Victor

I don't fish for bass enough to comment. But... Sorry i couldn't resist.

Great work. Kept saying I'm going to buy a fly rod and learn but never got to it.

Congrats on your first successful carp outing! It's always nice to see another angler converted! You always hear the stories how they're garbage fish and "why would you want to catch those ugly things".

Haven't seen you around for a while Cliff. Enjoyed the report!

Welcome to the board. I have yet to blank there this year but the fishing hasn't been what it used to be IMO. It gets alot more pressured now and every single fish that you catch it's been caught before. Beans is right the average is about 12-18lb-ish. The last few years that I have fished it I have never seen a 30+ landed, only a handful of high 20s. Good for you if you a 30+ out of there, but i highly doubt that there's a 35 roaming in that water especially after the die-off. I wouldn't drive all the way to fish there if I were you though. It's a nice swim but personally 6 hours is just too far for getting a few fish in the mid-teens range. There's lots of water to fish at the Grand especially the lower stretches (for bigger fish) and I think Erie's also got some monsters swimming in it. Those are much closer for you. If you're willing to drive 12 hours round trip for a session I'd rather spend half that time driving back and forth to Erie and chumming a spot days before you fish it. (just saying haha)

Stop posting reports of little fish nice work bud, i'm so jealous that you get to go out during the week

I'm an Olympus user myself, have used friends/dad's Nikon/canon but not enough to tell which one I like more. I suggest that you borrow one from a friend or rent one (i believe henrys offers that option) to get a feel of how they are in your hands/your application. IMO it all comes down to personal preferences and it far outweighs the minor differences in spec/functions for a person that's just getting into it. (myself included and I feel the same way still)

already seen them but once again, nice work out there! Gotta get together soon!

frozen-fire and I actually do plan on hitting the Grand sometime in the summer for some river smallies. We probably won't get to it till maybe August though. Will for sure send you a PM when we do figure out when we're going.

i have yet to catch one ... gotta try for sometime, sounds like alot of fun!

it's a nice change from carp fishing, let them do their thing for now, i'm sure it'll turn around soon!

Spending a day out on the water with family is always nice. Reminds me that it's been a while that I've fished with my old man, gotta schedule that in sometime in the near future! thanks for posting Ryan!

looking at those underwater pics again ... my mainline is super visible great pics!

Enjoyed the read stephen, great work with the fly rod! You wear baseball caps now!?

Congrats on your first bow!! We gotta get together for some bass when it opens!

Nice shots Bill. Love the color on these things

o boy. This may not be something I can do myself thanks again Boatman, and everybody who chimed in.

Thanks for the tip boatman. Is there any other way of removing the lower unit so I can service the impeller?

Nice fish for sure. I don't think you should clean off that stuff. It's for good luck

From the limited amount of information I gathered from the web, it seems that I don't have/need to remove a linkage from the top. I took a look at the parts lists for the powerhead and didn't find any parts that relates to shift linkage. I could be wrong though. I actually could slide the lower unit down so I think the driveshaft isn't the issue, but the parts I mentioned (part 71 and 66) would get stuck at the top of the lower unit and the lower unit would be hanging from those 2 parts. I need to somehow get those 2 parts off. Thanks for all the advices so far guys. I will spend some more time on it.

Hey guys, 2 season ago I came home after a day at the lake and found out that some fishing line got wrapped into my prop and oil started leaking from the prop area. After doing some research on the internet and talking to some people about the problem I learned that I needed to replace the lower unit seals. I figured since I'm getting into the lower unit I may as well replace the impeller. I ordered those parts and spent countless hours trying to figure everything out but I'm just stuck and hopefully you guys can help. It's a 1986 20hp Evinrude E20TECDC. I have even found the parts list online: http://www.boats.net/parts/search/BRP/EVINRUDE/1986/E20TECDC%201986/GEARCASE/parts.html I learned that I needed to remove the intake screen to expose the shift linkage and I have removed the upper/lower shift linkage. However I can't seem to get the upper shift rod keeper (part # 71) and the shift rod connector (part #66) off. The lower unit should just come off after I get that part removed. Here's a picture of where I'm at. Hopefully someone can give me some tips on how to get this off. It's been very frustrating and that's why I haven't used my boat for almost 2 seasons. After I get that off I'll still need to figure out how to replace the seals/impeller which will be a whole new ballgame. Thanks in advance! Victor

Amazing shots of both fish and the bugs! Definitely learned alot from this post, never really paid much attention to the bugs before. thanks for sharing with us.

Sweet corn on a hook would work. What Musky Mike said in terms of rig. Throw a few handful of corn into the area your fish as chum and cast your rig right in there. It's best if you can keep your hookbait stationary but it may be difficult if you are fishing from a boat. With that said though I know a number of people who stalk them and have success just dragging the offering in front of the fish. Good luck and let us know how you make out!

That's a great story! Good on ya. What saltydawg said as well.

have always loved your reports with Averie. She has a great smile and I guess we should give some credit to the photographer too