Fish Ogre

Gavin, In the past, I have always done my taxes myself. But this year I am considering seeing a professional. What can I expect the services of a CPA to cost me in preparing my tax return this year and advising my on future possible deductions? I have a day job with a standard W-2. The last several years I have not had enough deductions to file long form and have just filed with the standard deduction. I started doing some work on the side last year and received a 1099. I have a home office deduction, some mileage, a cell phone bill and a few misc computer/office supply expenses. Thanks

Thanks for the help guys. My bags are packed and I have all of your suggestions covered. We leave Monday night. Wish me luck.

The only spoons that I own are small daredevils. I assume that you guys are referring to the heavy slab type spoons. Is there a specific type, size or brand you would recommend? Guys, I don't have to choose between the gulf or the bay. I will be staying in a house on the beach for eleven days. I can do both everyday if I feel inclined.

I am heading to Florida on September 29th and will be staying on St George island. I plan on fishing the surf on the gulf side in the mornings and will also spend a few days fishing the bay out of a kayak. I plan on only fishing with artificial lures. I will be getting my tackle together this week. What should I take with me? I would appreciate suggestions for lures and or techniques. Thanks

The dam and the coves closest to the ramp are easily accessible to a shore bound angler. But a kayak is probably the best way to access the entire lake. There is a lot of standing timber and aquatic vegetation to deal with.

I did my first solo overnight float trip a few weeks ago. I did it out of a "Drifter" model Ocean kayak. I took the following items: Tent (7' x 9' dome) packed in its own dedicated dry bag (a long thin one designed for a self inflating sleeping pad. Air mattress,a battery powered air pump, fire starting supplies (paper, starter sticks etc) and a 6' x 8' tarp all packed in a 20 liter dry bag. Sleeping bag, inflatable pillow, sheet & blanket all packed in a 20 liter dry bag. Warm clothes, jacket, and a fresh set of clothing for the next day all packed in a 10 liter dry bag. A large bulky camp chair. My Kindle fire so I could read if needed. A pair of sandals. 4 cigars. And all of the normal stuff i take on a day trip (First aid kit, Toilet paper, bug spray, sunblock etc) 2 spinning rods, 1 fly rod and couple of tackle boxes. I really only had to account for dinner the first night and breakfast in the morning so went pretty light on food. I took a pack of hot dogs & buns for dinner and donuts and milk for breakfast. I also packed plenty of snack foods (Can of cashews, beef jerky,chips etc.) I cooked the the hot dogs over my camp fire using an extendable fork.. I think I took about 12 bottles of water, a few cans of soda and a large bottle of Gatorade and a 16 ounce jug of milk. I froze 4 of the water bottles. A few water bottles that and the food that did not need to be kept cold, just got tossed in with other stuff inside the kayak. Here is pic of my loaded boat. The majority of the stuff I took is inside the hull. All that it in the tank well is my fishing stuff, the cooler, normal day trip stuff. That is the bulky chair strapped across the back of the cooler. Next time that I do an over nighter in similar weather conditions, I will take a sock hat to keep my head warm. It got down into the low 40's that night and I got a little cold. I use my tarp to cover my boat at night just keep the heavy dew from getting everything wet. The key for me is using multiple small dry bags instead of fewer larger ones. I am limited by the size of the front hatch. I easily could have taken a camp stove or any other pieces of small equipment. I actually brought a lot of my food and drinks home with me. It was an awesome trip, I would highly recommend the experience to anyone one considering it.

A belated welcome to you. If you tell us where you are located, maybe someone can offer you some advice.

A fun album to check out is "Fade to Bluegrass" by Iron Horse. It is a metallica tribute album.

Definitely not the same as a tarpon. Leg room shouldn't be an issue unless you are over 7' tall. I certainly wouldn't try to stand up in mine.

I fished Port Hudson lake from a kayak today. The water was quite murky today, but every other time that I have been there it was clearer. While I have used my float tube there, I would not recommend it. There are so many submerged logs and trees it is sometimes hard to find room to kick. There is also a lot of aquatic vegetation that it unpleasant to kick through. When you unexpectedly brush your bare leg against an underwater log or a patch of vegetation, it is sometimes hard to not scream like a girl.

My favorite way to fish in Florida was fishing the surf from the beach. I caught several different species on a large inline spinner using normal bass tackle. The redfish in the picture was caught using 6 pound mono. I went out every morning at sunrise and caught fish eveyday. Needlefish As other have said just make sure you rinse the salt water off of your equipment at the end of the day. Good Luck to you.

I carry 3, using a similar setup on an almost identical kayak.

You might want to check the river gauges first. The river was very high this morning. Good luck.

Bamboo and old fiberglass rods would take a set easily. Heat will accelerate the process. Modern graphite rods are almost completely immune from this. But I would not leave one bent and in the trunk of my car all summer.

So are these fish here because of a spring spawning run or are they present year round?

That is a no vote from me. I used to use them when I first started fishing, but have long ago moved on to other lures for my river fishing. I do however still carry a few with me on almost every trip.

So basically what you guys are telling me is that I should put the fish down and walk away.

While fishing the Meramec below River Round Access, I caught 4 white bass scattered throughout a 6 mile float. The bass were all caught while fishing for smallmouth in normal locations. I have only ever caught one white bass in this area before. These11" to 13" fish surprised me with their fighting power. I am now intrigued and want to know more about the species. Here is a link to the MDC page. http://mdc.mo.gov/di...uide/white-bass Have they always been present in this area? How well do they coexist with the various black bass species in a river environment? What keeps them from being present throughout the entire Meramec river system?

The float actually measures 11.39 miles according to my mapping software. Any Bourbeuse float right now will seem longer than normal. The water is starting to get very low and slow. Which 20 mile section are you considering floating?

I checked out the river near Union today. It is a little murkier than normal due to rain last Sunday night, but it is still very fishable.

The river shot up almost 2 feet today but it is still clear. Floating will be easy this weekend.

If you decide on the Bourbeuse River, you can count me in. Also I may have an extra boat or two if anybody needs to borrow one.

I fished in salt water for the first time this fall. Everything I caught was cool. The first morning I was there, I awoke before sunrise and walked barefoot to the surf and began casting a large (half ounce) silver panther martin spinner on a medium power spinning rod. Three casts later I caught my first Blue Fish. It was about 20" long and completely fascinating to a land locked Missourian. But ten minutes later I caught one the coolest fish I have ever seen. It was a small 10" needlefish. Pic While fishing from a kayak in the bay I caught this fish. Picture I called it what-not until the next day when I showed the picture to someone at a baitshop and they told me that it was a Lizard Fish.

Devils Back is still open. I did their float from Peters ford to the campground on June 2. The river was high and the fishing was not good. But the high water made the floating easier.

I frequently use my float tube on my local river to float a 2 mile stretch. There are a couple of spots where the current is swift that could be considered class II, where I just raise my feet and go with the flow so to speak. The only thing you have to worry about is busting your butt on a submerged rock. I love using my float tube but I find that the float tube is too slow to cover very many miles of water. Those long, slow, deep stretches take too long to kick through. Going against the current is extremely difficult. During normal consitions, it takes me 4 hours to cover those 2 miles.