mixermarkb

Both HDS units are sold.

Phil, I don’t know if it works the same way over on that end of Bull, but when there are a thousand fishermen up above the Theodosia Bridge, it means the whites were actually there a week ago- 😂 Seriously I hope everyone is catching them. They seemed to pull a disappearing act in the Theodosia arm for a couple years there. I haven’t been around enough to see if they have made a comeback at the fish cleaning tables or not, but a lot of the folks that fish them really genuinely need them for food, so I hope they are biting for them.

It can keep moving East. I’ve had a good year on Bull so far and I’d really like to see it not go all the way to 695 for the rest of the year…

Hello Guys- I have a few random boat things for sale. I have a Lowrance HDS5, $100, an HDS7, $150, a Motorguide Power Gator Mount that doesn’t function, but still works fine as a manual pull mount, $50. A Mazco RE4 26 pitch 4 blade chopper prop, $200, and a 22 pitch 3 blade stainless steel prop that I think is a Yamaha M series, but I’m not sure, $75. I’m open to offers on any of this stuff. It’s located in West St. Louis County, but may be able to meet in SEMO or SWMO, and will ship for actual shipping costs. message me here, or text (314) 313-0071 Thanks, Mark Burris

Started off with the Ned, then kept at it with a Swimbait and a crankbait. Fished Spring Creek to Point 16. Water temps 57-60.

Definitely glad to still be around. It’s been a rough couple of years. Being around has been more of a struggle than I could have ever imagined 😂

Thanks Quill. I’ve had custody of the kiddo since last July, and we have mainly been fishing the local parks and conservation areas around StL. We got the boat out for the first time since he started school last fall a couple weeks ago. Went to Clearwater for a few hours to see what all still worked, but fishing time has been pretty limited with school and figuring out how to be a full time single dad.

Howdy Guys- I wanted to post a quick review on some rods. As some of you may remember, I had my whole collection of gear from G.Loomis/Falcon/St.Croix/Virtus/Lew’s/Shimano disappear from my house when I left at the start of my divorce in 2023. Through some Black Friday sales and some other promotions over the last two years, I’ve managed to replace all my gear with the Edge rods, by Gary Loomis. Edge is the finished rod division of Gary’s blank company called North Fork Composites, which he started after recovering from the cancer that caused him to sell G.Loomis to Shimano. All their rods are made in the USA, in Woodland, Washington, with a second production facility coming online soon in Houston, Texas. I’ve now managed to put some hours on a large variety of their offerings, and overall am a happy customer. First the ugly: Their delivery times on rods that are backordered are absolutely ridiculous. In stock rods (like 6 out of two dozen or so) got to me in a week, everything else was between 60 and 90 days, with one rod taking about four months for delivery. The gentleman at the factory explained to me that they are running at max capacity on blank production, and they build blanks on a rotation, not as rods are ordered. Between all the OEM blanks they build for other rod makers, plus all the various models from fly to steelhead to inshore to pelegic to bass rods- it may take a good bit of time for the build schedule to get back around to whatever blank you want, so I would not recommend them to anyone who needs a rod immediately. Now the good: The rods are really freaking good. Like, the only thing I’ve held that can go head to head with a G.Loomis NRX is the Edge Silver Widow. They all have carbon handles, which after getting used to, I do like, and I believe do make the rods more sensitive. Every rod I have balances extremely well, which makes them feel even lighter in hand than their actual weight on the scale. They are priced under G.Loomis by roughly $100 per comparable series, and they fairly often have sales ranging from 30 to 50 percent off of their normal factory direct pricing. So- for those who can exercise patience, and are looking for the best value in high performance rods, I recommend taking a look at Edge. I now own everything from an ultralight BFS rod to 8’ extra heavy swimbait sticks, in the Delta, EFX, First Strike, Black Widow and Silver Widow lines. In rough comparison to G.Loomis, that translates as Delta=GCX, EFX/First Strike=IMX, Black Widow=GLX, and Silver Widow=NRX. My favorite is probably the Silver Widow finesse spinning rod, but honestly I’m impressed with every rod I have. There were a few that were a little different than I was expecting power wise, and some of their powers and actions listed on the website are a little difficult to translate. If anyone wants to check out the rods in person, I’m in West St. Louis county, travel regularly to SEMO, and this spring/summer I’ll be traveling back and forth to Bull Shoals/Springfield area and occasionally LOZ to fish. I will make every effort to meet up with anyone who wants to hold one in their hands, as they don’t have a dealer network and are online sales only. I’m not affiliated in any way with the company, I’m not on any sort of prostaff deal- so if you order one and it takes you half a year to get it, don’t be mad at me. I’m just happy because I was able to replace a whole bunch of gear for about a third of what it would have cost to go buy G.Loomis at Bass Pro, and I don’t feel like I’m losing anything as far as quality goes, and in some cases I’m definitely gaining something over competitive rods.

