jdmidwest

Trees are blooming. Oak leaves are budding. May Apples and a few Trillium and Hornwort today are up. Snakes are crawling and box turtles all over the road. I hit some spots Friday and this afternoon but came up with nothing. I did find a place where a lone deer had been working over one of my patches. I fear it may have developed a taste for the morel, but no sign of them. Came home and had a nice big tick crawling up my arm. I hope this rain gets them to popping.

It goes to the James Foundation, the curators of the park. They hit you up at the gate as you go in.

We have had it pretty lucky around here. Most of our streams are really not crowded with fishermen to develop the need for combat fishing. Outside of trout parks and tailwaters, most of the time you can get out and away from the crowds. Up north where the streams are small and fishing seasons have an opening day and a limited run, I think combat fishing is pretty prevalent. Instead of a relaxing sport, it becomes a competition. Competition breeds agression, agression cuts off the supply of smarts to the brain, and retardation kicks in.

Who is to say that it wasn't his honey hole too! Not much you can do. Trying to explain fishing ethics to someone like that would probably just lead to a little streamside amusement. The whole world is just getting rude and impatient. With all of the cell phones and email, people just seem to walk around on autopilot. They don't really seem to care about the other person anymore.

There used to be one down at place called Broussard's on the riverfront in Cape. But I think they run out of alligator one nite and fried him up.

Mo just past laws that curtail the use of drones, so we don't have to worry about it. But there has been an Apache Copter circling around for the last 2 days. Don't know what that is about. No airshow scheduled.

How about cutting out all of their breaks and vacations till they solve the country's problem and pass a budget? That would be a real show of faith and leadership. All the rest is just political show.

I really don't pay attention to the label as much as the looks of the cut of meat. But the old cuts did suggest where on the animal the meat portion came from. And I can remember pork chops were pork chops 50 years ago, not much has changed except mine used to come out of white freezer paper with a wax pen label. I even remember what the pig looked like as it was growing up. It took me a long time to get used to eating store bought meat. When we butchered the meat was so much better. We smoked our hams and bacon. As a kid, about the only meat we bought was a pound of hamburger every now and then when mom was in a hurry and could not thaw any out fast enough.

I don't know about the rest of you, but the same 5 guys have been fishing that hole since he first posted a few days back. And I have not seen them catch any.

Note the spelling of the word gesture in my original post! Their sign of faith was a joke. Most will steal more than 5% back from the taxpayers.

Yes, it was a good jester. I think all of them should give more than 5% since they did not do anything to solve the problem. I give them my 5% also, that is what I figure my portion of tax increases will be this year.

Just in time for grilling season, some marketing group has decided to change most of the cuts of pork and beef to something totally new. Seems like people are confused with the cuts of meat that have been called what they are for a long time. So to make it easier for those that do not know what the cuts of meat are, lets change the name! I fail to see the logic of it, but like most everything else lately, lets change it. Will that not confuse the majority of the people that know what they are buying? Interesting article. Thank God, chicken tits will still be chicken tits. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/04/us-usa-meat-names-idUSBRE93312620130404?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews

A park ranger watching is just doing his job. The whole www watching is weird. There will probably be a day where we will all have to wear cameras so everyone can watch us. GoPros for everyone.

It is a lake of many records. New State Record Bowfin this week. http://mdc.mo.gov/newsroom/puxico-man-sets-new-state-record-bowfin

I was thinking about my laptop bag and knocking off some fishing while on the job.

8 footer would be just for paddling around, not much for fishing out of. Probably only weight rated for a smaller person also. I use 12' and have found them to be about the smallest for fishing stability. I have looked at a 10 footer just for paddling and floating. As far as resistance goes, it is the hull style that make the real difference in paddling. An 8' yak may be pretty wide in the middle and track worse when paddling. Longer boats have more resistance when you stroke from one side to the other and tend to run straighter.

Dances Eel was a killer bait for nice bass in the lily pads at Duck Creek. I bought it on clearance as a joke and tied it on for fun one day. I had some fun till I broke it off and could not find another.

Electric fence

That lake produced some nice ones back in the day after they dammed it up. Then it tapered out and was over run with dinks. Would be nice if it was for real. It needs a good shot in the arm.

Opened up the nucs today after the rain passed and the sun warmed things up. Wow, there are alot of bees in those little boxes. More in each of the little packages than was ever in the first hive. I spent the rest of the day transfering them to the larger hives and working with them. It was pretty warm today and they were flying great. If the weather keeps up and does not turn dry, I will have some honey this year.

I have been catching crap about that all winter. I am building a bee house this summer.

But I painted the 2x4's. If it were permanent, I could pour some concrete. But the blocks are good heavy anchors. I have some pretty red ratchet straps to anchor them down in the wind. The houses are nothing really special, just pretty wood. I have a good deal on cedar, it is cheaper than the pine and paint. The gable roof and stands are pieced together with some odds and ends. Just wait and see what comes next. I have some real boards cut for some seriously nice stuff.

Came home Thurs to check on the bees around lunch time and heard some barking coming from the bushes. The neighbors got a worthless little pound dog for Christmas, a weiner dog. They were supposed to keep it on a leash, but their words hardly ever mean what their actions actually do. My words, a warning that there may be traps in my yard, was a fact. I sit him up by the trees so they could see it when they come home. Of course, it was the weiner dogs fault it was loose, and they hoped it learned a lesson. About 30 minutes later it was back by the back door barking at my other halfs ankles. Its too stupid to learn a lesson.

After a 4 month wait, I picked them up today. 2 five frame cardboard boxes full of bees with an established laying queen for $130 a box. Nice weather today, cool, cloudy, fog and rain. Not a good day for bees. I opened up the nuc and let them fly some, not many wanted out. But some came out, did the little circle orientation flight and checked out the neighborhood. And they were coming back in so the whole thing worked. They seem to be friendly bees, they liked to sit on my finger and warm up. Several got chilled on their test flights and I helped them warm up. Tomorrow, temps are supposed to be in the 60's and sunny, I will install them into the new hives. I will post some pics of that.

It has been long winter and several boards have met their match to my saws, routers, and drill. I found a source for bandsawn red cedar cut to 3/4" by 10" for a buck a board foot. I have a cabinet shop supplying me oak and maple scrap for frames. About the only thing I have not found a way to make is the foundation itself. I had to break down and buy it. At present I have components for about 200 frames of various sizes and styles. 3 completed 5 frame hives for swarms. 2 completed cedar hives, one 8 frame with a gable roof and the 10 frame with a plastic roof. Hive stands and multiple spare boxes that just need to be screwed together and finished out with either spar urethane or bargain exterior latex. Here is some of the finished product