fishinwrench

Dammit! WTH?

Thanks Mitch I'm a good ways from Rckawy though. Crap! Yup that's gonna be a head gasket failure. Swapping head gskts is not a "huge deal" in itself but you need to find out WHY it failed. They just don't start squirting for no reason. Has the motor ever overheated? (overheat horn ever gone off? ) The head(s) and thermo's need to be pulled, cleaned, checked for cracks/warpage, ect. It's good that you caught it early. Doesn't appear that it's been leaking very bad, or for very long. Expect about 4hrs. labor+parts, and don't settle for someone just swapping out the gasket and pushing it out the door without determining what allowed the gasket (or cyl. Head) to move. The "shift noise" is gonna be a seperate issue.

Can you post a pic, pointing to the spot where it was squirting out? If it is a thermostat housing gasket then it's not a big deal and you should be able to fix it yourself. Head gasket or exhaust cover gasket replacement is a bit more involved.

Water was squirting from the thermostat housing on the starboard side??? The noise during shifting I'd have to hear in real life.

I agree though, one piece rods need to be stored vertical, or left in the rod box of your boat. My "system" for THEM is a freakin mess!

It's always been my motto that if they are gonna sit there long enough to take a set then you should give them away.

Old Plug nailed it. It's a Jack Bushacker voodoo doll.

Not my design. I saw one online somewhere, thought it was cool and showed it to my g/f, then I kinda forgot about it. SHE didn't Women are kinda sneaky/cool that way.

Yes I have captured an Evanasaurous-Couchpotatus from these waters. Lured it with a white bass fillet, took it home and kept it alive overnight then transported it to a different watershed where it frolicked happily all day. Took pics, then released it. Haven't seen another one since, but occasionally I do hear one calling out from the West like a lonesome bullfrog.

Here's one that was made for me last year. It could use a few minor tweaks (and I could use two more the same size) but I really like the concept.

It's gonna take about 4 years (going by standard growth rate) to put another pound on them. Hopefully after that period of time, barring any major floods or die-offs, they'll be able to maintain a replenishing population for a year or two.

Just pull the lake down 3ft. There's your trail

The cool thing about a trout park, is that can change overnite. Bennett might be full of 20+inchers tomorrow. It's like a lottery.

And if that isn't bad enough.... now there's Diet Coke !

Rodeo sex! You really can't pass up a single thread on this forum or you'll miss out. Ya just never know where a topic is gonna lead to.

Yeah I think the powers that be at BSSP are onto something. If you slither along the bank on your belly with the cork of a 3wt. clutched in your teeth, and crop your photos just right it almost feels like you've accomplished something reverent. What a special place!

The TOASTER ???!!!!!! Those Sonsabitches ! That cuts it!

Well, you can try all kinds of things but a systematic approach will get you to the heart of the problem more efficiently, and assure that there isn't more than one issue (like a worn out water pump, a partially melted water tube grommet, AND some debris clogging a cooling passageway). Many times there are multiple causes involved with a single symptom....ESPECIALLY when dealing with jet pump equipped outboard cooling systems.

Take a piece of wire (or weed-eater cord works great) and ram it up your pee hole. If that doesn't clear it out and make it start pissing again you'll have to pull the thermostat housing and verify that you are getting substantial water pressure to the top of the powerhead. If there is little to no water gushing out let me know and I'll coach you through the proper steps to refresh/repair the cooling system.

^^^correct^^^ Insurance or potential warranty issues are the only legal drawbacks of overpowering that I am aware of. 4-6hp outboards really are kinda gutless, especially in current. A 9.5-9.9 manual start o/b isn't gonna "overpower" it to the point of being dangerous. Plus there are way more prop options available with the 9.5+ motors, whereas you'll only have maybe 2 choices with a 4-6 hp. Be mindful of your transom height though. If your Gheenoe has a 15" transom then you need to be sure to get a short shaft outboard.

#6 or #4 Eagle Claw Lasers are a "fine enough" crankbait hook. They are reasonably priced and available in bulk at WM.

This lake can come up real quick, and when it does they can't just open the gates and blow the Osage out of its banks. We also have a buttload of shoreline property owners that think their property value decreases if there is milfoil around their docks. The drawdown and frosting of the shoreline out to 4-5' during the winter keeps the milfoil and hydrilla from taking hold. Personally I'd LOVE to have the milfoil return, but.... There's also considerable seawall work that can't be done during normal pool, and construction crews that need work during the winter, so the drawdown allows that to happen. Kind of a Win, win, win. Another cool thing that comes from the winter drawdown that a bunch of fishermen don't realize is that during the first few warming trends of Spring the crawdads that are burrowed under the high & dry seawalls wake up and crawl back down to the waters edge. This "hatch" is what puts the bass on that killer jig and Wiggle Wart bite that everyone looks forward to.

So of all the chemicals that pass thru the human body THIS is what concerns them most....Today?

You answered the question you asked me. But I don't even have to catch any as long as I know they are in there. Having 3-5 year-classes of fish in a stream shouldn't be an impossibility for a hatchery of that quality and magnitude. It has been done in the past with a hatchery 1/4 the size and a skeleton crew of personnel. They are taking the cheap and easy road, it seems, by producing buttloads of hatchlings, then unloading them ASAP to keep from having to feed them. Seems they only shoot for numbers. A years worth of those pellets might be a little costly, sure, but the amount of funding is pretty large too. No? And their facility is top notch. The little Podunk hatchery of old saw to it that Bennett Spring was alot more than a ditch full of 10-12 inchers. Why with all this "progress" are they not progressing? Is it more important now in this day of "everyone is a winner" that everyone catches multiple fish easily?

I'd like to see them stop rearranging the landscape down there and start concentrating on raising fish. That's one heck of a hatchery operation they have there for a 1 mile stretch of spring creek. I can't fathom a good enough excuse for "so-so" fishing at Bennett Spring. The fishing should be excellent mores than not, and those businesses around there should be flourishing! What is reason for the lack of awesomeness down there?