Fishing Forum

I read a post of a guy on BFT looking for a teacher last night. I took him under my wing today. Everytime I bring the video camera to Mantua and show someone else my great spot the fishing sucks! This has happened twice at Mantua this year!

Mantua - I met up with the BFT'er "MarineSpear" at 2:40pm. My "spot" was pretty disappointing (3 gills for me) so we covered quite a bit of area looking for new gill spots. We never found any others! I decided to head back to my spot around 5pm and the action was still slow but better than before. I got 2 more gills and when I got the biggest gill I have ever seen, it was bigger than my hand spread out and was 9 inches long. Suddenly he flopped off the hook and when I pinned him he pricked me and I yelped and he flopped into the water and swam off! Then I switched to a spinner. BAM a big old trout (estimated 19 inches) came to my toon within 3 casts. As I fumbled around to get my net loose he got off the hook. Within 13 casts I nailed a LMB at 6.5 inches. I threw the spinner for around 25 more casts and lost another similar LMB right next to my toon! After that I got 1 tail slap form a LMB and my buddy landed a 21 inch rainbow trout at 2.5 pounds! Then the wind kicked up and we went in. I continued to throw my spinner at the pier until the wind died down around 7pm and my buddy left. I went back out on the toon to my spot with the worm and bobber and got 9 more bluegills until I left at 8:40pm. The action was a bit better but still pretty slow in my opinion.

So in total I got 14 bluegills and 1 LMB at 6.5 inches. He got 1 rainbow trout at 21 inches and 2.5 pounds!
Tactics for Mantua fish!
Bluegills = Worm under a bobber with a splitshot weight on a size #6 hook.
LMB's = Blue Fox gold spinner size #2 tipped with a nightcrawler.
Trout = Blue Fox gold spinner size #2 tipped with a nightcrawler and Rainbow size #0 baitless.
"MarineSpear" with his 2.5 pound trout!

My 6.5 inch LMB.

Sunset at Mantua from my toon.


From my Twin (toon is still down)...................

Willard Bay - "My twin dropped me off around 2pm at the North Dike. Fished my bluegill hole for a half hour with no results. Walked a bit further west and threw out my White/Silver Rooster Tail spinner with a nightcrawler. On the 3rd cast I nailed a Smallmouth Bass near some cover next to the rocks. Did a quick measurement (12 inches but fat) and when I was walking up the dike to get a picture of the brute he unhooked himself and jumped down the dike hoping to hit the water. Instead he bounced himself into some boulders. With my bad knee I did chase him to the spot where he landed. I could not reach/see him...however I could hear him flapping down there. What a waste!! After another half hour of nothing, I moved down to the outlet where the water goes out. Got some bites....from the fish and bugs and after an hour I went back to the North Dike. I saw a huge group fishing a certain spot so I knew there was some action going on. When I got there I saw them catching Wipers. I got excited and proceeded to join them for 2 hours...and never even got a bite. Noticed that the majority of them were POATCHING! Two of the guys had a large cooler full of Wipers. Considering the limit is 6 I know they were poatching for sure. If they are reading this, be warned....next time I am gonna call you in to the DWR!!!! Not happy with the lack of action I went down to the Willard Bay Outlet Channel. On the 3rd cast my spinner hit the water and bam....it was off to the other bank. For the 1st hour the fish never gave up any line, never even showed himself, just kept taking out more and more line. Then the massive (30+ inch) Carp showed as much of himself as he could. For the next half hour we played "tug of war". After 1 hour and 30min (I called my twin with half hour up dates) I felt one last tug and then nothing. My white spinner was returned to me blood red as could be. I went back to the North Dike and watched the poatchers keep more Wipers. Wanting some sort of action I fished for the next 2 hours at various places along the North Dike and got nothing. All day long I saw millions of minnows cruzing the dike and at one point watched as 2 large Carp fed themselves on some fine minnow dining. Overall I think I am done with Willard."

The Bendo Shot...playing "tug of war" for an hour and a half there is plenty of time for pictures.

The Willard Bay "fire in the sky" sunset.

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So, I'm guessing you didn't call the poachimg hotline because you were hoping to elbow in on some of the action?
you guys are something else.
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You made a mistake. You should have called it in right then and there.
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12 nice wipers will fill a cooler pretty good. my guess is the accusation is based on the fact that he was getting skunked.

And twin, if your hand can't fit in between rocks where a nice fat 12" smallie can fit, you must have some pretty fat fingers.
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[quote joshomaru]So, I'm guessing you didn't call the poachimg hotline because you were hoping to elbow in on some of the action?
you guys are something else.[/quote]

YOUR WRONG!!!! I did not because in a group of 20 it is hard to keep track of who's is who's. It is not my job to do the DWR's job. There was a DWR officer playing "parking maid" in the parking lot ealier in the day. Maybe if they read this report they will walk the dikes insted of cruzing the parking lots.
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[quote Capt.Nereus]12 nice wipers will fill a cooler pretty good. my guess is the accusation is based on the fact that he was getting skunked.

And twin, if your hand can't fit in between rocks where a nice fat 12" smallie can fit, you must have some pretty fat fingers.[/quote]

YOUR WRONG!!!!! Were you in that poaching group???? The 2 guys that had the cooler full were pretty quick to shut it when I said, "thats a lot of Wiper". After fighting the carp for an hour and a half I noticed the cooler was gone ( likely back in their car) and they were still there catching more Wipers.

