Johnsfolly

Rick I am still an active scientist, but it is getting harder and harder to find the "real Science". The rush to publish, the competition for grants, etc. all open the door for falsification of records and corruption. In the case for COVID it may be recognition or monies that make for poor science or an overreach of the data to push their findings into the news cycle. You also know that many scientists tend to be hesitant to over generalize their data. In that case more often than not scientific accuracy comes only after more data are available and not necessarily when the public wants you to be predictive and set policy on small data sets.

With the fall back an hour, the first few days there seems to be lots of time in the mornings. Usually only have time for a piece of toast with almond butter. Today's breakfast was a piece of French toast made with local cinnamon raisin bread and a piece of Applewood smoked bacon.

Anyone on here read Michael Crichton's book "State of Fear"? A good read.

I don't typically target carp but enjoy catching them particularly on light line. My two largest carp were 9 lbs 5 oz and 12 lbs 13 oz. Both were caught using a #10 hook with a piece of redworm and 4# test line. I had to stay behind some brush to not spook these fish and lightly pitch the bait in front of them. They would see and follow the bait to the bottom and I would set the hook anticipating when I thought they had the bait. Fought them all over that small pond. Lots and lots of fun.

I blame the 24/7 news cycle for the overreporting of everything.

That guy is an awesome freak of nature buddy! Very cool catch!

Awesome catch for your son as well. You are the sauger magnet buddy. I remember seeing your 11 pt photo earlier in the year. I would be happy for a 6 inch sauger just to get it on the list . Then worry about catching a big one.

Not sure why I didn't take a photo. Had a pot roast using chuck roast. Braising liquid consisted of 2 cups of mushroom liquor and beef stock, bay leaves, black peppercorns, and oregano. Sear and crock pot cook with whole garlic and chunked onion for almost four hours. Added more vegetables into the broth about an hour before serving that included parsnips, carrots, celery, and mushrooms. Made a gravy from the braising liquid. Delicious.

We have eaten white catfish this summer. They are a bullhead species. We fried them and they were good, but then again most fish fried will be good. Haven't tried any brown bullheads.

Really started hunting in earnest a couple of weeks ago. I will have to state a few things. First is that Maryland allows baiting. We have our landlord's permission to hunt the woodlot behind the house but only about 25 to 30 yards into the woods. We have permission from all of the neighbors that live within 150 yards of our spot. There is not a large number of public lands of any great size (>> 100 acres) near us. Last year I had set up a ground blind behind the house and we did bait in two does. One was my daughter's first deer and I shot a second one later in the season. We did see a few bucks and one really nice 9 or 10 point. I know that this is likely not thought of a true fair chase situation, but it is all within the regulations for the state. Here is the set-up with the blind in the lower left. The second photo shows the limited area and how far from the house we are hunting. So this year we began baiting the area in Sept. We routinely have had a doe and two fawns hitting the baits. A couple of weekends ago we had a heavy rain and a cold snap. That morning I had a nice mature 9 point but no shot. Later saw a tall and wide 8 pt followed by a spike and a 4 pt. There was also at least 10 does/fawns coming by throughout the day. With the buck around I had no interest in shooting one of the does or fawns. I have sat on stand a few more times, passed on the does and fawns again with the hope that one of the bucks would be back if the does were all still around. Saw more buck sightings while hunting and some while not hunting. Also frequent doe and fawn visitors. Even had wood ducks in the wet areas in the woodlot. These next few photos show how some of the fawns react to us before I had my daughter pull down her hammock on Sat. With all of these sightings it has been both a time of anticipation and also frustration. Saturday I put out doe in estrous scent and you would have thought that I had not showered for a week and ran all over the woodlot. I saw just the 4 pt buck (which is legal to take and by now frustration is building) but he just cruised through in front of me and never slowed down. Sunday morning the two fawns came in just before first light and left just after sunrise. I saw only one other deer off in the distance and did not see what it was. We had another 2 inches of rain later that day. It seemed that the rain washed away the doe scents. Today really heavy winds and there was a does and three fawns on the bait at lunch time. I always think that I should be out on the public lands trying to get a hunt for other deer than the backyard deer. If you want to cast stones go ahead. But there is always so much activity out back that it is hard to try and fill the freezer elsewhere. Hopefully myself or my wife and get one or two before the season is over. Good luck to others. I know of a couple of successful bow hunters that have not posted their successes.

