Quillback

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.

8 lb. steelhead is about average, the guide is not pulling your leg. I haven't fished the Salmon, but used to fish for steelies when I lived in Washington state. Lots of fun, but challenging to catch, especially on a fly. Probably going to be lots of other fishermen when the fishing is prime.

One was supposedly spotted (by several people) on the West side of Bella Vista just recently. I am skeptical, but I guess it is possible.

I picked a couple up but also have yet to fish them. They look deadly. Debating whether or not to hang a willow blade from the bottom hook hanger.

At my age you have to do this stuff just to maintain.

7 weeks ago was the surgery. I have been religious about the therapy, the therapists measured my range of motion and it is what it should be. I'm doing fine Plug, thanks for your concern and I will continue to grind out the therapy exercises. We've got several fitness centers here in Bella Vista, they are well stocked with different exercise machines, I've been doing leg presses, hamstring curls, riding the stationary bike, and doing balance exercises with a BOSU ball. I have also been walking the dog about a mile a day. It's all coming together but it takes time.

LOL!

Hey Mike - The knee held up pretty well, it gets uncomfortable sitting with it bent, so I periodically have to stand up and fish for a while. 4 hours of fishing yesterday was enough. Overall it is coming along fine, the surgeon and the therapists claim that I am ahead of the curve as far as recovery.

Welcome!

Well my new knee felt good enough for me to get my boat and do some fishing, first time out in 8 weeks. I stayed local and fished one of the Bella Vista lakes. Fishing was a bit slow, worked quite a few spots with the Ned and jerk bait and only put 3 one pounders in the boat in about 3 hours fishing. I was fishing my way back to the ramp and noticed some fish hanging around some brush in about 15 feet of water. Put the Ned on them and caught 4 or 5 in a row, got the last one in the boat and got careless, grabbed the line with my left hand, reaching over to lip the fish with my right, that Ned popped out and buried itself in the side of my right pinky finger. Didn't feel a thing when it went it, but when I looked at it, it was way in past the barb. Tried tugging it out and pushing it through and that hook was not budging. Well put the boat on the trailer, drove home, put the boat in the garage and headed for the ER here in Bella Vista. Fortunately it was not very busy and after about a 10 minute wait the doctor came in, told me that he had removed a few hooks in his time (you like to hear that), numbed it up, pushed it out, clipped of the point, with the barb, and pulled it out. No big deal, except the bill was $550, but I was only on the hook for $150 deductible. Still an expensive lesson. When the doc clipped off the end of the hook he said - "That's a good hook" - so I guess Dave's Ned heads are now Doctor approved.

That's a good day Smalls, congrats!

Getting hammered. Wouldn't be surprised to see a few rigs out there on Saturday with the warm weather forecast, but nothing going on today.

The fish are calling your name, get back out there!

Pic gives it away, anyone who bass fishes these lakes will know which one it is. HLS might see an uptick in Flash Mob Jr. and 110 sales. Just out of curiosity I might drive over there today or tomorrow to see how many rigs are there.