merc1997 Bo

you did not hear me say that the american worker does not need some fixing. dave said it right in his response about labor and the government. i just wish a whole lot of people would wake up about what is going on in this country. we need people here working. no one ever thinks about the fact that if we were in an all out war, the united states can no longer manufacture anything. wonder if everyone thinks china is going to ship us steel to build stuff with to fight them with. you can not build even a ball or roller bearing without steel to do it with. i fish with a retired guy that is also a union guy, and we go at it all the time about unions. but, there are still some people in this country that try to find ways to still provide jobs for american citizens, and i always try to buy their products when they have something i need. labor unions at some point need to figure out there has to be balance. the guy that has everything he owns invested in a company, and works 7 days a week 18 to 20 hours a day to provide others with jobs, deserves to make money on their investment and time. a worker puts in their 40 hours and then go home and do as they please, while the owner is still slaving away dealing with payroll, materials, taxes, and everything else it takes. unions do not get this part. bo

yep, i do hear you about the situation with labor prices and unions, taxes, and government. it is hard to get the incentive to try to create something when the government is going to make more money than you. kind of makes one want to tell washington "if your so f******* smart, you create it and produce it, and tax yourself". but, in other ways, consumers themselves have brought some of this on also. when they keep wanting cheaper, most often that is the only way to produce it cheaper, and that is unfortunately to go off shore, and that same person that wanted cheaper no longer has a job. lots of people at some point need to learn to quit biting the hand that is trying to feed them. bo

at some point, when there are no longer jobs here in the U.S., and everyone is broke, i guess it will not make any difference if everything is from china, as no one will have any money to buy it, no matter how cheap it is. just my humble opinion. bo

there you go richy. you were fishing with something that i would put in the class of a lure that will consistently catch better quality bass, and your buddy fishing a square bill, which i put into the numbers catagory, did not catch anything of any size, but did catch numbers. good job for you. you were fishing for a quality bite, and little ones do you no good. bo

alex is what i would call a power basser, and it seems he catches his share of nice bass. so, it somewhat depends on whether you are still after quantity or quality. true there are times that a more "finesse" presentation will be the ticket to catch any bass at all, and that process at times will produce a quality bass. when dealing with big bass and getting them into the boat on a consistent basis does not favor light line, and big bass are rarely not glued to prime cover, even if it is just big rocks. if i am fishing for just one big bite, i will not have on light line. i might be fishing a small profile lure, but will have one line stout enough to put the odds in my favor to get it in the boat. nothing wrong with light line fishing at all, but sometimes it could compared to going to a gun fight with a knive.. bo

thanks for sharing bill. even though i have butted heads with the water patrol at times, and i turned out to be right with my complaints, the missouri water patrol, in the past, have been out there looking out for our best interests. as with any organization, you can have a few bad apples in the bunch. we have all witnessed first hand just how far out of order the lake has become without their presence on the lake. with the amount of usage on the lake, and the even bigger amount of unqualified boat operators, we most definitely need them on the water full time. much of what we have operating water craft on the lake could be compared to student drivers without qualified supervision on board. that means the supervisors, being the water patrol, need to be on the water on every part of the lake during high usage hours. i will be glad when the water patrol is again its own entity and there is some order and safety restored to the lake. bo

april is always a good bet for the river. bo

really do not know why they were ever incorporated into the highway patrol to begin with. another example of how government can misuse and abuse anything. bo

there is not such a thing as winter pool that i have ever known about. previous to the mid 90's table rock was always drawn to 900 or lower in the winter to make room for winter and spring rains. that is why we have such flooding problems now. flood control is no longer first priority. bo

sweet bo

there is actually much truth to the fact that a bass is a bass all over the country. the same basic rules apply, but one has to be smart enough to learn how to adapt the rules to the body of water you are fishing. bo

kind of interesting thoughts, and even though they did track some bass, they are still thoughts. most texas lakes are more what i would call a long ditch. table rock on the other hand has many longer arms feeding the lake. true, some of those bass traveled several miles within the lake system. but, they did not document where the main food source in the lake was at the time. lets take kings river for example. can you catch quality bass in the very upper reaches year round?? the answer is no. why?? because of food source first, and then water temps and currents flow can be factors. crappie are the same way. the upper kings is a great place to catch crappie in the spring, but then they disperse and move. there are areas of table rock that bass will tend to move very little because there is food present. same can be said with other lakes. bass have no need to move and travel other than to follow food. they have a pea sized brain. i will say this about big bass. they do become more wary or spooky to anything that is not natural to their environment. big bass always set up in the best spot to feed with the least amount of effort. many of you that are of the wait forever the set the hook, this is exactly why when you do happen to hook a big one can never get it out and to the boat. by the time you are setting the hook, you are already in trouble. first, you never get the best hook set because your line is already several feet back around or through something. so, often the hook is not set all the way past the barb. then the next problem is, you have to try to pull a very strong bass all the way back through or around what the bass was hiding in. the longer you wait to set the hook, the worse your landing percentages are going to be, especially when dealing with big bass. i have seen tracking studies that go both ways, either show traveling bass or bass that tend to stay in a small area. what any of those studies need to go with them is the availability of FOOD. food is the first and foremost reason for bass to move. if you had an endless supply in your house, would you ever have a need to go to the grocery store??? just sayin". bo

