Scott F

We had one of those in our yard a couple of years ago, I assume he was migrating through because he only hung around a couple of days. This picture I took when he was on our patio right by the back door.

The blue jays are the ones who eat most of the peanuts off of a flat feeder that’s off the ground and the squirrels haven’t gotten to them yet.

We’ve had 28 different species of birds in our fenced in backyard in the 4 years we’ve had feeders out. When snow covers the ground like it has the past month, the feeders are literally covered with birds all day. We have to refill the sunflower hearts and peanuts twice a day. For those of you who put these out, you know how expensive that can be. Once the snow melts, like it has the last few days, we get a break and things slow down. We get mice and voles around the feeders but we haven’t had any in the house or garage. In the summer, we’ll get chipmunks and 13 lined ground squirrels, my pellet gun keeps those populations under control. We hadn’t had any squirrels until this winter. It’s not legal for me to shoot them, so our dog is more than happy to chase them away. My favorite thing to do every morning is having my coffee and watch the birds come to eat.

I’ve never found the shape of a soft plastic to make much of a difference. But, what it’s made from does make a difference. Floating plastics when put on a light jig head, slows the fall which to me, makes it more of a trigger than a heavier, sinking plastic on an even a very light weight jig. That floating plastic will also cause the bait to stand up when sitting on the bottom, another trigger.

I agree with @A-Jay , July-August isn’t prime time for lake smallies. They primarily go deep when the lakes warm up. Rivers are your best bet. I have my own river craft and don’t use a guide often but I have used guide Mike Mladenik on the Menominee, located on the Wisconsin/Michigan border. Other choices are the Wisconsin River and the upper Mississippi. 20” smallmouth are not uncommon on these rivers, and they are accessible in July and August. There are many other lakes in these areas so you can take your boat along too if you want. These rivers for the most part are not outboard friendly unless you know where you are going. The weather in summertime is very comfortable in theses northern states, and it’s not all that far from KC, Kansas

Just like @gim posted above, it’s our responsibility to clear the snow piled up at the end of our driveways. I think you’d probably have to pay someone to come out and move the snow blocking your property and move it somewhere else if you don’t have the ability to move it yourself.

Breathable, waterproof and durable? That’s a lot to ask. They are very durable and waterproof but not breathable.

I don’t know what your budget is but these LL Bean shoes have been serving me well for several years.

If anyone is interested in fish prints, I suggest you look up wildlife artist Al Agnew. He’s done dozens of covers for Bass Pro catalogs. I own a few of his smallmouth prints which in my opinion are some of the best I’ve ever seen.

I’ve done some live bait fishing where we spent an hour or so catching our bait out of a small creek first. We cut up a night crawler into tiny pieces and put them on tiny hooks, dunking them in eddies next to the bank. The water was very clear and even though I never saw any bait fish, it didn’t take long to catch a couple dozen creek chubs. Wading a small river, we put a small split shot on the line ahead of the chubs. Very low tech, very simple and very effective. It was a ton of fun fishing the way we used to as kids.

My entire house has outdoor themed artwork. Most of which we collected on vacations over the years. A small sample is below. For those who aren’t familiar, that bottom framed print is a closeup view of a loon.

When I’m doing a float on a river, even if I wanted to keep a few bass to eat, (I don’t ) it’s a pain to deal with them. Putting them on a stringer, dragging them over rocks and weeds and I’d need to keep a cooler with ice for the drive home. I’m often staying in motels when I’m on a road trip and I’d have no way to cook them. So much easier to put them back, and have a steak at a restaurant. When I’m in my boat, my usual fishing partner likes eating fish a lot more than I do, we’ll sometimes keep some of the bigger rock bass we catch. Most of my boat fishing is done on cool northern lakes. Very fresh lake fish that were caught just a few hours ago, taste so much better to me than ocean fish that were caught who knows when.

As far as not getting deals on tackle, it costs a lot to have a booth at a show. The profit margin on fishing gear is pretty small and even smaller if you aren’t a store that sells a ton like a bass pro shop. Considering their expenses, they probably lose money at the show. Discounts just make them lose even more.

It’s amazing to think that it’s 70° here inside my house and that on the other side of my window, it’s cold enough to kill.

I know of someone who caught a state record and tried to keep it alive. He even took it to the DNR to get it weighed but he wasn’t able to return it to the water alive. He was adamant about not submitting it for the record because he’d have to tell where he caught it and when. He’d come across a pattern that could reliably produce huge smallmouth that was on a tributary of a Great Lake. The tributary could not have handled much fishing pressure and he knew his spot would be ruined.

It was actually a beautiful, warm, sunny day on a lake in Northern Manitoba. We were 3-4 miles west of our camp when the wind kicked up hard. We were motoring back against the wind in our 14ft boat with a 9.9 outboard. The wind was so strong we were barely moving against it. The white caps and waves were pounding us. We weren’t sure the little boat was going to remain upright. There was an island where we could beach the boat protected from the wind and we could wait it out until the winds died down. The only problem was that this island had had a fire and all the trees were just bare, standing logs. The wind was knocking down these dead trees all around us. We were genuinely concerned that if the waves didn’t swamp the boat and drown us, the falling trees would fall on us and kill us. Fortunately, the wind let up enough that we could actually move, barely, we could have easily walked back faster but after an a couple of hours, we made it back to camp in one, dry piece.

For me, the key features of a Ned Rig are light weight and a short, floating plastic for a slow fall. Using a jig that allows the bait to stand up when it hits the bottom is also an important feature. Fish it slow. The absolute most important part, is putting it in front of fish. Even dynamite won’t get anything if you throw it where there’s no fish.

I use lighter line because it allows my bait to get to deeper depths than thicker lines.

My primary fishing was in northern, Canadian Shield lakes and the walleye and pike lakes across the Canadian provinces. Because the seasons up there are shorter because of regs and because it wasn’t until late May before the ice even went out, I’d drive to Southern impoundments in Missouri, Kentucky, or Arkansas early in the year. I struggle on these lakes. Everything is so different, deeper water, more weeds and standing timber. I’d spend 4 days to a week once a year and I’d spend most of my time beating the banks and fishing docks. If the bass weren’t there, maybe guys were getting them fishing 20-40 feet deep in standing trees or working creek channels, I’m just lost. I’m not able to spend all the time needed to figure out these waters as I’d have to drive home and back to the waters I’m used to.

😂😂😂😂

What’s amazing to me is that they didn’t “long arm” the fish to make it look bigger in the photo!

Besides a grease gun, I carry an X type lug wrench that has 4 different sockets and will work on both the truck and trailer tires. The design also lets you get more torque than a normal lug wrench. I was skeptical at first, but this device lets you jack up the trailer very easily. With the trailer attached to the tow vehicle, you hook one side under the axle, then pull the trailer forward and it rolls up. Hard to explain but I’ve used it a few times in the last twenty years and it’s worked perfectly. If you’ve got a flat, you can’t usually get a bottle jack under the trailer. Now that I own a battery impact wrench, it may replace the lug wrench. Thanks for that tip @Kirtley Howe

Can’t wait for it!

I wrote a book about stairs. It’s a step by step guide.

Since my back injury and related nerve damage in my legs, 10 years ago, if there is an elevator, I taking it instead of the stairs. I even moved from a two story to a single story house mainly to avoid stairs.