Feathers and Fins

Lol, Sammie is a couch hog for sure and believes she owns it. My chair though she get up in it finds a comfortable spot and lays her head on me and goes right out. People come over and cant believe we let her do as she wants. Like I said she is my daughter and has earned the right many times over from days in the field to that loving nudging with her nose in bad times trying to comfort you I know they know when something is not right. She has earned the right to an easy life.

Yup not a problem use to big salt water plugs so it only took a few seconds to figure out a rubber band made the A-rig nothing more than a big marlin plug.

John my baby is like a daughter to me I could never think of her as a tool and she is spoiled rotten. Here are a few of her more spoiled moments. Pretty common to see her in my chair with me sleeping, Or on the couch under the fan And this one had me and my wife rolling, we came in from shopping and saw this the look on her face of who the helI woke me up was priceless.

Chris I have hunted with Boycs and Springers and never had issues with them and geese, My little girl is only 50lbs soaking wet and has no issue. I have a good friend that hunts with a standard poodle ( funny to see peoples faces when they see it ) dang thing weighs maybe 40 lbs but is a goose retrieving machine. I believe it is more the heart of the dog than the size, I have seen chessies who refuse to pick up a goose.

Bill, there is so much waste and taxation in the Government it will make you throw-up if you looked it all up! I learned about government waste and taxation decades ago when living in Cali. They hit us first with the ( Ocean Enhancement stamp ) it was designed to help offset the cost of gillnetters when they passed the law banning gillnetting, WHY? everyone knows how devastating they are be like making everyone with a drivers license pay a special fee to bar owners to have a breathalyzer used on a person before they could leave it. Next was the ( Upland bird stamp ) suppose to help restore upland bird habitat lmfao and yet they keep allowing building on that habitat and encroachment on it by a host of things. And on to my Favorite ( second rod stamp ) Had to have it to use two rods while fishing. Until PEOPLE stand up and start taking the power from government and telling it NO we will continue to see these false taxes and that is all they are a tax that does nothing but line someones political pocket.

212 days is all, Come on September 1st!

awesome hunt sounds like

The only two I use are Improved clinch and Palomar! Never had an issue with either only Floro I use is Seagar though.

Mitch, that is simple if price wasn't a problem http://calstarrods.net/ I would order at least 8 rods without blinking.

I remember it and wish I could forget it! Looks like another one is possible next week and im hoping not but boy are the weathermen talking about it already.

Falls under ( Storm Damage ) on outbuilding policy on your insurance, see them paid for all the time.

Great pictures I love the Yellow dog.

The other thread got me thinking, about our most valued partners. So lets see the Pup pictures, doesn't matter how old they are but honor to the pups we hunt with.

Plenty around here in good numbers

Great pics Guys, Chris is also a great rod holder lol. Now you best be ready for some lineside chasing in a couple months.

And of course the Oldsquaw

If it comes with it from the factory I throw it when they are gone I keep throwing it, haven't seen a noticeable difference when it comes to top-water as they are typically very aggressive active fish and will hit anything making motion on the surface. I do put them on crank baits though and have put rabbit fur on a few Flickers and Rapala's with a stinger hook through the skin and it does make a difference with those.

Both MDC and AGFC have on their websites the "special area" sections and the restrictions that go with them. Just go to the websites and look up where you are planning on going.

Mitch I have a couple sauces I make that would make you smile. Try this one 1 cup Brown sugar 3/4 cup Whiskey 1/2 cup Honey 1/4 cup butter cook in pot on medium for 10 minutes or until sauces is formed. Great for dark meats 3/4 Cup white sugar 1/2 cup almond bark 1/2 cup honey 3/4 cup Saki cook on medium until all ingredients are reduced down stirring the entire time ( about 10 to 15 minutes ) Great on white meats or ice cream. If you use Banana Saki it is awesome on a banana split.

NO BET, I marked them there yesterday.

Duane, I got the Squaw, I know of a confirmed Brant in KS, Blackduck in LA and a Eider in South Carolina Global warming my rear end!

For what it is worth everyone I know who has had an Express has dumped them for War Eagle, these are hunters/fishermen though and find the Xpress doesn't do what they want for one reason or another. As a fishing platform I know guys with them that love them it seems to be when it goes to the dual use people leave for the Eagle. Just like the Ranger Aluminum thread it really comes down to what you want to do with the boat.

Trolling speed is controlled by many factors, weight of boat, size of boat, Hull configurations, wind, RPMS of engine Pitch of prop, Angle of motor (trim), current etc. Every boat is different and you have to know your boat. There is no way to compare engine v engine unless they are on the same boat with all things being equal.

I know there is a massive shad die-off going on right now on beaver, Avoca and Prairie Creek both had shad littering the bottoms in the back the birds were feasting on them, even saw a bunch laying on the ice in a few coves where the birds were standing on it munching away. I did locate some nice striper marks but in 39.2 degree water temp and shad die-off I doubt they would be biting much. If we could get water to go up in the 50's the back of the same coves will be loaded with shad that survived and full of hungry predators it could be a great spring.

As I mentioned yesterday we found a lot of birds and had to go out for closing day. It was a pure Duck hunt and one that has had me smiling all day ear to ear like my first duck hunt. The morning started off beautiful with a little breeze not even enough to take the glass off the lake and gave a great morning picture view. We had noticed the mallards yesterday in the Buckbrush so we set up for them that way and then put out the longline Goldeneye for divers. The birds worked nice picked off a few Bufflehead and Goldeneye and then a Dream bird came in well a pair but I only managed the Hen the drake stayed to far out. Talk about a rare bird not something you would see or expect to see in Arkansas try OLDSQUAW. I have dreamed of one day shooting them and today just 8 miles from home I did it. The drake cam back a couple times but never in range. I have been smiling all day and could not think of a better way to end the season. The Spread AND THE SQUAW