# What do you guys with experience think ??



## Jim Stedke (Dec 5, 2005)

Are we nuts for driving 2 hours to try and fish tomorrow? 

Be gentle.


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## wave warrior (Oct 2, 2005)

i always thought YOU were the guy to ask!!!???


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## Jim Stedke (Dec 5, 2005)

My reply to someone else would be, "you can't catch em sittin on the sofa". 

But I'm 100 miles from the lake and know some locals have a better handle on just how much wind there was up there.


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## Snook (Aug 19, 2008)

I guess that all depends on how bad you want to do it Certainly fish to be caught and you know how to catch em'. Good luck if you decide to give it a go!


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## Jim Stedke (Dec 5, 2005)

I'm still hopein to get a glimps of the lake from the satalite. It's sure not for lack of want to, but I do hate to waste the fuel if it's a mud hole.


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## AC_ESS (Nov 15, 2008)

my question to you would be: To drive to what city and what species are you fishing. 

If you were going to the western basin some where around a certain cone and troll. I would say dress warm and I wish I could go


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## island troller (Nov 14, 2007)

It blew very hard all day today and Im guessing the lake will still be a mess tomorrow. It is starting to settle down now. I made the decision not to go tomorrow but believe me I would be out tomorrow if I thought different. I made the commitment to work instead.
Your more than welcome to prove me wrong though.


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## Jim Stedke (Dec 5, 2005)

AC_ESS said:


> my question to you would be: To drive to what city and what species are you fishing.
> 
> If you were going to the western basin some where around a certain cone and troll. I would say dress warm and I wish I could go


plan is to launch at Fenwick and troll N of cone, out N of B can or east of A can, of maybe D can if the water allows. It's really only about fishable water.

I've got some things I want to experiment with.


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## ReelTimeWes (Aug 20, 2009)

Wish I were only 100 miles away. Times that by 2 and you know why I am very picky about choosing my trips. Hope to give it a shot in March.


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## NorthSouthOhioFisherman (May 7, 2007)

I wish I would have had a picture of what the bay looked like today. You wouldn't be here if I paid for it! I just saw the lake driving through pc, it was a west wind so the shoreline wasn't horrible wave wise but it was muddy... Who knows what it is 8mi out


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## island troller (Nov 14, 2007)

Darn it Jim you got me reconsidering it now about tomorrow. I just checked Davis Bessie and the steam is still going horizontal. Like Jonny said it is hard telling what its like 8 miles out.


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## Timber wolf (Feb 4, 2008)

i will be out of Turtle Pt. in the am. i was there [email protected] 130 and could see color change with my binoculars.


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## KaGee (Sep 8, 2006)

Hard winds two days in a row Jim.

Check out... http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/metdata/tol2/


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## BASS ACKWARDS (Mar 21, 2010)

i will be there tomorrow at 7:30 blue starcraft if you decide to make the journey pm me i can get you my cell # to let u no how where doing


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## Rock'n'Troll (Nov 16, 2011)

I wish I only lived 100mi from the lake I would be able to fish a lot more. I live in Cincinnati 235mi. Good luck fishing Sunday. Looking forward to your posts of your results.
R&T.


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## Fish Scalper (Oct 31, 2009)

Perhaps you should have given some other word options besides....nuts! I was told not to use the other term for Boat "Prostitute," but your "John" must be nuts! Fishing still beats a lot of other things regardless. Good luck, stay dry.


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## Searay (Feb 12, 2007)

Not sure about the western basin but here in the central the breakwall was 5' shy of the height of the waves....


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## Double J (Jan 7, 2009)

little too windy for me Jim...good luck!clarity? cant be good.


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## Jim Stedke (Dec 5, 2005)

Pretty iffy, but with the wind from w east of A can should be Ok (I hope). Satalite seemed to show some blue. We'll see.

Nothin takes my enthusiasm away quicker than mud.


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## SELL-FISH (Feb 9, 2007)

Wind forcast looks good Jim. There will be fishable water somewhere. You can't catch em when your sitting at home. Good luck, Scott.


