Johnsfolly

I wasn't aware of the restrictions of equestrian activity above Cedar Grove. I often see groups of riders crossing the river at Parker Hollow access and see ATV tracks upstream from there. I find walking along the horse trails much more difficult than along the ATV tracks. However, both are getting deeper and much worse over the years.

Looks like you had a great day with the jerkbaits! I don't lake fish much this time of year but appreciate your post. Not afraid to show the baits that were working for you!

That's a very nice fish! The landlocked bass you have been catching are rivaling the ocean run trophy stripers I have seen on the Chesapeake bragging boards!

I've heard that sandhills are considered the prime rib of upland birds. Not sure what flamingo would taste like. You'll have to let us know when you deke in a few☺!

He lives to rub it in. I know, I spent a weekend at Jigfest with that guy☺.

JohnP congrats on getting a mess of crappie! Very nice. Not a problem losing jigs if you are getting bit! BH nice guy trying to hijack this thread buddy☺!

I also like their roasted garlic hummus. Very good on pita chips.

HW - assuming those were fish and not just nice and scenic places to fish .

I agree that in general trophy rainbow would be over 20". I track the numbers of trout (separately for each species of trout that I am likely to encounter, i.e. rainbows and browns mostly) that I catch that fall between 12 and 15", 15" to 18" and > 18" and always identify those fish over 20". I would politely disagree about not considering differences in the term "trophy" as they pertain to the waters that you are fishing. Waters that don't receive an influx of stockers should in my opinion be considered differently because those fish had to survive from egg to adulthood based upon the resources available to the stream that they live. Catching a 20+" rainbow at Bennett's may be as much about how many old pellet fed brood stock are being released than if that fish gained that size by what it could eat in the stream. I would rate catching a 14-15" rainbow in Crane or Barren Fork creek or Blue Springs creek as much more exciting of an accomplishment as catching a 2 lb lunker at Bennett's. I have never had a 12+" Bennett's rainbow break me off by fighting so hard like one that I fought in Barren Fork creek. Now I would consider a 3" rainbow darter as a true trophy!

Good luck figuring out the fishing with your rig!

Sounds like you have yourself a keeper. If I had my way, got lucky enough, and the money I would have fish and bird mounts all over my house. I mentioned in another post to Billethead that I would love to have a wood duck drake mount in my house. I almost pulled the trigger on one several years ago, but held off because it was the last day of the fall turkey season and had a hen turkey responding to my call ! She went home with me and the drake flew to safer location downstream and beyond the limits that I had permission to hunt.

JohnP - love the photos particularly the yella dog! Congrats on a successful hunt!

From the discussions that I had with Sean (the guy up in Maryland), he told me that the hand reared birds tend to be more aggressive to the handler. It seems that if they imprint on humans then they believe the human being to be another bird. Raptors are very aggressive to each other particularly if their is a kill involved. I believe that most falconers often only hold a bird for a few seasons and then release them back into the wild.

Congrats on a good day on the water! Good luck on the next trip.

I agree that there is a decent selection of Zigjigs at the old Harps on business 62 in Mountain Home. Also the gas and convenience store at the Rt 5 and Rt 177 intersection heading to Norfork Dam in Salesville does sell them as well. Good luck☺!

That's awesome. Ever since I read "My side of the Mountain" I have been fascinated by falconry. Over the years found that it is a lot more work than I am willing to do (so far). One of the guys at our Maryland facility is a falconer and he just caught a female peregrine this November and is currently working with her. I hope that I can see her hunt sometime. I only know one guy in Missouri that is a falconer. He was in Columbia for work a couple of years ago, I thought that he was now living out near St Louis. Was the guy you were hunting with named Larry?

Congrats on a nice cooler of crappie!

BH we never had those types of battles. I did build a lot of warship and airplane models when I was a teen. After about 6 to 9 months I would get bored or want to build a new one, but didn't have a place to display the new one. So I would load up an old model with sterno or firecrackers. If it was a boat, I would light it up and drift the boat out onto a local pond and watch it burn and then get blown to bits. Airplanes would get a similar treatment, except that I would string them up and "fly" them before they would blow up. We also would fill nylon stocking eggs with sterno and CO2 cartridges. They would burn, blow up, and put out the fire with the CO2. A lot of fun at the time, but likely an environmental hazard.

I use the adhesive chemical toe warmers and place them on my hips above my femoral arteries. That keeps my legs warm. Since I do most of my winter fishing while wading, I do stay heated while fishing. I typically don't wear gloves, but a couple of hand warmers in my coat pockets are used just to get them warmed up again.

Congrats Mitch on a personal best spotted bass! That is a pig!

Dan- it's still a walleye even though it's not that much bigger than your spoon.

It may look like bacon, but does not smell like it. Don't think that I could stand a bacon scented orchid. I would be drooling on myself all of the time while it was blooming. Fortunately this is a flower that gives off it's scent in the evening/night. Might get overpowering if it gave of its scent all day and night.

I am sitting watching television and periodically get wafts of the perfume from one of our blooming orchids. This one is a chocolate scented Oncidium or a dancing lady variety orchid. Not a commonly found orchid here in Missouri, but I picked this one up locally about a year ago. The scent is reminiscent of chocolate.

Keeping up with the wild game theme, I made a modified version of beef and broccoli using venison. I thinly sliced some venison steak meat, added It to a bowl along with about two tablespoons of sambal chili sauce, two tablespoons of cornstarch, some powdered ginger, and enough soy sauce to wet and coat the meat. I let the meat sit while I sliced the broccoli, yellow onion, and about a cup and a half of sugar peas (halved) and minced garlic. I mixed two tablespoons of cornstarch with two thirds cup of soy sauce and a third cup of beef stock. I cooked the meat over high heat. Once browned, I removed the meat to a plate and added a bit more oil and the remaining goose fat from the fridge then began cooking the broccoli. Once the broccoli cooked a bit, I added the peas, followed by the onion and minced garlic. Once the onions were translucent, I added the meat back in to the pan. Added ground pepper and a little Chinese five spice then the soy sauce/stock/corn starch mixture. Cooked everything until the sauce thickened and served with white rice cooked with a little beef stock and some powdered ginger.

Another awesome winter smallie from the Meramec! Congrats HW and to your best friend! that is a beast!