Seth

Congrats to mrs. Billethead!

So did AiA handle the split or did you just make two copies and then each put down half of the amount?

We've always split tournament winnings 50/50, but those are just cash prizes so not taxes to worry about. If one were to win a boat or a large amount such as in the BBB, wouldn't you have to figure up how much taxes are going to come out of the earnings and then split that 50/50? Otherwise, whoever gets the check would also get a 1099 and get a lot less money after taxes are taken out. With a federal tax rate of 24% and 4% on state taxes, you'd be splitting 70% of the winnings instead of the full amount, right?

Have you met some of these biologists that MDC employs? Most of the ones I have met don't have a clue about hunting or fishing. The crap we've heard some of them tell us about deer on managed deer hunts is laughable. "The deer rut was in early October". Last year somebody said one was telling them that the crappie were in full spawn on LoZ in FEBRUARY!

The woods were fairly dead this morning. Heard one bird gobble a lot to the SW and one a long ways off to the north. Neither was anywhere close to the ground I was hunting. I heard some yelping towards the middle of the property that sounded "jake"ish. I wish I could have hunted longer as I think the activity will get better as the morning goes on.

Tomorrow morning is going to be chilly, but the wind will be calm. A guy should at least hear a bird if he gobbles.

We always catch fish, but being that it's a big fish tourney, you still have to be lucky. It pays out for the top 10 fish of the day and we've only placed twice in the nine Snagmaster events that we have fished. The second year we fished it, we only caught two fish and lucked in to a 72 pounder. Two years ago we caught several small males and then hit a 78-8 sow that took first. Most years we've caught 8-12 fish and not won anything though. It really is a crap shoot.

I wish I was fishing it. I'll be up on the Osage arm fishing the Snagmasters tournament (aka the redneck version of the BBB).

It's going to be cold and windy in the morning so I think I am going to pass and wait till Tuesday before I venture to the woods. Three weeks is plenty of time to get on some birds so I'm not in a big hurry just yet.

Pa He Tsi was shut down due to low water so we had to put in amongst the AiA madness at PB2. We ended up catching our two limits of mostly 10-11.5” fish with quite a few sows, but never did catch any tourney quality fish. That explains why there weren’t any crappiemaster boats in the area..... The wind was brutal. We ended up catching half of our fish shooting jigs on one dock and the other half came from vertical jigging various brush piles in the area that were in 15-25’ of water.

I love to shoot docks, but the wind may make that difficult tomorrow. On top of the wind, there will be 150+ bass boats fishing AIA and other tourneys in the area ripping arund as well. We may have to go hide in a cut with brush and hope the fish are there just to survive the day.

That water is still cold. Main lake is probably still in the low 50's with some pockets reaching mid 50's. Not to rub salt in the wound, but you're one of the few that I've talked to this week that has fished LoZ this week and not slaughtered the crappie, especially those that have fished the past two days. Lots of very good quality fish as well. I'm heading up to fish the Glaize tomorrow so I should have a report of my own to add to the forum afterwards.

That’s what I get for skipping the reading and focusing on those pretty drawings.

That is simply amazing Al! Question.... are you using a touch screen and a pointer device when doing your drawings in Photoshop or just using a mouse?

I don't bait fish a lot, but a jar of powerbait usually lasts a while anyways. Spending a little more to support the small business isn't a bad thing. Not many can compete with Walmart's prices anyways. It was probably still cheaper than if you bought it from Bass Pro or Cabela's anyways.

I'd wear a tux if it was camo and said I caught a MO paddlefish on it.

You serious Clark? We've caught tagged spoons and received at least a half dozen of those shirts over the years and have never had to pay any postage. My buddy just got a black hoody with the "I caught a MO paddlefish" on it. He's turned in several tags over the years and I think they keep upgrading his shirts. His last one was a camo t-shirt. The other guy caught his first tagged fish the same day as the one who got the hoody this year and he just got the grey t-shirt. Neither paid any postage.

I've seen some Walmarts that had a really nice selection of hunting and fishing gear. Our Walmart is definitely NOT one of them though.

As fried fish go, I'd much rather eat crappie, white bass, walleye, etc. Most guys I know who really like them grill or smoke them. I've not tried it yet, but I have heard that cubing them up in to 1/4-1/2" cubes and boiling in a cajun seafood boil is pretty good as well. We've had fish fries where people actually preferred the spoonbill over everything else that we had, which was crappie, suckers, white bass and blue catfish. They are a lot of work to get cleaned up and it's just not worth it to me since I fish nearly every weekend. If you don't get the chance to fish very often and want to stock the freezer, they are perfect for that.

Walmart sucks. That's what.

Mother nature is doing her best to keep you in the shop working lately. Looks like we get a few nice days this week and then back to the 40's for highs this weekend.

1) Graph docks, find fish, shoot docks 2) If that doesn't work, then graph for brush in 14-20' of water close to spawning pockets. There should be crappie hanging nearby. If you don't have a decent graph or can't read it, then just drive around and look for docks that have brush tied off or rod holders. I'd be lost without my graph for crappie fishing.

Also, I think Duane is yanking our legs with this crankbait thing. When I try it, I only catch stuff that his cranking fish would eat for a snack! I'm starting to think all those big trout are actually just his pets!

It's just them boring on crappie anyways. Now get back to work!

I'm just glad I know somebody who is as mad at the trout as me! Actually, I think he is a little more mad at them than me, but I will definitely be giving that night fishing stuff a try when I go back down there. I've done it a few times in the past before I had my own boat, but now I usually just go out on the boat. It's a different deal hooking fish at night.