GNSfishing

They might close the camp grounds but the areas with marinas and the launching ramps would stay open in my opinion.

I have found that ordering online and delivery to the Branson store works well. It is also cost effective to order online and have it shipped to your door. That can cheaper for me than driving to Springfield an 80 mile round trip. BPS online ordering had free shipping if your order exceeds $75 don't know how long they will be doing that. I also order from Tackle Warehouse. I dropped in the Cabela's store in Rogers a couple weeks ago and the store is very well organised, but I found some of their prices were high when compared to other similar stores. I would not drive to their store unless I was in the neighborhood. I have bought a few things online from them.

The story of my fishing "You should of Been Here Yesterday"

I don't have a trim tab on a Mercury 225 Pro XS just an anode where a trim tab would be and that 5th bolt is a socket head cap screw.

Well when you get down to it, 4 lock nuts, 1 socket head cap screw and if you want to count the anode bolt makes 6 attachments

There have been many lower units taken prop and all. There are only 5 bolts and the lower unit comes right off on a big Mercury outboard. Then thieves can take their time removing a prop. There is nothing safe if you leave your boat unattended in a dock stall or on a trailer for a period of time. Thats why mine is parked in my garage which of course I could have someone break in and get to everything in my home but not as likely as setting in a stall at a dock. They also have to defeat a security system at my home. Bottom line this world has produced more people who do not want to work for what they have and rely on someone to either give them their living or take it (steal) from others.

In my opinion putting your boat in a stall is like placing a $100.00 bill on the sidewalk, there will be a few pass it by but sooner or later someone will picked it up. Same thing with your boat someone will take whatever they can. Locks are for keeping law abiding people honest.

And us old farts......

I think that you will find that the majority of the night fishermen will fish with no lights on until an approaching boat is heard and then turn on the rear light or both to indicate where they are at. Except when fishing a long point or structure a ways from the shore, will have both front and rear on. Now if it was a real problem the water patrol would be filling their ticket book full of tickets on the weekends during the summer nights. That is if they were on the lake patrolling which is a rare case now days even during the day let alone at night.

I have to hand it to the Cape Fair Marina for placing solar lights on the no wake buoys which is great and the lights which shines on the loading/unloading ramp and the dock at the ramp. I think that all buoys should have these solar lights on them and the dock owners who had these buoys placed should pay for them and the upkeep on such lights. Also would like to thank the corp rangers for taking my suggestion on placing reflective tape on the loading/unloading docks, so you can see their locations when coming in at night. Even though the buoys have lights on them does not keep them from being run over and I bet that happens during daylight hours.

The first time I encountered a boat with head lights I was puzzled wonder where that road was the car was on. The agree if the headlights on a boat is dangerous to other boat operators because they blind you meeting them. I have had to shut down until they pass so I could see again. Saw one Sunday night around Woolie creek below Cape Fair marina I could not see their navigation lights until they passed me. I did not see the water patrol boat out of the dock at Cape Fair this labor day weekend, so why are they not out on the water full time on these long holiday weekends? The presents of water patrol around the Cape Fair area is slim and none ever since they were changed to the Highway Patrol dept.

Have pity for the person fishing on the rear deck with the bug storm out right now with that rear light on. Whether right or wrong, I usually don't fish the banks with the rear light on. Will turn lights on as another boat approaches to tell them I am here. Now if I am fishing a long shallow point or structure I will have both front and rear lights on all of the time. Like I said right or wrong and you will find that is what normal night fishermen do. There are a few who keeps their lights on all of the time while on the water and of course a very few who do not turn their lights on whether fishing or running (scares me).

Your experience with that incident happen to a lot of us fishermen at one time or the other. I was fishing point 12 in the James this morning and had the same thing happen. These people running these boats don't know how how deep the water and what type of structure is below the boat and have no respect other boaters. How many times have you been meeting another boat and you steer to the right and they steer to the left just plain stupid. My opinion and (everyone has one) any person who is going to operate a boat needs a operator license. To obtain that license they must attend a class on boat operation and safety rules/laws and provide proof of insurance if they own a boat before being allowed to operate a boat. I have a feeling that there are people running these boats that been given a 5 minute instruction on how to run this boat and I bet that there are people who are operating a boat of age who is by law to have a certificate does not have one. Even us old guys can and will learn something on boat operation with the license process if made to do it also. Back when I bought my first boat all you had to do is buy it and you learned on your own good or bad. Come on winter fishing!!!!! Ok off my soapbox for now, Didn't boat a keeper this morning all short fish on a old monster worm in around 20 to 25 ft. Lost (maybe keeper) on a spook in the bushes with a few rises.

