hour with no bites. Anyway, one of my casts went way too shallow and almost immediately got my jig hung in the rip-rap. Leave my bucket and start climbing over the rocks to get on the other side of the snag. Pop out my jig and decide to give a few more casts from this new location further down the shore to my left. Probably cast 10 or so times and i decide to give up and head back to my bucket. Turn around and see a set of eyes glowing, sitting motionless...... what looks like a massive walleye with the eyes spread way apart! The strange thing is, it was sitting in the water in front of my bucket and staring straight at ME. It must have been watching me stand in that spot and came up to investigate once i moved down the shore? I could point my light directly at it and it did not spook. I threw my jig past it 4 times, swimming it less than a foot beside it and it never moved an inch. Last cast i aimed right over it and tried to swim the jig under it and that finally made him move. Just slowly turned and swam off nice and relaxed. He was not impressed..... but i could hardly believe what i saw.

Love these cooler temps, will be getting out more next week!


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## ress

Cool.. That fish got big by not being caught!


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## AtticaFish

Stood out in the COLD COLD rain on Friday at the football game & froze my butt off. Decided the rain finally might knock down the water temps a little. Got out Saturday evening and got me a good one inland. Seeing lots of good reports from Erie piers now, but just sticking close to home for now. I thought it was bigger at first, but it measured 22" when i got home. 4" Kietech swimbait fished in deep water. Count down midway and slow reel. Eating walleye and parmesan garlic noodles for dinner tonight........ might have to give it another try after dark.


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## Scum_Frog

Good stuff Attica!!! Let me know when you want to meet up soon!


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## AtticaFish

Forgot to mention, i did make 2 other late night trips up to Bellevue #5 in the last 2 weeks. Caught a few smallmouth on swimbaits, but no saugeye. Every time i go up there i think i will at least spot a set of glowing eyes, but never have. I know they are in there because i caught a couple in the spring when the crappie were biting..... just haven't figured out the night bite there yet. Need to invest more time there i guess.

If i don't get back out in the evening this week, i will for sure be out somewhere over the weekend. Nice thing is, out of the 5 or 6 attempts i have made this fall i have not run into a single other person out fishing. The deer just stare up at me from the back side of the hill.


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## Scum_Frog

Give me a heads up when and where....if its by my work I can bring gear and be out after work. Either 6pm or 8pm....let me know.


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## AtticaFish

Got a late start last night, didn't decide to head out until 9:30 and actually got started fishing at about 10:00. Started out fishing a specific rock pile i got a good bite at last trip and 3rd cast in got a good thump and landed a 20" fish. Got it on the stringer and casted to the same spot and got another fish almost the same size on the next cast. They are hitting hard too, 4" swimbait fully inside their mouths. Now i am 4 casts in with 2 fish on the stringer thinking i am gonna hit my limit tonight! Wrong. No more fish for the next hour and a half. Got one other good bump and had some of the little stocklings pulling at the swimbait tail. Only a slight breeze tonight with a bright moon at times when the clouds would clear. The 2 i caught were very shallow in the bigger rip-rap.


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## Raylaser

Attica, you da man!! Nice pair of eyes there (the fish I mean) LOL!  Keep up the good work an the nice reports. Going to get out next Friday if all works out well (work's been crazy busy lately). Hope to have a few stories of my own after that outing.


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## whiskerchaser

Nice job Attica so glad its that time of year again.. unfourtnaly this summer someone stole my tackle bag and and couple poles so I'm fishing with limited lures this season but still fiahing . Hope to have something to report soon..


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## AtticaFish

whiskerchaser - That really sucks about the poles and gear. I swear it sometimes helps to limit your lure selection, but that is a crappy way to do it. Good luck when you do get out.

Been out twice more since my last post. Fished Saturday night..... weather was nice and warm and the fish were biting pretty good. Lots of missed bites, landed 4 fish and brought home 2. Keepers were 18" and 20". No pattern at all though, actually caught each fish on a different lure. 2 on cranks (1 shallow, 1 deep), 1 on a swimbait and 1 on a hair jig. 










Fished again last night and wow what a temp difference. It was dead calm the whole time and had frost on my car by the time i was done fishing. Caught a good sized largemouth and only had 1 other bite all night. Hopefully get back out again this weekend.










BTW - Have seen reports on Facebook from Lakeside, Catawba, Mazurik, etc. Sounds like they are catching fish steady, but don't think i could do the crowded fishing. Pictures make it look like trout release day, shoulder to shoulder, and people are getting there early to get their spots. No thanks. I am up to 5 walleye this fall and that will feed my family a couple times. I'll just keep grinding away listening to the yotes until the ice comes.


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## AtticaFish

Fished last night again at a local reservoir. Amazed at how clear the water is. I hear some people talk about fishing clear water and often wonder just how clear their water is. Fun to watch all the small fish and craws going in and out of the rocks. No wonder the walleye patrol the extreme shallows.




























Took me lots of casts but did finally catch one. Too bad it was only about 12". Did find a spot that was holding a bunch of big fish but kind of blew that spot by walking up on it with my light on to start. New territory and wasn't sure what the rocks were like. I have a game plan for the next trip.


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## Skippy

Do they have fall water draw downs at those upland reservoirs ??


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## ejsell

Skippy said:


> Do they have fall water draw downs at those upland reservoirs ??


Most of them require pumping water in to keep them full. Not much pumping going on this time of year so most have a considerable drop.


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## AtticaFish

Yes, every town seems to have a different schedule for when they fill them. Some fill them off and on all year long and others seem to pump them close to their capacity only in the spring and then let them drop with normal water usage of the city throughout the year. This one seems to only pump in the spring and with the rip-rap for the entire shoreline, it stays really clear for the majority of the year. It is now to the point of fish tank clear. I have ice fished it before where i was marking around 24' deep of water at the South end of the lake and i could get down over my hole, block out the sun with my hands, and see every rock down on the bottom.


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## laynhardwood

I have sight ice fished that reservoir in 27 FOW from my shanty more than once. A couple times I have seen giant wolf packs or largemouth and bluegill swim through. It used to be awesome for perch but those days have passed.


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## AtticaFish

Last time up there i spotted 2 big fish hugging the wall of the North pump house. At first i thought they were a couple of BIG walleye and was surprised how they were sitting up so close to the wall.... but when they turned sideways and i could see their shape better and their eyes were not glowing, my jaw about dropped. Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me or just an adrenaline dump, but these 2 bass looked waaaay bigger than any bass i have ever caught. I pitched a 5" kalins grub at them but they had no interest. Before i realized they were bass, i seriously thought it was going to be a 26" - 28" walleye. That clear water sure makes the fish in there shy to bite at times. It wouldn't surprise me if there were some record size fish in there that have never been caught. It is too bad the perch have had such a down slide.


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## laynhardwood

Nice!! I will be looking for those babies for a little CPR from my Kayak


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## laynhardwood

Ah yes the gravel just south of the pump house can be pretty darn killer in the spring also.


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## freshwaterexperience

Too bad he gave me the gps spot hardwood. I'll get them before ya


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## laynhardwood

Oh boy, here we go lol


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## AtticaFish

Haha! I'd invite anyone up there. It can sure be a tough place to get bites even though you can see the fish. There was some kind of giant fancy goldfish swimming around in there a few weeks back and i figure that thing could be seen by predators half way across the lake. I tried (unsuccessfully) to snag it so i could get it out of the reservoir. It already has zebra mussels, sure doesn't need any other invasive species.


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## laynhardwood

It’s all good Clyde (AKA freshwater) and I are going to fish that reservoir in the spring and summer. I fished it quite a bit last summer after dark and it was pretty fun.


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## AtticaFish

I had a day a few years back up there in the spring, super clear water before the algae and weeds started, where i was catching nice fat bass on a jig-n-pig out as far as i could cast. Guessing i was casting out into 20'-25' water. Probably the deepest i have ever caught bass. It was an interesting day.


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## laynhardwood

That makes for a pretty fun day


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## freshwaterexperience

I'm excited to fish there. I don't think I fished a single above ground this year


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## AtticaFish

Got out again last night in the cold wind. At least got rewarded for my effort. Caught a nice fat 23" female that really pulled good and squealed my drag for a second, 2 smaller walleye at about 12" and 2 nice bass. Actually never got a hand on the 2nd bass and it was a good one. It was a quick release as i was attempting to lip it. Had several other good bumps too, the fish were pretty active for the short time i was there. Fished from 9:30-11:00. I tried husky jerks, x-raps, hair jigs, spinner jigs....... only thing that caught fish was a blue back/silver belly Kalins 4" swim bait.


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## laynhardwood

Nice work!! I am thinking of giving it a try tomorrow night.


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## AtticaFish

Gave it a shot last night, with the big freeze coming up it could possibly be my last chance till spring. Sure paid homage to the rock gods..... lost a total of 6 jigs with swimbaits. After getting hung up 4 times with my normal 1/8th heads, downsized to a 1/16 and was still getting hung up. Sucks to loose a big 5" swim and a premium hook jig. Fished a new area i recently found that has shelf and steep drop off out about 10' from shore and just could not seem to get up and over the lip with out getting stuck. There are plenty of fish in the area but they need to eat it before i hit the shelf lip or i have to start popping my jig out. To make it worse, i was hooked up with 3 fish and did not land any. Even had another bite that ended up with only half my swimbait still intact. I tried jerkbaits as well, but all my bites came when i was bumping bottom with the jigs.

For my fall shore casting season, ended up keeping 9 inland eyes total and 1 other i caught from the West Harbor breakwall on Erie. Probably caught another dozen in the 12" to 17" range that all went back to grow. As my confidence gets higher in the swimbaits, i sure throw the stickbaits a lot less often.

Now bring on the ice!!!!!


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## ristorap

Atticafish Have you tried football head jigs at those rocky areas?


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## AtticaFish

Thanks for the suggestion, but i've tried just about every head shape out there in the past. The football heads do work nice for smaller rocks, they will almost walk over those. I believe it just comes down to some areas of rip-rap are more forgiving than others. A different area i fish i can crawl a jig across the bottom and hardly ever loose a jig. I like the 1/8th heads that have a flat eye premium hook. I think the flat eye helps to get over the smaller rocks as well. (like the one rigged in the swimbait and the other 4 on the left side)










This drop off has lots of bigger rocks stacked up at the top of the lip and the jigs must have been just slipping in between the cracks. Have only fished the specific area a few times too so hopefully will figure out a retrieve to get me up and over the big rocks. In the spring, i may have to throw my kayak in there and try fishing parallel along the drop....... could see a ton of glowing eyes on the deeper side of the shelf.


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## Bucket Mouth

I love throwing 1/8 oz jigs. I fish the snaggiest areas imaginable and have the same issues. Have you tried throwing some cheapy wire hook jigs? Most times I can bend them out a bit to free them, then bend them back into shape and catch fish. Just keep a hook sharpener handy as the point can get blunted sometimes.

They are WAY cheaper too.


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## AtticaFish

I have some basic 1/8 heads with softer hooks and have had some success at bending them out to get out of snags. Always concerns me that i will hook into a big fish and bend out though. I use 12lb braid on my walleye rods so bending them out is not a problem. With the stronger hooks, can sometimes slowly pull on a snagged jig and flip the rock..... if it is small enough ....before the line breaks. The basketball size boulders of course do not cooperate. Problem for me comes with the hook/head combo i like to use. I like the lighter weight head but bigger hook size. Those are hard to come by with a cheaper hook option because the basic heads tend to just go up 1 hook size when they go up to the next weight. Think the BassPro heads in the picture above have maybe a 2/0 hook? The painted jigs on the right are actually a 1/4 head but only have a size 1 jig hook i believe and that is about the ratio you see. You have to get up to 3/8 weight before you get to a 1/0 or 2/0 jig hook. 

Do you know a brand that has those lighter heads with softer hooks in larger hook sizes? (thats a mouthful)


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## Capt. Crude

Attica, do you ever have luck catching these eyes through the ice? I have had some success in one of the reservoirs by Clyde (only at dusk) but that was 10 or so years ago.. looking forward to ice I guess..


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## kingfisher72

Maybe try Ebay?? There's a plethora of jig head hook/head combos for sale there. Many 1/8 ounce heads on a 3/0 to 5/0 hook. Also, several of the bigger sellers/stores will pour heads to the hook specifications you request if feasible.


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## AtticaFish

Capt. Crude - I have tried through the ice for the walleye in the upgrounds in the past and have never figured them out. Last 2 years of course have been a bust with the bigger reservoirs for making ice.... at least to let me feel comfortable enough to venture out at night. I am guessing they would be better at night but honestly no clue. Have talked to another guy who has gotten a few from the reservoir you are talking about.

kingfisher72 - I have not looked all that much online for them. The IGA over in Willard has a decent selection of stuff and have looked at a couple of other small shops. Probably could find what i wanted up at Cabelas i'm sure.


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## fshnfreak

Attica you may be able to contact someone who pours jig heads and they could custom make what you want.


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## laynhardwood

You will probably get a lot of those snags to pop off with mono. Braid has no stretch and it doesn’t pop backwards when snapped. I don’t mean breaking the line ; I mean you put tension on the rod and grab the line and actually pull on it and then snap it. Mono will jump backwards freeing a lot of snags with jig heads.


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## ress

I know what attica is dealing with. Findlay has banks lined with 10 pounders! They don't give up your jigs no matter what you try. The best thing i have found to do is use 30 lb power pro and when that 10 pounder grabs on is to wrap my hand in a rag and pull enough to straighten the hook. Most times that doesn't work either. I have lost them and checked the line and found the line frayed from being between the rocks.


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## Saugeyefisher

laynhardwood said:


> You will probably get a lot of those snags to pop off with mono. Braid has no stretch and it doesn’t pop backwards when snapped. I don’t mean breaking the line ; I mean you put tension on the rod and grab the line and actually pull on it and then snap it. Mono will jump backwards freeing a lot of snags with jig heads.


Hmmm i have better luck popping lures free with braid then mono but i use pretty soft rods.


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## Saugeyefisher

ress said:


> I know what attica is dealing with. Findlay has banks lined with 10 pounders! They don't give up your jigs no matter what you try. The best thing i have found to do is use 30 lb power pro and when that 10 pounder grabs on is to wrap my hand in a rag and pull enough to straighten the hook. Most times that doesn't work either. I have lost them and checked the line and found the line frayed from being between the rocks.


Ya theres some areas out there NOTHING works. I dont like the riprap thsts actually sections of old road or slabbed concrete layed on top of eachother with decent size cracks=jig eaters!!!!


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## Bucket Mouth

laynhardwood said:


> You will probably get a lot of those snags to pop off with mono. Braid has no stretch and it doesn’t pop backwards when snapped. I don’t mean breaking the line ; I mean you put tension on the rod and grab the line and actually pull on it and then snap it. Mono will jump backwards freeing a lot of snags with jig heads.


I use 8# mono on my rods when fishing snaggy areas too. I use the purple-box Stren, and I've caught everything that swims on that line, with a ton of big fish, including flatheads up to 45" long. I've become a pro at popping snags free. I love the stuff.

Attica, I stopped in to Cabela's on Friday. They've got a few sizes of unpainted jig hooks in 25 packs, which is what i use. I mainly stick with #6 #8 or #10 jig hooks personally. It looks to me like those BPS jigs (the 4 on the left) in your pic might be #6.

I can see where you'd want a bigger hook for those deep body swim baits though. If I can make a suggestion, try fishing Kalin's Sizmic Grubs in 3" and 3.8". It's got a grub body with a paddle tail. The things look like shiners when you swim em and have a shallower body allowing much more of the bend of the hook to be exposed. 

I'm also a huge advocate of Kalin's Lunker grubs in 3.5" and 5". The tail on those things is super sensitive and gives great action at the slowest of speeds.

The Blue Pearl salt n pepper is my fav color. I've got a few others in my go-to, including pumpkin salt and pepper, but I'm not fishing clear waters like you are.


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## AtticaFish

Thanks for all the input. After reading these forums for years about the benefits of using braid, i reluctantly switched all my heavier rods to braid. Pretty quickly fell in love with it on my rods that have a stiffer end section because you can feel everything your bait is doing. Honestly can't really feel the difference on my heavier rod that has a sloppy soft end section and i save that rod for only stick cranks. I do understand the reasoning why the mono might spring back when you are trying to 'snap' it out of a snag and allow those jigs to pop out a little better. But dang it, i don't know if i can go back to mono now. haha. 

Bucket Mouth - I have quite a few of the Kalins and Kietech swimbaits and really like them. Both are pretty similar body and tail shape. I believe that is what is rigged up with the jig head in the picture i posted. The other shad shape body is something i picked up with Erie in mind..... but never got the chance to try it because none of my head/hooks were quite large enough for the body shape. I did manage to catch an Erie 'eye on one of those big 5" Kalins though. I do love the Kalins 5" grubs too.


