Flysmallie

If I remember correctly the only boats that can be on the lake are from people that own land on the lake.

Was it $20?

That's one of the reasons I always loved fall fishing on the lakes. Everybody deer and turkey hunting. Weather gets cooler. Spinnerbait bite is on fire. I love it.

Great post Al.

Weenie dogs are awesome. We have two now. The old girl is close to 15. Can't see real well, can't hear at all. Still trying hard We have had her since she was a pup. Around Thanksgiving of last year we decided to get another one to kind of transition from the old to the new. The new one is a rescue dog. She's around 3 years old and has been a big help in keeping the old girl active. The old one seems a lot better today than before we brought in the new one.

I better put a little antacid or Imodium AD in the cobbler if we are having that for dinner. But it does sound very tasty.

The median CFS is around 500 for this time of the year at Galena. Right now at Galena it's at 315 cfs. I've floated when it's over 1,000 and I've floated when it's 80. The closer to 400 it is the less you will drag. But all of these sections are different. And all of them are constantly changing. What I remember from last year doesn't mean squat this year.

Hmmmm....more meals from bags. I bet I can find a place to put my skillet and that's all I need to make some magic happen around the campfire. I can skip lunch everyday but I like a good meal around the campfire at night. Or have some meat presmoked where all you have to do is warm it up. I sometimes get the munchies around the campfire too. So if I trade the skillet for a dutch oven it can be warm cobbler with ice cream. Much better than a pop tart. I'm not beating up on ya for doing it your way. You have a system you like and that works great for you. I'm just saying with a little preparation you can eat pretty good on the river without taking up any more space. Best campfire dessert ever was when we pulled out the Andy's Frozen Yogurt we had stuffed in a small cooler with a bunch of dry ice. Heaven.

I'm heading out there after work to take a look at some of these. I do see a lot of these on the water and people seem to really like them.

I feel the same way about my D90. It is way past it's prime but I have no desire to shell a bunch of money for a camera to sit in a bag. Besides, the D90, and I'm sure that D200, still produces great pictures. It's not all about the equipment. A lot more goes into a great photo then just spending a bunch of money.

I didn't mean to disturb a festering wound. I might be spending some time up there in August. I'll give you a shout if I do.

Why? You don't even fish anymore do you???

Thanks. I have a buddy that went through 2 Pentax cameras before getting an Olympus. And even though I'm a big Nikon supporter I don't like their point and shoots. There have been a lot of problems with them as well. Not that this Olympus in particular is any better right now. We'll see how it turns out.

Everybody knows that Smalliebigs is a Debbie Gibson fan.

That's cool. Nothing gay about listening to some good tunes or the football game while on the water.

Yeah it's not a bad spot. You don't need a 4wd to get in but you are going to need one to get out. 10 miles per day is a bunch on this river and way too much at the current flows if you want to spend a good amount of time fishing.

Sims Marine. Period. Fishinwrench helps more people out on here than anybody. Plus he's a good guy that's not going to screw you around.

Yeah I was really lucky. Mine was all stress related and I didn't have a heart attack. But I got to spend the night in the hospital and have all kinds of tests that all came back positive. Ticker is good. No blockage. Cholesterol good. All blood work was good. Really high blood pressure that is now under control by meds and hopefully under control by diet in the future. My doctor told me I was the healthiest fat guy he has as a patient. I guess that's a compliment.

This is all a lie. Nothing to see here. Keep moving.

Don't make me drive to where you are and force you to buy me lunch. This isn't about you. It's all about me....remember? Weight isn't necessarily a bad thing. A yak that weighs 80 lbs is a lot easier to handle than a 17 foot canoe. Ease of Transport. Yeah that one sucks. I have a Camry. Yeah I know but it's free. Free car, free maintenance, free gas. I did have a fish wagon once but all it did was sit so I sold it. I'm going to ride this company car gig as long as I can. But anyways 17 feet of canoe does not fit the Camry well. Speed? I'm sure I want to go as fast as possible but it's not something I have really considered. My main purpose is going to be a small lake and I won't be pulling any skiers. Storage is not a concern. I don't carry much stuff fishing. And I won't be taking it on any camping trips. That's why I have the Old Town Battleship. I will not be eating out of bags. Even though I probably should. And yes I could get a solo canoe. But then I couldn't fish one of the kayak tournaments if I decided to.

TG-870 Update: Well it didn't take me long to screw that up. Went to the beach for a week and by day 3 it was already showing signs of moisture in the corners of the LCD. It became so bad towards the end of the week that it became useless. It still took great pictures you just couldn't see what you were taking pictures of. So it's back in it's box traveling to Olympus. We'll see how they handle that. My wife doesn't do well with cameras. It's a struggle for her to take a decent photo on her phone. I've bought her several point and shoots over the years and she just won't use them. She's absolutely dangerous with my DSLR. Plus she takes crappy shots. But she loves this Olympus. She was more upset about the moisture than I was. That says a lot for it. So I'm not giving up on it, but I don't really feel that I treated it that bad. We'll see. Here's a few more shots from it. I'll keep you posted on how Olympus handles the warranty claim.

Yeah I'm going to be a tad over 200. Hell I played defensive end my junior year at 270 and wasn't a slouch at it either. Wasn't real good with instruction though. But a road job and a good 5 years sitting behind a desk have done little for my figure. Had a little heart attack scare a while back and I am on a mission. But I'll never be around 200. I'm really intrigued with the Diablo. Looked at something like that at the beach last week but they were $2,700. Decisions, decisions. Glad I'm not in a huge hurry. I really appreciate all of the information. It's great to hear everyone's opinions on these things.

Great info so far. Most of these I have looked at. The Moken was new to me. Its not that I'm totally opposed to Jackson. I know they make great boats. I know it's probably the best option. I also know that the price is a little tough to justify to my wife. To her a Jackson is no different than the ones they have at Walmart. I'm also probably in the market for a couple of yaks. My 17 year old daughter is going to want one if I get one. I'll probably end up in a Jackson at some point but I have to start this adventure out a little smaller at the moment. The guy across the street just got one of those. I'm not a fan of that at all. Don't think he really is either after a couple of trips.

What do you guys like? What do you not like? And before everybody starts saying Jackson please stop. I'm sure they are great but I'm not spending that kind of money on one. I'm a big guy but on a mission to lose a bunch of weight. I have no need to stand. I can fish just fine sitting on my butt. But I would like it stable and preferably one with the adjustable seat. I fished out of an Ascend FS128T last year. It was an older model and I know they have made some upgrades. I liked it pretty well but it's also pretty heavy. I don't mind heavy necessarily but if I wanted to do that all the time I'll just take my canoe. Just looking for something easier to handle that I can throw on top of my car and run out to Springfield Lake.

Well that looks like fun. What frog you using?