Feathers and Fins

Started out at Point 3 area for some stripers. The fleet was there but the fish were slow so I moved to the island and managed 4 there all small. I worked my way from there to point 4 then 5 and on to Rocky Branch before calling it a day. ended up with 4 stripers on Live Bait... 8 smallmouth, 7 kentuckys and 3 Largmouth on Keitechs and flukes Best 5 = 17.3 pounds Put a Catfish and Gar in the live=well for dinner Not a bad day to be on the water but started getting crowded by noon. To see the Final Dinner Product click here

Gar is by no means a trash fish! But you feel like a contractor after cleaning one. Gar have often been called a no good trash fish and I have seen many killed and just left to lay on the side of creeks and lakes and to me there is no greater crime in nature than someone killing something with no intent on eating it, especially when it is such great table fair. Gar is definitely not easy to clean for the inexperienced angler but after a few you learn it is actually faster than most species. So first how to clean it! You will need the following tools; Gloves ( Heavy yard type ) this is for griping the mouth without getting tore up by teeth Hack Saw Tin Snips or heavy duty scissors Sharp fillet knife First thing you want to do is grip the mouth and with the saw cut off the head, then take the tin snips and cut down the middle of the back of the fish. The next step is to take your fingers and peal the skin away from the meat ( you may need a fillet knife ) but most times it peels off. Finally take the knife and fillet the meet off the bones you will end up with a very nice boneless backstrap. You will notice this meat does not look like a normal fish and it is not. The texture is closer to Chicken or Deer backstraps and not at all flakey nor does the meat have a fishy flavor. Now for this recipe I lightly season the meat with Garlic, Lemon pepper and salt, Bake in the oven for 30 minute on 350 wrapped in foil. Then place on a pan and broil for 5 minutes. For this dish I made one of my favorite Butter Sauces. Simply Melt a ½ stick of real butter in a sauce pan,. ¼ sugar, 1 teaspoon lemon, 1 teaspoon red pepper, 1 teaspoon red pepper, 1 teaspoon paprika and, ½ teaspoon cinnamon and mix in with the butter and gently stir for 5 minutes This dish also had a loaded potatoes’ and sugar and honey glazed peaches just for good measure.

Al, you brought it up so im going to run with it a little.... People changing words is like people complaining about political threads on websites. The PC stuff from politics or even the news or people is ridiculous if a person doesn't want to use them that's fine I can respect it but to complain when others just simply talk the way they talk and then to complain about it IS the problem its all about control of others and that is wrong. The same can be said about a person who opens a thread on a website they KNOW is political or can figure it out in the first post or two. If you don't like something DONT SAY IT! If you don't want to read something DONT OPEN IT! But people need to stop trying to tell other people how to think how to talk or what to post. Use their brains and their feet or fingers! Walk away from people you do not like the way they talk or the words they use. Use your finger and close a thread you don't want to read but stop trying to tell and control other people from talking. Funny yet sad many people who do that are the first to scream about the Amendments and which is violated but seem to always forget the FIRST!

Yes I do. I run them on downriggers, lead core line and on occasion surface. Ac Plugs and Castaic trout and a smattering of others.

Doc. its all Math Beach they will show even sitting still. I don't know much about your unit but here is one off mine sitting still double anchored. I had symbols on as well for a youngster in the boat. the Arch was a striper we caught right after the mark

Yes we could but it would take work on the streams at the level TU does to enhance them for Smallies, Then it would take the states putting heavier restriction on size and bag limits. I think it could be possible and probable for the Ozark states to produce monster smallies both lakes and streams and would love to see it. I love them brown fish they are such bulldogs.

1. Flicker Shad 2. Wiggle Wart 3. Husky Jerk Bait 4. Pop R 5. Fluke

more than 1 LOL. I dive it every so often and pull lots of presents off it. got a pair of Costa off it even.

No dont make me go graph that tree and put on my fins and mask

Interesting shot, What I see is a thermocline setting up near the bottom. but of more interest is this and im speculating a little ( Assuming an 1oz egg sinker which depending on model is about 1 inch then by blowing up the picture the Big Mark would be approximately 8 to 8.5 inches ) This would lead me to beleive it is a large fish but showed no interest in the bait yet did make the bait highly nervous as you can see it rise above the weight line. Then toward the back you had it move above some other predators. They were smaller in size and in a compact school most likely white or schooly hybrids. I wish this was an LSS2 and we had boat speed to accurately calibrate the sizes.

My interpit

Place SD card in the Machine.... Go to menu then menu then screenshot then press power at anytime to get it....Be sure to do same process to turn off.... Saves as PNG put on your PC go to your phot program and save as a jpg and you are done. Or my favorite way. Take a pic with your phones send to Facebook and then copy and paste the property and post.

Ok, I am sitting here having morning coffee and I get 3 text messages, All with pictures showing nice stripers from a friend. He tells me "I HAVE FOUND THE STRIPERS AND I AM NOT TELLING YOU WHERE" My reply to him was "I am happy you are catching stripers in front of lost bridge North" His reply back was " How the _ _ _ _ did you know where I am" My reply was "Because bonehead I can see the ramp and parking lot and even see your truck in the picture and you have gps on the phone turned on" Not like it was a big secret anyway as his son already sent me a text telling me where they were I got that boy bribed big time.

Quill you hit the nail on the head. There is some youtube videos im fond of one is showing a guy in cali actually getting signatures on a fake petition to repeal the bill of rights. All he has to say is Obama wants to do it. I watch it and just shake my head at the morons.

You did notice where is said I was using fictitious numbers didn't you?

Yup I set mine so it is where the water level is on my boat +1 basically. I wish Doc or I would have thought about it but we had a loon last weekend I showed him on side scan real time as it was swimming. This is another advantage to sidescann is being able to watch something moving around.

