MrGiggles

Had that issue occasionally on my 60 Merc. I just used a little spray lube on the starter drive, not a penetrant, they're usually piss poor lubricants.

I've got a Rossi 92 in .44 Mag, the short 16" model in stainless and walnut. That sharp little metal buttplate hurt bad, I had to get one of those slip on rubber recoil pads for it. I can only imagine one in 50, would have to be a handful.

Don't remember the first. Definitely do remember the obsession with all of the fishing magazines in the school library, and always ogling the 30" pike that my dad had mounted in the basement. Had a pretty impressive collection of lures from garage sales and stuff, and many holes in my clothing from cutting hooks out. 😆 My grandma had a lake cabin near Alexandria, MN. My dad and I took many trips there, never really caught much that was exceptional, bass and sunfish mostly, the one notable memory is when we arrived somewhat late one evening and the big bullheads were eating, kept a couple and smoked them on the small barbecue that was there. Delicious! Went to Lake of the woods one year with my uncle when I was 11, in early March as I recall, temps were fairly mild but there was still 3 feet of ice. Caught many nice walleye, jumbo perch, a couple tulibees, and an eelpout. There are pictures somewhere, next time I go up, I need to get them digitized. Had wicked sunburn/tan from the sun reflecting on the snow and ice. Made another trip with my uncle one winter out to Grindstone lake chasing smelt, which are sort of like sardines, but bigger, 6-8 inches. Very toothy, predatory critters. We cleaned them with scissors, snip the head off, empty the gut cavity, and fry them whole. The bones soften enough to eat, I never really cared for them, but my uncle ate them like french fries. The small town that we lived closest to had a bank tournament on the city lake one year for the kids, I was probably 7 or 8. Had a prize for biggest and smallest fish. Don't remember anything notable being caught, but a 12" bullhead won it. Got a very stern talking to when I hooked my dad in the palm on my backswing. I was close to getting the small fish prize with a sunfish that was about the size of my hand, the fishing in that little mud puddle wasn't exceptional.

I have been using the smaller ones a lot in the winter time for crappie fishing, they work pretty dang well, get to deep water quick, just don't get too close to the brush pile. I bought a bunch of the blanks from this site a couple winters ago, pretty simple to paint up a simple black/silver shad color scheme. I figure with a good treble, I'm in them for about $3 each. Unfortunately they don't have them in my preferred size for summer walleye. https://www.lurepartsonline.com/2165-Gliding-Jigs-5pk

Went out on the afternoon of 9/17. Skunked, started out hot and still, but a front blew in and switched things up a bit. Water temps 83/84. Went out again on the morning of 9/21. Only managed to scare up two keeper crappie. No walleyes. Water temps down around 76/78 already, dropping fast.

I still lurk. Just hardly get a minute to go to the lake anymore. Last outing on 8/10 was pretty tough and the storms pretty well wrecked the evening. Popped up out of nowhere and dumped on me for over an hour. The one before that on 7/27 was better, 5 walleye but only one keeper. Jigging raps. Bunch of whites too. You guys complain about live bait prices, donate a couple of those $9 jigging raps and see how you feel. 🤣

As mentioned, the laws changed around homemade trailers, all of them need to be inspected by the highway patrol or the sheriff's office in your county now. You used to not need the inspection for trailers under a certain length, not anymore. I did one a couple years ago and it was pretty straight forward. Sheriff deputy looked it over, attached the VIN plate, gave me my paperwork and sent me on my way. Obviously you wouldn't want to try it with something that wasn't clearly homemade or heavily modified. Buying from out of state can work, but you still need the registration documents. A bill of sale scribbled out onto a sheet of notebook paper probably isn't going to fly.

The "Hemi tick" is still an issue. They pretty frequently break off manifold bolts, or the lifters will eat themselves since FCA engineers think oil can defy gravity. It's mostly an issue if the truck has been idled a lot, though. Fords are bad about the manifold bolts too, and GMs are even worse about valvetrain issues, pick your poison if you want a domestic.

Looks like Lowrance and Ultrex are the heaviest. The Power Pole and Garmin Force are about the same. I picked up a 57" Garmin Force since they're discounted pretty heavily right now. I installed one for a buddy a couple years ago and it seems to be working well for him. I'd be curious to hear about Power Pole as a company, where the stuff is made, and how good they are about supporting their products.

Think I had someone tell me once that there was riffles not far from the ramp and it can be pretty treacherous, that's mostly why I've never tried it. I've also wondered if a guy could put in at somewhere like 82 and run up the Sac far enough to do any good, but I'm not sure that it would be any better than just fishing the Osage.

Kinda my thoughts on the GPS as well. You really only use that in open water where there are no other navigational beacons, so to speak.

I've often wondered about that spot, it's not far from me. What's the fishing like when it's good? Crappie and catfish mostly?

I might give it a shot. I've always used the alberto, which works fine and I have no trouble tying it. My only grip with it is that the tag end of the mono can snag in the spool or guides when you cast. Obviously a shorter leader fixes that, but I like them to be two rod lengths or so, otherwise you're down to a couple feet of line after a couple reties.

I can agree with all that's been said. Pretty hard not to pick up at least a few circling around any cove. Typical post spawn pattern. I like the 7 size flicker shads, blue tiger, purple tiger, firetiger, black/silver, racy shad, and black/chart are some of my favorite colors. I also agree that a 1 ounce snap weight will get them deep enough without needing 100+ feet of line out, and they snake behind the boat much better, less tangles. Last time I was out (May 12th), I did catch a few on deeper brush, as well.

I'd agree with $5k. I'd venture to guess it would take a good long while to get that though. It is still just a jon boat, no seating, no storage, no livewells, no electronics. I'd say it'd be perfect for the avid catfisher or duck hunter.