WHARFRAT

Problem with the rams, they have too many needs. But looks like the o line and the d line are set for the next 5/6 yrs. that being said, the rest of the positions need upgrades in the worst way.

Rams toughened up. Good soliid picks

I'm hoping the rams go with a Line of Scrimmage guy. Usually get you best bang for your buck with them. I'm not big on high profile QB's RB's DB's and receivers early in the first round. But you can count on Fisher and Sneed pulling some kind of suprise The only high profile guy thats kind of interesting is Manzeil (sp?) . He could be good for marketing and such. His size has me a little concerned, sort of the Doug Flutie size. Hope the Rams do draft a QB in the later rounds. I'm not sure they can be a top tier team with Bradford.

Nice!

Harbor Hop on Saturday. Even down on the lower end of the BN it was busy. Saturday Night was extremely busy, I guess everyone coming back. Too bad about the rod.

It was tough for us. Had a little get-together for my son who is gettin hitched at the end of the month. So the group of us that hunt together went down to the lake over the weekend. We probably cleaned 60 or so between the two boats. But most came Saturday after 5 till dark and yesterday morning before 11. Never could get a sustained pattern. Some were 3-5 ft down about 15yds off the bank, then 10-12 ft down scattered between docks.. I tried shooting some productive docks, but to no avail. Most that we kept were 10-12 inches, but the 12" was few and far between. One of the guys caught a 14"+ fish. The females still look a good week to 10 days out. Been a weird spawn time here on the Big Niangua.

Yeah, I wear a hat similar to OP's. My son-in-law calls it my Star Wars Storm Trooper Hat. Bass Pro and Cabelas has a decent line of cool SPF clothing. I think Columbia has a decent line. It's not as cool as wearing shorts and a t-shirt in 95 degree heat, but its not too bad.

If you see me out there on LOZ in the middle of summer, you'll see me with long sleeves, long pants. a neck gator, big hat and sun gloves, and covered with sunscreen. In the last couple of years, I've had 5 spots taken out and three of them were melanoma. So I know how important it is. Even if I look goofy, I don't have much of a choice. Luckily mine were not that deep either. 2 were on the surface and the other was a bit invasive, but they were confident it will be fine. Just got word a friend of mine was diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma. She's going thru chemo and radiation as we speak! So for us outdoors types, we really need to take precautions.

Any of you Niangua guys know how the crappie are doing right now. Coming down for the weekend, I was down all last week and we caught plenty, but they were still deeper than expected. Males were still not consistantly on the banks. Hoping that will change.

What has happened to the White Bass at LOZ over the years. 10-20 yrs ago they were so abundant. You could go out most days, especially early spring and fall and just follow the jumps. I think last year, I only saw a couple of jumps and they didn't last very long. I can remember fall fishing on the Big Niangua and boats sitting on humps waiting for the big runs. Now, I don't see that many fishing for them. We used to throw nets and catch our shad and use them for bait. I don't think I would know how to throw a cast net anymore. The only way we caught them last fall, was trolling crankbaits and jigs. We did catch a few, but no where near what we did in the past. Don't know what has changed.

I was down all this past week on the BN. It was tough, but you could catch fish. Up until yesterday, you had to fish out from the banks anywhere from 5-7 ft deep in 10-15 feet of water. It was pretty breezy all week long, but the fish seemed to like a slow drop from the 32nd oz jig rather than a 16th or 8th oz jig. Color didn't seem to be much of a factor. Caught fish a variety of ways, larger fish from dock shooting, or fishing right up next to docks in the shaded areas. Cloudy days fish were scattered. We caught good fish everyday, but not as many as we should for this time of year. On Saturday, the fish acted like they wanted to move up in the shallows, but it was inconsistant. Males are getting darker, so I'd say they'll be on the next couple of weeks. The females I cleaned, the eggs were still very bloody, especially the black females.

Update this morning. Crappie are winning this game right now. Haven't found a pattern. Did catch a 14" hog female, and a couple approaching 12 inches. But it was very slim. A few of the white males showed signs of getting dark, so it shouldn't be long before they are all over the banks. Water temps were 59 by Bridal Cave, and 60 by my condo.

a guy at our condos said he found water in the Big Niangua in the mid to high 50's. He mainly a bass chaser, but he told me people have been doing pretty good, sides and backs of docks and moving close to the bank. Smaller white males for the most part. Fairly shallow and near large sunken logs. He also said they are starting to move into their normal spawing locations. He says its hit or miss on the white bass. But they are starting to come around. He did catch a couple of eyes while throwing crankbaits. I would imagine by mid-week, water tems will be in the high 50's to the low 60's.. Plus there's a full moon. Sharpen your filet knife!

