btdt,  I was one of the guys on the dock....5 other guys w me...stayed till 5...I caught seven craps..nice size...on guy caught zip..one guy caught 10 or 12 ond 1 eye....don't know about the others...we saw you out there I think...we said who was that guy out there all day catching nothing?...was that you?

Got on the water just after noon today, light wind out of the North and temp hovering around 38`F.  Two other vehicles with trailers in the parking area and several people fishing from the Marina docks.  
 
Made several passes across the lake at the dam with no success than, fished the points off of the islands.  Tried Sonars and Bucktails, catching a few Crappie with the Sonars.  Fished the area til dark then moved to the Marina to try my luck jigging for Crappie only to find the wind blowing a bit too strong to try fishing with ultra light in no light.  Tossed a few 1/16 ounce jigs around the launch area but again, not easy and no luck.
 
Put the Fish Hawk back on her bunks at 6:00 pm with a light north wind blowing and the air temp hovering at 32`F.  Parking area was empty and no one  remained on the Marina docks.
 
Are the Walleye biting.............  dam'ed if I know!           But, I enjoyed every minute on the water.

HI.......................          
 
Got on the water just before sun-up (as in straight-up) ready to target Crappie.  I didn't dilly dally around, headed straight to where I located the fish the last time I was on the lake.  Rigged one rod with a slip bobber, a second rod with a fixed bobber and, a third rod with, a no bobber.    Small Fat Heads were the bait of choice which I was very lucky to purchase at Richters Grocery, located just before the Jamestown Park Entrance.  I say I was lucky because the salesperson had to search hard to get what was left in his tank.   He says the bait suppliers are reluctant to deliver when just a store or two places a order.  I can appreciate that seeing how the sissy's have put their boats to bed and nobody is buying bait.  However, should you wish to fish using Fat Heads, you might want to call ahead to check for availability. 
 
In addition to the ultra light rigs, two MHF rods were rigged, one with a Johnson Blade Bait and the other with a Sinking Rattling Rap.
 
I began by presenting live bait on two ultra light rigs set at different depths under the bobbers, followed by jigging a 1/16 oz jig rigged with a tube body or switching between the two MHF rods.  Just a hint of a breeze from the south made for an excellent drift but, something didn't seem right, something was missing.  Continued fishing the live bait, changing the depth under the bobbers every now and then  as well as bouncing one of the jigging lures off the bottom.  
 
Boat control wasn't difficult as I would use the motor to slowly back troll to to a new location and let the light south wind drift me back.
 
Eventually, I laid the jigging rods aside, poured a cup of hot chocolate and munched on some peanut butter and crackers, still trying to remember something I should be doing while fishing for Crappie and Walleye.  Meanwhile, I continued to adjust the bobbers, changed tube bodies, use different methods of jigging and munch peanut butter crackers.
 
A couple of hours has now passed, I've covered shallow water, deep water and, all kinds of bottom structure and still wondering what doesn't seem right about today's fishing.
 
Still perplexed, I opened a second thermos and poured a cup of hot vegetable soup than, grabbed two ham sandwiches (imagine that, ham, not baloney) a second cup of hot chocolate and kicked back for a Pymie Picnic.   Bobbers were still in the water and I'm saving money, I'm still using the first two Fat Heads I started with.
 
Finished my picnic, tidied up and, put all my trash in a bag when it dawned on me, there's no beeps!  You know the beeps your fish locator makes when it detects fish?  Well my fish locator is not beeping, nor is there, those little fishy pictures popping up on the screen.
 
I've just spent the last 3+ hours  fishing where there's no fishy pictures, WTH.. they were here the last time I was but, not now??  What's up with that?
 
Well I didn't want to look foolish and be caught red faced so, I moved slowly past the other six boats fishing further up the lake when, I started seeing fishy pix and hearing beeps on my locator where I did land a Small Mouth bass and a dink Walleye using a blade bait.
 
Didn't catch any Crappie but, something good came about, because of that.  I still have 22 Fat Heads I can use when I do it all over again tomorrow.
 
 
Of course, catching makes fishing all the more funner but, scenes like these make for some wonderful memories and, I got to see them.
 

 



Tight lines to those who still seek..............
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

roygpa
Stupid question time:
Is it legal to fish the docks at the marina in Espyville, like some of the guys here fish the docks at Jamestown?
 
Another stupid question.
Do you think the fish that are around the docks are resident there year round or do they migrate into the shallow bays (docks areas) prior to ice up in the winter and before moving out to deeper water. if they are resident year round do the dock areas get "fished out" after awhile?  Then more fish come in in the spring?
 
Third stupid question: Would a flasher like some use for ice fishing work to locate the fish under the docks or would the dock supports get in the way and cause the flasher to light up from top to bottom?
 
Thanks.

Roy,
Here's a stupid answer to your first question.
Not sure but I don't think you can fish from the docks.
BTDT and I fished the marina area from his boat a few months / weeks ago.
There was a sign up about not fishing but I can't remember if it was no fishing from the docks or no fishing from boats docked in the marina?
We fished around the docks from BTDT's boat and didn't catch anything.
I've had some luck fishing for perch from the break wall.
 
Here's a stupid answer to your second question.
Fish move depending on any number of factors. Docks can provide shade and structure and game fish will frequent them as long as there are bait fish around and the water is deep enough not to freeze.
 
Here's a stupid answer to your third question.
I never thought about using a flasher under a dock. Might be a great idea. If you have some luck with it let us know.
 
Good luck, hopefully, BTDT has a better memory and will remember what the sign at the marina says.
 
rob

HEY ............!!  No spot burning and, what sign????
 
 
 
 
  Paging; Zelie Sam,  Paging...... Mr.  Zeilie  Sam,  Message for, Mr. Sam......                           
 
 
 
 
Ice Nut thank-you for the flowers and, I should like to make your acquaintance someday soon.  I'm certain, if you speak to the right people they will tell you I am not the type of person that, some of my so called friends, make me out to be.  Problem is, it may be difficult, finding those right people.
 
 
 
And now my friends, today's fishing report, I didn't go so,  stick that in your bean pipe and smoke it!!
 
 
 

Dang Crappie-Slayer wished I'd knowd ya was there, would a been a pleasure to make your acquaintance. 
 
I got on the water around 11:30, would of been a bit earlier but somebody, removed the docks at Snodgrass.  So, off to Jamestown to launch and then boater moat back to Snodgrass where, I caught absolutely nothing.  So, off to Jamestown where I boater moated around and caught absolutely nothing.
 
As always, still a good day on the water where I enjoyed a Pymie picnic consisting of two ham samidges, one ham and cheese sanmidge, a can of Campbell's [mmm mmm, good] Tomato soup, and a thermos of N-E-S-T-L-E-S Nestles is the very best, hot chocolate. 
 
Wed. looking to be, maybe, my next day to boater moat around Pymatuning.