buckboardjr

Weather was great though I'm not fond of heat. 10 days in camp 8 days on the water. 2 snotty seas days, the other 6 were like a pond.

Excellent!.

25Jul: Solo Ran out to 350FOW to start as reports said Temp was mixed up. Went biteless for 3 hrs. running FFs on OB riggers and spoons down the middle out to 550FOW. Also ran free sliders on all. Started Mupping spoons 10 ft above the FFs and tail gunner spoon down the middle and the fixed cheaters started going with Magnum Steels. 1st tail dancer took my 28nk 42nd spoon when he broke my 15 lb. P-line leader. Went 4 for 6 all steel and then a Skippy king. 26Jul. Solo Ran out and ran a spoon only program for 3 hrs in 250 FOW per a tip. Nothing moved. Thru down a pair of FFs and the center spoon deep mupped Sea sick waddler goes off and I land a nice 31in Steel. Next the Stbrd Rigger goes off with a NBK Pro E Paddle/Hammer fly and it’s a screamer. Aprox 20lber hits the deck. Next a FL Bullfrog spoon goes off fixed/cheated, above a bullfrog FF set up. I wish I could have got him on video. He spent a lot of time out of the water. He was another dandy and I released him via pliers next to the boat. 2 more Mag Steels hit my Bullfrog FF and put on some good shows and were released,. Then around noon I put a Blue crush stingray sized stinger down the middle, this spoon I was cohorced in to buying at Narbys as they have a $15 Min Credit card purchase and bam, teenager smacks it , a bit later and hits the deck,. 6 for 6. for the day 4 Steel, 1mature,1 teen! 27Jul. Solo Started out in 200FOW and immediately caught a teen on Bullfrog/Ultra Green Glow Fly then fished 3 hrs in 175-250 with no hits. Worked my way out to 475-525 and scored 3 more teens and nice magnum Steels. The Narby’s forced purchase Blue crush scored twice today. I tried a 400 copper for a while with a NBK F/F and caught a skippy 6 for 6, 4 teens, 1 mag steel, 1 Skippy. Finished the day with some great camp burgers and the most glorious sunset I have ever seen at Lakeside State Park. 28Jul. Solo Started in 150 FOW with F/Fs on the OBs and Spoons down the middle. Teenager took the bottom small Sea sick waddler in 220FOW I let him go beside the boat being it was early. I worked 175-250 for 3hrs with nothing so I decided to go deeper. Got out to 350FOW debris everywhere then bam the rigger goes but I can tell it was the fixed cheater. Mary Poppins did her duty and a bit later slender steel hit the deck. I had earlier pulled a rigger and put out a 300 copper with the tested and proven Orange Tux, while I’m performing gutting duty I hear the odd unfamiliar Penn reel drag screaming , by the time figure out what that odd noise is I see him on top of the water 300 ft. out beside the planer board. I goose the kicker and run out ahead to get it to drop back, then went to Idle and released a beautiful Heavy Mag Steel next to the boat. I decide to call it a day when the center rigger goes and right to the top ol Mr. Mag. Steel does a somersault with the bottom small lime slim spoon in its mouth. Another nice heavy steel let go boat side. So I say one more pass through the scum line and sure enough slim lime spoon down the middle goes. Med. sized steel up to the boat and dropped him while dealing with fleas. 4 for 5. 1 teenager, 3 steel. Fleas were horrible. I use the Bloodrun stuff and they still needed to be pulled every 20 min. Also had a break in at the Camp. This lil Rascal stole my bread out of my quest tent. 29Jul. Ridiculous hot today. Started in 100FOW East and spent 3 hrs in 100-275FOW. Finally scored Teen in 220FOW on the Bullfrog Pro E paddle and Atomik Ultr Green Glow fly. Then went biteless the rest of this Scorching day. Went out to 550 tried everything with no takers. Anchored up and went swimming to cool down when I hit shore. 1 for 1 Teen. 30 Jul. Bazooka Joe came to fish with me so I let him run the back of the boat calling all the shots, even running all of his tackle. We ran straight out to 400 FOW. Started bright out with a triple. 2 Steel and a Laker then a steady pick of Steels to include 3 nice Magnums. The seas were snotty but the fish were biting. Spoons off divers were hot as well as SDs/Flys. It was too nasty to run in so we trolled in and had steady action all the way in. Mostly Steels. To top it off we popped a nice Mature 90ft dwn in 134FOW on a SD/Fly , 10 for 15 or 16 for the day. 1teen, 1 laker, the rest steel. 31Jul. My friend Kurt came up to fish. We started in 180 to set up with the wind back to our last fish mark from the day before. Just as we hit the mark the Port Mag. Diver on a 2 setting 160 baack goes and Kurt lands a nice teen on a NBK/ Hammer set up. We work the area for 2 hrs and nothing. Head out to 400 and add a 400 copper to the mix. Finally in 400 we start hitting Steels. Then the port Diver goes off nd Kurt fights a nice 21lb Male Mature to the net. We make a circle and I swap out the 400 copper with 300 with FL Rainbow spoon on it at it takes off screaming. I fight it for about 5 min. and it comes unbuttoned. We decide to troll back to port because it was so nice out. As we are pulling lines in 150FOW t very low Idle, The center rigger goes with a NBK spoon on it and I fight smaller Mature to the net about 15lb. We end up 7 for 9. 2 mature, 1 teen, 3 steel , 1 skippy 01Aug. Very Snotty Seas today. Didn’t dare go out to 400FOW. Went out and fished 130-180FOW Temp was mixed up but did manage 1 Mature in 150FOW on Bullfrog/Ultra Green Glow 75 down. Went 1 for 2. Other hit was on the Bullfrog as well. Went to camp and had some deer spiedies on the fire and celebrated the trip.