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## Bucket Mouth

Here's what the sizmic grubs look like. This is the blue pearl color I like - i think it could play well in clear water.

The shank ends up coming out about 5 ribs from the ball area, and when rigged right, it's got a great action.


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## laynhardwood

I also like those sizmic grubs


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## laynhardwood

AtticaFish said:


> Thanks for all the input. After reading these forums for years about the benefits of using braid, i reluctantly switched all my heavier rods to braid. Pretty quickly fell in love with it on my rods that have a stiffer end section because you can feel everything your bait is doing. Honestly can't really feel the difference on my heavier rod that has a sloppy soft end section and i save that rod for only stick cranks. I do understand the reasoning why the mono might spring back when you are trying to 'snap' it out of a snag and allow those jigs to pop out a little better. But dang it, i don't know if i can go back to mono now. haha.
> 
> Bucket Mouth - I have quite a few of the Kalins and Kietech swimbaits and really like them. Both are pretty similar body and tail shape. I believe that is what is rigged up with the jig head in the picture i posted. The other shad shape body is something i picked up with Erie in mind..... but never got the chance to try it because none of my head/hooks were quite large enough for the body shape. I did manage to catch an Erie 'eye on one of those big 5" Kalins though. I do love the Kalins 5" grubs too.


Maybe one of your reels has a spare spool and you can just try and switch it up and see if that works.


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## AtticaFish

Well, I spose if the ice is gone might as well get out and cast........





































Missed the first bite completely out of surprise, had another fish hooked for 10 seconds, then landed these 2 in back to back casts. All the action was in a very specific area and using the same retrieve. Lift and fall and they were smacking it on the fall! All this in about a 10 minute span. Fished for another hour and called it quits with no other bites. Was using a 5" Ayu color swimbait on a 1/8 flat eye jig and you can see the one ate it completely. 21" female packed with eggs and a 18.5" male with a 2" perch in it's stomach. Fished from 9:00 to 11:00.



















The Stone Tangerine IPA is excellent, but was my last in the fridge. Had to follow it with a Dogfish 60 IPA.... or 2. Not going to want to wake up to go to work in the morning....... today.


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## laynhardwood

Nice work!! Sounds like a good night at the Res


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## ristorap

Nice fish good to see they are biting.


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## Bucket Mouth

nice cheek work. Those Dogfish 60's had to be bland after the Stone. Get some Stone Enjoy By. Thank me later. Another thing I love to do is drink a stout or a robust porter and then follow it with something super hoppy. Makes the hoppy beer taste like the greatest beverage ever.


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## AtticaFish

Got to cut those cheeks! On bigger fish, you can also get a nice medallion chunk of meat from right in front of the pelvic fins. Not sure what you call those..... walleye wings?

Sounds good to me on the beer. You bringing the IPA or the Stout? Currently have some Alaska Icy Bay IPA in the fridge. Seems like a good pairing with some icy water walleye. Might get out and cast after dark on Saturday.


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## AtticaFish

Heads up, the glowing eyes are back up in the rocks! Only caught 1 walleye but did see plenty swimming around. Also caught 2 nice bass. First bass came on a 5" Kietech swimbait. Reached into my pocket to get my phone for a picture and realized i left it in my car. Figured i better go back and get it. If i didn't, that would be the time my wife would text... and i not respond.... then the fire and rescue would show up shortly. Did i ever mention i don't really like my phone other than to take pictures? haha. Anyway, long walk back to the car and up and down the hill a couple times sure makes me feel old.

The walleye and other bass both came on a Kalins 5" black grub with a 1/16 head. Missed a couple bites that swiped it as i was letting it sink. Spotted the walleye only a couple feet off shore as i was walking by on my phone hike and spooked him. On my way back through, got down to the water a little ways down and casted to where i saw him and hooked up right away. When i got him in close, there was another 'eye swimming side-by-side and dang near could have netted it if i had a bigger net. The walleye was milting like crazy when i was trying to get it on the stringer.


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## laynhardwood

Nice fish.


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## hailtothethief

Ill have to look up the kalins black grub 5’’. I got some black twisty tails 3’’ for bass best kept secret in walleye fishing is walleye love black twisty tails! Would like some different sizes. I dont like casting 3’’ all day.


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## AtticaFish

hailtothethief said:


> Ill have to look up the kalins black grub 5’’.


The Kalin's are awesome. Very soft tails that twist at any speed as long as they don't get bent up. They have a ton of movement.


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## Bowhunter15

Kalins grubs are great. The pumpkin green flake has been my go to lately. As russ said tons of movement in cold water and slow speeds.


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## AtticaFish

Got one last night. Missed a couple bites and had another big one roll off shortly after hooking up. Saw lots of fish, they just were not hitting good. My grub kept getting pulled off the hook. I actually hooked this one casting from the platform of one of the pumphouses and had to scramble down the rocks to net it. I was up by the pumphouse just so i could see where they were and decided to cast a couple times. Was a really nice fish too, 23" and fat as heck. Thought it was odd if it was a female that had still not spawned...... turns out it had just been on a feeding binge. Stomach was packed with at least 11 small fish.


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## laynhardwood

Nice fattie


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## Raylaser

Nice stomach surgery there Dr. Attica extracting all those little fish, LOL! I always look to see what my bigger fish I catch are feeding on. It's good intel!!


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## AtticaFish

Yep, was a mix of bluegill and perch. One of them was either a small bass or walleye, too digested to tell. Amazing to think this fish was still hungry enough to eat my 5" twister grub with all that in its stomach already. It was on a bluegill bender! Of all my bites last night, that was the only one to really thump it.


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## ristorap

Seeing what they are eating sure does help picking colors to use.


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## Bucket Mouth

That buffet buster went back to eat one too many times!


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## Raylaser

He obviously had an "eating disorder", so I guess you saved him from a life of obesity and body shaming from the rest of the "school", LOL!! OK, I think I've used all my metaphors for the day (probably for the month!). Seriously a nice catch, and as always you've provided good details of the conditions and what you used to catch him!!


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## AtticaFish

Decided to give it a try again last night in the fog and mist. Got to the lake at 9:30 and actually ran into some people out fishing. First time so far this year i've seen anyone out after dark. Talked to a guy using slip bobbers and nightcrawlers who had 3 when i got there so figured they would be hitting good. Started casting different lures and not a bump for an hour. Finally did get a nice bass right before i decided to move.










When i switched spots, noticed the nightcrawlers were out everywhere in the grass so figured what the heck. Took the twister grub off my 1/16 jig, grabbed a crawler and threaded the whole thing on my hook. Casted out and let it sink for a 10 count then started to twitch it in..... got a hit and a miss. Grabbed another crawler out of the grass and tried again. This time hooked up with a big one...... it actually broke my line. Proceeded to go back and forth from the grass to the water and the fish were hitting those freshly picked crawlers on almost every cast. They were eating those tails in a quick thump and was also hooked up with 2 other fish briefly as well. Did manage to land 3 that i brought home...... 18", 21" & 23". All that action came between 10:45 and 11:30 when i decided i better get started cleaning fish.


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## Raylaser

Once again Attica, you da man! Love getting your detailed reports. Wish I lived a bit closer to the Res that you fish, would make a nice outing after work.


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## AtticaFish

I've never really targeted walleye like this. Certainly read about it, just never really done it on purpose. Have caught a few by accident using half crawlers on light jigs casting for bluegill..... but this almost felt like cheating.


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## Raylaser

Naw, there's never cheating in fishing unless you're netting salmon as they run up stream, LOL! I say you use the stuff God gave fish to eat as a way of giving us something to eat. It's the natural circle of life in my book! Thanks again for you detailed reports. As always they are a pleasure to read and get some high quality intel from.


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## Bucket Mouth

Screw the fish, where's the beer?


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## Raylaser

Hey Attica, I enjoy the fishing intel, looks like Bucket likes our IPA intel better, LOL!!


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## ErieEye

When I was a kid one of our favorite, most productive reservoir techniques in the early spring, was to take a large live night crawler and texas rig it on a number 6 hook. We would fish it weightless along the shoreline. We caught countless bass and walleyes fishing like this.


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## Raylaser

Old School baby!! Never goes out of style. If it worked back then it will work now. Too much is made of fancy tackle sometimes. Now don't get me wrong, I've spent part of my children's and grandchildren's inheritance on fishing equipment, but I love it when we see stories of nice fish hauls on the same stuff my grandfather fished with (and that's many, many moons ago)!


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## AtticaFish

Bucket Mouth said:


> Screw the fish, where's the beer?


Oops, forgot to add in the money shot! I enjoyed some Great Lakes double IPA last night..... Hop Madness. Two actually. I should have stuck with one, sunrise came way too quickly. Those buggers are smooth going down but potent. Think it is a 9%.


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## Bowhunter15

Nice eyes! You are staying on them pretty good this year it seems. Tried an ipa once.. takes a tough bird to choke one of those bad boys down. (boring busch light drinkers opinion lol)


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## AtticaFish

I've been out and got none easily as many times as I have caught. Think I've gotten better at determining what will work when I see them in certain spots. Unlike many who talk about not using any light to 'spot' fish, I use my light quite a bit. If they are super shallow I try to keep my light off them more because they disappear quick if you hit a light on them. If they are out deeper, they don't spook as easy. If they are stacked in a specific area and you seem the repeatedly in the same spot..... No need for the light anymore.

Those IPA's take me back to my green skunky smokey youth. Haha. I've grown quite a taste for them. Add some citrus or pine flavor to them and they take on new character. Sierra Nevada, Heavy Seas & Great Lakes are my favs.


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## Bucket Mouth

I would highly recommend Lagunitas Waldos if you like high power brews. 2 of those and that will make fish cleaning fun! it's limited release and is running out for this year.


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## AtticaFish

I actually picked up some Lagunitas Maximus on my way home last night. They have a couple good ones. Never heard of the Waldos but just looked it up....... 11.3%! Drinking 2 of those while cleaning fish and i might end up throwing some finger tips in the meat bag that i thought were walleye cheeks. I will have to keep my eye out for that one.


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## AtticaFish

Paintin when I shoulda been fishin.......

Brew was good at least. Found this new to me Goose Island the other day at Kroger. Not sure what Huell Mellon is, but it is a huell of a good thing. Really citrusy pale ale. Goose Isl seldom disappoints.

Painting tonight was putting some bright Flo Red powder with mica powder mixed in on 3/16 sparkie heads with 2/0 Gami hooks. Unfortunately, these jigs won't be going in my own box. Doing some painting for a friend, but think I will be asking him to pour me a dozen or so of these.


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## AtticaFish

Hot weather means I don't fish much outside of camping trips. I did score a helluva good brew though. New Belgium seldom disappoints. This one transported me right back to 1995 and skipping class senior year on the first sip. Haha. Chicken quarters and cast iron taters along with a salad.


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## undertaker

Low an slow Russ


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## Raylaser

AtticaFish said:


> Hot weather means I don't fish much outside of camping trips. I did score a helluva good brew though. New Belgium seldom disappoints. This one transported me right back to 1995 and skipping class senior year on the first sip. Haha. Chicken quarters and cast iron taters along with a salad.
> 
> View attachment 266545


Ahh! The Dog Days of Summer!


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## whiskerchaser

Well it's getting to be that time of year just stocked up on my favorite swim baits and weather starting to cool off good luck to every one chasing them shoreline eyes


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## AtticaFish

Absolutely! Don't think i need any new swims, but i do know my big Kalin's 5" grubs were running low. Probably be making an order out soon. Actually talked about heading out over the weekend to see what the water was looking like. Never happened though. Maybe later this week.........


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## whiskerchaser

Thinking about ordering me some of those also what colors have worked best for you


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## Gottagofishn

Anyone using the Joshy J-5's? Just curious. I ordered some, haven't put a fish on one yet.


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## whiskerchaser

The J5s are pretty sweet have only caught a few on them just cause I have a hard time putting the 2.75s down I will be throwing my J5s more this year looking for bigger fish right now I have bluegill and blue diamond colors


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## AtticaFish

whiskerchaser said:


> Thinking about ordering me some of those also what colors have worked best for you


Probably 20 places to get them, but this place usually has them in stock. Link: AcmeTackle I like mostly darker colors....... Black, Electric Blue, Junebug Hologram and Bluegill. Black with a fluorescent orange head is usually the first in the water. Throw them on any bright jig head and you can't loose. Their tails turn at any speed, best twister i have ever used hands down.

The bigger swims work, no question. I've caught several walleye with them and they have no trouble with the size. Damn near swallow them at times. Same dark colors on the swimbaits, but i also have some that have a ton of glitter mixed in.


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## Scum_Frog

I need to remember and throw some tackle and rods in my truck so I can start sneaking out for an hour or two after work


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## HappySnag

AtticaFish said:


> Probably 20 places to get them, but this place usually has them in stock. Link: AcmeTackle I like mostly darker colors....... Black, Electric Blue, Junebug Hologram and Bluegill. Black with a fluorescent orange head is usually the first in the water. Throw them on any bright jig head and you can't loose. Their tails turn at any speed, best twister i have ever used hands down.
> 
> The bigger swims work, no question. I've caught several walleye with them and they have no trouble with the size. Damn near swallow them at times. Same dark colors on the swimbaits, but i also have some that have a ton of glitter mixed in.


if you like to use light,
use Blue or Red,it will not spooke fish,
they have head light with defrent color lense,you can change on fly.


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## whiskerchaser

Here's my lineup for tonight. Just taking the swims out and plan on covering lots of ground running and gunning


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## AtticaFish

Good luck! Look forward to hearing the report.


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## AtticaFish

HappySnag said:


> if you like to use light........


I do use a light pretty often to 'spot' them. I've learned to mentally note where i see fish hanging out with my light on and then hit that spot on the way back with my light off. New fish come and go from the same structure and big individual rocks. I'm a creature of habit, some of those rocks i can just about find with my eyes closed now.

I just bought 2 new headlamps this year. Forgot my old ones out in the shed since spring (with batteries in) and they got corroded. The new ones i bought do have a red light setting so will see how that works this year.


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## whiskerchaser

Hopefully I have something to report will be heading out after dinner and kids football practice will post when I get home late tonight


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## whiskerchaser

Well nothing to report turned Into one of those nights. finally went out first cast had a thump nothing after that and another batch of storms came thru lost orange swim and j5 on back to back cast.. tied on green perch had another bump nothing after that then started to really let loose had enough try again tomorrow


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## AtticaFish

I wondered about the rain. I don't mind getting a little wet, but it was coming down pretty steady at times. Think i may get up to Beaver Creek Res on Thursday.


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## whiskerchaser

Yeah Same here don't mind getting little wet but when last batch came thru I had enough...


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## mbarrett1379

Any luck, fished Lake Erie shore this week with no luck, thinking about heading out to one of the reservoirs?


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## AtticaFish

I got out Thursday evening. A lone catfish kept me from getting skunked. Nice evening though.


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## whiskerchaser

I haven't made it back out since the rainy night plan on going out tomorrow with my two boy..... Atleast you didn't get skunked Attica


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## Flathead76

Rebel wind cheater silver/black back is my favorite nighttime bait.


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## AtticaFish

Garden getting some love (fall till finally) tonight with a little bit of TinCup on ice in the Yeti. Dang, shouldn't have let the weeds get so bad.  Would be a killer sun down on the water. Just might sneak out tomorrow evening to my 'go to' reservoir to see if I can spot any swallow eyes.......


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## ress

From the looks of the tiller you did have a weed issue! lol


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## AtticaFish

Walked the shore rocks at my favorite upground for a while tonight........ nuthin' to show for it but cold fingers. Saw some glowing eyes, but maybe only 2 looked of catachable size. Water is off color, not clear yet. Weeds must be dying off. Will probably give it another week before i try again. Did get to break in a brand new pair of Carhart bibs, my old pair were about to fall apart after 20 years of use. I ordered black ones this time, i was feeling like a fat, stealthy, ninja out there. Ha! Showed my ninja moves off to my wife...... she was not impressed.


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## mbarrett1379

Got out casting the shoreline of the big pond tonight, nothing to show for it but sure felt like a good night to be out. Saw some small walleyes glowing in the water. Should be heating up here in the next week or two


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## whiskerchaser

Started new job so haven't been able to hit the shoreline at all have this weekend off so I think I may try and go find some eyes


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## AtticaFish

Not sure if anyone has been around to the reservoirs yet. I've been out one night a week for the last 3 weeks, no fish. Last week i did get a couple bites but none this week. For the last 2 weeks, there have been a ton of bluegill and bass sitting motionless tucked up in the corner of the pump house..... hundreds and hundreds of them! Big fish mixed in with a few smaller ones. Some up shallow in the rocks and others sitting just a couple inches under the water out deeper. Stuck a jig in front of the bass and they wouldn't budge. Usually catch a fair amount of them this time of year so not sure if there was a fast turnover that has them screwed up. The bluegill wouldn't move unless i pushed them with my rod tip and then they would just swim off really slow. Odd sight. Did see some more glowing eyes moving around this week though. Hopefully get a few soon, just need some sunny days to heat things up.


