WESTERN OHIO WALLEYE NEWS FEBRUARY 2008 1998-2008 HE S BACK!!! ARE YOU READY???
` SORRY BUT YES I'M BACK by Marc Colwell Yes I know you were afraid this would happen. You know if I came back there would be more fishing articles, jokes, Bass slamming, soapbox articles and general bull----!!! Some think I should never be let near a computer let alone write articles on garbage collection let alone fishing. How much can we believe and how much is pure crap? Does he really catch fish or is he just one more reel good looking angler. Just how much more of this do we have to put up with. I have enough junk mail My wife got tired of my groaning and bought me a laptop for Christmas and I'm glad to say this is the first thing to be saved on it. I can't say enough about this woman who has put up with my addiction to fishing to do her justice. New Years cheers to fishing wives and families. I am proud of the daughter who fishes with me and the wife who s more than glad to send us on our way. You don't know how much I've missed working on the newsletter. Hopefully over the past years I've turned you onto some new techniques and areas, thanks to you members who have turned me on to many of them. One of the great things about our circuit is as tight lipped as we are before a tournament, we don't mind sharing information afterwards. Reef Runner Cicada's and VIBE lures have put Indian Lake on the map when it comes to Saugeyes and our club is responsible for their introduction into the mainstream on this lake. The spectators pay attention and after several spring and Fall wins with bladebaits, the bait shops couldn't keep them in stock. Mack lures have made it into the local markets for the same reason. This is just an example. This is our tenth year and I just have to look back ten years to realize how far this organization has come. When we first started fishing Indian Lake the first several years were won in the Dream Bridge hole with jigs. It took awhile for us to start exploring and realizing this is one lake where every acre is utilized by these fish at one time or another. We are as advanced as many older and larger organizations. It may be a bit overwhelming for new comers coming in for the first few years. But I've watched those who have stuck with it come into their own. It has become a very competitive circuit. We old timers are made to keep on our toes. We have a circuit of competitors who read magazines, surf the net to hone their skills. We haven't just used our sponsor s products but we've developed them into arsenals and stayed up with the new techniques used to catch walleyes with them. In the past you are used to seeing Scott the creator and owner of Reef Runner Lures, at our first events of the year with Pro Mark Brumbaugh. This year you'll see the owner of VIBE lures Jared partnering up with our Club President. Let him know what you like or dislike about their products, and if you have a new way to use their lures and are willing to share let them know. Not many sponsors take a personal interest in where their product is used. Here we have two who are in our backyards and we are a part of their fine tuning system. Our input counts. You may say Marc do you really only go out and use the sponsor s products as much as you say? Yes. I will do what I have to win but more times then not I have done so with products from Reef Runner, VIBE and Mack lures, as part of or completely as my techniques during and outside tournaments. Reef Runners crankbaits and bladebaits are so unique that the walleyes mount ones they break off on their walls. VIBE's come in more colors than ornaments on the Christmas trees and drives the saugeyes lateral line off the wall. And Mack lures has given us tackle we can use so slowly it drives eyes into a mental sanitarium if they can't slam it. There has actually been a few times when it came down to whose product would catch the big one since all of them were catching fish. Be sure to thank these guys for supporting us for so long and thank your local bait shops for carrying them. I am hoping to receive photos from our members. Pictures of you, your family, your friends out there having fun fishing. Send them to saugeyemarc@aol.com I don't care if they are new or pictures from the past on a great outing. We all like to look at photos of fishing when we can't be out then and there. Coming soon will be facts, fiction and humor from the mad ghost angler. He s an up and coming angler who digs deep and has a sense of humor. I can t say what type of sense or if he has much sense at all, but it will be some good reading. I will still be bringing you fishing articles that relate to us in Ohio along with some tips that relate to lakes we will be fishing. I will get up on a soapbox and doing some bass bashing again this year. There could be a couple of surprises in store this year on the circuit and we will crown another team of the year. It has been a fight to the finish over the past several years and I'd be surprised if it's any different this year. I am extremely excited to be back behind the keyboard producing the newsletter and I'm looking forward to another year with you all on the circuit, and in print. WE VE GONE PDF If you want your newsletter faster you need to get your e-mail address to walleyeclark1@aol.com or/and saugeyemarc@aol.com to be put on the list. It's here and I'm back are you ready... The photo to the left was from a recent outing at Indian Lake. The saugeye was caught using a firetiger vibe. It was the Sunday before the big rain. The ice was about 4-5 inches thick. Pete and Marc and myself were fishing for saugeyes, crappies and bluegills. The bite this year was outstanding. If you haven t tried ice fishing you missing out on some of the best fishing of the year. If you have any ice fishing picture that we can share with the club, we would love to have them. We are also looking for any fishing pictures this year to add to our e-mail version of the newsletter.
