kjackson

Morning glory is incredibly invasive. I'd go nuclear on it...a landscaper once told me the best treatment was to dig up one of the primary roots and dip the cut end in pure Roundup for at least 15 seconds.

My experience with Daiwa reels has been good--always. I still use a pair of SS 1300 spinning reels I bought when they first came out in the...'80s(?). The revised BG series should be rock solid.

I was on a media trip to Venice in March--just in time o catch the coronavirus stuff-- and fished with Lew's new inshore rods. My fave was a 7-foot medium spooled with 30-pound braid. That rod would be a great medium crankbait rod-- so take that as a guide. We were fishing ¾-ounce Red Eye Shads (you really need to have some of those if you're going to be fishing artificials at all) and Strike King's Thunder Cricket. I caught my two biggest reds--a 48 and a 45-- on that rod. On previous trips, I've done well fishing with a 6 ½-foot MH rod and 20-pound braid. IMO bass tackle will deal with most reds you're going to catch in the marsh as long as you're using heavy enough line. Having said that, I've not done the popping cork and shrimp thing, so I can't speak to that. One caveat-- if you get into bluefish, you'll wish you had a steel leader.

Liberal use of duct tape to streamline the fishing wire/transducer fitting junction will help--as long as the wad o' tape isn't too large. Good luck.

If you find mealworms and like to use 'em, you can grow your own. Dump a bunch of oatmeal in a tall container that has slick sides-- like a five-gallon plastic bucket and add mealworms. Keep them from freezing (and probably overheating), and add some mealworms. They will breed and grow in that without escaping. I've not thought of using them in quite a while; I may have to do it again.

If you're interested, I have a similar boat that I'll be selling fairly soon. No astroturf, though. It has the Yammie 50 tiller with tilt and trim, SS prop, wide open floor, casting deck.

This is an intriguing topic, Randy. Thanks. Of the boats I miss-- I had an 8-foot pram that would be perfect for some of the areas around here, and I'm seriously considering building one this fall. A pram, IMO, is better for fishing than a kayak for a lot of reasons. Then, when I got bored with hardcore salmon fishing, I sold my fiberglass tiller mooching boat and bought a Sears Gamefisher 14'. I put a 15-hp Suzuki on it, and it was a great boat. If I could convince my bank account that I could have a second motor boat, I'd find another. It was fiberglass tri-hull design that was stable and only needed a higher transom and splashwell to be seaworthy. The boat I really miss is a Lund 16' Predator, the forerunner to the 1660 Pro-V. It was a tiller boat with a 45 Mariner four-cylinder that would troll extremely slow while burning tons of gas. That boat had issues, though-- a leak somewhere and a soft spot in the floor, but it did everything I wanted, and i ran it everywhere from the mouth of the Columbia during the Buoy 10 fishery to the far end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. When I worked for Bass & Walleye Boats magazine, I got to test a number of different boats. The one that really stood out was a 1650 Crestliner Fish Hawk. There was another, smaller 16 Crestliner tiller that I ran for six months as a project boat. It would be a better boat than the Gamefisher... Since I'm now in the market for a boat and have a depleted budget to work with, this topic has made me focus on what I need to look for. Again, thanks.

This may have absolutely no application in Missouri, but there is a nymph that was superb back in Washington (and in Montana while I was in school) decades ago. The critical thing is the hook--way back then, we used a Herter's "live bait" hook...and the closest I can find in production now is this: https://barlowstackle.com/Eagle-Claw-L141brKahle-Hook-P2589/ The Herter's hooks, Mustard made something similar for a while, is atypical for a fly, but by wrapping a body of dubbed fur and a thin collar of black hackle you can create a fly that is deadly. IMO, the curved body looks a lot like a nymph that is trying to get back to a place of shelter. My dad got into fly tying when I was 10 because one of his work buddies swore by the fly-- a dubbed mink body and sparse black hackle. It was and is a good pattern. It is super easy to tie and may be a solution for picky fish. I tied a version with some lead wrapped around the belly section to imitate a sinking mayfly nymph when I fished a backwater slough in Montana when I was going to school. It caught trout, but then again, a Hare's Ear or marabou leech did as well.

I was going to suggest that you needed a hand-operated trolling motor as I've one sitting in my garage that's never seen water.

G.Loomis just introduced an IMX Pro for deep cranking/ledge fishing. They're not out yet, but...

After the whole "do I really want to spend the money" debate you will hold with yourself and wife, the question for me would be relating to your sonar/GPS units. To get the most from Garmin or Lowrance motors, you really should upgrade your electronics...and that can get really expensive. Is there not a trolling motor repair shop in the Tulsa area? That would be my first option to be followed by finding an Ultrex on sale--it's what you're used to using, so that is a bonus. You can always go to option three if you practice social distancing.

I fished both the Snake and the Salmon, but not as often as I'd liked. The returning steelhead are remarkable creatures, considering the challenges they face-- the dams, sea lion hordes, Indian nets, ocean capture, not to mention the hazards when they are young and heading out to sea. The B-run fish were awesome for size and power.