And another thing....My fingers are skinny pal!!! Those boulders are deep in places along the North Dike. Next time your at Willard try getting off your boat and walking that dike...then you will know what I am talking about. Trust me I wanted that SMB for the fryer!!!!!
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[quote lavaman]You made a mistake. You should have called it in right then and there.[/quote]

YOUR RIGHT!!!!! I shoulda, woulda, coulda, didn't, can't!!!!! I did not want to get into trouble for a false report (considering there was 20+ fisherman thats a ton of Wiper). Will the DWR get you in trouble if you call and it turns out there is no violation. Next time I WILL call them in for sure!!!! Thanks for not being too harsh lavaman. May your lines go strait and your stringer be full.
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It's all good.

I just think it's OUR responsibility, all of us fishermen, to report this when we see it. No matter what. That is, if we want our fisheries to keep producing in the future.

Just my take on it is all.
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Thanks Lavaman


To the rest of you. Is anybody gonna comment on the fishing or is every report I give gonna get negative responses? So far I receive a ton of flack from you guys! As if we were the poachers ourselves! Have you guys ever heard the expression "if you don't have anything nice to say then don't say it at all".

(Edited) Now I see why some of you have said to me "it is just more trouble than it is worth to report, kinda puts a damper on your experience." Maybe next time I should just edit down my reports so you have nothing to bitch at me about! In case you didn't notice we report everything...the good, the bad, and the ugly!
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"you guys are something else"

Hell ya they sure are. Took me out the day after I asked for some help. I got easilly the biggest trout I've ever caught and it was definitally because of them. Not many people would take a stranger to a secret spot of theirs with no questions asked and show them exactly what works. Not only are they great fishermen, they're great guys in general. Give um a chance mate

Thanks SOO much TyeDyeTwins for helping me out of my slump and giving me great pointers for next time. Definitally hit me up if you want to head out again sometime. It was a blast.
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Lots of fine people in here, and I've been privileged to fish with a few of them. TD, TheFriends, DKS, Outfortrout, 12inchlunker, and a few more.

So just a word of advice, TyeDye, be cool. Watch the lengthy posts, be humble, and treat others how you'd like to be treated. Like someone said above, 'give 'em a chance'.

Respect goes a long way.
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Thats true there are alot of great guys on this site that have offered on multiple occasions to take me out. But I guess I'm biased now that he helped me catch the best fish I've ever caught... I'm still giddy about that haha
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PM sent
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It seems like I was right, as you stated on (sites with forums not allowed), you heard from the guys with the cooler, and they in fact wern't poaching.
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Sorry that delicious smallie got wasted. You'll get em next time.
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I will PM you the next time I get out. Lets get you some real fish and maybe more than one good one too! Too bad you didn't wait out the wind. I would have given you some bluegill to take home fry up sice I got a few more after you left.

You were a respectful "student" (although I would say your way better than that status) and a pleasure to take out there. Let me know your schedule and we will figure something out. I have a very flexible schedule so I am game for the next adventure with ya!

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(Edited) Info for question deleted.

[quote TyeDyeTwins]. . . I would have given you some bluegill to take home fry up . . .[/quote]

word of caution - one thing I've found on this site is you'll find some folks are rather secretive about what they'll share (what/where/how) and some of that comes from hotspotting.
So folks that do reveal all may rub some wrong. I for one appreciate any and all information that's shared - so thanks.
You'll also find folks that get irked by "string fillers" who boast of catching lots of fish.
Don't get me wrong - the regs is the regs, and limits are what they are. I like to catch and keep some fish, I think I practice selective harvest, personally.

But one other thing that some folks feel is their duty is to call out ANY violation mentioned. And I've been called on a couple along the way (slap).
Donating fish at a water is prohibited. You can donate fish away from the water, but you need to have a "note" stating details of the donation.
More than once ice-fishing - I've seen folks call out "anyone want a trout" as they were focused on buckets full of those tasty 'Gills.

Don't know that I've seen a thread as "edited" as this one has been. Makes me wonder what I really missed!

Get real dude! Did I violate any rules? NO! Get that through you head before you choose to call me out! I take my FULL LIMIT of fish at the body of water I go to! It is my right as a licensed angler! If you have such a problem with it than take it up with the DWR at one of their public meetings to get the limits reduced!

As for hottspotting here it is straight from the fishes mouth!.....
"In the same regard,[/b][/b] if a member wants to post all the details on a spot they fished....they can do so without being harassed [/b]for hot spotting as long as the fish were caught in a legal manner and no laws were broken"

This site is starting to suck! Never have I received so many negative comments on all of my reports! I guess all you guys want is a report saying "Mantua was good and Willard sucked and we released all of our fish". Oh wait is that too much for ya! Still I am sure a few of you guys would find a way to bitch about it! If you are not posting details then in my opinion you are just bragging to the world about how great you are! I joined this site to SHARE info that is lacking in the internet world. If you guys don't like it kiss my BASS!

We will have to see how my next report goes, if it turns into a TyeDye bashing festival like this and a few other reports have, I am just going to stick to lurking this site permanently!
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I don't think Coyote was giving u a hard time pal. He in fact is one of the nicest guys around. Seemed he simply didn't want you to violate the law by giving fish away at the lake. Could we get more daily updates of mantua and Willard please...?
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oh well may as well get it done and over with




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