Russ E

Same as hunter safety. if you were born before a certain date, nearly every state grandfathers you in. I personally have taken both the hunter safety, and boating safety, which I think everyone should take. I am old enough most states grandfather me in without them. don't know about a fee. I was born a couple decades before 1984. there is a fee everyone has to pay at Smithville for auto and boat. It is not a state fee. Clay county charges you that.

It has been my most consistent lake this year. several fish over 3 lbs with 1/2 dozen in the 4 to 5 pound range. this last 2 weeks has been tough for bigger fish. temp dropped 10 degrees in one week, this week it has come up 6 degrees again. the bigger fish seem to be in a funk. permit cost sucks. I live in WYCO, so it is a little cheaper. I paid around $100.00 to fish Smithville this year, counting the Missouri non resident license.

I have tried this a few times. For me it has worked better with med /light rods using baits like ned rigs or wacky rigs. these baits give very little deflection on their own, even on the lighter tackle. On heavier casting tackle ,it has been less effective for me. Always run the line over my index finger with casting tackle. By the time I notice any deflection I can feel the fish or it can feel me. Pretty sure I have missed fish because of this.

chase them around Clinton occasionally. about the hardest fighting fish I have caught. usually take a black bass break a couple times in late summer and fall to chase the wipers. have to be honest, I am not the most consistent when it comes to finding the wipers, but Clinton has a lot of 2 lb white bass that can keep you busy if the wipers can't be found. vertical Jigging the schools, around old submerged road beds have caught most of my Wipers.

man that looks good Haven't been to Louisiana for a long time. Love those crawfish boils.

neighbor and I hit the Dotte again today. several smallies and largemouth fairly shallow on weed edges using ned rigs and wacky rigs. nothing big again today. A couple 2 pounders. surface temp was 78 degrees. schools of small bluegill are congregating in the coves. hopefully if water cools a little, big Bass will follow.

I searched a long time before choosing my boat. If I fished huge reservoirs, I would have bought a bigger boat. 11,000 acres is the biggest lake I fish. My Z175 fits all of my fishing needs.. fits in my garage. it has a single axle trailer, so moving it by hand is relatively easy. sits nice in the water, so wind does not move it around much. very stable to walk around. nice dry ride. you can put nearly any motor up to 115 hp on it. I chose a mercury 115 pro xs 4 stroke and can run nearly 50 mph, which is plenty for the lakes I fish.

Z175 is fiberglass. RT178 is their aluminum model.

98% of the time it is black bass. If white bass or wipers are feeding on the surface I will pursue them for a change of pace.

not even a hint on the lake? Tough day at the Dotte today. couldn't even get a follow the first 2 hours. switched over to a mud minnow TRD. caught a half dozen small fish. this one was the highlight of the day.

if you are looking at the nitro Z17. I would see if there is a Triton or ranger dealer in the area to compare. ranger Z175 and Triton 179 TRX are both about the same size as the Z17.

3/8 most of the time. bought a couple 1/8 oz. to try when they will not hit bigger baits. Haven' tried them yet/

+1

I fish from a boat 99% of the time. Every piece of tackle I own is usually in the boat somewhere. 8 baitcasters, 6 spinning rods. and all terminal tackle. 3 or 4 poles on the deck, the rest in storage. doesn't mean I use it all every trip , but it is ready. On shore, usually 2 poles with a few baits.

It all comes down to what works for you. If you hit something at high speed with either boat, bad things can happen. While aluminum is more durable around rocks and wood, fiberglass is not as fragile as some people think. I owned 2 aluminum boats before I bought my latest fiberglass boat. I obviously don't beach on rip rap, but I didn't do that with my aluminum boats either. the stability while fishing in wind with my fiberglass boat, is much better than either of my aluminum boats were. here in Kansas that was probably the number 1 selling point for me.

From my own experience , yes. if you have to roll across uneven ground. it may be tough going just using the built in dolly.

Can't speak for an electric dolly, but will say the manual dolly I purchased was a waste of money. It is actually easier to move my boat using the existing front wheel, than it was trying to use the dolly.

I must just be lucky. I have never personally broken a Shroomz head on a fish. I have lost the bait keeper on a few and I have straightened a few trying to get them out of snags. I would say at least 10% of my bass fishing is using these baits. I have caught bass up to 5 lbs. on these hooks. Actually caught drum and catfish up to 10 lbs. on them also. To me the Ned Rig is a finesse bait. I always use light to medium light tackle and never try to horse a fish in with it.

No. Sorry. I thought it was a new motor. after 10 hours it is good to go.

I just broke in a mercury pro xs 115 4 stroke. My manual said do not idle for long during breakin. need to put a load on the motor. I agree. Read the manual not all engines have the same breakin procedure.

All great information. A couple other things to watch, if you have never got up to full speed is. When you are reaching max rpm, look back to make sure there is still a stream of water coming out of the engine. if you over trim on some boats, the water intake can come out of the water and start sucking air. Not good. Also if you start throwing a rooster tail higher than the motor you are over trimmed.

It would sure limit when I could consistently catch fish. That only covers shallow water.

Submerged weed beds. out in the sticks. nobody there. Good bass population. I will throw a guess out there and say Leavenworth state fishing lake. sometimes ramp can get tricky, but not a bad lake. Pretty decent bank fishing lake. Several jetties. dam can produce good fish. only downside is there can be a lot of trash around the shore. Some people are slobs.

Take it you are not a mercury fan. The latest mercury four strokes are pretty nice. I have a mercury pro xs 115 four stroke on my boat. Super quiet and has a lot of power. Don't have to use 2 cycle oil. Don't see may new Alumacraft around here. Don't know of a dealer close by. do see a couple old ones out there. the people I talk to seem to like them. There are a ton of Lowes around here. All of the owners I have talked to love them.

Shroomz heads are notorious for the baitkeeper coming off. The Midwest finesse guys around here just super glue the bait to the hook. I don't personally do that very often, because I am super glue challenged. tend to get it everywhere except where it is supposed to go.