Quillback

I saw that one, well part of it. Never understood why anyone would want to go out in 3-4 foot whitecaps to fish in a bass boat. If you have water coming over the bow and you can barely stand up because of the boat movement, I just don't see where that is fun. Of course they have to shoot their show which is probably why they went out on a day like that, but it doesn't make for a good show either.

I liked Zona's show a couple of years ago, but now it's all about Zona and whomever is fishing with him that day, cutting up and being goofy. It's OK for a show or two, but it is getting old fast. Fishing U is just flat out bad. They had an episode a couple of years ago where McClelland was showcasing the Rock Crawler, I think that it the last one I enjoyed. I like Honey Hole Outdoors with Bill Wilcox, it's pretty much all Texas fishing, but he does a good job explaining what he's doing and letting you know what he is using. There's only a couple weeks delay in showing the show, so it stays seasonal. It's on FSSW Saturday mornings I think 0530 or 0630 AM (I record it). You can also watch it on the web. I was stuck in the house for a while so I watched a LOT of fishing shows.

Great Mofloat, look forward to seeing you there!

Nice pics, you got the lighting just right.

Could be it warmed up later in the day, I was off the water at 2 PM.

Yesterday at Big M I saw water temps 44-46. I went back to look at my notes from the last couple of years, and last year I recorded 44 on an end of January trip. Year before that I saw 42, year before that on 1/20 it was 40-42, but on February 19, it was 37-39. Must have been a cold front in early February that year (2014).

Went back today, weather was just too darned nice to pass up. Thought maybe I learned something from yesterday, but almost the same results. 15 bass today, two keepers, and a short walleye. Fishing trees in 20-30 FOW slowly with the Ned was the only way I could catch fish.

Thanks guys, it is good to be back.

One of those funny days weather-wise. Launched around 0900, no wind, 32 degrees and when I pulled out at 2 PM it was white capping in spots and 64 degrees. Had a decent Ned bite going before the wind picked up. Deep fish, 20-30 feet down on the bottom for the most part. Fished a 1/8 oz head right on the bottom, very slowly. Never saw any suspended fish, they were all right on the bottom. The wind picked up about noon and made fishing the Ned deep tough. Tried fishing the windy banks with jerker, crank, and spinner bait, but none of that stuff worked for me. Got 14 bass, a couple of smallies, a couple of largemouth with the rest being spots. Had 3 for sure keepers, and one squeaker that may have made it. As far as wildlife, saw 2 deer come out on the bank, they must have been swimming as they were soaking wet, and when they got up on the bank they shook that water off just like a wet dog shakes water off WT - 44-45

I think they are still limited to 18 footers with 150's? So I don't think they are using their personal boats, the manufacturers must be supplying them. But I may be wrong. Anybody know how the points system works?

If Moguy wins the BASS league, he'll probably win them all. With all the bling he will get he can open up a tackle shop.

Great finish, and how about that Ott getting a 4 lber to seal the deal!

I have been to Sitka several times on fishing trips. Great scenery with the mountains being almost on the edge of the sea. Neat old Russian church in town, but the town itself is a bit of a tourist trap, it's a popular destination for cruise ships. There are whale watching trips you can take and of course fishing, the coho ought to be in the sound in August. You can also halibut fish, I would not recommend it as it is deep water fishing - bait on the bottom at 300 feet, and when you get one, especially if it is a biggun, it is nothing but hard work to get it to the boat. There's also some hiking trails outside of town. I don't think I would want to spend a week in Sitka, but for 3-4 days you could stay pretty busy.

So are clowns, especially if you run across one in the woods.

By Douglas Preston Picked this up at the library, read it in 2 days, had a tough time putting it down, very good read IMO. It's non-fiction, it is about a recent find of a "lost city" in the Honduran jungle. It reads like an adventure novel, covers the logistics of getting there, the hassles of dealing with the Honduran government to get permits, and once there the struggles of dealing with an extremely hostile jungle environment. Tick, chiggers, sand flies, jaguars, and fer de lance snakes - an extremely deadly snake - this place has it all. Last part of the book covers the ordeal that some of the expedition team members had to go through to deal with a disease call Leishmaniasis, they had to go to the NIH to get treated as there has been very little in the way of treatment yet developed for that disease. Nasty parasitic disease that has many forms, some of which are deadly. The city itself had been abandoned 500 years ago, and since then there appear to be no signs of human visitation, and importantly no looting. Very remote and inaccessible, they had to helicopter in to get there.

There is also a Tackle Warehouse group that you can join. Top 10 finishers win prizes, but as of now there are 2,000 people in that league, so the odds are against you. However, it appears that the selections I made for the OA group are also set for the TW group, as far as I can tell, you can't create separate rosters for each group. But, that means, if I understand it correctly, that any roster changes apply to both groups - so you can add yourself to the TW group, once you done that, there is no extra work. So what the heck.

From an MDC email sent today: COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) recently received DNA results from a confirmed mountain lion in Shannon County. Those results indicated the mountain lion was a female with a probable origin in the Black Hills of Wyoming and South Dakota, and Northwest Nebraska. This is the first definitive confirmation of a female mountain lion being present in Missouri since 1994. “Mountain lions are still rare in Missouri,” said MDC Wildlife Management Coordinator Alan Leary. “The detection of a female increases the likelihood that breeding could occur within the state, but at this point we don’t have evidence that a breeding population exists in Missouri.”

I bet you picked Palaniuk for the win.

I am in.

Washington rivers got pretty crowded too when the fish were in. I don't know about the salmon, but in those shoulder to shoulder situations fishing fly gear is almost impossible. Unless it is fly fishing only.

Man, those are the fattest lakers I have ever seen.

I don't like heights at all. I think those people that free climb (no safety ropes, or spikes driven into the rock) up cliffs are nuts. Once I got 10 feet off the ground, I would be done. I was forced to attend a business dinner once at the top of the Seattle Space Needle. I hated every minute of it.

I'm interested if you can get enough participation. I figure since I'm going to win, I won't have to worry about sending anyone a bait.

Well you have one in a trap and start poking it with a stick, it's gonna get mean. I lived in WA state for 20 years, lots of cougars there, especially after PETA got dog hunting for them banned. You can shoot them during big game season, but can't hunt them with dogs. I think that there were around 10 or so shot incidentally by hunters every year. Hunting them with a dog pack is the most efficient way to hunt them, and there were guides who specialized in dog hunting for cougars. Well once the dog hunting thing ended, the cougar population expanded to a point where the carrying capacity was maxed out, and that meant somewhere around 2,000 cougars living in the state. I spent a lot of time bird hunting, hiking, and fishing in pretty remote areas, and in some good cougar habitat. Never saw one, and I never was worried about them. There's a long list of things you could worry about when you are out in the woods, and I'd place cougars way down on that list. The only cougar that would worry me is one that was domesticated then dumped somewhere.

Glad to hear the birds are doing well, I hope to be out chasing them next season. Seems like bird numbers are dependent on getting the right amount of rain.