logger

My boat is a 16 foot aluminum so I am not pushing much weight at all except for passengers and the deck I built in the front. And the problem is the original prop got lost and the one I had on it I took from an old motor my grandpa had. So I don't know what was originally on it. That's where my confusion has come from. Thanks for the info guys. I'll charge the battery and go with a 9" with a 11" pitch. Logger

I have a 1969 20 hp Johnson outboard. How do I know what pitch to get on my next propeller? I have no idea. Also when I am storing my boat for winter, should I charge my deep cycle battery or leave it low?

Thanks Duke that was what I had in mind but wnated to be sure, Logger

Duke and michbass when you say a fall pattern, what does that look like for you? Are you changing location and lures or just lures, just trying to pick your brains a little. I have never done much fall fishing.

Thanks for the report michbass!

Good news there doc thanks for the report. I could really use some help on Loon lake in the Hale area. I am fishing there Saturday and don't know anything about it other than it has good numbers of pike walleye and bass. thanks Logger

My son is 6 months now, our first. So having just gone through everything you are I can honestly say you are normal for worrying, and when the time comes you will worry if you are doing everything right etc.. but you will honestly get past all that and you will kick in to parent mode and you just do what is best for the baby. From my experience the best thing you can do is not read a whole bunch of books/ websites. They all say contradicting things. Obviously some reading will help you understand things but, you can definatley go overboard. That was what my wife did and she was always freaking out that we weren't doing things right, or the baby should be doing this or that because of what she read in this book or that website. EVERY KID IS DIFFERENT AND THERE IS NOT A BOOK FOR EVERY ONE OF THEM. You do the best you can and go with your gut. I highly reccomend taking the birthing class at the hospital because that's for you "the coach". I learned a ton on how I could help my wife during labor and what to expect. Any moron can write on the internet (just like I am ;D) So don't believe everything you read. Good luck and post pics of the little one when the time comes

To any of you guys that own an aqua vu. How do you like it? Is it worth the investment?

I love baseball. I love seeing baseball played the way it was intended. And I think that the records are a huge deal. After all baseball is a numbers game. Weather the substance he used is or is not specifically banned in the baseball "rules" its still cheating IMHO. No the substance did not help him make contact but it sure helped those would be fly balls go into the seats. And to anyone who possibly thinks he didn't use performance enhancers... LOOK AT THE SIZE OF HIS HEAD!!! Its twice the size of when he was a rookie!! That is not natural

As promised here is my review of Big Cedar in MO. Keep in mind that I stayed in the Wilderness Club (Blue Green Travel Club) part of the resort not the public lodge. Everything in the resort was amazing. We stayed in a 1 bedroom suite rather than the studio. The rooms were spacious and absolutely perfect. Whitetail, trout, and largemouth mounts decorated the rooms. Leather chairs and very comfortable couches were in the rooms. The room had a full kitchen will everything needed to prepare your own meals. A full size fridge, dishwasher and washer/ dryer were in the room as well. The bathroom had a Jacuzzi tub and separate shower. The room had a balcony with a patio set on it and a breathtaking view of table rock lake. The free shuttle was the best way to get around. The marina wasn't that impressive, the boat rentals were ridiculously expensive at $45/ hr + gas. There is a ton for kids to do if you have a family, paddleboats and canoes (but they forbid fishing from the canoes), mini golf, kids only fishing pond, movie rental were free to use, they have a nice pool, kiddy pool, and lazy river to use. I only ate at the devils pool diner. It was a old dude ranch lodge converted to a restaurant the food was good and the prices weren't too bad. The view and wait staff were great. Many of the employees were very happy to share any information they could about the history of the resort which made everything more interesting. Overall it has to be the nicest place I have every stayed, and if you want to splurge I would recommend it very very highly. Outside the resort I took many of your suggestions. We saw the Shoji Tabuchi show and it was great! We ate at Rodizzio in Springfield which was really fun. (its a all you can eat steakhouse with 15 different types of meat to try) We hit Bass Pro Headquarters, which I was not all that impressed with but it is very large. But the nature museum was a great $10.00 to spend!! I can't wait until my son is old enough to fully enjoy it. (he's only 3.5 months) My In-Laws say the #1 hits of the 60's show and would recommend it to others. I did not fish much. Took the rods and everything but with my in laws were unwilling to get out of bed before 10:30 or baby-sit so I did not fish. I am not real happy about it, but, its supposed to be a very tough time to fish right now anyway. I still have the next 3 days off here at home so I am going to fish here. Thanks to Maltese Falcon who let me borrow a rod tube for the trip. It worked out great. THANK YOU TO ALL THE GUYS WHO SHARED THEIR INFORMATION ABOUT MISSOURI!!! It really helped!! My Tips Know what you are doing before you go as far as the shows, you get a little overwhelmed once you are there. We wated a lot of time trying to figure out what were were going to do. Get a 1 bedroom instead of a studio if you can afford it. Otherwise the studios are nice too just smaller. Ask for a room on the top floor so you have a view and there are no kids running over your head all night. Also ask for a room on the end of the unit, they are bigger! Go to Rodizzio Eat at Fuddruckers it cheaper and just a neat place with good food. Take the shuttle and ask for a tour. Don't travel with your in laws unless you absolutely have to. They ruined many parts of the trip for my wife and I. Or at least get 2 rentals cars and separate rooms. > Check out Branson Landing, its all newer and a really neat place to shop, and Scotty's bait and tackle is at the end with public fishing docks and information. Ill post some pics ina day or 2 for you guys Hope this helps. Thanks again for the info guys!

