vernon

You're welcome. I figure the least I can do is provide fair warning. At this point of life I don't like to sneak up on anyone.....🧟‍♂️

Yeah, well, we're headed back down on the 12th and until you can put our weeklong visit in that rearview mirror it won't be safe to go outside! How's everyone feel about snow in mid September this year?

Wowzer!

No sight seeing here. Heck, we'd already seen every place that we wanted to get to a hundred times. We just wanted to get from one fishing spot to another and then back without getting beat to death. When we went we almost always stayed at a resort down by the dam (cause I could get a great deal thru my military affiliation) and kept the boat in one of their slips. We never ran more than five or six miles at the most up the channel and usually more like two or three. If a guy lived nearby or had a place to keep his boat and trailer reasonably accessible then what you describe would certainly be the way to go. And we did just that quite a few times back in the day. But now when it's just me and Kathy with nowhere close or safe to park the boat and trailer, loading unloading launching and repeating just ain't practical or worth the trouble. It was fun for a time and we had some great days of fishing but it just got to where it wasn't fun anymore and that was the end of it for us. Unfortunately, Table Rock is rapidly approaching the same point. I don't expect anybody else to give up what they enjoy just because of me. When it's no longer a good time I'll just go somewhere else or find something different to do. Just too old and lazy now to deal with what it takes and to be honest, whether I catch 'em or not isn't really all that important anymore either. I guess as Mr. Babler likes to say, we "just ain't that mad at 'em". Gettin' old kinda sucks.......

My rule of thumb used to be to never set foot in a boat on that lake from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Then it was modified to between May 1st and October 1st. Now I just don't go near the place at all. Ever. That Ranger Z521 is like a peanut in a blender on that lake. Too old and cranky to deal with it and Table Rock is on the chopping block now too. Too many other people out there having "fun" for me to be able to too.

Yeah, I got a couple buddies that "win" thousands at the casinos three or four nights a week too. Can barely pay their rent or put gas in the car but they've got this gambling thing all figured out. To hear them tell it they make Rainman look like a hack. Same sorta deal.

Ditto. I'm not worthy..........😞

Yeah, that's probably what I'm gonna have to do but I'd been dealing directly with Ranger parts and the repair department since October without any real problems although they weren't anywhere near as helpful and accommodating as they were in the "old days." Up until four or five years ago a guy could pretty much get whatever he wanted whenever he wanted it but now there's a lot of hemhawing around about how busy they are and how they're not sure when or if they can do this or that. In fact, I was told directly not to bother calling them or leaving voicemails because they "probably wouldn't have time" to call back. I was told instead to email them and even then it was taking a couple of days or more to get a response. And these aren't "new" folks that I'm dealing with but rather a guy and a gal that have provided superb customer service to me in years past. Anyways, I've had a new trailer fender sitting down there since December and was supposed to take the boat down in March to get it installed as we were hoping to combine the repair trip with some fishing on Bull Shoals. Of course everyone knows what happened next and I haven't been able to contact a live person at Ranger since then. Could be worse though - I could be waiting on a whole new dad gum boat in which case I'd be losing my dang mind!

I've been trying to contact Ranger parts department for the last month with no response. Emails and phone calls might not be being ignored but they sure ain't being returned either. Unless of course you're talking about Vexus in which case I got nothing...... Good luck - I hope it shows up soon!

Jealous here. That's almost enough to make me wish I was still working! Almost........

🤦‍♂️

Johnny? He owns everything else. Although he didn't do Evinrude any favors when he went all in on Mercury a couple years ago. Heck, my G2 wasn't two years old yet and I couldn't even get it serviced where I bought it (Cabela's) thanks to him pulling the ol' switcheroo and cutting all ties to BPR.

Yet another reason this will almost certainly be my last boat........ Too bad too cause I like to look and dream!

Wow.

Well that blows..... My G2 is my first (and obviously last) Evinrude and it's by far the best engine I've ever owned. I've had a Johnson, two Yamaha's and eight Merc's and most of the Merc's were a pain in the butt. I doubt I'll live long enough to buy another boat and/or motor but I guess this is a good one to go out with.

We found the unexpected availability of whips and chains as an inclusive item particularly appealing......... 🎥

Bill and Becky's place at White River Lodge is outstanding. Kathy and I stayed there for her birthday a couple of years ago. And although we were there in late July so we didn't take the boat I can't imagine a better scenario for your fishing prospects than sharing a residence with "Da Man" himself!

I think somebody must have soaked our stuff overnight in gasoline when we were there last week. We only caught more than 15 total a couple of days and despite Dave's generous efforts to try and help us out we had one of our worst week's ever! And we never saw a single fish swirl or bust the surface either which is just about unbelievable. Heck, I bet it's been at least five years since we've found any whites surfacing and we used to get into them two or three times a day too. An ol' buddy of mine used to always tell me that if I looked up born loser in the dictionary that there'd be a picture of me right there! Of course I WAS pretty preoccupied what with my weather work and all..........

I guess "tough" is all in the eye of the beholder........ Sounds like a dream day to losers like me!

Heck, I came home a week ago yesterday! This is apparently just the remnants of seeds already sown! Not sure why the mojo is lingering for so long but must be some technical glitch brought on by the virus. I'll get with my people and see if I can figure out what's going on down there........🤞

Uhhh-hemmmm. Excuse me?

You guys are giving me goosebumps! Witnessing the amount of "acceptable" leakage in a major dam for the first time can be a little disconcerting. First time I went down inside to the bottom of Truman I thought I was gonna die there for sure! Not for the claustrophobic but pretty exhilarating to an ol' country boy.

Good stuff that. For some macabre reason I used to really enjoy attending those Emergency Management briefings during big floods. Might have something to do with my innate ability to cause big floods I guess. Kinda like the arsonist watching the building burn?🤦‍♂️

Yep. If Bull is The Alamo then the emergency spillway is Armageddon.

Historically and in a perfect world Bull Shoals has always been "The Alamo". Sometimes though (and this appears to be one of those times) that duty falls to Table Rock. Could get very interesting and not in a good way if this pattern holds for any length of time.