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

jim stedke said:


> are we nuts for driving 2 hours to try and fish tomorrow?
> 
> Be gentle.


yes............


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## Jim Stedke (Dec 5, 2005)

That's gentle !?!?


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## Shortdrift (Apr 5, 2004)

Jim Stedke said:


> That's gentle !?!?


Coming from Tom........................yes


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## ErieRider (Mar 23, 2010)

If I had a Prius I would be there!!


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## K gonefishin (May 4, 2004)

I almost fell over getting gas today from the wind


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## ROCKS (Apr 5, 2008)

I almost fell over today getting gas from the price.I saw on CNN this morning that gas was $5.79/gal in Florida today.Holy Crap!!


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## stevecat (May 16, 2007)

The wind slowed around 7:00 and I just looked at the lake and it is FLAT, only a small chop, other than dirty water.. I think you could make something happen.


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## stevecat (May 16, 2007)

Dam, tried to get rid of the purple faced 0 and some how posted again... sorry


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## hatteras1 (Jan 18, 2011)

one morning, we drove from alliance to lake erie just to cast the schools of white bass. it took us all morning to find a location. problem was no one had even seen any let alone catch and we would have to pay to fish..... my buddy looked at me and said "wanna fish the river?" we left lake erie and made a speed run to martins ferry (ohio river at w.va)
2 hours huh??


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## Double J (Jan 7, 2009)

well.....did jim make it out???wonder how the channel was?


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## wallykiller (Nov 7, 2010)

Double J said:


> well.....did jim make it out???wonder how the channel was?



He's out there. Last I heard they had 4 in the box... That was an hour ago

I had plans to get out there also, but things didn't work out...


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## sady dog (Feb 10, 2008)

it has got to be a mud hole out there...thursday went out to 32 feet of water NE of can and the water clarity was worse than 28 fow next to can...???? hope does well...


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## HuntnTky (Jun 15, 2008)

Im itching to go too, but the wind and mud, coupled w fuel make me wait for a better day.


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## NorthSouthOhioFisherman (May 7, 2007)

All I am saying is he made the right choice. I'm sure you guys will be hearing the good news when he/scott get in


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## 74chrysler (Apr 9, 2008)

I flew over Lake Erie a little bit ago and the water didn't look that bad. We went directly over West Sister. No boats that I could see. Near shore was muddy, you could definitely see a mud line. 


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## Nauti cat (Nov 30, 2009)

saw your PRIUS at Fenwick, I think you made the right choice. Jim like you said can't catch them sitting on the couch, hope you did good


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## Jim Stedke (Dec 5, 2005)

We did good enough today, that I almost heitate to say for fear of guys thinkin "yea right". 

Made 5 trolls each aoround 1-1/2 miles long. Started N of Cone trolling down wind (mostly N) Took 10 on the 1st pass. Ran back up wind to the starting point and because of a wind shift 30 degrees to the East, only took 1 on the next pass. So we moved over east and took 6 on the 3rd pass. Tried to repeat it, and got 1 again. So we moved further east and finished up w/ 7 more to fill our 4 man limit. Fished from 8 - 4:15. Speed was 1 mph, colors were Blue Moon, Cranberry Crusher, Pearl Ghost, skinned squirrel, Glass blue minnow, Blue / Chartruse bare naked, plus a few other std colors. Drop lengths were 50 - 75 w/ 60 & 65 being best.

Now for the part that I almost hesitate to say.... we had 11 big fish (at or over 8), 6 of them over 10 and four of those 6 over 11. That's on Grady's hand held digital scale.

The girls have shown up for the party.

Thanks Grady, nice work Bee man & Spanky.

My experiment was trying wt assisted Chatter Sticks, did catch 1 on them, but determined that this speed is little too slow. They'll work better when our speed is around 1.3 - 1.5.


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## TerryMayberry (Dec 23, 2009)

sounds like an awesome day. gonna post any photos?


