fishinwrench

In all seriousness, from a conservation standpoint .....What is the purpose of a "possession limit" ? 🤔 An angler with intentions of EATING bass can only have 12 in his possession. But a tournament angler can catch, relocate/cull, and potentially kill, UNLIMITED numbers of bass as long as he throws them back into the lake SOMEWHERE. Does that make any sense at all ? It was fine, I guess, until there started being 60-100 tournaments per month on every lake in the country. You simply can't make the case that it does no harm. You'd have to be retarded to buy that claim.

Well then, I think we should start having "God Fearing" statewide Copperhead & Seed Tick tournaments, and the Weigh-in & live releases should be right next door to his house. 👍 About 70 of them per month. Don't worry, they'll all go right back to where they were caught. 😉

Well, when you take a bonafide look at the things that "Tournament organizers & competitors" get away with.......then it's kind of a push, wouldn't you agree? I mean.... Clogging up and taking control of Public Lake accesses every stinking weekend. Constantly Collecting fish from their home areas all over the lake, parading them around parking lots dry as a popcorn fart, and then dumping them all into 1 or 2 primary locations, knowing full well that a fair percentage of those fish will die within a week, and NONE will find their way back to the place they were born. I could go on and on about how "tournament fishing" has gotten way too big for its britches, and is not being properly policed. Instances like this is no reason to lynch anyone. Instead it should be a wake up call to ALL OF US that the whole idea of it has gotten completely out of hand. I mean $100,000.00 boats???? Come the hell on !!!! It has become a borderline sickness comparable to drug and alcohol addiction & excessive gambling. Honestly, there's nothing pure and lovely about it.....AT ALL

I'd say to start about 4-6 miles above Dawt this time of the year. Concentrate on the heads of the pools. A big bulky fly that you can see would be best for FINDING the best zone, because you can watch for chasers & flashers, but you'll likely do better at actually catching them on something less than 3" long. A simple olive over tan #4 Clouser for example. Timing is huge. Evenings (4:pm until dark) are your Best bet.

130k ? I'll just say this....... No financial institution in the land would approve that loan without a 70k down payment, and a squeaky clean credit history. 😉

Looks like the ring from the pivot housing....... Goes in the groove seen here No part # shown, so 🤷‍♂️ Typical Yamaha/Honda/Suzuki (Chinese) conundrum. 🙄

A left-handed favor 😁 I'll feel no remorse, cuz he hosed me on a truck deal back in highschool. I'm not a grudge holder.....but I am a memory holder. 😉 The benefit of life long friends is the register of checks and balances.

Reminds me of an old tube bait & swimming worm (Slider) trick. Stick your forefinger down and let the line thump off of your finger every revolution while retrieving it. Gives the bait a sexy little dance. 😁

Take the reel off the rod and give the handle a good spin. If the reel shakes back & forth then the head is out of balance. Line slap when casting would be more of an indicator of stripper guides that are too small.

Hell yes! You really did find a peach. I'm jealous 😁 An old friend of mine snatched up an 18' Champ with an Evinrude XP150 in Illinois a few weeks ago. It's really clean too, just a few minor scuffs on the rub rail. It needed a stator & voltage regulator, fresh water pump, and all new batteries.......but he still got into it for under 6k. I didn't charge him any labor. I'm just waiting for his wife to throw a hissy fit so I can swoop in with a fistful of Benjamin's and rectify his marital squabble! 😁

Terminate the oil injection system PROPERLY, and blend fresh fuel at a 50:1 ratio. Replace the fuel pump diaphragm with the new style alcohol resistant one. REMOVE both the idle stabilizer & high speed advance module, and retard WOT ignition timing by 2°. If Throttle pickup timing is still on it's index mark.....LEAVE IT ALONE. If not then make the little minute adjustment to reset it. Install a fresh water pump kit. Change the gear lube. Remove the starboard bank thermostat......and throw it in the trash. Now she'll run forever👍 Give her a kiss on the forehead and take her little grayass fishing at least twice a month. 🙂 Hey, you asked 🤷‍♂️

[quote]Is A 20 Plus Pound Bag A Grind? [\quote] It is when your standing in the weigh-in line with 12# 😂

There are a number of different Merc 225's (,carb., EFI, DFI ?) The charging system on all of them is always suspect. And of course compression readings that are within spec (all within 15psi of each other). As with any boat with a black motor hanging on the back of it......Always make offers assuming that you'll have to spend another 5k within the next year or so. Manage THAT and you'll never be upside down in it. 👍 Otherwise you're gambling. Triton's are plagued with electrical/wiring issues, and components like switches, gauges, fuel sending units, pumps and valves are always a real bastard to access. Great hull....but the worst of all to do maintenance on. A livewell pump & valve swap on a Triton, in MY shop, is equal to a powerhead swap......almost 😅 because you have to tear the whole backend of the boat apart.

Not on Stockton, but on LO a few days ago. Also had one over 4lbs (definite female) and a pair of 3+lb. egg laden females. With water temps still below 72°, and the full moon period still ahead of us this month, I don't think spawning has concluded for any species just yet. Crappie are still full of eggs, and the White bass haven't begun their annual run up the creeks yet, due to no rainfall.

She's a peach 👍 If the Mariner has set unused for more than a couple years it's gonna need some serious love.

We desperately need a significant rain and a rise in the lake level. I haven't been up the Osage that high, but I suspect that it is less than ideal currently.

Slap a hydrofoil on it.

Ya know, that's what's wrong with this country. Too many people who can't even afford to feed & clothe themselves are breeding as if their kids can be taken to auction. What do you gift all those kids for Christmas? 3 Hershey's Kisses and a $2 scratcher ticket ? My 27 year old neighbor next door has 3 kids from his first marriage, and he just had another one with his new bride. The couple can't even afford their electricity bill half the time. So what the hell business do they have trying to populate the entire town ? 😠 Instead of having ONE kid that they could MAYBE give a decent life....... they gotta have 4 or 5 that are forced to dress in rags, and live on cheap hotdogs and stale potato chips.

Females don't typically have bloody tails, right ? So is this a 6# male ?

You're not taking the hook point into consideration. Huge difference between driving a 3/8oz. Bass jig hook to the barb......and a #12-14 fine wire fly hook.

We did hook penetration experiments using corrugated cardboard, and sheets of craft foam back during my bass club days. Line stretch was more of a factor than rod action. You can snap a heavy jig hook barb through heavy cardboard with a med-light action rod fairly easily....as long as the line is heavy enough. At that time nobody used braid, and flouro had just begun to enter the scene, so we only had mono to tinker with.

Around here I consider it "a grind" when I simply can't catch a keeper. But I guess in a tournament where 3 pounders won't help your cause you could consider upgrading to 4-7 pounders a grind. They are all admitting to having a blast though, and in my mind a limit of 3 & 4 pounders......for 3 days straight......is a GREAT TRIP !

4x or 5x Rio fluoroflex plus. When using tippet bigger than 4x I use Seaguar InvisX where 6# is 3x, and 8# is 2x. I think the reason Micaiah spanked me after switching to the 10# flouro is because less stretch in the fairly long tippet resulted in the fish hooking themselves easier. Not sure, but I plan on experimenting with that on days when fish are biting at swinging flys.... but not getting stuck.