Johnsfolly

Congrats Marty! Persistence paid off for you and the Mrs☺!

I threw that in to get a response out of you Marty☺! You know that I want to complete the cutt slams in many of the western states. Looks like that may be more challenging where I am likely headed this year.

Great trip buddy! Would have loved to had been with you catching those cutthroat even though they aren't ibeing caught in their native range☺! Doesn't sound like you got into any brookies. Maybe next trip.

Congrats guys! Great bunch of fish.

If I shot a second deer tartare was on the menu. Love carpaccio. In fact my Betterhalf and I shared Octopus carpaccio Thurs night. They did cook the octopus, bundled slices, then wrapped them to bind the pieces. Sliced wafer thin and served with a little olive oil, avacado and red onion. Was very good☺.

I had some of the risotto. It was delicious and the lobster was cooked perfectly. The risotto had a bit of cheese, possibly parmesan, but the majority of flavor came from what we assumed was good lobster stock.

The guy next to us on our flight into Baltimore told us about how the deer would come into their orchard and eat the fermented apples. They would stand spread legged to keep their balance or lean up against the fence. He said his daughter would walk over to the drunk deer and take selfies. He said once they sobered up a bit they would head back to the apples☺!

The Mrs had lobster risotto. That plate looked a lot like mine. Secret chef's recipes. I could show you the step by step photos but would have to kill you ☺! Too tired to head back to MO over that so I'll skip posting those photos.

What a seared rockfish (striped bass) fillet with lemon and capers served with broccolini looks like in Maryland ! Also had a glass of Tramin Pinot Grigio with dinner. Might have been at Ness' house!

Most of those wrecks occur in convenienve store parking lots☺!

I was just focusing on our trout fishing. Definitely glad that the girls caught fish or else that would really had become a death march☺!

How did it taste? Looks interesting.

Very nice bunch of bunnies BH! My dad had an old sixteen ga side by side. Shot it a few times but never hunted with it. Don't remember much about it. My mom sold it after they divorced when I was 17. I did shoot his old Colt 22 mag squirrel pistol. She sold that as well. I did get his Mossberg Chuckster 22 mag. Haven't hunted with it this year. Been shooting game with my scattergun this year.

I fished with you for one night. Can't imagine what it would be like to fish with you for several days or a week. Don't know if I could keep up☺! Wouldn't mind trying maybe in Louisiana or Florida!

Thanks Terrierman. I would love to see that photo☺. Can't wait to fish with you again!

it would be fun to think about. I might even develop a little disdain for catching another rainbow trout!

Do they serve cavy? Did you have any pisco sours? I used to like drinking those with a Peruvian friend of mine. We never ate any of those rodents.

Very good looking dish BH! Can't wait to see what's next on the menu!

Griz - that was what we called them in Florida . Travelling south on I-95, we would see a dead one every 1/4 to 1/2 mile from Jacksonville to Miami, a 360 mile trip.

I was able to take off some time last week and had a fishing trip scheduled to fish with Ham on Weds the 10th. We had agreed on meeting at 9 am just to give me the time to drive the 200 miles to our meeting location. Of course I drove too fast on the way there and got to the spot about 25 min early. It was about 32 deg and a little bit of fog off the water. I got a chance to catch a longear sunfish on a yellow grub microjig. Had a couple of other fish and a possible trout follow but not take the microjig. I switched to a 1/16 oz tri-olive zig jig and caught two quick trout on three casts then no more. I moved to a spot where I could see the road. I fished a Johnson thinfisher in a pool and just hooked up as I saw Ham heading in. I land a 14" rainbow and met Ham. My fishing goals are tracked from March 1 to Feb 28th to follow the MO fishing license year. Ham tracks his fishing goals on the calendar year. So this was one of my last trips for the year and the first for Ham in 2018. So I had a couple of target species that I knew were locally available, I also wanted to catch over 30 fish total, and try to bring home a dinner of shadow bass. Ham was targeting a total fish count of 50 fish and any fish would be a new species for his fishing year. Since I had success near the boat ramp we started fishing there just after launching. Ham saw a chain pickerel along the bank and he caught it right off the bat. We also caught a few trout as well before we headed upstream. The plan for the rest of the day was to drift the current and fish jigs and other baits. We fished our plan using Zig jigs (1/16 and 1/8 oz; brown, orange, olive, ginger good colors), a trout magnet minnow jerkbait, and some other misc. baits. We caught several fish right off the bat on our first drift. Ham caught a very nice rainbow (15 to 16") and I caught a real nice colored rainbow trout on our first pass. After our initial success, I had a stretch of the Folly Fumbles and lost several nice fish. At the tail end of one of our drifts, Ham was fishing a 1/8 oz zig jig and landed a nice male hornyhead chub, another new species for 2018. This fish had some issues and it took over several minutes active movement in the water and some time in the live well to get it well resuscitated and back into the water. I don't know many folks that would take the time to resuscitate a hornyhead chub. I landed my first shadow bass. This was either my 59th or 60th different fish species that I had caught since March 1. The uncertainty was whether I had caught a mottled sculpin on my last trip to the Niangua. I needed one more confirmed species just to hit my goal of 60 different species for the year. With the low and clear water Ham and I could see lots of fish on our drifts. One stretch had boulder/rock near the bank, then sand/gravel, and then back to rock/boulder bottom. We could see lots of fish in the sandy transition area. I got a fish to break after my jig and I hooked (and Landed ) a redhorse sucker. We took photos that would help me ID this fish (dorsal fins ray numbers, color of the dorsal and tail fin, mouth, and total body to count lateral line scale number). I just got confirmation that this is a black redhorse sucker. My definite 60th fish as well as a new life list fish for me. Like the hornyhead chub, took some extra time to resuscitate this fish before release. I pointed out the school of fish to Ham to get a chance at catching one himself. He did not catch one, but I hooked and lost another one on that pass. We headed downstream and to the spot where I would be likely to catch dinner. We both caught a couple of micros, rainbow darters and bleeding shiners, on the way downstream. We still caught many fish on the way downstream. Once we got into a spot with some wood and large boulders, we were expecting to get into shadow bass and a possible chain pickerel for me. I caught a few shadows, made sure that they met the minimum length limit and into the live well they went. Ham caught a couple as well, but struggled on the shadows as he caught many trout instead. He did end up contributing a couple of fish to the Folly meal total. On one cast past a very large boulder, I hooked a surprise black crappie. I did end up hooking and landing a chain pickerel off of a couple of laydown trees. Another new species for me. At 4 pm I had to head home. Ham was near meeting his numbers goal when he dropped me off at the ramp. I ended the day with 34 fish total, enough fish for a fresh fish meal (see the what's cooking thread), and 12 different species for the day. Ham caught seven different species and caught over 50 by the time he headed home. Today I received confirmation that I had indeed caught a mottled sculpin in the Niangua, which gives me 62 different species. I am so glad that I clicked on Ozark Anglers and then onto the forums. If I hadn't I would not have met or got to fish with guys like Ham. I appreciate that he is willing to drag me around and even catch fish with him ! I hope that this next year I will have opportunity to help him towards his species goals for 2018 or if nothing more try to figure out what he just caught.

