FishnDave

Happy Birthday, Bill!

If anyone is interested in reading history of mussels from the Mississippi River used for making buttons in the early 1900's, you can read this article (and search for others): http://www.semopress.com/mississippi-harvest/

If you have the time and inclination, by all means take college classes. Are you interested in specific individual classes, or want to pursue some sort of degree? But "going to college" sounds like a full-time, on-campus, gig. I did my stint...and just like high school or middle school or elementary school...I've no desire to go back and relive it, although overall I enjoyed it all at the time.

I just got this: The Lamson fly reels makes sense, but....should I be wondering who in my family is searching for adult body bags???

@fishinwrench, is Fly Depot an online store? I searched for it, and nothing came up. 🤷‍♂️

Waterworks Lamson Konic is my favorite reel, no longer made. Their Remix reel is an excellent replacement.

PONDERISMS Why do peanuts float in a regular coke and sink in a diet coke? Go ahead and try it... I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes. How important does a person have to be before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered? Why do you have to "put your two cents in"... but it's only a "penny for your thoughts"? Where's that extra penny going?(Taxes!) Once you're in heaven, do you get stuck wearing the clothes you were buried in for eternity? What disease did cured ham actually have? How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage? Why is it that people say they "slept like a baby" when babies wake up like every two hours? If a deaf person has to go to court, is it still called a hearing? Why are you IN a movie, but you're ON TV? Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground? Why do doctors leave the room while you change??? They're going to see you naked anyway. Why is "bra" singular and "panties" plural? (I was wondering myself at this...) Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat? Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane? If the professor on Gilligan's Island can make a radio out of a coconut, why can't he fix a hole in a boat? If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, what is baby oil made from? If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons? Why do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune? Why did you just try singing the two songs above? Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him for a car ride, he sticks his head out the window? HOW DID THE MAN WHO MADE THE FIRST CLOCK, KNOW WHAT TIME IT WAS?

Remember when we painted cave walls with charcoal and ocher? Now we paint bridge pilings with shaker can spray paints.

Judging by your success...you've got them figured out about as well as they can be. Seems like they eat when THEY want....not when WE want them to. Fair statement?

I've had a number of "natives" in aquariums over the years. Got rid of my last one, a 150 gallon, 6' long tank, when the light caught fire. Fortunately my wife saw it happen and put the fire out with an extinguisher. At one time or another, I had Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Northern Pike, Musky, baby Shovelnose Sturgeon, Shortnose Gar, Walleye, Bluegill, Green Sunfish, Crappie, Bullhead, Channel Catfish, etc.....and also Peacock Bass, baby Snapping Turtle, baby softshell turtle, baby Painted Turtle, Pacu, Pike Cichlids, Oscar, lots of other cichlids, mostly South American.

I've caught very small bass. This one is just an example...probably 2". I'm sure I've caught even smaller.

Did this "fox" look anything like this?

I'm hoping for that, too. 😁

That's an incredible number right there....considering how many years you've been fishing, your life list had to be pretty lengthy already!

We should do it! There's probably a sturgeon somewhere that needs to go for a walk on a fishing-line leash, right? 😄

@Johnsfolly and @JestersHK...you BOTH gave specific locations to help my my 2020 Longear quest. I didn't mean to overlook @JestersHK ! I appreciated the help, and both locations gave up plenty of fish! Also, @JestersHK allowed me to fish certain semi-private water for bass, which was super-kind! 👍

Specific 2022 Goals: 1. Catch the following species on flies: -Bowfin -Flier -Spotted Gar -Chain Pickerel

Here's how these goals shook out: 1. Fished with @Ham 2. Didn't fish with @BilletHead 3.Caught 3 of the fish on this list....Redspotted Sunfish, Longnose Gar, and Warmouth. 4. Caught 2 of the fish on the Missouri wish-list...Rock Bass and Hybrid Striped Bass. Did catch Brown Trout in Iowa and Arkansas in 2021, but not MO. Didn't even try, though. And only White Crappies were caught in MO this year, but did catch Black Crappies in Iowa. 5. Did not catch any Lake Trout.

Its good to have a plan. Good things happen when you have a plan. I'm going to play to my strengths and start tracking the trees, bushes, weeds and grasses I catch incidentally while flyfishing. It only counts on a backcast. Can you imagine getting a male AND female Ginkgo tree?? Most people fish their whole lives and never get ONE, much less BOTH genders!! Could life get any more exciting?? j/k I hope to add some new-to-me flyrod species this year. Planning to make some trips to fish with @Ham again this year. Closer to home, I may try to target smallmouth streams more, and quite badgering the Koi, Goldfish, and Grass Carp so much. They are fun, so I will still fish for them. My brother is moving to StL this Spring. He's a widower. His daughter and her family also live in the area. I hope to distract him with fishing, and teach him to flyfish. I should probably get better at it before teaching someone else, right?