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## Raylaser

AtticaFish said:


> Not sure if anyone has been around to the reservoirs yet. I've been out one night a week for the last 3 weeks, no fish. Last week i did get a couple bites but none this week. For the last 2 weeks, there have been a ton of bluegill and bass sitting motionless tucked up in the corner of the pump house..... hundreds and hundreds of them! Big fish mixed in with a few smaller ones. Some up shallow in the rocks and others sitting just a couple inches under the water out deeper. Stuck a jig in front of the bass and they wouldn't budge. Usually catch a fair amount of them this time of year so not sure if there was a fast turnover that has them screwed up. The bluegill wouldn't move unless i pushed them with my rod tip and then they would just swim off really slow. Odd sight. Did see some more glowing eyes moving around this week though. Hopefully get a few soon, just need some sunny days to heat things up.


OK, this is just my wild imagination but hey - conspiracy theorists out there will love it! I think somebody dropped a couple large Muskies in that res over the Winter and they are circling those fish who are huddled up by the pump house. When you push them with your rod tip they feel like they are getting pushed to the edge of the safety zone and might get picked-off!! This is probably not the case but it makes for fun reading anyway. Just from my crazy, bored, Friday at at work, wish I was fishing mind!!


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## ress

This is the only sign of life at the findlay reservoir.









Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk


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## AtticaFish

FINALLY!!!










Took a cold night with a steady drizzle but actually put one on the stringer tonight. I can't even begin to guess how many hours casting it has been since my last upground walleye. Caught on an X-Rap practically at my feet. Less than 5 yards out as I was pulling free from getting hung in the rip-rap. Looks like he just had a nice meal of bluegill shortly before I caught him.



















Also caught 2 rockbass on twister grubs.


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## ress

Nice!


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## Redhunter1012

I too did some casting. 3rd cast in I got this LM Bass. Nothing after







these two were caught earlier this week


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## Juice

What are you throwing at this time of year at night? Stickbaits, cranks, jigs, looks like the pics have a jig rigged with a grub tail? Just curious as to what the best bait or tackle set up is!


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## AtticaFish

Juice said:


> What are you throwing at this time of year at night? Stickbaits, cranks, jigs, looks like the pics have a jig rigged with a grub tail?


I try pretty much everything you listed..... and then add to that some plastic swimbaits on jig heads and good old fashioned hair jigs also. Usually take 4 rigged rods now. 2 have different styles/sizes of stickbaits one has a bigger 4" or 5" plastic swim bait on a 3/16 head and the last one is always rigged with something smaller and lighter weight. My most productive bait over the last few years has probably been a dark colored 5" Kalin's twister grub on a light 1/16 head with an oversized hook.


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## Redhunter1012

While daylight, I cast a 1/4 oz jig with different tail colors ot to deeper water and bring it back. I also use lightweight heads with swimbaits during dusk. Once it's dark, mostly stickbaits. But, day or night, zoon flukes work really well for saugeye, slowly twitched back from the deep to shallow


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## Saugeyefisher

Redhunter1012 said:


> While daylight, I cast a 1/4 oz jig with different tail colors ot to deeper water and bring it back. I also use lightweight heads with swimbaits during dusk. Once it's dark, mostly stickbaits. But, day or night, zoon flukes work really well for saugeye, slowly twitched back from the deep to shallow


Try those flukes(or any straight tail bait like the long gulp minnows) on a ned head or any other stand up jig head=deadly,at times


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## Redhunter1012

Saugeyefisher said:


> Try those flukes(or any straight tail bait like the long gulp minnows) on a ned head or any other stand up jig head=deadly,at times


I do anywhere other than the upgrounds I fish. Just too many rocks to even try. As is, I reel the jigs in til i feel it tick rocks then just raise rod tip to avoid snags and moss. I still lose a handful every trip


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## AtticaFish

Yep, i love a certain style jig head that has a heavy over sized hook but they are pricey. It sure sucks to loose them.


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## ress

You ever try the jig heads that have the two wires as in maybe weed less style to keep off the snags?


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## AtticaFish

ress said:


> You ever try the jig heads that have the two wires as in maybe weed less style to keep off the snags?


I've tried just about every style head out there. I think the problem is getting the head wedged between rocks rather than the hookpoint getting hung up. About the best head I have found is from a guy out in Nebraska. He has a custom head (HooksUp) that has a flat bottom. When you reel them, they rise up off the bottom pretty quickly. If you look at my pics, the orange tail jig is one of them. Here is his link....

http://leadfreejigheads.com/gpage9.html

He does just about everything custom to what you want. Not cheap but he only puts out quality product.


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## ress

Nails Head looks promising. I've had something close to the other types. Thanks!


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## AtticaFish

Landed one walleye (22") and dropped two others close to shore last night. Lots of surface activity out deep but still not really spotting any walleye up close to shore like i normally do. Did catch several bass and a couple rockbass also. Big bass went 20". Tried several baits but the X-Rap caught everything. Bite completely quit when the wind switched from the East to out of the North and it got kind of foggy. 


Big bass of the night.


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## ress

Nice Fish!


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## gotribe

AtticaFish said:


> Landed one walleye (22") and dropped two others close to shore last night. Lots of surface activity out deep but still not really spotting any walleye up close to shore like i normally do. Did catch several bass and a couple rockbass also. Big bass went 20". Tried several baits but the X-Rap caught everything. Bite completely quit when the wind switched from the East to out of the North and it got kind of foggy.
> 
> 
> Big bass of the night.


Nice fish. Cool that you caught it on an IPA - I wouldn’t have thought of that!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## AtticaFish

Found 2 more last night. Got there just before sun down and caught one on a Kalin's grub about 5 casts in. Did a lot of walking and changing up lures. Caught an over zealous rockbass on a lipless crank of equal size. Walked all the way back to where I parked and decided to try once more with an x-rap before I left and got my 2nd. 18" and 20", all have been males so far this spring. Water is nice and clear now but the waves were crashing last night. It was windy and cool! --------: They are a bit more willing to come home with me when I bribe them with a good citrusy IPA.


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## Bucket Mouth

Kalin's blue gill and some fresh squeezed! Unbeatable combo!


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## Gottagofishn

Could you give me your spot and best times to be there????

J/K!!! 
Nice catch....looks tasty!


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## Workingman

Love the rock bass pic! Haha! Where did it think it was gonna put that meal ???!


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## Saugeyefisher

Good job man!


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## AtticaFish

No fishing for me tonight but making the best of my time. Maybe the walleye will come to me if they know I have a tasty brew and some bacon wrapped jalapenos.










Both Saturday and Sunday evenings look promising for walleye.... but I hear the crappie are hitting close by too. Decisions decisions.


Finished product.........


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## AtticaFish

This guy knew I had a can of the good stuff left in the fridge! Missed 2 other good bites. It thumped the same Kalin's bluegill 5" twister as the last one I brought home. Man do I love it when they hit it so hard it makes you jump. Another 18 incher in the freezer!


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## whiskerchaser

Just got home from work going to chase some eyes with the big joshy swims hopefully I have something to report other than the 13 inchers I've been catching this year


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## whiskerchaser

Caught 6 brought home a 17incher other 5 were dinks missed couple nice ones all in all good night will post pic when I figure out how to.


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## Lewzer

No offense but you gotta be a young guy to get off work at 2 in the morning and then want to go chase eyes. Me... I'd go to bed. Great job!


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## AtticaFish

Sounds like a nice trip whiskerchaser! I just mentioned to my wife last night that the cooler evenings were making it feel like walleye weather.


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## whiskerchaser

Yes I'm a younger guy at 33yrs. But gotta take advantage of the time I can.. Attica the cooler nights def been making it eye chasing weather.imma be hitting it hard this year


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## Scum_Frog

I need to get out and try here soon......hmmmmmm


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## AtticaFish

whiskerchaser said:


> ...........be hitting it hard this year


I plan to get out a bunch this Fall, just hope like heck i do better than i did LAST Fall. I don't think i caught a single walleye at my favorite reservoir last fall, i actually ran out of walleye in the freezer before i started catching them in the spring. Spring had a slow start too.


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## whiskerchaser

Last fall was a tough one no doubt. So far this year I've caught more eyes in years past alot of small ones though but none less catching more this year. Just gotta find them bigger ones. Best of luck to everyone this fall chasing them shoreline eyes in upgrounds you def have to work for them


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## whiskerchaser

Well no keepers tonight 4 small eyes and one small smallmouth. Lost a nice smallmouth at the bank and lost another nice fish never seen it.. them small eyes are just ingulfing my 2.75 big joshys. Green glow perch is the hot color right now


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## garshark

Could you point me in the direction of where you all are fishing. I have tried from shore around Cleveland with no luck


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## AtticaFish

garshark said:


> Could you point me in the direction of where you all are fishing. I have tried from shore around Cleveland with no luck


If you are near Cleveland.... i would think your best bet might be fishing Erie from the rocks and piers. Lots of fish in the system right now. I know people fish Mosquito & i think they also fish West Branch for them as well. I'm guessing you are a long way from my little NW OH reservoirs if you are fishing around Cleveland. Check the ODNR website and it will tell you which city reservoirs in NW OH have walleye. I've got an hour drive to Erie but have 4 different small upground reservoirs that have walleye/saugeye and are only about 15 minutes away. I fish pretty much the same lure for them in the smaller lakes as i do casting from Erie shorelines..... except i might downsize some nights. I have caught plenty of smaller fish on the big 5" swimbaits and HJ12 & 14 jerkbaits though. Just have to get out there and cast cast cast til you find something that works for you.


----------



## Scum_Frog

Ya absolutely if your near CLE id be fishing the rocks on Erie 100%.....chances at some studs as well....and Attica hit nail on head with Mosquito I know of guys fishing that as well but if it were me id still be on erie.....throw HJs, RRs, Rat-L-Traps and some swimbaits.....you will catch bigger fish than all of us and make us NW ohio guys jealous! LOL. 

On a side note I was able to get out last night on a local above ground finally in the boat and did pretty decent. Boated 5 keepers and missed 10 or more bites...all of this came in a 30 minute span as well. No giants and all fish went back in to swim another day but they were killing the lure.....missing it and would come back most times and hit it again. Some cases the lure would literally just hit the water and u would flip your bail back over an there would already be a fish on. Was a good evening! Heres a pic of biggest one. Nothing special but still fun.


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## whiskerchaser

Hit the shorelines last night still nothing big 4 small eyes and 2 smallmouth. Temps looking nice big ones should be starting to move in get ready guys


----------



## TheRealEyeCatcher

I’ve been hitting Cle shoreline at dusk/night and have been getting a ton of smaller eyes lately. Anywhere from 6-17”. Big ones seem to be out deeper. Been mostly catching big channel cats and sheepshead lately(on crankbaits and spinners no less). Earlier summer I was catching big eyes every time I went out. They’ll be back in the Central Basin in big numbers soon


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## AtticaFish

Finally made it out Sunday evening to give it a shot. Lots of critter activity and the fishing pressure is back down to where I like it. Several water snakes were hunting and a toad stopped by for a visit. Only saw a few other fisherman....... just the way I like it. Landed a bass and a walleye and missed a couple other bites. Both fish came on a 3.8 Kietech swimbait. Walleye was on the small side but did see some other fish cruising shore that would be keepers. Might try again tonight.


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## Scum_Frog

Least you were able to get out.....i keep saying it but I swear one of these days we are going to meet up out there lol


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## AtticaFish

It's that time! Fall walleye into winter ice panfish is hands down my favorite seasons of the year. Problem is I usually never know if I am going till the last minute. I do believe I will be there tonight though.


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## AtticaFish

Productive evening....... put an 18" eye in the freezer. It hit a helsinki shad husky jerk, has to be my favorite color! Caught a variety too and lost something larger as well. It broke the surface like it wanted to jump when it spit the lure so figure it was probably another largemouth. Lots of bites tonight. Gonna be a busy weekend for me so figure I won't be back out until next week.


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## whiskerchaser

Glad you got out Attica I've been couple more times but still just small dinks. This last hot spell didn't help any.


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## 1MoreKast

Kitty cat and I can relate. Eyes and IPAs got my attention.


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## Scum_Frog

Took the boat out last night on erie trying the shore line and points for eyes.....boated two and a mixed bag of largies, cat fish and sheeps. Hopefully these cooler nights will bring water temp down (was 72.2 last night).....should only be getting better.


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## AtticaFish

Gave it a shot again last night with only 2 rockbass and a couple other bites during several hours of casting. Honestly only saw very small walleye swimming near shore, did not see any bigger fish. The air temp cooled off pretty quick last night but the forecast is showing warm temps for at least another week. Next week is October....... i'm ready for the cooler weather!!!


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## TheRealEyeCatcher

Hit the shore this morning for a couple hours near Cleveland. Tossed some spoons and spinners hoping for a steelie but I ended up skunked. Did get to watch a bald eagle fish about 75 yds from me and he/she had some success. Didn’t see a single fish besides whatever the eagle snatched up


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## AtticaFish

TheRealEyeCatcher said:


> Hit the shore this morning for a couple hours near Cleveland. Tossed some spoons and spinners hoping for a steelie but I ended up skunked. Did get to watch a bald eagle fish about 75 yds from me and he/she had some success. Didn’t see a single fish besides whatever the eagle snatched up



Sometimes it is nice to just watch others fish.  Those guys are fun to watch. They occasionally show up at the reservoir in Bellevue.


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## ress

Right now there must be a 1000 seagulls at the Findlay reservoir. They migrate threw here for the next month or so. Last year the birder people counted 6000 or more one day. They count a general area and multiply it.


----------



## DeathFromAbove

ress said:


> Right now there must be a 1000 seagulls at the Findlay reservoir. They migrate threw here for the next month or so. Last year the birder people counted 6000 or more one day. They count a general area and multiply it.


Too bad theyre not Pelicans They could scoop up some of those white bass in there


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## AtticaFish

The bite was "rockin" last night. Well, the rock bass were biting anyway. I threw back 3 before I decided I should keep a couple. The big red eye went 10", think that is Fish Ohio size if I remember right. Between 8:00 and 11:00 I caught 14 rock bass, a walleye as big as my husky jerk and another walleye that was just a hair shy of 15". FYI keyboard game wardens.... this was from a reservoir with no size limit. Had to pretty much stop my retrieve to get bit. Slow and steady crank then stop and they would hit it. Darn near every fish came that way. Strange night, but i will take it.


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## percidaeben

I don’t think a lot of people know how fine RockBass fry up! Nice fishing.


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## whiskerchaser

Awesome job Attica Rock bass are tasty. Took youngest out Sunday night floating some shiners but wind just little too much so we moved to more wind protected area and water was dirty never got any bites till he tied on his spinner bait he just bought and lost small fish. Weather temps looking good big girls should be moving in soon hopefully.


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## Bvil

Been reading this thread with great interest. I've tried casting for eyes without luck for years. Jigs, cranks, jerks, blades... nothing. Many from boats but never from shore.
We catch a lot of crappie in the local res and the last time out I caught one that was shredded so it dawned on me that I needed a lure that looks like a crappie. Stopped by Walmart after work today and bought a pack of Storm 2" Wildeye crappie swimbaits. Swung by the res on the way home and landed two eyes within five minutes, four in 30 minutes. Several nice LM bass liked it too. The biggest was 20"


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## Bvil

The wife and I walked the shore today. Only landed one 18" eye and lost a couple


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## CMGOhio

what shorelines are we talking? Cleveland Erie, or reservoirs?


----------



## Bvil

I've been hitting a local upground reservoir. We've fished it from a boat all summer and did pretty well.
Shore fishing there is usually just a brief stop on the way home from work.


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## AtticaFish

Good deal bvil. I have become a huge fan of swimbait in the last few years. They flat out work!


----------



## Bvil

Stopped on the way home yesterday and caught one eye, a couple perch and a LM bass. All caught on the 2" Storm Live Crappie. I lost a few and will be sharpening hooks today.
Went to my son's house yesterday and fried up some of the recent catches for supper. About 9:30 I drove to Bucyrus and tossed some newly acquired 3.25 Big Joshy swimbaits. #4 res is way low. Man, that's a lot of loose rip-rap to navigate with a headlamp. No bites at either #3 or #4 but the Joshy's action looks darn good.


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## Scum_Frog

lake erie shoreline should start to be on fire here soon I'd guess. Soon as we get some calm nights i'll be out in the boat chancing my luck!


----------



## Bvil

Slipped out for a couple hours before heading to a family gathering and managed to catch a limit of eyes.
Lost both of the Storm Crappie lures that I brought trying to land a big cat and a whopper LM bass. It gets pretty sketchy on the wave-washed rocks. I suppose I should bring a net but don't want the extra gear to haul around.
Five were caught on the 2" crappie lure and they all were stuffed with 1" bluegill.
The last one, after losing the crappie lures, was caught on a 3.25" Big Joshy and had recently chowed on a 3" shiner.

