MOFishwater

I just retweeted to the NAFC that the fish are biting, using the GPS coordinates that you left embedded in your photo. Game over bruh.

Grabbed one of the smaller WPloppers and did some serious damage to the largemouth on our farm pond. Going to grab a bigger one next time I make an order, killer lures. Sorry you lost it!

dang, that's crazy. Not sure about burning all the equipment though, frames are prob worthless but the deeps could be frozen to kill off beetles and resued!? I know that's the standard for foulbrood and nosema. Do you put any buffer between hive stand and soil? Doesnt look like it from the pictures. A simple fix we've taken is to put a few layers of roofing shingles under the hives to keep weeds down and block the soil (where the beetles come from). Have you tried permethrin or diamataceous earth around hive location? Screened bottom boards on your hives would be a very easy step and is seemingly the standard from what i can tell these days. I've had a few beetle issues but always seem to 'outrun' them with keeping the hives strong, havent ever deployed any traps. I run around 10 hives usually, only lost my first couple hives last year after 8 years of beekeeping, which is well above the norm of 30% loss annually from most studies. I did lose one a couple weeks ago that I had reduced to a single deep. I think they got active in the warm spurt right before the ice storm hit. They were semi-clustered up but dead, frozen in time, I think they just got too cold. I let my strong hives roll longer than most suggest, but i love goldenrod honey and so do my honey buyers so i think the gamble is usually worth it. We get massive goldenrod blooms around our property and it's usually enough to get most of the top deep lined wall to wall with capped stores. The one thing I do is supplement with heavy 2:1 until they refuse to take it (usually when temps dip consistently in the fall). After that I add hard candy and keep an eye on that until spring when syrup gets put back on. Feed feed feed! It's expensive after a while but it's not as expensive as buying another nuc or knocking back the strongest hives by splitting them and hampering honey production for the season. There's no harm in giving them too much food but with the crazy weather changes and rollercoaster temps the bees are much more active than years ago when they were barely doing anything all winter long. Starvation is a real problem and this year will be no different. I've been keeping a close eye on activity in the hives in the backyard to have an idea what's happening in the big bee yard at the farm. They've been quite active, even this week they're really coming and going. With the daylight increasing every day the queen will be ramping up egg laying, make sure they have more than they can eat!

Nice job, those are dandy!

I was jogging at Route 66 last week and nearly stepped on one sunning on the rock path. Thought it was just another stick until the last second, must've jumped 6ft in the air when I realized it mid-stride. That time of year...

You're right Smallie! Kind of embarrassed to admit I've been living here almost 4 years and I'm literally 2mins from access and only floated this part 2x. Got my eyes out for a kayak so I can go whenever I want to, waiting for a partner makes for many missed chances. I love living right here and seeing eagles in the backyard, deer and turkeys, etc. I'll never make it back into the city, been there and done that. Working there all day is enough for me. Lived in s. city for 7 years and now I just want to move farther out!

Went out with a neighbor on Saturday on a lower stretch in a canoe. Didnt see anyone else which amazed me, it was beautiful out. We paddled up about 10 mins and just let slow current move us. Buddy hooked into a nice gar on 2nd cast that dragged us around for a while and won a free crankbait after a couple unsuccessful attempts to regain the lure. Few casts later we caught a couple big shad. Another couple casts later I caught a decent spot that was FAT and feeding well. Lost a decent largemouth on a spook. We've have made two quick trips and caught 6 diff species (nice walleye other trip). Saw some bald eagles and a kingfisher entertained us a bit. Not bad for about an hour on the water just goofing around, pretty cool to get surprised every time you hook into something.

While I was on my afternoon run I saw a nice herd of deer walking across the river just below the old bridge by 44 last time the river was low in that spot. def gets shallow!

This. I just had my 3rd eye surgery in my right eye from a texas rigged worm that wrecked my right eye in April 2001. Lucky to be able to even see at this point but it's been a miserable run. Graduated the previous year and was up friday afternoon to hang out with some friends and my girlfriend (now wife). Headed to buddy's house to hit his pond while my lady finished up her 3pm class. Looked at my watch and it was 3:50 and I was late and knew I had to hurry or lady would be upset;) "one more cast" into a big brush pile resulted in a snag...in a hurry I did what I have done 10000x and started pulling to snap my line and get on the road. Kept pulling and pulling and finally turned around to look back>ZING. Woke up laying halfway in the pond screaming in agony and had blood pouring out of my eye, knocked me flat out with the impact. Caught the bullet weight directly in my eye, luckily the hook snagged in my eyebrow just above my lid but the bullet weight did it's bullet-job and destroyed me. Lots more gory details but detatched retina/rebuilt drainage duct/scleral buckle to rebuild eye got me started...then I had a cataract removed 2 years ago (mid-30s) and 2nd cataract surgery 2 months ago. Horrible. Painful. Expensive. Ruined my hunting in many areas as it's my dominant/shooting eye that got drilled. So stupid and so avoidable. ALWAYS wear eye protection when you are fishing. If you have to, just cut your line and buy a new lure. Ain't worth it. Ugh.

Made a few casts yesterday, met a couple guys loading up their boat. Said they had been up and down and had no luck, water was coming up quick. I fished about an hour until rain returned, no luck and really nothing happening in terms of fish jumping/swirling, etc. Same spot was under about 10ft of water this morning. Oh well...

I was just going to say the same thing. Planning on putting some seeds in the ground this weekend, should pretty much guarantee a drought thru about November, lol.

