Pepe

An equally important issue is getting in and out of the boat for your Dad. A trailer step system with a handhold may work for you.

Walk the dog baits worked best for me, also. I'm sure Watson picked up a new sponsor by advertising what He caught fish with, LOL . Watson was a Drill Sargeant and loved it, according to his bio. Loud is understandable. MY DI is not a man I will ever forget. He would abuse me to no end if he ever saw the state of my tackle :)

I threw it for a while today and caught 2 legal LM & 1 short but stout K on it. You can throw it a mile. I bet they sell a bunch of them after Watson's win. Maybe it was the overcast but the bite was good today on jig, topwater, fluke and rock crawlers. We fished pockets & points from Point 21 to Ice box. Not many folks on the water and didn't see a single wake boat. It's a shame, but have to head back to the city tomorrow.

I had my first chance to really fish these this past 1/2 week. We tried several combinations of skirt and trailer and some without skirt. Skirtless, with a Rage Tail Bama Craw worked well for me. My buddy put on a GP with Purple strands skirt with an unidentifiable craw trailer (something I made) OD with orange and Nutmeg flake. He was catching them 2 to my one. we were fishing mixed rock banks, with boat in 15-20 ft, dragging and picking up fish about 1/2 way back to the boat. I made a "mini-skirt" that resembled the front of a finesse jig, except on both sides (like a fuzz ball of skirt material). It matched the Bama Craw and that worked great until I ran out of craws. After hearing that topwater was working we threw our shoulders off with minimal success Fluke worked well though.

To those that have ordered some,, thank you on behalf of a child & family with a very serious illness. Your contribution really helps some unfortunate folks. BTW, several have asked if our family has had a sick child at St. Jude's. We have not. But for many years i flew volunteer flights for Angel Flight http://angelflightcentral.org. and am familiar with the lifesaving hope provided in the most desperate of situations. It is heartbreaking. So thank you for your help. If you believe in some type of Karma you should have some fun with these jigs https://www.stjude.org/content/sites/www/en_US/home/about-st-jude/unique-operating-model.html Jigs going out in mail tomorrow. Still have some available. Respectfully, Mikil "Mike" Knight

BC, The Hooks are Black Nickel VMC 4/0. Love those hooks I'm asking $30 a dozen or $50 for 2 dozen, TYD. Payment would be made to St. Jude's Children's Cancer Hospital (or some other charity). Best to contact me through gee mail MRKSTL82

Mitch, the stock mold can't be modified for this. Gotta start from scratch. The guys who have been trying them tell me it works well with the skirt trimmed right at the hook and a 702 or 706 Craw.

I struggle sometimes deciding between a Swing Jig (Biffle, Hard Head) and a skirted jig. Why not combine them? I think these will work. I'm getting good reports from the guys using them. I know it's personal preference but I don't have confidence in the heads with a split ring. Just too floppy and I feel like I miss hook ups so these are "direct connect". If your interested, let me know. I can do 3/8, 1/2 & 3/4 oz. Also have skirt materials I can assemble if desired. As usual, you would make direct payment to a charity, not to me.

I thought a couple couple of friends were the only folks using the big 3/4 oz heads. I ended up making a mold a few years ago because there were none around.

Fished with my best friend, Lily, yesterday & today and covered some water trying different baits. Drop shot, spinnerbaits & spoons all put bass in the boat but Rock Crawler & Wart were prime. We caught a lot of short but fun K's, a few Walleye & SM but the LM evaded us. Water still at 80 degrees with good color. Phantom Green RkCrawler was my best bait. On a side note: Was disappointed with the KVD Triple Grip hooks I tried. It seems if we did hook a fish it was not coming unbuttoned, but difficult to remove without damaging the fish. Lily was absolutely frustrated with them. The other odd thing - We had 2 nice fish that had the entire bait in their mouths but weren't hooked at all. Mouth open and bait falls out.

Pete Wenners puts out a detailed video fishing report every Wednesday evening. He simply tells the truth to the best of his knowledge. The best guides on the lake are all friends and help each other stay on fish to the great benefit of the clients. I like that Pete's reports are as fair as a hot stove.

Nice Fish. I bet it was a blast to catch. I might fish for them if I had the first clue

I like the black nickel mustad hooks but I also like to make my jig heads with a gami hook. Being in the anti-corrosion business I naturally lean toward prevention over mitigation. I have been coating my hooks with a slightly thinned epoxy. They can be left rigged for weeks that way. Putting the anti-corrosion tabs or desiccant packs in your box also helps

I pitch it, count it down and start pumping or ripping it back. Just have let the fish let you know what they want.

Thanks, QB, for the report. We got on the lake at noon and it was slow working a square bill in front of the bushes

anyone know of a network that will be showing all Mizzou Football games?

I blame the shameless lawyers who encourage these actions. I don't dislike all lawyers but am disappointed that they don't police their own industry

Thanks for the report. Except that we weren't having much success, I was enjoying my pitching practice in a "target rich" environment. We finally went to using spoons, Deep Divers and dropshot and had some fun before the wake boats and the heat overtook us.

Is it illegal to land a float plane on a COE lake? I'm wondering why I've never seen one. Clearly there are some folks with homes in the area who have serious coin. I don't see any FAA restrictions that would prohibit this.

We fished near SK in the morning and then Cape Fair Area this afternoon. It was a tough bite all day. Only 1 keeper and about a dozen shorts. All K's. We focused on main lake points. No joy on crank baits or spoons, only drop shot & jigs worked. Hoping for better luck tomorrow.

Just a note about the choices to be made with respect to the repairs. As a partner at an industrial construction & rehabilitation firm, I have been involved with dozens of dam gate rehabs. It has been my experience that USCOE can choose to hold water levels so low that a bulkhead or stop log isn't needed to block the gate. That means the gate bottom has to be well above the waterline. But when the water does rise because Hydrology says it can't be released downstream this delays the project. (At no cost to the government, if I may) This frustrates almost everyone including lake users, local businesses & contractors. The other choice is to build a floating/submersible bulkhead that can be used to completely block the gate. The bulkhead is then floated and moved to the next gate where it is submerged in place. With a bulkhead, work can be finished on schedule and folks are happier all around. But they cost millions to build and take about a year. They are generally too large to move over the road so they are lake specific.

We got on the lake about noon and hit main lake points between SK bridge & Baxter with jigs. No Bueno. Appreciate the report

I keep my boat in a slip and (usually) have my speed and direction right so the boat stops where I want it to on top of the submerged lift. My wife like to "help" me though and often grabs some portion of the dock just a few seconds before the boat is in proper position. As domestic tranquility is best preserved by thanking her I now have no idea how to dock a boat

A few years ago I was involved in a project with City of Springfield waste water treatment department and a large engineering firm from Kansas City. The money to provide treatment of wastewater during heavy rain is not forthcoming from taxpayers who, understandably, do not want to pay higher taxes. While some capacity was ultimately added at the SW treatment plant it is the proverbial thumb in a crumbling dike. When the system is overwhelmed the storm water AND the black water are dumped, untreated, into tributaries of the James River.

Thank you, Sir. I will do that.