jdmidwest

Any time before gigging season until shortly after it.......

Depending on the time of year. Spring, maple parachutes clog pretty bad. Summer, all the crap stirred up when they break up the moss beds on the weekend Late summer, rocks due to low water. Fall, leaves. But I run a 25 hp vacuum cleaner. Does not take much to stir up the flow on the vortex of that one. Bigger engines spit stuff out that my jet chokes on. That little 20 jet on my Covid Jon will crap out on muddy water it seems. I do have one of those that Wrench suggests coming from Ebay. I have a prop boat also. Just keep it in the back pocket on all of my trips if it works. Always on the search of the perfect multitool.

When I first started seeing the posts, I checked with my fishing buddy while fishing near Pickwick catching some nice bass and sauger. He was going to be in Florida with another of the TN fishing group. Checked with the wife, only weekend off for her that weekend and knew fishing was out for me. Made some calls, coworker has condo on Point Royale, and one of my good traveling couples worked a weekend off. Weather looked ok, we decided to launch. Started the day around 3 am on Friday, spent about 45 minutes at the farm, and passed over my homewaters of St Francois, Black, Current, and the skinny little upper part of the 11 Point. Side trip to see the side show at a Bucees around 10:30 then landed at Bass Pro. Met up with other couple and killed the afternoon there eating and shopping around. Left there around 4:30 and found the condo after dark. Dumped gear and heading down to the riverfront. Eat at Big Whiskeys and enjoyed the landing for a while. Back to the condo for catching up and some serious UNO cards. Breakfast Saturday at the condo, parted ways and I spent 2 hours visiting with the group at the river. Then off to my bunch. Grouped up and headed over to the College to tour the Ralph Foster Museum till it closed which was quite a collection. Watched the swans on the lake on campus. Drove back to the overlook up the road and spent some time there. Hit the State Park and Cooper Landing just as the light was fading. Picked up some takeout at Danna's and played serious dominos till bed time. Breakfast again at the condo, launched out for home. Took the back way across to Ava and up to 60 at Mansfield, taking our time back. Back to the farm till dark then over to unload around 7 pm. Great weekend and I never even wet a hook. But the time with family and friends, new and old, was priceless. Best of all, I got to see the auto of the group that used to wave goodnite to me when I was a kid. Back when TV was simple and black and white.

Might lose a leg with a weed burner trying to get the camera to focus....

When we first started running in TN, several came up concerned about us knocking the lower unit off of the motor. Of course, they do have Reelfoot which is a stump forest. Now, we see other jets all of the time.

If it had been closer to the leaf pile, it would have cleaned them up too.

That was what I was thinking, only blacker and melted... Probably choked and gagged on the leaves, needs more fiber like limbs..

This one has all of the tools to work on the foot. From Ernies in Ellington or Webb Creek Boat ramp area depending on which way you come from. Jet Doctor tool. $35 I keep a tool box on the boat and the prybar.

He painted the picture, its a burnt looking thing that used to chop leaves....

Too much thinking there. Harbor Freight $14. Spares if you send one too the bottom. Maybe a pool noodle handle to float from the dollar store...

River is up some, should not be an issue. Riverton down, or 142 down to Myrtle would be good also. Springs and deep water. Sloughs and dead water. Should be a smallie or two. Maybe a walleye or pickerel.

What part are you running on?

I had a great time for the short time I had. Nice to put names to faces. I could have spent the whole trip visiting, but I had family and friends waiting on me. Did not get to sample all of the feast. When you have a piece of arm for a tongue, its hard to talk and eat. So I decided to talk instead and visit. Just wish I had more time, maybe next year. Enjoy the honey, I usually take 5-10 gallons each season and distribute among friends and family. Next year, I will make more pints so it will go farther. Did not know a head count for sure, so I brought a dozen. Thanks Phil for bringing us all together so we can share this little journey of ours together.

Have not been on Mingo and Stanley creek in 20 years. Duck creek main pool has been grown over with pepper grass for 10 years in the summer making boating an issue. The upper end where I used to catch bass is gone to Lilly pads. Most of the cypress are down now that I used to fish around. They stopped any vegetation control on the lake a long time ago. It was good when they sprayed lanes and had some open water. The spillway areas are pretty much the same.

Wow, you live in fishing and hunting heaven and need a strip pit farm too..... Try dealing with only Clearwater Lake and Wappappello for lake fisheries and many declining streams nearby that are too small and fragile to support the herds that have descended on them after the Covid outdoor revolution. But if you are bored with what you have, I need another step child...

Radiation taking its toll.

I am bringing mine. Looks like all is clear in my flight plan. It is a couples weekend for me and my wife and a pair of friends. We are going to be at a condo up the road. No fishing this trip, but I will be in to visit on Saturday.

What more would you want? Yellow perch maybe.

Max cold 5 day for me

Amazing how we flipped this one to eel talk.....

I used to work in St Louis and on many occasions, if it was near the peak traffic time when my job was done, I would stop at the Zoo or Grant's Farm. Take the free parking and spend a little time in the afternoon relaxing. Grant's Farm had a 2 free beer thing and a tram ride thru the park. Crowds were light during the week days.

How many eels have you had on the fly rod? I shocked one up on a Mississippi River Tributary during a shocking run for my cousins Master Thesis in College. Never had one on hook and line.

Made some fizz.

Bottle Mountain Dew and 3 Musketeer here. Egg sandwiches or fish cakes for lunch on lake.

In 73, I was 10 and cranking on my cheap a ss old great uncles 9hp Johnson in the Jon boat hoping I was not going to paddle back to the old Greenville boat ramp. Nothing seemed to be going any faster than us. And they sure weren't towing us back. I was peeling turf back on the edges of old 67 hwy that was abandoned for nightcrawlers to catch drum and white bass. No glory there, just good times and good fishing. Not forgotten. You were just spoiled on them big name lakes.