Probably a wise decision.  That lake is always windy.

Yeah, heater at this time of year is much more important.

How does that David Alan Coe song go? "I got a heater in the truck.....I don't give a **** and I'm off to the rodeo...."

 Tried a swamp for a short time with only smaller Crappie caught.
 
 Kevin, I still have a 45 ov The Rodeo Song by Showdown somewhere. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 Yeah, Greg & I did ok in that area with the canoe back in April.

Chris - 
Good to hear you guys got into some.  Nice to chat for a little.  I couldn't buy a bite over there.  I ended up getting 10 perch where I moved to.  One was 11.5", most of the others were 8" or smaller, with a few over.  Most just wanted to play with my minnow and not commit.  The switch just never turned on like it seems to.  For how calm it was, I was shocked to not see any pike/LM moving around where I was.  Usually at least hear or see wake from them chasing.  Overall, much slower day than I was hoping and got dark much sooner than I was expecting...  Not much going on the hour that I stuck around at night too.  Three bites that I missed.  Probably hanging it up myself.  Worst year on Arthur for me.  Boat issues had me passing on days that I'd normally try to get out.  When I finally got it fixed, the spring bite was done and summer doldrums weren't giving up any fish.  This fall only made it out a handful of times and the fall bite just didn't happen for me.  Hopefully next year is a rebound.

Sam - Congrats on the grouper!
 
With the whole Arthur bust thing, I had a rather banner year in the salt myself (for my standards)...  I landed two stripers in the 28"-30" range in the spring (big for me), with a few shorts as well and a few slammer blues in two trips to NJ.  My short trip to the Gulf came up empty handed (one day run to the Gulf from Orlando), but a few days later my cousin took us into the ICW behind New Smyrna (too rough to go in the ocean) and was hammering a variety of smaller fish (my brother got a snook).  Summer I got into a bunch of keeper Spanish mackerel with just as many pulling but getting off and a few table fare sized blues/whiting.  Probably the best mid summer vacation fishing wise without charter help.  Fall, I had two trips (NJ & DE) that ended up with close to 50 stripers (15"-26"), none keeper size but still by far my most in a fall.  Got a few dogfish and skates to add to the pullage too (tried dogfish for the first time and not bad).  
 
If that was the norm or slow as it is to many, I would agree with the 90HP and roll out to DE/MD bays.  The drive to either is horrible though, especially trailering, then another $500 minimum for a weekend stay.  To maybe get into fish, or maybe hit crazy weather to keep the boat from getting out after trailering.  It is rough to plan those trips, usually want to spend more than just the weekend, so have to clear work and weekend stuff well in advance.  Then find a good place to stay at a decent price.  Unless I am going for work, my trips are usually planned out 2 months in advance.  Even for work, usually 2-3 weeks in advance, and never know how the weather/tides are going to be.  Then your options locally are filled with jetskis and other yahoos that are worse than the Arthur yahoos.  If Erie were an hour or less, then definitely worth it, IMO.  
 
No doubt good call on the pool over the summer.  Our best day was maybe 10 perch combined between 2-3 in a day, maybe one over 9"...  I think maybe 2 cats all summer, and that was the extent of trying to go deeper water.  Hours of sweating and trying to entice the fish deeper, lead to hitting shallower water already frustrated, then ready to toss my gear in the water after nothing shallower either.  Worked creek channels, road beds, sunken cribs/trees, nothing!!!  The spring should have been slamming.  For being stuck to about 400 yards from the launch, we did rather well.  One of my best Arthur crappie in size and found a good bit of holding areas, since we were forced to really pound that area close by.  Agree 100% on fall.  It went from summer to winter with crap weather any time that I had free.  Last week, the weather was fine, fishing was okay, but after a year of nothing, getting out again for okay, just isn't appealing.  I'm not ready to give up on the lake, but another year like this year, and I might have to go get a set of golf clubs...  
 

Crappy, it is 2020, what are you posting on this old thread for?  
 
Is Arthur ice free?  I need to get up there.

I made it out a little today. Thanks Jerry at O’Donnell’s. Awesome guy, highly recommend! He set me up with a bow, arrows and other stuff. Then taught me how to pull my head out of my rear and shoot the thing correctly!

Fishing was ho hum. Didn’t get skunked, but didn’t light things up.

Thanks to the slob that left his/her trash in the parking spot pull off on Burton RD. Thanks also to whoever decided to stop and put the trash on my windshield. Not sure if you noticed while trashing my truck, that the trash was clearly a few days old (rain water in the Dr Pepper can and Mayo packs and styrofoam containers licked clean by raccoons). And yes, it is currently in my empty minnow bucket, which was were it was going after I was done fishing. Think a little next time you think your are doing some sort of good deed.

Two of the dumb crappie.  The stupid ones must have just been sucking on the tail ends of my Bobby Garlands...  Not great, but not horrible first day out for the year.