``` WESTERN OHIO WALLEYE CIRCUIT DATES FOR 2008 MAY 4th C.J. BROWN JUNE 22nd TAPPEN LAKE JULY 13th ALUM CREEK SEPT 21st BUCKEYE LAKE CHAMPIONSHIP NOV 1st-2nd INDIAN LAKE Hard water doesn't mean hard times. Fishing through the ice can be feast or famine but it doesn't mean you can't stack the odds in your favor. Next to a little knowledge two things stand out among the most needed items and one or both will improve your odds. A quality depthfinder, GPS and an underwater camera will not only improve your odds but make catching fish more enjoyable. Aqua-View is most likely the leader in underwater cameras though competitors are coming up and great strides are being made. You can see 360 degrees simultaneously, watch fish in color, and even watch them in the dark. I've seen fish bite that I didn't feel and I've seen a pig eye try to eat my camera that's shaped like a large bluegill. A good depth/fishfinder will tell you the depth fish are using the most and a GPS will get you back tomorrow. Next always try to fish with a buddy or two or three. This is one time when the more the merrier couldn't be truer. The more baits working and eliminating areas the better. Once you find them more bait keeps them there. And the two biggest reasons are the more help drilling holes the better and the best reason to fish with a friend is you have someone to blame when your late getting home. Once you've been bitten by the bug invest in a quality portable shanty and a good heater. Buy good thermals, fleece and the best insulated boots you can afford to keep you warm when you sit for hours in freezing temps. The more comfortable you are the more pleasant your experience will be. When fishing for eyes' you have almost as much a selection as you would for open water. The only thing you really can't do is troll. And one of these days someone will figure out how to do that also. Have plenty of tip ups at hand, every state has different regulations on how many per angler. Ten pound Spiderwire and a 6lb. fluorocarbon leader for line and a circle hook below a couple of split shot round it out. For bait 2-4 inch shiners or minnows hooked both from head and tail till you see what they prefer. Also experiment with the distance between hook and weight. The restriction on distance the bait can move can make a difference. In your shanty you should have room for two rods and this is where our sponsor's tackle come in handy... Consider them calling cards. I'll get back to that. On rod two you want the same rig as your tip-ups with the exception of using a jig instead of hook and weight. Now back to the calling cards. Flash and vibration attracts and could possibly be all the bait you need but sometimes they are finicky and the second rod offers them the real deal. Reef Runner Cicada's, Vibe's in the 3/4ox. Size or a Mack's lure Smile Blade above a jigging spoon are the attractor that brings in the fish. When they're aggressive they'll hit. When there not the jig n minnow is there to entice them into biting. Of course this is where the camera of flasher/depthfinder comes in handy... When you see them approach but not touch the attractor bait then slowly lift the jig and hover just above them. Let the bait attract them if they don't take it after a few seconds jiggle it to see the approach watching at all times for they're reaction. Like the commercial said some like it hot, some like it cold. No matter the species no matter the time give me hot coffee and cold, cracking ice to make my day. Marc Colwell The Mad raving of a ghost angler In May 1865 Dr. C.C. Abbot caught a 4lb-3oz world-record perch near Bordentown, N.J. The longest held freshwater record. Tracy Sirey of South Carolina paid $101,200 for an 1859 copper fishing lure called a Haskell Minnow, a record price for fishing collectible at auction. Ohio gunsmith Riley Haskell made the 10 inch lure in the 1850 s. In August 2004, Texas deer breeders Don Wilson and Gene Gonzalez paid $450,000 for Dream Buck, the largest whitetail buck in Texas and one of the biggest non-typicals anywhere for use in breeding. The buck scored 301 3/8 President s Corner I m happy to report we had about 15 to 20 members at our last meeting. All tournament dates were discussed. The only date that was changed was our Championship at Indian Lake. See above for all the dates. We are also looking at a way for a lottery pick for your boat number