I thought I would take a moment to let folks know there will be a town hall style "informational" meeting @ the Timbers of Eureka community center on the evening Thursday June 12. The Winter Brothers Material company is once again trying to get the city to rezone the bottoms next to Route 66 State Park and the boat launch to allow gravel and sand mining on 300+acres of pristine bottom ground. I saw a sign in the neighborhood and looked at the local Patch news website and saw some info on it. We all know the destruction mining has on the ecological stability of an area, especially in an area RIGHT next to the river. Problems are not a possibility, they WILL happen, it's just a matter of how soon and how bad. My family uses the river and the boat launch all the time, i cannot fathom how bad of an impact this could have on the river quality. This is the area right next to the bridge in Eureka. There's TONS of wildlife in the area; we watch eagles, deer, turkeys, hawks in the field. We fish and swim and wade in the waters right there. If anyone has any ideas how to spread the word and possibly get some folks to attend the meeting, please speak up. Is there a stream coalition or group we could inform? Sounds like a lot of people are unaware this is happening. They keep attempting to rezone it and it's been shot down a few other times. We need to make this happen again, they have plenty of other land to destroy other than our riverside.

Another nice round of Ross reels and combos today if anyone is in the market. http://www.theclymb.com/brand-event/3907/Ross-Reels got my eye on the 8wt for some bassin'. Looks like a decent setup for my itchy wallet finger.

Clearance sale, $9 float tubes!!!! http://www.theclymb.com/brand-event/2451/Epic-Fishing

Some Ross reels and rods up. http://www.theclymb.com/brand-event/2237/Ross

good luck, keep us updated. what a scumbag.

I hear you Brian. Worst part for me has been buying shoes, I've had to send 3 or 4 pairs back (specifically Patagonia, they seem to run small). BUT, I've outfitted my whole family with new sleeping bags and tents, picked up some steals on some Mtn Hardware coats, new dry bags, etc. I dont think I'll ever have to buy a new knife either, got my machete and saw as well for clearing out shooting lanes for archery season. Folks like people who frequent this place will know a good deal when it pops up, you just need to get on it ASAP. Nothign worse than trying to check out on a great priced item and getting the "out of stock" note. It can be very hit and miss on what's available, but there are some gems. I saw there's supposed to be an Arcteryx sale this week but it's not happened yet. Ready to spring into action on that, daddy needs (Well, not really, but wants) another new windstopper coat

The Clymb is having a sale on some nice Reddington rods, some waders, shirts, hats, etc. Its a site with different outdoor brands listed every day, sales only run for a few days at a time and they're gone. Thought some of you fisherman might be interested in the Reddington deals, some good prices on the rods. Sales only run for a few days, looks like there's just under 2 days left on this one. The Clymb is invite only, link: http://www.theclymb....DanielSchneider About The Clymb For those who find their passion in the outdoors, The Clymb inspires human-powered adventure by delivering member-exclusive 72-hour sales on premium brands and experiences, hand-picked by our team of fellow enthusiasts and experts. Membership is free, allowing users to shape the community by inviting like-minded friends. The company is based in Portland, Ore., and was founded in 2009 by a seasoned team of outdoor and sport industry veterans.

good luck, let us know how your experience goes. always wanted to give it a try and feel i could hold my own (like most folks I'm sure) but i doubt I'll ever take the plunge. Catch some hogs!

i know the Breckenridge Outfitters folks, solid crew and great people. My dad used em every summer when he heads out for a visit. They'll treat you right and get you on some fish. Cheers!

I bought one of these a few years back at Bass Pro, its basically a jitterbug with a cicada pattern. Been itching to bust it out, can't wait! Not the exact same one, but you get the idea. bring it.

You might find better luck in the Bull Shoals forums Upper: http://ozarkanglers.com/forums/index.php?showforum=11 Lower: http://ozarkanglers.com/forums/index.php?showforum=185 Hope you can find a partner, cheers!

Good to hear y'all are finding them. I figured they'd be up this weekend, but me and pops searched Fri/Sat/Sun all around my farm in the usual honeyholes and found not a one! Still fried up some crappie and the first asparagus of the year, so it wasnt a total loss.

LOL, my wife will be glad to hear that. She's always saying "Why do you need so many pictures of all these fish?" Those being the exception since they are special achievements to me, but I have a LOT of standard fish pics. Just get fired up when I catch a good fish I guess. I'm always amazed at how much smaller they look in pictures when revisiting them.

Busch Wildlife has musky stocking in Lake 35, FYI:) One of my favorites was my first tiger musky, caught up in N. IL at my wife's grandmother's house. Murdered a big swimbait and jumped like a tarpon a few times when I set the hook, not very big but very strong. Had been trying to catch one for a few years...funny thing was I caught 2 that weekend and the next month we came back for another visit and I caught 2 more in the same afternoon (#3 was 27" and the biggest of all of them, hit a Zoom fluke after I saw a big swirl as one made a dash in on a school of bluegill). Haven't caught a ton of smallmouth, but I hooked a 3lb even on Lost Land Lake in Hayward, WI a few years back. We were at the cabin BBQ some burgers, I was sipping on a beer and just mindlessly casting off the dock for about 20 mins when the rod nearly ripped out of my hand. Thought I'd hooked into one of the big muskies that people flock to that lake to catch. And my personal best largemouth, 7.0 even on our lake out near Hermann. I know there's a much bigger one in there, broke me off after my dad's old reel locked up when it was peeling off drag She came up and jumped and snapped the line while I held on for dear life...I will catch her eventually!!!