Thanks Jon. I heard that, last October there was a tourney there that was affected by the water temps to a big degree. Apparently the water temps were falling into the high to mid 40’s during prefishing and the fish were moving into the river. By the tournament day, due to warm rains and air temps, the water temps were back into the low 50’s and the fish had moved back out into the lake. The tourney waters were restricted to the river and it was a tough event for the contestants while the locals were doing well in the lake. The GNWC event won’t restrict the waters like that so I plan to do plenty of prefishing in the river. Thanks again for the info.

Thanks Steve. I’m not fishing many events anymore but I hope to fish the 4 events in the Ohio GNWC circuit for 2004. Their championship will be on LOTW next October so I wanted to get some good maps to check it out. I’ve never fished it. Any ideas on whom I could contact to get one shipped to me?

The new format looks and works great so far! Fine job, as always!!

I’ll be there on any weekend other than that of the 26th. The SOWC Opener is that weekend. Let me know Jason!

I’m sure that you’ll do a great job of reporting, Wes! Are you planning to come down and donate any of your moldy cash to us at any of the inland ‘Eye tourneys this season??

Welcome to FTL Snagman from us here in Ohio too!!

Thanks guys. Hope she doesn’t read this Robbie. She’s a Cherokee all the way but I’m sure she’ll do the job on your bait for you next season.

Who are you tryin’ to fool Wes? That’s not a Smallmouth, that’s a Tuna!! Great fish!!

Hi Wes!! Glad to see another Buckeye found this fine site!!

Not much help from me I’m afraid. Robbie is “The Man” when it comes to Buckeye State Flatheads and needs little help from anyone. Nice of ya to say it though, Lol.

I won’t be there till Sunday. See you guys on the water Monday. I’ll be in a 19.5′ Starcraft Pro Elite w/115 Merc 4-stroke. Don’t catch ’em all before I get there!

Good luck in all your upcoming events!!

Great fish Dee Zee!! I followed your and Eric’s progress closely and was hoping to see you guys up at the top when it was all over. All my buddies down here wanted to know who in the heck it was that I was rootin’ for. Here’s hopin’ that they’ll all know your names better after seein’ you accept a couple checks this season!!

Looks great!! Way to go guys!!

Welcome to EFN/FTL Brad!!

Although most Ohio inland lakes are small, ranging from 1,500 to 5,000 acres, They are accessible, well maintained,and well stocked. I am extremely lucky that my shop is located in the middle of a cluster of fine lakes. I am a 5 minute drive from Tappan, 15 minutes from Leesville, 20 minutes from Atwood, 25 minutes from Clendenning, 35 minutes from Piedmont, 1 hour from Salt Fork, and about 1 hour and 15 minutes from Seneca. The tremendous Erie fishery is also only a couple of hours away. I’m in Fishin’Heaven here and anyone on these boards is certainly welcome to come down here and give our “Eyes a workout.

Thank you. I guess there are more “Metal Heads” out there than I thought.

Lol. Welcome Katfish!!! You got me and I sincerely apologize!! Everyone, if I don’t set this straight I’ll have to find a new home state. Because I am pretty much Walleye oriented in my thinking (the only excuse I have Robby) I neglected to mention that Piedmont Lake is one of the finest Flathead Cat lakes anywhere. To prove it I’ll call on Robby to post a pic or two. Don’t hate him guys, he says he only uses Saugeyes for bait when he can’t find medium sized cattle.

Hi everyone. I’m happy to be associated with such a fine and dedicated group of “Eye anglers. The more I find out about both FTL & FTR the more impressed I am.

Lol, don’t we wish it always happened that way? Thanks!

Great article! So often we do just that, in our day-to-day fishing or tinkering in our tackle making rooms; “Outside the box”. Great!

Here is another site of interest to any angler that fishes Erie http://www.lecba.org/

Definitely looks good!

I purchased the Lake Master software for Mille Lacs as soon as I knew that I would be fishing the Cabela’s/MWC event in May. I have been playing with my new toy for a while now and have never seen any map like it. It’s truly amazing. Sitting here at my computer, in comfort, I have been able to study, choose, and download waypoints to my GPS for use when I get up there to pre-fish.

Thanks Lewis! Good to see you here! Hey everyone, Lewis is my tournament partner for the 2002 season and has agreed to risk his sanity and reputation by being seen in my company. An excellent angler, his one shortcoming is a tendency to get sidetracked by those Green Fish, you know, the ones without teeth.

I suppose that there are many factors affecting why I fish; the challenge, the competition, the peace and quiet (sometimes), the cameraderie, the proximity to Nature, etc., but it all comes down to the fact that I couldn’t imagine NOT fishing. From childhood through all the changes in education, employment, marital status, parenthood, and geographic location it has remained constant; the one thing that has always been and will always be. The water is my friend and companion, my therapist, my church, and my addiction.

Good info Hooks! I read it first thing. I’ll try “corking” up there in May.

A flat Erie is rare! I like to run around in the boat when the lake is like that but I hate fishing in those conditions. The last time I fished a flat Erie I put in over 10 hours for one bite; caught me by surprise, lol, so I missed the fish……naturally.

As Jason Glatz can tell you, that fish is fairly common for the November run on Erie out of Huron, Ohio. I was with Bill Henkel of Vib-“E” Lures that day and we boated over 30 in a few hours. Only 3 were under 5# and we had 2 over 10#. Nearly all came on Reef Runners (mostly Orange Crush) 35 feet back off boards over 24 feet of water. The active fish were in the top 6 to 8 feet of the water column. We did pick up a couple of fish on Lil’ Rippers, 125 feet back off the boards. We went to stock the freezer for the Winter and wanted to find those 2 and 3 pounders. Even though we released all of our biggest fish (including the one I’m holding. It’s twisting out of my hands as the pic was taken), we still had to bring some fish home way bigger than we like to keep for eating. It’s a tough life, huh? Lol. Poor Jason, he has to live right there and fish all the time.

Thanks Eric. Maybe I’ll run into some of you guys when I come to Mille Lacs for the MWC/Cabela’s event in May.