All About Pocket Knives

Very cool, looks like a fun time.

Boy, you guys were 'roughin' it' !
I'm just jealous. I covet your RV, a suitable way for an old part cripple gent like myself to go exploring.
I have enough knives to trade you for it !!
kj

A few Wisconsin camping pics, including Sofia wielding her RR Sunfish to whittle a marshmallow stick

That Ozark fishing trip looks like it was a lot of fun, Dave! Nice looking RV in the first photo, nice fish in the third photo.

Mike - cool to see a girl actually using a knife like that!

My wife and I were out fishing Sunday. The fish were not biting very well and the weather was just not that great on the Mississippi Sound. An interesting day with one little water spout nearby. Of course we got soaked just as we got back to the landing - we had rain gear but when it started raining it was like someone released a waterfall on us - we were soaked before I could even grab a poncho.

Great to see y'all enjoying the great outdoors, and sharing it here.

Dinadan wrote: An interesting day with one little water spout nearby.

.... and an interesting shot of a waterspout. Never seen one in person.
What is the other object in the picture, to the right of the spout? Oil rig ?

Great stufff Dave and Mike!! Thanks for sharing!!

Thanks guys! This was my first time ever stopping and spending time in the Ozarks. There were 4 earthquakes while we were there. I actually heard the biggest one and it sounded exactly like a gigantic clap of thunder but there were no dark clouds, no lightning. I didn't feel it in the RV though. None of them were over 4.0 on the Richter scale, so nothing major.

Mel, I know what you mean about getting drenched out on the water. I used to live in south FL and used to own a boat there. I wouldn't say water spouts were common but I've seen a number of them. The bigger ones look just like tornadoes but on the ocean. There were only two things that concerned me... A lightning strike and engine failure (combined with the Gulf Stream).

kj, thanks for the trade offer! Check with your local RV dealer and see if he's interested.

Dave, glad to hear you enjoyed the Ozarks. Spent considerable time as a kid around Branson due to relatives. After WW 11 my grandparents built The Golf Ranch in Branson, the first golf course in the area. Only a couple of theaters in town at that time.Very successful for many years but now its filled with apartments or condos.

Other relatives owned the "Pirate Cruise" for decades. Long before the 1940s people took the train from Chicago to go Bass fishing for which the lakes are famous.

royal0014 wrote:

Dinadan wrote: An interesting day with one little water spout nearby.

.... and an interesting shot of a waterspout. Never seen one in person.
What is the other object in the picture, to the right of the spout? Oil rig ?

Chris - that object is just a channel marker - a wood post about fifteen feet high with a triangle on top.

Dave - water spouts are not too common in inshore where I fish. I agree that lightning is a lot scarier. I had my kayak out last week in a tidal river with some tall pines right along the bank. Just as soon as I got to the area that I wanted to fish, at the mouth of the river, I had two lightning strikes within about five hundred feet of my kayak in just a couple of minutes. I also hooked a nice speck which got off. Then it started to rain. That convinced me to head back to the landing. Then it started pouring and I realized I had left my poncho in the car! This past month has been very rainy in coastal Alabama. Just about every time I have gone out on the water either it has rained or else been threatening to rain. Now we have tropical storm Cindy in the Gulf and the rain is pretty much non stop. Oh well, next time I get on the water maybe I will see some Magnificent Frigatebirds: they only come in to the coast when there is a storm in the Gulf.

Dinadan wrote:Chris - that object is just a channel marker - a wood post about fifteen feet high with a triangle on top.

Ok, Thanks for the answer, Mel.

Reading your posts over the years, I was under the impression that you fished the Mobile Bay/River delta area.
Your mention of the Mississippi Sound sent me to Google .

If you don't mind my asking, where specifically do you go? Fowl River or near Bayou La Batre?
Not meaning to be nosey ... just wanting to learn something new ...

CheckSix wrote:Just back from this year's camping / fishing trip with my son. Went to Table Rock Lake in the Ozarks. Had a great time! Ended up catching about 50 Bass. A few Largemouth, a few Smallmouth and a bunch of Spotted Bass. We used a Pro Fishing Guide... he had a 20' Legend Bass Boat with a 250hp Mercury. The lake is something like 100 miles long, so you have to be able to cover water quickly. The boat would do 75mph.

Here's a few photos of the camp site (very nice RV Park!) and a fish photo of one of the double's we had. Several times we hooked and landed fish at the same time.

Glad y'all enjoyed the Ozark trip Dave! Table Rock is a beautiful lake. Looks like you were successful. Surprised you didn't scare fish out onto the bank, wearing that Cubs shirt there in the middle of Cardinals country!

Hope you were able to stop at the Bass Pro Shops store in Springfield. That's the flagship store, the mother ship of all their stores. The NRA sporting firearms museum is inside and is worth the stop, and it's free admission.