Also should note that I didn't have one fish come off today after sharpening the hooks.


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## Scum_Frog

Well done thats awesome! Next time post some pic's of the stomachs! Always cool to see I think!


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## whiskerchaser

Bout hit the banks ahead of this front last night was a buss on eyes. 2 shorts at go to water went to another spot and busted 3 crappies 5 white bass 1Smb 1Lmb 1rockbass and one little eye all on same big joshy 2.75 sand shiner. Hope tonight is just as good if not better


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## AtticaFish

I was thinking about getting out again tonight, i tried on Monday and failed miserably. haha Not a dang bite for 2 hours of casting. I don't mind the cold but a steady rain in the cold might make me decide to stay home and watch some Halloween movies instead.


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## whiskerchaser

Well last night was a bust north wind pushed me to north side of lake lot of hits but short strikes.. lost a really big fish thinking it was a catfish if it wasn't was really big eye heart broken


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## Bvil

"The bus is against the train
The train is against the jumbo jet
*And I'm against fishing in the rain*"

I'll skip tonight but look forward to being out in the wind tomorrow afternoon.

Those rocks with dried moss will be downright treacherous with a bit of rain. I think I have a pair of felt sole wading boots somewhere. Might be just the ticket.


----------



## ress

Those dried mossy rocks will bust you up when wet. Ask how I know. That's the last time I went night fishing at the reservoir.


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## Workingman

Haha, that's true! I always tell my wife if she wakes up in the morning and I'm not there to send the paramedics over to the riprap. Because I'll be laying there with a busted head!


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## Bvil

Braved the wind today and limited in 15 minutes! All from one spot. Cast at the edge of the stained water about five feet from the shore. They sure aren't messing around when they hit. 

Sorry Mr. Scum frog,
No gross, half digested fish pics. They must have just started feeding 'cause stomachs were empty.

Today's fish had no eggs. All of them last Sunday were full of eggs.


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## whiskerchaser

Took kids out chasing saugeye last night at a shallow lake kept 3 out of 6 alot of 12 14 inchers short striking not bad night be back at upgrounds this week


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## Bvil

Today is the day. Cast into the wind!

Visited Bucyrus reservoirs yesterday with little success.
2 SMB, 1 LMB in #4.
1 small crappie in #3.


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## whiskerchaser

Hit an upground last night with only one Lmb alot small ticks hopefully I can find some big girls this week gonna be trying different spots this week


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## AtticaFish

I'm going to be hopping around to some different lakes also and trying some new places. The bites at my favorite upground have somewhat dried up. Still spot a few bigger fish cruising the shore but the vast majority of walleye in there at the moment are maybe 6"-7". 

Sounds like the bite is going good (some nights) up on Erie, so may drive the extra distance North and try my luck. What hushed reports i am being given sound like it is a very small window of time the bite is lasting each evening. With work and the time change.... that blows the sunset bite out of the water for me.


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## Scum_Frog

Well every day this week is wiiiiiiiiiindy. I wanted to take my boat out one of these nights and cast for em....not looking promising.


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## Bvil

Did good from the shore today. Lost a few nice ones but landed five from 16" to 19". An 11" perch and a handful of crappie made up for being one short.
Fished for two hours and a did lot of walking. 
Finally got to see one hit the lure. He was close enough that I think I could see the surprise in his eyes when he tried to dart off with his supper.


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## whiskerchaser

Last night was a big bust went to deeper water and nothing prob go back to my original spot tonight


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## AtticaFish

Switched up to a different upground and found 3 tonight! I lost what sure felt like another walleye and had a couple other bites that were a swing and a miss. 15", 16" and 17" fish. Smallest fish came on a deep diving shad rap. All my other fish and bites were on the same green/green 3.8 Kietech swimbait. There was a flurry of bites at around 10 and caught 2. Then caught my last fish at close to 11:30 and decided I needed to get home to clean some fish.


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## whiskerchaser

Glad you posted Attica you helped me make my decision on tonight. Heading out after I finish eating sucks I miss sunset to midnight bite but I'm going to figure out the 3 to sunrise bite hopefully


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## whiskerchaser

Think I figured out the add picture part this is my son with his 16inch saugeye on his birthday fishing trip with big joshy he bought with his own money and was biggest fish of night beat me by .75 inch


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## whiskerchaser

No skunk tonight got one just at 15inches.. boy it's cold thankful the wind wasn't bad


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## whiskerchaser

Forgot to let pic load before posting here my little eye


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## AtticaFish

Good job whiskerchaser, way better than a skunk on a cold night. And yes, it sure was cold! I forgot my gloves and my hands were pretty well shot by the time i quit. There was a stiff West wind from about 10 to 11 and then it started to let up when i was leaving.


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## Bvil

Anyone here leave a net on the rocks at Beaver Creek?


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## AtticaFish

Got a couple more last night. Big fish was just shy of 20" and hit a rattle trap hopped along the bottom. Other fish came on 3.8 swimbaits. Also caught a good size bass and missed a few bites.


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## ress

Way to go! I stopped at both Findlay reservoirs today cause it will be the last time til spring and threw a few small top water and let a worm set at 18 ft drift around. Not a thing. I was the only one there. Those reservoirs used to be good this time of the year.


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## HappySnag

AtticaFish said:


> Got a couple more last night. Big fish was just shy of 20" and hit a rattle trap hopped along the bottom. Other fish came on 3.8 swimbaits. Also caught a good size bass and missed a few bites.


good job on the fish.
do you ever use swim bait with road runer with defrent size blaid ?
you can use road runer as jig for swim bait or ad blade ,the fish will tell you what they like.
i got lot off perch on road runer with small blade and minow during day.


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## AtticaFish

HappySnag said:


> .....do you ever use swim bait with road runer with defrent size blaid......


I do have a pile of underspin (roadrunner) jigs in different sizes that i could try, but really have never used those with swimbaits. Mostly use those with tied hair jigs or twister tail grubs. I mainly use bigger (3.5" and up) swimbaits and the hooks that fit the roadrunner style heads never seem to fit the bigger swimbaits unless you go up to a lot heavier head. I just recently bought some 2.5" swimbaits.... those might fit better, need to get a few out and rig them up to see.

I have had a couple good days with perch in the reservoirs dragging a roadrunner with a big chunk of night crawler.


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## HappySnag

AtticaFish said:


> I do have a pile of underspin (roadrunner) jigs in different sizes that i could try, but really have never used those with swimbaits. Mostly use those with tied hair jigs or twister tail grubs. I mainly use bigger (3.5" and up) swimbaits and the hooks that fit the roadrunner style heads never seem to fit the bigger swimbaits unless you go up to a lot heavier head. I just recently bought some 2.5" swimbaits.... those might fit better, need to get a few out and rig them up to see.
> 
> I have had a couple good days with perch in the reservoirs dragging a roadrunner with a big chunk of night crawler.


you have to get Pony Head mold and modify the size hooks to hooks and weight what you like.


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## AtticaFish

I have some friends who do pour their own and I have traded a few with over the years. Just got out a couple bags of what I have and rigged them up with different blades. 1/8 and 3/16 weights. Tied a 1/8 on my lighter rod with a 2.5" swimbait. Gonna give it a try tonight! 

Looking at what I have, I think i would need a 1/8 or 3/16 head poured with a 4/0 hook to give me a decent hook gap with a 4.8" swimbait. Even then, I'm not sure if there would be enough distance away from the plastic for the blade to spin. Wonder if they make an extra long swivel. Haha


----------



## Bvil

Forecast for Thursday is cloudy, strong SW wind, warm and showers likely. Looks promising!


----------



## AtticaFish

Wednesday night is looking like my next (and only) chance to get out this week. Nighttime temps back above freezing will be nice but right now saying calm winds. I would prefer at least a little chop. I tried on Saturday night and got skunked..... not even a bump in 3 hours of casting. To add insult to injury, i lost 8 or 10 jigs in the process. Line and guides were freezing up quickly. Not a good night.


----------



## HappySnag

AtticaFish said:


> I have some friends who do pour their own and I have traded a few with over the years. Just got out a couple bags of what I have and rigged them up with different blades. 1/8 and 3/16 weights. Tied a 1/8 on my lighter rod with a 2.5" swimbait. Gonna give it a try tonight!
> 
> Looking at what I have, I think i would need a 1/8 or 3/16 head poured with a 4/0 hook to give me a decent hook gap with a 4.8" swimbait. Even then, I'm not sure if there would be enough distance away from the plastic for the blade to spin. Wonder if they make an extra long swivel. Haha


you can extend swivel with dual snap or use 2 swivels joint with o ring.


----------



## whiskerchaser

I'm going out tonight and try after work hope the are hungry.


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## whiskerchaser

SKUNKED last night maybe one tap but probably a stick or rock. Gonna hit a small shallow lake tonight after work never fished the body of water before so will be interesting


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## Scum_Frog

Tonight and tomorrow night will be b-e-a-utiful if you can get out up to the lake......should be able to see fish hit the surface if the baits in!


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## whiskerchaser

Skunked again. That was a rough night. Lake I never been too didn't know were anything was. Hit five spots only fished 4. Never found any baitfish. Stuck to throwing swims and moving often which didn't work. It's a tricky lake not sure if I'll try it out again this year probably just stick to local waters and maybe couple trips to indian. I wonder how much my fishing time (2-6am) effects my catch rate. I feel I'm missing that magic time of dark to midnight. Makes me wonder why I play this game! Oh yeah that right cause it's awesome. Fish on my friends


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## Bvil

I'm expecting a "magic time" of 2pm to 10pm tomorrow. I'll be trying a couple upgrounds as long as it's not raining too hard. Those 30mph gusts will be blowing eyes right into the freezer!

Have a couple new poles to try out on the way home today but don't expect much action. First time with braid to flouro leader. We'll see if my *FG* knot is *F*reakin' *G*ood or *F*ails *G*reatly.


----------



## whiskerchaser

Hopefully you hammer them. for me I wake up at 2pm get ready head to work til 1am get in town about 2am. Maybe fish work different shifts also and just start biting at 3am when wind dies down to about 10mph on the upgrounds


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## normd

In NW Ohio, I wouldn't even know which up-ground impoundmants to start at.


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## Scum_Frog

normd said:


> In NW Ohio, I wouldn't even know which up-ground impoundmants to start at.


You can always get on the DNR maps of each res and check out their fishing forecast to see which bodies of water holds specifics fish.


----------



## BFG

Most of the up-grounds have saugeye stocked in them. You can find that on the ODNR website. Get the wind in your face and start casting. DO NOT fish the calm side.


----------



## Saugeyefisher

AtticaFish said:


> I have some friends who do pour their own and I have traded a few with over the years. Just got out a couple bags of what I have and rigged them up with different blades. 1/8 and 3/16 weights. Tied a 1/8 on my lighter rod with a 2.5" swimbait. Gonna give it a try tonight!
> 
> Looking at what I have, I think i would need a 1/8 or 3/16 head poured with a 4/0 hook to give me a decent hook gap with a 4.8" swimbait. Even then, I'm not sure if there would be enough distance away from the plastic for the blade to spin. Wonder if they make an extra long swivel. Haha


Check out some of the new bass bladed jigs. Road runner makes one. Most have a small willow blade but big enuff hooks to fit the bigger swimbaits you like to use. There a little more pricey,but imo worth it. 
If I'm throwing a swimbait or twister tail I'd say 80% of the time I'm using a bladed jig. For the smaller swims. Like a 2.75 big joshy I like the northland thumper jigs. They hold your bait really well. As well as the crappie magnet bladed jigs. They have a flat face giving your bait a great side-side wobbling action. 
I feel the blade gives off a little extra thump down there in dingy water or fishing at night. An adds a little flash during the day,and fishing under/around lit up areas........ 
Good luck!


----------



## AtticaFish

normd said:


> In NW Ohio, I wouldn't even know which up-ground impoundmants to start at.


More of the up-grounds that i fish actually have walleye rather than saugeye stocked. I'm, just in the middle of those few select reservoirs. I wouldn't go 100% by what the ODNR website says though.... they have some reservoirs listed that are no longer stocked and some that are not listed at all but i know they are stocked. NW is a relative location also, some of my up-grounds i fish might be considered more North Central.

I've always wondered how much of a difference there is in the behavior between walleye and saugeye in these up-grounds. I've been told saugeye have a better survival rate in turbid water compared to walleye but the vast majority of the up-grounds i fish have super clear water most of the year. Does that change how/when/where the saugeye feed since it gets so clear? No clue. Maybe it is simply a lake to lake difference..... i fish 2 separate UG's that are really very similar and both stocked with walleye, to the best of my knowledge. The fishing is quite different in them though. One reservoir, they swim right past your feet close enough you could darn near net them. You can spotlight them all night long and catch them in a foot or less of water. If you spot a big fish shallow, it seems to be actively feeding. Easily spot a hundred sets of glowing eyes in a night but most are 6" to 10" fish swimming in packs. The other res that is very similar in depth and water clarity..... i have never once even spotted a pair of glowing eyes cruising the shoreline.


----------



## whiskerchaser

I'm not sure on how different the saugeye and walleye act differently Im still trying to figure them out. The one upground I fish has both walleye and saugeye were the others and only saugeye to my knowledge with one that use to have walleye from what I'm told. The main on I've been fishing has both it is clearer water and the fish seem more aggressive. I've tried the spotlighting thing but very rarely did I ever see eyes up close. This year I havent carried a head lamp at all and my catch ratio has been higher. Having 6 upgrounds in 20mins of each other I've learned none of them fish the same and all lay out diffrent. I think though for rest of this year Im sticking to my known spots been trying alot of different spots this year and hasn't paid off to well.


----------



## AtticaFish

Dead calm tonight and they were feeding pretty good, got my 6!!! 3 or swimbaits and 3 on a white X-Rap. Dropped a couple coming in and lots of bites. Also caught a crappie on a 4" swim. Fished 6:00 to 8:00. Have some cleaning to do!


----------



## AtticaFish

All cleaned and in the freezer by the time i normally am just getting home. Kinda nice to go straight from work to the res.  Take it when ya can I guess. All frozen except 4 fillets that will become spicy pesto walleye pasta tomorrow night for me and the wife.  Gotta love it when it never even gets frozen. The handful of cheeks are gonna be saved for another day though... i dont think the cheeks ever downgrade. Size range was 16" to just shy of 20". I need one more good trip like this before the big freeze and i will be happy..... think I know where I will be cutting a few holes in the ice this year!!!


----------



## whiskerchaser

That's awesome Attica bout to head out. Got a straight south wind about 7mph right now gonna be increasing as hours go on we will see how it goes at my go-to spot hopefully I don't have to move much tonight and get my 6. After last couple trips I'll be happy with a catch.


----------



## Bvil

Way to go Attica!
I stopped on the way home to try my new rod. Dead calm and a lot of surface feeding activity. Not having total confidence in my leader knot abilities, I chose a lure that I didn't mind losing. A chartreuse yellow rattl' trap style lure bought at Odd Lots thirty years ago. Hooked an eye on the very first cast but came off about ten feet from the shore. Between the old hooks and a light drag setting, I wasn't too surprised. Second cast landed a 10" perch. Third cast snapped the line due to a loose loop caught under the reel spool. Total beginner mistake. I switched to a Bagley Shad-a-Lac and landed an 18" bass.
Hoping the weather cooperates this afternoon.


----------



## whiskerchaser

Defeated again that's all


----------



## justbobber

Nice catch Attica and great choice on beer


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## Scum_Frog

Attica....those cheeeeeeeks!!!!!!! Thing of beauty there!


----------



## normd

For me, i take the cheeks and put them in Italian dressing a few hours. Then wrap them in bacon and throw on the grill.


----------



## Bvil

No eyes at the first stop today but a 14" crappie made it worthwhile. Stop number two was much better. Caught six in 45 minutes. one was 17" and the rest were 18".
The bite was definitely different today. They were picking the swimbait up after letting it hit bottom about 15' from shore and not crushing it on a slow retrieve like previous outings.


----------



## Bvil

Did surprisingly well today in the sunshine. Just had to go a bit deeper. 15" and 17" on the first two casts. Released the 15. Missed a couple and then caught an 18" and 20".


----------



## AtticaFish

Might give it a try again tonight... hopefully the rain & wind holds off.


----------



## Bvil

Wind Good.
Rain Bad.

I'm planning to get out tomorrow. Rain should be ending mid-afternoon but temps will be dropping fast with 47 mph wind gusts.


----------



## AtticaFish

I've read a lot on the Rainy Night thread but i honestly don't think the wind changes much (fish location) on the upground reservoirs i fish. There is never much current created in any of them...... except for maybe Bellevue #5. That is the round one off of StRt 547. When the wind gets whipping up there, that thing gets spinning like water going down a drain! Depending on where you are fishing on the res, sometimes the current actually pushes into the wind. It gets strange. But still, no structure to speak of so i don't think it changes much where the fish hold.

