Gavin

OA elite? I don't think there is such a thing...Bunch of folks on here with way to much stuff...(Guilty as charged with that citation) but it is not the stuff that makes you. Ability to use you stuff....Willingness to share some info, and honesty, makes you or breaks you around here. Folks can smell a BS artist from a mile away round here. Newby's welcome...has always been the tone that Phil has set... The old dogs around her run a bit too much sometimes....Heck, most of the old dogs know who they are talking too,and have good times when they get together.

The Courtois seems to flow a little faster and its twisty in spots...Its not hard to float...and low consequence if you dump...Good place to gain some confidence.

I'd buy a top quality blank and wrap it or have it wrapped....add a Plfueger Reel.

Funny!...No need for a Yeti, or a 4 blade razor...Do they have a 5 blade now?. How did we all survive without that stuff:>)!

Here you go...picked it up 10-12 years ago...had it serviced....haven't touched it since.

I don't think that all of the interested parties have been identified yet...MO DNR...most likely, MDC...no authority, but probably interested...Corps of Engineers...very possible...US Fish and Wildlife a possible due to the Hellbenders.

Some folks are already on it...will let them chime in...Think there needs to be a passage for floaters at the very least, especially since they have their boat ramp gated off like its Guantanamo...

Were are you located...I have an old Evinrude Lightwin 3hp folding motor that I'd part with...Put a new magneto and rebuilt the carb...ten years ago...havent run it since.

Yes different lake...its the one to the west...No public access. Maybe 2 boats out skiing at a time on the main stem...20 pontoons in the no wake south arm...swimming & such...plenty of space...nobody fishing..

Looks like a winner FW! I like it!

Got the rubber soled Simms last year...haven't had to add the studs yet...even on the NFoW. I probably should have switched earlier.

I've never seen a catfish pond that had a good bass population either.

Think that's a different lake FW. This one is a bit west of Silver Lake and private. Looks like most prefer boating to fishing. It's created by a dam on a tributary of Saline creek. Spring fed to some extent.

Fun day with friends at their new place at Lake Perry...about 10 miles west of Perryville off of T Hwy...Spent most of the day swimming and tubing on the pontoon boat. Guess its around 200 acres of water, deep, and very clear. Lots of submerged weed beds. I didn't fish at all but our girls (two 4year olds, and two 6 year olds) had a ball catching green sunfish...1/2 of a 3" senko threaded on an unweighted circle hook did the trick...cast it out...let it sink to the top of the weeds and reel it back slow. Every color worked, but pink was the best....Any bass in that lake?...If so what works for them?

Good job gentlemen! Glad they got caught.

Nice haul!

Too many buzzbaits by many manufacturers...Some of them just have something magic going on and others will never work as well no matter how much you tweek and tune them. Figure one in three will have that magic from the get go...1 of the other two...will get the magic after you fiddle with it a bit...the other one will be junk...Just the way it goes.

Good for you! Have not fished the Big this year, glad to here that there are still fish there.

Great colors on that one.

Looks good...I like the design...angled front to splash a bit more water...The grinder can be great at times...but I'd want a back hook...Daytime hits are about 80/20 on the back hook...Night time...usually when I fish it...Front hook 90% of the time.

Mostly Silver, Gold, and Black...have some with White, Chartruese, and Flo. Orange for dingy water.

Good habitat...means the fish can be anywhere...Bad Habitat...narrows down your choices so its easier to fish. A certain log in the middle of nowhere on the Castor comes to mind....a certain rock on heavily gravel mined section of the Huzzah, etc.

The X-Rap is a dog, IMO...catches fish when they are eating everything...rarely when they are neutral.

Tackle Warehouse.....Cost me a $100 every time I look at their site...As for cranks...I don't fish them much around here in the summertime but they can be very effective elsewhere. Did a 25 mile float on the St. Croix (Minnesota/Wisconsin border) last week and shallow running crawfish pattern cranks where the ticket for the Smallmouth, Musky, Pike, and Walleye. Figured that craws, frogs, and other game fish made up most of the food chain. We got a fair number of smallies and a couple small pike on fly rood poppers but no panfish...Didn't notice any big minnows...Kinda weird.

Its kinda scary when that happens...I think you made the right choice..