Longball22

I second the Elite 7 as a good unit in your price range. I have the non-CHIRP on the bow of my boat (CHIRP was not out when I purchased), and I am happy with it. You could probably find the non-CHIRP cheaper, but you'll lose some performance in that trade-off.

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Use super glue with the Keitechs and they will last longer. I had one fish throw it on a brand new one, but the next one lasted through 8 or 10 fish without any issues. Just depends I guess. I was out yesterday in Kimberling City as well before the rain. Was struggling, but saw this guy harassing some shad and decided to step in. He went just under 3lbs, and I had been itching to see if my new tuned thundersticks worked. I followed up with the Keitech and caught several more in that cove over some trees.

I'm sure that FLW college tournament didn't help the traffic. I was in Kimberling City, and went to watch part of the weigh in. 70-80 boats, and 16-2 won it. Lots of 2-3 fish bags, and no big fish to speak of(of the 30ish teams I watched weigh). Most guys talked about throwing wiggle warts or jigs, and it sounds like most of them went up the river arms. I got out for a few hours on Saturday, caught 8 fish on a 3.3 Keitech and a Rock Crawler. Best part of the day was with my dad, and I had the boat in 12-14 foot of water, and he caught two with the rock crawler on the bank while i pulled two out of the deeper timber throwing the Keitech out of the other side. Good way to cover water if both are working.

Looks like the first Mill Creek night tournament is this weekend.

Sorry, 1/4 -3/4oz. on the lure weight rating...

For cranking, I recently bought the new Abu Garcia Veritas Winch Series 2.0 in 7' Medium. This has a really moderate action, and is amazing for throwing Warts/Rock Crawlers(1/4-5/8 oz. Rating). The all white blank looks pretty awesome as well. Here's the review that sold me... http://wired2fish.scout.com/story/1469254-abu-garcia-veritas-2-0-winch-crankbait-rod-review

I fished a few hours today with one 18" largemouth in the Kimberling City area. Came on a brown phantom Rock Crawler on some ledge rock. There were numbers of fish in the area I was fishing, but not a lot of takers. FYI, this was my first weekend fishing the Rock Crawler, and I love it. So much so that I tried to order more online Saturday night. Cabela's is backordered for 4+ weeks, and I ordered some directly from Spro, only to get a call today that they aren't getting more in until May/June. The lady on the phone told me she assumed Cabela's would have the same time frame. Bass Pro doesn't sell them online, and the Springfield store is out of them. Sportsman's was the winner. They had probably 50 left, but only one Phantom Brown (they don't have it anymore). Green Craw, Spring Craw, and Mud Bug were all that were left. Just a heads up if you're holding off to get ahold of some.

I didn't keep it. Strongly considered it though. I think I wore the fat boy out, because I wasn't sure it was going to make the swim away from my boat.

This guy was another victim of the Rock Crawler today. Actually my only fish on it today. 4.38 lbs, and up on the gravel just like the bass are supposed to be, haha. One comment on the Rock Crawler: It was tracking true for me at slow speeds today, but I noticed when I burned it back to the boat it was not. I played with tuning it a bit, and easily got an extra 2 or 3 feet of dive out of it. I'm throwing it on 8lb. fluoro, and probably getting down to 12 or 13 feet now. And a question: Is there any knack to throwing warts/these type of baits? I'm basically trying to pull it along as slow as it will wobble, and making pauses when I feel it hang on a rock/stump.

When it is cloudy like it has been this weekend, do you guys go to more opaque/brighter colors? I know the phantom colors are good on sunny days, but curious what to do with this cloud cover. I'm also assuming go brighter as you get up in the stained water. maybe even towards patterns with some chartreuse/more orange?

I saw some up shallow as well. I actually found one dock that is super shallow and was able to pull a few keepers out from under it with the Ned. My first day on the water with your jigs dave, and I was more than impressed!

There is a company called SF Organics that liquefies the fish for use as fertilizer. They bring trucks to haul the fish off after weigh in. They have expanded the tournament to 5 lakes this year (Table Rock, Bull Shoals, Truman, Stockton, and Pomme de Terre), and only added 100 boats (275 total) from last year. My guess is the traffic on Table Rock will be somewhat minimal this year, compared to last.

