Johnsfolly

I read through this entire thread and you just missed the point. Wrench was extending an olive branch (or more appropriately a balsa or basswood block) to cut through the BS from both sides by showing interest in what you were making. Of course he knows that you are making lures. There are lots of guys on this site that make lures or tie flies and share what they make. Wrench is one of those guys. Not giving away any secrets by saying that your are making deep diving crankbaits, walk the dog type baits, stickbaits, etc.

After dinner, my Bettehalf and I went out to hunt some small game and the elusive fall fungus. In this part of the national forest land there could be squirrels, deer, and/or turkeys in this woodlot (approx. 12 to 15 acres in size) right up to where I typically park. We got out of the car and got our gear ready and closed the doors as quietly as possible. We got about 40 yards into the woodlot and I clucked and yelped on a diaphragm call just in case there were some turkeys around this evening. We didn't get a response. We found some wood ear mushrooms and got them harvested and Sue motioned that there were a couple of squirrels within 40 feet of us and headed our way. The closest one didn't give me a shot at first since it was creeping under the rose bushes. Then it climbed a small tree and it was the last thing that it did before coming home with us. We headed deeper into the woodlot. I made a couple more clucks and yelps and got a response on the far end of the woods. Since I did not have my gun set up for turkey and I did not bring my fall turkey permits, not wanting to spook this turkey we started to back out. We got about halfway back to where I had shot the squirrel when a hen flew up into a large oak tree about 45 yards from us. She looked us over and not sure what we were she flew deeper into the wood lot. As soon as she flew off another hen came in from our right and flew into the trees near us. I don't think that either of these hems knew what we were and I don't think that we spooked them out of the woodlot. Unfortunately I have meetings all morning. So I will have to try to get after these birds Friday morning. Hopefully they stick around. If they do, I'm sure I may be posting on the turkey forum.

The sourdough was not the only loaf that my Betterhalf made today. Paying homage to a recipe posted some time ago by BH, she made our first Jamaican coffee meatloaf. Livie was not keen about the banana in the pepper/olive topping. She doesn't like bananas. Personally I think that the banana worked in this recipe. I really liked it with a slice of warm "sourdough" bread.

My Betterhalf on her second attempt at sourdough bread. The last batch was good bread, but not that distinctive sour taste. She let the starter go a bit longer this time. Still it's good bread still just isn't "sour". May have to get pointers from Ness on this one.

HW Is that your bait peeking out of its anus? Need to set the hook a little sooner☺! Seriously a nice fat smallie! Congrats!

It seems that the goal with the Texas program is to raise larger bass to increase out of state fisherman coming to fish these lakes with the hooe of catching a 10+ lb florida strain or hybrid largemouth bass. These lakes must get a tremendous amount of fishing pressure. I would agree that a program to protect as well as enhance the native genetics like the river walleye would greatly benefit that species. The problem is how to do that program without increasing the fishing pressure on these species and how does it get funded without bringing in money from outside of MO? Also there needs to be a lot of pressure to release fish. In the case of walleye that is going to be a huge uphill battle. Trophy stamps may work but very hard to effectively manage. Worth a continued conversation.

Glad to have you back on the forum. I haven't fished the Auxvasse in years. I caught some smallmouth and largemouth bass. None were very big but were cooperative. You'll have to let us know how you do if you fish that creek.

I am planning on staying Thurs, Fri, and Saturday.

My Betterhalf made a roasted chicken last night. I got home from fishing way too late to have any and there were lots of chicken leftover. I picked off the remaining chicken from the boanes and we salvaged as much of the cooking liquid as possible. I cut a spaghetti squash in half, removed the seeds, placed them cut side down in a pan with a bit of water and baked approximately 35 minutes until soft to the touch. I took the squash out to cool. I heated olive oil over medium / medium-high heat and cooked minced onion and garlic until the onion was translucent. I cut a zucchini into slices that were thicker than matchsticks. I added the zucchini with the onion and garlic and continued to cook on medium heat until mostly cooked. I added salt/Pepper, dried basil, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes, and the chicken to the pan. I also added a little more oil. While the chicken cooked I shredded the squash into the "noodles" and put on a plate. We added a small amount of butter to the "noodles", salt/pepper, and parmesan cheese then heated through in the microwave (since I could not fit the all of this in the pan with the chicken). I added the broth to the chicken mixture and once heated through was served on top of the squash "noodles".

Marty -thanks for sending it. It was a great surprise. I just wished that I had been able to try out the gar flies on this trip. Maybe soon!

On Sunday I took my daughters to the KC renaissance fair. We usually go every year. One of our favorite things is to buy and crack one or more geodes. This year was not an exception. We like to look for the lightest geode in the bunch and look for different coloration on the outside that might give us a clue to what is lying inside. Our experience did not prepare us for the treasure we found this year. This geode cracked with just a slight pop and fortunately we did try to crack it further. The inside is black as night and there are white calcite crystals on top of the black ones making it look like the night sky. I have to say this in one of the coolest geodes were have ever see, let alone owned. So has any one else out there seen a black geode? Any thoughts on what is causing this type of coloration?

Dan - just watched it again and again laughed heartily. I love it when the one spooked the other! Too funny.

Not as exciting as a meal by the streamside. We got a fair amount of rain this morning and that made the decision to not go out hunting this morning a simple one. So I turned over, slept till after 8 am, and opted for a breakfast sandwich. I mixed a whole Folly farm fresh egg with the whites of another and scrambled with a little salt/pepper and garlic powder. Put the egg on multigrain toast, added two thin slices of cooked ham, and half a slice of aged swiss cheese. Not a pretty picture, but a tasty sammich !

