MrGiggles

The hull on an aluminum boat is always going to be grounded to the starting battery via the outboard. Perhaps they want you to run a common ground as a path of least resistance. I've never done it. I prefer them to be totally isolated. If your outboard has a sturdy recoil, and you're able to use, you can use one battery. I wouldn't if electric start is all you have to crank it.

Knipex makes the best pliers of all, hands down. The ones from Harbor Freight with the dark red handles are good too (Doyle?). I read somewhere that they're made by the same company that supplies Mac's pliers.

I fished walleyes a little on 9/10 and the morning on the 11th and didn't have a fish to show for it. Hooked up twice with jigging raps and lost them both. Dragged around bottom bouncers for a while and fed some bluegills, but that was all. Tough fishing. Marked tons of bait and fish all over. A lot bait flipping in shallow water.

I love what that guy does, but man those videos are DRY. I can never watch one all the way through. I also don't think those digital testers are all that trustworthy. An old school carbon pile tester is the best way.

Bachelor group stopped in tonight.

I have considered rye. But there's 45 acres of winter wheat right up the hill from this plot, I like to think it's better to have a couple different kinds of forage available. My experience has been that those seed mixes are mostly a waste of money, you'll get one or two varieties that really take off and the rest won't. I think it's better to just plant a single variety that you actually want and get the seed from a co-op. Get a lot better stand that way.

Anybody else doing any this year? Decided to go with forage soybeans this year, planted earlier. Had seed left over from spring planting, so I sprayed and no-tilled all the plots at the end of June, in the past I would've been trying to get them in right about this time of year. The beans haven't really amounted to much. They sprouted but I think that really hot and dry stretch held them back quite a bit. They haven't died but they're still less than a foot tall. I went and hung a camera in the one plot a few days ago and took a walk through it. I'll be darned if the turnips that were in the seed mix last year didn't make a heck of a comeback. I'm not sure if they reseeded themselves or what. I'm not complaining though. Got a few takers the other afternoon.

For sure. I have always done better during pre-spawn than I have in April-May when they're shallow. Like you said flooding and the volatile weather can make it tricky.

Pomme has always fished way better in fall and winter for me, summer is tough. My best days have been in Dec/Jan, March, and September. Truman kicks my butt more times than not so I'm no help there. Never fished LOZ.

There's two in Springfield. They used to have some killer rebate deals but not so much anymore. I haven't used them lately but always had good service in the past.

When I fished that area a lot it didn't really start to heat up until the water started cooling off in September. Always the first column and then the second as the water started to get cold. I always tried to hit it during the week when nobody else is there, but that's not really a thing since Covid hit. Lake seems pretty busy most of the year now.

I had a 14' Alumacraft that had visibly been beaten for most of it's life. Battered and bruised, but never broken. The hull was almost 1/8" thick. My dream boat is a Competitor 165/175 tiller. I wouldn't discount a Lowe that was in good shape with a reputable outboard. They're on the lower end with Tracker, but there's a bunch of them out there with happy owners. G3 is worth looking at too, although I don't think there's as many out there.

The west end of the 245 bridge usually usually starts to produce late Aug-Nov for me, although I haven't been there yet this year. It's a popular spot though.

Wood was used in pretty much all boats up until the late 2000s I think, and even then was still used in many models. It's hard to get away from. Lowe is no exception. It's not a deal breaker if you have to replace one, if you have a way to lift the outboard. Heavy ratchet strap and a floor jack will work on 60-75hp motors.

I'm not familiar with that side of the lake at all. But for walleye, there's a big hump next to big island near the dam, and the flats across from Pittsburg campground. It's getting real close to the time of year when whites will be surfacing at dusk and dawn. Looks for boils and throw anything with flash in there.

Tyee? Had one just like that in the shop last week. Dang good big water boat, although the walk through is awfully narrow and not much storage.

Do you want to stick with a tiller or side console? One thing for sure, I wouldn't want any kind of Mod-V or jon at Stockton or LOZ. I always thought the Tracker Guide V14 SC was a slick looking little boat. Fairly small but still not useless in rough water. They weren't too expensive either. As for older boats, Lowe and Alumacraft both had a model that was similar with the same name, Lunker. And the Lund Mr. Pike series. Tracker also had a few older Deep-V models. One things for sure, if you run up to Minnesota there are a lot more of those style boats. A lot of jons, pontoons, and bass boats here. With how I fish, there is little to no benefit in a flat bottom or Mod-V, and there are many to a Deep-V. I'd suggest you consider how and where you spend most of your time fishing, and get a hull style to suit.

I have been doing a lot better on points but I'm sure they're still on the flats at times. If you were by Maze, I'd motor across the lake to the points on the north bank, especially the one closest to master's island. I think it's an old road bed and there's a lot of rubble and brush along it.

The bite is still pretty good. Went Sunday 7/31 and had 10 shorts, no keepers. Couple that were really close but most around 12-13". Went this afternoon again, 5 shorts one keeper that went about 18". Almost all on jigging raps but a couple on bottom bouncers. Water has been around 84-85*.

Most of those are precharged, just have to vacuum down the lines. May need to add or remove some refrigerant if you extended or cut the lines by a significant amount. The manual should have a chart for how much refrigerant needs to be added/removed per foot of line. Should be a pretty easy job for an HVAC tech either way.

My experience has been that good pocket knives never stay in my possession very long, and the cheap ones stick around forever. So I carry a $5 Ozark Trail. Few swipes on some rough concrete and it's ready to go. My hunting knife is a CRKT. Their stuff used to be pretty good but I don't know if that's still the case. I was given a ceramic kitchen knife for Christmas last year, it's sharp, that's for sure. Not sure if I can resharpen when it gets dull though.

Mini split? Those things are pretty slick.

Amazon is notorious for fakes and counterfeit. Not sure if it's a thing in the fishing world but it definitely is everywhere else. Their inventory system is terrible, they will use many different sources for a given product and have no real control over whether they're legit or not. I got burned on a set of Denso iridium spark plugs once. Started misfiring within a month.

I'm of the opinion that all mono/flouro has a shelf life, even if it's covered. I always strip quite a bit off of my older rolls and toss it before spooling up. If it isn't glossy and new looking, I don't want it on my reels. I'm guessing that isn't your issue though since you probably have had the issues since it was new, unless the roll you bought had been sitting on the shelf for years. It's why I pretty much only use braid and switch between whatever leader suits the style of fishing I'm doing. Braid is a pain to tie and is pretty wimpy as far as abrasion resistance goes, a leader solves those problems, and it'll last forever. At most you will have to replace the ~100 feet of braid you actually fish with as it fatigues from running through the guides, but it takes a really long time. I think I've only ever used P-line once, and not for very long. If I remember right it twisted terribly and I got tired of messing with it.

You can just call the office in Stockton and have them mail it to you. Can also get them at the COE campgrounds around the lake. Crabtree does for sure, Cedar Ridge, Mutton, and Hawker likely do too. I usually renew mine every year at Crabtree or Wheatland on Pomme. The Park's service pass is likely a decal or or hang tag just like the one from COE.