Ken

royal0014 wrote:
Reading your posts over the years, I was under the impression that you fished the Mobile Bay/River delta area.
Your mention of the Mississippi Sound sent me to Google .

If you don't mind my asking, where specifically do you go? Fowl River or near Bayou La Batre?
Not meaning to be nosey ... just wanting to learn something new ... [/color]

Chris - We have three primary areas where we launch: Bayou la Batre, West Fowl River, and Bayou Heron in Mississippi. All three of those open into the Mississippi Sound. When I am in my kayak I do launch at a few other places. I like Bayou la Batre best because of the variety of fish habitats that are close to the ramp. It is a very active commercial fishing and boat building port so you do have to stay alert in the Bayou itself. The only time I actually fish in the Bayou is if the wind and wave action keeps me out of the open water. On those day I usually go to Bayou Heron, right on the Alabama Mississippi line, which is narrow and winding, so wave action is never really bad. Our boat is just a little fifteen footer so I do not go out if the seas are rough.

Most of the coast here is marsh lined. There are very few places where we can get out and walk around - I really envy the folks with sandy beaches!

Mumbleypeg wrote: Glad y'all enjoyed the Ozark trip Dave! Table Rock is a beautiful lake. Looks like you were successful. Surprised you didn't scare fish out onto the bank, wearing that Cubs shirt there in the middle of Cardinals country!

Hope you were able to stop at the Bass Pro Shops store in Springfield. That's the flagship store, the mother ship of all their stores. The NRA sporting firearms museum is inside and is worth the stop, and it's free admission.

Ken

Ken!
That is hilarious that you brought that up! I got a LOT of comments there about the Cubs T-Shirt and most everyone was fairly polite about it. Especially since we have been dominating them since 2015.

I did not know about the Springfield BPS store and museum. I was on 44W to the 65S junction on the way out and reverse of that coming home. Unfortunately, we were on a time constraint coming and going, so I'll store that info away for the next time and try to see it.

Many thanks!

Awesome stuff Mel. Thanks for sharing that.

Regards, Jerry

Mel,
Those are some great pictures! Guess y'all have stayed out of the weather for the last few days. Rain always seems to cause certain outdoor things to be more obvious, snakes, fire ants, mosquitos, etc..
Being in the outdoors always brings these things into our lives, some of them just plain aggravatin', like the 3 mosquitos I brought in the house this am. Went to throw some watermelon rinds across the fence for a neighbors cows and couldn't believe how thick the 'skeeters were! This particular variety is actually large enough to feel them land on your body. These I killed "gently" so they could be displayed for their size. That's a Western W658, about 3 3/8" long they are laying beside.
Treefarmer

TF that's a good looking herd of skeeters ya got there. In the last couple of years we've started seeing he gallinipper mosquito here. Mix bigger and a lot more painful than a normal skeeter.

So I've lived in my home for 16 years and for all of that time we've had "Henry" the peacock as a resident as well. When we moved-in the seller's couldn't locate Henry and so they left him. Henry could usually be found wandering our property calling-out for a mate every day, every season - but none was to be found. When we got guinea foul 4 years ago Henry was intrigued but knew it wasn't going to happen.

This Spring, Henrietta shows up out of nowhere. We have no explanation other than she was either dumped nearby or a neighbor brought her in. We've had daily visits from both this year but today was the first time that we've seen them together. Love was for sure in the air today in Maryland!

Very neat. May the couple enjoy many years together.

Tom.. That is just plain KOOL!!! John

Cool stufff fellas!!!

Caught this hawk (not sure which version it is) on a limb and then if you blow up the bottom pic and look just below where he was perched
you can see him in flight!!

Good spotting Scott. Challenging to identify. Spent considerable trying to dope this out; heavy use of a magnifying glass.

Besides the standard Peterson, I have a 2nd Peterson field guide devoted solely to hawks. I cannot be 100% sure so if it was me, I would list it as a "probable" Short-Winged Hawk. These come in two colors, dark and light. Yours was light. Interestingly, according to the range maps these occur only in Florida.

If you can, whenever seeing a hawk, eagle, or vulture fly, try to note whether the wings are extended flat or do the wing tips curl upward. This can aid in some identifications. If anyone can make a better I.D. I hope they will share it.

Colonel26 wrote:TF that's a good looking herd of skeeters ya got there. In the last couple of years we've started seeing he gallinipper mosquito here. Mix bigger and a lot more painful than a normal skeeter.

IMG_0583.JPG

We call that the Maine state bird

Cool pics Scott, hawks are beautiful birds, love me some raptors.

garddogg56 wrote:

Colonel26 wrote:TF that's a good looking herd of skeeters ya got there. In the last couple of years we've started seeing he gallinipper mosquito here. Mix bigger and a lot more painful than a normal skeeter.

IMG_0583.JPG

We call that the Maine state bird

Lol. Two of them gallinippers flew by the other day and I heard one say to the other, "you want to eat him here or take him home for later."