Bushbeater

Usually a gentle cleaning and lube will fix em up. It's probably the IAR Bearing in the top front of the reel. Maybe just needs a drop of oil.

So when and where is this "jigfest" I ain't scared and could even bring food and drinks.

It depends on your checkbook as well as experience. A 16' Alum. Jon with a 20/25 will most likely suit your purpose with the lowest cost. I have a jon built in 1973 that's already wore out 2 prop motors and almost a jet. That boat has probably had more fish pulled over the gunnels than wicked tuna and monster fish combined. Another thing to consider is having a jet and a prop motor and switching as required. A $2000 alum boat verses an $6000 glass boat could allow that option.

I worked at it a bit yesterday evening, only little guys and tossed em back. It seems you need to find the big shad for good whites, the small shad only have small whites. Just curious are all the small shad young of the year gizzards or threadfin?

We took a family vacation to Hatteras late July. I certainly love that area and NC may be the best fishing in the states aside from the Ozarks. We had issues with rain but made the best of it.

Alright, I apologize for being a smart posterior. May have been adult beverages involved. Always encouraged to here someone is catching em. keep up the good work, and I'll not drink and post.

Cool , so really new and unique huh. Sorry to be sarcastic but it's not rocket science.

Welcome to the forums, and I hope you enjoy your retirement. I just had to put in a plug for our fearless leader, Phil Lilley.

Start with Lilley's Landing on Taneycomo and explore from there. Plenty of good water within just a few minutes.

http://www.mudhole.com/MINIMA-Ultra-Lite-Exposed-Blank-Spinning-Reel-Seat

tjm and wrench are both correct, many exposed blank reel seats are sized to fit the rod taper. Most standard reel seats use an arbor.

i have my best results with a medium to large deep diving crank and getting under the shad they are chasing. Only small ones on top, the big girls seem to wait below for the scraps.

there's a good turtle article in the August Mo Conservationist, it says they may live up to 80 years.

Nick P I'm sorry I hijacked your intro to the forums and glad to see you here.

We all love the natural rivers, but it seems the Meramec can't support the pressure it gets now and no one but the partyers wants to be there on a summer weekend. I realize I opened a can of worms mentioning the lake, my point is that area of river is being seriously degraded and resembles an amusement park in the summer months. My family has roots in the Leasburg area and I have fond memories of the good ole days before the State Park, Ozark Outdoors, Bass, Huzzah Valley and the list goes on. I'm sorry but I won't even go there anymore. So what if it was a lake? Sullivan could be a Trout fishing destination and Bourbon like Branson?

Pink out is a term, I believe coined by the Wrench, describing the last bit of daylight after the sunset. It seems the Hybrids aren't worth fishing for except during that time. Go out as the sun sets and come in with your lights on. BTW the Largemouth were biting some earlier in the evening, had 3 keepers and some dinks, all off outside corners of docks on cranks. I couldn't get bit on Jigs or plastic baits.

I was floating the Current River when the first major storm in our area hit. Fish were biting like crazy. Caught several nice trout on Zoom Lizards. It ended up raining so hard we had to take shelter under the canoes. When we finally go moving again the Water Patrol and Conservation Agents were running the river to get everyone off. When we got to Akers they were moving everything up the hill preparing for a flood. The river had about a 12' rise that night.

Welcome to the forum. Just curious, living in Sullivan, are we better off with the river as is, or a Meramec Lake. We fought it tooth and nail in the day but now I'm not so sure?

We thought 73 was bad till 93. Mississippi hit 47' at St. Louis. Lost alot of fun clubhouse spots on the Meramec and Mississippi.

They won't let working class people into the neighborhood. We have to park in Fenton, be searched and bused to the venue. Once there though, I believe it's ok to get zhit faced and stupid along as your wallet is full.

As you know, pink out is the time. About a 45 minute window when they go nuts. You gotta be fast if you want a bunch. Now that I have some for the freezer I'm gonna try the big streamers.

I caught a few tonight, here are my 2 best. Landed about 10, about half were definitely Hybrids, some were Whites and not sure about the bigger one in this pic. Curiously the Whites were larger than the Hybrids. Made 2 nice sacks of fillets. I usually trim out the blood line and sometimes the ribs when preparing to cook them.

Wow, I don't know what to believe but it's very entertaining.

These are beautiful fish, but I'm gonna show my ignorance by asking why they are Sunfish. I thought the difference between Sunfish and Bluegill was basically the mouth size and body shape and to me these are Bluegill.

http://www.hughescustombaits.com/ Get a hold of Tim about painting needs. He goes by Hughesy on this forum.