MrGiggles

I was out on Monday night with a buddy. Unfortunately we couldn't get his boat started, but decided to make lemonade and fish close to the ramp with the trolling motor. Caught a few crappie near a brush pile. The wind was blowing and I had an awful time staying on it. The bass were tearing up the shad, if you could get anything that resembled a minnow in them soon enough it was a guaranteed fish on.

I have read that you can build a 6" PVC vessel with a valve stem, throw the sensors inside and pump it up. Then throw it behind the seat or something.

Yeah pretty much, those engines are largely unchanged from 99-06. In 07 (the next generation) they added displacement on demand and all that nonsense.

5.3? There was a run of bad heads that can crack and leak coolant into the engine. If you have coolant disappearing, that's probably the issue. Dex-cool does not milkshake when mixed with oil like regular coolant, but makes black sludge that sits in the bottom of the pan. Google "5.3 Castech Heads" for more info. The 4L60E trans in those is not really known for longevity. Lifespan is 150-200k. A carry out rebuild is ~700 bucks. At higher mileage, the O-ring on the oil pickup tube will harden, resulting in low oil pressure and lifter noise, especially on an incline. Have to drop the oil pan or go in through the front cover. Cheap repair, but labor intensive. Look at the sticker in the glovebox, see if code G80 is listed. That is the factory locking rear diff option, which are very well known for catastrophic failure if abused in the 1500s. Lastly, the stepper motors for the gauges are known to go haywire. Cheap fix if you are handy with a soldering iron. I have an 06 Silverado 5.3 with 288k. I just did the oil pickup O-ring today. Pan had not been opened up until now. I really do like the truck, very well laid out, easy to work on, comfortable, rides good, but they have their issues like anything else.

Pomme, Wheatland ramp area.

Water was 85 degrees. One spot was an MDC brush pile in 20ft, another a tree in 45ft, and the last spot was a tree with brush around the base in 21ft. The fish were suspended 10-15ft down.

I went out last night. Was nice during a week day, no pleasure boaters around. Caught crappie almost every cast dipping trees and brush. Just not very big ones, all 9-10".

Like any drug, people will build up a tolerance. I seldom drink and 3 beers will get me tipsy. To the guy that goes through a couple cases a week, 3 beers is a warm up.

I would not use that management link, anyone can go in and delete or edit the ad.

I think you mean illegal. Only 3 hooks are permitted if I remember right.

#7, pearl white, purple tiger, racy shad, firetiger. I've just recently started running #9s too, to keep away the dinks. Probably 6 out of 10 will need to be tuned out of the package. I also had a #9 flicker minnow pro in slick mouse. That was a fish catcher for sure, but for some reason the bill broke off after around a dozen fish.

In my boat, bigger is not necessarily better. It's going to be a challenge to mount the 7" unit somewhere that it isn't in the way. Funny, this sonar costs almost as much as I paid for the boat. I've kept my eyes open for used units, but haven't seen much of anything, let alone a SI unit.

Thinking about upgrading from my Striker 4 to something with side scan. It's looking like the Garmin Striker 7sv is the cheapest at 400 bucks. I'm very happy with the striker 4, it's been a great little unit. Anything else worth looking at?

If you're filleting them the way most people do, the overall length would still be easy to measure, as long as you don't chop the heads or tails off. I know lots of people do it, since there is usually always fish scraps tossed in the water near the ramp when I put in.

Berkley Lightning rod. I wouldn't want anything too expensive, the chances of it being broken, stolen, or lost are pretty high.

Gotta watch them things, they'll practically hook you just by staring at them. Sharp boogers.

Haven't been catching much bass, but I don't generally run cranks that shallow. Trolling flicker shad in slick mouse and firetiger, 8 out of 10 were on the slick mouse with lead core 18 feet down in 25-40 fow. The big slabs love it, and I'll pick up a walleye now and then. Purple tiger was doing good too until I lost it in a brush pile, need to replace that one, it's always been a productive color. First pic from Thursday night. Quit early as I had enough for dinner in 2 hours. Second pic was from last week. Also caught a 4lb carp on a crappie jig, gave my 10ft rod a workout. Haven't had much luck dropping jigs, the crappie seem awfully scattered right now.

I was out tonight and last night as well. Caught a few crappie on brush and bridge pilings. Trolled quite a bit both days trying to get some walleye, (I caught two last week), but was not successful. Those pesky crappie would not leave my flicker shade alone, caught well over a dozen, from 8" to a couple that were high 13s. I've got a firetiger flicker shad, might have to try it out. Purple tiger and slick mouse have been producing for me.

From the storm that went by to the north this morning.

I caught males really shallow on 5/6 and 5/7, at that time the females were still holding deeper in the same area, which was south of the 245 bridge. I did catch a couple bass up shallow too. Unfortunately I was broken down until the 16th, I have not been able to find any fish up on the bank in the same area as before, aside from dozens of carp. The fish that I have caught this week while trolling were mostly females, and they still had eggs but were not ready to burst like they were before. I'm no expert either, but I know that things like water clarity, temperature, and weather patterns will all affect the depth that they spawn in, and those factors can vary considerably from one end of the lake to the other.

They aren't on the banks anymore. The spawn window opened and slammed shut within a week or so. Water temps were 74 yesterday, 72 today. I messed around tonight and last night jigging on brush and timber, didn't have much luck. The trolling bite is ON though. The big slabs wont leave a flicker shad alone, and I caught two 17" walleyes as well. Most of what I caught were females that still had quite a bit of eggs left, I don't think they had a very successful spawn this year.

I've read people talking about fishing hot spot maps and how good they are. I browse the Navionics maps quite a bit, and I've seen these red fish icons in areas that seem to be good spots, structure wise. I can't help but wonder, are these what you find on the hot spot maps?

I don't understand it either. Ate a 5.5lber out of a farm pond when I was younger, never again. The little ones eat better, IMO a 15" or smaller largemouth is right up there with crappie when fried.

I was out on Sunday and last night. I put in at cedar ridge and went on past the 245 bridge. I caught several nice males right on the bank, and a few decent females on brush in 12-14ft. Same story last night, although the bite wasn't as good. I also caught a decent channel cat, two keeper LMB, and a drum.

I have not seen anything suspicious at Master's or Cedar Ridge. Those are the only ramps that I really use. Never had anything fooled with on my truck. In fact one day after putting in I noticed a safety chain had come loose and was dragging, I left it alone and figured I would get it on the way out. When I came back later a good Samaritan had hooked it back for me. Then again, I tend to stay pretty late in the summer, many times I'm the last one to leave the ramp.