Blll

I have a weird goal. While traveling around Beaver Lake, where I'm blessed to have a slip, I've seen huge carp. Yep, carp. Where I came from near Chicago we fished for carp on purpose. Other than maybe stripers, I don't know of a freshwater fish that fights harder. No one targets them on Beaver at all. That is my weird goal for 2025. To establish a pattern and target these hard pullin' things. My PB carp is 25# but I've seen bigger here. They are here, why not catch em'. I know, weird.

I've been catching a few yellow bass too. Not really a good thing. They are very prolific and max out at about 10". No reason to release any IMO.

Bright, calm, wt 64-67. Did well on crappies around numerous PC docks. Tried some gravel coves with no crappie luck. Between the turtles and carp, it was like an "R" rated movie Beautiful day, quite a few boats enjoying Beaver Lake. 10 years retired here, what a blessing. Water dirty many places with lots of junk in the water. Some coves were so bad, a clean cast was hard to come by.

Beautiful morning with light breeze. Fished mid lake coves. WT:58-62. Fished for 3 hours and had 15 bass with 4 solid 16"+ spots. No dinks, all 13-14". Ned and 2.8 Keitech. All were caught on drop off , ledge rock banks, 10-15 fow. No smallies or lgmth. Saw several boats searching/targeting bedding fish. Free country I know but I just can't knowingly drag spawners off their bed. Each to his own. Pretty busy for a Wednesday.

Yep, yellow bass for sure. Cousin to White bass, much smaller, more prolific. Not a good thing.

Out at dawn, mid lake.Tried a couple points for top water bite, no love. Found fish around main lake cove mouths, shad balls blocked out the screen several times and actually bumped line. 8 spots up to 16" on drop shot under shad in 25-40 fow. two small stripers on swimbait. Some top water activity but seemed to be smaller spots. Light breeze, perfect temps, partly sunny. Just a great morning. wt60, warmer in coves. In at 11.

Well a buddy and I had our best 4 hours since June. Pulled crawler harnesses around the islands at just over 1 mph in 20-35 fow. Caught 9 walleyes, kept 4- 19". Also kept 6 white bass, released 6 spots, 4 catfish and an 8"bluegill. Beautiful weather. Great day for me. Blade color did not matter. In the slip at noon so he could go to work. Left them bitin'!

You're a lucky man!

As an old guy's observation, the lack of "making stuff" in the U.S. is surely a large part of the problem. We sent these jobs away and they won't be back. Both political parties to blame or credit. Sadly, much new technology creates a few new jobs but overall eliminates more. Good paying, 'blue collar' jobs are the ones being eliminated. I had occasion to watch an old movie,"Mr. Blandings Dream House. There must have been 15-20 carpenters working a 5.5 day week. Now the job could be done by 3 guys with nail guns. Progress? Sure but at what cost. Very difficult to put the genie back in the bottle. Was blessed enough to be able to buy a new Merc motor. Waited 11 months! I had a connection with Mercury and asked why don't they add another shift and build more. The answer was they can't get parts that are "outsourced" fast enough so even if the demand is there we can't put people to work. And WE made this mess. Glad I'm retired and apologize to my grandchildren for the country we've left them. Enough... I'm goin fishing.

Amazing the lengths they will go to to rob you. We have a 14 slip enclosed dock. Last 4th of July weekend thieves came in the night, swam under the individual garage doors, and hit 6 of the 14 slips. Luckily my insurance coved it but I make my own rods and they can't be properly valued and out of pocket the deductible. Locked dock, locked slip and now locked rod storage in the slip. police think they must have had a canoe to throw everything in. Only took high end rods & reels, no electronics. We added lakeside lighting .

Fishing mid lake around the islands and the clarity was about 5-6 ft.

Fished from 8 til 11. Caught 3 bass, all 15" on ned. Gravel shores, 8-10 fow. no bait in shallow on screen. Plenty of bait 40-50 deep. , 1LM, 1SM, 1 spot. WT 43-45. Drop dead beautiful day with quite a few boats out. At least a few days of spring are here. Go get em'.

