Johnsfolly

Congrats! Thise are great looking bass!

Sounds like you had a great time. That first bass is definitely a weird looking fish with that tumor and the dark coloration. Good thing that one of you knew how to work a camera.

Seth Nice looking fish. Congrats on your Ned success. Got to hate losing the hot lure when the fish are biting.

Seth Nice looking fish. Congrats on your Ned success. Got to hate losing the hot lure when the fish are biting.

Sounds like a great trip! The brown that your daughter caught is bigger than some of the biggest browns that some of the guys I know have caught. She should remember that one for some time. I fished the Norfork for the first time back in Dec and now know what you have just learned that this is a great river with a great bunch of trout opportunities. Great job on your slam! Great photos as well.

I fish F9 and F11 hand painted Rapalas for browns with spin tackle with 6 or 8 lb line. I fish Yozuri hybrid line in 8 lbs or 6 lb nanofil line with fluorocarbon leader. I am typically fishing shallow (< 4 feet) water. This set-up works best in 2 to 3 feet of water. Don't know how effective these baits would be in deeper water during the day without some means to get them deeper. I find that in deeper water the trout swim beneath the bait and often don't strike unless there is more than one chasing the bait. Lately I have been throwing Rapalas UL jerkbaits in fast water less than 2 feet deep. I want to find out if these would work in Taney particularly at night. Hoping to get down that way in the next two months. Let us know how you do.

Mitch A man has to try and make the ask. I won't try to find out when the dumpling drop goes down. Too tempted to get in on that action. Seriously that is pretty cool that your wife's group is involved in that type of business. Seems like lots of entrepreneurs in the Mitchf household.

Now looking at these selection of lures I recognize that I used to have a hellbender lure in my tackle box. I know that I have never caught any fish with that lure. When I was younger I would test lures while fishing a farm pond near my aunt in upstate NY. You could catch a bass or blugill on a bare hook. If I was not able to catch a bass in that pond with a lure it got thrown out. I had a perch colored hellbender and it did not get bit in that pond. So I was done with that bait.

Mitch Now that is a great family night event! My family loves dumplings and potstickers. We have tried to make them at home, but they just haven't been as good as we used to be able to buy. Our home versions were just lacking in the dough and filling. And we don't have a good recipe for the dipping sauce. So other than those deficiencies we're good. So we would continue to buy them. Now that is becoming disappointing as most places around us no longer make them by hand and have been using prepackaged ones. Those are fine, but the dough is more like wonton wraps and not the toothsome dough of a hand made potsticker. Would you be willing to rent out the in-laws and family for satellite pot sticker nights? We would be interested.

Sounds like a great time. Congrats on your multispecies catch! Those a couple of nice bass and crappie.

Happy New Year and tight lines! I hope to see a few more OA guys on the water this year.

Tonight was taco night. I used ground venison seasoned with garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, smoke paprika, galena spices, and a little bottled taco sauce. Served it with spanish rice and black bean refried beans. BH - the venison was donated and processed from a commercial processor. I went with tacos since I have no idea what to expect with the fat content or taste.

Those are awesome brown trout. Great job! Have a happy New year.

Another "poor man's lobster" is the monkfish. That would be a tough one to get off a hook without losing a finger.

I agree. If you catch more than four that's a lot of Lota lota. I see programs on the Eelpout festival in MN and hear that it's a good eating fish. So it's an interesting fish.

Micropterus Do you know any good burbot lakes?That is one of my bucket list fish. I never thought about splake before. Wouldn't mind catching those as well.

Native americans up north would catch bears on the ice in the winter. They would cut a hole in the ice and place peas around the hole. When the bears would come in to take a pea they would kick them in the ice hole.

Chief - Love to hear folks spending time with family and friends. Thanks for the report. I love the pictures they tell the story as much as the text!

LRF Great report and photos! Congrats to you and your family!

