fishinwrench

Glitter boats and fly gear just don't go together It's just wrong... like hauling firewood in a mini-van wrong. There's this.... And this... Not to mention seats, windshields, electronics, and everything else that is there to grab line and ruin an otherwise perfect double haul. I have enough trouble keeping my feet off the line, I don't need any additional obstacles. Oh I caught a few short green fish while waiting for the shadows to get longer But I should have known what kinda evening it was gonna be when I eased into the White bass "magic area" and found it occupied by this Lovers of Death convention. Tonight was not the night. While I sat and waited for signs of nervous shad I noticed tons of Lake O midge shucks on the water. Then captured a hatchling. This is what has replaced dragonfly's and damselfly's over the last 10 years. Usually they hatch in Mid September. They are several weeks late this year. Yeah, he pooped on me I watched and waited.....nothing happened. Piss on it I'm about ready to break out the gear and go join Oldplug and 96Champ further down.

The tournament organizers aren't stupid, they make it a point to do all kinds of special crap for "kids" and "cops" and "firefighters" and "military groups" so that their bread is buttered all the way to the crust. I love competitive fishing and certainly don't want it to stop all together, but it is far past due for some changes in scoring as it continues to grow in popularity. It's cool that you like kids, cops, and vets, but there are lots of ways to love them that don't involve collecting all the keeper bass in the lake and taking them back to the boat ramp.

Yeah the whites are stacked up in a zone about 2 miles down from the flat. No problem catching a bunch but I want them up on the flat where I can get at them in the Jon boat with flys. I hate fly-fishing out of my bass boat, too many cleats, foot pedals, and things to get fly line tangled on. Plus I don't like fly-fishing from a raised platform, I like my feet closer to the water surface for various reasons. I don't know why they felt the need to suck 3' of water out of the lake so fast. Friggin' douchebags!

It is definitely out of control. I suspected that it was getting there so quite awhile back I composed a non-biased email to MDC. I didn't want it to be obvious whether I was for or against the hauling around and relocating of fish but was just someone who was concerned whether it was "ok" or not. I also asked that if it was doing no harm at the current rate of bass relocation....then at what point would it be considered as something that needed to be regulated. After 8 weeks without a reply I resent the email, and cc'd it to every email I could find with an interest in Mo. fishing conservation. Now more than 6 months later I still have not received a reply....from anyone. They won't weigh-in on this topic (pun intended) and the reason why they either don't want to talk about it, or have been instructed not to discuss it, is wide open for conspiracy theory. If I had asked about ANYTHING ELSE I would have gotten a reply within 48 hours, guaranteed. Could have asked about butterflies, could have asked about two-headed snakes, could have asked about shad, anything...and I would have gotten a lengthy and well composed reply. But not this. So whaddya do?

Woah! Just last night? Wish we could have gotten that here. Probably would have blown my trailer tires but I'm pissed cuz they are dropping this lake so fast for no reason.

I left the plug in my Jon boat overnight. Sunk it on the trailer. How does 1.3" of rain turn into 10+" in the bottom of a boat setting level? 🤔

All of the pics/videos on YT appear to be of side channels and backwater areas. I'd like to see an aerial view of the shallowest portion of the main channel.

The current will increase with the narrowing of the banks.. but the amount of flow stays the same. Gravity insists. You can't alter the measurable CFS by throwing a stone in the river.

If I take a measurement it is accurate to within less than .001" Those clowns might as well just guess, because a 400cfs error is pretty significant.

It is a Rube Goldberg fix for a 16' Jon boat on a 14' trailer. Otherwise the corners of the bow will get into the tailgate on turns. Drilling a hole in that hitch leg wasn't any fun I bet.

What kind of motor is that ?

This is the kind of science I'm a fan of. 👏

Here's another one for ya. Right here close to home we currently have 1169cfs leaving Bagnell dam, and 1/2 mile below it the USGS guage reads 721cfs. Are we loosing water underground .....or is the guage bad? I seldom follow river guages by "CFS" for this reason. A simple river level guage eliminates the faulty math. What's the point of measuring river flow in cubic feet per second if the resultant readings are bogus?

🎵 "Preacher man says it's the end of time and the Mississippi River she's a going dry......" 🎵

Doesn't seem near as dry this year vs. the last 3-4, my grass never went dormant and I had to mow every week all Summer long, yet the rivers and creeks are lower this year than they were in what seemed like drier years. Increased evaporation? Or just poor memory?

Check eBay. Liquidated stock from parts warehouses always end up there. I have a good lower unit for a Merc 45 (I'd sell for 250.00) that possibly has the same gear set in it. I am thinking it is 1.83:1 though. The Force may have a smaller propshaft and different gears. Too lazy to cross reference it. 🤗

In the BF tournaments are you only allowed to weigh in a certain number of fish ?

I headed out to check on the Whites and Stripers this evening. Got out early and sat anchored on the flat waiting for something to happen. Something never did. I fanned the sweet spots with a Crease fly and a Clouser to make sure they weren't just playing quietly tonite, but it was obvious that nobody was home. It would have sucked if I had driven an hour+ to do that. Luckily I get a good break on the paying of dues here. 😊

Yeah I looked into that for ya too. I can actually get a replacement for a V6 cheaper than I can get one for that Force 2 cylinder.

I can certainly vouch for the fact that 2 years of bowfishing has taken the buffalo population from one extreme to the other here on the upper Gravois. They were everywhere, and now they are nowhere. Gar are still thick as hell. I've noticed that bowfishers don't get as excited about gar as they do buffalo and carp. I'm curious why that is. They also don't seem to care about shooting the Asian carp below the dam and in the Osage. Seems like if they could wipe out the buffalo up here (which were thick as all hell 3-4 years ago) that they could put a serious dent in the Asian carp population......but they don't seem to want to pursue them. Why not?

Search for a set of "GLM" gears, they will be the least expensive and they are perfectly fine for 2-3 cylinder applications. I believe that is just a standard 1:83-1 gear set. Do not reuse the old pinion nut, get a new one, clean the threads with alcohol, and apply red loc-tite. I'm assuming that your using the pipe wrench technique. 😀

That's a very low hours motor. Obviously impact damage. Got insurance on it? They'd cover it.

You'd think that tournament competitors would be anxious to adopt a scoring system that relieves them of the hassle involved in babysitting and culling fish. If it ever happens I'm going to start converting those livewells and spray-bars into a cool water mister....to keep you cool on those hot July days. 😉

I assume since you have the DS out that she smoked some gears. Let's see 'em 😀

You got it. It transfers lube up to the upper driveshaft bearing to keep it lubricated. Works like an auger.