senile1

It sounds like the cables aren't routed correctly. I successfully replaced broken cables on my old Minn Kota Maxxum last Autumn. Before doing so, I watched a YouTube video to make sure I was properly routing them. I suggest finding a video for the Edge. They may route the same as the Maxxum but you should confirm this.

Those are some beautiful smallies. Congratulations on the PB!

Sweet! Those fit perfectly.

The head and mouth on that thing is huge! With some eggs in her, that would be a monstrous fish.

You are slaying them! Nice work!

Thanks for the post @A-Jay. This subject definitely bears repeating.

Same with me. The water is muddy, choppy, or stained enough that I can't see them the vast majority of the time. I do know when I am casting to areas that could very well be spawning areas just like you. So you could say we are fishing beds, but not one specific bed.

These days occur once in a great while but are surely a bummer when they do. Better days are ahead, right? ?

Ninety sounds low to me, but I have read of older motors running that low as long as all the cylinders were similar; however, I suspect those motors were not designed to run at relatively high compression ratios. You should do some research on the motors you are looking at and find what the expected compression of each is when new. While I agree that Ficht motors had issues, there were recall fixes, and if you do your homework you may find a really good motor for a low price. Then again, you may not want to spend the time on it. I bought my 2000 boat and motor used at the end of 2007 and it still runs great. If you find one of these with the recall work done you can get a good motor, and since they had problems the resale value will probably be lower giving you a better price. The quote below is from a post I made in 2009 about the Fichts with the small injector flange bolts that had to be recalled. (The original bolts mentioned may have been 3/8ths rather than the 1/4 I stated in the post, but the 1/2 inch are the recall items. I think there were also a couple of minor recalls around 2003 - 2004 for bolts that were too long, but those were related to Ficht motors other than the one I own.)

I went fishing at a lake an hour north of my home yesterday. The lake was inundated with rain the day before, water levels were up, and the water was muddy. I spent 2.5 hours seeking a bite with different techniques and lures to no avail, so I made a decision to move to one of my "spots" closer to the dam where the water was relatively clearer. At this location there is a small shelf with trees and brush that extends about 10 feet from the bank and then drops into 25 feet of water. After 30 minutes of casting a jig and craw, on one of my casts I felt a slight vibration and saw my line move ever so slightly. I set the hook and the fish immediately came up and her front half came out of the water. Oh boy . . . . big head and mouth. This looks good. At the same time the wind was turning one end of my tin boat, which was anchored, into some brush. I was noticing the brush and didn't realize I made a beginner's mistake, reeling up way too close to the tip of my rod. That's when the fish decided to jump again and then . . . . bye bye. She was gone. I knew she had to be in the 5 lb plus range and was feeling somewhat sick and angry at myself for being so freaking stupid. I sat down and pondered what had just happened, and where I had just hooked this fish - on the shelf with a stump and some laydowns laying near it. I made mental notes and started casting to areas on the shelf that were similar. Approximately 15 minutes later I made a pitch to similar cover and felt a similar bite. I set the hook and the fight was on. This one jumped early in the fight too so I knew I had another big one. Eventually, she tired and I pulled her close to the boat and lipped her. After a quick weigh and length measurement - 6lb 4 oz and 22 inches respectively - I took a pic and sent her on her way. I sat and thought about the events that had just happened and was happy that I was able to get my mind back in the game after losing the first big fish. I would have much rather had both big fish in the boat, but I wouldn't have had any big fish to talk about if I had let the first one drag me into negative thinking.

Interesting. I haven't been to Smithville since Thursday so we will see how it is next time.

Beautiful smallie! The crappie are a different story up at Smithville. I have been out there with my grandkids and my wife over the last couple of weeks. The unstable weather has kept the water temperature around 58 to 59 degrees except for really sunny warm days where the top layer will hit 61 or so at selected spots. Smithville is 7150 acres so maybe it hasn't warmed as quickly as the lakes you are on? We have had three big days in that two weeks where we limited out on fish that appeared to be moving to the bank and were at a stopping point on the way there. The rest of the time the fish have been scattered and deeper. I expect the consistent warm days next week will result in them fully committing to the spawn.

I caught this 6 lb 4 oz largemouth laden with eggs today on a jig and Rage Tail Craw. Approximately 15 minutes before I caught her I lost one that was pretty close to the same size. I was feeling pretty sick about it because I got a good look at her before she came off. This one helped cure my depression. ?

