Johnsfolly

I was mentioning to another friend that there is nothing as good as getting a solid strike or to see the fish take and then setting the hook and fighting that fish. To me it is addictive. As you all know if don't care if it is big or small. I enjoy every fish. What's even better is sharing that experience with my family and friends.

QB The fish thank you for taking a break. They needed a day off and to not be fighting at the end if your lines.

My oldest daughter's boyfriend is a rock climber. He was all over those boulders. I don't think that he had been there before but will likely be back. He had my daughter climbing up certain chutes and faces. They had a great time. We all cooled off at Johnson shut ins 😀.

It is the breeding season for bears. I wonder if he has been figjting another male snd got overheated or exhausted before hitting the river.

I just received this from an old friend (one whom I have not told that we are leaving Missouri - so bad on me). I have seen this before, but reading it again made me want to share it with my fellow OAFers. It also changed some of my own perceptions as I go through the issues surrounding our departure from Missouri and relocation to Maryland. Because I am not at the age where I don't have to watch my diet and my health, I will still have to make choices about what I eat so that I can live a full life with my friends and family. Hopefully you will read this and maybe take a kid fishing or try a new lake or stream just for the experience! "One day I had lunch with some old friends. Tom, a short, balding golfer type, about 85-years old, came along with them; all in all, it was a pleasant bunch When the menus were presented, my friends and I ordered salads, sandwiches, and soups, except for Tom who said, "A large piece of home-made apple pie, heated please.I wasn't sure my ears heard him right, and the others were aghast, when Tom continued, completely unabashed...."along with two large scoops of vanilla ice cream." We tried to act quite nonchalant, as if people did this all the time, but when our orders were brought out, I didn't enjoy eating mine. I couldn't take my eyes off of Tom as I watched him savoring each bite of his pie a-la-mode. The other guys just grinned in disbelief as they silently ate their lunches. The next time I went out to eat, I called Tom and invited him to join me. I lunched on a white meat tuna sandwich, while he ordered a chocolate parfait. Since I was chuckling, he wanted to know if he amused me. I answered, "Yes, you certainly do, but you also confuse me. How come you always order such rich desserts, while I feel like I must be sensible in my food choices?" Tom laughed and said "I'm tasting all that is possible for me to taste. I try to eat the food I need and do the things I should in order to stay healthy, but life's too short, my friend. I hate missing out on something good. This year I realized how old I was. He grinned I've never been this old before, so, while I'm still here, I've decided it's time to try all those things that, for years, I've been ignoring." He continued, "I haven't smelled all the flowers yet. There are too many trout streams I haven't fished. There's more fudge sundaes to wolf down and kites to be flown overhead. There are too many golf courses I haven't played. I've not laughed at all the jokes. I've missed a lot of sporting events and potato chips and cokes.” "I want to wade again in water and feel ocean spray on my face. I want to sit in a country church once more and thank God for His grace. I want peanut butter every day spread on my morning toast. I want un-timed long distance calls to the one I love the most. "I haven't cried at all the movies yet, or walked in the morning rain. I need to feel wind on my face. So, if I choose to have dessert, instead of having dinner, then should I die before night fall, I'd say I died a winner, because I missed out on nothing. I filled my heart's desire. I had that final piece of pie before my life expired." With that, I called the waitress over. "I've changed my mind, " I said. "I want what he's having, only add some more whipped cream!"

As always a great photoessay of your trip! To bad that the fishing was not great. Still seemed like a great time. Thanks for taking us along. Like Marty, I also love the cypress trees. Always felt like the south when there was cypress and Spanish moss. Was expecting an alligator photo 😀.

Congrats on your PB brown trout! You keep catching fish like that you'll need a bigger net!