Fished with my son Sam on Friday and Saturday, launched at Spring Creek and went both up the lake and down the lake. Water is generally clear, with a slight stain the further up the north fork arm you go. Water temps from 47 to 55. Caught some keeper largemouth on wiggle warts and swimbaits, had a few more follows on the swimbait and lost a couple I had hooked up on the wart due to completely forgetting how to fish in the past year lol- the green bass were towards the fronts of creeks and pockets, on chunk rock. Caught some smallmouth in the 12” to 14” range on the Ned on flat gravel in the backs of spawning pockets in the Oakland area, but no keepers. I’m guessing they are the first wave of bucks moving up to spawn. We had a good couple of days knocking off the cobwebs, and Sam is getting pretty solid with a baitcaster. The bite was a little slower than I’d hoped, and it took me a little longer to dial in on them than I’d have liked, but my general impression is that the lake is REAL close to getting really good. tight lines all-

Made a quick run to Theodosia yesterday with my son before I took him back to his Mom’s house. Got the lay of the land on getting the ol’ champion back on the water, and of course made a few casts from the bank- I wish I could say he caught it, but the smile on his face says it all even though it was the only fish we caught-

Absolutely. The arc of the universe bends slowly, but it bends towards justice or something similar.. He knows where he’s taken care of, where there is food in the fridge, who takes him to the doctor, and dentist and gets his hair cut and always has clean laundry. As I type this, I’m putting fuel in my truck on the three hour drive home and he’s curled up asleep. The very best feeling in my life is remembering how safe I felt around my Dad, and knowing he feels that same feeling around me.

Ham, I left some stuff out. I’ve been feeling like Job for the past year or so. I’ve still got a few more battles to fight, but I’m starting to see peaceful times ahead. It’s hard for a dad to win in court, and truthfully I don’t have to get everything I want, but if the court actually does what’s best for my son- I think I can build a new normal for him that will be ok.

Simple Orange is the way. Personally I just always let them get dirty- I look at it kinda like a fine patina of fish memories, but I’m weird.

Howdy Guys! It’s been a minute since I posted, and I don’t have a fishing report for TR or The Pond To The East where I usually fish. I hope to be down the second week of April and have some fish pics to show- But I have to post. Some of you may remember my post about this time last year about 27 high end combos disappearing from my house during the divorce. Welp- that divorce is STILL working its way through the courts, but after working a full time job, a second job every Sunday, and door dashing when I wasn’t working and didn’t have my son with me, I put together enough money to get back in the game gear wise. With the generous gift of someone from this forum of a Lews BB1, and prowling Facebook Marketplace and a pretty good Black Friday sale, my last two rods showed up today. I went with the NFC Edge rods by Gary Loomis, and I have to say I’m a very satisfied customer, even with the LONG wait times. I wanted a more modern version of my favorite G.Loomis IMX and GLX rods, but couldn’t spend the money on G.Loomis NRX. The Edge Silver Widow MBR’s feel every bit as light and sensitive as the NRX CRR-873’s I used to have, and the Black Widow, First Strike, and EFX rods all do exactly what I wanted, which is feel similar to the classic pre-Shimano G.Loomis rods, which in my hands felt better than most of the current versions of Loomis GLX and IMX pro, but incorporate the advances in materials from the last 20 or so years. I’ve not made it to the big lake yet, but from fishing these in the local conservation lakes, they are exactly what I was hoping for. I know, gear doesn’t catch the fish, and I didn’t have to have gear like this to fish, but today, I can look at this one small part of my life and feel like I’m back to normal. After my heart attack in July of 22, the wife asking for divorce and her bogus felony charge against me in February of last year (felony charge finally dropped in December), my Mom having a serious stroke and going from walking Elephant Rocks State park at 80 to being bedridden in a nursing home barely able to speak, having a rod box full of fantastic gear to fish with- well- it just means more than y’all can imagine. I’m still fighting to maximize my role in my Son’s life. For now that just looks like weekends and his Spring Break, and every other week again this summer, but this time last year I was in the middle of 61 days of not being able to see him at all. Fishing tackle, fishing, boats and all of it mean NOTHING compared to being a present Dad, but I can tell you when I back the boat into Bull Shoals in a couple weeks and have him sitting in the passenger seat ready to go catch smallmouth, I’m not sure I’m going to be able to cope with the feels. No matter how dark life gets, if you keep going, it gets better. So if you are considering checking out, like I was this time last year, stick around. Don’t fix temporary problems with permanent solutions.

It’s not child molestation, but I too was arrested in my mom’s front yard on nonsense felony charges. I’m currently waiting on a preliminary hearing, so I’m not going to say more, but yeah, I feel your pain.