I feel for you @Devan S. that has got to suck. No win situation for sure.

Stonecats are the largest madtom species in the Noturus genus. So 5 to 9" is within their size range for sure. That checkered madtom is a big one as well, possibly the second largest species in that genus. Here's a margined madtom with that classic tail and adipose fin.

You said that you didn't know what I was talking about. Sorry buddy, but now you do! I will admit that I have not seen these movies but do have one DVR'ed to watch. Dolls are creepy though. Go look up paranormal shows about Island of the Dolls (or Doll Island). That's place is creepy for sure. Supposed to be one of the scariest places in Mexico.

Since January I have been working at the lab except for time off requests. We have implemented social distancing procedures at work, but still have 60+ people in my building on campus that all have lives outside of our work. Since June, I have travelled from MD to KS and back, MD to GA and back, MD to MO and back, MD to DE and back several times, MD to SC and back, MD to PA and back. I look at the data presented on various sites that are not political portals and take what i consider to be calculated but low risk activities. I also try not to be a hypocrite about this pandemic. I have heard from many sources like DJ about the monetization of COVID cases and do consider that there is likely an inflation of the actual numbers. I look more at trends to make some of my decisions. We routinely and probably more so than we should have one to two meals every 7 to 10 days from local restaurants since March both when it was curbside and now dine in. Partly for ourselves, but also to try an keep these businesses going. A lot of these places are really putting in tremendous efforts to keep their patrons safe and I would hate to see some of them close because I was not willing to help by having meals there. We wear masks when out in public and I really don't care what others think about us wearing them. We don't wear them in the car, or when it is just ourselves together, or when we are with folks that are more than 10 ft apart that we don't know, or around others that we choose to be around that are not symptomatic. We have hand sanitizer in all of our vehicles. We routinely wash our hands in public places and sanitize when we get back in the car. We are trying to do what we can to live somewhat normal lives. Who knows we may all get it by the end of the year or not. Each of us have to do what we need to do.

Many are less than 4 to 5 inches in length or a lot smaller like this slender madtom that Livie caught by hand. I have caught most of mine at night. They are annoyed by the lights. so I catch them on the edge of the light. I have caught a couple of them during the day, but that was by putting the bait up under the rock that I saw them hiding.

Love to see you catch some madtoms on a flyrod. That would be awesome!

So you aren't up for watching Annabelle and it's sequel(s)?

Had a neighbor with a Squirrel Monkey as a pet when I was a kid. That covers two bases. Dress it up like a clown for the horror trifecta ! That thing bit everyone. Nasty little creature for sure.

Sure that I have a few in an old tackle box or two. Congrats @Daryk Campbell Sr!!

Three men are at the bar having some drinks. As in most bar conversations where alcohol is involved, the conversation turned toward their experience as lovers. The French man said that he is a very good lover. He stated that he frequently rubs butter on his lovers and one woman screamed for three full minutes. The Italian gentleman said that he rubs his lovers with the finest olive oils and has had one woman scream for five full minutes. The last gentleman was Jewish and they are not known to be great lovers. But not to be outdone, he said that he has rubbed his wife with schmaltz and she screamed for 30 minutes straight. The other to men thought that was remarkable and asked what he did exactly to get that tremendous response. The Jewish man stated, "I wiped my hand on the curtains !"

Great fish Brett!

Congrats on a great day! That is a nice fish fry in the making!

Like The Sting better than Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.