Unlimited $$$$. wow! I would travel and follow the best bite all around the country. I guess I'd like to be Al Linder or Doug Stange without the cameraman or deadline. Mostly I would support friends and family so some of them could join me. Nothing is more fun than a road trip to Canada, Lake Erie, Wolf river for White bass, all at the best time! Have you ever spent a week on a houseboat in Canada...the best!I would not necessarily need the most expensive of everything. Don't need the most expensive car, biggest house, 70k bass boat or fancy clothes. I would find a way to properly vet some of those in need and ease those needs. I cringe when watching rich people spend thousands on shoes or a purse. Don't need a villa in France. You know, I think I'm living the dream now but I would love to find a good landscaper. In the movie Platoon, there is a quote that if you make it home, the rest is all gravy. I made it home so...Wow, I guess I'm really happy! I hope to make others happy too.

From a Viet Nam vet, now livin" the dream, You're welcome!

Long summer, fall is here. Got out today before the rain got serious and had plenty of action with ned and keitech. All 3 black bass, cats, crappies and a walleye. All in less than 15fow. One good 18" smallie on a spook just at sunrise. W/T 73-75 from bridge to PC. Is it just me or are the White bass scarce the past couple years? Ive not seen them bustin' the surface at all this year. Just me?

Mid lake, around Bear island. Not the sheer bluff wall, just past it. Seemed about 100 yards of action.

While I'm usually coming back to the dock around 9-10 am, that's when we went out. I did not expect to catch much but wanted to get out for a couple hours. While fishing from the front of the boat throwing ned, deep cranks, and spoons, I zeroed. My son, fishing off the stern, smoked me with 6 bass, 4 keepers including a smallie just shy of 3#s. He was fishing a 2.8 keitech on a 1/16 oz jig swimming it fast. He saw most of the bites and several hit it multiple times. We were in about 20-25 fow and the temp was 83. We fished for just over an hour and he got a work call but caught one on his last cast. it was 10:45 and hot. I've not fished that way but will certainly try it next time out. Any opinions on Hamby vs Keel guard? Or any other brand. I know you get what you pay for but the difference is substantial.

Well my fishing' luck is still not too good. Having trouble with my 16 year old Merc. Got it back working but with the rain and spooky engine I think I've missed the best 10 days of May. Water temp up to 70 today on a trial run with the motor. Mid-lake water really dirty. Anyway we decided to bite the bullet and get a new motor. Wow! 10-12 month wait. I could not believe it so I checked several dealers in several states and all had the same story. Demand, parts shortage, and reduced labor force, not to mention less competition (Evinrude) have put a real strain on outboard production. I really can't remember waiting this long for anything, a new car, new house or a baby! Say, anyone heard from J-doc or Dan the Fisherman? Learned a lot from them years ago. Out thread is pretty quiet.

1st time out this year. 8:30 am, started setting brooder rods while idling past PC. Watched 5 guide boats leaving as I made the turn into PC. Well, I had no plan B and it was beautiful so I kept going. After a quiet hour, boom! 41 inches, guessing high 20's. WT 41-42.

Certainly not an expert but I have gone through the learning curve and have a few thoughts on these reels. I use the smallest Okuma Coldwater reel. Good clicker, drag, and counter. Looks good too. I started with the Magma to save $$ but they were not as smooth. I use 12# floro. More than strong enough. I got away from braid only because most of them float and at slow speeds with little or no sinker, it made a difference. Yes I get it that braids smaller diameter should overcome this but I've actually had the braid floating at slow speeds. I never tried 10# and might be wrong. I use the transition type floro as it helps these old eyes track the line. As far as drag settings, I think it depends on the hook used, circle hook or not. If you have to "set" the hook, your drag should be tighter. With circle hooks, they need to run a little before the hooks catch. Since switching to only circle hooks, I rarely miss a hook up. JMO Congrats on your 1st Striper!

Agree with Lance on Okuma reels. I use Coldwater line of reels from Okuma in the smallest size. Around $100. I had a Magda but really prefer the Coldwater. 5 years, zero issues. JMO

Had my buds from up north for their fall trip. Beaver was not easy, 3 guys, 3 days, 15 crappie, drop shotting. Good news was they were all over 12". Ah Beaver...you are a tough b...h. Mid-lake wt65 Could not find any shad or whites on top.

A new G2 was on my bucket list for a repower this winter. 15 year old Nitro is ready. It will be interesting to see what existing inventory of G2s are available at what cost. Maybe it would be stupid to buy a discontinued motor at any cost, but I sure like the reviews on the G2s. While BPR says parts will continue to be made, does that make sense? Didn't need to be more confused. Could someone buy just the Evinrude company? I thought the G2 was a big hit.

Wow, nice! Even a hybrid which have become rare.

Stopped for gas at PC this morning. Sheriff boats filling up, still searching for this man.