Night crawlers and Cats

Ah, the good 'ole days, baiting a hook with a fat juicy night crawler, casting it out to what you think is the deepest spot on the lake, and waiting. I was rummaging through some old files on an external hard drive of mine, and came across some old pictures.

I haven't caught a catfish in so long. Makes me want to set aside an outing to dunk some bait this summer. With the lake right behind my GF's townhouse, I just might have to do that, while I fire up the BBQ and grill some steaks.

Thee biggest catfish I have ever caught.
(No idea why I'm wearing a batting glove. HAHA)

I had a different system. I always thought adding the bobber helped keep the bait off of the bottom a tad. The fish never minded it. In Illinois, you're allowed 2 rods per angler. I used to soak some bait with my spinning rod, and cast lures with my baitcaster or other spinning rod.

Nice little Channel Catfish at Mallard Lake.

Catch and Release

Salad

These photos are probably 10+ years old, and they brought back some really good memories. If I find any more good ones, you can bet, I will most definitely share them!

Winter Issues

One of the things that keeps me entertained on the web other than blogs, are the many free e-Magazines that are out there. There's a plethora of them, and they all offer a ton of informative and entertaining information. Two of my favorites just released their Winter issues. You should definitely check them out. 

a TIGHT LOOP

Fly Fishing the Midwest

Follow the link - Slip Sliding - Winter 2015

Southern Culture on the Fly

Follow the link - The Winter of our discontent. Winter 2015

Fungi!

One of my favorite things to photograph while out fishing or hiking are mushrooms. I was going through some of my old photos and came across these 3. I have since purchased a book off of Amazon.com "Mushrooms of Illinois" so I can better understand the different types.

I am horrible at IDing these things, which is 1 reason I will never take them home for my own consumption. 

Going through this book, each good mushroom seems to have a doppelganger just waiting to trick you, and the outcome is not favorable.

No idea....can anyone else ID these?

This next picture below is my all time personal favorite fungi photo. If I am correct, these are called "Velvet Foot" (Flammulina Velutipes), but what the heck do I know. I'm just a fish bum.

I am almost 100% positive that the fugi below are Oyster Mushrooms. 

(PLEASE correct me if I am wrong with any one of those mushroom IDs.)