Johnsfolly

I took the day off on Weds to get outdoors in the morning and to get some work done around the house. I headed out to a local piece of national forest land. I had hunted this property and always seem to find the squirrels. One thing that was certain was that the multiflora roses were definitely in full force. If I hunt here later this fall may have to bring the machete and cut back a bunch of these roses. There were also a bunch of black raspberry bushes each with a fair number of red and ripe black berries. I wasn't on a foraging trip, but did keep my eyes open for any interesting mushrooms. I hit several of the spots that I would normally see squirrels, but the woods were quiet. The only noise or game seen was a couple of turkeys that I bumped a couple of times. This area is criss-crossed with deep dry creeks. Once I saw this it became a mushroom hunt from that point forward. Since we haven't had a good rain in several days the mushrooms were a little dry. But still plentiful. Called my wife to see if she wanted to get out again and look for more mushrooms. Headed home and then we were both back out looking. We found plenty of chanterelles in some of our old haunts. Also found plenty of berries to keep thing interesting. No new mushrooms and we only bumped one squirrel on our foraging trip (no shot). So even though the squirrel hunting was a bust, we had a good time foraging the MO forests. Though I do need some protein to go with these mushrooms .

Good looking recipe. I have the wild mushrooms, just need the squirrels. May get out later this week to get a few. Don't know if you saw my post about the sichaun squirrel dish on the cooking thread. That Is a great tasting meal as well. Glad to see that BH and I aren't the only ones that love the bushytails!

We made the mistake of trying to save our grapes and put out bag traps on the edges of our yard. We have been committed to keeping them up. We have been emptying both traps twice a day for almost 10 days now. Each time there must be 1 to 2 lbs of beetles in the traps. Most of the time we could not add another beetle to the bag. Worse year ever for the beetles around us. However our birch and mock crabapple trees both still have leaves unlike others in the neighborhood. Even the grapes still have a few leaves.

We have harvested one summer squash and a hand full of cherry tomatoes so far. Our big tomatoes are in that we're just going to stay green phase. Hopefully the heat kicks them into ripening. We do have a couple of acorn squash that are getting close to baseball size. First time growing those.

Sort of a monochromatic meal. Roasted pork loin. Sweet corn from Amish country which at the prices my wife gets is almost bartering or stealing☺. Then the pumpkin spaetzle with a little butter, granulated garlic, and grated parmesan. Nothing special to look at but a tasty meal.

Then of course there is often this to look forward to when you are out on the lake in the evening.

Norm Great post. There is nothing like just catching a bunch of panfish to bring the joy back to fishing. I spend a lot of time planning trips to maximize the likelihood of catching a certain species or size fish. But lately just getting out with my daughter and fishing off of the dock at our local lake and catching crappie or bluegill has been a blast. Keep getting out and enjoying the water Norm!

Great fish guys! Just a bunch of pigs! Great job!

You mean that bears do $#%@ in the woods☺! Who knew. I had predicted 5 or 6 years ago thay MO would have it's first bear hunt within ten years from that time. Can't wait to see the results of their bear survey work. My prediction is still pending. In PA we had a lot of bears, but never really felt uncomfortable around them.

We have been successful in finding chanterelles this year. So I planned on following another Hank Shaw recipe, chanterelles with spaetzle, last night. We made the pumpkin spaetzle using pumpkin that we had roasted last fall. Pretty easy and kind of fun to make. We sliced the mushrooms and also added a half pound of oyster mushrooms that I bought at the farmers market. The final dish included bacon, sliced onions, garlic, mushrooms, toasted pine nuts, and chopped parsley. Even my son who doesn't really like mushrooms enjoyed this dish.

Pretty sure that the brown trout loved those 6.inch brookies. They will likely eat a fair share of these 9 inch fish as well.

Phil Sounds like a great trip, fishing, and time spent with friends and family! Thanks for posting a great report. I'm sure that I am not the only one a bit jealous reading this post.

Dan I was fishing an inlet on the Chesapeake bay in Maryland.

Man I must have been really wasted. Looked like a good time☺. Just don't remember inviting anyone.

The best tasting trout are the 12 to 17" rainbows out of Blue Springs Creek or Mill Creek . You can tell by their taste that they have been in the creek all their lives, YUM! Oh the McClouds are a little muddy tasting .

I'll second that DAANNGG!

Last year we used basket nearly every time out. This year, it seems that the baskets have a bunch of stuff in them and not available to use. So it's been plastic bags for us as well this year.

Nice photos even the one with Chief! Time on the water with friends and also catching some fish. Can't beat that for a good day. That last photo was one surprised channel catfish.

DANG Marty that looks good. I made our first chanterelle meal this morning. Dry sautéd the chanterelles then set them aside. Cooked some minced onion and chopped fresh tarragon from the garden. Added that to the mushrooms. Cracked a variety of eggs (green, brown, white, small brown) from the chickens owned by those crazy chicken people! Added salt, pepper, granulated garlic to the eggs and a little water then beat them well. Made three omelets with the egg mixture. With the mushroom filling, added some Havarti and a provolone style goat cheese I picked up from the farmers market yesterday.

Norm Glad that you are able to get time on the water before you go in for your therapy. We will be thinking of you here. Good Luck and stay strong!

I actually enjoy going out from now through this fall more so than morel season. So many species popping up. You never know what the next rain will bring up. Also there are very few people out looking this time of year.

Norm I'm still able to thread the 20s but just barely. I use 2# Pline. The size 26 hooks I buy are snelled. Take a look at my post "have you seen a shiner like this" in the Other ozark waters forum. I describe how I fish with the small hooks. Hope you can catch a bunch of new fish in the tribs. Good luck.

Good luck buddy! Try to fish in the daylight for a change and get some great fish photos☺! I'll be jealous. Haven't fished in LA. I know you will eat well.

I hooked a 24+" common carp behind the dorsal fin with a small huskyjerk bait while fishing below Truman dam. I was using 4# line. I fought that fish for a good 5 to 6 minutes. I would get it close to the rocks and it would pull line as it went back out to the middle. Really hard to control the fish. Finally I pulled the hook as it got close. I would have loved to have landed this fish, but more than anything just wanted to keep my bait.

I have not thought about carp on a fly before seing the video above and the grass carp videos that are posted on OAF. Have read about "mulberry" flies. What other flies are good for carp?