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Duckett also said, In business sometimes you have to overlook profits to maintain the integrity of both the product and your reputation. And that's the position I feel I'm in. So I felt like even though it's going to be a financial loss, parting ways is the right thing to do. There it is in black and yellow. Obviously, E21 has found a threshold of acceptable returns in exchange for maximized profits from changes in the assembly end of the process or materials used. Those assembly/materials changes to the original carrot sticks Boyd was using are creating an inferior product. I would not want to be sponsoring a product such as a rod or reel that is so significantly different than what's on the shelf the consumer buys that the end results, the on the water performance between what Mr or Mrs. consumer uses is vastly different than mine. Good on him.

The killer soundtrack gets me. Slim Whitman rocks.

I've got a pretty good sized bag full of Sluggo's. Plenty of good colors too, got them back when they had more colors available. Also have the Culprit version though I forgot what they called them. A really terrific spring time bait.

With the weeds under the surface and not matted I would've definitely started throwing a Buzzbait to see if there are any aggressive fish around. I also like to use a floating Rat L Trap or spinnerbait, again looking for aggressive fish. I would also work the outside edges of the weeds, both with a spinnerbait or Rat L Trap (not the floater) looking to see if the fish are cruising along the outside edges. As I move along I'm definitely looking for openings, pockets, points, in the weeds along with isolated weed beds. If I'm not getting any takers on the reaction baits I'll start keying on openings in the grass, timber intermixed with the grass or thick grass next to thinner and start pitching or flipping a straight tail worm into those areas with at least a 1/2oz sinker attached. If you use some fish formula type bait attractant and really lather up the worm it's less likely to want to cling to the weeds. Even then it's tough not to wind up dragging some back with you. One last thing. If there's an inside edge to those weeds, it can be killer at certain times of the day, usually morning and evening.

I think one thing that has to be remembered is that the fish are only experiencing this heavy boat traffic and wave action 2 days out of 7. Is that enough to move them? I've planted christmas trees weighted with concrete blocks on main lake points on LOZ in around 10 foot of water or so and they've been moved, sometimes to where I can't find them. Obviously the wave action extends down into the water column but how far would probably depend on the lake type, shallow vs deep, along with the size, intensity and longevity of the waves when they're occurring. Obviously a bass hanging around a 10 ft deep brushpile isn't going to hang there for long when that brushpile starts moving around on him. I'm sure the current is also enough to carry away any baitfish he/she is planning on feeding on as well. I suspect a bass trying to navigate in such water and feeding would be akin to you or I walking into a restaurant and a wind machine suddenly turning on at high speed making it difficult for you to stand and whisking the food right off the tables. I've long since learned that if a lake has developed a thermocline in the summer that finding cover or structure at that depth is where'll they'll be, day or night.

So scratch that place off the "places to have a picnic" list.

The lake the thread starter lives on is home to the infamous "Party Cove". You'll see way more than just some skin there. LOZ and it's weekend boat traffic along with rough water is infamous. I learned to drive rough water in a 16 1/2 ft Champion on this lake. Take one rather narrow lake, add steep banks, add hundreds of boats that are better suited to the ocean and put them all on the water at once and you've got a mixed up, jumbled up sea of 3-6 foot rollers coming at you from all directions. Trying to fish main lake points is not only impossible during the day as far as holding a boat in position and actually fishing but your life is in extreme danger from being run over. Well, you're a little off the gauntlet of the really rough stuff a little further down the lake but it's still pretty bad up to 40mm mark. You need to acclimate yourself to night fishing from June - Labor day on the weekends and save the day time fishing for the rest of the week. I have friends who've lived down on the lake there for years and it's just the accepted way of life. The weekends are for watching the craziness and drinking beer.

My wife was out once without hers about 20 years ago. $60, I'm sure it's more now. With on-line sales there is just no excuse anymore.

My belly stuck out like that once, right after eating at Fazoli's. Freaky.

None now though I used to only wear a red hat when fishing.

Couple of bushel baskets should do it.

probably does.

