Johnsfolly

Doctor there is a problem in the cockpit. What is it? It's the room in the front of the plane where the pilot sits. But that's not important right now!

Phil I have received that message a couple of times. Mostly it is when either the individual photo file is larger than 7 MB or if the total files space that I am uploading into my post is greater than the 9.77 MB.

I'm sure that you got into the "snapper" blues as well. Loved catching them on kastmaster spoons. We use to thread our line through those soft pink rubber balls then tie on the kastmaster. Could cast them as far as you had line on your reel. The ball was a great float and disturbed the water enough to get those bluefish looking for food.

Afraid that our layers would be like eating boot leather. Once we start thinning the flock, they will end up in soup and stock. No these were fat store bought chicken breasts.

I dropped the jig size down to a 1/32 oz tube jig and switched to a pearl colored baby garland crappie jig body. A couple of more cast towards and from the pier lead to a couple more taps, but no solid bites. I head back towards the car and got back into the marina. I made a cast along the sea wall and as it dropped maybe three to four feet it got hit hard. After a feisty fight I land a nice 12" chunky striper. I stayed in the that spot and was getting bit on each cast. As soon as I made a cast that didn't get bit, I would fan cast to a different spot to stay into the school. I caught a total of ten stripers and a couple large white perch like this one my largest caught to-date. They tore up three of my jig bodies before I left. I was a great evening. Like getting on a school of feisty white bass here in MO. Just a bit of a different scenery. Heading back in the next couple of days and I will bring a new pack of jig bodies.

Before this spring I had never caught a striper. Even when I lived in Connecticut 30 years ago, never really fished for them and thus did not ever catch one. Then the coastal populations crashed along the eastern sea board and they put a moratorium on this fishery. I have been reading through the posts from Beaver and Bull Shoals and just get excited about trying to get one of these stripers. I have been catching whtie bass and hybrids over the last couple of years and would love to put another hard fighting Morone species on my catch list. In April on a business trip in Maryland, I was able to catch another cousin of the striped bass, the white perch. On my last trip to Maryland this May, knowing that there would be some stripers upstream I fished a tidal river using a variety of baits. I lost at least one ripple shad/jig combo and no real bites I went upstream of a bridge. I switched to a 3 " clown colored jerkbait and cast across the front of the bridge and jerked it cross current. As the bait passed in front of the bridge piling it got hit hard. The fish fought hard and I was thinking that it may have been a pickerel. Instead it was my first linesider. A nice 14" fish. small in comparison to the fish I see from Beaver, but I was extremely excited with this catch. I did not catch another fish before it got too dark to see and without a headlamp decided to call it a night. After work one evening, I saw that the tide would be just falling after 6:30 pm. I headed to a inlet into the bay. I started with the jerkbait and jigs again. Not even any follows below the bridge or along the rocks. I saw a number of small fish and switched to microfishing just to get on the board. I put on a 1/125 oz gold jig and a small piece of chartreuse plastic and caught several mummichog minnows. These had to be the fattest female minnow that I have ever caught. I switched to the #26 tanago hooks and a tiny bit of crab that I found on the rocks. I caught another minnow species, an Atlantic silverside minnow. As it was getting dark, I put back on a jig with a minnow plastic and got taps when I would cast out towards the end of a pier. (cont.)

Son wanted chicken and waffles. So I deboned a couple of split chicken breasts and sliced each into three thinner cutlets. I seasoned the flour with cayenne, added hot sauce to the egg wash, and mixed panko and regular bread crumbs also with some cayenne. I breaded each of the cutlets and fired them to a golden brown. My son made the waffles while I cooked the chicken. I made a remoulade style sauce by mixing mayo, relish, garlic powder, Dijon mustard, smoked paprika, and hot sauce. I sliced the cutlet and laid it on top of half of a waffle. I put a little maple syrup on the waffle and the sauce on the chicken. Was a good sweet/heat combo. Dessert was simply chilled cantaloupe.

BH Did you confirm that they were Neosho smallmouth. You can tell by looking at whether you can see the teeth on the lower jaw like in this picture of one I took last year in Indian creek.

Looks like you guys had a great time! Congrats to the Mrs on her fly rod smallie and rock bass! Jealous here in Columbia. Waiting for Chief to post his side of the story!

BH The natives that I found that were suggested for erosion control are all grasses or sedges. I did find a couple of small ground cover natives called three leaf stonecrop, Sedum ternatum and prairie pussytoes, Antennaria neglecta. The Missouri Wildflower nursery has the Anntennaria in stock currently. They would work on the top of the shelter but maybe not the sides.

BH Both plants are legumes, i.e., related to peas and beans, and thus have the same type of flower. Also both are non-native and considered to be invasives in the midwest. Even though vetch is still used by MODOT for erosion control the MDC has articles on how to control this plant and what effects it has on native species. Both should work to cover your shelter. You might want to look at a native alternative☺. You just might not find one that would work as well for this job.

BH Nice looking shelter. I have thought the yellow legume along the roadways was birdsfoot trefoil.

That's a nice bunch of snapper. Congrats to the two of you!

We will keep your mother and your family in our prayers.

They "Eyes" have it in Billetheadville. Should make a great meal! Enjoy!

Griz We have eaten them by cutting and cooking the tender edges with a little butter and salt/Pepper. The watermelon taste persists a bit even when cooked. Kind of a weird flavor for a mushroom.

Great way to take advantage of an opportunity that presented itself! Congrats on the striper bite QB!

Mackerel, particularly Spanish and ceros, love these guys. As mentioned used a lot from piers and bridges if you aren't in a boat.

Nope. I am a numbers guy with a good memory for personal goals. Just keeping track of the score.

Mitch 5326 v 5428.

Taxonomically speaking a carp is a minnow, i.e., part of the cyprinidae family. However I have also caught some 6 to 7 inch creek chubs that would only take a couple for a meal. Now that is just being mean spirited.

BH - Started the water works with your last post. Must be a Pavlovian response. Was that a bell or in this case a screaming drag or single shot. Meals look great as always. I need to get out and gather some "groceries" . To think that JestersHK and I let all of our fish go Sat. night. I admit that I did not want to clean fish at 2 am. Now I regret not bring home a few of those friends fro dinner.

Thanks for the information.

SIO3 I would love to find a consistent carp bite for my daughter. Eagle bluffs can be hit or miss. PM me if you don't mind sharing good carp spots.

Griz Glad to help out with their exercise program. This one was good and healthy, You must feeding them right as well . Would love to see someone sweep that area for old fishing line. Lost the bait that caught this smallie on an old line. While travelling to the Smallin cave, I actually did mention your name and that you and I had met at Jigfest last Dec and that you lived in that area.