Johnsfolly

Very cool catch Dave. congrats on the lifer!

Congrats Dave!

Been working on this. Just got home from a few days in Tenn. I fished a lot, but weather, i.e., heavy rain, and some access issues affected catching lifers. Did end up with one lifer minnow. Can't wait for spring water temps. Emerald Shiner - caught a few took photos of the nicer ones. Posted these Atlantic herring in a previous posting.

I know a few decent blue cat spots. We've been catching lots of 6 to 10 inch blue cats. So they are doing well. From my understanding it was the efforts to make a trophy blue cat fishery in the James River in VA that was tho point of the introductions. The bay changes its salinity t from year to year dependent upon rainfall and the river influences. At the time of the introductions the salinity at the mouth of the James may have deterred movement to other rivers feeding the bay but that changed. Probably 10 or 12 yrs ago. I say that because folks are catching 30 to 40 lb blues which doesn't happen overnight. There is a push to harvest more on a commercial basis but that may only contain them in certain locations. Since we have been in MD there has been drastic reductions in striped Bass over that five year period. As stated in the article the Chesapake bay and rivers make up 80 plus percent of the entire eastern seaboard spawning populations of striped Bass. The last five years have had numbers of young of the year far less than the 10 year avg in the upper bay. In the lower bay where it is more salty and presumably less blue cats the YOY numbers have been much higher and steady near the 10 yr avg. The YOY surveyed in the Hudson River also have been higher than upper chesapeake bay numbers and there has been an increase above the 10 yr avg. I am not aware that there are no blue cats in the Hudson. The last two years there has been a drastic reduction of blue crab recruitment. Folks are finding that blue cats are eating the crabs. We also have had a couple years of high flooding in the upper bay. That may also have an effect on recruitment. From anecdotal fishing reports that seems to be smaller run of yellow perch in the spawning rivers and creeks. @FishnDave I will have to find the one paper that looked at game species numbers that showed substantial reductions in game species after ten years of snakehead predation. Do have time right now but I'll post it when I find it again.

Atlantic salmon do run the Irish rivers. I think that they are common but not abundant. When we were.there it was more expensive than I was willing to spend to try for them. I did do some research on locations in Maine for those salmon.

I had a chance to go to a conference in Dublin at the end of Apr/beginning of May but conflicted with an FDA visit at our lab the 4th of May. So stuck in MD and not in. Pub in Dublin drinking a Guiness. Or fishing for bream.

Is having retried beans like putting spoiled milk back in the Frifge hoping it will get fresh again🤣?

I've caught a couple in mid-April from the Spring river a few years back and they weren't colored up at that time. From an INAT search it looks like in MO that mid-May to June may be the best time to target them in spawning colors. Edit - Looks like MouserK on INAT was finding spawning males in the very SW corner of MO in mid-April

Nice Fly catch. I've caught ones like that one, but really want to catch a spawning male to see why they are called cardinal shiners.

Congrats on what can be a challenging species to catch regardless of your bait choice.

@Quillback sorry for the tough bite but that is a great photo IMO!

Congrats @Ryan Miloshewski on figuring out your streamer fishing and catching those browns and the nice walleye! Also congrats on the job offer!

Congrats @Lance34 on your crappie trips! Really enjoy your reports and crappie photos.

Maybe not soon long ago but did anyone here watch the Jimmy Big-time fishing/hunting shows? Kind of a spoof. I thought that he was very funny.

Good Luck and post some photos 😁

My buddy had a 70's model Gran Fury V8, not a station wagon but another beast on the road. One of the memorable times was sitting/laying on a bunch of beer bottles under a blanket while going through a police checkpoint. Not sure how we got through that successfully. Maybe because we didn't smell of pot.

Looks great! Are you trying for brown trout, smallies or white bass?

Nice Rainbow!

