Bluebasser86

The last couple years I've done very well with a 1/16 oz chatterbait with half a trout worm on the back of it. Little Cleos, Slender spoons, and Super Duper spoons do really well too. A micro jig under a bobber or casting bubble can be deadly too.

Me too! I'll probably wander down to La Cygne on Tuesday to test the waters. Supposed to be pretty windy but it is in Kansas so what else can you expect? :

If you're set on it I'd at least try to talk them down quite a bit. A guy I used to fish with had a Johnson motor close to the same year/model as that one and even taking good care of it seemed like he had a lot of problems with it. Doesn't mean this one will be the same. I made what I consider a big mistake by not waiting and saving my money for a new boat. Instead I bought a 1992 Ranger with a 150 Mercury on it for 4,000. After putting over 2,000 into it I sold it the next year and used that money on a down payment for the boat I currently have. I didn't go buy a brand new Ranger or anything but my Lowe has more fish brought into it throughout the year than most 40k dollar bass boats. Plus it's lighter and easier to tow and the smaller 4 stroke motor does better on gas. Still a legal boat for any tournaments I've ever seen and much more affordable. 4k sounded cheap when I bought that Ranger several years ago, until I started having to fix it everytime I took it out .

Thread a piece of mono up from the bottom of the weight then thread it back through making a loop. Put your braid through the loop and use the mono to pull the braid through. The trick is finding a thin enough mono to fit through the hole doubled over, but strong enough to pull the snug fitting doubled over line through the hole .

I grabbed one when they first came out and have done pretty well with it. They take a beating pretty well, most of the fish I've caught on mine has been grinding it through rocks.

I usually fish lakes and don't have to worry much about hitting anything. I look at some reviews last night and it does make sense that if your prop folds or breaks it might save expensive repairs to the motor so I'll probably just get an aluminum prop and maybe a comprop as an emergency spare, thanks guys!

Last weekend I tore up my prop on a big rock or something in the river bad enough that it has to be replaced. The motor is an '06 Mercury 60hp 4 stroke. I'm thinking about trying a 4 bladed stainless steel prop but I though I'd see if anyone else had any thoughts on it or any suggestions on what they would do different?

I had one eat a jerkbait a few years ago. Hit it on the pause just like a bass. I got my bait back and he ate his last jerkbait .

Spent Monday and Tuesday on Lake Taneycomo in Branson, Mo. Cold and rainy on Monday but we caught a bunch of fish once we figured out where they were. Nothing big but they were fun on ultralights and flyrods! One of my first ones when we found the hotspot was a really pretty fish. My buddy was catching them on spoons and I was catching them on spoons, small chatterbaits, micro jigs, flys, and one on a jerkbait. He got in on the action pretty quick when we found them too. We were going to fish Table Rock Tuesday but on the was in Monday my prop got in a fight with a big rock and lost :'(. We ended up just fishing Taneycomo both days so we could limp out to our spot and back in without much trouble. The lodge we stayed at has an underwater camera rigged up to a screen inside the fish cleaning station, wow there is some monsters that live under there eating pieces of the trout you're cleaning! Too bad they don't let you fish under the dock or in the boat slips!

That's true with straight copolymers, but P-line makes a couple that are fluorocarbon coated that don't work very well so make sure you get the right one!

That is a rough day. Seems like when one thing goes wrong everything goes wrong and it sounds like everything went wrong for you!

Did you put a bunch of lead in it? I know balsa floats really high, I'd think it would take a ton of lead to make that thing sink.

Being less than an hour from 1 powerplant and just over an hour from another I never stop fishing soft water even when everything else has enough ice to walk on! ;D

If you have a neighborhood association you might be able to get them to make a rule to protect the lake. Otherwise check with you state regs, they might have to follow state regulations on length/size limits and that could at least curb the numbers they could keep. Good news is, crappie grow pretty quickly and they can overpopulate very quickly so taking some out is probably a good thing. However, I don't think they're going to hurt the bass population. I'm sure they eat a lot of bass fry but they'll eat a lot of their own fry and so will the bass. If there are other people in the neighborhood that fish you might try to get them to sign a petition to get a rule in place, could only help your cause.

