Feathers and Fins

I was in the tracker you talked to. I did enjoy watching you guys trying to pull the striper in. Dont worry i dont think anyone could hear you but it was clear you were trying to give him help and he was doing the teenage thing, dont stress it most of us have been there. I side scanned your set-up when i went by and looked like your two down lines were actually under weighted they were actually about 30ft behind your boat. Increase the weight on them and they will be in a better possition. Also when hooked up get them up and you will solve a lot of problems. Your other lines looked pretty good, you were covering a lot of water with it and thats the key. Running between the bouy lines is always risky and with the amount of guys in the area yesterday no way was I going to run more than two lines with the amount of guys out there yesterday and the wind it was hard enough running my flat line where i like. You were deffinately in the area but the stripers were very spread out and not on a good feed. None of my marks showed really good schools feeding. They were basically just hanging near bait schools.

Trout in Beaver would be very viable. Stock them at the Parks and Announce it in the papers and AGFC website. This would give people a chance to catch them on stocking days and about 3 days after... It would provide a summer holdover fishery and in time a world glass fishery for large trout. Yesterday was not the first time ive caught a trout in PC. Heck if they stocked them there and turned the old road area to a park it would be a very nice place to fish. I am sure the stripers would catch on but stocking a little larger class trout would help keep them from munching. Still would love to see Salmon stocked it would hold them for sure.

Ok saw the title and just had to check. Shoulda known with Duane something fishy was up... Way to make a person look amigo... Nice fish but actually thought you were catching STIPERS finally.

Yup, Lake atlanta trout, I wish AGFC would stock Beaver with them, heck Beaver would sustain lakers or salmon. Think about how much fun those would be or just stock beaver with trout. Out west they stock lakes with stripers and bass that eat stockers. Stock them at PC Park or Horshoe Bend and let people take advantage of them as they will hang around long enough for people to catch a few.

Very Nice, BTW that was me cruising around PC yesterday and watched you guys get the one. Way to go and glad my advice helped.

Played up in War Eagle for a bit today, There were some stripers 3 to 6 pounders and a few whites little males. Loaded the boat back up and ran down to Prairie Creek... Bait was stacked in front of the marina. Striper class was much nicer as well. Managed 3 in the 12 to 15 pound class and marked plenty. Shad were all the way in the back of Avoca and Prairie Creek and when i say all the way back I was in less than 2ft of water. Alot of Bass in the back of both creeks as well busting them. Not the best day for sure the wind and cold was cutting through me and making drifts for the stripers very difficult. I went all the way up the creek in Prairie Creek looking for shad and saw a flathead that easily topped 40 ponds and possibly 50. The thing was monster. Pretty neat seeing him crusing the creek channel. Oh and the catch of the day a 1.5lb rainbow trout from prairie creek, White rooster tail trying for the bass busting the shad. Gee wonder where he came from.

Shhh there are no stripers anywhere near war eagle nope nope nope all by the dam ya thats it

Sounds like you are wanting a bobber for casting extra distance. If thats the case you need to buy a ( Cast Bubble ) Its a plastic bobber with a small tube in the middle, Push the tube up and you can fill it with water for added weight. I use to use it a lot for bonito fishing and redfish and sea trout. I took mine and filled it up with #9 shot for shotgun shells. It added weight plus a rattle to it.

Guys one thing I like about this site is the amount of people who see the right thing and just do it. Let the politicians play the blame game and let us keep doing the right thing. Ive sent my letters as well via E-mail. Politicians dont use the brains god gave the mwe know that... BUT they sure can read and like the nice cushy job and making voters mad doesnt keep it.

Look up (POPPIG CORK) on youtube it is a very easy set-up and catches alot of fish and might save you grief.

You should be ok, I run from Holiday Island to 62 bridge and see people paddling it often. I would actually start off in Parker Bottoms and float it to Houseman, that will put you in the prime walleye areas. I havent heard of any good numbers yet. It should be comming on soon... If your casting a Fly for them I like brown sculpin patterns or 6'' brown or red san juan workms.

