jdmidwest

At least they left. Some would have shoulder up next to you when they see you catching fish, cast their line over yours, and tangle you up.

Picked our first Strawberries today, just a handful. Many quarts to come soon.

I have spent alot of time in the area over the years. Many times involved rain events that kept me off the river parts of the day to most of the trip. It is a place that you can get out and explore. Drive down river and see Devils Well sometime. Fish the river below the park. Run over and hit the Little Piney or Lane Spring. Take a float on the Current or Piney. Lots of Geocaches in the area if you like that. Montauk makes a good base camp, it is a nice campground for the most part. Lots of things to do there. Trout fishing is not bad either.

Nice color and grain to it. It would have made a few nice boards if left at length. Was the tree dead or green when you cut it down?

I was just reading an article about the warthogs this morning, they have been around for 25 years. Parts and service contract just got extended on them til 2028. They were about to retire them, but some congressmen saved them.

It is a nice place if you get to experience it without the weekend crowds. Drive over to Licking and eat at Olig's BBQ if you like that kind of thing one night. There are many antiques from Licking to Houston along the main road. Several in Salem also. Unless you want to fish and camp all of the time.

About the only time I am not flyfishing is when I am in a boat of some sort. And I will flyfish out of a boat. When walking the bank or wading, I prefer to flyfish most of the time. My flyfishing started early in life about 30 years ago when I was given a fly rod by an uncle. Early years were spent with poppers and Wally world flies, just muddling around. Then I got serious, started tying my own flies and buying more rods and equipment. Now I have many thousands of dollars invested, rods that cost more than all of my spin rods put together, and just lean toward using them when I go fishing. I have yet to try a ned rig on the fly rod, but I bet it will catch a fish.....

You should be fine on Wednesday, the park usually only maxes out on weekends. The reservables are almost always booked months in advance.

They are a fine target for thieves. Maybe they will build in a security system into the next generation. I have a friend with a retail shop that just started carrying them. I asked about one for my testing use at wholesale. Not much markup in them. Even at cost, they are way to rich for my blood. The key to a good cooler is a tight fitting, insulated lid. Most coolers fail at that point.

You could spray the grass with roundup, then use a garden tiller to make rows to plant stuff in after the grass dies out. Or look for a local rental place, you may find a small tractor with a plow and a disk you could rent for a day reasonable. Or ask a local farmer to plow a spot for you.

I am sure they will, might have a hard time getting their feet down their neck though. One that big would be catching mice, lizards, birds, or young rabbits. I caught mine young, and let it go when it got to about 2 feet. That's alot of cats. They breed pretty fast too. They probably go after the moles too if they are that thick.

Dark meat and wings make a mean turkey salad sandwich. I tossed my dark meat and wings in the crockpot for a while, deboned, chopped it up. A few boiled eggs, relish, spicy mustard, and some good heavy mayonaise served on toast. Fried breast and morels make a tasty spring meal.

He was a fun guy on here. I did notice he had not been active on here for a while. Prayers for his family.

I use a Max Cold from Igloo. It will hold a bag of ice for at least 4 days. It has a tight insulated lid, a handle to pull it around, and wheels to roll on. I never worry about broken hinges or a broken drain plug, it has neither. The friction fit lid works great, don't have to worry about it blowing off when the boat is in tow. I can sit on it and drink a frosty cold beverage. Never tried to stand on it. I have cooked a few meals on top of it with the propane one burner. I would surely buy another if this one fails. But it takes a licking and keeps on ticking. $25 bucks. The money I save will buy a nice fly rod, trolling motor, or more beer than I will drink in a summer. You have to remember, the Yeti is a fictional creature, a myth. An Igloo is what eskimo's use to insulate them from the outside temps.

Around here, we have "Farmer's Markets". It does not cost anything to join, and you can walk thru, pick and choose what you want. You are not restricted to what someone wants to send you. Seems to work great. Free market system at its best.

I will second that motion. Why fk with perfection. Gold and black is better though.

Anything that will bite a hook can be caught with a fly rod. It has its own special techniques of presentation that can be taylored to many species. I remember years ago, there was a flyfisher from the Ozarks fishing bass tourneys with one. They are alot of fun with panfish, crappie, bluegill, goggle eye. Carp will give you a run. Catfish love purple streamers. A creek chub will give you a run when times are tuff. Fly rods were around before spin casting and bait casting. It was the original method of catching fish.

Your kingsnake is looking for small mammals or birds. While they are known to eat other snakes, they love mice. I kept a prairie kingsnake in the dorm room while in college and fed him pinkie mice. How large is it? Young black rat snakes look almost the same when young, they darken with age and turn black. If I remember right, you have to look at the pattern on the belly scales to determine which is which. Adult black rat snakes have a pattern on their back if you look close enough. Feral cats carry all kinds of disease, and are hell on baby rabbits, birds, and other critters in your yard that are more fun to watch. I am blessed with 2 nesting pairs of doves, several robin nests, bluejay, and even a cardinal in the pines by the swing. My trees I planted 16 years ago are making nice nesting sites. Probably some hummingbirds too, nests are too small to find in the foliage.

Smallies actually thrive on cooler, nutrient rich waters. The upper Black is almost sterile and crystal clear. Not really optimum habitat. Some of my best smallmouth come from waters that I could only see 3 to 4 feet in the green water.

You actually saw a 4lb smallie removed from the upper Black. That is a pretty big fish for that stream. What exactly illegal was he doing, it certainly was big enough to keep. There is no law that states he has to kill it on the stream. Or was it simply the fact he was a local that made you assume he was breaking the law? The rest I can see why you reported. But just to get riled because a local kept a big fish in a stream where you can keep one is not breaking a law.

Look for a glow in the dark worm and I bet you could not keep them off of it.

Ness, when I read the title, I thought you may have defected from the Union and joined the Confederate State of America....

I never really cared much about the whole watershed. The upper parts were too clear. Clearwater Lake has had many problems. I always like floating below the lake down towards Poplar Bluff. The best fishing I have seen on the river has been the lower parts from Mill Spring to Sportsman's. The upper river is a nice float, but fishing is better below.

I smell a scam. But if you see it on the net, it must be real....

Nice. Bring me back a platypus egg.