DaubsNU1

Hang in there @SuperDuty! Rest up, keep hydrated. Covid is weird.... First weekend of deer rifle season of 2020 brother and I made the short trip to "deer camp" (okay, not really deer camp for us, since we don't get to hunt...just hang with some friends, enjoy a few adult beverages, tell stories, watch football...) Six of us packed in to a small cabin that sits on 500 acres of prime white-tail land adjacent to the Missouri River here in Nebraska. Buddy's son had a bit of a cold, but we thought nothing of it. Got back home Sunday night kissed the wife, and started preparing as my brother and I were pulling ATV's to western Nebraska to chase Mule deer on Wednesday. Got the call Monday afternoon from our buddy...his son tested positive for Covid(!). Crap. My wife's a nurse, and immune-compromised, and she was not happy. After about an hour of her grilling me, she said, "the heck with it...you probably have it...and now I probably have it." Deer preparation continued as we planned to head west Wednesday morning. Night before we leave (Tuesday), wife gets amorous : ) Wednesday morning 6 AM she leaves for work, gives me a big kiss, and says I better get tested. I've been feeling no symptoms. 8 AM that same morning I get a quick test...negative. I call the wife, and she says, "get the long test." So I do. Results due back on Saturday. Brother and I finish packing, hitch up the ATV trailer, and head west. By 7 PM Wednesday evening we have made the 8 hour drive, all unpacked in the hotel, and are excited to chase deer. I wake up around midnight FREEZING cold, can't get warm. Feel like crap. Crank the heat in the room as high as it will go. Thankfully we decided to get adjoining rooms, just in case one of us gets sick. @ 3 AM I wake up sweating like a hog. UGH. Brother walks in @ 4 AM, I tell him it's not good...just go...hunt hard and get your first buck ever. By noon I'm starting to feel better...and get this picture via text. Brother's first buck ever! That night we raise a toast to his good luck and straight shooting, and I'm feeling much better. Friday morning I wake up and ready to hunt...knock on brother's door, and he's sick as a dog. Pretty much same symptoms as me. So he's out for the day. I load up on Tylenol-cold and head out. Actually felt pretty good. Tagged this buck Saturday afternoon...shortly after I got word the covid long test came back positive. Imagine that. Quarantined in the basement away from the wife most of the next week. Strange thing is...she NEVER tested positive for covid, never showed any symptoms at all...even after kissing me at 6AM that morning, and me testing positive 8 hours later. She's never gotten covid to date. I tease her, she's too mean to get covid...keeps scaring it off. HA!

Awesomeness!

It is times like this when I really appreciate the ultra-low maintenance of a 1960 Rich Line : )

It's a 1974 Mercury 200 | 20hp two stroke I purchased in 2000. I've changed the plugs a few times, and the lower unit oil. Replaced the water pump in 2020. That's it, nothing more. Carburetor has always leaked a little, but it starts and runs well. Pushes my boat to 20MPH. It's never been to any shop / marine mechanic. End of last season, noticed leak from the lower unit. Decided it was time to have a someone more qualified check her out. Shop called yesterday, said water in the lower unit, needs all new seals down there. Said compression was good, everything else looked pretty good. All the needed repairs will be in neighborhood of ~$500....asked what I wanted to do. I said fix it. Might as well. It's served me well for 23 years, I have spent less than $100 in in the motor over that time. Heck, the boat, motor, and trailer cost me $600 in 2000. Glad I got it to the mechanic while there is still ice on the water.

Yes! Fisherman motored up to me early one morning...needed help. He had sunk treble hooks of a crank in his shoulder and could not reach. Pretty easy hook-removal. We talked for a while sharing stores. He insisted I take a few of his home-made chatter baits as a way of saying "thanks!" Very nice fellow. And yes! I help fisherman who ask for advice, or what's working that day. Whenever I see ends of the spectrum (very young, or very old fisherman), I always stop by and ask how they are doing. One afternoon I was really tired...so tied my boat up to a tree in middle of the lake and sprawled out on the casting deck for a nap. My boat isn't big, so my arm was laying over the side. Must have looked like I was dead, or having a heart-attack...as a kayak fisherman stopped by to see if I was alright. Woke me up...we both had a good chuckle. I thanked him for checking on me. Have helped more than a few unload and load their boats.

