jdmidwest

What is a Stomp Grate? I have been around a jet for a while too, but never heard that one.

Reels do come in to play on larger weight rods and bigger water. You need one with a good drag and extra capacity for backing. With big fish, you will see the backing more than you ever will on a 5 wt. A drag is important, you will be depending on it just as much as you would on a spin or bait cast reel. You will be playing larger fish and they will have stronger currents to work around in. You will be spending more time getting them in. Most of the rods I use for Missouri on trout streams or small warm water streams never see the backing, or even half of the fly line. The reel is just to hold the line. Seldom do I use the drag to play a fish, just fingers on the line and the rod will get the fish in. But bigger game, whole different story.

I used a 10' 7 wt Orvis Helios in Alaska tossin hair bugs and streamers on small streams for Silvers. Worked even better on Dollies and egg rigs. On the bigger streams I used the 9' 8 wt Trident by Orvis. It is my rod for lake bass also.

The web photo looks like there is too much brown in it. We may have to get together sometime and hash this out. Main thing, just checking if you could do it and to see what a custom run may cost. Of course, you will have to take a vow of silence and not let any secrets out. I bought a mold a few years back and played with it when a lure I was using became obsolete. But the colors were solid, not blended like you are doing. Yours are a work of art.

Wow. Now I know how the guy felt at the ramp when he came over and asked what happened to our prop. I replied, "we hit a rock last time out and tore the lower off" being a martass.. He had never seen a jet motor.

Something like this. Pumpkinseed Orange flake. I was just curious, and you said you offered special runs. I would assume you would have to make a batch of mix from scratch or order. I am sure this question will come up, I was just throwing it out. And it would have to be a soft texture, they seem to like softer plastic where I run.

So it is a Redneck Trolling Motor. I thought it looked like a gas engine on it. I could see how it could be used if it were electric and slow speed. But that looks like a gas motor.

I finally had a decent trip to TN this weekend. That storm system shifted to the east about 6 am Sat. Morning and we had a beautiful day on the water. Temps made it to 70 and winds were moderate. We had been in a rut, every trip this fall was post front, and they were big fronts. Fishing was off every time. And we battled a rough lake with swells making it even tougher to fish. The drought down there had kept flows thru the system to the minimal. Lake fish like a nice current down there to stimulate feeding. We started off on the river below Pickwick Dam. Target of the day was to be Sauger, we picked up 2 along the walls right off. But a pesky barge decided to lock and we had to move off and fish down stream. Down river we picked up a few Kentuckies, a Skip Jack, a Crappie, and even a Bluegill along with a few small largemouths. After a couple of hours of that we decided to trailer the boat up to the lake and give it a try. We launched the boat and I decided to eat a little lunch. My buddy picked up 5 bass around the ramp while I was eating. Then I joined in and caught a nice little 17" fat smallie. We poked around our cove and caught a few more before heading out on the lake. The next cove produced a few dinks, nothing special. The shad were thick in the coves but the fish weren't feeding on them. We hit a few more walls and dropoffs without much luck. Back to the dock cove and we fished the other side of the arm. Things picked up with several more bass. Run a big flock of mallards out of a cut across from his slip, it was a fun sight. They have been using that area as a roost, crapping all over the neighbors dock. It was the best trip in a while, first fishing of the year, but no big ones this trip. But the water temps were 54 degrees and and the air temp was 70, not something that happens very often in Jan. I will take that any time. Back down in a few weeks when the Sauger fishing hits it peak. I hope the weather holds up.

At first thought, an air boat motor of some kind. But further thoughts about the size and position make me wonder. As high as it is, I really can't imagine it being a very stable means of propulsion. The Blade and motor are pretty small, most airboats have bigger motors and about a 6-8 foot prop with vanes for control. As you can see this one rotates on an axis, which would create more instability. It is way to high to plane a boat very good. Maybe a fan to keep them cool on a hot night of gigging or bowfishing? Redneck trolling motor? Fish Scaler? Air brake? Carp chopper? Anyway, I took the pic in a Walmart parking lot in Selmer, TN yesterday.

