Macsimus

Thanks for the report, Jeff. Did they bite all through the day for you?

I fished it Thursday from Lucy Smith Hollow to the confluence with the White. Visibility was 1-1.5' with greenish color. There was some wood debris including some logs so you had to be careful. Water temps 53.5 to 56.2. I scratched out 6 shorts on a Ned. It was really tough but then I suck at fishing this lake. I enjoy it and love the lake, but it regularly humbles me. 😀

Glad to see you guys were able to get out and enjoy that fantastic weather. I can't even fathom what 78 would feel like. 😀

Dock-in-it, thanks very much!!

Other than when targeting the fish behind your boat, are you fishing vertically with the SB or are you casting with a swimming retrieve? 5/8 seems quite heavy to me and would have a 3" SB moving rapidly during a swimming retrieve?

My enthusiastic vote goes to the Five Fish Lures Ultimate Ned Jigs. They have a good variety of weights, the hook sizes are perfect and strong, and they have a great braided wire weedguard which does not unravel and can easily be bent back into shape.

I often wonder what happened when I pass those white, road-side crosses in the middle of nowhere. That wreck would've been horrific and I'm glad you didn't have to witness it or worse, be involved.

I often wonder what happened when I pass those white, road-side crosses in the middle of nowhere. That wreck would've been horrific and I'm glad you didn't have to witness it or worse, be involved.

Nice report, Bobby. Thanks.

PM sent.

but does anyone in the Table Rock area have an old, working, Lowrance HDS-8 Gen 2 laying around that they'd be willing to part with?

Doing well, Daryk. I hope all is well with you?

Not sure about the north end but you can launch at Mill Creek on the south side of the bridge.

Shorts in February? Need a dancing banana emoji. 😎

Yes sir

Saw those A-10s last year. Always gives me goosebumps. Wish they'd fly over more often. My condolences on the tough fishing, kind of. 😀

As always, a most interesting post. Curious how you can differentiate between residents and roamers? Year to year, I find it next to impossible to find concentrations of fish on prior year spots and have convinced myself that they're all roamers. 😀

If you fish alone much, spot lock or anchor mode as MG calls it, is simply fantastic. It has made my fishing so much more relaxing. I can stay on fish, retie, change baits, fool with a fish, eat lunch, nap, etc, all with impunity from the wind. I'm in the 3rd season with a MG Tour Pro and it's been very good.

Nice. I think I might know the laydown of which you speak. 🙂

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What are you keying on there, James?

Had a good day despite the pesky east wind, disproving the "wind from the east, fish bite least" rule. Caught 34, broke off 1 and jumped off 5 (ugh). Water temps 61-62. Caught a few schoolers first thing in the morning on a weightless fluke but that bite fizzled pretty fast. Pounded the bank with the Leetle Ned and found them quite willing until the bite just cratered at 9:00. What triggers the whole dang creek to just stop feeding??? Lots of fish on wood cover. Scratched out a few more fishing windy banks and called it a day at 3:00 wanting to beat the forecasted rain which never happened (actually, it was nap time). 24 Spots, 9 LM, 1 SM. Biggest: 17" LM, 16" LM, 16" SM. 7 "keeps" total. I only count "score-ables". 😄 Very enjoyable day on the water and I was surprised by the almost complete lack of boat traffic. I fished four different creeks/pockets/hollows/hollers/branches and never had any company. Never did fish the main channel. I guess I was enjoying the wind protection in the pockets too much. 😉

😄 The new definition of success. 😄 Congrats on the good day. Great report.

They still do but the axles and hubs have come from Dexter for a long time. Everything about the trailer except for those items is excellent. They are very well built. In addition, they position the boats on the trailers so that the minimum amount of garage space is required (with a swing tongue). My boat is 20'4" and it fits straight into my garage which has a 20'11" inside depth plus a doghouse I added for the motor. I don't believe there's another 20' boat on the market that I could get in my garage that way.

I've kept a spreadsheet of expenses other than gas and oil since I bought my boat. It's a 2013 BassCat Cougar with a 250 Poptimax. The engine has been serviced religiously and yet I have still had a failed oil pump, cracked head, leaking lower crankshaft seal, multiple coil failures (I finally replaced the last 3), upper motor mounts that failed because apparently I was "going a little too boldly" in some big waves, and the final insult, a compressor that spewed its guts into my fuel intake system taking out the air injectors which are a cool $600+ each. I opted for a reman powerhead. I put approx 100 hours a year on my motor so it's not a garage queen. I've had exasperating problems with the torsion axles and their misalignment eating trailer tires until I finally found a shop that would put it on a rack and align the axles despite being told by numerous credible sources that it couldn't be done. The amount of repair money I've sunk into that rig to keep it on the water over the last 10 years is ridiculous. If I didn't love the lakes of MN (and Table Rock) so much, I'd have taken up stream fishing long ago. It takes me to the places I love to go so I put up with it. Sorry for the rant, lol.