Right hand... don't know what the" i" in 7000i signifies...

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I'm sorta interested. Pix? Price? Location? Thanks.

Three boxes later, I found it...and about 10 other reels in its class. Having said that, what I have is an unused 7000i LC. It's a line counter with a power handle and filled with lead core. If you're interested, I will figure a price.

I may have one tucked away. It'll be a couple of days before I can check. It's unused-- I remember spooling it with lead core, and then we ended up moving.

Given that I grew up on the West Coast where drum is something you beat with sticks, I was curious myself-- especially after trips to Venice where we caught red drum (redfish) and black drum and ate both with no distinction between the two. Since I was willing to try cabezon from Puget Sound, I thought it only right that I should give freshwater drum a try. Caught a decent one in Beaver Lake, filleted it and ate it. It was fine-- not walleye, but few fish are. When we moved to Missouri, the first drum I caught (in LOZ)-- a small fish about a foot long-- was added to the crappies. While it was okay as far as taste and bones went, the flesh was tough...which leads me to believe that it was overcooked. I'm willing to test that again, but I don't catch many.

Sorry, no. I didn't even stick my finger in. Fish are moving around, though.

Just paid a visit to our place on the creek. The visibility is about 8 inches, and the water is lower than normal for this time of year, so be careful if you're not familiar with the channel in the upper end. There didn't seem to be a lot of trash floating, which is a good thing. The creek itself is fairly clear, so maybe things will change a bit.

Caught my two largest redfish last week in Venice at Redfish Lodge...a 45 and 42. Netted a 51 for the guide and saw a 40+ take a topwater 10 feet from the boat. Needless to say, I had a blast.

Bring it back to Clinton, please...

I've not fished for walleyes in Missouri yet, so take this at face value. I have done a lot of walleye fishing back in Washington and Oregon as well as quite a bit in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and I sure that some of what I've learned will work here. This time of the year, I would rely on jigs, casting and doing the pull-and-drop in areas were I could make fish. Curly-tail grubs and ringworms would work, or see if you can find some of the tubes that look like overgrown crappie tubes (the ones I have are a little over tw inches long). I think it's essential to tip the jig with something like a nightcrawler chunk or a minnow. Up north, they swear by minnows this time of the year. After the spawn, I'd pick shad-style baits such as the Shad Rap (duh), Flicker Shad (really like this) or something like the discontinued Rebel Shad-R. I would think that the minnow-style baits off a three-way rig would be good as well. As the water warms, more active baits would come into play: the Hot N Tot, the Mag Lip, the ¼-ounce Hot Lips (discontinued), Wally Diver and similar lures would be good. Once the fish begin feeding actively, I'd rely on spinners a lot. RPS has some articles posted on OAF that give you a lot of info and definitely are worth reading. Spinners can be so deadly that they are a must, IMO. Of course, you can still use jigs during the summer months, and that is a fun way to fish. However, you really need to tip them with a nightcrawler chunk or a leech. And there are lots of other lures/techniques that are worth mentioning: jerk baits and blade baits like the Heddon Sonar or Silver Buddy can be deadly as will jigging spoons, and the Jigging Rap is also reported to be excellent. Rattle baits like the Rat-L-Trap and Red Eye Shad great. Three-way rigs trailing something like a FlatFish or a Floating Rapala should do well. And there were a couple of big tournaments won by guys trolling big spinnerbaits through standing timber on lead core. It's almost a situation where just about any reasonable lure will catch walleyes when it's matched to the situation and time of year.

Here's my take: If it were my boat, I'd use marine ply because I'd only want to do the replacement once. While ACX might work, it has its problems for marine use. You only have to search for Lund boats and transom issues to see that. That same search probably will indicate why you MUST seal the decking, whatever you use. If you want the plywood to work long term, all sides should be sealed with extra emphasis on the edges. Epoxy is more expensive than other sealants, but it is waterproof, while other fiberglass resins are not, or so I'm told. There are boat-building sites that can link to epoxy sales. I like www.bateau2.com as the forum there is extremely helpful; it's a good place to ask questions and do research. RAKA and US Composites also sell epoxy as does Duckworks. Another issue with fir or pine plywood--and this includes marine ply as well as ACX and BCX-- is that even when sealed with epoxy, the surface will check after a year or so. There folks at Bateau recommend covering fir ply with a lightweight fiberglass cloth. I would think that using a bed liner material might be less trouble and just as effective, but I'm shooting from the hip on that.

Welcome to the area...save yourself a drive. RP Lumber in Clinton is supposed to carry ½-inch marine ply--or they can order it. Heavier ply shouldn't be necessary unless you've got a large span to cover. If there are supports under the decks, ½-inch should be all you need. Treat both sides with marine epoxy thinned a bit on the first coat for better penetration and make sure to treat the edges.