DaubsNU1

Duck hunting was my thing for many, MANY years. Loved it. Got really in to deer hunting back in early 2010, specifically Mule Deer. Bagged a few nice ones. Have a side gig, photography. Makes me a little fun-money (to feed the Monkey!). Build my own computers...but the last build was in 2016. Wife loves to travel. We have a 5th wheel and pull ATV trailer behind. Fishing is very much #1 right now....okay, not during hard-water season...but you see the point. I should really get back in to restoring my 1972 Chevy K-20, while there is still ice on the lakes.

I stopped running straight fluorocarbon. I do run braid-to-fluorocarbon on both spinning and casting rigs. I like the higher sensitivity and invisibility of fluoro.

Not fishing...but duck hunting. I would time-machine back to my freshman year in college, south central Nebraska. There was a thousand acres public marsh LOADED with ducks. It was absolutely amazing, standing in waist deep water, tucked back in to the reeds, listening to the whistle of wings...then the splash as ducks landed in the decoys just feet away. Great memories!

We are on propane. I would be very happy at $10k for a whole home Generac.

Our house is on ~3 acres in a "village" outside of metro Omaha. We have been here 8 years now, and only lost power four times. But the last outage was in the winter. Thankfully my neighbor is SUPER handy, and works HVAC. He helped me wire in my furnace to a 4500 watt portable generator we use with our 5th wheel camper. Kept the house warm for a few days. @casts_by_fly, we are on well water, it was a little challenging. Buddy works in electrical supply, and believes he can get me a Generac whole home for around $7k. I' am all for it...but the wife is hesitant.

Thanks @gim. That chair was my ex-wife's grandmothers. It is not comfy at all, but makes a good shop-chair. Eight years ago, this is what I started with. I managed to pack a lot of stuff in there... 😂

It is truly amazing how little I know about my home lake. It is just 220 acres, but loaded with standing timber, brush piles, rip-rap, weed-beds, creek channels, and off-shore structure. I hope to get MEGA 360 for Christmas, continue to map out this lake, and unlock its secrets. I will likely never truly know this lake...but it sure is fun trying!

This is MOST OUTSTANDING! Excellent work @gim!

Hard water season has arrived here in Nebraska. We have had snow on the ground for over a week...single digit temps last week. Managed to get the Lund cleaned out and moved from the garage down to the shop today. It was a bit of a challenge...now that my Dad's 1962 Impala is now in my care. A little tight, but everything fit. Time to chase waterfowl.

Found parts for my 1970 Mercury 20hp 2-stroke here...www.oldmercs.com Found a few parts on eBay used. Thankfully did not need to go the aftermarket route. Buy-once-cry-once, and get the best parts you can. Will be cheaper in the long run.

Did not know cork sealing was even a thing. Close to 50% of my rods are old-school Cabela's branded rods from the 1990's. Never sealed the cork...heck, never even cleaned them up. Seem to be just fine after ~30 years of use.

Last mow of the season was 23-November...figured I had some time to get the mower deck off, and the snow blower installed. Oops...waited too long on that swap. Saturday we got 6-8 inches of snow. Got wheel weights, chains and snow blower installed and managed to get my driveway and a few others on the cul-de-sac cleaned up. And I failed to get the Lund down to the shop for winter storage. So Taco (Honda Accord), continues to sit in the driveway...makes for cold mornings.

@07Rapala, I absolutely hated bait-casters when I first tried them back in the early 1990's. I was a back-lashing FOOL back then! Seemed like every cast was a birds-nest. I was running mono back then. A buddy recommended I switch over to braid. Soooooo much better. Note: all of my bait-casters are Shimano Citica's or Curado's, from this era. Old school for sure. I kind of got away from casting rods a few years back after switching to "braid to leader" on my spinning gear. I really like those set ups. This spring I started running a braid-to-fluoro leader on my casting rods. I like it very much. Hang in there.

Minn Kota spot-lock, cruise control, auto-pilot, etc., are all great features. I really like. Brother has a Lund Alaskan 18' boat. My Lund is 1775. Brother has 36v on his boat...and I have 24v system. Honestly, I cannot tell the difference when we fish. He might have a little more run-time, but we have never pushed our batteries that far when fishing. I opted for the Ulterra, it fits my fishing style. I use the hand-held remote probably 80% of the time. If you have Livescope and want integration, lean towards the Garmin Force Pro. Buy once, cry once...don't look back!

