nomolites

Look like rainbows to me. Mike

First cast drop shooting a Cajun melon centipede yielded a 4# LM for me on LOZ. Have not tried the shark tails yet… Mike

Nice piglet. Good to see you posting! Mike

Very Nice - bet those were a hoot on a 7wt. I was wondering where those fish went…I saw one school deep a few weeks ago but could not keep them pinned down. ‘Mike

Hmmm - maybe an elk? I wouldn’t expect any moose sightings in your woods. Mike

Yes, they do have eggs, etc. and appear to be reabsorbing them. The fish are DEEP for this early in the year, I’m guessing due the the heat and lack of current - I haven’t caught a fish in less than 35 FOW. They are in areas I usually find them in August. Mike

Couple more pics: Mike

I have the 6’6” 4 wt and love it for fishing dries and other small stuff especially in tight quarters. Mike

Finally got back down and out for a couple hours yesterday evening. Looking for hybrids, found some fish on a main lake sloping point in 35-40 FOW working some large schools of shad. Fish were all through the water column depending on where the shad were; I was able to get them going burning a tailspin through groups that were up in the column - singles and fish on the bottom had lockjaw. Most were 2-3 pound whites and hybrids but I did catch quite a few keeper LM (one 5+) and one better hybrid. WT 81. I love fishing LOZ this time of year, and last night the storms’ moving through actually had traffic down to a reasonable level. Mike

The “spot” satellite texting devices work anywhere with line of sight to the sky; don’t know the cost of the plan though. Mike

Definitely fish in the moment, although it does not hurt to fish where they live. The days I never forgot are those that had me setting the rod down and taking a break because I was worn out from the catching. Best yet is putting a neophyte in that situation. Mike

Congrats! Mike

The only time I went up there to troll cranks I put in at the route U ramp west of Florida and fished the flat just to the northwest. There is a good drop on the north side into the channel and a bit of a hump out on the point. I did not catch any walleye that afternoon, but I caught everything else(crappie, whites, bass, catfish)…if it was my I’d start looking in that area. Mike

That is a tank! Nice. Mike

My buddy Dan and I left out about 1030 this morning looking for hybrids and walleye….after failing to locate any schools we decided to fish jerkbaits in the hopes of picking up a couple. We did pick up one hybrid, but the multi species bite was absolutely off the charts today. No pics of the LM or drum, just the two spots I “removed” and the other miscellaneous fish we kept … all on jerkers. We finished up about 5. Decided to dispatch the spots, whites, and green sunfish immediately. Delicious. Chunk rock. Bluffs, ends. 3-25 FOW. Mike

I ordered 2 a couple of months back and they were back ordered….maybe I’ll get mine soon. Shad spawn time on LOZ. Unlike most of you, I will be looking for hybrids and stripers with them…although I catch many nice LM while I’m at it. Mike

X2 on Hargrove’s - they are exceptionally friendly and helpful. Mike

Ouch! We just had little stuff…that’s ding size. Mike

https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwi9qvHQ3Kr-AhWuKUwKHVthB1wYABAOGgJvYQ&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAASJuRouMzqopOLdRVcXRki2eWKZiHFgdqAY8PjlZN78lypXXr7gWoM&sig=AOD64_1qiE0I35UThuSUIgy0SzZN3y4M_A&ctype=46&q=&ved=2ahUKEwi66-PQ3Kr-AhXJmWoFHVcxCg4Q5bgDKAB6BAgFEBI&adurl= I modified one of these, also have another (hound dog) but this seems to pull them out of brush better. You MUST put a stronger cord and attachment on for best results. Mike

I used to lose baits too…rarely now. I have a chain type lure retriever on 70’ of braided trot line cord(had to modify the cheap original tie in point) works like a charm. Those uncle Rico flickers are hard to get. Mike

I had a smallish gafftop flip while unhooking and bury two spines in my hand ONCE; those things are barbed and carry some painful venom. I did the fdance for a bit and my hand throbbed for hours. I had my grandkids with me so I smiled the whole time…… Mike

Ohhh they hurt to get stung….I don’t care for them things. Never considered cleaning one. Mike

My son has one of those, he took it apart and relocated his RTD for the defrost cycle and it has been running perfectly since. It is always something, I got tired of fighting my Maytag washer and bought a new one yesterday(LG)…I’m kind of turned off on Maytag at this point and willing to try something new. The new machine is actually a bit cheaper than the old machine which I purchased 6 years ago. Mike

Agree blue and purple or chartreuse chromes outperform black, and definitely catch the larger females suspended as they tend to wait to move in until late in the day. I tinker around with baits and colors until I find the favorites of the day then replicate(I am a crank bait a holic); run two deep and two shallow(er) lines if by myself - can run 6 with boards if I have help but usually 4 keeps me busy enough. I have a few bandits and I know they are popular, but I am usually prospecting for walleye as well and tend to go with longer baits like Reef Runners 600s or # 7 deep tail dancers paired with wiggle warts. They all catch fish if you run them at the right depths.

You can pick them up on the way in to spawn as well; they will suspend in the larger spawning coves prior to moving in and again on the way out. As a general guideline they like to do this at the midpoint of the water column i.e, if the depth is 20 they will be around 10, if 40 the. 20, etc. Your electronics should give you a good idea. A bright colored wiggle wart at 100’ back is a great choice for those fish in that 20’….try to stay 1.2 - 1.5 mph. And as mentioned above, it’s hard to be purple/white/chartreuse combo like the “Uncle Rico” or “Purpledescent” in a shad imitating bait - they are excellent. Mike