Quillback

Yeah I'm off the water by 3 PM, but I'm up at 3 AM. The 2 hour drive back from Springfield would be brutal.

My neighbor has caught some stripers in the Point 1 area last week. He goes early, looks for top water activity, and when he sees it, he gets on them. Hit or miss, some days he gets them real good, and other days not. He hasn't been in a week, so hard to know if it is still going on.

Zoom Horny Toad is another alternative.

That's some great Nedding!

That's a cute dog. I have one myself. I don't hate all dogs, just the ones that bark all night, or get in the trash. And it's not the dogs fault, it's the humans.

Finished watching the game last night (I had recorded it). IMO the Pens are just better than the Sharks.

I would like to go, if it fits into my fishing schedule.

People across the street have 3 very annoying small dogs. There are coyotes around here, I hear them howling and every once in a while see one. I would not shed a tear if they ate all three of those dogs. But so far, it hasn't happened.

Fished with board member Huntest (Dave) today. We launched at 0530 and fished until 1230 or so. The fishing was decent, not hot like a couple of weeks ago, but we had some action. Caught around 35 black bass, mostly spots and smallies, 3 walleye, 2 of which were just at the 18" mark (released), and a white bass or two. There was a top water bite early, not a hot bite, but we did get a handful on top water. After that, we threw several baits that caught fish, c-rigging a Zoom UV Speed craw, slow rolling Keitechs, dragging jigs and wobble heads, and a few Ned fish. Size wise, nothing big made it into the boat, but we had some keeper spots, and one mean that might have gone 2 and a half. But Dave did have a big fish opportunity, he had good fish on, it stayed down until it got close to the boat, we knew it was good, but never saw it until it came straight up out of the water, probably got 3 feet of air and threw the hook. We both got a good look at it, and it was a largemouth that we think could have been pushing 6 lbs. It just wasn't meant to be, nothing Dave could've done. I hate to pick on him (well maybe not), but he also had another LM that looked to be 3 lbs. throw the bait at the boat, and had a walleye that was a few inches past keeper size, roll off just as I was abut to net it. So if you know Dave and have his address, please send him a sympathy card. Water was a bit murky around the point 23 area, must have had some good rains in that area. Water was kind of a thick pea green color. Temp was 77.

Looks like they have a non-rattling version of the Plopper now. They are in stock at Tackle Warehouse. Must...resist...urge...to ....purchase. They have to get burned out on these things at some point.

Sounds like a shad spawn. You would think the bass would pin those shad on the bank and chow down on them. Darn bass just don't read the books.

A tank of a KY. I love catching those things. Did you see much top water activity?

I use green for mono and clear for fluoro, mainly as I can tell what I have spooled on a reel.

I actually watched the game, fun game to watch. Pens certainly looked like the better team, at least for that game.

That's a nice mean. The state record is 5 lbs. 10 oz.

I have watched about 20 minutes of hockey all year. I once worked for a company that had it's HQ in San Jose. So I have a very sketchy reason to pull for SJ. I might even watch a game or two.

Have you read any of the Hornblower series? Great stuff, in my opinion. Do a search on "Hornblower" on Amazon, there's plenty of reviews. Author is C. S. Forester - his most famous novel is the African Queen, which is another good read.

Nice one!

Ketchup - All the online tackle retailers are out of the green pumpkin and watermelon colors. It used to be you could order direct from Normanlures.com, but I haven't tried it since they posted a message saying they had moved their inventory to the Pradco warehouse. I might try their 800 number next week to see if they still have stuff in stock. To get some of the colors like Ouchita Special, I had to order direct from their web site.

Crowder peas - My grandparents on my mothers side of the family were farmers in the MO Bootheel. Every year my grandpa would set aside a couple of acres for what he called a "Truck garden". He always grew some crowder peas. Grandma canned them, and she also canned some sweet tomato relish. Mix that relish with the crowder peas, that was good stuff. I even liked it as a kid.

I am not an attorney, but from reading that article, there's nothing more that the prosecutors office could do as it was a misdemeanor and the culprit accepted the citation and paid the fine. I do agree that the law sure is weak as far as the penalty applied for poaching. It's basically a speeding ticket.

Love those Deep Little N's. If you have a favorite color, better search the web and your local tackle shops and get them before they disappear forever.

Here's my favorite "Ouchita Special". Green Pumpkin with an orange belly. Orange belly doesn't show up to well in this image.

Looks like my favorite colors, anything green pumpkin, and a few other colors are gone. I suppose some will show up on Ebay in the colors I like, but I haven't seen them there. Lots of crank bait manufacturers make baits in shad and chartreuse colors, but not too many make green pumpkin and some of the other unique but effective colors Norman made. I have a stash that will last me for a few years thankfully, and there is always the Rock Crawler.

Good stuff Billet. I am getting broccoli now, lots of it. Weather has been good for it, but it will soon be done as once daytime temps stay over 80, it goes to seed. Fresh broccoli is so much better than the frozen stuff, but you guys know that. Sugar snap peas are coming in well also. And some of the tomato plants are setting tomatoes. Cantaloupe and Honeydew plants are up, but slow, they need some hot sunny weather.