Trav

Married? Aah gosh, Sorry about that. "Wink"

As you know Phil, I post alot...Haha. This prob started the same time I lost my blog. Exactly when the update went through. I just exit out after submitting and it does what it is supposed to do. Still no blog though...haha. No rush though.

Thanx guys I talked with a guy named Jack, at Central Marine in Hollister. One of his specialties is vintage marine. He has done routine work on my dino so is familiar with it. He claims to have a bunch of old props that should fit so is gonna let me borrow a few to see wich pitch is right. I know the one I have on isnt right. Knew it when I bought it. Just to busy/lazy to do anything about it. Now the slot where the pin sets in is so worn that I bust pins on a weekly bases. Kind of forced to deal with it now...haha, tired of hanging over the back of the boat.

I need to get a new prop for a 61 evinrude fastwin 18 horse and have found a few places online to pick one up. My dilemma is how to get the optimun performance out of my old salad tosser. I understand the factors of size and pitch, but what I cant seem to figure out is how I go about determining what is best. Since nobody will take a prop back if I order the wrong one, I definatley want to make sure I know what I get is what I need. I am sure there is an OAF member out there that can explain some kind of math that I can use in coming to a decision. I dont think my current prop has enough pitch for it barely has enough thrust to get it into a plane without 50 pounds of gear on the nose, so I definately need to change something from the status quo. Believe it or not, this old bird has never needed to buy a prop for any of the motors I have had in the past. I guess you can call me fortunate.

Too funny Larry Especially when you have a bunch of media and spectators watching ya. Haha Spose you could keep a little port-o-pot on board and ask your partner to hold a blanket up....LOL

You can edit and delete your posts simply by using the icons at the bottom of your post.

Welcome

If you could only fish with three lures and three colors on the Rock, wich three would you choose?

I only fish TableRock maybe a dozen times a year but I make a point to fish the first couple of warm days right after the dogwoods go into bloom. Wich usually happens within the last two weeks of March. Just an Ozark tradition that was instilled by my late Gramps. He always said that was the best time of year for the Rock. Not sure what the science was behind it, or if it was just folk lore, but I hold up the tradition to this day and do well. Although, I cant say as I have ever had a bad day, when ever the month on Table Rock.

no hurry

Brrrrr No luck with the crappie. I really dont think the weather helped any. I did pick up 3 sport Bass in the frigid attempt. Im glad a few Bass didnt mind a crappie jig. I was right though, I had been fishing those brushpiles for years before it was pointed out to me.

I still cant get to mine Phil

I guess the main reason why I get so annoyed is because I blew 50 grand just to "try" to be competitive only for the "rich kids" to out-spend me. So, when I see anyone, female or not, catching a break in the sport, I feel all urked inside. Marketing is key as Hoglaw pointed out. When I was on about my last nickel I conveyed my concerns to Bo Dowden, whom I was paired with as a non-boater on Lake Lanier, and he stated, with as much tact as he could, that without a sponsor I was just spending the groceries out of my kids mouths. It really hit home. My kids were babies and times were hard. I was a young man chasing dreams and by then I was bewildered. Needless to say, that was my last poke at the BassMaster Trail.

I think the subject was of crappie in the "winter". Anyway, I had a little conversation this morning with my nieghbor as he was getting ready to leave for work. His family has lived on the lake since before it was built, going on a hundred years. So you can say I sort of cheated. Haha He is the one I mentioned in an earlier post about pulling out lot of crappie from Taney during the summer. I picked his brain on the subject and since the old guy knew me since I was a pup he bestowed some of his wisdom upon me. First thing he did was laugh. He said this time of year the crappie disband and you wont find more than half dozen in any location. He thinks it is because they are the first fish of the year in the Lower Taney to go into pre-spawn and unlike some species they dont feed heavy until during spawn. Thats why they are paper thin this time of year. As most people know, fish dont act the same in this lake as they do in others. Second, he said if I was determined to find some crappie that I need to fish timber just inside of the coves instead of way back in them. Suggesting 12 feet to be the magic depth. Now, I am not going to compromise his confidence by saying where, but he told me of a few brush piles full of cedar tops that his uncle established in the 20s. Since before it turned into a cold water lake. He said that his family have been stacking cover there for 3 generations now and thats where they catch all thier summer crappie. He suggested that if I was to fish the side that faces the lake I might pull a few. I will head over there this afternoon for a bit and give it a shot. If I am correct, I have been fishing those piles for a couple decades now, not knowing how they got there. Learn something new everyday I guess. But I always hunt Bass not crappie. I will post my results in my next fishing report.

