JEFF?

Hey. I want to hear about the Jack's Fork trip. I know you've got to have pictures of some nice smallies.

Pond Fishing at its Best

Sometimes you just can't beat a farm pond for good fishing. Ed, Ben, and I spent Sunday morning fishing several beautiful ponds that are exclusively used for fishing; there are no cows in the water, just bass, catfish, bluegills, and a few huge carp. My wife's uncle takes good care of these miniature lakes and it shows. The bass seem noticeably larger this year.

We mostly fished top water. Ed used a torpedo and I used a popper. I also caught several on a woolly bugger and Ben caught four on a rubber minnow.

Ed caught the largest fish of the day before I even had my line in the water. There's a picture in yesterday's post. I caught the second largest on my last cast of the day. That last fish grabbed my popper and wrapped it around a limb on the bottom. We had to hull in the fish, limb and all, which wasn't easy because the tippet was only a three pound test.

All in all, it was one of the best times I've had on those ponds, and I've had some really good fishing there. It was fun because the fish are getting bigger and because Ben had a great time with his uncle and dad. He's a much more independent fisherman this year, and starting to show some impressive casting and fish fighting skills, but I'm probably just a little biased.

Memorial Day Weekend in the Ozarks

We didn't all get together, but most of us found ourselves fishing or floating the Ozarks this weekend. I'm sure there are some stories to be told...

Canoe wanted

Hey, Guys. Russell recently posted a poll on what canoe you would most likely to choose to use for the rest of your years. Well, Penelope, my blue canoe, will soon be put out to pasture. She has served me well on many Missouri and Arkansas rivers for near 20 years, keeping me dry and in fish (for the most part), but her hull is worn and her gunwales are tired. Due more to the sun than the Ozark gravel I'm afraid.

So, I know most of you have at least looked into getting a canoe for yourself. What are your recommendations?

The end of one of Penelope's final voyages.

This Blog is Growing

I sent invitations to Matt and Drew, so hopefully we'll be seeing posts from them pretty soon. If you know of other potential contributors let me know.

We are getting closer to breaking 100 posts. We are currently at 86. It's fun to look back through our archives and remember the good old days (if you consider earlier this year the good old days.)

Smartgrowth

You guys might be interested in the stuff on this site. Many of the ideas are becoming more popular and somewhat market driven. But I don't think individual choices about riding bikes, taking the bus (rather than driving gas guzzling SUVs), growing one's own veggies, or living in an energy effecient home are going to make a huge impact. I don't like government regulation, but I think people are going to have to come to have a Great Depression/WWII outlook on energy, environment, and food issues, and it might take the government to get America's entitlement generations (the baby-boomers and those following) on board. Oh, yeah. Here's the link: http://smartgrowth.org/about/default.asp