senile1

I've thought about doing something like this with my 10 foot jon boat as well. However, I bought a bass tracker 1032 because it only weighs 87 lbs and I have one lake I fish where I have to carry it up a steep rocky embankment over my shoulder. If I do this it will definitely add some weight to the boat and I may not be able to go to this particular lake any more.

That's a very nice fish no matter the weight! Congratulations!

This is right in my wheelhouse but I already have PTO planned for April 29th - May 4th to go to Table Rock with my wife. We do a Spring and Fall trip every year. It will be pretty difficult for me to get off the previous week also with the PTO I already have planned for 2018. I wish this had been posted a month ago. Blue, those are some nice fish. Table Rock is a great place for the trip. We went at the beginning of May last year after a big rain and cold front. (At least that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it. ) The fish had backed out to 20 - 30 feet off of points and ledges. We caught quite a few, but nothing as large as what you caught. Just to sweeten the pot a bit for those considering going, here's some pics from our Spring trip last year.

Catching that many hawgs in such a short time is just nuts! Congratulations on the new PB!

It looks like you had a great day on the water!

That's a very nice fish. Congratulations!

The deepest water in this lake is between 25 and 30 feet. I was fishing the jig on the bottom in 17 - 22 feet of water among groups of trees that were closest to the deepest water. I would toss it out, let it sink straight to the bottom before engaging the reel, and then let it sit for 10 - 20 seconds. Then I would drag it slightly, let it sit some more, and so on. Both of these fish were sitting in the middle of groups of trees and brush on bottom. Sometimes I would have to drag the jig over limbs that were quite a few feet off the bottom, disengage the reel once it was over the limb, and let it fall straight down again to the bottom.

It's simple addition: 4 hours of free time + 42 degree water + nominally clear turbidity + Siebert Finesse jig + Cosmic Chunk trailer = chunky largemouths. First Pic: 4 lb 9 oz Second Pic: 5 lb 11 oz

Below is the Kansas City Star report from a guide at Stockton for October 12th but it is not a lot of information. I haven't been there in a few years but it is a beautiful lake. STOCKTON: 72 degrees, clear, 2 feet low. Outlook: Stockton Lake Guide Service reports: Crappies fair on minnows over brush piles in 10 to 18 feet of water; walleyes fair to good on jigs and nightcrawlers on flats; catfish fair to good on fresh shad drifted across the flats in 5 to 20 feet of water; black bass fair on spinnerbaits in 6 to 8 feet of water.

Bravo, Glenn! It was a nice video and enjoyable to watch.

I have to agree. I rarely find anything that I haven't learned before in magazines. I have enjoyed a number of them over the years and they can be handy if one is a newbie, or has been away from fishing for a while.

Missouri clear water in the Kansas City area is similar to what Blue described above. If you can see 3 feet that's pretty clear water. On the other hand, I fish Table Rock in Southern Missouri approximately 8 - 10 days a year and 30 feet of visibility on the lower end of the lake is not uncommon.

Wow! That is a nice fish for such a small body of water. Unless there is some type of deep hole in that thing, in the winter it would freeze top to bottom where I live.

Further away, the White Mountains in New Hampshire are not that far from you and provide excellent multi-day hiking opportunities with some of the higher peaks on the AT. Check out sites like www.4000footers.com, www.summitpost.org, www.hikenewengland.com, and www.alltrails.com for good, detailed information about the trails, places to camp or lodge, etc. Even further away, Glacier National Park is one of the most majestic places to do multi-day hikes. Check it out on http://www.hikinginglacier.com and www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/hikingthetrails.htm. (At Glacier, be aware that there are Grizzly bears and plan accordingly.)

Palaniuk has impressed me since he first started in Elite competition and I suspected we would see big things from him. Congratulations to him on a most excellent year!

I do agree that some anglers always need an excuse of some sort, but it seems like most of us on here are always out-fishing our buddies. Do any of you ever end up on the short end of the stick?

Everything that I read states that the Gasconade is the best river in Missouri for trophy smallmouth. It also has great numbers. It has almost 300 miles of water so you will want to read up on it before you choose your spot. The special management area in Phelps and Pulaski counties is where I would probably put in. It is quite a drive from KC though.

Most of the science indicates that bass can be conditioned to being fed, lures, etc., though it would be nice if there were more in-depth studies. How long the conditioning lasts is up for debate. And like any other population of organisms, the ability to be conditioned would map to some kind of bell curve with some individuals at the high end that will never bite a lure, and some individuals at the low end that will bite the same lure over and over. But as a statement for the general population, bass do have the ability to become conditioned. A perfect example of conditioning of fish is the way they learn to gather near an automatic fish feeder at the time and place when the feeding occurs.

Electrical tape works great. Alcohol or any reel cleaning solvent will remove any residue.

Congratulations! That's a beauty!

Line guide pawls wear out periodically and are pretty inexpensive parts to keep around if you use a particular model for quite a few years. Buy a few to have them handy for the next time.

I suspected as much. Lots of branches could definitely favor the arky.

You didn't mention this, but maybe you already have it covered. If the lake is filled with acres of timber and you aren't familiar with its bottom contours, my first concern would be to find the timber that holds fish. You can spend all day fishing timber that is not associated to forage and suitable bass structure and essentially strike out. Other than replacing the arky jig with a Siebert brush jig and craw, my choices would be the same.

Congratulations on the nice looking smallies!

Your wife is snagging some big ones. Congratulations!