Bluebasser86

I've been on Lake of the Ozarks several times in my 16' aluminum with a 60hp, and my old 15' Cajun with a 50hp. I always went when it was cold so the boat traffic wasn't bad and tried not to stray too far from the launch and never had any problems.

Might try one of the pull pins that Do-it makes for their slip jig, which is what they call the mold for those sinkers. https://www.barlowstackle.com/Do-It-Slip-Jig-Lure-Mold-P287.aspx https://www.barlowstackle.com/Pull-Pins-P363.aspx I wire tie my skirts onto them, it's a nice rig that I should fish more than I do because it always does well when I remember to use it.

I was thinking oil. Gallon of boat oil with tax is right at about $50 for me.

That's usually what they are here too. Occasionally they'll dip into the high 30's, but they'll still bite even then.

I've looked all over the internet and can't seem to locate 2 parts that I need for a Helios HS-273VA. I need part 53, listed as "gear metal" part number 5K093607 and part 74, "nut", part number 5K181803. The threads on one or the other on my reel are damaged and will no longer hold the handle in place so I'm going to try to replace them and see if that fixes the problem. I've found a couple other reels that are the same from overseas, but can't find anywhere to order parts for them either. Any help or anyone know where to order the parts would be greatly appreciated. I already sent it to Okuma once but all they did was tighten it down and send it back, but that was only good for a couple fish before the handle pulled loose again.

Sorry to hear that.

Welcome!

I'm afraid that might just be about the end of that reel. If it needs any repairs it's going to be more expensive to fix than it would be to buy a new one.

10lb Big Game works well unless you're really ripping through the grass a lot.

The bluegill is a neat bait, but it's very small. It does get bit, but was much smaller than I'd anticipated.

I make my own. I really like the football mold with the flat top head, recessed line tie, and wire keeper.

With the power plant lakes I fish, they might want a plastic drug on the bottom, or they might want a topwater, hard to guess from day to day. My most consistently productive baits are a RES, jerkbait, swinging football head with a beaver, shakyhead, bladed jig, and a Ned rig.

My last boat was a pretty similar sized boat with a 60hp 4 stroke on it. I wish I could have kept it but it had to go so that I could afford the one I have now. I hate pulling my bass boat to some of the little lakes with nasty dirt roads and nasty water, and there's no way I'm putting my bass boat on any of the rivers. That's where this boat will come in handy. I took the boat off the trailer today and started grinding on the trailer rust. Got about 5 minutes into it before a wisp of smoke came out of the angle grinder and it stopped First time it had ever been used too. hopefully be able to trade it in and the replacement will last at least 10 minutes I got a lot of rust to knock off, but going to do it right the first time and hopefully have a good little boat and trailer for years to come. Hoping one or both of my boys will get interested in fishing and I'll have a little boat they can use when they get to that age.

I modified a swinging poison head mold so that I can pour direct connect bladed jigs. They're kind of a pain to pour but I make it work.

That edge of the ice pattern is something I've noticed a few times before in ponds and small lakes. Not sure if it filters the sunlight or why they do that, but it's happened too many times to me to just be a coincidence.

The spots that are in the lakes I fish tend to hold in much deeper water than largemouth do during the winter. They really like to suspend and follow the balls of shad around. Swimming a grub, A-rigs, jigging spoons, jigging Raps, and drop shots are popular ways to get to them when they're deep, but it's hard to beat a suspending jerkbait during a warm front when they'll move shallower.

I have a Garmin Virb Elite that I have in a suction mount that I put on my boats windshield. What limited editing I do, I use Movavi. I pretty much just cut the clips down to the catches and combine them without any music or added effects.

As long as someone has an empty seat for you. Don't want anyone driving there and not having a boat for them to hop into.

Not the kind of trout I was expecting.

I have the plus with the shallow spool in it like @j_blaze14 mentioned. It pitches 1/8oz jig with a small trailer very well for a budget reel. Haven't used it for the baits you mentioned, but I landed an 8+ pound wiper with it this fall without any issues.

I use KastKing Super Power on mine. You can get 150 yards on Ebay for under $5.

Picked up a new duck/river/small lake rig for next to nothing Monday. Going to be a fun winter project.

Got my package from @slonezp. A couple 3700 trays that you can never have enough of, a pliers/scissors kit that went straight into my kayak bag so I can get rid of the rusty multi-tool I'm cussing every time I have to try to use them, and a pack each of YUM Dingers and PitBosses, neither of which you can ever have too many of. Sorry for the not so great picture, it was the only one I took before I had the boxes filled up the pliers/scissors stowed away. Thank you slonezp!

Merry Christmas to everyone! Excited that it just happens to fall on my days off this year so I won't be working and get to enjoy the full on excitement of our boys Monday morning