Your almost talking about a google earth 3d and street view look. I know it can be possible but the expense involved being under water would be enormous and that would be passed on the the consumer and doubtful anyone would spend the thousands of dollars for a unit with that information.

Nathan, Its the saltwater fisherman in me. The pic is a color break and to me that was GOLD any day of the week and three times on Sunday. A thermocline is the same Gold for open water fish. I run baits above and below them and they are highly productive just like ocean current breaks. Short of a total bathometric survey of a lake and an angler willing to pay for that map I dont see sonars coming with that much details. A batho is expensive and I have been told from several people in the GIS field Beaver is going to be done soon. If the maps under 1000.00 I will get it. I use to have one for a smaller lake that was a gift from a buddy in GIS and the detail was unreal ( to the point the water didnt matter with that map in had )

In discribing thermoclines this is the best example i can think of The Dark Blue is warmer clearer water. the light blue is cooler les clear water. If you turn this picture on its side picturing the dark blue as warmer water on top and the light blue cooler water on bottom you see a clear line seperating them ( that is the thermocline). Part of cooler water is the richness of the microscopic organisums in it and this as well can often be seen in deeper ( feet thick ) thermoclines that are is productive because of the small organisums which attract the larger bait fish that feed on them and then up the food chain.

1. I do 2. When i have kids or Novice anglers I do as it keeps them occupied 3. I let the situation dictate this. If the water is showing a lot of debris and false readings because of it I will turn it way down if it is clear I turn it way up to just the point I can see fish sizes. If I am targeting specific fish or structure I will vary it so i get a clear picture. 4. 80% certainity of what I am seeing for species but goes up to 100% if I drop the camera 1. Pretty colors useless without past exeriance to start forming a knowledge base off of. 2. Based of past exerience you can get a good idea of what it could be Bottom fish are much more difficult to identify correctly, Drop the camera time 3. Rocks are a constant structure and multiple passes from multiple directions will let you know this OR use Structure Scan which quickly lets you know . 1. This thread should aid many in that and only by questions will the basics come about. GREAT IDEA FOR A THREAD 2. With the discussion and time on water advanced learning will occur taking people from basic to advance. 3. turn the unit way up to see the bait 4. Love my side scan but before it is useful a person needs to have a good understanding of the bottom contour and structure in the area. For this I use paper charts and spend many hours marking on them where structure is, then I can use the sidescan to get a great picture of what is in the water colum and even schools of fish on the bottom. 5. Great tool for salt water but so far for lakes I do not like what im seeing. Agree its a sales gimmic at this point unless you are a very deep large lake. Love the Topic.

Al, you keep going back to what is arguably a class warfare example by comparing Rich with Poor. So I pulled my taxes from last year and my receipts (everything I paid for last year) I am going to use fictitious numbers as I do not want my worth put on the internet but this will be an honest comparison and using rounded numbers. April 15th taxes $26,000.00 Sales taxes throughout the year 14,400.00 Total in taxes 40,400.00 Or 30% of combined family income Under a flat sales tax that amount would have only been 28,800.00 saving me 11,600.00 last year. Now granted that is before write offs on the April 15th but even after that the amounts would still have saved me 8,000.00 a year! Granted I have no kids at home but even with kids there is still a real savings to the American People. Financial responsibility it the job of the family and no one else, so if they are buying coke at 2.69 a 2 liter they should stop that and buy the Sams club Coke at 1.10 a 2 liter bottle. It is not about who has how much money but making a simple tax law that is applied equally to all people WHICH IS in line with the Constitution Section 8 - Powers of Congress The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; Notice the word UNIFORM which means in the time of the writing of the constitution ( equally ) currently basing taxes off income is not equal nor is the deduction system. A flat tax imposes an equal tax on all people regardless of wealth, age, race, religion etc. Some may argue that it will harm the government or programs when almost all research has shown it would increase revenue as ALL people pay. There could still be deductions such as using a vehicle for work or tools for work or school supplies but those can be wrote in to a tax code. At the end of the year the citizen can submit for reimbursement for those items (and have them clearly defined as to the items and use) and the citizen can get a refund off his/her taxes for those limited items.

Should be some there but honestly for kids entertainment in that area I don't think you can pass up the trout below the dam.

Ok lets try this Al. Mr Rich income is irrelevant as is Joe Average as the tax is designed to hit everyone equally across the board not based off their ( income ) So what if someone is richer than me or you or anyone they still are paying the same taxes I am you are and the rest of the country. Sure people will always be envious of the wealthy big deal get over it is how I have always felt. If you want to have more money EARN IT! This would not have anything to do with income because lets be realistic here Joe Average cant afford Mr Riches yacht anyway. But now Joe Rich will not be able to use said Yacht as a tax write off or his parties he holds on it as a write off or anything else as He has to pay the sales taxes on everything.

Brit think about it this way. It would force people to live in a budget and be thoughtful of their spending. Why buy Levi when Wrangler work. It could and possibly would force prices to come down on many items as people would be more frugal with their money. Instead of being forced to give up your money from payroll ( and use all the deductions in the world to not have to pay ) Now everyone pays there is no exceptions or deductions except on groceries. Its really the only tax that is fair and equal to everyone as it is applied blindly to everyone who buys anything.

Chief it would be a Federal Tax on them to replace the IRS Income tax. Say current tax is 9.25% the Federal would be allowed to tax up to 10%. Do some research on just what Americans spend on Dietary stuff and then Sporting goods and Then clothing. A 10% tax on all those ( everyone pays ) would quickly wipe out the debt. I laughed when I first heard it but after looking over some of those things we spend on it isn't hard to see a flat tax is a true viable solution coupled with a balanced budget law with real penalties for not having one.