fishinwrench

I'm curious about this, have you actually knifed one and seen mussels in his belly ? The reason I ask is because I clean them off boats and engines all the time...and they attach REALLY WELL. Given that, and their shape (small and tent-like) it seems that fish lips would be a very inefficient tool for plucking Zebras. I usually can't get them with just my fingers unless I can get a fingernail under one edge of him, and pry him loose.

Great! now I'll never get that song out of my head. From now on you shall be known as Lightfoot denjac

They still haven't found either of them ? The news seems to be a bit "hush" about this. Was the guy in some kind of legal trouble or something ?

I read a report that MDC put out, they think Drum may be the savior in the Zebra mussel issue. Personally I can't fathom how the Drum could digest them fast enough to make a difference....but what do I know, I'm not a "biologist".

The end result is the same on both faux furled, and true furled leaders. The compound seamless taper of a true furled leader doesn't have any noticable advantage over a faux furled leader in the way they roll over. Both designs do a fabulous job, of that. The downside, for either design, is that the body of the leader rolls as tension is put on it. To understand what I'm talking about just watch the knot, or stick a small tag of tape to the tippet end and begin to put tension on the leader....you'll see the knot (or the tape) begin to spin. The more tension you apply....the more it spins. This causes three main problems that can cause you headaches and outweight the awesome way that they turn over on a cast. #1. Twisted tippet breaks easier. #2. If you get snagged and have to break off, the immediate recoil of the leader when the tippet breaks, will cause the whole leader to ball up into a big mess, more times than not. #3. Heavily weighted flys (like clousers, for example) will spin, or at the least they will roll over on their sides or upside down when stripped or worked against a fast current. I know how awesome furled leaders cast compared to standard tapered mono leaders, but in my opinion the last thing you want to be using when the fish of a lifetime is hooked, is a furled leader. I guess it depends on which is most important to you... catching fish...or looking good trying. LOL

I was having problems like that (not on this site, but on a tech forum). I tried everything I could think of, but what fixed the issue was disabling "windows cardspace". Here's how you do it. Start / Run / type: services.msc / Enter / locate: "windows cardspace" / double click it / select "disable" / apply / close all open windows / restart / It fixed my problem on that site, and also made accuweather load more reliably (before that, clicking Accuweather was a crapshoot. but now it loads right away, everytime.)

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.