fishinwrench

Alot of guys weld aluminum, but only a few do it well. Outback welding in Sunrise beach is quite a drive for you, but they are the only ones I trust to weld on any hull of mine.

That's the 3rd report I've heard like that today. Another buddy had a pair of 6's even. Dammit, I got stuck helping prep for Turkey day. Might get to hit it hard tomorrow though. Good job !

?

I'd love to see some data from White bass studies. The only one I can find is terribly outdated and from a waterway far North of us. I don't think many intelligent studies have been done on WB, which makes me a tad upset that they are introducing Hybrid Stripers into various waterways and altering the gene pool of the native whites. That kinda action is irreversible and may turn out to be a bad decision. Do they REALLY know what they are doing? I hope so.

That explains it. Those guys are as full of $#it as a Christmas goose. ☺

A really interesting thing in the early Spring is that Whites will not run up the creeks unless the lake level is above 657.5 To do so they have to cross 75-100 yards of 5" deep water because of siltation on the flats, and there are eagles and ospreys just waiting for a few to TRY IT. Once a few have gotten nabbed it is as if the rest just telepathically know....and none of the others will even attempt it until the lake level rises. Fish are amazing creatures.

Well actually.....? There is a spot on the flats up here where a good bunch of Whites, some LM, skinny crappie, and a few walleye can be caught all Winter long if it isn't frozen over. Water is 3-5' and it's more than a mile away from any water over 10'. I just happen to know about it because I live here, but I'm sure there are similar areas scattered around this lake, and other lakes as well, that for some unrealized reason (or some minor spring inflow) hold fish shallow year round.

All I know is that I am on the water on this end of the lake nearly every day, and I can't even remember the last time I witnessed anyone that I would consider too drunk to be operating their boat. BWI is not the problem that they try to make everyone believe. More accidents are had by sober people than are had by people over .08% BAC as far as I know. When I travel the lake I'm not worried about drunken boaters, and when I travel the roads I'm not worried about drunk drivers. People around here worry more about huge wakes, and they worry more about deer. But oddly there's no concern by any of the LEO's about those things.....I assume because there's no money in it. Aren't they supposed to be addressing the things that concern us most ? Well, they aren't. And that's my main beef. The things they are always all gung-ho about are NOT the things that are truly bothering any of us. Am I wrong? The MDC and/or the county lawdogs have been up and down our road 30+ times in the last week looking for someone that poached a deer or two. Well guess what? There are 5-8 deer in everybody's yard and nobody around here CARES if a couple extra ones get killed. They NEED to because they are too dang thick around here. I wish they'd let that crap go and go kill a few themselves before it costs me or someone else another 3k in body work.

Hey hey HEY!!! That's enough of that kinda talk. This thread has gotten out of hand. Shut it down, Phil. ?

The wind theory sounds good but I have my doubts about whether that's what is really going on down there. Shad actively feeding on plankton would more likely be spread out in more of a sheet, rather than in tight balls, wouldn't they? In the relatively calm flats where I flyfish for the Whites the shad are never balled up and moving like a cyclone, they are nearer the surface and moving horizontally. Usually in a long ribbon formation. If windy banks are better I don't believe it is because of the "wind blown plankton gathering the shad" train of thought, I think it is more likely because the wave action filters out more light and MAYBE the fish are more active because of THAT. But I can't buy into the theory that wind blown areas are productive because of the wind concentrating the forage. All I know for sure is that I catch as many if not more whites than anyone else I know, and I pretty much avoid the wind anytime I can, especially when flyfishing. My absolute best days are always on slick water, or water with very little chop. I can't even remember a day in heavy wind where I did exceptionally well. I guess you just have to believe in it for it to work, which is yet another mark in the tally of fishing being a 90% Mental Game.

Yep, I have vinyl siding on my house. The side facing south is noticeably bleached and stays nice and clean, but the side facing north always has to be power washed because the lack of sun exposure causes green mossy crap to build up on it.

Not wanting to argue, but Northerly banks receive more direct sunlight all year long. Just glance outside and notice where the shadows are right now. At no time during the year do south banks receive more sunlight. This is why it's warmer in the South. On flatland lakes out in Kansas it may not matter much, but on highland reservoirs with tall hillsides it is a pretty big deal.