for take offs. We are looking at the possibility of using one of our Cabela s spots as a lottery drawing for all teams that fish the entire circuit. We will be holding another meeting sometime in March to discuss these matters. We also looked at looking at not fishing the same lakes two years in a row this will also be discussed at the later meeting. A few members were interested in buying hats, shirts, and jackets with the club logo. As usual one of our club members stepped up and has a family member that will be able to provide our members with club jackets, shirts, and hats. More on this subject will be provided in the next newsletter. On a serious side about our club fishing tournaments members expressed concerned about people not wearing their life jackets. It is a rule and will be enforced. A member also expressed concerned about teams having more than 8 fish in their livewells. I will not be checking all livewells, but if you are caught with more than 8 fish in your livewell YOU WILL BE DQ D for that tournament. The life jacket infraction can result in a DQ for the tournament as well. Please not make me play cop and have to enforce theses rules. Remember we are all out there to have fun. We will offer the newsletter to all members interested in receiving the newsletter thru an e-mail. The e-mail version will contain more pictures and possible more articles. Please send your e-mail address to saugeyemarc@aol.com Once you start receiving your newsletter by e-mail I can stop sending it to you snail mail and save on stamp cost. It s a positive for you in that you will be able to print off a color newsletter with more photos, and a win for the club in cutting cost. John Clark
A nice Walleye caught by Marc Colwell during a work break down below a dam in January Loren Fleischman with a whopper of a Northern Pike caught in late December. The reason the big Northern Pike were in the area. Big Crappies and big perch. Ravings of a Mad Ghost Writer This is the part of the newsletter where you might find a joke or trivia, but not this time. I've decided to write country western songs. It's not easy. I've decided to title my latest song, It's Hard To Kiss The Lips At Night That Chewed My Ass Out All Day Long. Let's see, now what did I do with Garth's phone number?
A man once said give a man a fish and he ll eat for a day, teach a man to fish and all other obsessions take a second seat. There is no greater competitor than the fish. How many other sports feature a competitor that never shows themselves till caught. I know walleyes have sent me home feeling like an idiot. I ve kicked ass and had my assed kicked. And to make it worse are the days your tired, your livewells empty and you head in to find another boat with livewell bulging. You head home, get out the videos and magazines and try to figure where you went wrong. You pour through article after article and rediscover techniques you could have used while on the water. You run to Cabela s and stock up on new lures, fresh line and maybe a new rod n reel. You can update your electronics and head back to the water. All this and the fish could beat you up again. Then why do we go back for this abuse time after time? For me it s simple. Those times when I catch 50 fish in a day, or hook a ten pounder, win a tournament or just share a great day with friends and family outdoors make it all worth repeating again and again. Fishing like many of the great sports is a practice in patience and the gaining of knowledge. We pursue, we learn from our mistakes and our successes both. This is what separates us from the lower species of animals. I am proud to be a walleye angler, and proud of the group of competitors I associate with. It is said that relationships with fishing buddies last longer and are more meaningful than marriages and I tend to believe it. Over ten years we have combined ideas and related experiences to the place where we all catch more fish and the competition on the circuit has become fierce. More times than not the team of the year is decided during the last event and several teams are fighting for it. If one of these days Cabela s has their championship tournament on neutral water somewhere without a local club I believe you ll see several of our teams on top. And lord help them if this would be on a saugeye lake. Granted sometimes we complain and fight like married couples but I