HotPond Anyone ?

[Mojo]

Is anyone hitting the HotPond in December ? What are your thoughts ?

 

[Cheetam]

McCarter, cast n blast, Garza and me fished it last year on December 31.  It was a blast.  Nothing like flipping for largemouth the last day of December....awesome.

[Flippin222]

What is the hot pond and where is it located? I have been looking for some warm water areas to fish this winter.  Can't seem to bring myself to winterize the boat.  Never had to in Missouri.

[Mojo]

couple of the plants on Erie have constant effluent discharge at 70 degrees - One is in an enclosed bay - hard to get into, but could be a 100 fish day ! I am a non boater so I'm trying to drum up some fun before everyone goes deep for the winter !

[Skulley]

The one that you are thinking of in the enclosed bay is not that hard to get into if you know the area as I do.  I have been going there for twenty (20) years.  Yes, it can get tricky when the water is down.  However, it is still not impossible.  Since I have winterized my boat and put it away until spring, I would be game on going as a rider if anyone still has their boat out and ready to fish.  Last time I went there which was November 10th, 2007, I caught about eighty (80) bass in about six (6) hours.  Not a bad day for the Hot Pond. 


BD           

[j690]

!

The one that you are thinking of in the enclosed bay is not that hard to get into if you know the area as I do.  I have been going there for twenty (20) years.  Yes, it can get tricky when the water is down.  However, it is still not impossible.  Since I have winterized my boat and put it away until spring, I would be game on going as a rider if anyone still has their boat out and ready to fish.  Last time I went there which was November 10th, 2007, I caught about eighty (80) bass in about six (6) hours.  Not a bad day for the Hot Pond.  This past spring, my first trip in there yielded over 150 fish in eight ( hours between two of us.  That first trip was in the second of last Sunday in March 2007.  I always start my season there and finish it there.  Why??.....you may ask.  Well it's easy.  I want to catch fish and I want to catch lots of them.  In there, you will.  There are sweet spots in there too.  I have fished in there enough to concentrate on certain spots.  I don't waste my time in other spots that don't yield good numbers.  There are always keepers caught too......even in good numbers.

BD            YOURE IDEAS INTRIGUE ME MAY I SUBSCRIBE TO YOUR NEWSLETTER.

[dashaver63]

UAWBigDog, that enclosed bay you are speaking of isn't one of Kevin Vida's spots off the River is it? Sounds like the place him and Mark Zona fished on TV once.

[Skulley]

No it is not off the river.  This is actually about a mile from Bolles by the way the crow flies near Monroe.  There is one up in the river near Trenton and another one in the north part of the river at St. Clair. 

I am glad my ideas intrigue you.  I don't have a newsletter but if your boat isn't winterized, I can take you there or should I say you can take me there and I will show you what's up.

BD     

[Mojo]

 

Well enough said. Lets set a date for the 15th or 16th of December. We have a good expert joining us to help us learn the hottest of the hot pond corners. Now there arent 20 lb bag, but if anyone with their boat not yet winterized wants, we can catch 14 - 16 lb and 60 fish each !! Sounds like fun in December.

So far we have Big Dog and I willing to fish in chilly weather, but we need some boaters !!!! Boaters - Chime in on a date that works for you and we can work around it !!

[Bender]

Saturday morning? I can go with boat. How long is the boat ride and where do you put in?
I will say I'm only available if BD can go since I have never been anywhere near Erie before and I'm nervous about the big water.

[Skip Johnson]

you dont have to worry about the big water you just have to worry about the shallow water.
I went hard aground while on plane taking my usualy safe course and garza just tore up his lower unit skeg and prop running his usualy safe course.
the water level has been fluctuating up and down as much as 4 ft.  with the winds and low water there will be days you wont be able to get in.
heres the link for the local water levels.
http://glakesonline.nos.noaa.gov/glin.shtml?station_info=9063085+Toledo,+OH

[Bender]

That is really moving around a lot! Maybe I'll just try to break some ice at Kent.
^{I'm reluctant to give up for the year!}

[Skulley]

Skip, how have you been doing in there when you have been able to get in there???  What kind of numbers are you getting if you happen to be counting???   