I am a true Patriot hater. Proud of it, I am a Dolphin fan so it has to be a divisional thing. And before anyone can say it, Im not to proud of the Dolphins right now but I am not a fair weather fan. At least they still have good cheerleaders...Haha Im rooting for the Packers to take it all.

According to Dr. Keith Jones, Director of Fish Research at Berkley, Carp are near the top of the list when it comes to intellegence. Bass fit in the middle of the intelligence range where as trout are close to the bottom of the list.

I discussed it with my brother in-law who is involved with the B.A.S.S. Federation and he speculates that it has do to with the same issue that caused myself to wash out after just 5 events and why he doesnt take the leap into the Pro sector. Sponsorship. Without it you can end up in the poor house fast. Since sponsors want elite anglers to promote thier products, it has to be difficult for females to obtain the funds through sponsorship to make it through a whole tour. I know alot of males who learned that reality the hard way. Myself included. Might also explain why the woman's trail has only a third of the events that the Regular Tourney has. Now comes another question. If that is the case, Is it fair to those anglers that are not funded very well to see a female in similar financial strains get an advantage to stay a Pro just because of thier sex? Are thier any Lady OAF members? Would love to hear an opinion from the other gender on this subject.

The wind was still blowing from the south so I worked the flats in search of the heftier Largemouths. I did get one nice one (4-9), but like yesterday just the sports seemed active. Got 14, counting the larger one. Instead of jigging for trout, I spent the rest of my time hunting for crappie to quench some curiosity stemmed from a question posed to me by another OAF member. I got a big fat zero in that department. But I did learn that my ultra-light was in some dire need of new string. Didnt surprise me much though. I hardly ever use line less than 10LB test so my little ultra-lights and thier 6LB dont get that much attention from me. Anyway, I will find the crappie so I can answer the question of where they are in the winter. Just give me a little time.

There is something that really annoys me. Why do women in the B.A.S.S. need to have thier own tourney trail? Its not like bass fishing is a contact sport. Why cant they just compete in the same tourney as everyone else? Im not sexist by any means,(so lets not debate on it please) but it seems to me that if women want equal opportunities in the B.A.S.S., they should want the same as the guys by competing against the guys. After all, being a man doesnt give you any edge over a woman when it comes to bass. I have been in plenty of non-B.A.S.S. tourneys where the ladies did very well. Why seperate the sexes in the B.A.S.S.?

Welcome. GO HAWKEYES!!!!

I feel your pain. Magnets wont work since most reels today are made of graphite or lighter metal alloys. Cranks are like a shot in the dark. Too hit and miss. I would try tying on 7 or 8 treble hooks in a chain and put a big egg sinker above them and drag the bottom for it. But, that could be frustrating if there are alot of potential snags in the area. Of course, if its only 15 feet down you could swim for it. I know its cold but if you have a quick change of clothes that would be the best shot. Especially if you know right where it is. Good luck, be sure to let me know what you finally did. I have been known to kick a rod in the lake occassionally. If its less than 20 feet I always swim. Haha. Sometimes without success.

Hit my usual haunts for deep water trout and did just OK. Got one brownie(3-1) and 5 rainbows with the biggest at 2-2. I fished the last two hours of my day up bull creek pulling dink Bass. Got 11 of those but not a single one worth hitting the scale. They seemed to be biting pretty good today. Just didnt have the big one or two that I am used to. Wind was out of the south so I probably should have worked the flats instead of beating the bank. Hiensight is 20/20.

My nieghbors catch quite a few crappie when the weather is warm. Some as big as 12 inches or so. Never have heard them say anything about winter fishing. Like I mentioned before, I dont fish for them but do catch the random taker while Bass fishing. The biggest I have caught has been in the 12 inch range as well but the majority I would say are under 10.

Raps work well enough, if your fishing for Bass, but you need to wiegh them down to get to the depths desired for the larger browns. Weighing them down does three things, the wieght distracts the fish from the bait, two, your at risk of it hitting bottom. Bottom disturbance will spook most big ones and three, you "will" lose alot of rigs in the sticks and logs. Best to vertical fish. If you prefer usuing cranks, try rat traps.

Big red dogs might have problems climbing trees but they sure can keep the squirrels on thier toes. Haha, Beyond the contrary belief of the tree rats tenacity, they do have a learning curve. They will figure out that a yard has a predator. I for one dont like to put in the emotional investment of shooting them down. Living 1/2 a mile from my closest neighbor in the middle of the woods I would drive myself bonkers trying to get the large population of squirrels calling my hillside home. Plus the dog will bury the evidence. Wink