senile1

Well, I got a few decent fish yesterday with one that was probably around 6 lbs but when I whipped out the scale it was dead. I did get a picture and posted it in the "My Fishing Trip" forum. See the thread below. With the Missouri largemouth record at 13 lbs 14 oz I would have still been below 50 percent so I wouldn't be in the hunt for the win. Looks like there have been some 60 - 65 percent catches so we have our work cut out for us. I still have a month and a half and I replaced the battery in my scale today. Whoopee!

This wasn't Mozingo. Mozingo is over 1000 acres and I do love that lake. This is Bilby Ranch Lake west of Maryville. The quality of the fish in this lake is very good. I never get a lot of numbers there but the fish are always solid. Maryville really has some good fishing with these two lakes in close proximity.

I went fishing today at a lake up near Maryville, MO two hours from my home. Within an hour my trolling motor encountered some discarded fishing line that got inside the prop. When I pulled the prop to remove the line I noticed my shear pin was bent badly and the plastic slots where it engages the prop were damaged so my trolling motor prop could not spin without much slippage. Normally, I carry an extra trolling motor prop and shear pin but, unfortunately for me, this was one of those times when I failed to be prepared and did not have them with me. I tried to straighten the pin with two pair of vise grips but it broke in two. I was in a spawning cove with stumps and laydowns so I had to push myself into a clear area with a paddle and then use my outboard motor to get back to the launch ramp. This shouldn't have been a big problem except that the wind was blowing 30 to 40 miles per hour today so it took some work to get myself situated. By the time I had reached the launch ramp and pulled my boat out of the water I had lost an hour of fishing. The lake I was on is a 110 acre lake and to fish it one has to have a trolling motor, especially with the wind the way it was. Since I had already driven two hours to get there, I decided I was going to fish from the bank. To get to the spawning coves I had to walk through some hills and brush for about a half mile. I had a rod carrier with a few rods and filled one tackle bag with what I thought I would need and then I proceeded to make a path through the brush. I reached the upper end of one of the arms of the lake and started fishing. The wind was horrendous so I chose my baits accordingly. After about 45 minutes I lost one that looked pretty good on a Strike King KVD 2.5 though I would be guessing at its weight. I've read some reports on here that the hooks on these baits need to be replaced. I think so too, as I was not horsing this fish at all. I eventually caught six fish and some of them were pretty chunky. I thought the first fish I caught was four to five lbs but then I discovered that my scale would not turn on. Geez, I was starting to think I was cursed. I didn't have anything to measure the fish with either. So you'll have to take my word for it, except for this girl. I thought she was worth a picture and I'm guessing she is close to 5.5 or 6 lbs.

I'm really sorry I missed you Big-O. I was only able to drop by Saturday night and I intended on meeting you but I didn't want to interrupt your conversation. I brought some Boulevard beer, and ghoti, GMAN, and I went outside to bring it all in. By the time we returned you had left. It sounds like some nice fish were hooked. I hope to meet you at one of these events in the future. Nice post!

I enjoyed meeting all of you and I wish I could have stayed longer. My Dad and I returned from Trophy Country Tuesday evening and traveled south on I-55 as the storms were coming through. We hit a 40 mile stretch from Perryville to Benton, MO where the winds were so high the rain was blowing horizontally. My pickup was rocking like it was ready to turn over. I don't think I've ever gripped a steering wheel so tightly, but we made it safely so all is well. We caught plenty of fish at Trophy Country though nothing was bigger than 4 lbs.

Hey, I just wanted to tell the Saturday evening revelers that I am looking forward to meeting you all. I'll be leaving KC in the morning and meeting Dan Timpe (Daniel My Brother) at some strip pits in Illinois for a few hours of fishing. Then I'll be on my way down to Kentucky Lake to meet all of you. I'm really looking forward to it. Ed/senile1

The answer is yes.

Welcome to the community, Sean.

Shades of Buck Perry.

You mention the flex and sensitivity of the Ugly Stick. An Ugly Stick is more flexible than anything else out there, but that is one of the reasons why they are much less sensitive. Stiffer fibers tend to transmit more vibrations to the anglers hand while a flexible rod tends to absorb more vibration.

Spinnerbaits, lipless cranks, shallow cranks, buzzbaits, chatterbaits or any other bait that makes a lot of commotion or that shows some flash. I used a Strike King 2.5 silent crankbait, a rat'l'trap, and a spinnerbait on Saturday in a very strong wind. All were catching fish but the Strike King crank was king for the day. Action was fast and furious casting to the leeward bank. The fish were stacked up.

Just looking at the map for April 7th - 13th this looks pretty accurate for my area.

I've seen spawning start as early as mid-April during warmer Spring times and as late as the second or third week in May during colder Spring times. Generally, we are looking at late April to early May on 7150 acre Smithville Lake north of Kansas City.

Welcome to the forum. Check out the fishing articles tab at the upper left of the page. You'll find a bunch of information that will help you.

Welcome to the Bass Resource community.

Welcome to the BR community, Don. I just read the first column and enjoyed it immensely.

Welcome.

Welcome to the BR community.

Welcome to the forum.

It's the same for me, Shirley. My boat and trailer are from the year 2000. I never realized they were using 50 weight oil to lubricate the bearings in some of the new trailers. It actually sounds like a much cleaner way to keep them lubricated than having to pack them at regular intervals.

I purchased some of the 1.5s and 2.5s in the gizzard shad and sexy shad colors well before the Bassmaster Classic. I just wanted to try them out because I wanted to add to my collection of silent crankbaits. It's just now getting warm enough and the bass shallow enough for me to give them a try. KVD's Classic win was a great marketing tool for these baits. As much as I can recall, I have never bought a bait because it was used by a big-name angler or because it was used in winning a big-name tournament.

This thread was "pinned" early on and I hadn't noticed that it was still so active until today. Paul, it's good to see you back and posting. I really appreciate your in-depth knowledge of fish behavior.

Welcome to the forum, Tony.

Glad you could join us. Welcome.

Welcome to Bass Resource.