Blll

Thanks again Scott!

OK. I've been doing ok catching Whites and walleyes between the islands this week. Still new to trolling but I know I had a couple striper hits that both broke my line on the initial run. I know, too much pressure on the drag but what # test line are you guys using? I'm set-up with 15# braid and a 10# fluro leader. The leader broke both times and not at the knot. My boat slip neighbor says he uses 25# fluro leader but won't that lesson the depth the lure can reach. I really want to stay hooked up to one of these freight trains. All opinions welcome. Thanks in advance.

Fishing the wolf river in Wisconsin, I watched a boat about 100 yards above me lose their full wire basket of white bass. About 20 minutes later I snagged it and was able to recover and return. Amazing! 20 deep with a cruising' current. Lake Erie, middle of lake casting erie dearies, hooked a rod & reel right in the tip top. go figure the odds of that. And just last fall hooked a rod & reel near Beaver Shores. By the condition it had been down there for a long long time. I've lost a couple set ups myself and hope someone is using them today. Quick report on Saturday. Water temps up to 56 in Joes Creek. Caught 10- 12" crappies and a couple bonus spots casting a curly tail grub. Lots of company. Suspended in 12-15'. Hard eggs still.

Always had great service from BP batteries made by East Penn. Watched Pete Wenners utube on the new Pro Guide AGM battery and sounded pretty good. I'd like to save the drive and get these Pro Guides. Has anyone else used them?

About ready for a new on board charger. Anyone have experience with the Stealth Charging System? Lots of rumors about the pros using them but not much actual "thumbs up" from anyone. I know Danny won't sponsor anyone. What do you think? Beaver seems like a perfect place to use it with some decent long runs.

Cabela's 7' medium Whuppin stick ($35 on sale) would work well. I use Ugly sticks very similar. Diawa line counter reels with 15#-20# braid. Thin line gets down without loads of line out. I use mono on my 40" crawler harness because I don't want it to sink to the bottom with slow troll/drift speeds or on turns. Have not used heavier than 2oz. Remember you're not wanting the bouncer to constantly drag the bottom. I may go to a 3oz this season as I sometimes felt the need to go deeper. Lots of fun, catch all different species. PB last year (my first on Beaver) was a 6# walleye. good luck!

Trial & error using suspend dots or strips made by Storm. Kitchen sink can be a test tank, bath tub better. Matching water temp important. Try and get a neutral or slooooooooow front end sink. Nice looking paint jobs. Fish will let you know how good. Best time of year for them almost here.

Thanks for the link 5bites. Bummer...Beaver Lake isn't offered. Maybe someday. Thanks again.

Say 5bites, can you tell me more about the Lakemaster chip you mentioned. Single lakes...$29. Where can these be had? Thanks!

My fishing buddy bought a new 175 off the floor at the 2012 Spring Classic. Great ride, easy to fish from. His two regrets were not upgrading the sonar AND the trolling motor. His came with a 12 volt, 55# thrust and was not enough for windy days. I don't know whats available now but he upgraded to a 24 volt power drive with the i-pilot. Holds position fine in 10 mph blow.

Well I guess I should have filled up a week ago. Left my slip with hopes of a jerk bite. But I was low on gas. Headed to PC and found it closed for remodeling. Ran to Horseshoe Bend and found it closed too. Limped back to my slip and went home.I checked but neither website gave any indication of being closed. Any of you know when they may re open? Might be time to pull the boat out & wax it. Marked a lot of bait out from the Horseshoe gas dock. Saw zero boats from PC to HB. Water temp 40.5

Made the trip to Springfield today. Plenty of Pro Qualifiers there. Sign does say limit 2 but reel counter guys were advising buy two take em to your car and come back, as many times as you want. They just can not have more than two on a single purchase. Oh, and you veterans, don't forget you get 10% off the top of your purchases. I had forgotten that but my Viet nam hat prompted the cashier to inquire. While I was in line I did not hear any other cashiers ask. Also surprised me how few rod or reel trade-ins I saw. Worth the effort. Also made sense to have a BP credit card for points & rebates. All totaled I saved $165 on a $500 purchase. Worth the trip. Lunch with the wife at Hemmingways...nice day.

Hey guys, talked with Lakemaster today and Stump Bumper had the answer. The rep said put the boat on a counter line, check your depth finder and adjust the chip for the difference. That way you are adjusting for that day and are not required to know current pool level. Thanks for the help guys!

I guess that is my question. I searched water level history and May is normally about 1120 but in the fall 1113 seems pretty normal. I was hoping somewhere in the software it would state what pool level was used. Kinda of a useless feature of the chip if your starting point is unknown. Still learning the lake and do not want any surprise shoals to ruin my day. Thanks for the input, I'm calling Lakemaster on Monday to get their take.

A nice feature of Lakemaster chips is the water level offset. Anyone know what water level was used for the Beaver depth info that is shown on the chip with no offset?

Got my jigs from Dave last week. Glad I'm fishing on Beaver where they still seem to be a secret. lol!

Thank you for the new report format and taking the time to do it. Just gotta get out this weekend!

Worked for BP back in Chicago for 15 years. It was always a mystery to us on stock allocation. Often even when we had plenty of product, there would be no limit on purchases and someone would buy all we had, Next guy was always mad. Could never understand spending advertising money and having customers leaving pissed off. Perfect stocking is to have one left after the ad is over. Then everybody is happy. Heading to Springfield on Monday with the Wife,a list, and crossed fingers.

Great video Dave, Can't wait to try those heads! Thanks!

I used to get tennis elbow from racquetball 3x per week. Long time ago and nothing helped but resting it. Now i use those goofy "copper" supports you see on tv and they really helped. I wore one on my casting elbow all last year and no problems. I remember back in the day Al Linder was the first fishing guy I saw wear a brace band on his forearm. I know that Mike Iconelli missed some time fishing with the same problem. Copper-Fit...$10. Might keep you on the water.

Too nice a day not to give it a try. Spent too much time pulling for stripers or WB with no luck. On the way home tried a bluff line with the sun and waves hitting. 6 spots in 1 hour. 1-16" 2-15" 1-14" and 2- 12". All caught on an x-rap. All caught very close to bluff. Way more aggressive than I would have guessed. Short pauses and stiff jerks worked best. Most hits came near some wood. Horseshoe Bend area. Water temp. 39-41. Beautiful day, beautiful way to start 2015.

Since you went with Humminbird, Lakemaster makes sense if you would ever want to go to the I-Pilot Link set up. Not positive if the 998 is still compatible but worth looking into. I used to work at Bass Pro for their Classic events and sold more Lakemaster chips than Navionics. That said, for certain waters there is a difference between chips. I'm on Beaver and the Lakemaster is great but back up North there were many lakes where the Navionics was much better. At Bass Pro, we always had working chips and would compare both with the customer. This time of year be sure you are getting the most current chip.

My wife and I moved here from northern Illinois almost a full year ago and live near the Rt. 12 launch. First I learned there are no weed beds to fish on Beaver. 2nd I learned there are tons of fish to catch. Still learning each time out but only 1 skunk after March 15. Lots of walleyes which surprised me and white bass bigger than I thought they could get. From this forum I've learned about some seasonal movements and have fished from Hickory Creek to Rocky Branch and really haven't needed to go farther. You will probably fish deeper than before and will learn to troll. Just my 2 cents. Still a "new guy" so I'll let others address your question more specifically. Good luck and welcome to Beaver.

Wow! 30'+ with the banana shad. Are you using extra weights? I've been looking at them for awhile but Strike King only rates them at 15'-20'. What's your secret?

Praying for your Mom today. She feels your support.