jdmidwest

Was sitting around bored tonight and was surfing the net, it is that lull between deer season and duck season. My last muzzleloader deer hunt ended Sunday and I can't find the time to duck hunt till Wed. or Thur. Came across this article on Field and Stream and thought I would run it up on here. As a youth, I spent a lot of time on Lake Wappappello and the St. Francois River system. One of the fish we loved to catch and eat was the freshwater Drum. One spring, my uncle and I caught enough to fill several jars with the rocks out of their skulls. The little growths in their heads with the L's engraved on them like Lady Luck. We always made a habit of cracking skulls and extracting the rocks. Pretty good eating, cut off the red meat and keep them fresh. At the same time we would catch striped bass also, so it was always a good fish fry. Any one else on here enjoy the sport of fishing for freshwater Drum? Field and Stream, Freshwater Drum

It looks like they have all 3 species. Largemouth, smallies, and spotted. Smallmouth hybridize with spotted bass creating a bass called "mean mouth Bass". 3 types of bass in Kalifornia. I agree with others that the bass does not look like any smallie I have caught. But they take on different colors based on water color, temps, bottom structure, or agitation.

I had a friend visit his grandfather this summer and he heard the chirp of a dying fire alarm. He started searching and narrowed it to the bedroom. The grandfather stated he had been after a "cricket" in the bedroom all summer and could not find it. Finally, they found the "cricket", it was a smoke detector mounted behind the head of the bed so it would wake him in the night. Grandfather stated "wish you would have come over sooner, might have saved me a few cans of bug spray in the last few weeks". Carbon Monoxide detectors are something to look for too, usually hard wired, but beep when end of life is reached on the element.

I think there is a museum permit you can get for the protected species mounts. Obviously, you can not harvest one and stuff it. But natural death, roadkill, or poached specimens usually are candidates. But you can not use the feathers or parts for flies, necklaces, etc unless you are a native American Indian and are licensed to do so.

Not getting personal, just passing along info about the the stability of the boats. The attack on Oneshot and his fishing methods and now this attack on Kayser about his stability was kinda personal don't you think? Now if you did take it personal, then you might be starting to see how some would be taking some of your posts lately.

Why is it so hard to picture someone doing something other than rolling over in a canoe or kayak when it hits the water? I do more in my yaks than I ever did in a canoe because of the stability. My sit on top is stable enough to stand on, kneeling is a piece of cake. I shoot ducks, gig frogs, and probably catch more fish each year out of them than most on this forum I would wager. I have taken on standing waves that crash over the bow and still keep going while duck hunting in my loaded sit inside yak. Just because you lack a sense of direction, you really don't need to pick on those that know what they are doing. Some of us have a better sense of stability, both physically and mentally.

Possession of Federal Birds of Prey like hawks, owls, and eagles are prohibited unless you are a native American. Waterfowl has its own set of rules. Furbearers are usually not a big deal and you can pick them without any problems. Picking up road kill is every serious flytyer's obsession. But you really can't pick birds of prey up if they were killed by anything, legally.

I don't think this one has brought up religion or baby killin yet.

A belt for a pair of waders is simply a nylon belt that fits around the waders and closes them tight to your body to prevent the water from rushing in if you dunk. I mentioned a flotation belt which is a nylon belt with an inflatable PFD attached that is activated by a pull rope and a CO2 cartridge to inflate. It only works if you are able to pull the cord and is Coast Guard approved type 3. Most PFD's will have a flotation weight on the label, how many pounds that it will float. Assuming you are only wanting to float and fish, any PFD that will carry your gross weight, body, clothing, waders, etc. will get you out of trouble. Most kayak PFD's are designed for the guys that spend most of the day rolling the yaks and popping back up in whitewater situations in yaks with full skirts to keep water out. It also acts as a layer of protection against bumps and bruises on the rocks. To further muddy the water, full vests are required in higher speed boats to prevent them from coming off if ejected from a bass boat, ski boat, or jet ski at cruising speeds and to keep the head up since there is a higher possibility of getting knocked out when ejected. Here is a link to some of the PFD ratings. Stearns USCG Rating PFD Ratings

You should be able to shape it with sandpaper. It is not that hard, just like sanding down a piece of soft wood. After you get the desired shape, go to a finer grit and finish it all off smooth.

Surely you are talking about a cork grip, if so some sandpaper will customize it to fit. If you are wanting to replace the grip, it will be more involved, the adhesives used to attach the original grip to the rod may be hard to remove. More info is needed.

Yeah!

Nice. We had 100 percent cloud cover here, have to wait 476 years till the next one falls on the winter solstice. What time was that photo? It was all supposed to happen in the wee hours of the morning and I was not duck hunting due to the stiff water everywhere.

You waded, that does not count. You might as well had carried a gig and gigged them. How did you catch one trout, were you on the upper Eleven Point? And you carried 2 rods, why not 3? The regulations state you can fish with 3 rods on most streams. Come on Christmas. Did I state we are working Christmas eve and not getting a day off for Christmas this year? Full day on New Years Eve too.