Has anyone seen these/gotten their hands on these? I hadn't seen a post referring to them. I ordered a few online, and they are backordered at the moment. They look like some good colors....found this picture on eBay.

I bought some of Dave's "ned heads" a few weeks ago, and it got me curious to see if there were any other regional folks making tackle. I think Dave's product is pretty publicized on here, but I hadn't seen anyone post about a company I found based in St. Louis. Fortunately they don't make finesse jigheads, so they aren't competing with you Dave. http://midwesttackleshop.com/ I decided to buy some jigs from these guys to see how they looked, and I am impressed. The pictures on their site are very accurate of what you will receive from them, and I was astounded at their prices: $1.99 For their Football Jigs, with wire tied skirts for durability(Living Rubber or Silicone). $.50 to add a rattle to any of them. $2.49-$2.69 for their Swing Jigs(2 pack), which is nearly identical to a Biffle Hardhead when put side by side, for 1/2 the price. I also got some of their drop shot weights, and they look great as well. All of their stuff looks as good as a lot of mass produced jig I've seen, so thought this was worth passing along.

I received mine from Dave last week as well. They look great, as expected. Just need to get out and fish them now...

I have an Elite-7 at the bow and an HDS-5 in the console. Both of them were in your price range when I bought them, and both have GPS, which helps a lot. The HDS-5 has a higher power traditional sonar, and gives a better picture, but a smaller screen. I actually picked it up at the BPS outlet for $320, which I thought was a steal, and it was as big as I could flush mount in my 2006 Nitro. The Elite-7 gives good sonar, and the DownScan is really nice for seeing trees, big rocks, etc. The 7" screen makes a lot of difference on the bow for seeing it. If I had to pick one, I'd take the Elite-7, but if I was looking to network units, I'd definitely steer towards the HDS units. My next move will be to put an HDS-8 or HDS-7 Touch on the bow.

I went out with Pete last spring, and it was a great experience. You will definitely have a good time, and learn a lot. I have gone out with a few guides on TR, and Pete certainly seems to be one who isn't afraid to change tactics and figure out what is working best that day.

I have a Nitro 591 (18'7") that still has the factory setup with a 150HP Merc. on it. This boat was stock with the 135, but the 150 was an option at the time. I wasn't thrilled about how it got out of the hole, and I couldn't reach plane terribly quickly. I wanted to try a hydrofoil, so I bought the SE400 for $80 from Bass Pro because it doesn't require any drilling to mount. I was skeptical, but thought it was a pretty cheap experiment. After installing, I can come on plane at about 20mph(was about 25-30 before), and I have lost no top end speed at all. There is no difference in handling at the top end, because the foil is completely out of the water, but it did eliminate some torque steer at lower speeds, which was a bonus I never expected. I like SE400 because it isn't huge, and it didn't require the drilling to install. If you follow the directions, this thing won't move an inch when installed, and I'm more than pleased with the results it provided for $80. Go ahead and beat me up for my setup being wrong boys!

I had the opportunity to fish Crane Creek for the first time a few weeks ago, and loved the water. Only had a few hours to try and tackle it, so it was more exploring than anything. It appears to me that most of the substantial holes are right in town. I didn't really find much fishable water upstream in the conservation area, just a few small fish in the deeper runs. Am I missing something there? Also, in the downstream conservation area, is the bridge there the only access to the river? I walked that trail for a ways into the timber and it didn't appear to ever meet back up with the creek at a point where you could get down to it. I hope to go back and be a little more thorough in my next trip, so I'm trying to figure out my options, haha.

I went to roaring river a few weeks to check things out. I've been in the park before, but wanted to see what was downstream of it. I went to the conservation area parking below the park and followed the trail to the water. Are there any other access areas than this that are public? Also, is it better water to head upstream or downstream from this access? I didn't have much time to fish, so I really didn't get to explore too much. Thanks Guys!