I've caught fish on dead calm nights, fishing into the wind nights and with the wind at my back using the bank as a wind break. Fishing the windy side sometimes i think does have benefits because it pushes the warmer surface water to that shore and gets the blue gill a little more active along the shore. Maybe just my imagination......? I will say, some of the cooler nights or rainy nights make it downright brutal to fish the wide open windy side of an upground. When that happens, i know for a fact it changes my migration pattern over to the less windy side. 

In the featureless fish bowl upgrounds, i've come to learn that very specific areas will hold fish consistently. Sometimes just a single large boulder or a cluster of them in a 5 yard circle will bring fish in on a regular basis when they feed. If you find a good area, take mental note.


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## Scum_Frog

I would love to put my boat in at res 5 and side scan that entire shore line and see what it looks like......would be awesome.


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## AtticaFish

Scum_Frog said:


> I would love to put my boat in at res 5 and side scan that entire shore line and see what it looks like......would be awesome.



No doubt! That new ramp they built a couple years ago always holds fish. I know there was a nice pile of Christmas trees dumped in a spot along the N-NE section of shore. Those are all but gone now though. There is also a smallish hump along the shore at the farthest point South.... that is a long a$$ walk. I've heard talk of a car sitting at the bottom in there too, but not sure if there is any truth to it. Other than that, i have never marked ANY significant structure in there. That place is a barren fish bowl as far as i know.


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## ress

Findlay #2 has some strange currents. Last time I was there using a slip bobber it was drifting into a 20 mph wind. Go figure!


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## Bvil

I wasn't planning to go fishing today but the wife texted me and wanted to meet me at the fishing hole at 3:00. We each caught an eye and a perch. The perch were 11" and 12". Supper was awesome!
Actually, I don't know that rain is bad for fishing but I'd rather not be in it. 
I do, however, think that 15 mph+ winds put the fish into aggressive feeding mode on the upgrounds.
My son and I went to Bellevue #5 and waited out a severe thunderstorm in the parking lot. When it passed the current was coming from both directions and formed a rip current straight to the center. Many years ago we carried in jon boats and had one of the best night's fishing ever. Giant LM & SM bass, big rock bass and a limit of nice saugeye. I think that was the night that a bat landed on our friend's head.


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## AtticaFish

Got my 6 again. Hit some big fish too. All 18" and over with a 24" and a 28" (!!!!!) In the mix. All fish but 1 were caught on 3.8 Kietech swim baits. The odd ball came on a white X-Rap. Pretty outstanding for an inland lake. This is not Erie! 





































Damn big cheeks. 










.....and she was eating some big meals..... 










Put easily 3 meals in the freezer tonight. 5 or 6 more from this same reservoir this fall. Have to appreciate the the effort ODNR puts in to stock our inland lakes. Kudos to them!!!

__
Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18
Show Content


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## Bvil

Heck Yeah!! 24" and 28"! Quite impressive.

I think I had better drag my net along today. I've gotten away with swinging 20 inchers onto shore but a hog like that might require wet feet without it.

I imagine that pic #2 is what a bluegill's nightmare might look like.


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## ress

Gezze Attica that is awesome! I would like to hit our local reservoirs at night but I've lost confidence. The Div of Wildlife had two boats on 2 Monday. They were hitting it hard in the spring so possibly checking stats after the season. It sure needs all the help it can get!


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## polebender

Some great eating there! Congrats on your catches!


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## kanu

Attica, thanks for all of the tips you consistently share. Good catch.


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## Bvil

Got 6 in 45 minutes today but the wind was brutal. 17"-20".
They were all bursting with 1/4" to 3" bluegill.


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## Saugeyefisher

Attica thsts a pig,congrats! And awesome seeing you guys put up the good numbers!


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## AtticaFish

Bvil - looks like you caught that walleye in mid feed.... doesn't look like the gills were digested at all yet. Sounds like have them figured out. Good job!

Not sure if you ever have before, but you might want to try bleeding out your fish. I forget how much cleaner it is until I see a pic like that. I bleed out my walleye and panfish both now and pretty much eliminates the mess on the cleaning board.


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## HappySnag

Bvil said:


> Heck Yeah!! 24" and 28"! Quite impressive.
> 
> I think I had better drag my net along today. I've gotten away with swinging 20 inchers onto shore but a hog like that might require wet feet without it.
> 
> I imagine that pic #2 is what a bluegill's nightmare might look like.


that is reason why i use 20# or 30# power pro and 25# mono leader,lifting 24" eyes on the rocks 10' high with out net.
get stainles steel sizers and put them on stringer,i use them to cut troat off the fish,when you clean them no mes on the board.


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## Bvil

I used to be picky about keeping a nice looking cutting board but have gotten over it. The fillets actually never touch the sloppy area anyway. I sometimes bleed fish when practical but I use a large backpack with a Walmart frozen food bag for a liner when walking around the rocks. With a good rinsing, the bags can be used three or four times. Cutting before bagging would get messy. 
Honestly, the blood doesn't bother me and is 99% removed from the fillets with a swipe of a knife edge. The rest is rinsed off before bagging.


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## Bvil

The freezer is stocked up so I went out just before dark today to try some different lures and see if I could land something a bit bigger. Caught and released eight 17"-20".


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## AtticaFish

I had a similar idea myself after catching those couple bigger fish. Thought about throwing the bigger 5" swim baits or bigger HJ's and see if anything would bite on them.


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## Bvil

Caught seven today all under 20". One 17" didn't survive hook extraction so he came home with me.

Finally, a good use for catfish!


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## Tinknocker1

Bvil said:


> Caught seven today all under 20". One 17" didn't survive hook extraction so he came home with me.
> 
> Finally, a good use for catfish!
> View attachment 332467


Keep cutting them open water dawgz show up late Feb early March theses are classic pics


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## AtticaFish

Sounds like a fun night Bvil. I think I am gonna give it a try on Tuesday evening my self. Just rigged up my gear with my biggest HJ, my biggest rattle trap and a 5" Kietech swimbait. I do have some bigger swimbaits but have only uses those up on Erie. Looking for bigger fish again and figure on doing some walking to stand on some rocks I haven't fished from yet.


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## AtticaFish

The temps and strong wind made it pretty rough....... but the fishing sure made it tolerable.  Fish were very active. Caught around 25 from 6:30 to 8:30 with only 2 short fish and several missed. I could have had 3 or 4 limits of good size fish last night. Big fish for tonight went 27" on a swimbait. Caught a couple right off the bat on a HJ14. When the clouds cleared off and moon got bright, the bite seemed to pick up. They were crushing the big 4.8 Kietech swims. I use a bright 1/16 or 1/8 jighead and dark swimbait for the most part, but color doesn't seem to matter. I would switch up colors as I lost them in the rocks and still was getting steady bites. Just has to have a heavy over sized hook.... 3/0 or 4/0. Casting parallel to the bank and slow crank it. After about 6 or 8 cranks pause it for a second and they are inhaling it! This has been my best fall fishing ever!


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## 1MoreKast

I love reports like this! Way to go Attica


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## whiskerchaser

Way to go Attica you sure are nailing them. I haven't been out due to family time some nasty weather. I may get out this week and try once or twice


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## Saugeyefisher

Very nice! Numbers and size!!!


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## fisher person

Nice going and nice fish, looks like you have really figured them out!


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## kanu

Once again, thanks for the photos and info.


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## Raylaser

AtticaFish said:


> The temps and strong wind made it pretty rough....... but the fishing sure made it tolerable.  Fish were very active. Caught around 25 from 6:30 to 8:30 with only 2 short fish and several missed. I could have had 3 or 4 limits of good size fish last night. Big fish for tonight went 27" on a swimbait. Caught a couple right off the bat on a HJ14. When the clouds cleared off and moon got bright, the bite seemed to pick up. They were crushing the big 4.8 Kietech swims. I use a bright 1/16 or 1/8 jighead and dark swimbait for the most part, but color doesn't seem to matter. I would switch up colors as I lost them in the rocks and still was getting steady bites. Just has to have a heavy over sized hook.... 3/0 or 4/0. Casting parallel to the bank and slow crank it. After about 6 or 8 cranks pause it for a second and they are inhaling it! This has been my best fall fishing ever!


As always Attica, You Da Man! Hoping this bodes well for the upcoming Hard Water season's bite!!


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## AtticaFish

Raylaser said:


> .........the upcoming Hard Water season's bite!!


Oh yeah, the ice season is already on my mind!! Could be some fun fishing at this reservoir through the ice...... as long as the city doesn't mess with the water level too much.


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## Raylaser

AtticaFish said:


> Oh yeah, the ice season is already on my mind!! Could be some fun fishing at this reservoir through the ice...... as long as the city doesn't mess with the water level too much.


You got that right!


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## Bvil

Heading out just before dark to a place I haven't tried in a while. I'm only going to fish from one side... since there is only one side.


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## Bvil

OK, so Bellevue #5 was a bust. 1.5 hours and not a single bite. The water is down about 6' and the steep banks with loose rocks made shore fishing challenging. Scrub trees are mowed off around the top creating beds of punji sticks in many areas.
It was kind of cool to watch 100+ swans fly in to overnight on the water.


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## Bvil

Managed to catch four today on swimbaits. All were hiding next to large rocks a few feet from shore.


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## AtticaFish

I got out Sunday night before the rain came in also...... managed a single 17" walleye and only 1 other bite for the night. Pretty funny how many other people i saw fishing. Sure didn't feel like the end of December!


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## AtticaFish

Gave it another shot last night. Pretty much dead calm and temps were comfortable. Not a bite. Water was very cloudy after the rain. Could see and hear quite a few fish coming up to the surface but all were a long way out from shore. The moon finally came out bright when i pulled back in my driveway and wondered if that might have helped to let the fish see a little better or get them feeding. Oh well, first skunk i have gotten in a while, it was about time.


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## Bvil

I went out Saturday morning right at daybreak. Walked and fished the entire shoreline. Ended up catching 12 and keeping 6. All fish were caught in a very small area. No bites anywhere else.

Stopped on the way home yesterday to do some walking and try a few different lures. Nothing.


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## soulsurvivor79

Are the ungrounds still open or have they iced over?


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## Bvil

The high winds today have me itching to try for some eyes. Stopped by the res yesterday and only a small area was open. The ice should be pretty much gone today... unless it's just broken up and pushed to the east side (hope not).
Unfortunately, the only gear in my vehicle is a telescopic rod with a swim bait.


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## Bvil

Caught one in the first few casts just a couple feet from the rocks. Only stayed for about 15 minutes. The water is a little muddy so a lure with a little more action or flash would probably have been better.


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## Bvil

Another one today on a crankbait my son made. Same exact spot as last time.


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## Bvil

I have about a thirty minute window on the way home to stop at the res. Hopefully, the strong North wind this afternoon will turn them on. Might be about time to start throwing some blades.


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## AtticaFish

Thinking about giving it a try myself this weekend. Have not been out at all to see if they have been pumping at the reservoirs yet and have them muddied up or not. If they are muddy, i might give it another week and give a small reservoir a shot on Sunday to see if any panfish wake up with the warm weather coming.


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## Bvil

Caught 4 yesterday. All were around 18". Tried several lures from floating rapalas to rattle traps but all were caught on swimbaits. Had to do a lot of walking.


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## AtticaFish

I got skunked on Saturday night. Made up for it with some crappie on Sunday afternoon. Not a bite casting for the walleye and lost a couple baits in the process. Have to re-adjust to the higher water i guess and find some productive areas. Shiners were stacked up in the shallow areas protected from the wind. Hopefully get out and try some different spots soon..... eating walleye tacos tonight so just made some room in the freezer!


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## AtticaFish

Skunked again tonight.... tried the same reservoir and the water was even higher, and muddy muddy. Maybe 4" to 6" visibility tops. Cold and snowy so i didnt stick around too long. Next walleye try will be to a different reservoir to see if I can find some cleaner water.


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## AtticaFish

On the board for 2020! Beautiful evening!!!Been out a couple times now at 2 different reservoirs. The clean water reservoir has fish all over the banks.... just couldn't get them to bite. Could not see fish in the muddy reaervoir, but managed to get 2 fish in the murky water on a natural colored green and silver husky jerk. Got them both just a little before sunset and they were close to shore. The bigger (all silver - cool looking) female was 19" and her eggs were relay developed and just about to drop. The smaller fish was a male. Of course I lost the husky jerk on the next cast after the 2nd fish.


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## ress

How big is the reservoir? Must not be very deep, meaning warmer temp bringing fish in.


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## AtticaFish

Both reservoirs I have tried are big and deep. Water seems cold to me but the fish are there. One of the walleye I caught was maybe only 3 or 4 feet off the bank so I assume he was up feeding at dusk. The water only has a couple inches of visibility right now because they are still filling it with water. That water coming in is probably warmer so maybe that is the difference.


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## ress

Are you seeing bait fish near shore? Here at the dead sea there is nothing near shore. Water has prolly 4 or 5' of gin clear water.


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## AtticaFish

In the clear water reservoir I fish pretty often, the small bluegill are out and about in the rip-rap. Saw some crawfish out too once it got dark. The muddy reservoir, can't see anything to know whats going on under the surface but there were a few big fish rolling on the surface out deeper.


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## ress

Lifeless here.


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## DeathFromAbove

The Dead Sea. What happened to that place It used to be good for walleye and perch


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## ress

Over fished IMO


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## Bucket Mouth

I hit one on Saturday morning. Same spike and same waxworm on two poles for 4 hours without a bite. Upper was clear, lower was stained. Fished the windblown side, steep riprap and impossible to keep the bobber/rig in the depth i wanted (setup between 3-4' down) as it would get blown into the rocks very quickly. Also threw a trusty beetle spin with no bumps. I can slay crappie on those things at certain times of the year.

I don't fish reservoirs much due to wind and tricky casting angles. It was nice to get out though.


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## Bvil

Caught and released a small one today.
Dang, it was windy!


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## AtticaFish

Much nicer weather than the last few nights I've been out. Got a nice fat 19" male up shallow in the big clear reaervoir i fish quite a bit. He was putting the feed bag on I guess, was packed full small bluegills. Caught it on a Berkley skinny cutter. I've been liking the skinny cutters lately and caught quite a few good fish on them.










Sign of the times I guess... drank some nitro infused Imperial IPA Flying Dog out of a plastic cup last night while i cleaned my fish. Haha. We ordered pizza last night and I was able to get a howler filled for pretty cheap.


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## ristorap

AtticaFish said:


> Caught it on a Berkley skinny cutter. I've been liking the skinny cutters


What skinny cutter colors are you using ?


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## AtticaFish

ristorap said:


> What skinny cutter colors are you using ?


The color that has been doing good for me is the bluegill looking color..... maybe called Gilly? Just went out and put my gear away from last night and realized i have bee mostly using the smaller one that is called the Cutter 90, only has 2 trebles. I do have some of the skinny cutter 120's also. I really like the action they have but i don't think i use them (stick baits in general) the same as i read a lot of other people do for walleye. I work them pretty fast and steady with sharp rod snaps. Not sure if anyone has ever watched KVD work a stick bait for smallmouth.... but that is pretty much what i do. Steady twitch-reel, twitch-twitch-reel, twitch-reel just taking up the slack between twitches. The Cutters and X-Raps work better with a retrieve like that than Husky Jerks do. The Cutters have a really random dart when you steady twitch them.


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## Saugeyefisher

AtticaFish said:


> The color that has been doing good for me is the bluegill looking color..... maybe called Gilly? Just went out and put my gear away from last night and realized i have bee mostly using the smaller one that is called the Cutter 90, only has 2 trebles. I do have some of the skinny cutter 120's also. I really like the action they have but i don't think i use them (stick baits in general) the same as i read a lot of other people do for walleye. I work them pretty fast and steady with sharp rod snaps. Not sure if anyone has ever watched KVD work a stick bait for smallmouth.... but that is pretty much what i do. Steady twitch-reel, twitch-twitch-reel, twitch-reel just taking up the slack between twitches. The Cutters and X-Raps work better with a retrieve like that than Husky Jerks do. The Cutters have a really random dart when you steady twitch them.


I use that retreive quite often. Even in colder water this last year they would want that. And almost exclusively use that retreive in the rivers in the summer. 
I am going to have to pick up some of the cutters. I like a xrap when using this retreive. Sounds like the cutter would be simaler....


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## float4fish

Got a 24” eye last night steady reeled jerk bait. Had on follow early on a twitch pause cadence. Switched to a slow steady retrieve, missed more than I care to admit before I got t-boned by the one I landed. Thanks for the lessons Attica, all the reading is starting to pay off!


