jdmidwest

Flyfishing was a sport for elite, historically. The elite were well educated and had the luxury of time on their hands to study. I am a self taught purist. I started the hobby in the early 90's when it became cool again. I had a few mentors of the early bamboo age to work with. I have a library of books and have read many methods. I have studied the old ways and tied the life cycles. It has been very interesting. But some of the flies I have created are from my observations. Trout will hit a chartreuse strike indicator while ignoring the perfectly made fly to match the hatch, so I created a foam fly and cleaned up. Hatchery trout feed on brown pellets, so I created my brown bead head nymph. For some reason, carp like a yellow and red wet fly, and goggle eyes like them too. A gold bead on a hook with some red thread and pearl/gold sparkle fiber make a minnow imitation to take any kind of fish. Killer streamer. But my boxes are full of many patterns, and sometimes they will catch a fish when others fail.

Take up a trip to the mine dump also. My first trout came from Meramec. I had a great Uncle, second hand, that lived in St James. We went to visit Aunt Bulah and stopped there when I was young. Walking thru the races, I "hogged" my first trout. It was a slippery feller, but I released him unharmed. Later in life, I ended up there as my first trout fishing trip and have been underwhelmed ever since compared to other places I have been. But I still stop in at least once a year, but mostly for a walk around the park. My worst time was when I stopped by on way back from a work trip mid week for a quick fish. Park was empty, nobody fishing. Paid my dues and went to fish. Geared up and walked into stream to see a boat running up and down cutting weeds, water was full of weed trash. Went back to office for my money back, and they refunded it. The sign that stated "weed cutting today" was blocked by some other crap.

I know for a fact the little creek I live on was used for commerce many years before my family settled it back in the early 1800's. Indian mounds along a slough that was an old creek bed proved that Native Americans used it as a camp. It was a resting spot, or hunting ground for some reason. I can't float a kayak and a person this time of year down it, but 300 years ago it may have been more.

Sure they do, if you eat too many of them....

Most mushrooms will give you the scours one way or the other...

I have worked with a guy in the last year that is building a Chestnut plantation near St. Gen. Selling the nuts, seems to be pretty popular. One of my gun guys is raising Chestnuts trees also along with several others. I took him some White Walnut from the farm this year and he is raising a few of them for his personal grove.

I just sweated all the way thru my bee suit including the gloves in an hour. I am tired of the heat and humidity

Does Lake Linden have a boat ramp you can put in to? Sounds like you are going to alot of trouble and avoiding the obvious.

That is why they have always been called chicken snakes. They eat lots of eggs from any type of bird. My HS Science teacher had a way to trap them, tape a fish hook on the egg with some fishing line. Come back to a mad snake, but you can break it from taking eggs.

Mark Twain Lake 7/30/2019 cottonmouth at Florida boat ramp. https://forums.ozarkanglers.com/topic/67185-fished-all-around-florida-sunday/#comment-583331

I remember the quarter draft nights or dollar pitchers. Barely.

I took a pic of a cottonmouth 10 years ago at Mark Twain Lake boat ramp and posted online. We were waiting for our turn at the ramp and watching it swim around.

Most poisonous snakes float on top of the water when swimming. Cottonmouths like to just drift along sometimes in the water. Cottonmouth are plenty in southern Missouri. Normally see at least one on the 11 pt. I have always found it strange for a cold blooded creature to be plentiful in cooler waters. When I was a kid just starting driving, it was not uncommon for me to see several copperheads on the roads of a night after dark. Some of the larger ones I skinned out and dried, had them hanging on the shed at the house. Rattlesnakes did not come along until the 80's. We had a big flush of them in late 2000 at the farm. I always credit the MDC for a release in the nearby conservation area. Otters have probably took the worst toll on all of the snakes, they kill alot of them. Most streams are almost void of water snakes any more.

Did you snag the valve and it let go when you scooted out, or was that before all that is going on now...

I can only imagine what would have happened if she was not home and heard the noise in the fireplace. Finding them without any warning would have been even worse.

