lollygagger

Did Steak Inn used to be called Carols in Shell Knob ? Best Onion rings ever.....Huge, flour dredge instead of corn meal....been years...had a group down from Kansas City....warned them we couldn't get Rings if we didn't get off the water....they turned the fryer off at 8:15....we were catching fish so well they voted to keep fishing.....8:45..... No onion rings....Still argue about this after all these years....

PS...skip the Dinky Burger......no matter how many they have sold....I'm so old I probably had one of their first 1000....Never had another since.....some people like them.....

Reeds Spring Pizza is great.....parking w/a boat would be tough.....Also offers take and bake pizza and good salads.....Closed Sundays....Heard good things about Pizza By The Chef in the same strip mall with Mexican place on bus 13 just south of Lakeview. Gateway in Spokane is good breakfast and all you can eat catfish on Fridays but is a good 20 minutes north of KC....Place in Highlandville (another 10 minutes N) famous for fried pies......Papoulis N of Reeds Springs is good for Greek food and meatloaf......Don't eat the Sunday special and american food (except meatloaf) just my opinion, but think Sunday special is what didn't sell during the week...probably a rumor....South and East of Lakeview I don't frequent.....Neighbors Mill is good but involves driving to Springfield or Harrison AR and are closed Sunday......A tri tip from Harter House , some Pappys seasoning, a bottle of creamy Italian dressing and a bottle of red wine mixed to marinate a day or so then smoked or grilled over charcoal can't be beat. Have one of the butchers help you with directions...

Working on it.....don't try to cut thru between Aunts Creek and island at Jackson Hollow...or the island with the ski course near Hideaway....low water....both shortcuts may send you flying......found some trees I have never seen before

Fished mid James 3-10. Bunch of dinks on Ned,Wart. Caught 4.5 smallie on front hook and 3.5 smallie on back hook of green rock crawler. 7 foot deep on gravel. Nothing on a rogue.

The longbilled Rogues,Rebel and the Arby Hanger (if they still make them) Huge bills. Weighted in some way to suspend.

Whackerbill Minnows on bluffends, deeper points, transitions......same pattern for 35 years...love that area.

bought a place pretty cose....haven't been there for a long time.....used to know it like thebak of my hand.....Lifes funny that way

Black, short arm spinnerbait with a # 1 Uncle Josh pork chunk.....May have to rent a chunk from some old Geezer......still got a few but don't let them out of my sight...

I picked up real early in life. I'm 64 now, I found it pretty easy to learn. When relatives and friends asked me how to do it, I told to try to think of a metronome on top of a piano or better yet, take the metronome with you if you had access to one...or find one in a flea market. Used a Zara II (Roman Numeral for two) and a lure called the "Thief" that was made in Louisburg ,KS....a friend actually found one on E-Bay and paid $25 for it in original pkg and gave it to me a couple of Christmas's' ago....my previous Thief had deep grooves on the sides from the hooks cutting into the wood....my new Thief is still in its' box.....Still catch 'em on the old Thief even tho the paint has just all about been eaten off. and I refuse to seal or repaint it,,,,It absorbs water after an hour, slowly sitting lower in the water and have to work it a little faster till it starts sinking and I have to let it dry out for a couple of hours.....it caught a 7.5 LM 2 years ago....shorter/stubbier than a regular size Spook....kind of like a cigar stub....took a break and GOOGLED metronome.....there is an app for that now......Oh my, I got old.....

Comfy looking camp !

The one with the diamond pattern might be made by Len Thompson of Alberta Canada. The 5 of Diamonds yellow and red is a fantastic pike lure in Canada.

Chiggers, ticks, spiders also live on the ground...and gravel bars....and rocks.....and dirt.........you can prevent them from getting in your tent...or bed roll....or hammock...or your car....or your pet,,,,or children.....I have hammock camped on a few rivers in my time.....if you use your brain, it is a far better experience than the ground......ever slept in a rain storm in a tent ?.....Hammock w/bug net...small tarp.......drip string....bug juice....high and dry....not for everyone....didn't think I would like it....will never go back to the ground now.....

Try a double uni-knot to see if it is a line issue.....you can test it in your yard using a tree.

Fished out of my boat for first time in 3 years 12:30 PM to 4:30 PM....caught 12 with 2 keeper smallmouth and 4 lb lm...all keepers on Ned and stupid shallow.....caught a few shorts on the mini-muskie Top Raider.....err...Whopper Plopper...when the wind kicked up....Business had limited me to the backyard....Live on Lake Springfield....got a 6lber on the Ned and 4 pound line on Tuesday...will retire soon.....got a place in this area.....spent my youth there but preferred fishing upriver Baxter to Emerald Beach as an adult.....