This is similar to the models I wear in my yak, it is made by Stearns and offers a full range of movement for paddling, fishing, or shooting at ducks. I have a camo and a green one and they are pretty comfortable, it has straps or mesh instead of the web shoulders. In the summer, they are not hot. In the winter, they fit over a pair of waders and a hunting coat. Will they float me if I fall in, I really don't know for sure, never tried them out. Maybe this summer I will dump myself in full hunting gear and make sure I can float. I hunt a deep lake that is over 30', it gets choppy in the best of duck hunting and hard to paddle across safely. I hunt in breathable waders, wear a belt, and don't carry ammo in my coat and the rating on the vest exceeds my weight so I should float. If you wear neoprene, it is buoyant also, so it adds to the flotation. I always wear a PFD in the winter, cold water can shock you and you can not swim. Added clothing and waders just drag you to the bottom. I have an inflatable belt model by Stearns also that I use during the summer in deeper waters by myself. My thought process is, if I get tossed, I can pull the cord and float on it. I have wore it wade fishing by myself in the winter also, I have had some exciting stream crossings in the winter time that almost pulled me down. I really don't wear a PFD during the summer in most rivers when I am with others. My yaks float fully filled with water and unless knocked out cold, I will have flotation nearby, just grab it as I go out. Or I can just stand up. Stearns Fishing PFD

If Global Warming was real, how come we can't buy our Carbon Credits anymore to offset it? Seems like that business went south with the economy. Or was it that most of the world was jarred into reality after the 2008 election and started to realize that the government is not really here to help us? Looks like the poll speaks for itself. The other side is doing a piss poor job of trying to sell their point.......

Tell us where Al, I was busy dealing with the public. We need a good fishing story.

I see what you are saying but the truth is, all of the products I have sold have been the best quality, backed by service and experience. The current product I sell is the industry leader, it is the product spec'd in the bids for all to match. We have a franchise, and the support of a nationwide dealer network, and only sell the brand our franchise allows. Others in my line of work can pick and choose products based on pricing and drop them when a cheaper one comes along. Our buying capacity does allow us alot of freedom to compete with the others but we have never compromised quality to get a sale, it causes too many headaches in the long run. We end up replacing, repairing, re-doing our competitors work all of the time and usually the customer figures it out in the long run, but not always. I have never sold the product where I could walk up and say that it does the same thing as the other guy and it is cheaper than theirs.

Is Phil out of town again?

Thanks, but you called me first. BTW, I am white, don't call me bro.

Having been in sales of some form or another for over 35 years now, it never ceases to amaze me what a customer is thinking at the point of purchase. From my grandfather's little country store to high end Point of Sale Systems and Building Components, the customer mentality really varies. I have only sold the top of the line, the other guys, my competition, had the lesser value products and I have adjusted my sales mode to achieve my goals. At a jobsite yesterday in a meeting with the owners explaining how to prep for my product, there was a ordeal going on behind me with a steel building contractor erecting a building. The first owner stated "have you ever seen such an unorganized mess?". He also asked me if any of them looked like they knew what they were doing. The job trucks were unmarked and no company logos on anything. No safety gear, hard hats, or fall protection. No organization or leader ship. One crew on one side of the building was working against the other crew on the other side of the building. I went on about my business and near the end, the second owner mentioned my quote was a slight amount higher than my competitor. I thought this strange as myself, the owners of my business, and a few employees of my business patronize his business without questioning his prices. The competitor does not shop there and has no employees. He even mention taking some of the bill out in trade with the owner of my business, but still complained about the price. It was like the small amount was going to be a deal breaker. I told him that the pricing I gave him in August was for more product than actually measurements so the final quote would be less than the difference with better quality. At that time more commotion over my shoulder drew the owners attention. They started in on questions again about what I thought about the steel building. One asked me if I had ever saw any use cable for structural bracing on steel building, I stated no, most use steel rods. They concurred, stating that all of their other buildings used steel rod bracing and most were 30 years old or more and still standing. It was at that point I had to ask "did you put the building out for bid?" They both stated yes, this company was by and far the lowest bidder.... I chuckled and both just looked at me, but neither caught the message I was trying to get across. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!

I only gig frogs, not fish.

I figured some would not be able to comprehend the post. Looks like all missed the original Post, NO DEBATES PLEASE.

A game fish is a fish that is pursued as sport by a sporting method. Whether the MDC classifies it as a Game Fish is a mute point. To Oneshot and others, carp, suckers, and buffalo are fair game fishing whether by gigging, snagging, or hook and line. Nobody in the sporting society should condemn a legal method or a legal fish or there could be repercussions from the anti-sporting groups that would try to take away all of our sporting rights. Just because you don't gig or snag, there should be no condemnation of a sporting method as long as it is done legally. Just because you don't choose to try a particular sporting method, don't condemn others for doing it.

From the looks of some of these posts, Natural Selection should have eliminated some of the population on this board. They would have drowned looking up in the rain during a storm..... Global warming will only last till the next Ice Age, then we will have to do some research to change that also.