You da Man!! Nice! love those eyes!

Yellow squash, cauliflower, carrots, cranberries. It's a Green Giant mix.

I normally use all my straight deer burger for tacos, chili, sloppy Joes, stuff like that. I went to an Independence Day Party and KC made these burgers on the grill and they were fantastic and the nuke great for leftovers. Simple! Mix a decent amount of Montreal Steak seasoning and sharp shredded cheddar cheese thoroughly into the burger, compact as hard as you can in your hands and press in to burgers about 1/2" thick, Grill on Med to high. Spectacular!

Glorious Browns there!

I like snubbers. Snubbers make sense especially with wire. Dream weaver snubbers haven't broke for me so far. I've caught and lost fish with them and without them so this debate will live forever.Losses with not due to breakage. Disliking snubbers because they break do to UV damage and age is just as bad as disliking a particular line that broke that's been on your reel for 5yrs. We all know rods are made flexable to absorb shock and retain tension on a fish. When I 1st switched to fireline for bass, walleye fishing I saw my dropped fish/ hook spitters increase drastically. Drags are in place to absorb shock. Trappers sometimes use snubbers to help retain catches, Plannerboards are sometimes pulled with snubbers. The only advantage I see of not using them is if you run dull hooks and need a more aggressive hookset .

Nice going. Thanks for the report

I hope you get mended up and on the water Cous! Good luck when you get out there.

Awesome!!!

Bumping this one back in to play. Now is the time to brine one so it will be ready for ST. Patty's Day.I just popped this one in the oven! Getur Done!!

Thank you all for your kind words and condolences!

We said farewell to mom this week at the age of 86. Many on this forum would have enjoyed meeting her as she was a woman of substance. She took up hunting when I was 12 just so I would have a senior hunter to chaperone me until I could hunt alone, as my dad was a construction worker and quite often wasn't home. We would put mini drives on for each other and both of us got deer this way. She hunted up till last year and got her last deer at age 83. She grew up on a farm so dressing a deer and complete processing was nothing to her. She gut most of my dad's deer for him through the years because he was so cumbersome with his big hands. Every turkey I shot, she plucked with me, and we would roast them Thanksgiving style, rather than taking the easy way out and skinning them. Her squirrel stew and dumplings were topnotch. In the past 17 years she helped me cut up all my deer but 1. She helped me do all 3 this year. She was an avid gardener and still maintained her garden this year, canning tomatoes, green beans and my fav., zucchini relish. She could swing a hammer with the best of them, I 've seen her mix dozens of wheelbarrows of mortar and concrete through the years for projects with my dad or at my place. She always sewed and for the last 5 years have made "Ugly Quilts" for the homeless. She would sew heavy duty stuff for my hobbies. She sewed a windshield in to my boat canopy, sewed new vinyl gunnel bump boards in 3 colors on my boat, a Nitrous bottle blanket for my race car, on and on! I will miss you forever mom, but I know you're right here by my side!