Macsimus

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.

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.