kjackson

For what I'm anticipating buying, a 15 or 25-hp is about it. I've been seeing a lot of Evinrudes on the used boats in Florida--which is where I'll be next week. Thanks for the info, Wrench. Basically, I'm looking for a 15- to 16-foot glass boat. A big 14 might do...

I'm in the process of downsizing/re-thinking my boat/fishing situation. I'll be selling my current boat and looking for something smaller. Because I'm cheap, er, thrifty, I'm looking at used. Can older outboards be retrofitted with tilt and trim? Can an older outboard be changed over to electric start? I don't have a particular boat/motor combo in mind, but I'm thinking Evinrude, Yamaha or Honda for power. I've also been looking really hard at the StumpNocker boats as I think one will fit the upper LOZ/Truman thing fairly well for what I want to do. I realize that a smaller boat will bring safety considerations into play, but I'm semi-retired, so I can pick and choose where and when I fish, assuming winter ever leaves. Part of the smaller boat thinking is in regards to the miserable dirt road that gives us access to our LOZ cabin and partly due to the very upper end of Truman.

Rapala's braid scissors are the ones I use. They have mini-serrations that hold and cut. Avoid the Berkley scissors... Mustad has a split-ring pliers that has a braid-cutting feature that works very well in the KVD series of tools.

I've not fished Bull, so I can't say what colors I would choose for that lake. But, it is difficult to make a bad choice in colors if you're building a bunch of spinners as most every color combo will work at some point. Silver, gold, copper, chartreuse and white blades all work. So do orange and red-and-white, blue, purple and some of the baitfish patterns. I prefer floats for bodies as I like the bit of buoyancy they provide. Colors of bodies almost mimic those of the blades. For a basic stock, I'd choose chartreuse, orange, silver and gold blades and chartreuse, gold, silver and orange bodies. Having said that, I'd also stock some of Yakima Bait's Spin-N-Glos in some of the same colors. Those little, spinning floats are deadly on walleyes.

Thanks, guys. I'll send your recommendations on to my friend.

Hey-- A friend is looking for contact info for catfish guides in the Truman Lake/LOZ areas. Any suggestions for good ones? thx

Super Spook Jr, Saltwater version...but there's a story that goes along with that intel. On my first trip to Venice, I was fishing with an older guy in Yellow Cotton Bay. The water was fairly clear, and we were looking for reds tailing. The gentleman in the bow spotted one and pointed out where it was. I grabbed the rod with the Spook and watched the way the fish was feeding. I led it what I thought would be right, cast and started working the Spook back toward the boat; it looked like everything would be perfect. The fish kept to its line, and the Spook was definitely heading for a meeting. Then Spook was in place, and the red was right there, when the world's biggest splash engulfed the Spook, throwing water feet in the air. The fish ran toward the boat, and I reeled as fast as I could but couldn't catch up to it when I noticed that something was skipping along on top of the water. It was a gafftop catfish that hit the Spook instead of the red. After a minute or so of "I thought I had him," and "I thought you did, too; what a bummer" discussion, the guy said, "I didn't tell you at first, but that was a huge red. When he passed the boat, his head was on this side (he pointed to the starboard), and his tail was on that side (pointed to port)." Granted, we were fishing out of an older Skeeter tri-hull, but it was still a big bull. And as a side note, one of the other guys the party caught a 43-8 (I think it was) on a fly rod the week before.

Here's another article I wrote for Bass Pro's 1Source e-zine. It's on the Venice, La., area and its fishing. For those who like to catch fish, Venice is a superb destination. https://1source.basspro.com/index.php/component/k2/62-fishing/4095-best-place-for-bucket-list-fishing-venice-louisiana

I tend to check the setline every couple of hours during the day but leave them in overnight. This is the first time I've had something chew on a fish. Granted, I've had hooks gone and droppers cut/broken, but I attributed this to the cats doing their twisting dance once hooked. All the turtle/snake/setline thing is new to me. I've spent most of my life in the Pacific Northwest, and living here is a learning experience...

Survey says...didn't think turtles were out this early, given the cold water, but that makes sense. We do have a largish snapper living in the area. Whatever hit the cat didn't really eat anything, just cut the abdomen. The gill and tail chewing I attributed to the little channel cats (or the dink crappies which currently live under the dock). Interesting... thanks.

No images from me, but I also caught crappies--unfortunately, none were over six inches. Then there were some catfish off the set line on our dock--but they weren't especially photo material either.

Spent some time at our place on the upper end this past week. And as I usually do, I put down a set line from the end of our dock as we still have quite a bit of water. After doing better than I thought the first day, the second morning was a surprise. When I pulled the line, there was a really nice blue cat--but it was dead. I've never had a catfish die on the line before...While that might be expected, this one was pretty well chewed on. The gills had been chewed a bit as had the tail. But the head-scratcher for me was the belly. It looked like it had been cut in three or four places, and the intestines were pulled out. I could see that a larger cat might have done that, but the cuts looked like they'd been made by a knife--very straight and not ragged at all. Are there pike or muskies in the lake? That's kind of the damage I might expect from those toothy critters, but otherwise--what could do that?

Based on the USPS calculator, a large, flat-rate box that should hold everything is going to run $18.90.

I'll check, but it's whatever the post office charges...

Now that Thanksgiving is over, I can attend to business. The Garmin stuff is free to whoever wants it. BUT you have to pick it up in Clinton or pay shipping. Any takers?