Gavin

Good for you guys!

The larger bass sip a popper mostly. Usually when it's sitting still or dead drifting. Let the rubber legs do all the work.

Keep your chin up, It can only get better...Glad nobody got hurt.

They eat a ton of 2" olive colored craws down there, big stones too. Deep craw cranks, & 1/8 oz jigs should do well.

Would be a good song to fish a popper or a jerkbait too.

Only use Dave's heads with the wire guard. Has put plenty in the boat everywhere it has been fished. See no reason to mess with success. The same can be said for Mitch's Tackle HD football heads.

It is against the rules but who really cares. Just a bunch of stump finned stockers with the life expectancy of a ripe banana. Would call it in, but would not get my knickers in a twist and confront them.

You usually want to fish a jerk bait aggressively for brown trout. No long pauses like you use for cold water bass fishing. Keep it moving at a good erratic pace and speed up when you see one coming. The high dollar suspending baits really changed the game 10-12 yrs ago, but there are days when a $7 Rogue or old school floating Rapala J-9 or J-11 does the trick. Usually start with a 4.5" (110-112 mm) model even in gin clear water.. You will want several...Floaters, some that run 1-3', some that run 3-5', and some that run deeper. If a brown does not eat the front hook something is wrong with your presentation (pace, size of the bait, attitude of the bait on the pause (flat or nose down on the pause). Rainbows will usually eat the back hook regardless of your presentation. Think that rainbows are just dumb & curious, they are not ambush predators like brown trout.

Looks like fun! Looks like a smallmouth hotel.

Think you are taking about a bed cover, not a hard shell fiberglass cap with windows, etc. Truck Caps are not cheap, but you can make a good bare bones home on the road out of one. Add a frame under your sheet of plywood. Store stuff under. Sleep on top. My Ambitios Union Trade friends were doing that for a couple years when the construction biz sucked.

Cooked all weekend for my daughters 11yr BDay at Babler. Burgers for 10 on Friday, Belgian Waffles for 11 Saturday AM, Odd hotdog combo for lunch Saturday. Store bought Cresent Roll dough. 1/2 a hot dog split length ways, 2 pc pepperoni, about 1T taco cheese. 3 at a time in the waffle iron. Finger food friendly, all gobbled, with various sides. Taco bar for dinner(kept our taco stuff separate from the poopy fingers). Dutch oven biscuits & sausage gravy for breakfast. Ordered out from Sushi Station last night, currently a Walnut Grill. Nice to eat out when you need a break.

NFOW is the grad school of Missouri trout fly fishing . Smalles can be good, occasional striper. Surprised you spent any money at Dawt, will not spend a nickel there. Hate what they did to that place. Ugly with a Capital U.

If you get a cap for the back they make racks got those to. I like the open bed better. Holds more stuff. Dry bags would be a good idea for any personal gear you decide to toss in the bed. I really like Sea Line, Bought 2 15yrs ago and never an issue with leaks, have replaced a few plastic buckles & snaps though.

Loading alone with a Trac Rac is not that bad. I slide my Coosa over the bed rails in between the rack, hop in the bed then lift it on the bars from there. Loading from the side to up top is a two man job. Usually a tie a boat in the bed for a day trip two car shuttle type deal. Have a Thule aero blade to add to the cab on my Supercrew when I haul my 17' canoe, kayak, 2 kid kayaks, bikes and a 31' bumper tow camper for a family float. Did not want a 5th wheel since you loose the bed and boat storage up top. Have seen kayaks and canoes on top of 5th wheels before though. Gotta be a pain to load that!

Congrats on the new truck.

That is a nice smallie, good for him. The biologist do clip fins with a scissors when they sample fish, but I would not expect them to take that much off..or to make two cuts. instead of one. Maybe a gar? Dunno.

Those freaky little mirror carp minnows should make good cut bait. I don't think they look good. The proportion, and the asymmetry just makes me think they have 3 eyes.

This was after 2010, but that kinda stuff happens often. Easy to go out at the top if you borrow against everything to fund your outrageous lifestyle. My favorite customers tend to be financially conservative with few bad habits. They earn big, spend small, invest, and call with questions before they make a significant transaction. Just gotta clean up the mess as best as possible for the others.

Would try the slack water eddy's if it is up. 1/2oz Swim jig with a paddle tail swim bait or a big tailed grub trailer. 1/2 oz spinnerbait same trailers, or a loud wide wobble deep crank, or a heavy jig & craw if up and murky.

Don't intend to visit prison or another old folks home. Used to do the tax work for 250 skilled nursing facilities around the country. So glad that I quit that job! My worst nursing home client at the time is now doing 5yrs in Federal prison for Medicare Fraud. He went from 5 homes to 30 rapidly, took on to much debt, (bad deals, overpaid) and was going under. Guess he had a good time. Had no cash flow and a healthy appetite for booze, drugs, and hookers. Could not stop spending on that while his business was in the toilet.

Looks like a good time! Have never fished for bonefish, but have seen allot of tarpon. Saltwater fly fishing can be very challenging. Did you eat that trigger? I've heard they are delicious. Hogfish is one of my favorites on the table.

Those are some awesome GT's! Good for you!

I'm sure its headed to a taxidermist.

Better to buy gear and fish than compete. Odds of making money back are lottery odds and the payback is small in most tourneys. Better odds playing poker with friends after a day on the water.

They are clear, would PM Smalliebigs,think his family has a place there. Would rather fish the Big River if headed that direction.