Is there a minimum order on special colors?

Looks good. Let me know when you come out with a orange flake pumpkinseed one. Good luck with the new venture. After today's speech, I think American Businesses will prosper again.

Did he happen to say if any of them ever stuck in a fishes mouth? With that goofy gap, it may be hard to stick a fish. And if they never stick, he is safe in saying they are hard to throw.

I would have thought fetal hearing loss and recoil jarring would be an issue at that stage in the game.

I know the money I have wasted on a bee crop the past few years would have paid for my Tracker Boat that I bought last spring. But my farm is just a hobby, I never plan to make a living off it. And I don't plan on making fishing a job either, its hard enough work as it is. I don't think I could survive fishing every day of the week.

Snow geese have been pouring north up the Mississippi Flyway since yesterday. I think it is a sign that winter is over. Big flocks and lots of them. I saw a bunch of robins last week before the ice storm, I think they were just confused.

That cheese looks fake.

I hope I can kill the larva in the ground before the new bees arrive this spring. Those suckers are vicious.

Somebody lost the spellchecker.

This was the culprit. African small hive beetle in a homemade trap. That is a dry swiffer pad I put in the hive when I closed it down this fall. I pulled it out yesterday. when I took a closer look at the hive. Beetles get trapped in the fiber and die. As you can see, there were plenty of them. There are more on that fuzz than I had saw in any of my hives till this fall. I am guessing that that warm spell around Christmas got the beetles active and they laid eggs in the honey portion of the hive. They hatched and slimed the hive again, running the bees away from the inside of the hive. That would explain the large amount of dead bees on top of the hive in the box holding the feeder. They either froze or starved. Time to burn another mess when weather clears up, then spray ground real good again to kill the beetle larva.

I would not get too fired up about a trip down there in the summer. You have to bounce a lure off canoes and rafts to get them wet on a summer time weekend. Weekdays and nights would be better fishing.

I thought about the steel wool, but figured it would leave rusty spots on the trailer. Flex conduit would be a pain to snake thru the holes. They chew thru it too. I usually toss out poison blocks under house and out buildings. Can't really toss them around the boat sitting outside in the open, neighbors dogs may chew on them. Mouse traps work inside the boat. I had one a few years ago that threw the trap or got out of it. He died between the throttle housing and the side of the boat. That was a stinking mess. Best bait I have found is peanut butter and bacon. I have seen them lick the peanut butter off some traps. But the bacon is tough and sticks on the holder well.

What do you use to get the snake out before a trip???? Call the pied piper?

Any thought on how to keep them out of a tube trailer? I have something shoved in the tongue where it breaks over. But there are several access holes along the trailer to drain and for lights. Maybe screens?

I bought a low hour new to me Tracker Boat and Trailer last spring. On a trip to the lake in Oct., I noticed a marker light out on the driver side of the trailer, no big deal. Left out to Pickwick the day after Thanksgiving and noticed another marker light out on the same side. Tail light was flickering. I started getting aggravated at this time. I had replaced the tail lights with LED ones, bulbs should not flicker. Fished for about 3 hours that day and decided to portage from lake to river side. Running across Pickwick coming back from State Line, boat came off plane and started idling rough, Idled back to ramp and called it done, blown coil pack. On the way home, the tail light went completely out. Back at the house that weekend, I started trouble shooting the trailer lights. After a few meter tests, I broke the tongue over and gave the wire a tug. That side wire came out, chewed off about a foot into the tongue. This is a tube trailer with a break over tongue for storage. A friendly little mouse had chewed the marker light wires first, then up near the tongue. Rewired that side today, cost $35 for new wire and a wire snake tape. Just another reason to hate tube trailers. They hold moisture and rust out. Dang wasps like to build nests into them. And rodents seem to call them home.

Male between 5'8" and 6'2" so the autopsy shows. Take the pieces them together and put a tape to them. What a job. Been there a few days too. STL Today report.