I got out yesterday to fish one of my favorite creeks looking to catch a northern rock bass as well as the opportunity to enjoy a beautiful day on an Ozark stream. I have caught many of these fish in this stream in the past. I was looking forward to catching what has been an elusive fish for me this year as well as catching any number of different species. If not successful on the rock bass, hoping to catch more than 100 fish on this trip. Not planning on targeting bass, but will catch what I can. I started fishing right under the bridge and saw several larger bass in the mix. I started with a green pumpkin Ned rig and got bit quickly. The fish got unbutton just as quickly. On the next cast got bit again and set the hook harder this time and popped the leader. Switched to a 1/32 oz tube jig with a green pumpkin slider with chartreuse paddle tail and cast to a roving smallmouth. The bass quickly hit the bait and the line held. I landed my first fish of the day - just 99 more to go. I cast to a large bass and got bit again and again the line popped when I set the hook. This time right at the knot between the Nano-fil and the leader. Instead of just retying with a leader, I spooled on about 40-45 yards onto the reel so that the 8 lb line would be on the reel as I caught more fish. Under the bridge I caught a few green sunfish and another smallmouth then I moved upstream to get after a few more fish. In this stream a great bas will be over 14" with 17-18" being some of the largest that you can expect. These are chunky fish with thick shoulders. I had some more success fishing rocky bottoms and deeper water, but kept catching green sunfish. In the next deep hole saw a few larger smallmouth and had success with a fluke. I also had a couple of large fish hit and get off. I switched to a 1/8 oz PBJ Ned rig and landed this chunky 10" smallmouth at the head of the pool, loved the red eyes on this one! By this time I had caught over 20 fish, but no rock bass. I had a dozen red worms in case I got into some interesting microfising opportunities. With the warm weather the worms were not fairing well. So I switched to fish live bait while there was still some "life" left in my baits. The first fish was and unusual one for this stream, a redear sunfish. I have never seen one in this stream before. The worms landed lots of sunfish including this fuzzy longear sunfish (still one of the most attractive Ozark fish that you can catch on a variety of baits). I never switched to my small hooks on this trip. I got back into rock bass waters and put back on the green/chartreuse slider. More smallmouth, a few largemouth, and lots of green and longear sunfish. Every rock pile, deep holes with wood and/or rock held fish. Still no rock bass. Finally I got into a long deep pool with a large tree lined up against on bank in the deeper water. I saw a pod of largemouth that ranged from 10" to a three that were close to 18-20" in length. I had a special lure in my bag of tricks, a Billethead (BH) special topwater bait. I love topwater fishing in this stream, particularly in the summer. I had tried this on the last deep hole, but just couldn't get a hang of getting a hook set with the single hook. So trying again with I was getting lots of blowups in this long hole. I finally got the right time between the blow-up, to the tug, and then the hook set. This was a nice thick 13-14" largemouth. I know that I was a green bass and not a hybrid, but I was pretty proud catching this fish with the BH special! The bass weren't the only chunky fish that I caught. This was the largest bluegill that I have ever caught in this creek. Also on the green/chartreuse slider. It was getting late in the day So I kept on the slider for the rest of the day. I hit a long hole that had three separate rock piles and fished each of them as hard as I could. Again lots of green sunfish. I saw a couple of larger smallmouth and landed three on the sliders as well as this 13" smallie which was my largest of the day. I fished until it got dark and ended the day in a hole that I caught several rock bass on a Ned rig last summer. I caught fish after fish, with lots of longear and green sunfish and a hornyhead chub, but not a single rock bass. I fished for 6 and a half hours. I caught 40 green sunfish, 26 longear sunfish, 12 bluegill, a redear sunfish, a hornyhead chub, seven largemouth (two that were 12-13" and lost two larger ones), and 17 smallmouth bass (four over 12") for 104 fish on the day. Not only did I have a great day fishing, I got to experience a beautiful day on the stream with views like these.

Flysmallie - another great photo essay! That just looks like a great trip whether you actually caught a fish or not. No worries since this trip had it all including nice fish on the line ! Even JoeD would like the enjoyment of the campfire cooking!

Now that the dates are set, it's just a matter of selecting the right Jigs. Maybe this will help the selection process !

Ham I hope that you and your dad have a great trip. You guys need some good going your way.

Sounds like a great trip Griz. I will mark the calendar and check work schedule. Pencil me in at the lodge and will love to get into any open seating. Had a great time last year. Getting to know the area better. So will be more prepared to meet at most accesses ☺ even if it changes a couple of times before I get there.

Dan That's awesome! I laughed out loud just watching the video! We looked at getting fainting goats for our yard. Realized that I've invested way too much of native plants to have the goats eat everything. We could see ourselves sitting on the deck with some adult beverages scaring the goats and just laughing our butts off☺! I just can't imagine that getting old. Keep posting videos!

Sounds like you had a good birthday trip and you caught fish. That's a bonus! Looking forward to more posts as you get out more with your kayayk.

MOPanfisher That sounds really good. Haven't had salisbury steak in some time. Have to keep that in mind. Thanks!

I do most of my fishing while wading. I would really kick myself if I lost one next to the bank. Now don't ask me how many tips I may have broken . I have lost only one overboard and can vividly remember what it looked like as it drifted into the depths.

People will catch large brown trout on small flies, but may not catch too many slurping in midge or gnat dry flies. Big brown trout are top predators. Most of my success on browns larger than 20" was with reaction baits resembling baitfish or other trout. Think about using large articulated streamers, jerkbaits, or marabou jigs.

I often resemble that remark myself☺! I also did have my air stream stream rod broken just beofre our trip down to Arkansas this summer. Was a bad holiday accident when your table top Xmas tree falls and breaks your fishing rod.

Wouldn't he be wearing a yellow shirt☺?