jdmidwest

We have have to fight Bald Eagles for ours sometimes. That has been a chore. Paddling around in the middle of a lake chasing a cripple mallard with a eagle swooping down at you too.

Here is a writeup on Tom from another blog. He touched on several lives. http://ozarkchronicles.com/archives/1444

Firefox 25.01 here.

I was fishing by myself in a hole all alone at Montauk and some guy walks in and casts over my line.

I am sure they will all head out of this side of the state with this one. First day above freezing will be next Friday with 38 degrees. That will lock up all shallow water habitat and pretty well knock it in the head for our season. I doubt we will have many birds left after this one. Snows were flying this afternoon in the snow storm. I could hear them, pretty low, but washed out in the blizzard. We ended up with a foot.

Years ago, there was an old feller that always fished the hole behind the lodge at Montauk. We always chatted and exchanged lures every time I was there. He was a daily regular. Then one time up there, he was gone. Passed away that winter of old age. There was another down on the Spring River, used to be a regular poster on here. He is gone now too.

Archie comics were the ones that I remember the most. The Flash was another. Grandpa had a stack of old WWII adventure comics that were great, something you don't see any more. Later in life, it was MAD Magazine. I still have a stack of those in storage somewhere. SPY vs SPY.

I have noticed some hangs lately during a post. A PM the other night double posted. Tis the season, lots of hackers snow bound and looking for something to do with their spare time.

We are about 8" snow and 2" sleet now. Dug out the Runner and made it out to main road only to find it unplowed. 2' drifts on the lane. Turned around and come back home. Good day to tye flies.

Why can't we just get a good ole fashion snow anymore? There ought to be a law against sleet and freezing rain. It hit here today around lunch time, gentle rain turned to sleet and snarled up major intersections along I-55 with sideways drivers going out to pick up kids from schools that let out at noon. Back to rain and all melted for a while, then around 4, back to sleet and freezing rain. Sleeting like crap for the last 3 hours and piling up. Gonna have to chisel out in the morning. Looked at the NWS, no temps above freezing at least thru Wed next weeks.

There is a Little Guy dealer across the river here in IL at Anna. They are pretty proud of them there little things, around 10k. I think I can whip one up a whole lot cheaper. I have been kicking around the idea of either building on the existing popup trailer or going with a slightly larger utility trailer and making the camper part removable. That way, I can have a utility trailer when I need one to haul stuff. I camped for many years in that little Starcraft Popup. It was great for 2 people and easy to pull. But it was time comsuming to raise and lower, you have to dry the canvas if it got rained on, and not the greatest in the wind. My teardrop plan I have in mind will reuse the main floor plan of the popup. U shaped table and benches that break down to make the bed, 3 burner stove and pump sink along the front. Window on one side, door with window on other. Small AC unit on the tongue, roof vent with a fan on top. Maybe enough room in floor to put a twin blowup bed when I bring a friend that I don't want to crawl in bed with... I am still trying to decide if I want a welded steel frame system and sheet metal or plywood and stud system. And trying to figure out when I can do it.....

In review of most of my camping in the past few years, it has been put up a tent, sleep, take down tent, move on. A teardrop seems like a good idea for me, and a little more protection from elements. Light and easy to tow. When I went to Alaska last time, there were several set up at the State Fair and I got the urge for one.

Funny thing. I have an old popup camper that I want to strip down and do the same thing. I will be watching this thread.

I would guess if you nail them geese a few times with a little white ball, they would leave out.

Things are froze out over here. Hopefully it will thaw out some and the ducks won't leave us.

Saddles are the best, but the webby parts of a rooster hackle will work too.

Wool and Fleece have heat retention when wet. Fleece usually dries quicker and is lighter weight. Polypropolene is good too, I have some glove liners made out of it that I cut the fingers out of for above freezing weather. Same goes with hunting gloves, except most of them have some kind of breathable membrane in them to stop wind and moisture. They are too bulky to wear fishing and do not immerse well unless they are gore tex. Beware of cotton gloves that look like wool, they hold water like a sponge and the cold too.

I use fleece for temps above freezing and wool below. Both are fingerless or have the index and thumb cut out. I have used some with the flip up fingers when it was really cold. I have a hand warmer pocket in my waders to stuff my fingers when they get cold and carry a small towel to dry them off after landing a fish.

I would think the population density of the deer would keep the nutrition down and the rack sizes also. They also need good genetics to grow a rack too. They tried to get a hunt going over here in a local town, but it was voted down. I have seen several bucks in that area of the day, but none even touching the 100 class. There is an albino or two, lots of does and fawn. I spoke with some of the MDC researchers that did the study and they did not mention many wallhangers in the bunch. But the population density was high enough to justify a hunt to thin them down.

What negotiations? They are still trying to enroll in Obamacare. I did read an article that they spent a trillion dollars in 10 days after the debt ceiling was raised. I wish I could find it to post it.

Like I expected, opening weekend was 12% down in harvest from last year. Last year was the worst in 20 years. http://mdc.mo.gov/newsroom/opening-weekend-deer-harvest-blown-away

The woods sounded like I was standing behind a jet turbine all day on Sunday. Saturday the mist was so bad in the morning my vision was worthless because of my glasses, the evening was when the jets started firing up. I passed on a doe and a fawn, too hot to work one up. This weekend looks nice, they should hang good for a few days and tenderize.

There is a few swampers down here, close enough to a hare.

The current management draws the crowds to the stream, that is where I would prefer them. Keep them concentrated on streams like the Current, Huzzah, Coutois, and the Meramec and off the other streams. I don't want to see more horses. I don't want to see less campsites or access points.I don't really care that they are overcrowded, like I said, I don't go there for peaceful alone time. 30 years ago, you could go over and have a wilder experience in that area. But, few people floated to party, camped to be camping, and it was less of a park and more of a river. No matter what they do, they will not stop the herds of people that flock there now, so just leave it alone and quit wasting money trying to figure it out every few years.

Aren't they cute when they butcher the fish? They play with them like cats play with toys.