I'll be down for a whole week starting tonight. Going to be a lot of fish swimming around with sore lips after I get done with them. I keep a few though. Appears to be fairly stable weather for the upcoming week, so thats good. If ya see the Ranger RT188 poachin in your waters, don't shoot!

the one bad thing about playoff hockey,,,,, it can last till the wee hrs of the night, or morning. At least the outcome was good.

I would have embellished that story of a 10" crappie to a 18" crappie.

It was nice that you got to test ride the model. I think what actually sold me was the stability of the boat in comparison to other aluminums. I bought it for that reason. My old Fisher, while a good boat for me, if the person on the back moved suddenly, you knew it up front. Yeah I was surprised I got it up to 50 mph, not for long, and I doubt I'll ever run her that hard, I think they said 47 would probably top speed. And, I'm not 100% sure! but I do think it is on hole #2. When I get back to the lake this weekend I'll check, and if it's any different, I'll let you know. I'm real happy with the merc 4 stroke. I originally wanted the etec, but the dealer said they would have to mount the oil reservoir in one of the front storage compartments, so that was a deal breaker. They really sat me down, a discussed what I expected, and said I would be happier with the merc 4 stroke or Yamaha. They sell all three, mercury, evinrude, and Yamaha.

One thing that I wouldn't waste my money on, but my wife insisted, was a passenger console. I don't think it cuts the wind that much. I still see her crouching real low to get out of the wind. Although it does have a nice storage box for small things like phones and paperwork and other odds n ends. But if it wasn't for her insistance, I would not have gotten it.

just a note for you. I've had my RT188 for a month now. As far as an aluminum boats go, Its the best riding one I've owned (and older 16' Lowe, forgot model, & fisher Marshhawk 170), or that I've ridden in. And I've ridden in some of the models mentioned. I thought it cut through wakes pretty good.. I owned a Stratos Fish n Ski 19' fiberglass and it beat the heck out of you. I agree what you are saying about the controls, it was a little weird at first, but haven't really thought about it since I read your post. Not really an issue with me. And being short, an adjustable drivers seat would be nice. I would even like the bow seat a little closer to the foot pedel on the trolling motor. Fishability is fantastic. I've had myself, my son-in-law and an 85lb lab up front and you wouldn't even know it. I bought an 80lb thrust MK Fortrex and that thing is a beast. I would recommend that motor to anyone. Love the storage I haven't had any problem with porposing. I got a 115 Merc 4 stroke with a 19p SS Solus Prop. Does the job I need. I'm not much of a speed demon. In fact I've only had it WOT a couple of times. I'm content with running around 4500 rpms max. One of the times I did open it up, it was just me and less than a half a tank of gas, and I did hit 50mph on the gps. I think it was around 6000 rpms. So it did a bit more than the dealer said it would. I didn't make any sharp turns at that speed, so I can't really comment on that. I bought the 4 stroke for 3 reasons, one, its very quiet. Two, easy to maintain, and three it will get down a troll really slow. To me, it does have a different feel than any other aluminum boat I've had the chance to ride in. Now it doesn't compare to large glass bass boats. It's still aluminum, so you really can't compare them. Although I do like this ride better than my old glass fish n ski. Wind still effect the boat while fishing, but the 80lb Fortrex sure makes it better. I priced 3 different boats and rigged the same way, and it was insignificant, the price difference, and the Ranger wasn't the highest.

That is a memorable day!

My condo is within sight, just south of the bridge on the Niangua, and it was pretty dirty all through out there.. On saturday I had to get just North of Bridal Cave to get into some better water, and on Sunday had to go almost to Larry Gale. Sunday afternoon, the wife and I took a walk in HaHa Tonka park and that cove was nice and clear. But you could see the change if you looked out towards the Niangua channel. Water temps was in the low 50's. The lake must have raised a little on Saturday night, because Sunday saw some junk floatin around. I guess the closest weigh in site was Red Oak from where I'm at. He travelled quiet a ways. But he should have money to fill his tank now!

Where does 54 cross the Gravois?

where's Barnes

might be some logs and sticks in the water, so be careful. I'm going back down tonight also.

heard it was 656.xx