Macsimus

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.

Congrats and wishing you many days of enjoyable fishing!

Well, it's some consolation to hear I wasn't the only one struggling yesterday, let alone Mr. Bill. I'm fishing the same area and had me a fine time Thursday. I like to do a little litmus test when I detect the bite is off so I hit a small pocket where I caught some fish Thursday morning including 18" and 17" LMs. Nary a sniff. New day, new lake. I think this lake may have a little multiple personality disorder. She/"they" can certainly be sparing with her/their charms at times. 🙂 In the end, it was two beautiful weather days on the water and not in the great frozen North and I am blessed to be here.

What a rush. She jumped 3 times.

Just think, that jighead could be the start of a huge pearl! 😁

Haha, yep it's a little off the beaten path out there. We're staying in Emerald Beach so we pass it every day and I noticed a sign at the turn off of J. It's small and easy to miss. I'd give you another landmark but it's all cows. I hope you enjoy it. I recall that our opinions of Blue Eye Burger differed "a bit" a few years back. 😁 😁 Say "hi" to Jen, the very charming waitress. I'm sure she would've called me "Hon" if I hadn't had the wife in tow. There's a box of Trivial Pursuit cards at each table in the event the inevitable lull in conversation happens with the wife. After 49 years, we have those every once in awhile. 😁 Lastly, sign the guest book if you feel so inclined.

Bill, it's a new place (opened May 2022) and it's located next to the runway of the airport just east of Owl Creek. It actually looks like an old-fashion diner. Everything is spotless in there which makes it very much wife-approved. 😉 Thanks for the Harter House tip. We will definitely check it out. I have a soft spot for HH since it's the only grocery store I've ever been in that has a tackle rack but I think they might be phasing it out, unfortunately. They don't seem to be restocking it. The place next to the museum is now called "The Local". It's busy every time we drive by but a local source has told us it's pretty smoky in there so we haven't tried it yet.

It's the Barry County museum so mostly history of the local area. We went last year so my memory has faded a bit. I don't know what I was expecting but just found it to be really well done and more extensive than I thought it would be. It had many exhibits - Civil War, Trail of Tears, and the history of local people including the story of the "Mountain Maid" which I found utterly fascinating. I'd go again.

Yes, twice now. Thoroughly enjoyed it both times but between it and the Top of the Rock Museum, I do believe I've seen enough arrowhead collections. 😁 By the way, there is a very interesting county museum in Cassville.

Temperature drop this morning from 73 at 5:30 to 47 at 8:45. I enjoyed a great day on the Kings yesterday catching 20. 5 keeps including a plump 17" Spot and a 17" largie. A 3" Swimbait on a 3/16 5 Fish Lures Ned head did the majority of the catching with a swinghead and a wart producing a few. Saw water temps of 59-64. A little windy but good times nonetheless. I stopped along the way to the ramp to take a pic of the sunrise over some of the purtiest country around. Anyhoo, with the cold temps this morning and a tax return still looming (meaning I'm not going fishing today), the missus and I ventured over to the Depot Diner here in Golden. It has quickly become one of our favorite eatin' places. I had a dish called the Breakfast Casserole - basically a pile of everything I love to eat - eggs, hash browns, sausage, sausage gravy, and cheese. If you're ever in the area, I highly recommend this place. It's right next to the "airport". 😀

Dandy fish! Congrats!

I just saw a boat on the lake here in the Emerald Beach area. We're trying to keep the deck furniture from attacking the house and people are out fishing in this maelstrom. The very definition of hardcore! 😲

Just got my hands on some of these down at Ozark Hunting & Fishing Co in Berryville and I have to say I was sorely tempted. I thought the feel was exceptional. I suspect I will own one by the time I have to return to the Tundra.

Really nice brownies. Green with envy. 😁

Lol, I love how we board grazers scrutinize photos for every possible clue. 😁

Got out both days from the crack of 11:00 until late afternoon fishing from Viney to the Kings. We have company so I have to rein myself in a little. 😁 Caught 12 on Saturday (all Spots) with 4 barely keepers. Ned and swinghead. 10 yesterday (Spots), no keeps, same baits. Bluffs and bluff ends. Couldn't get anything going in the creeks. Probably just me. Water temps 52-58. I was surprised to see 57-58 late afternoon in a couple of the northside creeks. The dirty water plume reached Emerald Beach yesterday afternoon. How long does it usually take for the Upper White to begin to clear?

I fished from Viney to Point 23 yesterday and thought that there was a surprising lack of floating debris. Water clarity in the main channel was 7-8'. WT 52-55.

Found some yesterday afternoon thanks to a recent timely post by Mr. Bill. Didn't get on the water until noon, frankly because I'm just tired of cold weather. 😀Fished from Emerald Beach to the Kings. Six Spots, five 13-14", one 15", plus a 16" White Bass and a 17 1/2 LM. Felt pretty darn good to get bit after shoveling the white stuff for 3 months. It was good to be on a pattern I felt like I could keep running if I didn't have a hot dinner waiting for me back at the house. All came on a RkCrawler 50 in 6-10' on primary points with chunk rock and wind. Whenever I located some, I'd first thrash away with the crank and then try and see if anything else would entice them. Skirted rock jig, Ned, Swimbait, nope. Water temps 50-52 and 1-1.5' of visibility. The "Stain" gradually increases from E.B. to the Kings. I did not get any further downstream.

Thanks for the excellent info, Jeff. Greatly appreciated. 👍

Lol, Champ!! Yeah, including "spank" and "tranny" in the same sentence probably wasn't the best choice. 😁 The vast majority of we Minnesotans are not woke but of course that doesn't make what passes for "news" these days. Since the mid-terms, for the first time in 49 years I am actually embarrassed to be known as a resident of that state. Oops, that got serious in a hurry. Sorry. Back to fishing and for the record, retired guys are pretty much untrainable! 😁

Thanks for posting, Bill. I literally laughed out loud as I read it this morning. I too got out yesterday thanks to my spanky new reman tranny. I was somewhat at the same end of the lake, from Big M to Owl Creek. It's still early March, right? Yes, and of course that means late winter locations like main-river bluffs, bluff ends, deep trees, possible staging areas, etc, etc. Right? I hit numerous locations of that nature without a sniff. I scraped together 3 barely scoreable Spots on the Ned on a channel swing bank inside a creek dead-sticking it for way longer than I thought I should have to. My conclusion at the end of the day? Yep, they're still deep and northern natural lake guy is still struggling to find and catch them. No problem, it was a nice afternoon and everything worked on the boat even after a long winter in the garage exposed to gremlins. So...I sit down this morning, coffee in hand, and find your report. Whut?? Gravel banks? Less than 8'? Cranks? My hat's off to you. That wasn't even a spec on my radar. Even after 9 years, this lake continues to utterly baffle and bewilder me.

Drove over it on 86 this afternoon. Nice green color, no debris.

Up north on the Mississippi River the rule of thumb is mid 40s.

Thank you for reporting that Bill as it gives me quite a bit of solace. I'm land-locked due to my truck sitting at Jim Falk Chev in Clinton awaiting a new reman transmission. The kindly next door neighbor took pity on me and took me fishing yesterday. We hop-scotched from Holiday Island to Sans Souci over about 6 hours and I managed 3 small Spots on the Leetle Ned after trying a mini A-rig, swimbait, small colorado spinnerbait, skirted jig, and a jerkbait after the wind cleared off some of the debris mats. Awesome day to be on the water compared to the winter purgatory still in progress at home.

Ron Hearst is forecasting another 2-4" Thu-Fri. Ugh.