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## 2CatchEyes (Apr 11, 2008)

Nice work Jim and Crew. Planning a trip up next Friday if weather remains good.


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## ReelTimeWes (Aug 20, 2009)

Wow Jim! Looks like I just might be playing hookey for a couple days!


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## gov (Apr 22, 2010)

thankyou for the help grady.


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## Jim Stedke (Dec 5, 2005)

We have some pictures, but we don't have the expertise needed to post them. I think the guys are going to try and get them on.


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

See, I knew you wouldn't listen to me  nice job on the ladies.


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## blue dolphin (Jul 18, 2004)

Wow holy moly great job. Extremely jealous. Worked all weekend at Vics open house. My highlights were selling a boat and a charter and talking fishing all weekend with some great people. Can't wait to get back out. Awesome work. BD

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## da-animal (Aug 19, 2010)

nice work guys-wish i could of went


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## wanderin_eyes (Jan 14, 2009)

Great work guys!!! sounds like a great trip and nice to hear the girls are back in town!!

The boats in for her tune up today and ready to go for the next time.


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## CMFish51 (Apr 14, 2004)

Nice work Jim and crew....Congrats on putting a program together to get it done!


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## ReelTimeWes (Aug 20, 2009)

Gov, I will try and explain how to post photos.

Hit the "post reply" as if you were gonna post a normal reply.

Scroll down to the window below that says "Additional Options".
Click on the box labeled "Manage Attachments"

A new window will pop up and in that window you will see a box that says "Browse"

Click that box and find the picture file on your computer that you want to post. Once you have found the picture file, double click it. Now the "Manage Attachments" window will come back with your picture file located.

Next just hit the box labeled "Upload" that's to the right of the "Browse" box that you used earlier.

As long as your file wasn't to large that should be it.

Now just hit the "Submit Reply" box at the bottom of the Additional Options window.
Hope that helps. Now lets see those pigs!!


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## Jim Stedke (Dec 5, 2005)

Turns out we weren't nuts...











See fish hanging # 57 below


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## sylvan 17 (May 22, 2010)

WOW-Stedke,you will be legendary someday. (Maybe already):T


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## killingtime (Apr 29, 2009)

thats what i call serious.


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## Jim Stedke (Dec 5, 2005)

Jim Stedke said:


> Turns out we weren't nuts...


 "Spoon Fed" the charter had nothing to do with the fish, we simply used his board to hang them for a photo.

Moderator removed the photo in question.


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## KPI (Jun 4, 2011)

very nicely done!! i will think of this topic when i am looking at the weather a week before i am going and if i should go or not like you said"you can not catch them sitting on the couch"


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## Jim Stedke (Dec 5, 2005)

Ken, I was hopein we'd have the clarity we needed. The Satatlite view from yesterday shows that clarity was fine. The fish were moving but we finally figured out which way and were going and we were able to stay with them.

Fished a tat over 8 hours, because of 2 slow slides, but I'd rather fish 8 hours than wack and stack em and be done in 3 hrs.

One guy broke out in an earnest outloud prayer when he saw the size of the fish on the lure. (1st time I've seen that).

We knew the wind was going to be favorable, but clarity was questionable. When Todd (the boat owner) said he was going if I went along or not, and he's further away than me, I decided I'd not wimp out. GLAD I DIDN'T.


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## BASS ACKWARDS (Mar 21, 2010)

Here is one of our best from Sunday 28" 8.5lbs. 55-65 back .8-1.0 r.r.'s


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## Snook (Aug 19, 2008)

Nice fishing guys! Glad to see you had a great trip. I'm sure the motors on the fillet knives kept your hands warm cleaning those big girls.


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## Jim Stedke (Dec 5, 2005)

February 26, 2012


Photo from above w/ reworked message.


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## Hetfieldinn (May 17, 2004)

Awesome trip guys. Where is that sign located?


