fishinwrench

Don't "help" the birds of prey, they don't understand.

Windyville. But I do better by monitoring the guage height instead of cfs. 2.0 - 2.5 ft at Windyville is what I consider perfect. 3.5+ is bad news.

You do pretty good work. I have an old Champion that is getting restored, and I don't have the time nor the patience to do the floor and front deck (lids are no problem). If you're in the mood to do it I'd be willing to make it worth your while.

I got out yesterday (noon til 4:00) and had 7 keepers and about 15 shorts fishing a spinnerbait and pitching a jig in the backends of small coves. One was close to 4lbs. All others were just nice solid 2 - 2.5 pounders. I didn't see any schools of fry, and I didn't see any fish on beds....which was a little confusing. The shad spawn is definitely going on, I had shad following my spinnerbait to the boat on every single cast. Water temps=68-71°

The only time I use a bobber is when I am drifting a midge in slow/slick water. When I lay the line down for a nymphing drift I like to think of it as "setting a trap". I want just enough tension in the system to begin immediately tightening up if anything stops the fly, and instead of concentrating on the end of my line I focus mostly on the section of line between my rod tip and the surface of the water. When the angle of that section of line changes then you know that either your fly or the split shot has hit something. A fly truly "dead drifting" is too easy for a fish to spit back out. But when things begin to tension up as soon as a fish bites it then it is way harder for that fish to spit it out without getting stuck. Just like a trap. The only time I want zero drag in the drift is when the fly is sinking. As soon as it gets down where I want it then I want just enough drag to keep things tight. If opposing currents are making that impossible then I add more weight and/or shorten my casts. One thing that I think makes nymphing harder to do effectively is using 9'+ leaders. Just because leaders come in 9' lengths doesn't mean that is the length you should be using. In most nymphing situations I do way better with a leader of about 7 ft. (Less butt/more tippet).

I have had a few where after a pump swap (to Tsunami) the new pump didn't want to prime. I have tried altering the pump angle (when you can. Usually you can't, especially if the pump is attached to the fill/drain valve) but it didn't help. The answer, as Flintstone as this sounds, is to close the valve and turn the pump on as you are backing up in reverse until it starts to pump. Do it as you are backing off the trailer. After doing that it will pump fine all day until you trailer the boat again, even if you open the valve and drain the livewell. Apparently it is just a small bubble of air that gets trapped and prevents the pump from developing its pressure. If having to do that annoys you then ditch the Tsunami and go back to the Rule. I like the Tsunami, they are quiet and run noticably cooler than the others...but they don't prime as easily. Another plus is that I have yet to see a Tsunami freeze and bust.

It kinda seemed to me that the main allure to the WP was it's size and weight (130). You can get tight to the bank and fire a looong parralel cast, then just plop all the way back. The longer the cast the better because fish tend to follow it for awhile. I'm not too sure that I would have a use for the smaller/lighter ones. Am I missing something?

Stray parts floating around in your control box can cause it to lock up. Be sure to wear your kill switch, and don't follow anyone too closely, or come in hot to the ramp.

What other lands were purchased in 2016 ?

You might talk to the folks at the little crossroads store. One of the girls husband/bf shuttled us once. It was a bone-buster ride in the back of a flatbed, but it got us where we wanted to be. The last I heard, the campground there below Falcon was closed due to death of the owner. Before that they used to run shuttles in an old white Ford 3/4 ton.

Oh this is gonna hurt Ok, so Mayfield spring (cave) is just a short drive from the crossroads (Competition), it's not marked very well and the best directions I could give on here would just confuse you. I gotta say though, if you paddle upstream from Mayfield about 1.5 miles there is a bluff hole and set of riffles that are the best I've ever seen or fished. There are 2 other worthwhile forest service accesses between there and Falcon....but again directions in text would be a waste of time. Chuck Tryon wrote a book and he has some maps in there that will get you really close, but you'll still have to do a bit of freelance exploring to find them the first time. Don't go in a car, or a 2wd vehicle. Zero phone service down in there so if you get stuck you're just gonna have to homestead and start eating off the land. It's a good stretch of river. Enjoy. ?

