Champ188

I see it being most valuable in the situation Pete is talking about ... in open water. We gotta keep figuring out how to catch these offshore suspenders because there seems to be more of 'em (and less bank runners) as time goes on.

Thanks, guys. I guess my buddy is too consumed with her golf game to kick it around here on the forum. Not sure why, though, considering she stands a better chance of beating me in the boat than on the golf course. Tell you what happened ... she got spoiled when we were catching 50-75 a trip with 40+ keepers during that crazy spring bite a few months back. Soon as that tapered off, she grabbed up the golf clubs. Hate to "out" her like this, but she's a lot more about catching than fishing these days. It's a lot like guiding except I haven't had to dig any No. 2 treble hooks out of my seats yet.

Thanks again fellers. And yes I'm definitely a grumpy old goat.

Thanks for your hard work and for caring enough to share this information on the forum! You guys do not have an easy job by any stretch of the imagination. We appreciate what you do for us.

Wow, fullmoon, those are some very kind words and they are greatly appreciated. I don't always live up to the "nice guy" part, but most of the time I try hard. Thanks again. I'm very, very blessed to count you fine folks as friends.

Good report. Thanks, Duck.

Yup, big pickle-fork (tunnel hull) hydroplane. They have some over there and at LOZ that will literally run well over 200 mph. Top speed at last year's LOZ Shootout was 224 mph.

Nice report. Thanks, QB.

"There are always fish shallow." -- George Cochran, two-time Bassmasters Classic winner and Forrest Wood Cup champion

They estimate you lose 10% clarity but I think it may be a bit more. Does you boat have a jack plate? The reason I ask is I had my side/down scan transducer mounted by Rickey Searcy at Bella Vista Marine and he tucked it inside my jackplate for protection. It's been there a year-and-a-half with no problems at all. Rickey is skilled enough installing electronics that some of the FLW guys seek him out when they're in town every spring.

That's a very good day for July. Thanks for the report.

Great shot, Tully. Nothing like a sunset on the water.

You can shoot thru the hull for downscan although you'll lose some resolution. Side scan requires a transom-mounted transducer.

Hope you feel better real soon.

I think someone has designs on getting their lures down to ... oh let's say around 42 feet?

I'm like Ham and Bo and probably Denjac too ... had MG forever dating back to the old white 12-24 Brutes when we thought 40 lb thrust was a beast. I think MK made a commitment to improved quality a few years back and now has the better motor. Just my opinion. But I'm not going back to MG in the foreseeable future.

Bought my first Minn Kota 18 months ago after a lifetime of owning MG. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner. I'm running the 101-pound Fortrex with Lift Assist and a built-in bounce buster. The mount is as sturdy as any MG that I've ever owned and there's no slop or flop on plane in rough water. As Bill pointed out, the biggest adjustment for me was getting used to the location of the off/on switch.

Robert, those PowerPoles indeed would be a great tool in shallow-water environments. But there are quite a few guys running around here with them purely for looks, because they never leave the immediate area.

Certainly appears to have good genes.

Part of it is lack of common sense. The bigger part these days is "I don't give a flying freak about you." The result is pure misery for those of us born with common sense and raised right.

Is that Beck's new ski boat?

You are are a meanmouth-catchin' dude.

Been happy with my 2012 GMC. It's a crew cab Z-71, same as I usually buy. SLE trim level with most of the amenities (remote start, Bose speakers, etc.) except no leather. I tend to trade every 3 years (around 80k miles) before the extended warranty runs out. Also, I've gotten 0% interest on the last three, which is a big incentive. Only had one bad one ... the 2010 prior to this one went thru 3 camshafts in 32k miles before I finally got the Better Business Bureau involved and got a fair deal on a new truck. That did leave a sour taste, but at my age (54) I tend to like what I like and don't like to make drastic changes. A friend up in Lamar recently bought the big Dodge ... definitely 3/4 and maybe 1 ton ... and he loves it. Cummins diesel and every amenity you can imagine. However, he literally trades trucks twice a year, so his vehicle experiences never last long enough to prove anything about them. If I worked out of a truck, it would probably be a Ford or Dodge. But the hardest work mine ever does is pull the boat and I do really like the comfort level of the GMC.

You did NOT just start that conversation, abkeenan. I KNOW you didn't. The replicas haven't even been RELEASED.

Same here, unless I'm fishing docks. Then I go to a 1/8.