I can't imagine that the few miles south to Stockton changes the sun angle that much. Here on LO the Northerly banks receive more time in the sun even in the middle of Summer. Matter of fact, some of the worst places to fish IMO are Southside (North facing) mossy bluff banks. They simply do not get enough sunlight during the day. You might find some catfish and skinny crappie along them, but otherwise I have learned to avoid those Southside bluffs like the plague. You'd think that those would be great during the hottest part of Summer but I've never found that to be true at all.

Where I fish (not Stockton) the Whites don't wait on the wind to position the shad, they will herd them into shallow bays and get them cornered and then feed like crazy. If you go looking I bet that you'll find there are just as many shad on the calm side as there is on the windy side. North side areas always seem to be better for whatever reason. Angle of the sun??? Protection from North winds??? I dunno. You can either stand on the trolling motor and fight the wind all day and collect a limit after awhile, or you can locate a shallow bay and just wait for them to show up and go crazy and limit out in 15 minutes of casting. From 3:pm until dark is when it happens here on LO.

I have seen that quite a few times. I think it happens when two fish are going after the same minnow.

4-stroke oil is 4-stroke oil. Mercury will say that there is "special secret stuff" in their oil but that's marketing baloney. Motor oil doesn't get any better than Mobil 1 as far as I'm concerned. As for gear lube: The Marine grade gear lube is supposed to have additives that allow some water to emulsify, but if you have water in your gearcase then you need seals....not lube that will emulsify (meaning to HIDE) it. Water and lube (whether marine grade or otherwise) will seperate when things aren't moving, and you don't want the lowermost components of your gearcase sitting in water. So your call there. I use the Marine grade in my shop because I'm not the one paying for it and that's what my customers think they need. I don't get paid to debate the qualities of it. ☺

O'Rielly auto parts carries Sierra aftermarket filters and several brands of 10w30 (just pick one). The Sierra stuff is quite good, I use it alot and have never had any issues with any of it.

That there is some solid proof that a Smallie will bite ANYTHING. I like the Super size Zoom craw, but that little one is a dud in the action department. If you're good enough to get bit on that thing then it ain't the bait.... it's YOU that is awesome. You could probably tie a chunk of snake weed to a jighead and convince a bunch of fish to eat it.

Preparation is key. Excellent!

I've never found anything that brightens up aged gelcoat like Scott's Liquid Gold. Spray it on and just let it dry, then spray a rag lightly and wipe it down smooth. As long as you can't feel the flake under the gelcoat she'll shine like a diamond for 2 weeks, or more if it's not in the sun. Plastic rails, trim and dash panels, and motor cowlings like it too.

The defense that it happened because he "wasn't trained properly" is a total crock of BS. All of us with ZERO water Patrol "training or experience" and NOT on the state payroll know better than that. My 7 y/o daughter even knows how to put a PFD on. Piercy was in a hurry to get Ellingson booked and processed so he could get back out there and nab another one. They give incentives/notoriety and Piercy was leading the race in DWI/BWI/Drug arrests. That's why it happened. Greed and the desire to walk around with an inflated ego.

Everything would have gone more proper if they had just admitted to the screw up and fired the officer.....instead of coercing coroner's, prosecutors, investigators, dispatch personnel, lab technicians, and fellow officers to aid in the cover-up. For some reason they were scared to hold the trooper, who caused it all, accountable. Maybe they owed him a favor?

Hopefully there will be more locations on LO soon. It will be a huge help during Winter and in the Spring/Fall after fronts blow thru. Great resource!

I guess as long as they save more lives than they end they should still be considered awesome. I'm sure they feel as if they saved 5+ lives by getting Brandon out from behind the wheel.

Makes ya wonder how many "mistakes" like that it would take to put them out of business. Also makes ya wonder how many cases have been covered up SUCCESSFULLY. Because I'm sure Piercy isn't the first trooper to screw up real bad, and probably won't be the last. I have a gut feeling that the toxicology report was skewed, because if the kid was truly three-sheets to the wind he wouldn't have been winning at volleyball less than 1 hour prior to being pulled over. If you can play volleyball that well then you should be in good enough condition to drive a boat. And apparently his friends seemed sober enough since Piercy allowed them to take control of the boat without even breath testing them. Nasty rotten deal all the way around.