fishinwrench

Yep, I got my butt handed to me a couple days ago in my home creek (beautiful day, 59-60 deg. water). I blamed it on my 8 month old Lab (whom I don't quite have a handle on yet) for crashing through some spots I wanted to fish, but something just wasn't right, I could "feel it". Very few baitfish visable, and a dying algae bloom along the bottom. Next trip will be "the one", I just know it.

Is that a shadow on the skeg, or do we have a leaking propshaft seal on that Yammie ?

When you buy a "new" Marine battery in February or March you have to check the manufactured date to be sure your not getting one that has set on the shelf all Winter. The "lead-acid battery tax" that the state imposed awhile back has caused some battery vendors to be very frugal (and sneaky) when it comes time to rotate out dated inventory. If you don't own a load tester, You can load test your cranking battery using a digital voltmeter (or even the voltmeter on your dash, if your boat has one). Just pull your kill switch so the engine will not start, and crank the engine for 10 seconds while watching the voltage drop. If battery voltage falls below 10v during the 10 seconds of cranking, it failed the test. For trolling motor batterys you have to run in 12v mode with a voltmeter connected to the battery terminals, and test them one at a time. Operate the TM on high 12v (in the water) with the boat tied to a dock so it can't move, while watching the battery voltage drop. Same deal, you are checking for a voltage drop to 10 volts or less in 10 seconds. When your battery charger tells you that the battery is at full capacity, that does not indicate that the battery is fine. That simply indicates that the battery has reached its individual charge capacity. A totally wasted battery will show "fully charged" (on a charger), simply because it is resisting the amperage being poured into it. Kind of like the way a dry crusty sponge resists soaking up a splash of water.

Constant variation of the throttle position is hard on an outboard, and it makes navigating rough water more difficult, and at times dangerous. Waves always have a pattern to them, so the key to safely and efficiently crossing rough water is selecting the best RPM range and trim position for the conditions, and then simply maintaing your course. When you are bouncing up and down in the boat it is difficult to keep your foot steady enough to maintain a constant RPM. Sudden and constant increases and decreases in throttle postion can totally screw you up in really rough water. Also, in extreme situations any change in throttle position also needs to be accompanied by a trim adjustment to minimize cavitation. Nobody can keep trim position in check when throttle position is constantly changing. Hotfoots are to blame for more blown powerheads and swamped boats, than just about anything else I know. Throttle cable life is also reduced, tenfold. Hey, you asked If steering wheel torque is your main concern, check out a Teleflex NFB (no feedback) rotary cable system.

Bad ground connection. Probably at the bow plug

"loosing battle" noway bro ! A 7-8wt. will wear his butt down. Hybrids and Stripers are pretty mean, but King Salmon and Tarpon are taken on flyrods all the time. Fun is an understatement !

you forgot "Douchebag"

Holy crap! That was a creek run fish ? Have you ever flyfished for them ?

If you have strength issues I wouldn't recommend paddling from Lake Ozark to the Mulberry river

Now y'all have done it....

Dude, that is a TOAD ! Good Job !

It's easy. Skip it all and just fish out of it. Enjoy having a ride that you don't have to be all anal about rubbing trees and docks with. While many others are still back at the ramp caressing their boats with a soggy chamois...you'll be halfway home, where you can sharpen hooks, study maps, charge your batteries, rest, and collect your thoughts for tomorrow.

Nope, that's a LM. Al would never paint a spot. LOL Being a die hard Chevy man, I take offense to the "nancy boy" in the Silverado ad. He looks like the dishwasher at Panera bread. LMAO Can we loose that clown and put Tim's pic in there ?

I have caught 3 myself and saw 2 other smallies caught in what I consider "the lake" (quite a ways from any decent sized feeder creek). One was a real toad, easily over 3lbs, caught off the rip-rap jetty at Coffman marina.

That's interesting. Hard to say where the ones around Knotty Pine came from if not Tonka. Just prior to TroutDale selling (the first time), in Fall of 2004 I think, there was a group of 15-20 rainbows that ran up big Gravois cr. to the pool by the campground. I assume they dumped them into the spring branch after closing on the estate deal. Several of them were 3-4lbs. and the campers (and myself) had a ball with them for awhile, but they disappeared before Spring. Since then TroutDale has rebuilt and reopened the raceways, but blocked off the section of spring branch, and there's nothing but minnows and crawdads in it now. They sell to restaurants only, and they don't offer fishing (by the pound) anymore and there's no trout at all in the old dammed-up branch. The way they've redesigned it, it's unlikely that any trout could get through the maze of raceways and manage to get into the branch...and beyond, on it's own. Everything is screened off pretty tight, from the ranch all the way to the VFW park. There was also an old private trout hatchery on the hillside between Possum hollow and Bollinger cr. on the Osage arm (off Scandia rd.). But I heard that the Spring dried up during a drought in the 70's. And I think I read in the paper that Climax Spring was bought out by Culligan or one of the bottled water outfits. One of the little creeks that feed Turkey cr.(below Warsaw) supposably had trout in it at one time also. It seems like back in the 50's - 60's whenever someone found a sizable clear spring, they'd put trout in it. LOL

If they came from Troutdale ranch they didn't escape from there in the last year or so. What part of the lake was the public dock at where the trout was caught, and how big was it ? Tonka spring has some trout in it. Don't know whether they are reproducing or someone keeps putting them in there, but they are there. Everytime we walk the trails I look for them, and I can usually always spot one. I've never seen one over 10 inches in there though.

I can tell you that whatever you do is only going to be temporary. The cloudy look will come back real quick. An old boat salesman trick is to wipe it down with SAE30W non-detergent motor oil(or gun oil). That will make it shine as long as anything else, including the high-dollar 2-step marine wax.

Well, first off it's not MY train, and they are not MY claims, originally. I haven't seen them, but I also haven't been down there in awhile. The reply of every official that has been asked about it, thus far, is that they will neither confirm nor deny,...usually followed by "why do you want to know" ? And as far as proof, whaddaya want, someone to go down there, locate cams and take pictures and GPS coodinates of them ? LOL Maybe someone will, but it won't be me.

Yikes, that sucks. But hey, if it ever happens again there will be video evidence....so you can file suit!

rugulo, I think you missed the train The streaming webcam at the dam is just the only one being linked to the internet. Why not link up the rest of the cams along the stream, and at the parking areas, campground, outhouses, and swimming pool, so the rest of the world can watch all that activity as well.

I guess I routinely mingle with a different caliber of people, because everyone that I have heard speak about the video surveillance within the state park at Bennett, Taneycomo, and the other "trout parks", has been disgusted and totally against it. They may or may not notice it on their books at the end of this year, but I know for a fact that quite a few people will forget that the trout parks even exist because of this. The minor turn offs have always been the crowds, and fish that were "too easy", so fishing in the park has never been what you could call "real fishing". Now when you add in that your every move is being watched and recorded, you have the straw that breaks the camels back, for a few at least. Those of you that like that sort of thing may enjoy some extra space from now on.

Jack, Hows the Snaggin' trips going ?

Table Rock Inn

The thing about deep diving jerkbaits is not that they go deeper, but rather the action that they have. They can really pay off when the water is below 46 degrees because you can fish them slower. When you're giving the baits little 10 inch "lazy pulls" the deep divers act more alive.