I do not see a reason to allow the killing of a animal that has limited numbers in the state to be shot on sight! Or for that matter any law allowing for shooting of any animal with a very small population. If someone had said Bear or Dear people would go insane as they have a hunting season for a reason. We need management practices for these animals no diffrent then any other animal in the state. I see this as a knee jerk reaction based on fear! Yes if the animals threatening you or destroying your farm animals then yes I can understand shooting it at that point. But this law would give people carblanche to shoot on site and that I am firmly against as i see people going out purely to do it and then claim self defence.

Pssttt gents. Go to you closet ( when the wife aint home ) borrow ( never to be returned ) some of clothes hangers ( wire ones not plastic lol ) and you have very heavy wire for the rigs. It works and ten wire clothes hanger at the store are cheap. Now this is for 2oz weights or larger.

This is how i look at college drafts, Many high school kids do well in High school but when they hit college something wierd happens and they cant play and even some have been injured and then others make stupid moves and keeps them from seeing game time. I do not pay attention to the hype of the draft and really it is what it is. I have seen walk ons become stars over the supposed star recruites. So untill they prove themselves in three catergories I just dont pay attention. Those three are ( conduct ) how they handle themselves off and on the field. ( Grades ) simple to understand and finally ( team play ) Will they put the team above their own ego!

Try putting some D.O.A Terror Eyes or Bait Busters in the A-rigs they catch fish and the hook will not pull off the bait

Here is an ID chart

Striper.

Eric, there are alot of ways to cook it... Dont think of it as duck #100. I'll show you.. You have 20 friends over for duck and goose kabobs. That takes 8 geese and about 20 to 30 ducks . You give away over the season 50 ducks and 20 geese . You then have some summer sausage made thats about 15 ducks and 15 geese... You can see it quickly goes bye bye. Throw in the poppers and family meals and really it doesnt last long. I doubt we get 100 meal out of it.. You also have to remember this is over 5 months September to the end of January. And Teal, Wood duck and other smaller ducks go faster. Heck opening day of resident goose I put down 5 of them. I got home and my neighbor came over and helped clean them so I invited him and his family over for a bbq. I had 2 breast fillets, my wife ate 1 fillet his family ate 7 fillets.. All the birds ate in one day. It goes fast man.

More to the point WHERE AM I GOING TO GET MORE!!!! I only have 2 honker breast 1 snow breast 1 speck breast and 4 duck breast left... Durring season my wife and I eat duck and goose atleast 3 times a week and I share it with a few of the old guys around town that I know that cant make it out anymore and a couple families who I know that can use the meat more than us. Honestly we seldom buy store bought meat or fish as we get fresh ourselves. You got to keep in mind 4 ducks is a meal and 1goose is a meal so it doesnt take long to make them go bye bye and if i make poppers to share with people i normally do it out of 12 ducks or 4 geese and i make them alot durring the season. Lord I love poppers.

Marty, ive had birds take that long many times and always worth the wait. I look at it as if I know i got a present comming im sure what it is but i cant see it.. Kinda makes it fun waiting. Dont worry about this weekend I, might not be doing anything myself the truck went down today so I got to get it fixed and they arnt sure when it will be done but its a big bill unfortunatly... Oh well 300,000 miles and never a problem yet so I guess a few coil packs and some head work and other misc items aint to bad.