Starting backwards from this weekend. Camped at North Fork River Recreation Area Sat. Trying out my new Roof Top Tent system with my Grandson along. Just heated my long round steak to nice perfection and placed it on a bun with trimmings, sat down next to fire and started to eat. Halfway thru, pop on my bare left leg above the ankle. I looked down to see copperhead in strike pose at my feet, bailed out, hot dog flew into fire. Went over to truck, I was feeling some burning on my leg, but flashlight did not reveal any marks. Back to snake, he looked funny, lower jaw displaced. Quick rap on back of head made him spit a crawler Cicada out of his mouth. He was trying to get it down and was mad about it, struck my leg for some reason. Grabbed a stick and relocated him to another campsite that was vacant. Wiped leg off with Dude wipes and head was on swivel all the rest of nite. Glad my tent was located above ground, slept well. No ill effects from the strike, bug saved me. Back in June, wife calls, noise in fireplace. Maybe a bird, I am an hour away. 15 minutes later, another call, more noise, looked like a black tail hanging from under curtain in living room. Thought she saw a mouse. I arrived and checked fireplace, doors closed, damper closed, nothing. But the black tail had me thinking snake and I soon found one by my fly tying table in the corner hanging off a folding chair. Into a bucket and outside, 5 ' black snake. Thinking I was done, went back in to clean up the scent drop it did when I shined a light on it and the chairs. Started moving the chairs, there was another staring at me. Outside it went also. Both got a sharp rap on back of heads to clear their memory banks so they could not find they way back and returned to the wild. Pair of blacksnakes crawled up to roof, found hole in chimney screen, balled up in sex, and fell down chimney. Pushed way around damper and doors and into house. Chimney has new screen. 2 weeks prior, I was working on the farm. Wearing gloves and headphones. It was hot, I was mowing and brush hogging roads. At some point I remember bending over to pick something up and felt what I thought was a briar stick. Took off glove, looked at thumb but no sticker and nothing in glove. But thumb was burning like a thorn. Shrugged it off, kept on working. Next morning the thumb was swelled some and all way back to hand, but did not see anything to cause it. Later that nite after the shower, thumb still bothering me, looked closer under light and found 2 punctures about a small staple apart. Swelling went down after a week and only damage was dead skin like a big hangnail and cuticle under corner of nail separated from nail. Dry bite thru glove I am guessing. Probably a copperhead or ground rattler, pretty small from looks of fang spacing Summer half over. 50 years of outdoor camping and this is the first snake I remember in a campsite and it hit me on the leg.

That's a plus, jets steer like a rock at slow speeds. Slight angles work best.

I want a Grayling for my lifer fish. Never did get close to one in Alaska.

I have caught many as a kid, the flesh is slightly mushier than catfish but good eating. Skin them and fry them whole like fiddlers.

I just stretch mine thru from the front seat to the back, works pretty good. A little cramped for the passenger side guy. 5 1/2' beds suck and will ruin rods. Anything else in the bed is sure to slide and break one. My Tacoma is like that, my buddy has a Frontier that has same problem. I use the rod locker on the boat or carry inside cab. In my Sequoia, I have 2 clothes rods hanging off hooks that I store rods on when traveling. I can get a fly rod rigged into it.

There were many nights where I did not hear any. Turkey season, you would have them singing in the mornings. But they are coming back, I hear a few now at the farm, none at the other place an hour east. West nile hit them and crows the worst when it came thru.

Starlings make great soft hackle, but you need to kill the mites off of them first. I read the other day that their was a decline in them finally. I really don't notice as many around here anymore.

I would be wound up even tighter with all of that crap in the boat and nowhere to land a fish with out getting tangled up. My river boat is pretty clean around the edges so I don't snag anything when reeling in one. That boat would have a hard time getting on plane and would catch the wind like a sail with all of those flat tv screens popping up out of it.

I just had an email for the new Garmin 16" color TV screen for a boat. This pic really caught my eye. So much crap in his boat, he has to fish from the driver seat and the only open space to land one is off to the side of the cockpit. But he looks happy....

Were they pollinated by ticks and guarded by copperheads? My blackberry's always were in the fields.