Mojo, I agree with Skip.  I looked at the water level data on the NOAA Website can see there is at least a 2 foot fluctuation from the zero axis on the graph to 2 feet either way.  That is a total of a 4 foot fluctuation.  That is a lot.  I have not seen this in a few years.  When the water is at its lowest, the depth on the flat going in is between a foot and a half and two feet deep.  Not a lot of water even if you are trimmed up.  I don't even know if I would attempt to try to go in there with this kind of fluctuation.  I talked to my buddy who lives on Horse Island in Gibralter and he said his canal has been "bone dry" to 4 feet deep depending on the wind.  He said that there have been drastic wind changes and the water can raise or drop in a matter of one to two hours. 

I would hate to go in there and then have trouble getting out.  I am sure that there is visible sand on that flat on some days.  As a matter of fact that is how I mapped the trough going in.  The water was so low back in the late eighties that the trough was visible and I idled all the way in there because that is where the depth was.  I don't know how much that has silted in since then so I don't even know if it still exists.  I just use the same route I mapped in way back then using loran coodinates.  I just input them into my when I got my first one and I have been good ever since with no problems....knock on wood.  Probably should remap that someday very soon with my Garmin.  Probably in the spring around the end of April early May.  I will have to spend at least a couple of hours doing that this coming spring.  Just zig zag across those points and look for depth changes.  Water usually up in the spring and the winds grow more stable and so does the water level.  Winter is always an adventure on Erie.  Winter before last there was not much fluctuation in the water level at all as the lake didn't freeze like last year.  All winter long it was relatively easy in and out because of the stable level conditions.   

I would not be surprised if there are no more takers for this year just based on what happened to Skip and Garza.  Hey Skip....any serious damage to your boat???  I hope not.  Bummer Garza that you have that damage.  Wouldn't bother me much anyway.  Overtime has kicked in at work and I am too poor to say no.  $$$$$  In this economy, the Big Dog says, "Get that money now because tomorrow it could be gone."

I am also surprised that no one off this website has contacted me at all about the jobs at General Dynamics.  Here comes the Big Dog's sarcasm.....are you ready?........here goes........there must be an over abundance of good paying jobs out there and that is why no one has contacted me.  Too many jobs and not enough people to fill them......Heavy sarcasm....... .  I guess I should have saved that for the forums "Free-for-all" blog but I couldn't resist.         

BD         

[Skip Johnson]

I ground up my skeg and roughed up a freshley rebuilt stainless prop but that appears to be all the damage.

this summer I practicaly ripped my transom darn near off at the BFL grand river tournament and did extensive fiberglass repair, I will have to do a visual to see how my work held up but I shook the motor and it appears to be good.
if you go on the right day and idle in on the right path you can get in to the pond safeley but like you stated you could get in and a few hours later it might be a foot less and you might get trapped until the wind shifts, could turn out to be a camping trip

Ive only been averaging about a dozen fish each per trip so Id say its a bit slower than I expected it to be.
the waters been about a foot of visibility and 69 to 72 degrees depending on what side and end your on.
I think it will get better when it gets into the low 60's like it did late last december.
this low water level has made the whole back bay with the lily pads un fishable, my thought on that is the fish should be forced in the channel so even more fish should be in the channel and be better fishing???

[Cheetam]

Skip, you know the deal...get yourself a couple roostertails and anchor at the mouth.  I bet you'll slay the fish all day long 

[Skip Johnson]

aint that the truth jeff, I havent forgot that little lesson

[Bigbass201]

Buddy of mine stopped in there Saturday and stuck a few.  He was only there for about 30 minutes before heading out due to the changing water levels.  He mentioned that the water surface temp was 69 degrees. 

It's been a couple years since I last fished it.  We didn't stick anything bigger than 3 1/2 lbs., but we caught close to 100.  I was able to scrap up a couple of those photos.





Joe Thomas did a Classic Patterns show in the Hot Pond not too long ago.

tight lines

[Skulley]

Those are some nice fish son.........as Roland Martin would say.     Catch about 100 of those and I would say you are having one heckuva day.  I hate winter!!!!!!   

BD                   

[Durand Dan]

What hot pond has an open season right now?

[SethV]

What hot pond has an open season right now?

The season on white bass is open year-round.  Lots of white bass in the hot pond.   

Seth