Well its over and done with except for spring snows. The totals were way down but ended up not doing to bad thanks to a emergency trip to Oklahoma and the last weekend of Arkansas and finding some stupid birds. Final was 125 Ducks 93 Snows 75 Honkers 16 specks Total Hunt days 48 for a 6.4 bird per day average Last year saw 71 hunt days for 15.2 bird per day average for the same species listed above so below half. I just ran the numbers for the ten year average which is 64 days with a 9.2 bird per day average. Work was a major factor in loss of 16 days of hunting. Weather was a major factor as we all know it never got cold. Water level was another factor as it was high on the lakes and lots of it in the ponds keeping birds spread out. 3 of the 4 major factors this year I had no control over and were related to nature. Work is what it is so though a factor not near as much as weather. This is where log books really bring a reality check back to hunting. Many Many good years get you spoiled and when the bad one hits you find yourself not wanting to hunt. Well I was that way but still finished out the season. But after review of the logs it wasnt really a bad season, just one that had circumstances beyound my control in it that didnt give me what i was use to. So I am smiling thinking next year i hope to just be an average year as thats alot of shooting in retrospect. I have kept logs for as long as i can remember as a tool to help me get the birds but this years log actually turned what was feeling like a horrible season and year, and put it in perspective. I havent been about numbers in years as I do it more for the love now but in a year like this that on face seems so bad the logs showed in reality it wasnt to bad. Kind of neat actually to look back at the logs and see them. But here is the kicker. I looked back to the 1980's log while writing this up and had to chuckle. On average under the Restrictive regulations we had back then I averaged 63 days hunting for a 3.5 bird average. Keep in mind the limit then was 4 birds. So in the restrictive seasons I did better then in a liberal season lol. If there was ever a wake up call as to numbers dont matter that is certanly it! Perception of the hunt for many and even myself at times is based on numbers. This season will forever be a reminder it is not about numbers but quality of the hunt and people. I had many quality hunts even when no birds were harvested this season and spoke with some really great guys and read some really great stories. I think to me Marty's Can will be the highlight of my season. I wasnt there but reading his excitement reminded me of how fun this hobby is when you find a jewel.

OTF, that is what my concern is. I have a CCP and well when waterfowling carry a shotgun. If someone came down screaming at me with a gun in hand I would probably do whatever I felt was needed to defend myself. If I could see them comming from a distance I would retreat if possible but forced into a corner with a gun carrying person yelling and screaming at me. I could easily see myself and otheSr in a situation where deadly force would be used. My best friend just finished his CC course and there was 72 people in it. More and more people are taking the course and carrying. Its only a matter of time I fear before the old west mentality catches up to someone. I hope I never am the one who it catches up with and I hope noone here is or anyone for that matter but I see it comming.

LOL... Yup and Im sure I would hear Lions and Tiger and Bears OH MY... or as we said in my high school production of that show WINEO'S and JUNKIES and PIMP'S Oh Yaaaaaaaaaa.

I would like to say this first as to qualify my response. I am a Herpetologist and worked with many of this world’s snakes, venomous reptiles were my specialty. I worked with several wildlife rescue groups and importers so I have seen firsthand and worked closely with Cougars, Panthers, Bears bobcats and especially wolves (actually owned several wolves) First misidentification from a layman who has no experience is extremely common. I have misidentified a bobcat for a Florida panther in the evening several times and I knew the animals well. Fast moving at night with no light to low moon light it’s an easy mistake to make. Also at distances people make mistakes even in the daylight. If I had a dollar for every person who told me a snake was 8 to 10 feet long I would have been rich. I would get called out for a 8 foot rattler and get there to find a 4 foot pine snake and so on. Also I have seen people call Mountain Lions in California while I’m sitting there looking at the Lion with a high power scope and it was a bobcat. Misidentification and second hand accounts leading to faulty identification is very common! If indeed we have mountain lions in the plains states then the game and fish agencies would need to find them, collar them and track them to verify the population status. This is not a cheap endeavor and they are as stretched for money as everyone else. Maybe with more credible reports and sightings with picture evidence and tracks, then possibly they could justify the expense. The scientist and naturalist in me would love to find out if they are here and are not just released or escaped pets or circus animals. The kid inside me who remembers his first encounter with one years back really wants to hope it’s true as I would love to see them again. Next to wolves they are one of the most majestic animals I have ever been around. Reptiles were a business and a passion but seeing and hearing the cry of a wolf or cougar. Well not much beats that. Accept hearing it in the wild.

This is my greatest fear as far as the Flowing water's part of this goes. Sooner or later some property owner is going to come walking down to a stream and threaten someone who has a gun and the person with the gun will take it as a threat to life and shoot the land owner or we will get the OK Corral shoot out. More and More people each year are using the streams, rivers creeks and lakes and I see this as unavoidable if the law enforcement divisions do not start telling landowners who do these action what is the law. The only solution is the law clairified and people made aware of it from Joe Floater and Jeff Fishermen to Mike the Property owner and the Law men.