Hang in there @Darth-Baiter! Glad you got the problem identified. Thankfully, my teeth have been pretty solid through the years, I'm 55 now. Eyes are good as well...still very close to 20/20. Lower body...not so much. Born with club foot and one leg 1/4" shorter than the other. Never really cause me any problems...played HS sports...and recreational sports. Played a lot of pick-up basketball...worked on college campus and played pretty much every day with faculty, staff and students. 20 years ago, at age 35, I ruptured my Achilles tendon(!) Repair surgery, then four weeks non-weight bearing. Got off crutches, and it popped again walking across yard. Another surgery, then 8 weeks non-weight bearing. Needless to say, my basketball days were over right then and there. I've also broken my foot twice. Getting old stinks...but like my uncles says, "any day on this side of grass is a good day!"

We have Scheels, Cabela's and Bass Pro in the Omaha metro area. Scheels is my go to! Years ago, it was Cabela's...that was before getting purchased by BP. I think you are going to really like Scheels. Note: My daughter works at Scheels...and employees get a wonderful discount...sometimes up to 40-50% off retail!

Friends of mine know the owners of the Silver Water Wheel Lodge on Lac Seul in Ontario. I've fished there three times. Wonderful! Fishing stats from 2022. More of a trophy walleye fishery. Something to consider. Daubs

Excellent work @TOXIC! I do all maintenance on truck, wife and kids cars, RV, ATV's, boat, John Deere, etc. Kind of fun, but also peace of mind. I know stuff is done right, and with quality parts. I've begun to get oil analyzed at Blackstone Labs. Check them out...for $35 you get a peek in to engine wear and status. My Dad taught me how to change brakes, clutch, pull engines (we replaced a few), rebuild carbs, etc. In addition to being a motor-head, he was a carpenter for 40+ years and showed my brother and me LOADS of things.

Excellent advice!

Wind from the west, fish bite the best Wind from the south, fish use their mouth Wind from the east, fish bite the least Wind from the north, do not go forth (or my personal edit...wind from the north, time to shoot ducks!)

I have an old Cabela's fish eagle II IM6 spinning rod rated as medium-light | 4-10lb test | 1/8-5/8 oz lures. Spooled with 10lb PowerPro yellow braid, and 8lb fluoro leader. I'll throw NED's, power grubs, and will even set up a light drop shot rig. It is a blast to fish with.

I fish the bank a lot, mainly because of my three home lakes. Lake #1 is 220 acres, lots of flooded timber. I have my spots and occasionally will use down imaging to work the creek channel. I've already mapped all the underwater structure I like to fish. Lake #2 is 84 acres, some flooded timber. Again, I've mapped the deep areas I need to fish. Lake #3 is 315 acres, shallow bowl...most of the lake is less than 6 feet deep. The big bass reside near docks, rip rap, dock pilings. My boat is small and I mainly fish for bass and Pike. My brother has an 18' Alaskan...we fish walleye and smallies, and the side and down imaging gets used much more.

That is good to hear! I have heard Hyundai is a little easier to deal with vs. Kia.

There is a class action lawsuit https://www.kiaenginesettlement.com/ Of course we needed to have software installed (service tech failed to mention that). "Receive only the Lifetime Warranty upon installation of the Knock Sensor Detection System software" It felt like corporate and the dealership kept putting hurdles in my way, or stalling...hoping that I would go away. Honestly I'm happy they offered to pay for parts. It took a many phone calls, and a lot of patience. Crossing my fingers daughter's car gets finished soon.

