fishinwrench

Well I can't even pretend to understand people that continue to capitalize on their fortunes long after they've made enough to set themselves and their kids/grandkids up for a lifetime. But blaming JM for the alleged demise of Ranger is ignorant. If you are gonna blame anyone then blame the former owners of Ranger for not giving a s#it about the quality of the name going forward.

One thing to consider here is that Johnny Morris did not force Ranger to sell. They set a price, he likely countered, and THEY ACCEPTED. So all this animosity and content towards HIM is kinda lame.

More than fair.

I'm there with you by choice. Using a bunch of high tech gadgetry to find and catch fish and to find my way home takes something away from the experience for me. I guess in the end I don't want to be a slave to any more gizmo's than is necessary. A guy that relies heavily on electronics for too long becomes lost without them, and that's not where I wanna be.

I had a MG wireless on a boat I had last year and I liked it. Manuverablility was good after just a short learning curve. If you go with one be sure to get a hand op remote, the whole toe tapping dance thing you have to do with the foot control was something I never could get used to. Reminded me of playing guitar hero with my feet while trying to fish. No issues at all with the hand controller on a retractor clipped to my pants pocket though, that was nice. Toss it to your partner in the back if you have to re-rig or if you just wanna sit down and eat a sandwich. Very cool. It was also really sweet to be able to unhook and just splash the boat, go park the truck, and then bring the boat to you at the dock. Noisy turning....YES that bugged me but it did not Spook fish at all. Not sure why not because it was noisy to me, but I used it on the flats near visable fish of assorted species and they never spooked because of the rotor noise. There was a couple areas where mine would pick up signals from home security systems and become haunted, turning on its own or changing speeds on me and refusing to take MY commands.....That was kinda weird. Once I actually had to pounce on it and pull its lifeline (power plug) to keep it from running itself aground. I never toyed with spot lock or setting courses so I can't speak to that feature.

True, but If a pit/pond is producing bass like the ones shown, then I'd say the balance is about perfect. Keeping a few is one thing.....That there was a HAUL.

If nobody had ever told me that WW's went through a transition and the ones on the shelves now we're substandard I would have never known, and would be catching just as many fish on them as I ever did. But now everytime I tie on a wart there is this thing in my head telling me that something is wrong with it. Thanks alot assholes !

Pretty sure statewide limits still apply. Otherwise what would be the purpose of a possession limit ? "Never mind that I have 700 crappie in my freezer.....I know this pond....."

Overall shape, thickness of the plastic, size and weight of the rattle, and positioning of line tie and hook hangers is all that should truly matter. What is so difficult about reproducing Wiggle Warts ?

I can't really list a top 3, or if I did it would just be a personal preference thing. IMO no other boat drives through rough water as well as a Champion, and no other boat sits down and fishes as well as a Ranger. Bass Cat strikes me as a happy medium. As for outboards, definitely Evinrude 1st but not just ANY Evinrude (the 60° Eagle series pretty much suck). Yamaha Pro max 2nd, and Merc straight EFI 3rd. I'm not concerned one bit about fuel economy or quietness. I want an outboard thats design has withstood the test of time and is reasonably easy to maintain, easy to diagnose issues, and cost-effective to repair.

I kinda do, because around here we have these guys/gals (and it seems there is one in every cove) that get off on supplying fish to everyone they know. The barter system is a big thing among locals here and I think that is great UNTIL they start using our fish to benefit from it. We have possession limits for a reason. Some of these folks are pretty lethal with a rod in their hand, and whether they are getting cash or trading for other things the result is the same.

.The walleye fishing here is pretty sketchy. Plenty are caught by accident but I know of nobody that can go out "walleye fishing" and come home with more than one on purpose with any consistency. People occasionally stumble onto groups of them near Warsaw in late Winter, or up the Big Niangua arm above Bridal cave around the same time. If there is anything better than that going on as far as Walleye patterns I've never heard about it.

I would question the number of arrests vs. the number of convictions. Would love to see a percentage rate on that. These people have money and the ability to make charges go away, so although their numbers of 'arrests" might show a decline I bet the amount of money paid into the system would indicate a steady flow. Because an arrest without a conviction does not remain on record.

I get to see alot of older boats on a daily basis, and while I've always liked the style and fishability of Ranger's they age and deteriorate no differently than the others. A 20+ year old Ranger is likely to have the same issues as a 20+ year old Champ/Charger/ect when it is used and/or maintained the same. So what type of quality problems are you guys concerned about going forward ?

The death sentence for alleged BUI serves as one hell of a deterrent. Only problem is that some of the DD's have so little experience operating watercraft that a drunk would be safer.

In more situations than not, the type of casts that result in caught fish are not very pleasant to watch. One of my ex girlfriends once asked me "Why when you are casting in the yard you do it so much better, is it harder when you are standing in the water?"

Speaking of people getting busted, here's the latest on the Brandon Ellingson fiasco http://www.weareiowa.com/video?videoId=280132781

It happens, usually in February. Road Runners tipped with minnows, 1/8-1/4oz. curl tail jigs, and crankbaits.

First off I don't hate MDC. Secondly it's easy to talk about everything they do around here....cuz they never do anything. Hell everytime the lake rises it piles up 14 tons of driftwood in front of the ramp here. Guess who cleans that (and any other trash) up ? The agent will cruise through, and you'd think he'd put in for the maintenance crew to come deal with it. Nope, after awhile me and the kids, or me and a few other guys will get tired of looking at it and go take care of it. I don't mind that much, we have fun doing it, but the shithouses only get tended to about twice a year and I draw the line there. So if MDC does anything in this area I have no idea what it might be. They even sub-contract the grass cutting.

What the hell were you all bundled up for? I fished all day in shirt sleeves. Nice batch of Whites! What did y'all catch'em on ?

Dang! No limits there? We kept a few from our pits but we never fed the whole neighborhood from them.

Constantly crowing about how awesome they are would be fun for a change, I'll give you that. But first they are gonna have to actually do something awesome worth crowing about. That particular bust, while better than nothing, lacked awesomeness. What can I say. . Not to be a total jackass or anything but if I had their kinda money I think I could pull off some truly awesome stuff almost daily.

Somewhere in the 40's. Doesn't happen every year, and I have no idea what triggers it but I've taken part in it several times when there was a lakewide Super Spook bite. You can't buy a bite on anything....but they'll crush a Spook just about anywhere.

Ahh, but who has the most fun ? Preparing to go fishing is enjoyable. Tying flys, building leaders, and all that stuff gives me things to do that build the anticipation for the next trip, and keeps me out of the bars. As I said....you are going to release the fish anyway, so the goal isn't really just to catch the fish.

Can't remember the last time I told a lie, but whatever.