jdmidwest

I agree with Wayne, not normal behavior. Maybe a rabid skunk. Most skunks are pretty clean animals and you never know they are around. Pretty fur, makes good fllies. Nice color of black and shiny, like a soft black bear fur. Burn the remains to keep other critters from getting infected with the rabies.

Good idea, might make a funny movie to watch.

Skunks don't spray without reason. Something stirred him up. I suggest a sniper run in twilight hours and make a kill. Won't smell any worse from sound of things

Sounds like you have alot of trash critters running around your place. I have to start running mine again, saw some coon scat by the trash can.

I have been tying flies for over 30 years now. There have been many great patterns designed. Try looking at Mary Orvis book and see if anything today resembles what it did back in the 1800's. Look at the old Catskill flies and see how simple they were. Turn of the century flies were streamers, dries, wet flies, and full dress salmon. Nymphs did not even come about till later. Who even tyed a saltwater pattern then? New materials spawn new designs, that is the great thing about evolution.

I like to target old road beds for redear around here in some lakes. I had a customer the other day that was removed from their family farm when the USFS dammed up and created Council Bluff lake. He was impressed that I knew where Enough was. Even more so when I told him I liked to turkey hunt and look for morels on his old family farm. Old topos show the original river channels and the contours when they were actually surveyed by land. But, not as accurate as they are today with satelites and GPS. And they are interesting from a historical aspect too.

Its a short walk with good paths from the lower campground to the river. If you have a daily tag, you can just fish your way down stream from the lower campground. There is a wire across the river at the split. Plenty of good water between there and Tan Vat access. Usually enough fish that you will not have to venture far and fish alot.

But they do give you a general idea of where to go. The chartplotter and sounder does the rest in real time. For a free service, it is nice. I have downloaded old topos of lakes before they are formed to find roadbed and to find feilds and timber areas. Another good resource.

That is a nice site. I found it earlier this spring while researching Reelfoot lake. Nice contour lines.

But he is not all pink and wrinkly? You are gonna enjoy all of the stink bait he is going to create for the next few years. Congrats.

F&F raised snakes for a hobby. Much worse than bees. BTW, that is a little pinkie finger swelled up. They say bee stings are good for arthritis, but that is the only finger I have joint pain in. It still bothers me today over a year later.

I might have a dab of honey this year, but I have to shell out $400 bucks for an extractor to get it out of the comb.

Park Rangers get paid a ton of money to do that trick. They can buy a whole can of lemon juice to take a bath in......

Peanut butter makes it sticky and holds it well. Catfish pellets and corn syrup mixed with peanut butter may work well too. The cheapest hot dogs are the best, thinner and go between the wires of my trap well. Vienna Sausages work too.

That is a pretty healthy bass, the fish population must be pretty good to make one of them.

I hate getting possums in a live trap. They usually crap all over it to keep others away from their food. Makes a stinking mess. If you have to handle them, use a good heavy pair of leather gloves, they will bite. Nice thing about the live trap, you will catch all kinds of other critters first. Coons are probably the ones that are getting into your trash. They can open lids and make a mess. Possums don't usually do that, but they will show up after the coons scatter it. If you can get some sweet feed, mix some molasses and peanut butter into it, it will work wonders as bait for a trap. If using cat food, try one with tuna or fish in it, it is a good bait. For coons and possums, I just stick a hot dog on a bamboo skewer in the ground and sit the trap over it with the hot dog sticking up behind the pedal that triggers the trap. That way they have to trigger it to get the bait. Coons are pretty agile and can steal bait.

Don't forget, the best way to get large numbers of smallmouth is with a gig. From what I hear on this site, it takes more smallies than any other method. I hear tell it has almost wiped them out in most streams.

I think the word would be "infectious", not poisonous. But it really has the same effect if not treated with antibiotics, just slower. I believe some of the big lizards have a mouth bacteria count that infects their victims when bitten. Probably some other reptiles too. But a dog bite or a human bite would cause an infection too it left untreated. Snake venom either causes tissue and blood damage or neural blocking which leads to death. I don't believe in wholesale killing off of snakes, but if you don't want to get bit, leave them alone. That would be the thing to learn about this episode.

Where do you think all of the wild hogs came from? There were not wild to start with and they are not native to MO. At least there has always been a fencing rule regarding the captive deer. I really don't know how many get loose and am sure the number is being blown out of proportion. But livestock does get out too and become a problem. There are no fencing requirements or Conservation rules for raising hogs and cows, but yet we have wild hogs.

Good sharp hooks. Buy a hook sharpener. What type of fly? You will need a hook with a wider gape if you are targeting bass specifically. 6 wt rod should be more than plenty, I never go above a 5 wt unless I need more casting distance or tossing bigger bugs. I use the same rods for bass in ponds and streams as I do trout. But the hooks are wider gap.

I thought Marlin's had sold to someone else. Last time I looked for them on the web it was gone. A guy from Jackson used to own it. I always use the motels in Licking or Salem during the cooler months when I don't want to mess with camping. Both are only 20 to 30 minute drives and have good eats nearby. The Licking Tarry Inn has always been my favorite. Dirt cheap and clean. Free WIFI. They may still have a pool open. You can run down to Houston for a Wally world trip if you need it. A few good eating spots in Licking and Houston. Antique shops too.

Livestock have been cross bred and genetically manipulated for positive traits for hundreds of years. They have been domesticated and tamed much like the deer farmers are doing with the deer in the farms now. Deer are being bred for their size and antler growth. And they are being domesticated somewhat to make them easier to handle and transfer. They remove the antlers before the rut to prevent them from harming each other. They artificially inseminate the does to bring in better blood lines instead of just letting them run around with any old buck. They are fed great diets and kept stress free to insure they grow to their full potential. Dogs, cows, pigs, sheep, cats, horses, goats, chickens, turkeys, etc all come from wild stock at one time. And they are all managed by the Dept. of Ag. as a farming venture. And yes, all domestic farm animals have been genetically altered by breeding to get desired traits to make them more valuable. What if one day a deer breeder actually comes across a deer that is resistant to CWD, Blue Tongue, or other disease that infects the wild herds? Where does all of the research on deer actually take place? Probably on a captive deer.

So the inside is simply a bed? I was thinking about recreating the floorplan of the old popup I am going to use. The lift system and canvas gave out years ago and the box is pretty rotten. I was thinking of the original table bed system that was in the back of the camper and moving the stove and sink to the front instead of along the side. Move the door back a little to the center. That way, I will still have a table to sit at during the day in case of rain. The roof will be lower though. Probably have to hunch over to move around. I am just wanting to build something quick and light to pull for an overnighter when weather would make a tent wet and uncomfortable. I don't think I would ever use an elaborate kitchen set like you have in the back. But your floorplan and camper looks great.

I figured as much, those cool nights had to do something to the bass. I was down at Reelfoot the weekend of the 4rh, after the cool down early in the week. Fishing really sucked there. Main pool in lower blue basin was still in the 80's but the shallow water near Kirby pocket was only in the 70's. They completely shut down. I hope the trout are biting on the Spring River this weekend.

There was a Tim that liked to get close to bears, he was eaten. Tim Treadwell was his name. Nice photo of the blondie.