Strong work staying calm @N Florida Mike! @A-Jay, thanks for the reminder...I need to get that dash-camera set up in my daily driver(!)

Thanks for sharing @Swamp Girl! Love the pictures and the write-up. Outstanding!!

Got out to the home lake around noon today. Water temps were 47-48 degrees. Air temps were 45-53. Not much wind at all. Managed three small LMB's on NED and Gulp minnow. Did find some Crappie and Bluegill stacked up on brush piles...caught ~30 or so. It was a good time! Likely the last day on the water for me. Chasing waterfowl next weekend with my Brother and friends. Then Thanksgiving, and Iowa vs. Nebraska on Black Friday (( Go Big RED! ))

Last weekend, fished the home lake. This is my favorite spot. Boat is above the creek channel, in about 14' of water. Channel bends to right around the tree laying horizontal on right side of pic. Between the trees, center of the picture, it's 6-7' deep with humps and laydowns. I'll pull a spinnerbait a few times to see if there are any active bass feeding. Then work t-rigged 7" or 10" worms all over. If that fails, I'll switch to a weightless Senko. If all else fails, the tree group on the left usually holds crappie. Water clarity was ~3', which is very uncommon for this lake. Usually under a foot. Water temps were 41-45 degrees. I managed one crappie and this nice 19.5" | 3lb-6oz. LMB on a 10" blue fleck worm. Might get out one more time before calling it quits for the season.

My daily driver is a 2005 Honda Accord...LX, 4cylinder, 5 speed auto. It has AC, PS, PB, cruise, PW, PL, cloth seats, and a CD player : ) Has 150k miles...still running strong. It has everything that I need...and knocks down 30 MPG every tank. Auto manufactures should stop making electric vehicles. And discontinue the auto-start-stop feature. Annoying.

Might be a good idea to sent oil sample to Blackstone labs, and get analysis. Their reports are pretty detailed and can give you a good idea of engine health.

I have eleven of these, some I have owned for 30+ years, others purchased used, eBay, FBmarketplace, etc. If they start to feel a little stiff, or wonky, I might take the spool out, hit with a toothbrush to get the loose stuff/dirt knocked off, then some reel oil...and back together. I've taken a few apart, again just cleaning off old dirt, oiling and re-assembling. They all work great. Most of my spinning reels are newer, but I do the same...just light cleaning and re-oil.

@TOXIC, good points. If I am working outside, big game hunting, hiking, etc., will adjust my layering to manage moisture. I tend to sweat a lot...and then get wet and cold. No bueno!! The wind always seems to be blowing here in Nebraska...and on the lake, that makes life extra chilly. I have also noticed humidity plays a large factor in how cold I "feel."

If the high temps for the day are in the upper 40's, and the wind is not howling, I will try to fish. Yesterday the high temp was 32, winds out of the north 10-18 mph, with gusts to 25. Hard no for me. What is your cut-off point, weather wise, where you will not fish?

I did this on an old Shimano...got the drag springs like )), instead of (). Also tied braid directly to the spool...and it slipped. Now I run some mono on first...then tie on braid. Hope this helps!

@WRB-2.0 excellent assessment! I agree. NE Game and Parks prohibits live bait...and they made interesting regulations. No harvest of northern pike is allowed. There is an 8-inch maximum length limit on bluegill and redear sunfish, and a 10-inch maximum length limit on crappie. LMB's under 21" must be released. I am catching 3-4 lb bass, and did crack the 5 lb barrier. Brother landed a very nice 38" pike, and has a Master Angler crappie (15+ inch). There are good fish in this lake. Last summer I found two dead pike floating in the shallows...each weighing over 11 lbs. It's relatively shallow, mostly under 10' deep. Creek channels down to 16', and near the dam around 20' max. I really like fishing this lake. NEG&P created 25-30 brush-piles that I have been able to find and mark. Not many anglers fish them...it's so easy to fish the standing timber. Earlier this summer I was fishing a brush pile...watched a young kid in a kayak fishing standing timber in about 15' of water. This wasn't a fishing kayak by any means. He landed a nice LMB and was hooting and hollering. I talked to him later that morning...this was his first time ever fishing in his Mom's kayak...throwing a lead-head and minnow...4-1/2 lb bass. Excellent work!