MrGiggles

Yeah the fins are supposed to be the other way. In the winter I don't think it would matter that much since you aren't working them that aggressively, but in the summer you'd want them so it'll dart/glide like it's supposed it. Or who knows, you may have just discovered the way to make it irresistibly dart on the up swing.

I had some club points to burn so I went with the Artix set from BPS. Fit seems pretty good, they have an ankle gaiter deal to keep them from slipping over your boots. The Magellans did not have that and you'd end up walking on the cuffs, that really bugged me.

I'm with Wrench here, I think a standard sewing thread style bobber stop would pass right through a bullet/sliding weight. The plastic tab style may not. Why not just use an egg weight and peg it with a toothpick?

In other words, a twofer. If it's after your livestock, it's fair game. Or just SSS.

That's what they were originally invented for from what I've read, but only within the last decade have started gaining popularity in open water. You will lose a lot more fishing them on the bottom in the summer but it's pretty effective and probably my favorite way to fish walleyes. If you drop into an active pod of fish you can just pull them in one after another. They give a pretty solid return on 2D sonar so you can see them as they fall and stop them before the snaggy stuff, like if you're after crappie suspended over a brush pile, and of course they show up well on Livescope too.

Crappie love the #5. Keep us updated on the process, now is the time to stock up for summer.

I like Fireline. Found it has a little more memory that lessens wind knots and looping around the rod tip. Plus it's easier to tie with. Lighter is not always better. I have some 10lb Power Pro that is the absolute worst about snagging in screws and rivets, or knotting around the rod tip.

Sounds like a good spot for a snare.

It hurts when you lose two or three in a day... I order them from Midway.

I have a couple baits that are similar to that. I got them at the Bass Pro outlet, but have never used them. I'd say they have more of a flutter/rocking type of action, similar to a rippin rap or a blade bait, rather than the dart/glide that a jigging rap does. I do know that you can buy jigging rap blanks and save quite a bit that way, but you need to paint them and install the treble. This is just one source, I know there's another website and Ebay as well. The downside there is that for whatever reason they don't make the 5/8 #7, which is the size I prefer. https://kbtackle.com/products/10-pack-1-2-ounce-walleye-jigging-minnow-blank

Maybe they don't want to be laid up and crippled in their old age like, well you know who.

Have to give some credit to @lmt-outfitters for turning me onto jigging raps. Those things just flat out catch fish, a lot of other things too, but still. There's a lot of good info out there, sometimes it takes some digging to find though.

I put in at Crabtree and fished a little ways down the little Sac up to the dam. I scoured some of @powerdives old posts, reading about targeting main lake points that extend a long ways and eventually touch the river channel, even better if there is a channel swing nearby. Seems to be a pretty good pattern all year long.

I have a 10' Ozark rear seat, Everharts was closing them out a few years ago and I got it for like $20. It's a good rod, but I always found it pretty awkward to flip fish with, and storing it is a hassle. I suppose it has it's uses but not for how I like to fish.

I slipped away yesterday for a couple hours and got into them again. I only threw back one crappie, two walleyes that were short. I think only one of those that I kept was under 12". Jigging raps and ripping raps, 20-50ft.

Does this count? It worked a lot better than I thought it would, I cut the piece roughly with a holesaw but had to trim the lip down some and cut around the outside a little so it was concentric. That's a replacement dryer pulley that is NLA.

Looks like the 12' Outlaw is 8 ounces. Not sure how that stacks up with the competition. https://fishoutlaw.com/products/12-pro-se/

Check out Outlaw Crappie Poles. Local company, the owner is a great guy, met him a few times and see him around Stockton and Truman now and then. I believe I am Outdoors in Buffalo and Everhart's carry them, you can get them directly from him as well. I'm not really a fan of long rods, but I have the 6.8, it's my favorite light action rod. The sensitivity is great. He can also sell you just a tip section if you ever break it.

With that pattern in mind I'd be heading to the point just west of Master's island. There's a brush pile along it that has to be up out of the water now. There's some shallow brush in the back corner of the big flat northeast of cedar ridge too.

I'm picking on myself a little too. I only have one on the wall that might break 140, probably in the 130s. The rest are unremarkable size-wise, but they're important to me.

I'd mount a 30" walleye from Stockton. My PB is 24", I've seen some high 20s but 30 is pretty rare I think. Who cares what anyone else thinks, if he's proud of that fish and wants to mount it, he should. How many guys have dink bucks on the wall? It doesn't need to be a booner to be mount worthy.

I've been seeing the normal amount of buck sign. I normally don't pay a whole lot of attention to scrapes but I have seen some, and some rub lines. The food plot thing is kinda odd, only thing I can think of is added pressure, or maybe you tilled up some kind of forage that they really liked. The first year for my plots was really good. I still have an archery tag, I've been letting the place settle a little bit after hunting during firearms season. Wouldn't mind for the acorns and stuff to dry up a little more too, so my turnips look more appetizing.

Cell cams have come down a lot in price. I bought a Stealthcam Fusion X this year, been out since September and I haven't had any issues with it yet. Cell reception is pretty poor here, especially on ATT which is what that camera uses, but it seems to work pretty reliably on two bars. I've used Moultrie in the past and had good luck with them. Academy had a pretty good deal on one a while back but I'm not sure if it's still going on, I believe that one used Verizon. I experimented with some cheap Tasco's two years ago, most of them went in the dumpster after they proved to be unreliable. Nothing worse than coming back to a dead camera that was working fine when you left it.

What's everyone wearing for cold weather bibs? I have a Magellan pair that I bought from Academy a couple years ago. They're good enough I guess but they aren't water or windproof in the slightest. Ideally I'd like a pair that's between thin waterproof rain bibs and full on snow pants. I can't stand walking around like the Michelin man with bulky clothes. Just a little bit of extra insulation and a water/wind barrier would be perfect. Any suggestions?

The past few years I've made a habit out of sneaking off Thanksgiving day and heading to Stockton. I think every year I've done pretty well, today was no exception. Ran into JR Oldham (owner of Outlaw crappie poles) out there. He had a pretty good day too. I ended up with 6 walleye, 2 keepers, and 7 crappie with 5 keepers. All on a #7 black/chrome jigging rap. The crappie were kinda everywhere from 30-50ft, walleyes were 25-15ft. Fished the crappie vertically but the walleye definitely preferred casting and just letting the bait glide back along the bottom. Water temps were 51, very clear and still low. Cloudy and mostly clear but it did drizzle for a half hour or so. Happy thanksgiving everyone, hope all had a good day.