I always try and fish areas that others aren't likely to try and fish from. Obviously you have to take into account your ability to cast but anytime you can get a lure in a fishes face from a direction it's not used to seeing lures coming from is a good thing.

I'm starting to worry about you micro. First, the statement about the Patriarch besting the STX in your hands, then the interest in the new XT Patriarch and now you're picking up a President and admiring. Are you sure you're prepared to cross over to the mook side of the force?

The old side mount control box merely becomes a F - N - R shifter. The hot foot is the throttle. Normally, most that install a hot foot also install some sort of steering wheel mounted trim switch as well. Sort defeats the purpose of the hot foot if you don't.

I saw some gals in bikini's.... Where were you at again?

Where are you located at on the lake BTW? You'll adapt to it, the boat traffic that is. The weekends start around Friday afternoon and go until Sunday around 2-3pm. Those are the times you stay off the water and do odd jobs. The wife and I talked about getting a place down there but quickly realized there wasn't much point. When we could come down, the weekends, the lake was unusable unless you had a 28' + size boat. None of our friends would bother because their boats were too small and skiing/tubing/kneeboarding has to be done by 9:30am most summer weekend mornings because of the boat traffic. Sad really, I've been fishing that lake since the mid 70's and it's always been a solid bass fishing lake that's not too terribly hard to catch fish out of. I watched the development BOOM down there. The condo complexes are what really put the hurt on that lake as far as numbers of boats.

Somebody posted a link elsewhere to Pfluegers parts and service section of their website. Thank God they did because if you go to the home page and try and find it, it's almost impossible. Those sites need upgrading as well. Pflueger still has the LP Patriarch as "New". :

It's quite possible that white bass were chasing those shad.

In other words you're fishing Lake of the Ozarks. LOZ has a very definite pattern that sets up in the summer. The bulk of the larger fish will relate to the thermocline which usually sets up around 20-28ft deep. It tends to vary a few feet year to year depending on the water clarity and how much water UE pulls through the dam. Yep, wave action on that lake, especially on the weekends is vicious. A couple patterns usually are present. 10" worms fished on main lake points either T rigged or C rigged. The second is pegged, T-rig 10" worms SLOWLY fished through the 20' + deep brushpiles off the ends of the docks on the main lake or the 1st set of secondary points and coves off the main lake. In the larger deeper coves you can move further back as long as you're fishing at that thermocline depth. You can also fish those same areas with DD22's. Again, your boat better be in 33-45 feet of water with you casting into 15' water minimum, if you're shallower, you're sitting on top of the fish. The key is the fish are relating to the thermocline depth. If your graph is sensitive enough it can pick it up. See the instruction manual that came with your graph. If not, you can call ahead to most of the better tackle shops down there, they'll have the info. Daytime fishing on the weekends is obviously dangerous business at that lake. Seriously, you're better off to fish the night bite but even that can be risky. After many years of night fishing that lake, the best night bite usually runs from around 8pm to around 10:30 or so. Then picks up around 3:30am till 8am the next morning. While you can fish the times inbetween, you'll be doing a whole lot of casting and not a lot of catching. The 8-10:30 bite is also a dangerous time as well, you're not only battling really rough water but you've got drunk boaters thrown into the mix. In fact, all night long can be dangerous due to the number of on the water bars and lounges that lake has and the drunks that get behind the wheel of their boats leaving them. Always leave your running lights on and be constantly aware of any boat traffic approaching you. You're best bet is to fish during the week. That lake becomes a different place.

I've got just the wrap theme for you Mike!

Thanks. It's not really as hard to do as the finished product looks.

I'm with fish for dollars here. In fact, I can see the transom is shot just seeing the brown stainage coming from the few fittings I can see in those transom shots. I'm not one to rain on parades either but that's a cap off resto job right there. Stringer, knee brace and transom replacement. It's a lot of work, money and time. That boat isn't too terribly safe without repairing the structural components which are all probably rotted.

Geezo!! Is there anything salvageable from this?? Depthfinder? OB motor? Anything?

Wow! I thought that wrap job was going on a new boat. Out of curiosity, how much?