Fat Tommy

I've been reading up on the goby invasion.... learned some interesting stuff. For starters, when they first appeared, the predator fish had no idea how to deal with them, they act so different from other fish they would eat. However, pike, bass, and walleye are all adjusting to the learning curve and a lot of fishermen have reported gobies in the stomachs of the fish they are filleting. Secondly. Gobies eat zebra mussels. Zebra mussles filter the water, taking all the dirt, PCB's, and algae. Until the gobies came around, these things were locked in place. There was nothing to circulate them through the food chain since nothing ate the zebra mussles. Now that the gobies are eating them and other fish are eating the gobies, this presents a huge problem. The PCB's that were getting taken out of the food web are now being put back in. Eventually it gets down to us when some of us decide to keep a few of the fish we catch.

I was out at hedges 2 or 3 years ago, me and my dad landed over 30 bronzebacks in one day. Besides, the gobies can only eat fish up to a certain size, I've never seen a goby over 8 inches.

Yea, but he didn't put up much of a fight till I got him near me, then all of the sudden he decided he wasn't going haha.

It's a fish. Caught him fishing Black Creek down stream of the railroad bridge going into town wading the creek. 3 FOW with a number 5 Mepps Aglia in Firetiger. Casted just beyond a large boulder sticking up out of the water. Not much farther downstream my buddy hooked one but didn't set the hook deep enough and off he came. Here it is... http://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j61/R ... t=pike.jpg

For the most part staying a good distance away from islands will do you good. You're right though, it can be tricky up there, but a guide is unnecessary. Best of luck.

Ahhh, carleton island, thought so. I figured all the fish would be deeper by now, summer forces the pike to go deeper. Thanks for letting us know about TI Baits update, they're usually reliable.

I've been wondering the same thing. TI Bait hasn't updated their site in awhile it seems. But, from what I can gather from past experiences, the smallmouths at carelton island should be doing really well right now and the pike should be going strong around wellesley island, eel bay, and carelton. Just best guess.

Sarcasm ray? or were you talking about those nasty disgusting gobies?

I bought a paintball gun for the boat. I already had one but I bought a cheap one just to keep people away if they get too comfortable.

Spent about 6 hours on the Black today. Can't say it was a very good day, but not totally unproductive. Caught a few smallies, but baby ones at that. Also had a small 16" carp. Lost 2 pike. One grabbed a spinner immediately upon entering the water and lucky me didn't have a leader. There goes 5 dollars.

GOOD FIND! THANK YOU!

would it freeze the fish solid so that it would be equivalent to a freezer?

As some of you may have read, I'll be spending a week in the 1000 islands. I will of course be keeping some fish to eat. What I really wanted to do was catch enough to bring home and have in the freezer for awhile, however camping for a week poses 2 problems A) Keeping the fish good B) If it is kept good, keeping it fresh I've been pondering 2 things, buying a portable freezer, or buying a portable vacuum packer and packing the fish and then putting them into a cooler with a continuous supply of fresh ice. Any other possible ideas or improvements on mine would be awesome.

Yea, the more and more I've been looking, it seems that for trolling you're almost forced into using a baitcaster, it just works better. Birds nests are the problem and I don't feel comfortable holding them or casting them. I'll be going to Gander in Henrietta sometime within this month to get all the stuff I'm going to need. I really like the rod and reel I have, however I just don't think they match each other. It's their GSX 40 guide series reel spooled with 10 pound test and a 6' 6" IM* pro select guide series rod, medium action. Either way however, I'm still going to need a bigger rod anyways, I knew that from the beginning. I'll go in there and find someone who knows something about fishing. When I look at it, the reel looks larger than is fit for the rod, I'll see if I can post pictures.

I did look on bass pros site, but I hate ordering online. Thats why I was hoping someone know of some stuff at gander. I was planning on bringing my rod back and asking for someone to help set me up with a proper set up unlike the last guy that helped me.

lol no problem. hey guys, all of you that helped me can you take a peek at my thread on rod set up and gimme a few pointers.

You would be better off using a slip sinker rig with shiners. I fished off the very very end of that pier and it was the only way I could get the smallies to bite. I tried black tube jigs, spinners, and crankbaits. They would follow but no commitment. Didn't have any luck anywhere else in the area.

I went to gander not too long ago. I bought one of their medium action 6'6 guide series rods and I believe its the GSX 40 reel, I'll check later. It holds 235 yards of 10 pound test, sort of a big reel. I'm not quite sure if it's too big for the rod but it feels ok. Very smooth action. I know its possible to catch big fish with light tackle, I've done it. However, it's not the ideal trolling rod set up or the proper rig for huge lures. I was hoping someone could give me some ideas on what it is I should be looking for. I absolutely loathe baitcasting gear, a few mishaps awhile back and I will never touch them again. This leaves spinning outfits. Action, length, reel capacity with weights. I would prefer nothing over 14 pound test if at all possible. Something I found out today with the rod I have, it isn't good with light weight lures, not entirely sure why. I think I got a bad matchup with reel and rod. The rods a bit light and the reels pretty big. I plan on making a trip to gander towards the end of july/beginning of august. I want to get a few rods, but if I can get a few setups that will work with different fish that would be better than individual rods for each species. A rod for carp and catfish, the rod I got now would be ideal for bass walleye and good sized pike, and probably doable for muskie. I need to figure out what I can do to help it cast better, maybe the lures are just too small which seems the most likely source of trouble, they were only size 3 and 4 aglias. So, like I said before, I need a rod that can handle big lures and get them out there, in a spinning outfit. What I may do is get a bigger rod for the reel I have and then buy a smaller reel for the one I got. Would a reel thats too big in terms of physical size hamper casting? I would think so, but I'm not too sure. I have a 6'6" medium action rhino spinning rod in the garage that has been faithful to me, I'm gunna see what I can do with it. Don't wanna retire a rod that has caught me many a fish. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

thats a kick in the ass >.< costs more than my super sportsman package! I'll look into it. I have a feeling we will stick to the american side, anything on the canadian side can be caught on the american side.

How much are canadian licenses?

Wait, so you tie the barrel swivel on above the sinker or below it? Cause like it tied it on below the swivel wouldn't it just slip down to the hook?

how far are the canadian waters from cedar point?

I bought a 16 ft trihull open bow glasstron the other day. 85hp evenrude outboard, rod holders, fish finder, basically all the stuff I will need minus bait and tackle. What sort of depth should I be working? I'm also unfamiliar with alot of the bottom fishing setups, such as bottom bouncers and the slip sinker rig(with bead) used for bottom fishing smallies. Does anyone know of websites that show you how to set these along with other things up? Where ever I've ever gone fishing I usually just tie on a simple hook with splitshots and it works, but you can't always be lucky as all fishermen know so any help would be great, obviously on top of what you've already given me.

I just bought a 16ft fiberglass tri-hull boat, open bow for 800. Problem is this, no seats. It comes fully equipped with downriggers and rod holders with a fish finder. There's just no seats. This really isnt a huge problem because I'm guessing it would be fairly simple to make seats for it, just not sure on where to start. Help would be appreciated and if wanted I can post pictures of the inside of the boat. I know this doesnt mean anything but it came with a 85hp evenrude outboard that works 100%.

Actually, my primary focus up there is going to be Pike. Behind that is walleye, big channel cats, and some carp. I'm not much of a bass fisherman but I'll probably try catching a few smallies. I'm confident in catching most species of fish, I've just always had trouble with eyes, thanks for the tips guys.