If you or someone you know owns a Kia or Hyundai, do yourself a favor and sell it soon. My daughter worked with her mom (my ex) to purchase a 2017 Kia Sportage three years ago. Since she's the second owner, the warranty only went until 60k miles for the powertrain. Daughter was working two jobs, going to school...I was proud of her for doing adult things, but was a little nervous about Kia. I do all routine maintenance on vehicles and noticed something really wrong last spring when changing her oil. Car holds 5qt's of oil...but it didn't feel like that much had drained...measured and there was just over 2.5 quarts drained(!) Did a little research, and discovered Kia and Hyundai engines had some manufacturing defects, causing oil consumption and potential engine failure. So we got the car in to our local dealership for an oil consumption test. Of course, the car failed the test. Daughter talked to the service technician in person...and I talked to him on phone. He explained how Kia had extended the engine warranty on these engines, and told us to "just drive the car until it dies. Don't worry about putting oil in between changes...when it starts knocking, bring it in, Kia will replace engine, no charge." Said if she was making a long drive, top off the oil, just to be save. That was in July. In December were were caravanning to youngest daughters graduation...My daughter pulled of the interstate and said "it just stopped running." I threw on the OBD reader and came up with #1 and #3 cylinder failure. Uh oh. I figured this was the big one, and Kia would replace the engine. Get the car towed to another dealership...start process of diagnostics...sending data to Kia corporate. After about a week get the call from dealership...and you guessed it...Kia refused to replace the engine. Said failure was not due to the manufacturing defects / oil consumption(???!!!). They quote me $7,000+ to replace the engine. Said I can appeal to Kia corporate. Of course daughter and I did not get anything in writing from the original service technician...and Kia corporate was little to no help at all. So I just kept calling back, asking what they could do to help us out. Kept getting the run around. After the new year I started calling every other day. Finally got a hold of someone at corporate who answered some of my questions, and gave me some insight. After more calls, and an appeal to the district parts service manager, they agreed to cover parts if I would cover labor. So I'm on the hook for ~$2,400...much better than $7k. Hopefully we get the car back next week. It's been a long time. And Kia will not cover a rental, or cost of towing. Was telling my neighbor this story...and he said, "Yea, my wife's Hyundai had the same oil issue...and engine died. Wouldn't cover it." And just two weeks ago was talking with one of my teammates at work...who said his Hyundai Santa Fe was burning oil...I told him to sell that car, and FAST. Not two days later his engine died. And of course they aren't going to help him out. He's battling with Hyundai now. I found a few FB group pages...and hundreds of similar stories. Bummer. My daughter's testing for her certificate, and once she passes, and lands a full time job...that Kia is getting sold! If you have a Kia, or Hyundai, and it's burning oil, or making any noise...get out of it, and FAST!

https://youtu.be/Z3zlRdksakI https://youtu.be/Z3zlRdksakI

At my local Scheels with a $50 gift card in my pocket...nosing around. Find an interesting looking hat with a no-flop brim. @Lead Head they even float!! 99% of the time I can never find a hat large enough for my size 8 head... Not today! Scheels had several XXL and XXXL's in stock... Bonus: the huge sizes were discounted from $74 down to $59. I got two!

Frightening! Glad he's okay.

I've been pitching and flipping with two Shimano Bantam Curado CU-200's and two Citica CI-200's for 30 years. They get the job done. ** Note: I'm hesitant to get a new bait-caster...knowing if I do...I'm going to buy four new bait-casters : ) **

Excellent. Good luck to him! Buddy of mine worked at Cabela's HQ from the 80's until just a few years ago. He always said it was difficult to make money selling lures and fishing gear...the margins were pretty small. I am luck to have a Scheels, Cabela's, and Bass Pro within 30 minute drive. There were a few small fishing tackle shops around here in the past...but they all closed.

Excellent, thanks! Nebraska state record LMB is little over 10lbs. I know you got some HORSES down there in Florida. Keep hammering them!

HOLY COW! How do you even fish that?? One lake here has some good lily-pad areas...but I've never been able to crack the code, or even catch a single fish. I've caught several ~5lb fish in that lake...but all near docks, or rip-rap. Nothing in the pads...

Man-made lakes lakes dominate the landscape here...in the past 15-20 years Game and Parks have been leaving timber standing...which creates this : ) All my bait-casters are spooled with straight 20lb braid. I will throw my spinning rods with braid to leader when working NED, Senkos, drop shot...I don't mind if I break off now and then. Remember, a 5lb bass is "Master Angler" here in Nebraska. This lake is stocked with Northern Pike. When I'm fishing bait-caster + braid, not a problem. Spinning rod with braid-leader...we call that a "drive-by-murder".....** PLINK ** and your lure is gone!

Good feedback @Zcoker. I've been running 10lb PowerPro braid to 8 or 10lb floro...and have lost a few fish here and there. I will likely give Trilene XL or XT a try this spring.