Are you bringing more than one boat? I ask because the best bite will likely be behind docks, so the guy in the front of the boat is going to get all the good shots. Peak spawning activity is usually in 72° water. I don't think anyone is seeing schools of fry just yet. Getting real close though. The water has some good color now, and will for awhile.

Yeah it starts and idles fine because when you pump the primer bulb you fill the carbs with fuel..and no oil, then you run awhile and the out of sync oil pump fills the carbs with an overly oil-rich mixture. So the next time you fire her up you are trying to run it on diesel fuel. There's a linkage rod going from the carb linkage to the oil injection pump, look at it....I bet it has fallen off, or wasn't put back on after the carb rebuild. If it is attached then look to see if the easy to see marks on the oil pump cam are lined up when the throttle is in the closed (neutral) position. If not adjust so they are. Just saying, that could be the source of ALL of your problems. And just for future reference, fouled plugs don't have to be replaced....just clean them, check the gap, and put them back in.

Ya know what a vapor separator is? It's a carburetor minus the only part of a carburetor that never EVER fails (the Venturi), so you're not escaping a carburetor. The spark plugs for the 2016 4S are 23.00 apiece. Just so ya know....future plug swaps on that one are gonna burn a Benjamin. The The inline 4 cylinder 2S 115 Merc was/is a bizarre piece of engineering. If set up properly they do fine, but they are fickle if the person "tuning" them is not on the correct level. Fouling plugs is certainly not a common problem.....just the opposite is true, as running too lean is the obstacle to overcome. If you are truly fouling plugs then the oil pump linkage rod has either fallen off or is WAY out of sync. Which would also explain the excessive smoke.

That would be hilarious if it wasn't so true.

It was beginning to clear up considerably in the backends....but then Truman started dumping and it pushed the dirty water back quite a ways. It has been my observation that whenever the lake is "backfilling" from heavy releases at Truman that the bite gets really tough. The fish in the other creek arms don't seem to like that for some reason. This is the time when running up the Osage is a good choice.

Here's this again.... https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1TAvwZ3TjhfZDJiNjc5YzAtYzBhYy00MjlmLTg5NzktMjQyZDJhMGQ3YzQ1/edit?pli=1

Agreed. But if you send a bus load of drunks down a stretch of river that is loaded with strainers then you might as well not even bother picking them up later.

Never replace ONE control cable. If one gets bad then replace them both. It's actually easier to pull two new ones than it is to only pull one.

Niangua is back down to floatable levels. Outfitters are floating and clearing trees today.

BS. I've heard that one 1000 times. Cables don't stretch. Cables break, and cables can get stuck from crud inside the sheathing, but I'd love to watch someone to try to "stretch" a stainless cable. The ends would pull off first. Stretched cables is an old-school Marina line of BS (kinda like "Blinker Fluid"). I hate to sound all Holier than thou, but we make good enough money in this business that nobody should be bulls#!tting and/or ripping off their customers. There's no need for it.

Montauk lacks that big concrete wall. Shepherd is probably fine. ??

Here's another potentially stupid question....and please don't anybody lose their cool on me here, because this one is "on the edge" and I know I'm not supposed to "go there"... but it's driving me crazy. For those that truly believe.....Are we now capable of changing God's plan for the earth ?

Can someone clue me in on an ignorance block that I have? It's like 40° below zero at the polar ice caps (I actually have no idea...but I know it's colder than cold). So things warming up there probably just means that now it's only 30° below zero, right? When did ice start melting at 30° below zero ? Or am I just stupid and the actual average temp there is tetering at a balmy 28-30° ?

The best day I ever had on Pomme was when the water was 7ft. high. The fish were relating heavily to the little ledges of the original shoreline. We were just running down the banks tossing Hula grubs and weightless Sluggo's, and flat wore 'em out.