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## AtticaFish

Saugeyefisher - Glad to hear other people are catching them this way. I've never been able to get them to go on the long pauses and kept trying slower and slower. That works fine with husky jerks or smithwicks, but the X-Raps never wobble as much on the slow straight retrieve. The Cutters are pretty close action to the X-Raps and they cast really good like the too! 

float4fish - That is a nice fish. I missed a couple the other night that i am still grumbling about. Might get out again later this week.


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## hailtothethief

I’ve missed fished. Miss the bus u take the next one. Make urself mad dont accomplish nothing


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## Bvil

My wife told me that our freezer needs some replenishing so I'll be stopping at the res on the way home today. Nice and windy but a little more sunshine than I'd like.

float4fish,
Good to hear you're having some success. 24" is quite nice!
I never dreamed of catching as many eyes from the shore as I have over the past six months. Like you, I credit this thread for the inspiration and information.


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## Saugeyefisher

AtticaFish said:


> Saugeyefisher - Glad to hear other people are catching them this way. I've never been able to get them to go on the long pauses and kept trying slower and slower. That works fine with husky jerks or smithwicks, but the X-Raps never wobble as much on the slow straight retrieve. The Cutters are pretty close action to the X-Raps and they cast really good like the too!
> 
> float4fish - That is a nice fish. I missed a couple the other night that i am still grumbling about. Might get out again later this week.


I'll admit even when I am getting them on the "dead stick" I'm not pausing my bait no more then a few seconds. And 9 out of 10 times I'm still having to reel in my line to keep the slack out because the wind/current is constantly moving my bait. So it's more a dead no action bait deicing thru the water column,an every once in a wile I'll give it a twitch or flutter just to give it the look its alive but either dying or very lethargic.
And I agree 1000%the Huskies an rouges are best used for a slow steady retreive or dead sticking like I mention above. 
Good stuff man!


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## float4fish

float4fish,
Good to hear you're having some success. 24" is quite nice!
I never dreamed of catching as many eyes from the shore as I have over the past six months. Like you, I credit this thread for the inspiration and information.[/QUOTE]

Bvil,
That is probably the biggest Walleye I have ever caught, even out of Erie. Without threads like this, the Central Ohio thread Rainy Night Jerk Bite Limits and FishSlims lessons, I would have zero clue on catching these fish. It really is a gold mine of knowledge throughout this entire site. I hope that one day I can pass on half the knowledge the people here have passed to me. I have spent many many cold nights throwing all kinds of lures and really learning while catching no fish. If I could pass one thing on at this point, that would be it. You have to get out there to if nothing else, learn how your baits work, then where and why fish would be there, all of that information is provided on this site if someone wants to decider what is being told. Thanks again to all of the people who pass the knowledge and experience that shorten the learning curve.


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## Bvil

Managed to land three in the cold wind. Missed or lost at least a dozen. Also had several short strikes right at the shore. One actually came out of the water as I lifted my lure.


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## AtticaFish

The bass were smackin the stick baits last night. 4 bass and 3 walleye was the grand total but only one 16" walleye came home with me. One of the bass was a pig too.... if I was to guess I would say it was pushing 4lbs or better. Just a guess tho, no measurement. It was a beautiful night after a brief rain and wind pushed through. 



















.....and the big girl......


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## croppie1

Nice fish Attica.Was wondering what headlamp do you use?


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## float4fish

Lost an absolute pig last night due to a rookie mistake on the netting job. I got a 24” not too long ago and this one would have beat that. They are definitely getting more consistent for me, but still only hitting 2-3 per night.


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## AtticaFish

croppie1 - I honestly wasn't sure about my headlamp but just looked when i went to take the garbage out..... it is a Bell & Howell Tac Light. The battery pack is on the back of my head (has a red light in the back) and the light up front has an adjustable beam. I do like the adjustable beam. I can use the focused beam to spot light way down the shore, just have to be careful cause it really spooks them. Can adjust it to a wider beam easily when you have a fish on.

float4fish - 2 or 3 a night sounds awesome to me! I've only got lucky with limits on upgrounds a very very few times. Those 2 or 3 fill the freezer nicely. With the meat shortages everyone is predicting, that is a perfect way to fill the freezer.  I need to eat more fish to make some room. It is amazing how those lost fish always look gigantic. Never can tell cause they never hit the net. haha Glad to hear you are getting them consistently.


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## float4fish

AtticaFish said:


> croppie1 - I honestly wasn't sure about my headlamp but just looked when i went to take the garbage out..... it is a Bell & Howell Tac Light. The battery pack is on the back of my head (has a red light in the back) and the light up front has an adjustable beam. I do like the adjustable beam. I can use the focused beam to spot light way down the shore, just have to be careful cause it really spooks them. Can adjust it to a wider beam easily when you have a fish on.
> 
> float4fish - 2 or 3 a night sounds awesome to me! I've only got lucky with limits on upgrounds a very very few times. Those 2 or 3 fill the freezer nicely. With the meat shortages everyone is predicting, that is a perfect way to fill the freezer.  I need to eat more fish to make some room. It is amazing how those lost fish always look gigantic. Never can tell cause they never hit the net. haha Glad to hear you are getting them consistently.


You know where I’m fishing! Send me a PM and I would be very glad to meet up one evening. I have have been shooting for an hour before sunset until 10-12 depending on work schedule. That fish last night was actually knocked off by the net. I was messing around with a jigging rap and hooked into her got her to the surface and was so excited I completely missed on the first scoop the second scoop I jabbed at her and knocked her off. I wanted to throw up.


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## AtticaFish

I forgot to mention, last night the fish were super close to shore. As in less than 3' of water. Was mainly using a floating Yo-Zuri crank that doesn't dive deep at all and i was still getting hung up on the rip-rap pretty often. The Yo-Zuri has an amazing wide side to side action on a slow retrieve. The same crank has caught several fish on my last few trips.


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## float4fish

AtticaFish said:


> I forgot to mention, last night the fish were super close to shore. As in less than 3' of water. Was mainly using a floating Yo-Zuri crank that doesn't dive deep at all and i was still getting hung up on the rip-rap pretty often. The Yo-Zuri has an amazing wide side to side action on a slow retrieve. The same crank has caught several fish on my last few trips.


Great tip! Was looking for something that doesn’t so much. I’m seeing them up earlier and earlier in the night and the weeds are already getting thicker.


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## AtticaFish

Caught 4 last night, thankfully before the steady rain and stronger winds started. It was chilly when I got there right at sundown. Once it got dark, the wind died down some and made it feel a lot better. Fished until about 11:15. They were shallow, all my bites were in less than 2' of water. Even got to sight fish one that didn't get spooked when I shined my headlamp at it. Biggest fish was 22" and the others were 19" & 18". I released one that was maybe 14" or 15". A couple missed bites too, fish were very active with lots of followers. Caught them on both stick cranks and swim baits. Once I got in my vehicle to head home, the wind and rain really picked up for a while.


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## Scum_Frog

Well done attica....making me want to get out again soon.


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## float4fish

Planning to head out tonight


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## Bucket Mouth

A few days back I caught a couple mid day on slip floats set about 6' down using an ice jig and gulp leaches. They were shorts though, both went about 14".


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## Bvil

Caught four 17"-18" today on swimbaits. The sunshine had them a little deeper than usual on a windy day.


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## whiskerchaser

Well it's been a crazy year so far with everything going on, on top of buying a house i haven't made it out. Last night was my first trip.
Got to the waters edge about 309am water high calm wind out of south made couple cast with nothing. I started evaluate my situation and almost left to go to a place were water not as high but I decided to stay and give it a shot moved down the bank to my second spot and bam eye on and on shore by 314am. 14.5inches. back in water and next hour was fire caught 7 eyes all at 14.5 and 15 inches. Wind picked up alittle and bite died managed a smallmouth and another eye at 15 inches. All fish caught in 2feet or less of except the last eye he was in about 7 feet but hit only foot or two below surface. 3.25 big joshy green glow perch caught all fish. Didn't bring any fish home but had a blast. They were flat out inhaling the swim bait and a few ate their Wheaties thought had an 18 incher and bam another dink. Until next time stay safe and fish on


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## whiskerchaser

Hit again last night early morning from 330 to 530am caught 7 right at 14.75 inches. The future of eyes in that res. Is looking good nice thick healthy fish just wish I can find some little bigger


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## AtticaFish

Sounds like you have them figured out, just need to find the bigger ones. Do you ever try throwing any bigger swim baits? Some days I think they catch bigger fish..... but other days I still catch dinks even on the 5" baits. I've had much better luck with stick baits this spring. Not sure if it is the changes in retrieve I have made or if I have just enjoyed using them more with the fast action so use they more often than normal. Hope you csn find some keepers!


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## whiskerchaser

I have a two colors in the big joshy j5s. Haven't thrown any yet this year been kinda hard to change when they are hitting. First night I did throw my xrap8 but nothing put joshy back on and bam. Sooner or later I'll find the keepers I know they are in there just a huge population of just under 15 inches. I'mma cheat some this next week gonna get me bunch of shiners and float them a foot under bobber along the drops.


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## whiskerchaser

Went out from 230am til 630 just flat out tore them up don't even know how many I caught but finally managed 2 over 15inches. Threw every size big joshy I had and xrap. Most fish came on 2.75 joshy .


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## AtticaFish

Love to hear it man!!! I'd be tempted to keep at least a couple just shy of 15" if that is all you are catching. That is assuming you don't have a 15" minimum size limit where you are fishing of course. I keep a few 14 and up if I can't seem to get anything bigger. No size l8mits on the place I fish most.

We are having walleye tacos this week so that is gonna put a hole in my freezer........ woo hoo! Time to get out and put a couple more away. Fish tacos have to be my new favorite way to eat walleye.


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## float4fish

Attica, ever grilled them wrapped in bacon? Did that this week, will do again.


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## whiskerchaser

Unfortunately my go-to palce does have the 15 inches min. I do have couple places here that don't have that limit and some nights I will keep a 14incher just cause I'm hungry for fish. But I've been dedicated to this one peice of water it's hard not to go there when im smashing them. Sooner later all them dinks gonna have sore jaws and give them bigger ones a chance to bite


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## AtticaFish

float4fish said:


> Attica, ever grilled them wrapped in bacon? Did that this week, will do again.


No..... never have. Sure sounds interesting tho. I will post the recipe we use for tacos. Has a really good spicy corn and cabbage slaw with it. Works for other studf too.


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## whiskerchaser

That sounds awesome Attica I'll def be doing some fish tacos soon once I get stocked back up on fish


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## AtticaFish

Here is the fish taco recipe. 

https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a53296/easy-fish-taco-recipe/

The slaw is gooooood. Cut a few extra jalapenos if you like it spicy. The fish marinade we usually double regardless so it has a little more juice when we fill the tacos. GOTTA slather your soft taco shell with a thin layer of sour cream. This recipe replaced taco Tuesday in no time. Yummmmm!!!


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## Scum_Frog

Future should be bright at Willard. DNR just dropped 20,350 walleye in their! Should be catchable in a couple of years! Cool they are trying to keep population established!


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## walleye30

Scum_Frog said:


> Future should be bright at Willard. DNR just dropped 20,350 walleye in their! Should be catchable in a couple of years! Cool they are trying to keep population established!


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## walleye30

Are they Walleye or Saugeye they put in Willard?


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## Bvil

I believe that Willard has walleye.
Trying to decide where to take the boat today. It will probably be Willard because I want to play with my aquavu camera and Willard is usually very clear.


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## Scum_Frog

Ya Willard will definitely be clearest for your chance to see.....find any weed beds and fish right outside of them.


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## AtticaFish

That is awesome to hear. I'm afraid the stocking programs will be one of the easy cuts with so much less money in the system currently because Corona crap. No clue though.

Willard was really clear last I was there. If you can find the bluegill spawning..... try casting a worm and jig off the deep side of the beds at dusk. Trust me.


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## Bvil

I was surprised how well the Aquavu camera worked in the clear water at Willard. Pretty cool actually seeing structure that shows up on the fish finder. Many of the weed beds are not as thick as I assumed. Viewed several cats, bluegills, what looked like white perch or small white bass and one medium size walleye on the bottom in 30' of water. 
Caught around ten cats. The biggest was 24". One 16" eye.
Guy on the bank said he was one short of a limit using leeches. Thought he might have been one of you characters.


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## kevinw

Is there much of a difference between Sauger, Walleye, and Saugeye? Catching, cleaning, or eating? And why do some reservoirs get one or the other? 

I've never caught any of these, but I've heard they like to dump Saugeye into the bigger Mcomb reservoir.


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## Redhunter1012

kevinw said:


> Is there much of a difference between Sauger, Walleye, and Saugeye? Catching, cleaning, or eating? And why do some reservoirs get one or the other?
> 
> I've never caught any of these, but I've heard they like to dump Saugeye into the bigger Mcomb reservoir.


They used to stock it often. Not any more. It used to be a great spot to go get a few. It's so low and the water is mossy as heck around the edges. IMO, fostoria #5&6 are better options. Or the bigger North Baltimore Reservoir in the SE corner


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## kevinw

Redhunter1012 said:


> They used to stock it often. Not any more. It used to be a great spot to go get a few. It's so low and the water is mossy as heck around the edges. IMO, fostoria #5&6 are better options. Or the bigger North Baltimore Reservoir in the SE corner


It's filamentous algae, and it's super bad this year, yeah. I've never seen anything like it. The bluegill seem to love it though. There's like millions of them just chilling on the stuff.


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## float4fish

kevinw said:


> Is there much of a difference between Sauger, Walleye, and Saugeye? Catching, cleaning, or eating? And why do some reservoirs get one or the other?
> 
> Why some reservoirs get walleye and some get saugeye? This depends heavily on the accessibility to the Erie watershed. There are few lakes in the Ohio River watershed that get walleye, saugeye are very adaptable to a variety of water conditions. Stocking in the Erie watershed is mostly walleye. After a few email exchanges with ODNR, this depends on the fish’s ability to leave the lake and get into a waterway that will lead to Erie. In the ungrounds they have very limited opportunities to do that, almost none. The state will stock both in these waters. If the fish can get out of these lakes, it’s 100% walleye stocking.
> IMO walleye are much easier to pattern and catch. They act like walleye all the time. Saugeye will act like both parents. For me, I have a lot of confidence going walleye fishing especially in the ungrounds. Saugeye not so much.
> As far as taste, they taste the same. Put them on a plate together and you can not tell them apart.
> I highly recommended emailing or calling ODNR to get stocking numbers! They are ALWAYS very receptive and will answer any questions you ask them.
> 
> I've never caught any of these, but I've heard they like to dump Saugeye into the bigger Mcomb reservoir.


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## AtticaFish

Only been out twice to reservoirs so far and not a single bite to show for almost 5 hours of casting. The reservoir i went to last night is one i can usually spotlight lots of fish but i didn't see any glowing eyes at all. Did find some patches of weeds out in a little deeper water so tried to take note of them at least. Should be good spots to target later. Oh well, i might keep plugging away with the panfish and give it a week before i try again after dark.

On a side note, i have been hearing a few spotty shore reports from Lake Erie and Sandusky Bay already. With the high walleye population up there now, it wouldn't surprise me if those fish were feeding up close to shore all through summer.


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## Bvil

I gave it a shot a couple times as well. The conditions seemed right but left empty handed.


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## Southernsaug

We've picked up a few right at dawn instead of evening. I think it's been warming the water too much through the days. Got two yesterday and two this morning all 17-21"


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## whiskerchaser

I've been hitting same res. Off an on all summer and it's been same thing nothing but dinks.. 11 to 14 inches.. hoping once water cools off some I can find some bigger ones just might have to start fishing other places this fall


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## float4fish

The lake I fish is so low the floating dock is now resting completely on rocks, no flotation at all. Fall is not starting as I had hoped.


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## zwiller

AtticaFish said:


> On a side note, i have been hearing a few spotty shore reports from Lake Erie and Sandusky Bay already. With the high walleye population up there now, it wouldn't surprise me if those fish were feeding up close to shore all through summer.


Just got through this thread and learned tons. Thanks to all for contributing! Fired up. I hope to provide some Sandusky Bay data but need to get a few things first.


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## AtticaFish

Gave it a shot again last night, was hoping the rain would have cooled the water a bit. Not sure about that but the reservoir was kinda muddied up. Only 1 bite but managed to land it at least. Was a small 10" or so walleye on a Skinny Cutter stick.... better than my last 2 trips combined.


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## Scum_Frog

Soon as my boats back from service I'll be hitting the reservoirs and lake erie for some nighttime walleye! Russ did u get into fall brawl?


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## AtticaFish

No, i have never signed up for the Brawl.... i just don't get up to Erie all that much.


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## Scum_Frog

ahh I gotcha....just takes one night and one cast......life changer for $32 lol


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## Bvil

Stopped on the way home yesterday and made a few casts. Only a couple 14 inchers and a small channel cat. Missed a few good bites and had a bigger eye breech the surface at the end of a retrieve.
Another week or two should get them going.


