Whack'emGood

Those are some nice catches oneshot. I'll give you this... those carp are certainly fun to catch, that's for sure... what a strong fish!

That sux troutgnat... I would think that Shimano would definitely make it right for you... Bill (Babler) knows alot about Shimano-- I'll bet he can (and will) tell you the best way to go about dealing with your problem. They are a great company from all I have heard. I don't own any Curados (I wish), but I have a couple of Citicas and I love them. I hold the reel in the palm of my hand also. I set the hook like a barbarian when I fish certain baits, and I have never had a problem with mine. I think this is very strange and unusual indeed... and I do not mean to imply anything about misuse or anything when I say that. I'll bet Shimano makes it right for sure. Please keep us up-to-date on how it goes... I will be interested to hear what they do (hopefully) for you. Good luck! Whack'em

Hey Champ. I hope you and Donna are doing well. The Trilene 100% Fluoro is very strong indeed in my experience... sometimes even hard to break off after getting hung up (15lb). Whack'em

I wouldn't cook it period. I wonder why? No offense guys... I'm just messin' with ya. Seriously though, I can't bring myself to eat carp... different strokes for different folks. Whack'em

You said Carp MEAT... yuck!

Isn't the record Meanmouth something like 6 or 6.5 lbs? I believe it was caught out of Table Rock a couple of years back... ? Someone who knows for sure will let us know. Whack'em

I have never had a problem with the Palomar Knot, and I fish Fluorocarbon almost exclusively. ' Just my .02. Whack'em

I first thought Bill was talking about way offshore structure that everybody runs right past and doesn't know is there or doesn't know how to effectively fish it even if they did. Although, after re-reading his post... I think John and Sam may have something there... these locations may well be off limits to public fishing. Whack'em

That was some great advice for bassguy, Slabs, and all of us locals as well... Thanks Bill and Joe... top notch, as always. Whack'em

Anytime you want to find out about tourneys (medium to big), you can always check out the Regatta permit page. http://www.mswp.dps.mo.gov/Regattas/RegRes...ch&offset=0 Good luck and have fun when you get here. Whack'em

I agree with you on this Bill, 100%... I, however, hope it is not illegal to bring brush from home and sink it in the lake. We have been doing it a long time and nobody has ever said anything to us. One day while I was unloading some from the back of my truck on the Mill Creek ramp and putting it in the boat, a worker who was burning brush trimmed from the campground told me I could take as much of the brush he was fixing to burn as I wanted and drop it in also. I assumed he was a Corp. worker... a nice gesture from a nice guy nonetheless. Whack'em

Doesn't the shipping charge more than offset the tax savings? Or do you have a tackle supplier that gives free shipping? I would be interested to learn of one. Whack'em

Great to hear that you are doing well Donna. I haven't had time to get on the forum very often lately, but have thought about you and your health often. Keep on keepin' on!! Good luck in the CPAA! Whack'em

I agree with Champ. It all sounds like jealousy to me. ColdWater has probably never even been remotely good at ANYTHING worthwhile and he is bitter.

You know they do... there is always someone who wants to have something given to them... instead of earning it. I don't think it matters whether they are catching bass to make a check in a tourney or catching cats, crappie, or walleye to eat-- there is always someone wanting to be practically GIVEN the fish, instead of catching them by their own merits.

Here is my opinion... for what it's worth... 1) I'm with RPS... following a guide boat around is like STEALING... plain and simple. If you want to know how and where a guide catches them, then why don't you just be a man and hire them. I own a business, and I wouldn't want someone following me around-- stealing my sales leads, and swooping in and STEALING my potential customers... it is essentially the same thing following a guide around. 2) Anybody with any PRIDE at all would understand this... I would rather find and catch 5 fish on my own merits than catch 50 fish that somebody else found for me and told me just what to catch them on. Don't get me wrong... it is great and noble to hire a guide of you are inexperienced and/or unfamiliar with the lake or current patterns-- but someone following someone around to try to STEAL their honey-holes is rediculous and selfish. It is okay to use a few tips and words of wisdom given to you by someone to give you a better chance to catch them, but... FIND YOUR OWN FISH!!!!! The bottom line is that I am in full support of a guide's privacy while he is doing business. My message to these followers is... leave the guides alone and try to succeed on your own merit, for once in your life. Whack'em

Well said T. Amen brother.

+1 Nice post Champ. Hope you and Donna are doing well. Whack'em

Skeeter, We were surprised to see a light on that bouy as well... it was on the other night when we ran up into there. It shows up pretty well... works great. Otherwise, that is a tough point to navigate around. I would definitely like to see the same done to all the hazard bouys around the lake. Sure makes it easier to navigate around that kind of stuff-- saving lives, as well as (obviously of a way lesser importance, but worth mentioning) torn up equipment. Whack'em

I think it is one of those large aluminum jon (flat-bottom) boats... 18ft or so long. It runs pretty well to... it seems he runs 45-50 top end or so. If we are running and we see him coming, we just kind of move way over... I don't know him, therefore I certainly don't trust him not to get too close to us when we pass or something... and like you were saying, sight and depth perception is gone when looking into those big lights. Whack'em

This is exactly what I was going to say... until I got down the thread and read that Skeeter already had provided this. This absolutely makes sense... There is a guy (I guess it is the same guy) that bowfishes for carp at night up between Baxter and Campell Point pretty regularly... He has two big headlights on his boat that he uses both when he runs and when he bowfishes. We fish up there alot and see him all of the time. Let me tell you, it blinds you as he is running toward you... your depth perception gets totally screwed up. You can't tell exactly which bearing he is running and you have no idea how close (or far) he is from you. Using big headlights would cause head on collisions, no doubt, because of these issues. It would end up causing more losses of life than it would save, IMO. Whack'em

Great! Thanks!

Shoot, I wish someone would come and steal my trolling motor for me... Then I could buy a newer and better one.

I highly doubt it. That would be a pretty far stretch to suspect that. It was definitely someone who did their research and found out where and when the tourney was happening though. I hope they get punished to the full extent of the law... They need to set an example to deter future thieves from doing the same. Whack'em

Sad news for sure. Prayers for him and his family. Everybody who is gonna be out after dark should really use a GPS at all times, for this very reason... not to mention getting lost is very easy without one... even if you know (or think you know) the area you are in very well. Even if a guy can't afford a fancy graph with a GPS, there are many relatively inexpensive hand-held options out today. I would highly recommend the Lowrance H20 hand-held unit for anybody who is thinking of getting one. Please be safe out there, everyone. Once again, my prayers are out to him and his family/friends. Whack'em