Seth

I'm not outside in direct sunlight for 8-10 hours straight while doing those other activities. I don't get all covered up to fish if I'm just going out for a few hours either.

I have two pair of gloves. The ones I've been wearing this spring smell like death from handling paddlefish with them on. I figured if I leave them out in the weather long enough, they will eventually quit stinking. If they don't, then oh well. They will just be handling more stinkin fish in the future anyways.

Thinking I need I buy some new gloves and sleeves to match the already bright shirt and buff. Don't want anybody to miss me while on the water. Maybe Skeet Reese has a pair of sun pants he'd sell me to complete the outfit.

That's awesome Phil! I checked on our local team and I was very happy to see that they finally weighed in a keeper! Took them four tournaments to boat a keeper, but they did it!

The rivers are all jacked up from all of this rain. Now that snagging and turkey season are over with, I'm ready to get out on them and start chasing some bass. Hopefully this rain will calm down and that will be a possibility here in a few weeks.

How many of us started out doing full fledged bass tournaments versus pond prowling and learning the basics? You have to walk before you can run, especially when you're shelling out a couple hundred bucks just to participate. I'm just hoping the kids don't get turned off to it by getting their butts kicked time and time again.

I just hope the team from my town caught a fish this tournament. They haven't weighed in a fish in any tournaments they have fished. I'm all for getting kids out there to experience this type of stuff, but they are in over their head. I've fished with them on a local lake near where we live that is over ran with bass and they can barely catch fish there.......

Yep. I run The Gasconade a bunch from Hwy 63 up to the Big Piney and I think you would be crazy to float anywhere below Highway 28 IMO. There's a lot of water above Highway 28 and doesn't get nearly as molested by the jet boats as it does below Big Piney. Paydown to Fish Holler might be alright as there is some pretty sketchy stuff to navigate in a jet boat and most of us stay away from it. Vienna to Jerome is pretty easy running so it gets hit hard with jet boat traffic.

Ya'll should try dealing with floaters on a skinny river in the summer time. Floaters love to clog up the channels in the narrow areas where jet boaters have to run. If you're heading downstream, you're screwed because you don't have the control to stop the boat before realizing that your path is clogged with floaters and things can get ugly in a hurry if they don't move out of the way. I've ran the rivers for years and slow down when I can, but there are some areas where you have to go and pray that nobody is in the chute. There is going to be a bad accident one of these days between jet boaters and floaters in one of these areas. I love to float rivers myself, but I also make sure I go places where I know I won't be dealing with jet boats when I do go. Those honey holes that the jet boaters can't reach will more than likely have much better fishing anyways.

I have a minnkota Maxxum 24v 70# variable speed in the shed. It came off the boat when I upgraded to an Ultrex this past winter. I think it is a 2009 model year. I’ve got a Minnkota 210 charger as well if you need a charger. When I bought the Ultrex, I upgraded the charger to a three bank Minnkota PC charger.

My buddy and his parents even have one of those early 2000 step sides. I've always liked that style of Gm truck and you can't go wrong with the 5.3l. I've got a 99 extended cab that is about to rust apart, but it still gets me from point A to B and back with 309k on the engine. It does use a little coolant during the winter when I run the heat and I do have to add some oil every 1000-1500 miles. I'll keep feeding it until it croaks.

Crappiemasters tournament was coming up that Saturday. Winners had 11.00# and I "think" the biggest fish of the tournament was a 2.22. We fished around Possum Holler and Browns Bend on Friday, April 19th and kept three limits with 10 fish breaking that 1# mark. The biggest was a 14" sow that weighed just under 1 3/4#. The wind was horrible and it was tough to control the boat, but we just vertical fishing minnows and jigs tipped with minnows in 12-14' of water in the middle of the coves. Most of what we caught were staging sow white crappie. I did pluck a few decent black crappie from a dock near the mouth of the cove. People that came by said the males were on the banks towards the back of the coves.

Speaking of leaving shot guns....I had my vest and everything ready to roll and headed off to the blind and realized about 250 yards away that I'd left the gun in the truck. I hadn't hunted in five days due to being busy and out of town fishing that weekend and was out of my rhythm, I guess.

All I heard was that it was caught on a Crock O Gator Swamp Bug in Proctor Cove. That is what the guy said on the live stream of the BBB awards ceremony. I'm curious if it was a bed fish.

Tagged out this morning with this guy. 22.5lbs, 1.25" spurs and a 11" beard. He's the tom I goofed up on Saturday morning. The bird roosted in the same area and went through the same clearing the previous two mornings so I got up 30 minutes early and slipped in pretty close to his bed room this morning. He wasn't as vocal today, but it didn't matter. After two gobbles on the roost, he pitched down just before 6am, stood around waiting for another nearby hen that would occasionally yelp. After she opened up, I let out two round of soft yelps, he answered and a few minutes later I heard him spitting and drumming just over the lip. I was ready for him this time and as soon as he came in to view and stuck his head out, I rolled him. I had to throw his one in too just because I thought it was funny. The cat is named Pumpkin, but we like to call him Nosey Ned because he ALWAYS has to come inspect our critters that we harvest.

I typically use an Alberto knot for joining braid to fluorocarbon and a uni to uni for mono to fluorocarbon/mono. I love the FG knot for joining braid to fluorocarbon BUT it is hit or miss whether I tie it properly. Not sure what the secret is to that one, but it is amazing when the braid grabs hold of the leader. A lot of times it all just pulls apart though.

Been a tough year for me. Had a tom come in this morning and was turned the wrong way and didn’t get a shot. While trying to call him back three jakes came in and only two left. At least I won’t get the skunk this season. Hopefully it will be like last season and a tom will soon follow.

Sorry for the late follow up. We fished Friday down around Browns Bend and got three more limits again. This time we found some really good quality sow white crappie staging out in the middle of the coves in 12-14" of water. Targeted them the same way with minnows and jigs. Ten of our 45 were a pound or better and the biggest was a egg laden 14" that pushed the 1 3/4# mark. Other boats were pounding the males up on the banks.

It was a good year for us at Snagmasters. We took 8th and 10th place with a 71.7# and a 70.0# spoonbill and pocketed around $1600.

Tommy Biffle ain't skeerd of no shorty shorts.

Do you guys go to a dermatologist for regular check ups or just if you notice a weird looking spot on your skin? I've got a lot of freckles and always worry about skin cancer since I pretty well stayed sun burned all summer long when I was younger.

I don’t believe they are made anymore. I believe Phil Lilley has the last remaining stock in his shop.

I despise sunscreen. Makes you feel like a greaseball and has to be reapplied throughout the day unlike UPF clothing. Since I started wearing the long sleeve UPF shirts and buffs, I feel like a million bucks after fishing all day in the heat and sunlight. Sun screen sucks! Buy the buffs with mesh around the mouth area. Gillz brand is one of my favorites.

Three of us fished from boat in dead channel from 3-7:30 and caught three limits of keeper crappie. Jigs and minnows fished close to bottom in 23’ of water. Pretty consistent bite the entire time. Had to weed through quite a few shorts.

Bring a big snagging hook and a 4oz weight. Might come across a big school of spoonbill to play around with.