jdmidwest

Sweet. I would pucker up everytime I saw a rock that may skuff it up.

I have toads digging holes in the garden and the yard this year. They have been taking advantage of the mole runs in the yard. The neighbors mosquito pond also is a breeding ground for toads. The have been worse than grasshoppers the past few years. More like a locust plague. Hard to put your foot down without taking out a few. But they have did a number on the ants that used to bother the bees.

I miss the little fellers. But, with the dearth going on this time of year and 7 bee hives setting about 50 feet from the house, you don't put out sugar water. There would be a wad of bees in no time.

Check the hatches for the illusive skunk first. Does it smell skunky?

It may have something to do with the way your browser caches the webpages also. Try a refresh if you are seeing stuff like that. Or empty your cached info when you close your browser to start fresh the next time you fire it up..

Traps and pellet guns work better and are more sporting.

You yanked all the maters? Mine look like crap but they still have alot of tomatoes to go. I yanked my green beans a month ago because they quit blooming, I planted new ones twice and the bunnies have made stems out of them both time. I built another box about the same time and planted fall lettuce and radishes, but the heat is keeping them down. Fall snap peas are starting up the trellis now at about 18" planted the same time. Squash are starting to bloom again and the okra is going good. Cucumbers are still blooming also. I am going to finish out the garden this fall with raised beds for next spring. No more tilling clay dirt.

Check out Silver Mines also. Baily Joes in Arcadia has some good food if you need a place to eat.

So what happened here? 2 trains on the same track hit head on. I have not seen any more as to why they were on the opposite track heading towards each other. Seems like there may be some safeguards missing somewhere. http://www.aol.com/article/2014/08/17/2-dead-2-hurt-in-arkansas-freight-train-collision/20948143/

Lots of bunnies this year. I have been letting them ride because they did not bother the garden this year. Until I tried to plant fall beans. 2 plantings got up and put on a few leaves, then overnight they were reduced to stubble. This dearth that has been going on since mid July has brought them into the garden. No fall beans. As far as the turtles, a few years ago when I was tilling the garden, I plowed up a nest of eggs. I figured from the size and shape, they were probably box turtles. All were pretty well ruined when I found them. Nice and round, leatherly. Freshly laid as there was not any embryo.

Wait till the Indian gets wind and poops on it.

I see a few in the strawberry patches from time to time. I have even seen them eat a few cucumbers. For some reason, I did not see any this year. There has been one hanging around for several years with a scar on his shell like he was hit by a mower. It has not been seen this year.

Dang fur would have been too thin to make a cap this time of year. Did you let him wonder off a little before you capped him? I know the release pic was just for the humane society.

Wonderful.

Something you don't normally catch on a rooster tail.

The braided leaders have a little more give that tends to protect the tippet better than standard tapered leaders. I have used the Orvis braided leaders for year with good success. The only breakoffs I have are the ones I get in a hurry on and let it happen or the tippet is knicked by a rock. Furled leaders are the same way. Tapered mono leaders only stretch to the point of what the mono will allow. Others use a bungee system to protect the lighter tippets. One other thing about tippet, make sure it is fresh. Orvis has been dating it for years now and it does go bad and break down. I have seen it get so brittle it will not hold a knot.

I usually use the finer tippets to get the smaller flies tied on and layed out on a cast. I doubt a 2x tippet will go thru the eyes of a size 18 dry hook. I don't switch to the lighter tippets just because the fish are spooky. Here is a chart I picked up a few years ago. Of course, the diameters are probably regular mono line. X Rating Diameter Fly Size 0X .011 2, 1/0 1X .010 4,6,8 2X .009 6, 8, 10 3X .008 10, 12, 14 4X .007 12, 14, 16 5X .006 14, 16, 18 6X .005 16, 18, 20, 22 7X .004 18, 20, 22, 24 8X .003 22, 24, 26, 28 For example take a size 6 hook, divide 6 by 4 and you get one. Add one to that and you get 2. So for a size 6 hook use a 2X leader. Of course the chart says 1X or 2X will work - which is right? Well both are. The formula is a guide to get you close. A lot of people make do with a spool of 2X, 4X and 6X tippet. Check it out, 2X will do hook sizes 6, 8 and 10; 4X will do hook sizes 12, 14 and 16; and 6X does most everything else. Does it matter which tippet you use? Really? Yes it does. You might get a 2X leader through a size 16 fly eye, but you won't get much of a dead drift. The tippet will drag. Adjust your tippet to your fly and catch more fish.

A little late for the strippers on the lake. If I was renting a boat, I would try to fish for stripers. Strippers are not really impressed by the little rental boats.

I tend to scale my tippet to the size of the fly. For the most part, 6x and size 14 to 16 flies are about as small as I go. I have used 7x and 8x on the smaller drys and nymphs that are size 18 or smaller. It kinda depends on the weight of the rod also. I would only use the lighter tippets on a 4 wt with a slower, more traditional taper that will protect the tippet. My lighter tippets are flourocarbon also. They are 8x diameter with 6x strength.

Horses are alot of work. But a good horse is alot of fun. She needs a cowboy hat.

Skunks are nocturnal. About the only time you will see them out in the light is early in the morning or late in the evening. They will come out in the daylight, but not much. They seem to inhabit pastures and open ground, rarely do they live in timber. They sleep in dens under buildings or trees. They will use the dens of other animals like ground hogs.

You need one of these to get that ole coon, a Griz Getter or one of the china knockoffs. Neat little trap that requires a critter with a grabbing motion to trigger it. You can poke your finger in it all you want, but try to curl it and pull it out and you are trapped. Skunks will trigger it too. You can probably find one locally at a place that sells traps. Put some bait in the bottom and stick it into the ground. Anchor it with a rebar stake or tie it off to something solid. Your fish pellet mixture will work well in the bottom of the trap. http://www.northerntrapping.com/cgi/search.cgi?terms=Traps::Lil_Grizz_&category=Traps+:+Lil_Grizz_

I use a pair of Crocs that were designed for the river. They have a cinch top neoprene top that holds them on. Gravel runs out of the holes and they have good traction. Down side to them, they were discontinued and they don't make them any more. They make a new style that is designed much like the Tiva's but have a Croc sole.

Them stinky things were running rampant out at Montauk this weekend. Camped in Loop 1 at the upper end and saw plenty. They must have been attracted to the dog in the tent across the way about 2 in the morning, the feller in the tent had a tirets fit about then and came unglued. Did not smell it though. Smelled a few around the campfire. Saw the 2 lovers. Another neighbor said he saw one dash under his van. They need to trap some out again there. It is my observation, a good rain brings them out in warm weather in force. They like to dig, I guess the ground is softer.

Did you ever get that skunk yet? I had a pair mating in a fire pit this weekend at Montauk before I went to bed. I broke them up and shooed them off. But they came back later and tried to get under the rain fly.