Anyone else hate that trees as much as I do?!? Their flowers stink and they are taking over the landscape. I almost hate them as much as bush honeysuckle, which I would attack every year in Columbia and remove as many I could. I have also done a lot of native plantings at our house in Columbia, including redbuds, Virginia bluebells, columbines, Serviceberry, ninebark bushes, golden currants, wild geraniums, celadine poppies, Jacob's ladders, red buckeyes, etc. So seeing these guys take over the landscape is terrible. Nonnative Callery pears multiply quickly and crowd out native Missouri tree species. MDC recommends avoiding invasive Callery pear tree during spring planting Nonnative Callery pears multiply quickly and crowd out native Missouri tree species. JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The spring season is underway and many Missouri plants and trees will be blooming with life and color. Unfortunately, one invasive tree species will soon be prominent along roadways and other natural open areas: the Callery pear tree. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) urges the public to avoid this nonnative tree species when shopping for a new tree this spring. The Callery pear, also known as the Bradford pear, Cleveland Select, Autumn Blaze, or Aristocrat, is a highly invasive tree that multiples quickly and crowds out Missouri native plants. “The Callery pear rose to fame as a popular ornamental landscape tree in the 1960s because it was inexpensive, it grew fast, and it provided white blooms in the spring,” said MDC Forestry Field Programs Supervisor Russell Hinnah. “But that’s where the list of benefits ends. Different varieties of the tree were planted close to each other, they cross-pollinated, and spread everywhere.” Callery pears’ ability to cross-pollinate is why many roadsides, rights-of-way, parks, and other natural areas are filled with white blooms every spring. The trees are infamous for the stinky smell, but also have poor branch structure. They don’t fare well in bad weather, often losing limbs or splitting apart. MDC encourages homeowners and landscapers to grow native when picking a tree to plant this spring. “The best decision is to plant a tree species native to Missouri, and there are several great trees to substitute,” said Hinnah. “Serviceberry trees produce similar white blooms in the spring and they have small red fruits that attract wildlife.” Other great alternatives include American plum, hawthorn, eastern redbud, and Missouri’s state tree, the flowering dogwood. Hawthorns provide bountiful fruit and attractive fall color, while dogwoods thrive in shady areas, but can be difficult to grow. Learn more about native trees and landscaping on your property online at https://mdc.mo.gov/trees-plants/tree-care. CALLERY PEAR BUY-BACK EVENTS Missourians with Callery pear trees on their property have the opportunity to cut down their trees and receive a free, noninvasive tree in return at several “buy-back” events around the state on April 18. The events are made possible through partnerships with the Missouri Invasive Plant Council, Forest ReLeaf of Missouri, Forrest Keeling Nursery, and MDC. Registration will be open beginning March 15. To qualify, participants must submit a photo of their cut-down Callery pear online. One free native tree will be provided to each registered participant at the selected location on April 18 from 3 p.m. – 6 p.m. Participating cities include: St. Louis Columbia Cape Girardeau Poplar Bluff Springfield Joplin Lebanon Hannibal Kansas City For more information on the buy-back events and how to register, visit moinvasives.org. To learn about native trees for landscaping, planting tips, backyard tree care, and more helpful information, visit https://mdc.mo.gov/trees-plants/tree-care. TOP PHOTO: Callery pear trees are easily spotted in springtime in open natural areas and along roadsides, such as this one in Jefferson City. The invasive tree spreads quickly and crowds out native plants. MDC urges the public to avoid this non-native species during springtime planting. BOTTOM PHOTO: Missouri’s state tree, the flowering dogwood (pictured), is a great alternative to the Callery pear and produces similar white blooms in the spring.

I loved watching Jose! Also the Fishing hole with Jerry McK. Enjoyed the Doug Hammon's bass footage on the Bass Professor.

