Hey everybody! Hope everyone’s having a good week. I downloaded this app a few months back and kind of went awol. I’ve had a rough go at it but we’re making it to say the least! About a month ago I started having some boat issues, now I’m in the process of repowering it and it’s been a headache. I went from fishing out of my dream boat with plenty of electronics, including ffs (which I got decent at) to a boat that doesn’t even have a single graph! All in all, it’s been great to fish off of instinct and piecing together things that I’ve learned over the years. Last week a buddy and I fished our first Thursday nighter on Lake Murray. Practice was awesome but the day of we got some weather that was a little less than ideal for the patterns I’d done well with previously. Fortunately I was able to piece something together and brought in 3 fish for a little over ten pounds. Our kicker was this 6 pound even fish with less than an hour to go and scored big fish with her! More than anything, my attitude kept us going. I told myself, and my partner, we were gonna catch one. We did just that and learned in the process. I could sit here and complain about all the chaos going on and not having a boat but it’s certainly not going to help my case. The lord has blessed me with a way to keep going, even if it means sacrificing all the electronics and fancy equipment. To be honest, I miss this way of fishing! Tight lines y’all! 🎣
Here in Eugene Oregon this week for the NCAA Nationals track meet. I may need to go buy a fishing pole for a little bank fishing with the hotel right on the Willamet River here in Eugene. Better planning would have brought one. Those are some nice fishing spots I see there and getting a big itch to give it a shot 😂
Had the chance to meet up with Mack Toon in North Carolina yesterday for a kayak fishing trip, and I’ve got to say, the guy’s the real deal.
Mack doesn’t just catch big fish (and yeah, he landed another six-pounder like it was nothing), he makes the whole day better. Always teaching, always sharing, always making sure whoever he’s with is having a good time.
I walked away with new techniques, great memories, and a real appreciation for what Mack brings to the water. He’s the kind of angler the Straight Up Fishing community should know about, and honestly, one worth considering for future sponsorships.
Hey y’all, hope everyone’s having a good day so far! Earlier this week I made a post about some boat issues I’m having and it brought me to something else that’s been heavy on my mind regarding boating and maintenance. B Latt, you’ve done a great job detailing some items to consider when in the market for a used boat. Anyone in this market, please check these videos out. It makes all the difference! About 2 months ago I got this 2010 Ranger 518 with a Pro XS 200, ol 2 smoker! Soon after I got the boat I paid a fellow here on Lake Murray to install an impeller and all new spark plugs. He also did a compression check, all cylinders showed over 100 psi. Well within a good range. I ran this boat every single day for about a month until I noticed that my boat was stuck running about 4500 rpm’s. That’s all she had. I immediately shut the boat down and trailered her over to this gentleman to try and diagnose the issue. I was told he checked the plugs once again and wasn’t able to duplicate my issue or find any codes. I of course went to run the boat that same day and again, same issue. Boat runs fine, pees great, idles great! Nothing past 4500. I waited a couple of weeks until the mechanic got back from a Memorial Day vacation and dropped it off again. A day later I got a call that my boat needed a power head. A “compression check” had been done and I was showing 70ish psi on all six cylinders.. I do have a little bit of a maintenance background (military) so I knew in my gut something was off. I was quoted $12,500 for a power head. Instead, I opted to pick my boat up that day and resorted to checking things out myself. Yesterday I was able to get my hands on a compression tester. The first thing that I noticed was that all 6 plugs that I had paid for to be replaced were long gone. Burnt UP! After doing the compression check with a mechanic here at home myself, I showed 100+ psi on all 6 cylinders, all well within a good range of each other. Also to note, one coil had some more than mild corrosion on it and low and behold coils happen to be a common issue with these early pro xs motors. Although I haven’t gotten the boat fixed yet, parts have been ordered and fingers crossed for a solid boat next week. With this said, please y’all, pay for a second opinion. Do your research on dealers/mechanics. Learn this stuff! Knowing that there’s some people out here that have said yes in my case is sickening. Us anglers have a target on our backs being our hobby’s cost us as it is. I always try to have faith in mankind, but I don’t mistake my kindness as weakness either. If you or anybody you know needs work done around the Lake Murray area (South Carolina) or anywhere for that matter, please be mindful. Our time on the water is sacred and boat issues are enough as it is! God bless y’all and tight lines 🎣
The calm before the storm. Thursday Night Tournaments at Laker Walter E. Long aka Decker Lake is a few minutes from being underway🙏🏽🔥
What are (in your opinion) the top techniques when fishing this type of water / cover it’s super clear and TONS of standing submerged vegetation the only technique I found to work is throwing a popper around some sets of floating docks and couldn’t find a bite with a swim jig,lipless, Texas rig craw, and a jerkbait the one thing I didn’t throw was some sort of swim bait like a mag draft or something along those lines what would you recommend thanks