Bluebasser86

Didn't they use to have it so you could remove your prop if your motor was over the HP restrictions? I don't understand why they can't just keep it so it's no wake for boats above the HP restriction. They have to realize they're losing out on a lot of money because of it.

GJM loves him a good snake encounter, the closer they get, the better! Works out well since catching snakes is a specialty of mine and I'm always good at pointing them out when they're hanging out along the bank.

The stupid stuff that fishermen will buy I probably need one though.

Depends on the trolling motor, boat, and operator.

Being in Law Enforcement, I never will understand how lawyers justify the job they do, especially in today's world with the justice system so screwed up. I considered the fire route as well because of the strong urge to serve, but in the end I went the LEO route, it could have gone either way really though. Don't do it because someone is pressuring you into it, even if it is your brother. Do it because you want to do it and for the satisfaction of waking up and getting to go to a job that you don't hate. Serving others is a noble profession. Putting your life on the line every day, knowing it's a very real possibility that today might be the day, it's too much for a lot of people. This is going to sound dark, and it's hard for a lot of people to deal with because it touches a reality they don't like to think about, make a will and get life insurance to take care of your family if something does happen to you (I have extra benefits towards disability too in case I was injured to the point I couldn't work again). People are killed every day in fire and LE jobs (a detective was shot and killed in KC just today pursuing a suspect). A friend of mine was shot multiple times, once in the face by the guy as he stood over him and told him he'd never see his family again. He was just in the store to get a drink and something to eat on the way home in the middle of the night and just ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. You'll see things at traffic accidents and in fires that nobody should ever have to see. I've seen them, it's not something that you ever get out of your head completely. Sorry to be all "doom and gloom", but I see so many new guys that get torn apart by the mental abuse both lines of work can put you through. I figure it's better to know now so if it's something that can't be dealt with, you can pull the plug before having to go through it. A good friend of mine is a firefighter, we trade horror stories from the job, it kind of helps both of us to deal with some of the stuff. Good luck with your decision. Having the chance to do something like that with your brother sounds great. You'll make some of the best friends you could every have working a job like that. It's very rewarding when you get the chance to do something that truly does impact a persons life in a very real way.

That right there is flathead bait is what that is. One of the best fish there is to use for flatheads because they stay alive a long time on a hook, they're easy to catch, and they struggle really hard because they prefer to be under some form of cover. It's a green sunfish, no doubt. They go by many different names, but green sunfish is the only one that's right. If you put them in an aquarium, it better have a lid. I've never seen a fish that was as good at jumping out of them as those guys are. I had about 3 dozen of them in a big stock tank to use for bait the next night. I went out to get them about 30 minutes beforehand to load into the boat, I think maybe 8-9 of them were left in the tank, the rest were dead and bloated on the ground all around the tank. Next time I covered it with a big square of plywood, but the corners were still exposed, lost about half of them still. Brought home some stucco wire and covered the whole thing after that. It still had some little gaps where the wire wasn't perfectly flat in some spots and I lost about a half dozen to those tiny little gaps. After I put rocks all the way around the top to seal off the edges, I finally stopped losing fish.

I'd do it if I was you. That's probably the best lake in the KC metro area. Plus it's open 24/7 instead of those stupid no night fishing lakes, and it's a really good night lake. Add that to the fact that it has a good population of big fish and there's no jetskis, wake boats, or skiers, and limited shoreline access for the meat hunters, it's a pretty appealing lake to fish.

I think pink is a pretty underutilized color. I don't have a lot of topwaters that are pink, but I do have confidence in it.

I'm just going to register my kayak I think. Jacomo is big for a kayak, but can't put my boat out there either. If Rippin Lips gets fixed up and doesn't find a home on a private lake I might register it for out there again.

I like how the Owner Twistlock makes them last longer, but my hookup ratio is horrible with them for some reason. Other than those, a 4/0 EWG works great but they only last 2 fish at best.

I use mono or copolymer for a lot of my fishing. I like Berkley Big Game and Pline C21. Stren is my line of choice if I can't find either of those two, especially if I can find Stren Hi Impact. Fish can probably see all of them, whether or not that matters depends on the day and the mood they're in. Cabela's use to make a "coffee" color that was almost black. I don't think I've seen a black mono though. Seaguar Flipping braid is black, that's the only black line I can think of.

Unless you're fishing deep water with heavy tube heads, it doesn't take anything very specialized. A rod designed for fishing shakyheads works very well.

I agree with the striper Ugly Stick. You need something with a softer tip to lob livebait and not pull hooks on big, hard pulling fish, but plenty of backbone to handle said big, hard pulling fish. Sensitivity isn't really an issue with detecting a striper bite.

The boat and fishing permits aren't that much for a JOCO resident. I need to get my Jacomo permit is what I need. That lake has a great swimbait bite and I'm itching for some swimbait fish but the high, muddy water is messing my chances up.

Shots fired! Shots fired!!

Those are my winter time baits out there when it's mainly largemouth in the outlet or trees. Not so much during the warmer months when I'm targeting smallmouth.

You haven't fished Shawnee Mission Park have you? That's what it looks like they're trying to turn it into, and it used to be a really good lake before they did all that. They ranked fishing as the 10th most popular thing to do at Olathe Lake, right behind getting high and blackout drunk I believe. First, they'll kill off any vegetation in the lake because weeds are ucky. Shoreline trees will be cut down and any laydowns that can be reached will be removed since they'll probably start allowing swimming to help attract as many people as possible. From the video it looks like the entire cove on the northeast side will be blocked off to boats, but at least that's not a good area to fish They'll have to remove the bluffs and flatten out the banks to build a lot of the stuff in those videos, which combined with the removal of the shoreline trees will speed up erosion. Maybe I'm being a Chicken Little about it, but I don't see any way it turns out to be a good thing.

Welcome!

I did this one just last Tuesday.

50 fish is a pretty standard day during the spring on Wolf, it's pretty incredible if you love huge numbers of fish and almost always a mixed bag of species. Ned rig and tubes are pretty much the odds on favorite to catch the most fish on most days out there, but you can catch them a lot of different ways. I like to fish spooks, Whopper Plopper 130, Bull Shad, Keitechs, and spinnerbaits to help mix it up a little.

Floating baits generally can be fished like a wake bait, twitch bait (like a floating minnow), dead sticked, or walked. You're right on with the slow vs fast idea. Savage Gear makes some great baits for reasonable prices. I really like the bigger shine glide, the 3D bluegill, and the 3D line through trout. There's a chance if you look around that you can find a Deps 175 towards the upper end of your price range. The Jackall Gantarel and Gantarel Jr are good baits. The Hudd 68 special weedless would be another one I'd suggest.

I believe the rats that the OP is referring to are the large, wake/swimbait style rats, not hollow bodied rats.

Put stuff in my cart yesterday, gone today. Only website that doesn't save it for me.

I have one in my cart, glad to hear it sinks very slowly.

It's a juvenile musky.