I am not just obsessed with new fish species.😉 Seeing a red crossbill has been a long time hope ever since I was working in the Poconos 35 yrs ago. I spent some time in the Poconos looking for them as well as in some spots in Ireland, but never found any. I saw reports last year of these birds being in a mountains of Western MD about 4 hours from us. Since mid Feb I have seen reports of crossbills in the Redden State Forest in Delaware, which is relatively close by (e.g. little over an hour), I had to make an effort to see them. I headed out late morning on the 25th and got to the forest at 1 pm. I went all over one section of the forest where many of the sightings were reported. I spent almost three hours in snow fall. Never heard or saw any. I was ready to leave, but did one last look at the bird alert and found that someone had seen a couple near the lodge that morning. I had not checked that area. I drove over and stopped and spoke with another birder that hadn't seen them either. I left went down to the lodge stopping and listening along the way, but didn’t hear anything and turned around. As I got back to the other birder he was on the side of the road looking out into the woods. He told me that four crossbills flew over the spot where my car was just after I left. I parked and walked back and we heard them calling in the distance. I went over in their direction and they stopped calling and were nowhere to be found. Cold and wet, I headed home. I had the next Thurs and Friday off work. I went back out on Thurs the 2nd. I was walking towards the lodge when I heard a group calling behind me. I chased them for a while going down roadways and trails in the area where I heard them (was an area consistent with other sightings). I saw a few downy and red-bellied woodpeckers, chickadees, titmouse, and even pine warblers, but no crossbills. Like when I fish for lifers, I select multiple target birds for each trip. I left the forest and headed to a spot that consistently has a huge flock snow geese and in amongst the hundreds of white geese there is a single pink-footed goose. Not sure that I would find it, but there was another birder with a large spotting scope at the location and he had the pink-footed in the scope. He was nice enough to let me use his scope to see this lifer! There were snow geese on fields on both sides of the road and probably was close to a thousand birds. Though I did not find the crossbills I did see a lifer goose. Back to the drawing board. Back at home I saw that the crossbills were seen that day and on Friday back near the lodge pretty early in the morning. I decided to head out early Sat morning. I got there around 8 am and headed for the lodge. There was another birder walking around as well. He headed down the road toward the lodge and I took a trail in the woods that lead to the lodge. I didn’t hear any this morning. We split again after meeting up at the lodge. He headed further south in the woods and I stayed near the lodge and watched hermit thrush, red bellied woodpeckers, chickadees, more pine warblers, but no crossbills. I went down another trail north of the lodge for ten or fifteen minutes or so, then back to the lodge. The other birder was there and he asked me if I had seen the male crossbill right there in a tree by the lodge. It may have been there throughout the time I was walking around the lodge. It left about five minutes before I met up with this man. I spent another 30 to 40 minutes trying to hear for see them. Nothing. So I was getting pretty frustrated and thought about giving up on them. Thinking that it was too random to be able and find 10 to 12 birds in hundreds of acres of forest land. Anyway, last week I looked and saw that the last three alerts all had the birds near the lodge. I also saw that several species of marsh sparrows, Nelson's, saltmarsh, and seaside sparrows, were seen at the South Indian River inlet park. Now having multiple lifer targets I headed back on Sunday. First to the forest. I headed down the wooded trail to the lodge. I was just getting to the lodge when I heard a couple of the crossbills calling as they were flying to the north possibly across the road. I followed them along the roadway back from the lodge back towards the parking area and they got quiet. As I made the loop back towards the primary parking area, I heard the birds to the south back near the wooded trail. I made that loop again and heard them further south and east of me. I got back to the lodge and went into the woods about 100 yards to where I thought they were. I played a call sequence from eBird a couple of times. I didn't get an immediate response, but after a while I heard a bird calling and coming towards me. I saw it land in a tall tree and was able to confirm it was a male crossbill! I was very excited to finally see a bird that I started chasing off and on for 35 years and I was so relieved! I did end up going to the South Indian River inlet park. I immediately spotted a flock of 25 to 30 Brant geese, which was a species that we routinely would see in Ireland and lately up in NJ. I walked the parameter of the property looking for these sparrows. I poked around in a couple phragmites stands and heard but could not see any of the birds. I did see dark-eyed juncos, song sparrows, a field sparrow, swamp sparrow, and fish crow. I met a couple of other birders and no one had seen any of these marsh species. I saw a birding group pushing around in the phragmites stand I was looking into earlier. The leader of the group told me that the seaside sparrows were hunkered down in that stand. Also that these are not a species that will fly away and let you see them. They tend to run on the ground or do only low brief flights to stay in the brush. I stayed with them as one of the birders gently pushed the birds towards us. With their help I was able to mark my first Lifer seaside sparrow. I also saw a saltmarsh sparrow, which I have seen in GA previously. I never saw the Nelson's that was also in that phragmites stand, but one of the birders got a decent photo of one. Since a Nelson’s would be a lifer, I will have to head back if there are further reports of them being in that area.

A woman goes into a sporting goods store to buy a rod and reel for her son. He has been begging to go fishing, so she thought to get him the equipment that he needs. She goes to the rack of poles and not knowing what she is looking for she grabs one that looks nice to her. She brings it up to the counter and sees that the clerk has dark glasses. She asks that man if he would be able to help her determine if the rod she has selected would be good for her son in learning to fish. The clerk tells her that he is completely blind, but if she could drop the rod/reel onto the counter he can help her by identifying the rod by the sound it will make. Incredulous that he would be able to know what rod and reel combo she has just by hearing it land on the counter, she reluctantly drops it on the counter. The clerk responds, "You have selected a Shakespeare 6 ft Med action Ugly stick with a Zebco 33 spincast reel with 8 lb monofilament line. It's on sale for $40. Your son should be able to catch a variety of sunfish, bass, and catfish with that combo rod and reel." The woman says she will buy the rod and reel and as she was pulling out her credit card it fell to the floor. The clerk says, "I hear that you'll be paying with a Mastercard." She bends over and accidently farts while picking up her card. She figured that the clerk would not be able to figure out it was her with all of the customers in the store and she hand him her card. The clerk says," That will be $54.50." "You told me that the rod/reel was only $40. So why is my total now $54.50?" The clerk reponds, "The rod and reel is only $40, but the duck call costs $11 and the skunk cover scent spray is another $3.50."🤣

You know that those sculpin put up a fight😆

Great job buddy! Neat looking brown trout!

I am not a fan of flavored liquers. I just prefer flavor from the barrels and the age.