I planned on a fish fry tonight with some crappie from a failed musky fishing trip back in May. I had to figure out how to make this simple meal OAF worthy. Decided on making homemade mayonnaise using a recipe similar to the one RPS posted last year (maybe older than that but I won't tell). I have a light oil, one Folly farm large egg (room temp), white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, pinch of salt, and lemon juice. Blended the mix with an immersion blender for about 30 to 40 seconds until the oil was fully incorporated. I minced some capers, added some powdered mustard, and sweet relish to the mayonnaise to make a tartar sauce for the fish. I had some sliced russet potatoes soaking in water for at least an hour. I dried the potatoes and cooked them in two batches at 350 deg until they started to brown and removed each batch, After the second batch was out of the fryer, I added the first batch back in to crisp up the fries. Once fried removed from the oil and onto paper towels and seasoned immediately. Livie breaded the crappie fillets. I take plain bread crumbs and add dried sweet basil, oregano, garlic powder, fresh ground pepper, and this time a bit of grated parmesan cheese. They fish was breaded by a dredge in seasoned flour, into the egg wash and then the bread crumbs. After the first batch of crispy fries came out, in went the first batch of fish. Repeated until all the fries and fish were cooked. Served with the tartar sauce and a prepackaged salad with thousand island dressing.

Not giving you a hard time. Just saw this plant choke up canals in Florida.

Hang in there and support your wife. The fish and jigs can wait for her to recover fully. Stay strong!

Glad to hear the deer eat this plant. Don't let that non-native invasive get into a waterway ! The cold here in MO may stop them from getting established year round. That stuff just clogs up the canals in Florida and I would imagine Louisiana, Texas, etc. Manatees like eating these plants, but as you mentioned they grow faster than they can be controlled.

I can see a dehorned rhino now that you mention it.

We Follies like to spread out where we can. We won't be Natives in either place !

Got back to Missouri and have been meaning to get down to one of my favorite MO state parks, Elephant Rocks. Our youngest daughter does not remember the last trip there. It is one of those not so easy places to get to from Columbia. With good weather projected for Thurs we headed down to the park. This place just makes you feel small. This one looked more like a manatee to me. Of course someone had to catch a lizard !

So my son has been craving pork and sauerkraut for dinner. We just happen to have some sauerkraut and a pork butt in the fridge. He got a lesson in my favorite pork rub, Starts with ca two tablespoons of brown sugar, then 1 1/2 TBS of garlic, Chinese five spice, and onion powder, a TBS of ground cumin, smoked paprika, and ground ginger. Mix well and he rubbed the entire pork roast. We seared the outside in some olive oil in a Dutch oven. Once seared then added two cups of chicken stock and about a cup of white wine. Into a 330 deg oven for 2 hours then up to 350 for about an hour. We removed some of the braising liquid and added the kraut. Into the kraut we added a couple of pinches of fennel seed (prefer caraway but none in the house) and the same with some dried tarragon. Back in the oven for another half hour. Made mashed potatoes with russets, hand made butter, milk, a TBS of sour cream and S&P to taste.

I would be more interested in some turkey thighs to make carnitas, but I heard that there is soon to be a shortage of those in BilletHeadville!

Great video. I haven't gone for smallies this year. Too busy chasing ghosts of new species here in Missouri and Maryland. After seeing this video may have to get after some bronze beauties. Thanks for the inspiration.

Looks great BH. I would have to check, but I think that we are out of goose at the Folly house . I am cooking with my son today making a New Year's day staple in our house, but more about that later.

On Tuesday there was a threat of rain, but I took Livie up to Tuckahoe lake to try to get her into some other sunfishes. As we walked the bank, there was no evidence of the sunfish nests that I had seen and caught fish off of earlier in May. I knew that we were likely to catch fish, but not sure which ones. I wasn't going to do anything fancy, just a small jighead with a piece of nightcrawler under a float. Livie made a cast and got bit almost immediately but did not get a good hook set. Then another bite and another, but no hooked fish. Once the bites stopped I had her reel in to get another worm. She hooked and landed her first fish, a small largemouth bass on her fourth cast. Now she had it down. She caught a few nice bluegill next. Then she got another bite and landed her very first pumpkinseed sunfish! Another new life list species. After the pumpkinseed it was more bluegill and another small largemouth bass. Since I have not caught a largemouth in Maryland I asked for the rod (OK I took it ). I got into the bluegill as well. Even a few nice ones as the sun was going down (they do look much bigger in Livie's hands). Livie did catch another pumpkinseed, but never any redear sunfish that were so plentiful in early May. Before we headed home, we headed to the creek below the lake. We were looking for eastern mosquitofish, but only caught a few more banded killifish and redbreast sunfish. Though there were several other species possible where we fished. Livie did end up with 5 new life list fish. She now has 26 different species for this year and is nearing her 40 species goal !