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## whiskerchaser

Might give it a try tonight after work tonight depending on how work goes. They should be heating up soon with nice cool nights


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## zwiller

Facebook fishing groups are saying they are biting up here already. Need to get some gear. Got my list of lures, what size jigs for the soft plastics? I think I need to step up from size 6.


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## Bucket Mouth

Get some EWG 3/0 or bigger hooks that are weighted.


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## ress

Looks like Findlay #2 turned over. Lots of alge floating and sediment on the surface. Old saying is don't bother for a week or so.


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## AtticaFish

Was out on Saturday night and looks like the eyes are pushing up closer to shore. Only landed one 12" or so walleye but missed several bites. I was hooked into something LARGE that did a steady drag peel until the hook came free. Guessing I maybe was snagged into a carp since I really never felt a bite, just weight and then couldn't stop it goimg.the other direction. Gonna switch up reservoirs and give it another try this week. Think it is getting close!


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## float4fish

Seen some glowing eyes last night at the upground I frequent. No takers though. Gonna give that one a rest until they put several feet of water back in. It’s been up and down the last few times I have been and it’s been junk. Thinking I’m gonna hit another one at night for awhile and may try to figure out New London if a daytime opportunity arises. Those reefs look interesting.


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## dlancy

As mentioned, this is truly a great thread. For all the guys who hit the rocks for Erie, I have a few questions. I’ve gotten familiar with a few locations to hit and know that if the bait isn’t there you might as well head to another location. What I’m struggling with knowing is what type of conditions I should be looking for weather wise. What are the best water temps, clarity, wave heights, wind speed/direction and overall weather patterns I should look for to help with success rates? Also, how can I help predict which location might produce over another with current weather conditions? I have about an hour drive to make it to the big pond, so I’d like to get a better feeling on when to go or when I’m better off staying local. Thanks and keep the good info coming!


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## AtticaFish

@dustinlancy - Some of those questions you bring up are the reasons i tend to stick with the inland reservoirs. Over the years it has always been a crap shoot for me up at Erie. Some days they are there and other days it feels like you are casting into the dead sea. Since it has always been a 50/50 chance, i pick the days that i know are gonna be a little easier to cast and deal with waves... then cross my fingers. Erie fish seem to move in large packs so if you see other nets come out on the pier your chances are better. If no one is catching, then the school has moved on. I've always heard that they follow the bait schools but have learned that just because there is bait doesn't mean the walleye will be with the bait. Wish i had a better answer for you, it is a really big lake when you are fishing from shore.

I have about an hour drive to the closest Erie location but have 4 or 5 choices inland that are all about 30 minutes or less. The inland reservoirs, i've learned the specific rockpiles and points that the fish hang out on pretty much every night. If they aren't at the typical spots on the South end..... start walking to the North end and try. Just don't have that option on Erie. I honestly believe it is all a temp/time thing inland. Once the temps and daylight amount is right, those fish will be up on shore after dark and it is just a matter of if they are hungry when you swim something past them.


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## dlancy

That’s what I feared Attica!

The big pond is it’s own beast for sure. I appreciate the response. That’s pretty much how I’ve been looking at it. Fish when it’s not awful conditions and make the best of it. Goal this fall is to try and limit once on The Erie shoreline. Wish me luck....I’ll post with any insights. 


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## Karl Wolf

So much good info on this thread. When I come home the end of November, I'd like to finally try for some Erie shoreline casting.


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## Gottagofishn

dustinlancy said:


> As mentioned, this is truly a great thread. For all the guys who hit the rocks for Erie, I have a few questions. I’ve gotten familiar with a few locations to hit and know that if the bait isn’t there you might as well head to another location. What I’m struggling with knowing is what type of conditions I should be looking for weather wise. What are the best water temps, clarity, wave heights, wind speed/direction and overall weather patterns I should look for to help with success rates? Also, how can I help predict which location might produce over another with current weather conditions? I have about an hour drive to make it to the big pond, so I’d like to get a better feeling on when to go or when I’m better off staying local. Thanks and keep the good info coming!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


If you go to the Central Ohio forum, check out two threads...Rainy Night Jerk Bait Limits and Finding and Determining A Saugeye Spot.
Both of those threads will “enlighten” you. Some amazing fishermen and information in there. It would take several lifetimes to acquire that amount of fishing knowledge on your own. Those two threads will answer your questions and more.
I highly recommend it, you’ll be glad you did!
Al


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## float4fish

Well not even a bump in the drizzle tonight. I thought I had this figured out from the spring successes. Fish will humble you quickly.


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## AtticaFish

@float4fish - You are right about that, i am embarrassed to say how many trips i have been out now with only a couple short walleye to show for it. I gave it a try again last night too. Had a couple bites on swimbaits but they felt more like rockbass than walleye. Got to thoroughly test out my new Carhart Shoreline bibs and coat though. With the steady mist and sprinkles i was dry as could be! 

@Gottagofishn - You are correct, those threads in the Central forum have a TON of good info. I can say i don't think i would have ever started using swimbaits if not for that Rainy Night thread. Not sure if the difference in my approach is the species (walleye vs. saugeye) but a lot of that info doesn't relate to the majority of lakes i fish. I mainly am fishing walleye in upgrounds that are relatively clear or crystal clear water, no current, very little depth contour or structure and bait fish mainly limited to the walleye picking off individual bluegill or perch. Tuning and balancing a stick bait doesn't mean much to me because i think i have caught only 1 fish ever on a bait that was sitting still. Speed control and how erratic i work a stick bait is more crucial for me i think. Some days slow and steady wins the race, other days i have to work it non stop on the entire retrieve. Again, not taking anything away from those other threads..... maybe it is just not my style of fishing..... i tend to be impatient when fishing and like to cover ground so the long pauses kill me. haha I am always trying to learn so have read through them both!


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## float4fish

Yeah my last two trips have proven to be a test run for the new heated jacket my daughter bought for me. At least that was a success. I hate being cold, but this is the weather it takes. She got the Milwaukee hoodie, thing is quite impressive so far.


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## DeathFromAbove

That sounds pretty nice! As I've gotten older,I've gotten colder. Where did she get that at ?


float4fish said:


> Yeah my last two trips have proven to be a test run for the new heated jacket my daughter bought for me. At least that was a success. I hate being cold, but this is the weather it takes. She got the Milwaukee hoodie, thing is quite impressive so far.


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## BFG

float4fish said:


> Well not even a bump in the drizzle tonight. I thought I had this figured out from the spring successes. Fish will humble you quickly.


I'll tell you what, fall casting is nothing like spring casting. Spring is FAR easier and more consistent than the fall bite ever has been for me.


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## AtticaFish

Finally, a couple for the freezer! Woo hoo! Except I switched it up from my routine. Had an off chance to fish early morning. Got to the reservoir around 5:15......AM. Tried fishing the spot I usually have success after dark and had not takers. Brought along my minnow net so seined up some baby bluegill and a few chubs. Right around sun up I moved to a deep water hole and started casting a 1/8 jig tipped with a baby gill. Should have made the move earlier on! Landed 3 walleye, several crappie and a bluegill. 2 walleye a crappie and a gill came home with me. The bigger walleye went 26"!




























The early morning fishing and cleaning fish without drinking a beer might take some getting used to.


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## Bprice1031

AtticaFish said:


> The early morning fishing and cleaning fish without drinking a beer might take some getting used to.


Beer opens the same way in the morning as it does in the evening.


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## Chilly1

You can’t drink all day if you don’t start in the morning


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## whiskerchaser

Been busy so haven't posted much but I have been out getting them eyes in the last week I've brought home 2 24inch walleyes 1 18.5 walleye 5 saugeyes ranging from 15 to 18inches.. caught many under 15 it's been good lately will post pics later


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## AtticaFish

Wow..... having a pitiful fall walleye season. Water temp is definitely cooled down, had to clear the tip top eye after every dozen casts or so. I've caught maybe 5 walleye total this fall and only 2 big enough to come home. Caught a nice crappie early on tonight using a EuroTackle swim bait but cut it loose since that was the only bite for the night. At this point I think I just need to give up on the eyes for the season and stick to the pan fish! Haha. Hopefully someone around is getting some walleye for the reservoirs. 










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## whiskerchaser

It's that time to pull out the swimbaits and jerkbaits and start chasing them upground eyes.. 2 trips so far in this year first trip caught 9 brought home 3 keepers 2 15inchers and a 17incher.. 2nd trip caught 2 dinks in bout 20 mins.. water warming up get after them eyes


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## whiskerchaser




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## zwiller

Skunked twice so far on Sandusky Bay. Cool tidbid for you guys: Cabela's have the popular walleye lures on sale and in all colors were in stock in Avon. Sale is until end of March. I loaded up and did a bunch of HJ and Rippin Raps.


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## AtticaFish

Great catch! Funny you posted @whiskerchaser - I was just out last night for my first try this spring. I did not do as well as you though. Big ZERO for me but did have a heart attack moment when i happened to click my light on at the end of a retrieve to check how my twister grub was running because it just didn't feel right. An absolute GIANT walleye (ok, maybe / maybe not, i only caught a glimpse and about crapped my pants) came up and took a half hearted swipe at my bait right at my feet before it turned slowly and drifted back down into the rocks. Makes me wonder if that walleye was maybe short striking the twister tail and that is what felt weird. It got my hopes up at least!!! No chance to get out tonight and tomorrow doesn't sound like much fun so probably be back at it on Friday.


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## whiskerchaser

Last night actually this morning I fish the 3am to 6am time they were biting real light and short.. now last tuesday was different they were flat out crushing the big joshys 2.75s


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## AtticaFish

I was out Tuesday night at an upground near me from around 7:30 to 10:30 and had 2 bites..... total. Managed to set the hook on the 2nd bite and landed a small bass so at least no skunk. Fished the wind sheltered area early because of how strong the wind was but finished out on the wind blown shore and fought to cast any direction but North. Both bites came on the wind blown side. I'll give this res another late night shot before I move on and try another.










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## Bvil

Caught two, 17" & 18", Tuesday afternoon in the wind and lost a third. They were both males and ready to party. Mayo sprayin' all over. All three were about five feet from the rocks.
Might try again today with the strong NW wind. I rarely have any luck if the wind is not in my face and getting wet legs from waves splashing.


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## AtticaFish

Got a couple eater walleye tonight and a giant bass. Fun evening. Deep, clear water reservoir so the eyes don't seem to show up till it is full dark and then some. Fished 9:00 to 11:30 and picked up the 2nd walleye just before I left. Both males and they are shallow right now. The Skinny Cutter stick crank was getting hung in the rocks a lot. Heard lots of fish surfacing out deep but all my bites were shallow. Missed 2 other good bites somehow. The big bass hit a Kalins bluegill 5" grub on a lightweight oversize hook head. Did not measure the bass, but it rivaled the length of the bigger walleye i think. 




























Got a new Mr. Crappir blade i am pretty happy with so far. I still ONLY use my CutCo knife for the skins. It is the best skinning knife I have ever laid hands on by leaps and bounds. I may look for a slightly shorter version on the Mr. Crappie blade though. I was really accustomed to my short Rapala 4" blade for fileting. 










Candy was not amused that I took a break in the cleaning process to take pics. 










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## whiskerchaser

Glad to see you got on some eyes attica... I havent been out much between work family and crappy weather...


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## fshnmaster

Glad to see that a few guys have the tough unground resevoirs somewhat figured out for eyes. I can't ever persuade myself to try them for eyes since Indian is so much easier. Maybe one day!


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## whiskerchaser

Me personally I cant figure indian out I catch fish once in blue moon. The resivours are definitely hard but nice and close


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## Bprice1031

AtticaFish said:


> Got a couple eater walleye tonight and a giant bass. Fun evening. Deep, clear water reservoir so the eyes don't seem to show up till it is full dark and then some. Fished 9:00 to 11:30 and picked up the 2nd walleye just before I left. Both males and they are shallow right now. The Skinny Cutter stick crank was getting hung in the rocks a lot. Heard lots of fish surfacing out deep but all my bites were shallow. Missed 2 other good bites somehow. The big bass hit a Kalins bluegill 5" grub on a lightweight oversize hook head. Did not measure the bass, but it rivaled the length of the bigger walleye i think.
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Sounds like a good time. Thanks for the photos. Now I got another beer to look for.🍺


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## fshnmaster

whiskerchaser said:


> Me personally I cant figure indian out I catch fish once in blue moon. The resivours are definitely hard but nice and close


I work 5 minutes away from Indian so i fish it a lot. If you ever have any questions or wanna hit it shoot me a private message!


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## AtticaFish

I don't think i caught a single keeper walleye in this particular reservoir at all last spring or fall and for years before that this one was fun because i could spotlight them way down the shore then get down the rocks and work my way to them. But last year i hardly even saw any fish. I was wondering if fishing pressure or something else took a toll on them. This year, seeing lots of bigger fish cruising very shallow like the old days. The 2nd fish i caught was in an area i spotted and spooked a couple on my first walk past. When i came back i made sure to keep my distance and made a longer cast to the area. Both were males and milting while i was putting them on the stringer. They were up in probably less than 2' of water too.

@Bprice1031 - That is another Columbus Brewing Co. It is a pretty potent one at 10% or something close but very smooth. The name Creeper is accurate because it will sneak up on ya!


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## DeathFromAbove

Thats one Chunk of a Bass you got there Attica


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## AtticaFish

Yes it was! I should have measured it. My bucket is one of the taller style buckets and i had it laying flat against it. I will have to measure that when i get home just to get an idea. When it hit, it just thumped hard and dug down for the first part of the fight and i thought for sure it was gonna be a big walleye. Once it got closer, it shot straight up and clear out of the water so i knew it wasn't an 'eye.


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## AtticaFish

Boom, boom, boom. Almost feels like I am getting my groove back. Saw fish cruising up close to shore but all my hits came out a little deeper tonight. Fished from 9:00 to 11:30. Dropped what felt like a good one too. 3 of my 4 bites even came on a pause.... which seldom happens for me. I was jerking the crank along steady and fast and stopped to check a message on my phone and my rod started bending. Started deliberately pausing after that and picked up the 2nd fish and dropped the other. Last fish came in a spot that always seems to hold a fish or 2 as long as I don't spook them. Same skinny cutter crank for all my bites. All good eater size.... 17", 20" and 21". 




























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## ress

DANG!


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## float4fish

Saugeye huh! Still haven’t been able to put it together yet. I have 2 fish in 2 trips this month.


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## AtticaFish

float4fish said:


> Saugeye huh! Still haven’t been able to put it together yet. I have 2 fish in 2 trips this month.


According to ODNR, they only put walleye in this reservoir. I had 5 or 6 trips with NO fish before this last week. Been seeing a lot of fish at this reservoir now. 

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## Bprice1031

AtticaFish said:


> Boom, boom, boom. Almost feels like I am getting my groove back. Saw fish cruising up close to shore but all my hits came out a little deeper tonight. Fished from 9:00 to 11:30. Dropped what felt like a good one too. 3 of my 4 bites even came on a pause.... which seldom happens for me. I was jerking the crank along steady and fast and stopped to check a message on my phone and my rod started bending. Started deliberately pausing after that and picked up the 2nd fish and dropped the other. Last fish came in a spot that always seems to hold a fish or 2 as long as I don't spook them. Same skinny cutter crank for all my bites. All good eater size.... 17", 20" and 21".
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Nice fish and good beer to go with em'!


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## AtticaFish

The rain cleared out enough for me to get out last night but the sky still looked iffy so I think everyone else stayed home. Only 2 other guys out on the entire lake. Started fishing at 8 but didn't catch anything worth keeping until after dark. Got a pair of walleye and ended with 4 nice rock bass. The skinny cutters still working good. Cranking them fast and erratic did the trick.










Bigger walleye went 18 and the smaller was about 14.5". No size limit where I was fishing.  Biggest rock bass was over 10".










Check out the bluegill in the stomach of the smaller walleye! Don't know how he managed to get it in his mouth let alone still be wanting more to eat!



















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## ress

Hit the local big reservoir about 11 this morning. No one else fishing either reservoir, thought that was strange. Gave myself a 2 hour time limit. Four nice catfish thrown back. Four 10 inch white bass caught while reeling in to check bait, released. Three of the biggest perch I've caught in one trip! Tight line with red worms.























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## DeathFromAbove

Those are some Gator Perch for the Dead Sea !!!


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## Redhunter1012

That Reservoir always produces big perch


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## ress

Each one swallowed the hook deep. Bellies were nearly empty to. I fish with a two hook line and each took the top hook. 

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk


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## Bvil

Stopping at a local upground after work today to do some casting into the wind. Haven't been able to fish nearly as much this year and our freezer is without walleye. Hoping to rectify that situation.


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## DeathFromAbove

Let us know how you do. I've been waiting for the heat to break, but it's gonna be 90 again today.


