Donna G

Love me some Harter House. If we launch or stay in that area, we always bring the ice chest and stock up. That pork / ground chuck blend they call Boston burger is darn good.

Oh, my. Caught a "rock" fish at LOZ IN A CPAA derby once. Pro told me he had caught a bunch of them in practice. We were scraping rocky points with Wiggle Warts. 'Bout that time I hooked up. I hollered "Get the net! THIS ain't no Rock." Boy, was my face red. Amazing how much those big, round hair rocks feel like a fish fighting when you reel them off the bottom.

Noticed it painted on the ramp at SK Sunday.

I've shared on OAF before. I'll have to find the thread and post the link here.

Was a big fan of New Skin once upon a time, but I've gone over to the Krazy Glue side. I'm a confirmed convert.

We use big fat butts IN a Ranger boat.

There are no drum in TR. That is a hoax and should probably be checked on Snopes. Champ188 can attest I'll catch any drum within 100 nautical miles. Gives me crap about it frequently. Jerkbaits at Grand. Two on a squarebill at Bull on back-to-back casts. Big 'un on a jig at Greers Ferry. The list goes on. So, in my expert opinion there are no drum in TR 'cos I am the Drum Queen mo-sheen and have never so much as snagged a scale on one at the Rock.

Very interesting. Thanks.

My new deal is Smelly Jelly. I offer to sell it to Champ188 at greatly inflated rates when I'm catching fish. JJ's is good stuff, but will not come off your skin for a week if you get it on you. I have an office job and you can catch some weird looks sporting yellow digits.

Aw, shucks, Mr. Bill. Thanks. That spot sure was fun on 6lb line.

He may not be Obi-Wan Kenobi, but the Force is strong with this one today.

Here we go. lol Time to finish unloading the truck and unpacking. Pulling out the golf sticks this afternoon. I don't go back to work until Tuesday. Hmmm. Grand or beat-up Table Rock Monday. Can't make Broken Bow on a day trip.

Bryce catches good fish frequently at Broken Bow. Fished it all his life. They catch some amazing smallmouth, big walleye and crappie, too. We make a trip once or twice a year. It's a different Oklahoma lake than you normally think of - more like a highland reservoir. Absolutely beautiful with cabins and cabin resorts. We usually stay at WhipPoorWill Resort. Attached picture is our boat at one of the cabins. Pic of the trio was a slow day by Bryce's standards, but we still managed to catch some solid LM, SM and spots. You can see by the variance in our heights, what Champ was talking about - Bryce makes big fish look small. hehe Never fear, Dave, the little guy really does catch big fishes. Bryce just made them look smallish. Think he's 6'6".

Champ will stretch it out when the water and boat traffic are right. It's fun when we get a chance to do that. Most days, though, he runs at a more moderate pace and that suits me fine. I like to look at the scenery and potential fishing spots as we go.

He forgot to mention his lovely wife and fishing partner of 22 years (April 2 was our anniversary) wasn't in the boat when he saw 70.4. I'm sure lightening the load didn't hurt. lol

Weird. I don't have years of experience like most of you do, and I've only co-owned a boat, but I have fished out of the back of a bunch of different ones in Central Pro-Am. Worst ride, new Triton. 40mph in mild chop about beat me and the boater to death. He complained the whole time saying he shouldn't have sold his decade-plus Champion, which had a great ride. He bought the Triton because all the Elite pros were sponsored by them at the time and he thought that was a great stamp of approval. That was 6-7 years ago, though. Don't know what they're like now. Second worst - one of those big Skeeters with the step-through. Don't remember the model. The boater thought the size made it impervious to wakes. He wasn't sitting in my seat. Almost went out of the boat twice heading to weigh-in at PB2 on LOZ and I was hanging on for dear life. The second time I was airborne higher than the console. Pro yanked me back in my seat by my life jacket. Second-best ride, our previous boat - a 2004 Champion 188 we bought from Mike McClelland. I was always thrilled to get back in it after a pro-am event when I'd been in another boat with not enough room or getting soaked / bounced around. Most "different" ride is a tie. An old, and I mean old, Ranger 375. It was ready for the recycle bin, but it got us there and back. It did lose an "eye" bouncing to our destination. In-dash flasher popped out like an eyeball dangling by the wires and flopped all the way until we stopped. lol Pro was a guide and I was surprised he guided out of it. He was working on a new boat at that time. Super nice guy and the boat's age / condition didn't factor in to the low fish count. I've caught plenty out of a two-man pontoon, out of flat bottoms and off the bank. Just saying it was a different ride. Second most different was the Nitro 929 center console. Tons of under-console storage for the co-angler. The center console made things a little chummy with the boater, if you like being social. I'm short and wide and running around the side of the consoles and up on the front deck was challenging for a net call. Fortunately / unfortunately, they're weren't many net calls that day. One embarrassing and painful moment occurred when standing up and a big boat wake hit us....sat right down on the gear shift, due to the center location. Ouch. Best ride - our 2012 Ranger Z119. Oh, my. I had no idea we could have a better ride than our Champion 188, but we do. Of course, first things first, the passenger console HAD to come out. Had my experience with and without those, too. I vote out. Single console far outweighs the small advantages of a dual console Our boat has tons of storage room, super comfortable seats, plenty of fishing deck front and back, NEVER get wet and innards are not scrambled when we get to our destination. We went to Long Creek and back to Fisher Creek at KC yesterday afternoon in all that wind without a hitch. Boats and boat models change through the years and I'm not rating the ones I've been in from any other perspective than the co-angler's seat. Plus, different courses for different horses, or so they say. I can only attest to limited personal experience and that our present Ranger has a dry comfortable ride, lots of fishing and storage room and makes me happy. Oh, all except those stupid box latches. I cuss them at least once a trip.

Oh, my, my. Glad I was only eating my lunch at my desk and not slurping down a beverage - it might have reappeared. I admire your spirit and commitment. I also really appreciate the laugh at the start of my workweek.

Those are some beauties, Alex. Good job. We didn't catch as many yesterday, but I did have this one which was pretty nice. I wanted to have flames coming out of my ears, too, but they would have clashed with my War Eagle cap and bibs. Crank bait to be named after the tournament next week.

Agreed. No yard slaves here. Of course, we won't ever win the neighborhood lawn contest either. :). I'm encouraging a young business owner by my weekly check.

Awww. Just because you have me so well trained on the net.

Wish you would have won. lol

You could have filmed the sequel in our boat. "Girl gone stupid: Champ188 - 14; Donna -1"

Thanks for all your work. It was really appreciated. Hope it wasn't too hard on your knee.

6.34

He can fish the little stuff. Sometimes he's downright girly.