Fishing Report

[Phil Lilley]

Bill (Babler), Bill (Beck) and I put in at 6:30 this morning to the tune of 15 degrees at the ramp.

Why were we doing this again?

Ran to the rock pile below the dam (Powersite) and Babler's first cast with his stick bait he hooked a walleye. I didn't even have a jig on... Beck was trying to free his bait from his rod. Not sure if the trolling motor was in the water. Babler caught the first and only hungry walleye off that pile of rocks. The old first cast fish curse bit us.

Babler did catch another black bass on the dam side of the pile. Couple of other swipes. Nothing on a jig or swimming minnow. We were surprised, even though skies were clear and no wind. We were there early enough.

We fished the west bank down to the swing - no bites. Couple of guys on the bank said they were there before dawn and they had one walleye.

Boated down below Barker and - again - first cast, both Bill's caught a bass a piece. Nothing else on that bank.

Beck noticed hydrolic fluid leaking from Babler's steering housing. Upon closer observation, it was dripping pretty good and if we'd run out the boat's steering would have locked up so we headed in. 9:00 am.

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Video should be online shortly.

[denjac]

I have a good dependable boat that I would sell Bill if he needs one! Never mind I changed my mind.

[Phil Lilley]

He was asking about a Stratos on the drive back I believe.

[Bill Babler]

Had that Stratos "Knock on Wood" for 3 yrs. and nothing ever broke. Had this one for 6 months, with a full week of guide business booked starting tomorrow, and it breaks down with the only part to fix it coming out of Florida.

Thats life.

The front of the boat deck, was solid Ice. I still have a frozen forehead. That was as cold as I have ever fished. Some good advice would be do not fish if it is below 20 degrees.

[Sam]

Boy, things happen, don't they?

Looking forward to the nice weather today, I got everything ready last night. I didn't want to freeze early in the morning, so I waited until about 8:30 before leaving Ozark, heading for K Dock. Everything was fine until my truck started to miss, bad, on the upgrades after I got off Hwy. 65.

It kept getting worse, and I didn't know if I could make it to Forsyth. You don't notice how that highway doesn't have shoulders or anyplace to get off the road in lots of places, until you think your truck is going to quit entirely any minute.

I made it to Forsyth, and knew I couldn't go any further and I sure couldn't get my boat home. I stopped where Ken (Forsythian) works and asked him where I should take my truck around there. He suggested Carls Auto Repair, and he was right - they're nice folks and they did a great job. Thanks, Forsythian.

Long story short, after a LONG day of computer tests, fuel pressure tests, road tests, and my truck getting worked on between other customers who had appointments, I got home about 5 p.m. with my rig and a new fuel filter, distributor, coil, and rotor. $300+, but my truck runs great and at least I didn't get stuck out on the highway and it didn't happen in the middle of the night. That was my fishing trip - I didn't get to wet a line!

[powerdive]

Wow, sorry to hear that, Sam. Better luck next time. All I can say is, better you than me!

Why do even U.S. highways have no shoulders down here?????

[freelancer 11]

So Bill are you saying that you like the Stratos better than the Champion? That was a nice Stratos you sold.

[Bill Babler]

Sam, yesterday must have been the BUGGA-BO day. Nother buddy had problems getting on the water also. For us, it was just to cold. That equipment really does not work well in the mid-teens. For that matter, nither do we. I did catch a nice walleye and two very nice bass on our short stint, all were released and it is always such a gas to fish with Beck and Phil.

That part on the video when Beck said when the fish Bit, it kind of scared him, was really funny. Not to mention my rod sliding off the frozen front deck into the drink. I had a hold on the line however, or we would still be there dragging for it. After it went in, it threw way better. The surface temp was 43 and the air temp 15. The fish felt warm when you would take them out of the water.

I believe it was tough anyway yesterday. Spoke to a couple of the guides from the dam area of the Rock, and they were struggling big time.

As far as the boats, really no compairison, the Stratos was hands down better. Of course you must remember that boat cost about $15,000.00 more new than the Champ I am running. My champ is a 19 footer. That Stratos, is close to 21 ft. with all the bells and whistles. The Stratos would compair more favorable with Becks 21 foot Champ, than to my 19 footer.

They are both, very nice fishing boats. The SeaStar Hydro Steering Pump when out yesterday, and I don't guess you can blame that on either the boat or the motor. Problem is the repair pump, comes from Florida, and that takes time.

[Sam]

Bill, I'm sorry you had that trouble with your boat. I hope the part comes quick and you get things back together with little delay or expense. Yesterday must have been the bugaboo day alright - maybe sunspots or the phase of the moon, or something.

powerdive - it drives me crazy, too, that there's no shoulder on lots of the roads around here. It not only makes it dangerous to pull over if you've got car trouble, but I'd like to walk or ride a bike more for exercise. I'm not doing that out in the traffic lanes, though.

Up where you're from it's flat and the ground is actually dirt. They can make wide safety shoulders on the roads with a couple of passes of a road grader. Lots of places around here, they'd have to blast those shoulders out of a bedrock mountainside or at least deal with a bunch of big rocks. That probably about doubles the cost-per-mile of building a highway, so they don't do it.

I'm already looking forward to the next fishing trip - my boat and tackle are all ready to go, and I'll get on the water yet!

[Cajunangler]

I guess I was hoping that the seastar hydraulic steering was nearly a bullit proof mechanism. My previous boats all had the cable steering and I expected them to give problems every 5-7 years. Are there any routine maintenance procedures to help ensure it running properly? Since my new Bass Cat has that system I need to learn about it. Thanks.