Steve Arend

I noticed that this morning when I logged in. I thought I was on the wrong page at first!!!

I still need to get a 2006 fishing liscnece and also new tags for the boat!!!!

I'm working on getting out Saturday morning out of St. Joe. Either on my boat or piggy-backing on someone else's boat.

I have been on a few charters on the great lakes it’s a good way for someone just starting out to see how different tactics work and who things run. BUT there is one charter that I had the misfortune of being on where his views and my views clashed and I will NEVER go back out with him, even if it is free again.

Welcome aboard hookerhal I've always wanted to try my hand a catching a few Stripers. The Closest that I have come to catching one was out on Chesapeake Bay but we were a few weeks early and never tide into one but still had fun catching everything else.

Nice to have you on board Dog House.

Sinking levels of Huron and Michigan, rising Erie concern U.S. Army Corps, environmentalists. Gary Heinlein / Detroit News Lansing Bureau The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is disputing some key findings of a controversial report that claims the levels of lakes Michigan and Huron have been on a permanent decline for at least 44 years. But the Corps is also calling for a detailed study of the apparent drop in those two lakes -- which scientists consider one lake system -- and a corresponding rise in Lake Erie over time. Environmentalists are sounding alarms, and the International Joint Commission, a U.S.-Canadian governmental group charged with stewardship of the Great Lakes, also is pledging a thorough review. http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060312/METRO/603120350

Thu, March 9, 2006 By PETER GEIGEN-MILLER, FREE PRESS REPORTER For only the second time in 24 years, an unusually warm winter has wiped out the ice fishing season for John Aker at Long Point on Lake Erie. Aker, operator of Aker's Ice Fishing, looked out yesterday to a scene of ducks and geese paddling in water usually covered by a thick sheet of ice at this time of year. http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/CityandRegion/2006/03/09/1479342-sun.html

Fish count for Lake Michigan jumps in 2005 after 90% plunge By DAN EGAN Posted: Mar. 13, 2006 When Lake Michigan makes headlines these days, it seems the news is almost always bad. Overflowing sewers. Closed beaches. Crashing fish populations. But a bit of good news is flowing out of the world's fifth-largest freshwater lake - yellow perch could be on the rebound. Recent state and federal fish surveys show that the 2005 class of perch, perhaps the lake's most popular native fish in terms of eating and angling, is the largest in more than a decade http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=407993

With the Brown Blast just weeks away, who is ready? Over the weekend I was able to get everything down out of the garage and reline the rods that needed be, organized all 18 of my Plano Boxes with body baits, straightened out my spoon box in manufacture and color order. I went through my flies and replaced the old, half mangled ones with new ones and organized all my flasher/rotators. Hey my blue bubble Spin Doctor is missing!???????? I still need to mount the riggers and I would like to add some Bert’s tracks and rod holders too. Oh! I also need to give the motor a tune-up and change the oil.

I’m not a lawyer and I would never want to be but I think someone was feeding you a line of crap. Maybe they were pissed because they looked at it as if you were taking away from their lively hood posting something like that. The way I see it, it’s no different then if a group of guys going on a camping trip and everyone gave one guy $$$ to pay for all the expenses. There nothing wrong with that. Or, Someone started up a hunting camp and in order to use that camp you had to pay $$$ to help out with the up-keep of the camp. Or, You had a friend or two that wanted you to take them fishing, “Sure if you pay for the gas.â€