For my individual fishing trips, I keep the following records: Number Date Species Caught Caught Location Bait/Lure 04-Mar-16 Largemouth Bass 1 McCreede Farm Lake, Callaway CO, MO Green/Black Trout Magic black jig 05-Mar-16 Black Crappie 1 McCreede Farm Lake, Callaway CO, MO Green/Black Trout Magic black jig 05-Mar-16 Orangethroat Darter 1 Harrison Branch; Auvasse (Bobby's) creek #20 long shank hook with worm piece 06-Mar-16 Orangethroat Darter 8 Gans Creek / Little Bonne Femme Creek, MO #20 long shank hook with worm piece 06-Mar-16 Creek Chub 3 Gans Creek / Little Bonne Femme Creek, MO Worms 11-Mar-16 Central Stoneroller 2 Niangua River; Dallas CO, MO UL minnow 06 jerkbait (brown trout) 11-Mar-16 Brown Trout 1 Bennet's Springs; Laclede CO, MO 1/125 oz chartruese grub microjig

Norm Yes I do have my life list. Here's an example what records I keep for species caught. You can't see comments about the largest fish of each species that I add in a comment in the excel cells. Common Date Water Name Species Caught Type Location Photo Shadow Bass Ambloplites ariommus 5-Aug-16 Freshwater Current River, Missouri yes Ozark bass Ambloplites constellatus 20-Jul-03 Freshwater James River, Missouri Northern Rock Bass (goggle eye) Ambloplites rupestris Jul-80 Freshwater Weston, Connecticut yes

Ham Would love to try again for the Norfork trout slam. Wouldn't mind actually getting out on the lake. Between Pens discussions we will come up with a plan on different trips. Still interested in seeing if LittleRedFisherman is up for a big river multispecies trip.

Ham That's a great list. I have been giving next years goals a bit of thought. As I mentioned in the Devil in Details thread, I want to increase my PB for trout and bass. I don't know yet if I want to base that upon each species, e.g., rainbow, brown, largemouth, spotted, smallmouth, or as a general category, e.g., a trout or bass. I want to catch and photograph some species in their breeding coloration, i.e., male greenside darter, male bowfin, etc. Catch three new darter and five new minnow species. Catch all three species of rock bass in MO. I missed Ozark bass this year. Catch a warmouth sunfish Catch a longnose or shortnose gar in MO. If we can afford the trip and I have the time from work; Florida trip with coppernose bluegill and Suwannee river bass as primary targets. A saltwater trip with redfish, sheepshead minnows as new species targets. If I can get drawn for Wyoming hunt; catch at least two of the four cutthroat subspecies on the Wyoming slam.

Haris122 - My philosophy is to catch and count them all no matter how big or small. You know I have been loving the small guys lately. if you get some good photos of the sunfish, I may be able to help with the id. The little ones are tough, but it doesn't hurt to have someone else take a look at them.

Well I didn't have access to my fishing records spreadsheet during my previous responses. And yes I do maintain a fishing spreadsheet. So my totals since March 1, 2016 are as follows: 590 fish total - my best year ever and with two more months on my "fishing year" should easily exceed 600 fish 55 fishing trips in MO, Arkansas, and New Jersey 19 new fish species (I do include subspecies in this listing), including Shadow bass and cutthroat trout that I caught while fishing with Ham in Aug and Dec and Neosho smallmouth bass that I caught in SW MO - really looking hard to get that 20th by end of Feb. - walleye or yellow bass (if I get out ice fishing with daughter) most likely candidates; my original goal was to catch 15 new species to bring my life total up to 110 species. 46 different species - again looking for ways to get four more different fish to hit 50 before end of Feb. Currently looking at golden redhorse, spotted bass, chain pickerel, grass pickerel, yellow perch (if I get out ice fishing with daughter), blue catfish, McCloud rainbows as possible options; I didn't set a total species goal instead was focused on the new species this year. Increased my PB smallmouth with an 18.4" smallmouth I caught on my trip with Ham in Aug. Even before I caught this fish, I was planning on setting 2017-2018 goals to increase my PB for trout and bass. Now that goal just got a little harder for smallmouth.