Duane they look great. I am certain that these would flat out get torn up by lots of different species in any Ozark creek. I would throw them with or without a float using 2# line. From hornyhead chub and longear sunfish to 14+ inch LMB and SMB. Let me know what the cost and COD for a couple dozen 😀.

Some great looking fish. Love that Pomme musky! Congrats!

After my Betterhalf arrived in Maryland a few things changed. We now had actual plates and silverware. I had picked up a couple of Pennsylvania Dutch classics (in this case Maryland dutch), smoked Kielbasa and whoopie pies, while at the Amish market. I also picked up new red potatoes. I sliced the potatoes and then the meat on a bias. I started by cooking the potatoes. Once they were partially cooked, I added the Kielbasa and got the meat cooking. I added some garlic powder, salt and pepper. Then added the slice green and red peppers along with the onions and cooked until the vegetables were tender. The best way to describe a whoopie pie is an Oreo cookie on steroids, made with devils food cake and a filling. These were some of the best that I have had is some time.

Another bachelor meal in Maryland. Packaged marinated pork loin was seared on all sides and cooked covered over low heat until medium doneness. Sliced patty pan squash, spring onion, and garlic from the Amish market. Sauted the squash first then added the onion and the garlic. A little Kickin Chicken grillin spices and served with e rested pork. Served on the finest china.

I took till near the end of my last stay in Maryland to have family with me, my wife and my daughter. (Yes there was a bit a drama even on this last trip from MO to MD). With Livie coming out I had made plans to try to get her as many new life list species as possible before we went back to Missouri. My Betterhalf likes to ocean bottom fish, so I booked a half day party boat trip for that Sunday. They pulled into MD by mid afternoon on Sat and it was raining. I had also found out that the party boat trip was cancelled due to high seas. So with rain, unpacking, etc. no fishing on Sat. The storm hit on Sunday with high winds and more rain. In fact it rained all day long. Finally Monday came with sun and no rain. We only had Mon and Tues evenings to fish before we headed back to Missouri. My plan was to hit the tidal creek near our house first. I had hopes that we could get two or three new micros for her. I checked near the boat ramp and did not see any sheepshead minnows that were large enough for my microhooks. I had on a small pink/white trout magnet jig and Livie had a #20 hook with a tiny piece of white plastic from the same jig. I would tease the fish up to the surface and she would try to get them to bite the small bait. I ended up catching the first fish and was shocked to have caught a redear sunfish on the pink/white jig fishing in brackish water. We never did catch another one. Livie did catch her first new lifelist species of the trip - an Atlantic silverside minnow. We each caught a silverside, but spent too much time at this spot and headed to a new location before it got too dark. When we got to Tuckahoe creek, Livie tried the pink/white jig and caught her first redbreast sunfish. Then another on a small piece of worm. We moved downstream to the spot where I had seen some topminnows and caught my first bluepotted sunfish. We took the same approach with me trying to coax in the fish with a larger bait and Livie catching them on the #20 with the small white plastic bait. We got into fish immediately and she hooked into the first of the topminnows. Then another that was a bit darker and more vividly striped. From what I found these are just likely female and male banded killifish. After catching a few (and with some whining from dad that he had not caught one of these fish before either ) Livie handed me the rod and I caught another couple of females. And then this one - which seems to be just a juvenile banded killifish and not a different species. I did catch the first bluespotted sunfish (yes that is the #20 hook in its mouth) of the evening then I had to give Livie the rod back to try for one herself. Livie finally did catch two of these sunfish that evening with this last one caught after we switched the white plastic with a yellow piece. It was near dark and we did not get a chance to get up to the lake to try for pumpkinseed or redear sunfish. Livie was happy with four new life list species for the evening. Hopefully tomorrow it wouldn't rain and we could try for more fish.

Just don't forget that you have friends that want to take on some of those multispecies trips as well.