think fish guts are tighter than blood, and the bond we share mostly remains unbroken. Work gets on your nerves, spouse been nagging excessively who do you call? Your fishing partner. Need to get away for a while to think or laugh and enjoy the day, you ll call the same person. Nothing takes off the edge like someone with the same interest and the same woes. Over the years I ve had several tournament partners and I still talk to them on a regular basis. It s just nice to know that on the water I can always find my friends. Marc Colwell DAM IT Want to go fish but don t have time to put in a boat? Then dam it. Fishing from shore during the winter can be some of the most productive in size and quality. Occasionally you ll get quantity mixed in. I m not talking about having to go to the Ohio River but the small dams below your local lakes and rivers. C.J. Brown has a population of walleyes that go from the tailrace clear to Dayton in the Mad River. The dams from Indian Lake to Dayton have a healthy population and the dams from Dayton have to the Ohio River have a mix of Walleyes and Saugeyes. Alum, Hoover and my favorite in Columbus, Delaware all have saugeyes roaming. All the dams downstream through the capital have eyes roaming them. And it s not a phenomenon in our part of the state. All around Ohio and the rest of the country fishing below dams during the winter is quite productive for fish. Cold water high water washes food down through the dams and fish know this and congregate here to participate in the feast. And these fish are healthy. Their metabolism doesn t slow down as much as their lake brothers once they are acclimated to a river system and feed more often to compensate for the energy burned. Don t get me wrong, they ll lay in any slack water they can find. But they use more energy getting from one area to another resulting in a firmer less fatty flesh. The best times are early and late into the night but they can be coaxed into hitting all day if bait is presented right. Very early and late into the night you can t beat bladebaits. Vibe s and Cicada s have no equals during the low light periods for calling fish. Both a rip and hop from across and downstream, along with a straight retrieve work in the river. But you need to keep the bait near bottom. So the more current the heavier you ll need to go in order to keep the bait down. The same is for jigs. Use enough weight to keep the bait banging off bottom. As the sun comes up jigs can be presented with live bait or plastic using a slow lift to roll the bait downstream. Or cast upstream and work them down. Work them through any holes downstream from the dam, especially during high water or very low water. Greens and oranges are popular colors in tailraces. Dam fishing calls for a second pole. Dead sticks presenting bait near bottom or under a bobber can produce a few more fish or on finicky days mean a way to a limit. If you have slack water or want to bounce a lure downstream slowly a bobber rig is best. If you want to put a rig down the front of a hole or off the first drop a bottom rig is your best bet. The set up of a bottom rig is easy. Use a 1/2oz or larger weight behind a swivel, then run a 15 leader to a floating jighead. Bait with a large minnow or small chub. Pitch in a hole and tighten line. Back of the drag as far a you can without the current pulling it. A bobber rig is another more visible setup. Thril bobbers work best in current and you want the weight dragging bottom. Light pencil weights drag bottom and snag the least. On a dropper leader 12 above the weight you add a 12 leader and a circle hook. You can add a small bead or Mack s Smile blade ahead of the bait for color if you want. Hook the minnow up through the nose pitch upstream and allow to drift downstream. You want it occasionally dragging bottom and catching. While your working your jigging/bladebaiting rod let it sit in the snag. Pop it free to go further downstream while you again cast you first rod. On lazy days the bobber becomes my first rod as I work it over an area while the bottom rod is my second. Sometimes you want to sit in chair and do much of nothing and these two rigs fit the bill. I know I didn t mention using crankbaits which are a viable option or several other techniques used across the state, but hopefully it s enough to get you out for a little exercise and relaxation. Marc Colwell