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## AtticaFish

Yep.... i have been thinking about those glowing eyes myself lately. Just haven't pulled the trigger to give it a shot yet. The bluegill fishing is heating up right now too. Have been a couple different places and putting away a few fillets for the nasty time in-between open water and walkable ice.


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## Raylaser

AtticaFish said:


> Yep.... i have been thinking about those glowing eyes myself lately. Just haven't pulled the trigger to give it a shot yet. The bluegill fishing is heating up right now too. Have been a couple different places and putting away a few fillets for the nasty time in-between open water and walkable ice.


Ah, walkable ice, what a great thought! Unfortunately this massive heat wave makes me think it will be February before that happens, LOL!


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## Bvil

My stop after work on Tuesday was a bust. Not a single bite.


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## whiskerchaser

Went out for an hour tonight with couple of the kids.. really windy but found an 18 incher and a 13 incher. Missed a few others all fish off swimbait and only 3 to 8ft of bank...


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## whiskerchaser

Gonna take advantage of the warmer weather and the southwest wind tonight to hit my go to spot after work. Hopefully they are moving and hungry


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## AtticaFish

Can't wait to hear the report - good luck! Haven't had much chance to get out so far this fall. Been out trying only twice now. Last trip I caught a few rockbass and one short walleye. I broke the lip off a skinny cutter crank then found what looked like a brand new HJ in my favorite Helsinki Shad color right where I sat down to turn on my light and tie on a new bait. Figured I broke even. 










If you come back with a good report you just might get me motivated!

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## whiskerchaser

I will have report up little after sunrise.. I havent got out as much as I like hopefully tonight is well worth it


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## whiskerchaser

Well nothing special to report. Wishing there was little more wind. Beautiful night to be out but the fish just weren't were I thought they would be.. after lots of rock hopping finally caught what I thought was gonna be trophy eye ended up being a big ole sheepshead. Missed quiet a few short striking.. ended the night losing a big eye at the shore caught a 14.5incher and a 16 incher.. could of fished prob another hour but I was done and tired.. try it all over again tonight.


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## whiskerchaser




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## AtticaFish

I bet you did think you had a helluva walleye on fighting the sheep! Haha. I've hooked into a couple good cats after dark and thought for sure I had a record walleye on the line.

I'm calling your trip pretty successful. I have some work to catch up on tonight but just may give it a go before the end of this week. 

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## whiskerchaser

Your right Attica the trip was successful. No skunk here...it is bout the hardest I've had to work for eyes in while. No I don't light them up but can always manage a few shorts in a few places... last night I was 2hours of casting before getting a good bite... bout to head out again debating on game plan hope I choose right.. will report back when sun starts to come up..


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## whiskerchaser

Not much action this morning same memo lots of ground covered just to find them in same area.. 3 shorts that's it. All fish shallow and not that far off bank.. all on swims..


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## AtticaFish

Finally made it out! I got a Google Photo memory from this week, 2 years ago, of a limit from an upground. I think that was my first ever inland limit actually.... pretty sure I posted it here. Anyway, that picture was enough to get me motivated.

Of course I didn't get out as early as I wanted but was gonna go regardless. Casted from about 8:30 to 10:30 and only had 1 bite that thankfully made it to the net. Caught on a pink/silver husky jerk and was cranking it and twitching it hard when she hit. Tried doing more of the same retrieve pattern but just wasn't happening. Broke the diving lip off the HJ on the rocks shortly after so need to replace that color I guess. 










Perfect sandwich size for me and the mrs.... 17". Was packed full of eggs already and no stomach contents. 










The first pint went down pretty quickly while I was cleaning the fish...... so might as well crack a 2nd.  Both are Monkey Fist Brewing Co (Traverse City) from a variety pack. Both were quite tasty and packing a punch. I better go to bed before I crack a 3rd. 










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## AtticaFish

.......and it takes some repetitive skills to carve a couple tiny tasty cheek nuggets out of a 17"er.  These snacks (only to be enjoyed while the whole fillets are frying) are well worth the effort. 










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## kanu

Since I am constantly breaking the lips on husky jerks, I simply replace them. Packs of lips are available. Using a hack saw, remove the old one, and epoxy in a new one.


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## DeathFromAbove

Where do you get yours at ?


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## kanu

I tried to check the forum rules to see if I could post where I buy mine, but the rules page wouldn't come up. I am not sure if I am violating the rules, but I buy them at Netcraft.


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## AtticaFish

kanu said:


> I tried to check the forum rules to see if I could post where I buy mine, but the rules page wouldn't come up. I am not sure if I am violating the rules, but I buy them at Netcraft.


I think you are good. Netcraft is (or was) a sponsor here at one time. Thanks for the info. I did keep the broken one so I may have to look into that. I break the lips of the Skinny Cutters pretty frequently too. 

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## FishOhioQuest

AtticaFish said:


> I think you are good. Netcraft is (or was) a sponsor here at one time. Thanks for the info. I did keep the broken one so I may have to look into that. I break the lips of the Skinny Cutters pretty frequently too.
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Skinny Cutters? What are those? Would you mind posting a picture so I could see one?


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## AtticaFish

FishOhioQuest said:


> Skinny Cutters? What are those? Would you mind posting a picture so I could see one?


The Cutters are a series of Berkley stick baits. There are a couple different styles... Cutter 110, Cutter 110+, Cutter 90, Skinny Cutter, etc. They each are different size and have a little different diving depths. I use them with a more steady and erratic retrieve than other stick baits. Husky Jerks shine with a slow and steady cadence. The Cutters seem to work best if I am jerking and twitching them fast and hard the whole way in. I also fish the Rapala X-Raps the same fast and furious way. Scroll through this link and you can see the Cutters......






Fishing Jigs | Hard Bait - Berkley® Fishing







www.berkley-fishing.com





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## FishOhioQuest

AtticaFish said:


> The Cutters are a series of Berkley stick baits. There are a couple different styles... Cutter 110, Cutter 110+, Cutter 90, Skinny Cutter, etc. They each are different size and have a little different diving depths. I use them with a more steady and erratic retrieve than other stick baits. Husky Jerks shine with a slow and steady cadence. The Cutters seem to work best if I am jerking and twitching them fast and hard the whole way in. I also fish the Rapala X-Raps the same fast and furious way. Scroll through this link and you can see the Cutters......
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Thanks for the reply. I checked them out and they look pretty cool. Might have to get a few to try out.


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## Raylaser

AtticaFish said:


> The Cutters are a series of Berkley stick baits. There are a couple different styles... Cutter 110, Cutter 110+, Cutter 90, Skinny Cutter, etc. They each are different size and have a little different diving depths. I use them with a more steady and erratic retrieve than other stick baits. Husky Jerks shine with a slow and steady cadence. The Cutters seem to work best if I am jerking and twitching them fast and hard the whole way in. I also fish the Rapala X-Raps the same fast and furious way. Scroll through this link and you can see the Cutters......
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Hey Attica, thanks for the link! Those are some good looking sticks. Gonna have to add some of those to my tackle box for sure. 😉


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## AtticaFish

I first bought them at Rural King and they were on sale at the time. I paid less than what Berkley wants for them! May want to check Rural King on occasion to see if they have any on sale. I gladly pay the full price if I need them though.... they have been my goto bait if I am working them aggresive.

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## Raylaser

AtticaFish said:


> I first bought them at Rural King and they were on sale at the time. I paid less than what Berkley wants for them! May want to check Rural King on occasion to see if they have any on sale. I gladly pay the full price if I need them though.... they have been my goto bait if I am working them aggresive.
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> Sent from my SM-A515U using Tapatalk


Good to know where to possibly get them for less, thanks for that tip too!!! Also appreciate the tactics details, helps lessen the trial and error method of what works best on the retrieve!!!


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## Maxwell's Grandpa

One of the easiest yet most effective ways to catch Northern Pike is by using tip-ups.


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## Saugeyefisher

I was introduced to the cutters last fall. A def mainstay in the stick bait box! I have a buddy that's done well on the hit sticks this fall as well. There a long skinny(relatively speaking) stick bait with what looks like dots of lead molded into the belly for slow rising. 
Attica I use the xraps and cutters the same way as you. Except I do still use the xraps to "dead stick"(I realize you don't do much of that). The slight cut they make with a light twitch of the rod tip after a long pause will drive them crazy!
Hoping to see some more reports here! Love following this page!


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## AtticaFish

Sorta recreated a Turkey Day tradition. When I was younger, my dad and I fished a couple Thanksgiving nights annually up on Erie after we ate turkey. We would hit Mazurik access. I can remember one night I netted a monster walleye my dad caught! Think I dropped and broke his favorite Thermos the same night. Haha. This would have been back in the early 90's & all we took was a rod each and a box of rattletraps. Feels like I take 25lbs more crap with me now a days. Anyways....

Hit the rocks of an inland lake tonight solo. Only one bite again tonight but managed to land it again. Justa hair under 17" fish and on the same exact Cutter stick bait I caught the one on last week. Happy Thanksgiving all!



















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## Bprice1031

AtticaFish said:


> Sorta recreated a Turkey Day tradition. When I was younger, my dad and I fished a couple Thanksgiving nights annually up on Erie after we ate turkey. We would hit Mazurik access. I can remember one night I netted a monster walleye my dad caught! Think I dropped and broke his favorite Thermos the same night. Haha. This would have been back in the early 90's & all we took was a rod each and a box of rattletraps. Feels like I take 25lbs more crap with me now a days. Anyways....
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Nice fish and a damn good beer there!


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## whiskerchaser

It's starting. Went out from 4am to 6am in the whipping wind. More less just trying out a new setup. Only threw one lure 2.75 joshy 16th oz jig head. Water way high first spot catch 10inch crappie. That gave good hope. Next spot 2nd cast 13 inch saugeye . Move down little bit 3rd cast 18 Inch male walleye squirting juice. Went to another spot after couple cast and on 2nd cast 16 inch saugeye .. missed couple short hits but good night for just messing around in the high winds..


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## AtticaFish

I finally made it out a couple times now myself. 1st week of April i was out and spotted a LOT of walleye. They were up so shallow at times rolling on each other i thought there were ducks splashing in the water. I see them come up in 2 or 3 feet of water at night here, but never had seen/heard that before. Assuming it was full on spawn or them. I threw small sticks, big sticks, swim baits, twisters and even tried smacking a deep crank off the shallow rocks..... had a couple follows but not a bite. 

Made it back out last night in the strong NW wind and did finally catch some and get several other bites. 6 total fish.... all under 12". Didn't spot any fish shallow this time. All the fish and bites came on a Cutter110. Probably try again sometime this week.


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## AtticaFish

Forgot my pic......










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## float4fish

It’s been a tough spring! Water temps like a roller coaster and the spawn is probably over at the lake I fish. They were rolling week before last, been going up once or twice a week for about 6 or so trips and not a single eye to show for it. I have seen one fish caught so far. Really hoping for some stable temperatures soon. Was out last night and seen lots of eyeballs, but no takers on anything-stick baits, jigs, swims, nothing would get them going.


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## float4fish

Found a few. Hopefully they are waking up


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## float4fish




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## whiskerchaser

Nice haul Float4fish what was you using


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## float4fish

whiskerchaser said:


> Nice haul Float4fish what was you using


Husky jerk. Slowwwwwww real with occasional long pulls


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## AtticaFish

Got out last night. Was calling for bad winds so mainly stayed on the wind sheltered side of the reservoir. Got a few rockbass and a small largie that was foul hooked. Had a walleye hooked up but didn't manage to land it. Spotlighted him (only one I saw all night) and he didn't flinch when I pointed the light from the top side of the upground. Light went off quick. Walked down about 10 yards and quietly crawled down the rocks. 2nd cast with a Berkley Cutter and hooked up!!! Good fight too, warmer water seems to keep them more prone to strong runs I think. Anyway.... got it up close to shore, pulled my net from my back, about fell in the water, rod went limp. SOB! Next time I spose.




























All the rockbass came.on a 4" swim. Lots of bites on the swim bait and even lost a tail off one. The bass got foul hooked on the Berkley Cutter and the dropped walleye was on the Cutter. 

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## dre

AtticaFish said:


> Got out last night. Was calling for bad winds so mainly stayed on the wind sheltered side of the reservoir. Got a few rockbass and a small largie that was foul hooked. Had a walleye hooked up but didn't manage to land it. Spotlighted him (only one I saw all night) and he didn't flinch when I pointed the light from the top side of the upground. Light went off quick. Walked down about 10 yards and quietly crawled down the rocks. 2nd cast with a Berkley Cutter and hooked up!!! Good fight too, warmer water seems to keep them more prone to strong runs I think. Anyway.... got it up close to shore, pulled my net from my back, about fell in the water, rod went limp. SOB! Next time I spose.
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It’s ironic that I found this thread because I’ve recently been looking for another weapon to add to my Lake Erie Fall Walleye arsenal and I have been looking at the Berkley Cutters. I had another gentleman tell me last Fall that the Cutter is his go to a lot of times when your typical Walleye Jerkbaits (Husky Jerks, p10s, Bandits, etc.) aren’t working. Have you tried to cast them from shore for nighttime Fall Lake Erie Walleye?

Thanks!

Matt


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## AtticaFish

Matt - I have not tried them on Erie, but have to assume they would do good. I pretty much keep one rod rigged with a Cutter all the time now. While it is still warmer like this, I tend to rip them a lot faster. They dart like crazy when you rip/twitch them and then suspend really good when you pause the retrieve. They are one of the few cranks I can get bit on a longer pause.


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## dre

AtticaFish said:


> Matt - I have not tried them on Erie, but have to assume they would do good. I pretty much keep one rod rigged with a Cutter all the time now. While it is still warmer like this, I tend to rip them a lot faster. They dart like crazy when you rip/twitch them and then suspend really good when you pause the retrieve. They are one of the few cranks I can get bit on a longer pause.


Awesome, I’m going to get a few! Thank you! Couple more quick questions - when the water is colder do you still use them? I’d imagine in cold water you’d probably give them a few subtle twitches and let them pause longer. How is the action on them on a steady reel retrieve (wiggle and/or roll action)? And finally, what’s the difference between a 90+ and 110+ vs a skinny 90 and 110?

Thanks again, I appreciate it!

Matt


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## AtticaFish

They have a tighter wobble than something like a Husky Jerk. When you twitch/rip them though, they make a really wild pattern. I don't swim them slow and steady very often. I think i do better with a slow/steady retrieve using a swim bait. Maybe just in my head though! haha. I am pretty sure the 90 size is shorter than the 110 size and I also thought the + meant they were deeper diving. I just did a quick search on Berkley's site and it looks like they may be discontinuing the Cutter line. I need to get out to Rural King and see if they have any left!!!


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## AtticaFish

Gave it another try last night and managed 1 for about 2 hours of casting. Ended up getting 2 other bites shortly before I left. Though about sticking.it out longer but gave up. Fish came on a 4" Kalins swim bait casting parallel to shore and slow/steady retrieve. Hit in less than 2 feet of water so there are a few up on shore. Measure 16"..... it is a start!



















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## Bprice1031

AtticaFish said:


> Gave it another try last night and managed 1 for about 2 hours of casting. Ended up getting 2 other bites shortly before I left. Though about sticking.it out longer but gave up. Fish came on a 4" Kalins swim bait casting parallel to shore and slow/steady retrieve. Hit in less than 2 feet of water so there are a few up on shore. Measure 16"..... it is a start!
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Nice fish and really good beer.


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## bigbass201

Good job getting one. Those piers are going to get busy over the next few weeks.


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## Scum_Frog

Caught two nice ones two weeks ago on the main lake at night......I take my boat out and work shoreline stuff usually and do pretty well. Both were solid fish 4-6lbs. Should only be getting better.


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## whiskerchaser

haven't posted much cause haven't fished much but last couple times I got out I did pretty decent alot of shorts some nice keepers which most went back just cause timing wasn't good...all on 2.75 Joshys most fish within 10 feet of bank with few within 5.


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## AtticaFish

Nice catches! It is sure fun getting hits on those jigs. I end up using mainly 4" size swims.... maybe i am going to big. I was going to get out tonight but got stuck with some extra work. Tomorrow night hopefully.


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## RevKillj0y

Last couple nights Luna PIer has been packed. Weather was great, zero fish caught that we saw


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## Fishing75

Anyone having luck in the reservoirs for eyes at night, I’ve been out 5 times from shore and once in boat, zip so far for me this year.


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## AtticaFish

I made it out last night from 8:00 to 10:30. Think I should have got out about an hour earlier than I did. Caught 2 and dropped 2 with a few other bites mixed in over the first hour I was there. Even lost some tails off of swim baits.... they were chomping on it. Then the bites disappeared. Caught 1 on a stick bait and 1 on a swim bait. The swim bait fish was a nice 22"er and was up high way out from shore. Casted out deep and just slow reeled in. I did spot light some fish holding really tight to shore but couldn't get those to bite.

















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