Yep Stren is making the fluorescent braid in a clear blue and Spiderwire has a lite green which will be seen with a black light. I have been using it and they both do work at night and will be visible during the daylight also. I do watch my line for any twitch which is the only indication of a hit.

merc1997 I'll have to agree with you on the use of braid line. I have used mono, FC of many brands for years and I now use the Stren sonic braid fluorescent in a 30 lb which is a 8 lb dia equivalent of mono and/or FC with a 15 lb FC leader of around 5 ft long. This combination has worked great in hook sets and I have that fluorescent glow with a black light at night and it is very visible during the day to be able to see the line twitches of a leary bass pickup. I have tried to go back to the FC and/or mono just looking for what is so good about those lines and I go right back to braid. The line stretch in the FC and mono is like a spring being pulled on a hook set. The braid just does not have that spring feeling on a hook set no matter how much line you have out. I do loosen my drag on the reels for braid because you can rip a hook out on hook set if you set a hook like using the FC or Mono line to accommodate for the stretch they have. Like you said it's up to each one to use whatever floats your boat on what line to use. But I believe if a person tries braid it will make them a believer in the braid line. One test they can try is take 50 ft of each line and tie off one end and then pull each one and feel how much stretch each type of line has over the braid and that will be what has to be taken up on a hook set to stick a hook in a bass's mouth....

Give Marine Repair a call in Springfield at this number, For product inquiries: Call (417) 833-9191 or email at info@marinerepaircenter.com they should be able to provide you what you need. They are a MotorGuide sales and repair shop, great guys to deal with......

Yep and yep, I have changed the freq which will change the cone size versus water depth. What has me puzzled I've had it to work in the past and I could see the lure from entry in the water to the bottom and have seen fish take my lure. There could be a setting that is new with the software update that I have not discovered yet. Sometimes these settings can be obscure and sometimes hard to find on these things which will make them work great..

Got a question on the settings for a HDS-10 Gen2 to being able to see my lures when vertical fishing a DS or spoon. I used to be able to see a large bait such as a spoon but when I upgraded to the latest software update somehow some setting changed to where I am not able to see my bait on the screen and now I don't remember what to change to get it back (old timers) disease . I have adjusted the sonar sensitivity up or down change the freq and all I get is more or less clutter on the screen, I see fish, structure & etc but can't see my bait.....especially smaller drop shot lures and/or the weight......What works for you????

That is a nice rack, this was a deer??

I use the same BPS plug knocker attached to a large retractable dog leash, works great and is fairly compact to store in the boat.

When I first moved here at Cape Fair I tried a local provider which was wireless and after a year of unsatisfactory service I switched to Centurylink 10mb service it worked but had some trouble until their tech turned the service down to a 7mb and I have not had any more trouble. The phone lines were not good enough for a good 10mb transfer rate. I have no experience with the satellite service internet but I would expect some connecting problems with the internet as I have with the video when a storm and/or heavy cloud cover occurs with DirectV. I did bundle the internet with DirectV to get a break in price of the internet service. You do not have to have a landline for the internet service. My phone service is cell phone only.

You are 110% right, there are docks on this lake with empty stalls why do there need to be more.....These dock owners think that being their dock sits on the water they own the water around and under the dock and plaster no trespassing signs all over their dock and become belligerent if you fish around their dock. I'll guarantee that if I am caught on the lake in a bad storm I'll use an empty stall to get out of the storm if necessary. There are some dock owners who are alright and there are some that are just a@#holes. I do not want Tablerocks shoreline to be covered with docks like OZ and I'm sure that most of the fishermen don't either... I live on the lake and don't have a stall in a dock and I do not and will not want a dock. I do not want to unload everything out of my boat every time I park in a dock besides it is just easier to load up on the trailer and park it in the garage. These dock (stall owners) complain about thieves and all I can say is that if you place a $1.00 to thousands of dollars of equipment locked or unlocked out in the open someone will take it if it lays there long enough including lower units and etc.

Night time fishing can be tough or bounty. If you get out on the nights closes to the full moon during the months of May thru September you will find that you can see to cast and run at night plus at times some of the best fishing around. The main reason I like night fishing you don't have the wake boats and skiers, jet skiers, huge boats plowing the large wakes which can roll over the nose of your boat making fishing just almost impossible in a lot of areas of the lake. I have seen some of the biggest bag of fish caught during night tournaments. I for one just can't hardly wait for October through March fishing with 99% of the party boaters off the waters leaving the lake for the fishermen to be able to fish in peace. Back when I used to fish bass club tournaments we alway had 6 day tournaments and 6 night tournaments to balance between day and nights and always closes to the full moon for safety reasons for running at night. Of course we did not have a speed limit at night and it was before the GPS being including in our depth finders. The bad thing with using these GPS to run with is people using them to run fast in fog and or running with no lights on running at night. When you are running your boat you can not hear another boat running and in fog. I have seen tournaments released in fog and they will run by GPS not being able to see any boats they meet to be safe..........

Well Fred and company will do you right, one of the best shops around this part of the country.

If you stay mid lake the debris will be lite but be sure to be on the look out for the unsuspecting low floating logs they are hard on lower units. The rivers like upper James, White and large creeks can have floating trash, logs and etc in them. Just be on the lookout and you will have a great time.