Johnsfolly

TJM - From what I could find there are no native trout species found in Missouri. Not even brook trout which are native to the eastern mountains were not found in Missouri historically. @Al Agnew will likely know more than I do on that subject. I do not believe that there is a naturalized (breeding population) population of rainbows in the Niangua. There are many other sites in MO where the water temps and dissolved oxygen concentrations year round remain in the range where the rainbows have become naturalized, like Crane creek, Barren Fork creek, Mill creek, Blue Springs creek, etc.

I'm definitely a wise guy!

Congrats on tagging a doe. Cool pictures of those elk. I think that it is awesome to be able to see elk in Missouri. Can't wait for them to put in a limited draw hunt for elk.

This all from the guy that doesn't want the MDC to spend money on trout😜! Looks like you guys still had a good time fishing together.

Good looking hens. I hope to get out some time this week to check the spots where I have found old hens previously. Maybe take the scattergun (only guns I brought to MO this trip) and one of my children for some groceries as well, aka bushytails or hens of another kind ! We didn't know how the hens would freeze. So the what we didn't eat from that small hen that Livie found in Maryland went into the dehydrator.

The farm where we get our Christmas trees must be full of them. Seems like at least every other year or two we will have one or more egg masses in the tree when we get it home. If you have learned anything about our family and my youngest that means that we will put the egg mass(es) in a jar and cover it with cheesecloth. It will stay in the house for a while until it gets warm outside. Then it will go outside placed so that it is out of the rain. More often than not come late spring there will be tens of little preying mantis ready to be released. Last year they got released into the tomato plants on the deck.

I think that the Hens have more mushroom flavor than chickens. I like the texture of the chickens a bit better.

Congrats on a nice bunch of fish! Great job staying with them. Also nice to catch a bunch of bonus fish as well.

Nice bass. Definitely a nice striper and a pig of a spotted bass!

What an innocent looking killing machine

Actually been watching a lot of winter jetty fishing videos for tautog or blackfish. Many of the video spots I recognize. So I am confident that I will be able to land a few in Nov. Livie may come along. We'll have to see. Looking forward to a briny winter fishery😁.

Duane have you been guiding or fishing for fun?

Meanest hunk of womam that you have ever seen...

...We had fun on the bench there filling out the forms and playing with the pencils.

Sea bass are a great looking fish. Didn't realize how prevalent they are inshore. Always thought of them as an offshore fish. Guess tbat they have to grow uo somewhere. I do enjoy catching them. Really do want to try for a cutthroat even if it is not in it's native range. Always appreciate fishing with you.

.I've been singing this song for 45 minutes... I could sing it for another 45 minutes... I'm not proud.. Or tired.. 😁

Three year's ago I caught sight of a bobcat crossing over a dirt road. It came down my side and was walking by my stand. I drew on it and it went behind a small bush about 15 yards from me and I never saw it again😢. In a small property that I bowhunted near my house, I have had gray fox running around my stand. Giving me plenty of broadside shots from 10 to 25 yards. Even saw one climb at least 8 feet up a hickory tree looking at a squirrel nest then back down to yhe ground. All of this before the 15th of November. Must have known the season hadn't started.

I'm pretty sure that you will figure them out Dan! Can't wait for the photos!

Don't think that there is enough miralax to keep either of us from being full of crap !

Doesn't hurt my feelings. I get to catch up when I am fishing Solo ! if you ever get out near the Eastern shore of Maryland, would be happy to take you out.

Our bedroom window is right above the kitchen window. May not even have to get out of bed😂

The OC inlet pier shuts down at the end of October. With the Folly family heading out to Missouri for the last two weeks of Oct, we (ok mostly I wanted to go ) wanted one last trip to the pier before it closes for the season. My Betterhalf would be fishing with Livie and I on this trip! Not sure that she will be so willing to go when I want to chase tautog (blackfish) off the jetty in Nov/Dec ! We arrived about an hour and a half prior to high tide. We were armed with bloodworms for spot and other bottom fish and I picked up a couple dozen mummichogs (I know! the Horror ) for bluefish, spotted seatrout, or flounder. I have to thank @Ham for sending me one of his under used Daiwa reels. I have that matched with a Daiwa MH 7' rod rigged with a two hook and 2 or 3 oz. sinker rig. My Betterhalf fished that rig with bloodworms most of the day. I had a similar rig (MH rod/Pflueger president reel, #20 braid) set up that we baited with the minnows. Livie fished a Med weight rod and reel combo with a single hook tied about 4 to 5 inches from the 1/2 oz sinker. She would fish a worm piece right near the pier pilings with that rig. On the last trip we watched a few guys catching snapper blues on cut bait and minnows. I rigged a Med weight rod with my #6 nanofill/fluorocarbon line leader combo with a popping cork and a single hook that was baited with minnows. We had planned to bring back some fish, mainly spot, for dinner from this trip. My Betterhalf got us going right away in putting the first spot into the cooler while I rigged up the single hook rig for Livie. Once she began fishing it didn’t take long for Livie to follow suit and land her largest spot to date on a bloodworm with one that stretched the tape at 10.5 inches . Sue also caught one over 10 inches as I was still fishless . Livie also caught a couple of seabass on the worm while I got the minnow rigged rod set up. I must be pretty slow . After catching her big spot and a couple seabass, Livie was fishing her single hook rig and watching the double minnow line while I got the popping cork rod rigged up. She was getting a bit frustrated since the minnow line would get hit and she would real in just the heads of the minnows. Those bluefish were just cutting the baits and not getting the hook. We switched it up to hooking the minnows in front of the dorsal instead of the lips and they were still getting bit off short of the hook. I was getting strong bites as well on the popping cork line. I lost a couple right at near the pier, but finally got one hooked solidly to land my first bluefish of this season !As you can see from the photo I am not getting my fingers around its mouth. These guys have seriously sharp teeth. Too frustrated with the minnow line, she went to the up-current side of the pier, fishing near her mom. They both caught pinfish and more spot for the cooler. Livie caught seabass and or course another northern puffer fish (yes she squealed with delight as it puffed up ). After a gentleman fishing on the up-current side of the pier landed an 18” flounder and 13” (sublegal) spotted sea trout, I moved to that side and fished the minnow rig. I was also fishing the single hook rig (both Sue and Livie felt bad that I was not catching as many fish as they were ). I made a cast and one of the minnows got crushed. I set the hooks on a nice 15.75” flounder that was just under the 16.5” legal length. Still was happy with this fish.I followed that up with another flounder on the down current side of the pier that may have hit the bait when on the bottom. That fish or another pounded the bait as I moved it just a couple of feet. This one was just over 13”. I rigged up another rod for Livie to try a carolina type rig to drag a minnow along the bottom for flounder. She got bit off by blues a couple of times, but no flounder. I did actually catch a spot to contribute to the larder. All in all we had a great time. Both Livie and Sue caught personal best spot and Sue caught her largest pinfish. I caught a couple of flounder and another different species for the year.

That's 35-38 yards from the window to the deer. Hope that he sticks around after we get back.

Yesterday Livie and my Betterhalf made a pumpkin cheesecake using pumpkin that we roasted in MO last October. Now I think that we need to eat salad for a week or so.

A couple of nights ago, we made an alfredo with the Hen and chicken mushrooms that we found recently. Followed a easy online recipe to make the alfredo sauce. Lot's of heart stopping ingredients, cream cheese, heavy cream, parmesan cheese, Italian spices, minced garlic. served with sauted onion, and hen and chicken mushrooms over fettucine noodles. My Betterhalf made the alfredo while I cooked the onions and mushrooms.