I live on a course and do love to play, I just never seem to make it a priority. I just go out after the course closes and chip or play the holes behind my house. (It's my father in law's course so I am not doing anything illegal) It's an expensive sport, be sure not to anger the bait monkey!!

I also have been robbed ( house and car) . Its a sickening feeling. Can you get any help from your homeowners insurance? They do cover property loss. t would be worth checking if you had a ton of gear. They covered my baseball gear when it got stolen from my car. I had a deductible but it helped ease the cost of replacement. Can't hurt to check.

Saturday was my "buddies tournament" at Sage Lake in Northern Michigan. The tournament is something I put together for the past 3 years for my friends/ local aquaintences who love to bass fish but are not tournament fisherman (nor possess a tournament rig). After all the planning I did, I was a little dissapointed with the 4 boat turnout, (3 days before the tourney I was expecting to have 6-7 boats, but guys backed out last minute) but we were all determined to have a fun day anyway even if there wasn't a big cash pot. I was thrilled to finally meet XcoM274 (Chuck) and his friend Mark, who took my invitation to participate and proceeded to win the tournament with a 4 bass stringer. These young guys put a pattern together and got it done. Congrats again Chuck! The other 3 boats that fished including myself had trouble finding fish that would measure 14". Many fish were caught but were 13-13 1/2". The big fish of the tournament was just shy of 3 pounds and was 17 1/4". As for me and my dad, we still have yet to place in the money in my own tournament, I guess I'll have to adopt the Detroit Lions' saying, "there's always next year"! Maybe my 4th year will be the charm. Of course to top the day off my digital camera was on the fritz and no one else brought one so I have no pictures to share.

What guide did you use? Or can anyone reccommend a guide? We decided to fly since the drive from MI would be 14 hours and with an infant would definatey be a lot longer,plus extra gas for towing the boat ...you do the math. (I am not a fan of long car rides anyway) I can't find any place to rent a boat in the area for under 40/hr. So instead of fishing everyday like I planned on maybe I could just spend the money for 1 really good day of fishing with a guide and just shore fish the other days. Or does anyone know where to rent a boat on the cheap?

Be safe!! Thank you so much for what you are doing.

Hey does anyone know if I can take my 2 piece rods on my flight with me without buying a hard case for them? Could I just use PVC ?

Hey guys thanks for all the great info. Do you guys know of any way to get cheaper tickets to the Dixie Stampede or any of the shows for that matter?? The best I found online For the stampede was $49.00. I know its a dinner and show but I am really trying to stretch every buck and still do some nice things while we are there.

I will definately put up a post

I have a trip planned in July 7-11 to go to Branson, Missouri with my wife and in-laws. We will be staying at Big Cedar Resort. Can you guys recommend some things to do in the area when I am not fishing? I know there are a ton of shows but which ones would be good to see? Any other area attractions we should hit?

I hear awesome things about Lake Skegmog. If you wanted to make a trip you could probably fish Skegmog, Burt ,and Mullet as they are all close together. I teach in Mancelona and the guys who live here have some GIGANTIC SMALLIES mounted on their walls. I mean 7lbs or better caught in Skegmog.

Thanks guys, I'll be trying some of this out this weekend hopefully if the weather cooperates, and there aren't too many crazies on the lake.

That's the great thing about watching the minors, it more about the fans than anything. There are always promotions and stuff going on to get fans to the game. When I played in the minors they used to put the opposing lineups names in a hat and every inning they would draw a name. If I struck out the batter whose name was drawn, beers were a $1 for the rest of the inning! There was a lot of pressure from the crowd when the beer batter got up!

Actually I have also heard that the Juicy Fruit gum method will work. On the golf course we used "Poison Peanuts" You can get it in your local hardware store. Its in a yellow container that is shaped like a cone. Flatten out all their tunnels that they have made and look which one are pushed up tomorrow so you know which one are actively being used, use the cone shaped container to make a hole into their tunnels and drop some peanuts in there. Cleared up our problem. And IMO live traps are a waste of time and money.

Got to love interleague play. The Tigers are handing it to the national league again this season. A nice 3 game sweep of the Cards to pick them up after dropping 2 to the BOSOX. Too bad they couldn't sweep the Cards in the World Series last fall > Angels are in town tonight, GO TIGERS!!!

My home lake is stocked by the dnr for walleye and I have excellent walleye waters all around my area. I was wondering if there are any tactics that work for walleye with the bass gear? Is there anything that has been a proven producer for you guys? I would prefer to not have to get into all the ins and outs of trolling with planer boards and all that. I'm looking for simple tactics that would work. I do own some crawler harnesses and was just looking to try something different if I am having a bad day on the bass.