Just now saw this. That is a heck of a bag, and if this is in your home state of Nebraska you and your buddy probably have one of the bigger bags for that state. Amazing! Congratulations to you!

@Team9nine describes it in a concise and elegant way. Quarries are an oddball among the bodies of water. There are some where all banks drop straight off to very deep water. There are some where there might be a shallow end that drops into the deep end and the deep bank drops off precipitously. There are others that aren't that deep at all. There are older quarries that are dug in any number of ways not mentioned. Pits are similar. They are all different based on why they were dug, what materials were extracted from them, and what machinery was used to dig them.

Paul, is it possible you are referring to fishfordollars (Jack)? Jack was from Texas and a great contributing member, but I don't think he was a mod. I could be wrong though.

I don't see myself as a "naturally gifted angler" that has been able to learn and put things together quicker than most on the water. My improvements have mostly come as a number of little light bulbs here and there, and not just in one year of fishing. I think "scouting" has been the biggest bulb to come on for me. When I learned to graph more and fish less, things improved quite noticeably. However, previous to this particular instance of illumination I had many smaller light bulbs come on and two in particular would be learning seasonal behavior and how it relates to structure and forage. Without those smaller bulbs I wouldn't have known where to start graphing. Additionally, other much smaller bulbs seemed to click such as when I became proficient with a jig, or when I learned some finesse techniques that subtracted a number of fishless and near fishless days from my calendar. It is a journey on which I never want to think I have arrived, because if I keep my mind open I hope to continue to have light bulb moments.

That is unfortunate. I think fishing can be one of the few activities that we can do and remain fairly safe. I hope they don't close any other lake facilities at the other large lakes in our state.

I am not sure what is going on there. Per this article from March 17th, ramps and day use areas will remain open at Mark Twain. https://wgem.com/2020/03/17/mark-twain-lake-set-to-close-facilities/ Eric Prey did his Table Rock Lake report yesterday at a boat ramp and he mentioned nothing about any closings there. I see no closings shown online for any other large lakes in Missouri. I haven't ran into any issues yet. Smithville closed their public areas but the ramps are still open per this FB post. https://www.facebook.com/smithvillelake/

I have been using the same storage since 2003. The business has covered and uncovered storage. There are numerous fenced in areas that are always locked and everything is surveiled by camera. I use the uncovered storage and have a custom cover to protect my boat. I got in with a good rate that never changes. It costs me $137.50 every 6 months. Rates are quite a bit higher now. I have no issues with backing the boat into it's assigned slot. If you can back down a multi lane boat ramp when all lanes are full, you won't have any issues backing into a storage slot. You may not have much maneuvering room but if it is designed for boats and RVs you will be able to back it in.

No, I don't. As long as everything is organized I can look at the container/boat compartment that holds what I am looking for and know at a glance if I need to make a purchase.

Missouri has a Master Angler Award program if you meet certain length and minimum weight requirements. I have never made a submission to the program.

What I claimed to be the facts came directly from medical experts, not someone with a political agenda. I also stated that the figures I used are current figures, not initial figures, which means they are subject to change as all scientific observations are the more data is collected. There are, of course, people who haven't reported as there always are with any disease. But the medical community believes it is unlikely that the mortality rate will drop to anything resembling the flu. Remember, I gave a conservative mortality rate of 34 times the flu, while @J Francho made the point that it might be closer to 70 or 80 times the rate of the flu. The point is not everyone reports they have the flu either, so all mortality rates are typically lower than what is provided. But the fact that the medical community currently sees this as quite a bit more lethal makes it logical to take precautions.

I agree that the flu is lower than 0.1 percent mortality. I just used the highest figure in the range to err on the conservative side with the estimate. Thirty-four times more would be a minimum, and that is still a lot.

A lot of people compare the similarities of the flu and Covid-19. They are not similar in their mortality rates. The current mortality rate of Covid-19 is 3.4 percent. If you are over 60 years old the mortality rate is higher. The mortality rate of the flu tends to hang around 0.1 percent. With those figures, the mortality rate of Covid-19 is 34 times more than the flu, and even higher for those over 60. Those are facts, and ignoring them is misleading. Take whatever figure you have for deaths from the flu and multiply it by 34 if you want some idea of how lethal this is going to be after it spreads through the population. Taking a few precautions is the logical thing to do.