Johnsfolly

Al I love the guide style books as well. Maybe a little too well🙄.. I have the following: 2nd edition of Pflieger's Fishes of MO. I believe that there are a few copies for sale online. I know an OAF member picked up a copy recently within the last year. The new Fishes of Nebraska A pdf copy of the Fishes of Tennessee (which you can get free online) A pdf of a Pocket guide to Kansas stream fish which is free online. The Freshwater Fishes of the Carolinas,, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware A really old copy of Peterson's field guide to Freshwater Fishes My kids got me A field guide to Coastal Fishes last Xmas. They did release the 2nd edition of The Fishes of Arkansas which I do not have but know one OAF member that has a copy. It's on my to buy list. I have had limited contact with the author of that guide about yellow perch in Arkansas and a few other fish species. So if books are your thing lots of those are available as well.

I actually don't know if it will be a third edition to Pflieger's or a new book. Since it is funded by the MDC it may be a 3rd edition. I am in fairly regular contact with the author and can ask. He did work with some others on The Fishes of Nebraska book released a couple of years ago.

Livie made a new twist on potato pancakes. This recipe included mozzarella cheese within the potato mixture. The potato mixture had some sweet rice flour to bind and a little sugar. Fried in a little oil and topped with sour cream.

A friend of our inherited some items from her grandmother. One was a picture of Jesus that "looks" at you where ever you are in the room. Our friend was creeped out by it as a kid and not sure why she kept it now.

For those guys that like myself like to catch a variety of species there are a number of great resources that I have found to check on species identifications or distributions to confirm what you have caught. If you don't already know, I am fairly targeted on specific fish species each year. To be successful in those endeavors I prefer to find locations within the target species distribution ranges and head out there and fish for that particular species. (sorry won't be able to make these sites as hyperlinks) One of the best resources that I have found to help me to target those fish is www.fishmap.org. This site is maintained by the North America Native Fish Association (NANFA) and covers freshwater species and some brackish species. You are able to select by Genus or by common name/species name. Once you select the species you will be brought into that species distribution ranges. The site shows historical and introduced ranges typically by watershed. The data points/collections on this site pull data from a number of different organizations data, including some that I mention below e.g., INaturalist and NANFA. The data points can be opened and you can see who collected the fish or observation as well as the date that it was collected. The INaturalist entries will typically have a photo or photos of the fish. Just recently I joined and have been fairly active on www. inaturalist.org site. This is a site where members can post and support identifications of all kinds of flora and fauna. These observations get reviewed by other members from across the country. Data from these observations feed into various projects across the country as well. I know that my entries for fish caught in Maryland will feed into the Maryland Biodiversity Project (www.marylandbiodiversity.com). Also fish from Arkansas can feed into the Biodiversity Project of Arkansas which is a group on the INaturalist site. I have only posted a couple of fish (whitetail shiner and strawberry darter) so far for Arkansas and both were pulled into the Biodiversity project. I will admit that these next two sites I have had issues becoming a member so I tend just to lurk. I still use their information for species identification which includes photos and locations. I have mentioned NANFA (www.nanfa.org) already. I hope to resolve my issues and become a member soon. I know a few folks that are active with this organization. The other site www.roughfish.com is a bigger issue and I continue to have issues trying to become a member of this organization and likely will not become one in the future. I can however look through their species listings, photos, collections, etc. I just cannot interact with others on that site. Some other states and organizations exist out there that have great information. With my travels into NC, SC, and GA I found www.ncfishes.com and this site has great photos and descriptions of freshwater and marine fish as well as invertebrates. They also compare to similar species and describe their ranges. I often use this site and the fishmap site to evaluate new species in the southeast. The state of Utah has a poster series that describe and illustrate the native species in their primary watersheds (can't upload) Some posters exist for other species like bullheads and other species. Lots of information out there for us crazy folks that track and try to catch many different species and work to build our lifelists .

Where I worked in FL the property had an ultraclear and deep pond. I tossed in a couple of Xmas trees one year and had sunfish and even 4 to 5 lb bass around them within a day or two. Once the needles fell off and they lost branches the number of fish around them dropped of dramatically. Just means that you have to keep refreshing those spots over time. Looking forward to seeing more fish more from your lake. Live and learn from those flippin' mistakes !

Great looking spot to fish. Congrats on the crappie and good luck getting that big bass!

Hey Pete - she's looking at you!

Found out that one of the fawns was next to the porch eating the last of our tomato plants. So just 20 feet from our living room. Going to have to shoot a bolt soon😉!

We have a small plastic doll that we call the creepy doll. We will hide it around the house. Usually in a spot where she will stare at you. Once you find it then you get to hide her. Who knows where she will end up. Once she was taped to the lid of the toilet and I laughed very loudly when I "found" her. Ok we are a weird family 🤪

Rick I am still an active scientist, but it is getting harder and harder to find the "real Science". The rush to publish, the competition for grants, etc. all open the door for falsification of records and corruption. In the case for COVID it may be recognition or monies that make for poor science or an overreach of the data to push their findings into the news cycle. You also know that many scientists tend to be hesitant to over generalize their data. In that case more often than not scientific accuracy comes only after more data are available and not necessarily when the public wants you to be predictive and set policy on small data sets.

With the fall back an hour, the first few days there seems to be lots of time in the mornings. Usually only have time for a piece of toast with almond butter. Today's breakfast was a piece of French toast made with local cinnamon raisin bread and a piece of Applewood smoked bacon.

Anyone on here read Michael Crichton's book "State of Fear"? A good read.