The fact that we see any after so many get killed on the roadways and Griz's or BilletHead's yards, armadillos have to be one of the most prolific breeding animals on the planet followed by opossums .

Yesterday with snow throughout the day led to a day to make chili. Usually it is my Betterhalf that makes chili, but I took over the duties. I minced a medium yellow onion and two bell green peppers. I minced four to five cloves of garlic. In a large skillet, I browned two pounds of ground beef and drained off the fat then added the onion, pepper, and garlic. Once the onion was translucent, I added about two to three tablespoons each of dark chili powder and ground cumin. Also added about 1 tablespoon of smoked paprika, ground coriander, onion, and garlic powder then a teaspoon or two of red pepper flakes and a tablespoon of sambal chili paste. After cooking a bit, I dumped the beef mixture into the crock pot. I added two cans of rinsed kidney beans, and a can each of rinsed pinto and black beans. I mixed everything together along with a 10 oz can of enchilada sauce and a medium can of tomato sauce. Set the crock pot to cook for three hours mixing frequently during the process. I adjusted the seasoning near the end of the cooking time. Served it with a little sour cream and some shredded BilletHead smoked cheddar cheese. (sorry Marty no prep photos).

On Saturday the Folly family (minus our 17 yr old son) headed down to Springfield to go to the Wonders of Wildlife Museum and Aquarium. As Billethead already posted, I had contacted him to see if he and his missus would meet us to try that infamous Springfield cashew chicken . Flysmallie and Ness have mentioned and recommended a couple of places previously. I decided upon Leong's Asian Diner in order to experience the "original" recipe before trying someone else's take on the recipe. We all met at the restaurant even before it opened at 11 am. We ordered appetizers (crab ragoon and potstickers). I was surprised that my oldest and my Betterhalf order a Sake flight as well. Good thing that I was the driver ! I ordered the cashew chicken, BH ordered General's chicken, his Mrs ordered sesame chicken, my youngest had Pad Thai, and my oldest beef broccoli/sweet and sour chicken. There was much passing of plates for everyone to get a try of most if not all of the dishes and my Betterhalf shared from all. The food was very good. The company was excellent. The photos were not great .

Had some fresh shadow bass, i.e., goggle eye (and a crappie set) from a recent fishing trip and made them for Friday's dinner. I had picked up some Butter chardonnay at our local Target store. Terrierman had brought it and I really liked this wine when I had it down at Jigfest . I tried something different with sweet potato fries. I put the potato slices on a sheet pan with a little olive oil and cracked black pepper. Baked at 375 deg for about 15 to 20 min. then fried them at 375 deg oil with the fish. Wanted something green, decided upon steamed broccoli. I like to peel and cut the stems as well as separating the florets. Once steamed, I added a tiny bit of butter, cracked pepper, salt, and celery seeds. We did a standard flour, egg wash, and the Folly bread crumb mix (panko with oregano, basil, garlic powder, and cracked black pepper). Fried until golden at 375 deg canola oil. Served with homemade tartar sauce (mayo, dill relish, mustard powder, and chopped capers).

Congrats on successful fishimg on a snowy day! Very nice bunch of fish.