Nearshore Marine Forecast National Weather Service Grand Rapids Mi 454 Am Est Fri Mar 10 2006 For Waters Within Five Nautical Miles Of Shore On Lake Michigan Lmz844>849-101615- /o.con.kgrr.sc.y.0021.000000t0000z-060310t1800z/ St Joseph To South Haven-south Haven To Holland- Holland To Grand Haven-grand Haven To Whitehall- Whitehall To Pentwater-pentwater To Manistee- 454 Am Est Fri Mar 10 2006 Small Craft Advisory Remains In Effect Until 1 Pm Est This Afternoon Today Northwest Winds 15 To 25 Knots Becoming West 5 To 15 Knots Early In The Afternoon...then Backing Southwest Late In The Afternoon. Mostly Cloudy In The Morning...then Partly Sunny In The Afternoon. Waves 3 To 6 Feet Subsiding To 1 Foot Or Less. Tonight Southeast Winds 10 To 20 Knots. Mostly Clear In The Evening Then Becoming Partly Cloudy. Areas Of Fog After Midnight. Waves 1 Foot Or Less. Saturday Southeast Winds 15 To 25 Knots. Light Showers Likely And A Chance Of Thunderstorms. Waves 1 To 3 Feet Building To 3 To 5 Feet In The Late Morning And Afternoon. Saturday Night South Winds 10 To 20 Knots Veering West After Midnight. Light Showers Likely And A Chance Of Thunderstorms In The Evening...then Light Showers Likely After Midnight. Waves 3 To 5 Feet.

Ontario anglers face major rule changes. Wed, March 8, 2006 By PETER GEIGEN-MILLER, FREE PRESS REPORTER Ontario's 1.4 million anglers are are about to witness a sweeping overhaul of the regulations governing the province's $2.3-billion annual sport-fishing industry. http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/CityandRegion/2006/03/08/1477765-sun.html

Welcome aboard Whit and thanks for increasing the average age around here.

Happy Birthday Jimmy! Is this to use as a kicker motor on your boat? It can't be for drilling holes in ice when there is no ice.

Unfortunately, Rich has a point! Not trying to scare anyone away, just making everyone face the facts. This is an expensive hobby, but there are ways to lessen the burden of the expense. The one thing that I did was share the expense with a fishing buddy. I had bought the boat and we each picked up are own rods, reels and tackle. So now I started out with all the tackle needed at half the cost and over time I started to replace his gear with my own till now I have all of my own stuff on board. We still use his equipment and he continues to add more but now he’s just getting everything that he’ll need for when he buys his own boat, so it works out for both parties involved.

Offshore pinch pads I beleave its the OR-1. I have replaced the leaders on them with 12" 50lb steel leader, this help you see shakers that are on your line that are to small to release the rod. The shaker will bounce the rod becuase there is enough play in the leader. I real change them out for fishing walleye but found out later that is works great for shaker also.

In the spring I run standard spoons and long body baits. I will also, while trolling shallow waters, run the ¼ oz and ½ oz Hot-N-Tot with a trailer small Stinger Scorpion size spoon. You run the Hot-N-Tot deep enough to plow trenches and kick up a lot of sand and the fish go nut over it, they will either hit the Tot or nail the spoons as it come out of the cloud of sand.

That’s a good point Dave, with the fish style weights you are able to bend the tail to make the weight track out further.

Welcome to the site.

Well put Rick! Sometimes the best company is just you. I have always enjoyed the time spent alone, it’s a good time for thought, and to seek guidance. With or with out and action it’s a good time to charge the soul. The only bad thing is when the action is good who are you going to brag too.

I had forgot about it too. I started working down stairs after getting home around 6:30 and before I knew it, it was 10:00.

I like 12lb Ande on my riggers and 17lb Trilene XT on my high lines and 25lb Big Game on my diver rods.

I believe the name of Dan's book is "Keating on Kings".

Powerful winds push two lakes' water to east (February 18, 2006) — In a dramatic example of the power of Friday's windstorm, water levels rose 31/2 feet in a few hours at the Buffalo end of Lake Erie — and fell nearly that much at the lake's western end. A similar, though less pronounced, change occurred in Lake Ontario. The primary cause: sustained powerful winds from the west-southwest, which piled up the water at the lakes' eastern ends. "Something on that magnitude happens once every three years or so," said National Weather Service forecaster Bob Hamilton. "On a lesser scale, it's maybe twice a winter." Water levels at Erie's eastern end rose 3.6 feet from midnight to 7 a.m., when wind in the region reached its peak. Water levels are recorded by gauges maintained by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which makes the data available online. Powerful winds push two lakes' water to east