I don't typically target carp but enjoy catching them particularly on light line. My two largest carp were 9 lbs 5 oz and 12 lbs 13 oz. Both were caught using a #10 hook with a piece of redworm and 4# test line. I had to stay behind some brush to not spook these fish and lightly pitch the bait in front of them. They would see and follow the bait to the bottom and I would set the hook anticipating when I thought they had the bait. Fought them all over that small pond. Lots and lots of fun.

I blame the 24/7 news cycle for the overreporting of everything.

That guy is an awesome freak of nature buddy! Very cool catch!

Awesome catch for your son as well. You are the sauger magnet buddy. I remember seeing your 11 pt photo earlier in the year. I would be happy for a 6 inch sauger just to get it on the list . Then worry about catching a big one.

Not sure why I didn't take a photo. Had a pot roast using chuck roast. Braising liquid consisted of 2 cups of mushroom liquor and beef stock, bay leaves, black peppercorns, and oregano. Sear and crock pot cook with whole garlic and chunked onion for almost four hours. Added more vegetables into the broth about an hour before serving that included parsnips, carrots, celery, and mushrooms. Made a gravy from the braising liquid. Delicious.

We have eaten white catfish this summer. They are a bullhead species. We fried them and they were good, but then again most fish fried will be good. Haven't tried any brown bullheads.

Really started hunting in earnest a couple of weeks ago. I will have to state a few things. First is that Maryland allows baiting. We have our landlord's permission to hunt the woodlot behind the house but only about 25 to 30 yards into the woods. We have permission from all of the neighbors that live within 150 yards of our spot. There is not a large number of public lands of any great size (>> 100 acres) near us. Last year I had set up a ground blind behind the house and we did bait in two does. One was my daughter's first deer and I shot a second one later in the season. We did see a few bucks and one really nice 9 or 10 point. I know that this is likely not thought of a true fair chase situation, but it is all within the regulations for the state. Here is the set-up with the blind in the lower left. The second photo shows the limited area and how far from the house we are hunting. So this year we began baiting the area in Sept. We routinely have had a doe and two fawns hitting the baits. A couple of weekends ago we had a heavy rain and a cold snap. That morning I had a nice mature 9 point but no shot. Later saw a tall and wide 8 pt followed by a spike and a 4 pt. There was also at least 10 does/fawns coming by throughout the day. With the buck around I had no interest in shooting one of the does or fawns. I have sat on stand a few more times, passed on the does and fawns again with the hope that one of the bucks would be back if the does were all still around. Saw more buck sightings while hunting and some while not hunting. Also frequent doe and fawn visitors. Even had wood ducks in the wet areas in the woodlot. These next few photos show how some of the fawns react to us before I had my daughter pull down her hammock on Sat. With all of these sightings it has been both a time of anticipation and also frustration. Saturday I put out doe in estrous scent and you would have thought that I had not showered for a week and ran all over the woodlot. I saw just the 4 pt buck (which is legal to take and by now frustration is building) but he just cruised through in front of me and never slowed down. Sunday morning the two fawns came in just before first light and left just after sunrise. I saw only one other deer off in the distance and did not see what it was. We had another 2 inches of rain later that day. It seemed that the rain washed away the doe scents. Today really heavy winds and there was a does and three fawns on the bait at lunch time. I always think that I should be out on the public lands trying to get a hunt for other deer than the backyard deer. If you want to cast stones go ahead. But there is always so much activity out back that it is hard to try and fill the freezer elsewhere. Hopefully myself or my wife and get one or two before the season is over. Good luck to others. I know of a couple of successful bow hunters that have not posted their successes.

I feel for you @Devan S. that has got to suck. No win situation for sure.

Stonecats are the largest madtom species in the Noturus genus. So 5 to 9" is within their size range for sure. That checkered madtom is a big one as well, possibly the second largest species in that genus. Here's a margined madtom with that classic tail and adipose fin.

You said that you didn't know what I was talking about. Sorry buddy, but now you do! I will admit that I have not seen these movies but do have one DVR'ed to watch. Dolls are creepy though. Go look up paranormal shows about Island of the Dolls (or Doll Island). That's place is creepy for sure. Supposed to be one of the scariest places in Mexico.

Since January I have been working at the lab except for time off requests. We have implemented social distancing procedures at work, but still have 60+ people in my building on campus that all have lives outside of our work. Since June, I have travelled from MD to KS and back, MD to GA and back, MD to MO and back, MD to DE and back several times, MD to SC and back, MD to PA and back. I look at the data presented on various sites that are not political portals and take what i consider to be calculated but low risk activities. I also try not to be a hypocrite about this pandemic. I have heard from many sources like DJ about the monetization of COVID cases and do consider that there is likely an inflation of the actual numbers. I look more at trends to make some of my decisions. We routinely and probably more so than we should have one to two meals every 7 to 10 days from local restaurants since March both when it was curbside and now dine in. Partly for ourselves, but also to try an keep these businesses going. A lot of these places are really putting in tremendous efforts to keep their patrons safe and I would hate to see some of them close because I was not willing to help by having meals there. We wear masks when out in public and I really don't care what others think about us wearing them. We don't wear them in the car, or when it is just ourselves together, or when we are with folks that are more than 10 ft apart that we don't know, or around others that we choose to be around that are not symptomatic. We have hand sanitizer in all of our vehicles. We routinely wash our hands in public places and sanitize when we get back in the car. We are trying to do what we can to live somewhat normal lives. Who knows we may all get it by the end of the year or not. Each of us have to do what we need to do.