curious to how you crimped the cable loop together underneath the brace arm?? that is a great idea for a replacement, and will last a long time. i always use a length of weedeater string. very cheap and they actually last a very long time. bo

exactly, and even in cold water. bo

well, pepe, not to be argumentative, but the dams were built for flood control first, and everything else is secondary. just like the tva system or any other series of dams, they are first and foremost for flood control, at least in the case of the white river chain of dams. i have been in several conversations over the years with corp people asking for help with lake levels during spawn to help with spawn success, and the answer always is, "our first priority is flood control". any recreation function is strictly secondary in nature". you are right about the governments way, and the government employees have seemed to forget who their bosses actually are. you also mentioned part of the issue with why flood control is no longer a priority by mentioning the fact that the coe has contracted to do certain things for certain entities i really don't care how sophisticated their high dollar soft ware is, when you go to trying to out guess mother nature, you are always going to lose. you also mentioned economic losses, the coe, for years now, have done a really good job of causing economic losses because of the white river water system being too high for people to use and spend money in the process. bull shoals businesses have suffered for a number of years from everything being under water. Mr. Lilley, right now is going to suffer from the flooding conditions. you also mentioned a particular lake, that when it was constructed was meant to be a backup cooling system. that is an entirely different situation than the dams on the white river system. they were built first and foremost for flood control and prevention. so, just as the liberal government has done with our social security, they do as they please, and not always for the best interest of the people, but to line someones pockets. sorry to step on some military toes, but there are things that go on in the military that is very wasteful and not the best use of tax dollars. and, just as with just about anything, money seems to get attention over what is right. nothing against you pepe, but just a different view point and when the white river systems of dams were built, it was for flood prevention of the white river basin. the coe seems to have taken that focus in a different direction all on their own. just sayin". bo

the coe certainly does not have flood control first on its mind any longer. it is power generation. if flood control was first, they would automatically draw the lakes down to lower elevations going into winter, just as they used to when they did make flood control first priority. table rock always used to be near 907 or lower by summers end, and by the start of winter 905 or less. bull shoals was drawn down 15 ti 20 feet below pool. that way there was room to put water such as we just received. until flood control again is the first priority of the coe, we will have flooded lakes every year. just my opinion and observations since i moved here in 1963. bo

certainly is a great way to spend the day enjoying what was created for us. bo

night happens to be when i most often can get away to fish. but, on any clear water body of water, the bigger bass always tend to be more active at night. the water is just about to the bottom limit to find active bass at night. but, next year when the water temps hit 50 degrees again, the better bass will be right up on the bank at night, in particular after a warm sunny day. the shallow rocks hold heat and attract crawdads. summer time night fishing is fairly easy to comprehend. avoid the heat, and avoid the daytime traffic. i am way to grouchy to put up with all the summer time traffic anymore. it is like a zoo out there, and it really is a wonder that there are not more accidents. i often wonder if these same idiots operate their vehicles in like ways. by the way, i use fluorescent line in the daytime too. i really believe there is way too much emphasis on the bass not seeing the line. if they see that well, they can see all the other phony attributes of our offerings. i have always put more emphasis on fishing the right depth at the right speed to trigger a strike. bo

i run a premium jig with the best hooks on the market, and can fish it all day long without hanging up, and get better hook ups. perhaps there is a better way of rigging an a-rig other than with limber hooks that will loose bass. just my opinion and observations. bo

we fished until about 10 last night, but for us was pretty slow. 4 shorts, and one big chunk. all on jig 15 to 20 feet. lots of shad up near surface, but not on the bank, and i saw lots of activity around them. water temp was near 54. bo

glad to hear of a bite picking up again. sounds as though many of the bass have re-established from where they had been. nice day of catching. bo

here is what you need to fish your ned with fewer hangups, and better hook ups. bo

i would say viola or the 39 bridge. bo

this is why it is still called fishing and not catching. most likely the shad are relocating and it can take a week for them to do so, and the bass to move with them. bo

try going across the shell knob bridge. it was much wider before they worked on it. kc bridge i am sure will end up the same. a mess, rough and narrow. bo