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## pearleyes (Nov 28, 2010)

Man Jim, Jealous, jealous jealous


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## Jim Stedke (Dec 5, 2005)

Hetfieldinn said:


> Awesome trip guys. Where is that sign located?


Somewhere West of Port Clinton (if I told ya,...I'd have to ....well you know) LOL


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## Mad-Eye Moody (May 27, 2008)

Can't wait until May when I can get out!


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## BaddFish (Jun 20, 2009)

Jim Stedke said:


> One guy broke out in an earnest outloud prayer when he saw the size of the fish on the lure. (1st time I've seen that).
> 
> .



THAT is hilarious!!!!!!!
Congrats guys- love the reports!


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## sady dog (Feb 10, 2008)

geez...i pray out loud when I have any fish on my line...(in febuarary) "oh thank you lord for letting me be able to fish " 

But the guy who reeled the 13lb in on my boat couldnt stand up for 5 minutes cause he was shaking so bad !!! Kept checking the livewell to make sure it was still in there.....lol :


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## Jim Stedke (Dec 5, 2005)

Sady, Scott Stecker (Mr. Reef Runner) was on our boat when we caught a 14-1/2 # fish. He was like a kid at a peep show....couldn't sand not to open the cooler every 5 minutes, and every time he'd say "that's one big walleye". It got so bad that we said we were going to charge him 50 cents every time he looked and a buck every time he said those words .....didn't slow either one down a bit. We laughed the rest of the day at him. 

When we covered the big fish up with others, he pulled it back up to the top, so he could keep lookin at it. Too funny.


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## sady dog (Feb 10, 2008)

Thinking maybe thursday going back up??? looks like the only day it wont be blowing??


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## Jim Stedke (Dec 5, 2005)

pm sent (need 10 characters)


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## island troller (Nov 14, 2007)

Heading out this afternoon. Anyone else


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## Jim Stedke (Dec 5, 2005)

If you went...how'd ya do???


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## island troller (Nov 14, 2007)

Not as good today 
as last week but last week was awesome. Got 3 in 2.5 hours then it got rough late in the day. Only caught fish in dirty water just on the Nw side of cone. Caught the fish high at 10 ft down.


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## Jim Stedke (Dec 5, 2005)

Did you go by yourself again ? I may have to give you a timeout (or perhaps my phone number).


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## island troller (Nov 14, 2007)

Yea I went alone again and got the lecture again from the wife. When you live close to the lake and decide to go on a short notice its hard to get people around. And besides I have a few fishing friends that won't go unless they can wear shorts. No timeout Jim, it would cut in on my fishing time but I should drag you along soon. I still marked a lot of fish North of Cone but they were not as cooperative tontight for me. The three I caught were on a Jr Thunderstick 50 back which I believe is about 10 feet down. My speed was .8 to 1 mph with the wind and without the motor running toward the end.


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## Jim Stedke (Dec 5, 2005)

Well your warm blooded buddies either don't realize what is out there right now, or don't give a dern about catchin big fish. If they did, they go buy some warm duds, and go along. 

I've got the clothing and I know if there's a 36"er down there, now is the west enders shot at her.


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## jimski2 (Jul 23, 2010)

The Lower Niagara River is fished all winter long by the trout guys. Life jackets are mandatory, insulated boots, snowmobile suits, deer hunting garb, and gloves. The boat ramps are salted daily and kept open. Bouncing off floating ice is a regular thing, lower your O/B and crank it over for a couple seconds takes care of draining the water to prevent freeze damage after haulout. Dozens of boats are out there daily and there are a lot of charters operating daily there. The fact that a lot of boats go out is good as there are no rescue boats available in the winter.


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## Jim Stedke (Dec 5, 2005)

The point here is that there are Not alot of boats around. At times none. You are (or you'd better be) self sufficient. I tell first timers to look over the side of the boat and realize that they are looking at death. You fall out of a boat under power, by yourself, and survival suit or not, you have vertually O chances.

I've done it. But I always give myself pep talk about being extra careful. Stuff happens in the blink of an eye.


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