Thanks for taking the time to find that lightsout! I did it to two of my older 200B's and it made a huge difference! Saved me 25 bucks a reel doing it myself!

Nice pictures, I love that exciting time sitting in the boat right before take off! Can't wait for warmer weather to fish a few tournaments!

Dang I'd love to have a place I could even have a chance to catch a fish like that close by! Good job!

I'd have to drink so much coffee I'd be doing this . Seriously though I used to sleep in the cab of my truck at the ramp the night of a tournament. You don't have to pay for a camping spot and you don't need an alarm because everyone showing up for the tournament should wake you up. I fished buddy tournaments for a year and my partner and I used to trade off, one of us sleeping in the cab, the other slept in the bed of the truck. Sucks if it's cold but it doesn't cost anything and you don't have to worry about anyone messing with your boat. ;D

My parents have pictures of me sitting on the bank in a diaper holding a fishing pole before my first birthday. My suggestion is to find a small pond with lots of bluegills or sunfish, they don't have to be big. Get yourself a couple cane poles or spincast combos and some nightcrawlers and let them watch a bobber. I would suggest not even bringing a rod for yourself. When they want to leave, leave. It's about introducing them to the sport that you love so much in hopes they can find the same enjoyment from it. After awhile you can start to teach them how to tie a hook on, bait their hook, cast, and unhook their fish. Then you can start to think about bringing your own stuff and fishing a little bit, but remember it's about them having fun. Don't forget plenty of snacks and drinks. It's a good chance for you to get back to the roots of fishing and just enjoy being on the water!

Shellcrackers or redear sunfish as we call them around here seem to get bigger more often than bluegills. I had one follow a deep running crankbait to the boat last year that had to go over 2 pounds. I've caught a couple over 10" out of that lake so I'm not surprised to see it. One of our powerplant lakes has a 14" 2 fish limit on crappie and you can regularly catch keepers out of it.

X2 on those suggestions. I might add a slow fished jig or shakeyhead. I wouldn't even bother if the water is cold and muddy, you have to hit them on the head to get a bite in those conditions.

Well I got out on Monday with a friend to try one of the powerplant lakes. Pulled up to the first spot, a flat point with the wind coming across it and birds diving all over. My friends first cast he doubled on white bass. We caught over 20 fish off that point on rattlebaits and swimbaits before we stopped counting, largemouth and whites. The wind slowed down so we jumped across to some riprap and started smacking the largemouth on spinnerbaits. Nothing huge, my biggest was this one at 3 1/2 pounds. Caught a few big crappies later, up to 13 1/2 inches but no pictures of them. I lost a 3 1/2-4 pound smallmouth on a scrounger head and bass magic swimbait :'(. She was coming straight at the boat and I just couldn't keep up with her when she jumped and threw my bait back at me. Never did feel as warm as it was supposed to be but we were catching fish so I'm not complaining ;D.

It would be great to have a link to this. I'd like to give it a shot. X2! I've got a couple Curados and Citicas that don't cast like they used to that I'd like to flush the bearings to see how much it would help but I'd have no idea where to start!

If it's forcast above 15 I don't bother going to Wolf Creek. They will more than likely page you off the lake when it gets to 15 or above even though it says 20mph during the winter. It's not as bad if it's from the west or east but if it's from the north or south don't even try. I have never seen a lake get as rough as that lake does with almost no wind. Since it runs north to south and it's so flat around it the wind has nothing to slow it down. You could still try La Cygne but they haven't been generating much so that water isn't as warm as it normally is but the water is soft and better than sitting at home! ;D

Are sturgeon any good to eat? I catch small shovelnose sturgeon fishing cut shad for catfish in the river here sometimes but I couldn't imagine eating one being any good. I'm also hoping for some good luck tomorrow. First time in a month the weather has been out of the teens on my days off so I'm going to go catch some fish! I'm predicting some chunky largemouth and scrappy white bass. Probably catch some big 'ol pappermouths too! ;D Good luck to you Fish Chris!