SEwalleye

For sure 2, but maybe 4 (depends on if the wives decide they for sure want to go)

4 of us are leaving on a cruise out of Miami the end of May. We get in the afternoon before, and I was thinking of crossing "catching a tarpon" off of my bucketlist. Does anyone have a recommended guide for a evening tarpon excursion? Thanks!

Thanks for all of the help everyone. I am kind of leaning towards a Native Redfish 10 or 12 - the price point seems decent for what you get. I am struggling a little with length/weight. The 10' is 49 lbs & 12' is 68 lbs. Since my use will be in smaller rivers, are there significant disadvantages going one way or the other? Thanks again!

Thanks. By accessories I mean that I have nothing in regards to kayaking - paddle, roof rack (SUV), etc.

Can you help a newbie out? I want to expand my fishing opportunities & would like to purchase a kayak for fishing. 90% of its use will be for small river fishing in the southern parts of MN & 10% for miscellaneous pond/lake paddling. Rivers like Cannon, Zumbro, Root & other smaller feeder creeks/river would be my destination. From the research I've done, I'm thinking a sit on top, but I really need some guidance. I am looking to spend around $1,000 - $1,200 all in, including accessories - what are your opinions? Thanks for the help!

Can't take credit for it, but I found a recipe for a Guy Fieti "Killer Inside-Out Burger" 2 lbs ground chuck 1/4 lb bacon, cooked and chopped 1/2 cup red onion minced 3 tablespoon chorizo, mexican fresh style 8 slices of swiss cheese 4 kaiser rolls Divide ground chuck into 8 equal parts and form into patties. Over medium-high heat add bacon & onions and cook until 3/4 done, then add chorizo Season with salt & pepper and place on paper towel to cool. Layer 1 slice of chesse onto center of 1 patty, add 1/4 of bacon mixture, top with 1 slice of cheese, then add another patty on top and gently seal the edges. Repeat with remaining patties. Cook over medium heat of 3 to 4 minutes per side then remove pan, cover and finish in oven at 250 for 10 minutes. Serve on kaiser rolls. I have found that the brand of chorizo makes a difference, so you will have to experiment. Also, use ground chuck as it is important to form and seal the patties together. I grill these and it works fine. Finally, I use different cheeses. I love this recipe, nice little extra "kick" with the chorizo that is not over the top.

I did take the prop off & cleaned out the weeds stuck behind there, but that did not change anything. Thanks for the advice.

I have a early 2000's Minnkota PowerDrive trolling motor. While out fishing, I ran into some thick weeds that stopped my prop from spinning. After cleaning off the weeds, the prop would no longer spin. I know that power is getting to the trolling motor because I can hear the "click" that occurs when the prop is supposed to spin. Also, there is no problem with turning the trolling motor. Any thoughts/suggestions? Thanks for the help!

As I am standing on the fence shooting a pheasant & eating some good farmer food, I wonder - How many of us write-off the mortgage interest we pay on our tax returns? Well then, I guess we accept government subsidies too.

Yep - That is it! Thanks!

I guess I found it. I believe they are Cedar Waxwings.

Not much of a birder, but these caught my attention today. I'll try my best to describe - this is in the Rochester area. Yellow underside with a white butt. The very tip of the tail is also yellow. The head appears to be brownish that transitions to gray toward the back of the top side of the bird. It appeared that they might have a crown similar to that of a Cardinal?? Sorry it is not much - Wish I could take a picture, but I don;'t have the equipment for it. Hope you can help me. I am not sure that I have seen these before.

Let me preface this by saying that I grew up in the Rochester area, until recently I had not hunted geese around here & am by no means on the "in" crowd of goose hunting in the area. I am not defending laziness on the part of guides as some of you mention, but as with any type of hunting or fishing the "should have been here yesterday" line does apply in a lot of situations. You can't predict what any game is going to do day-in and day-out, but you can use historical information to try to do so. For example, on Thanksgiving I did my first hunt with some guys that have permission on a field - there were birds everywhere for a little over an hour & we ended with 4 birds, but there were plenty of flocks that we worked. The next day, hunted the same field all day & only saw a couple of flocks that were too far away to even work. If I were a guide, after my experience on Thanksgiving, I would have put you in the same field I hunted the day before & you would have been disappointed. The fact is that the guides pay top money to lease the fields they do & historically those fields produce because the birds fly by those locations (mainly on the edge of the refuge). If you don't want to pay a guide for that chance, then you are left to scouting on your own, which I would guess has a maybe 20% success rate of getting permission, requires your time/gas & still is no guarantee that the birds will fly out in the same direction tomorrow. If you're gonna hunt with a guide, ask around (like on here) & look for people who have had good experiences with guides, which doesn't always mean that they shot birds. Unfortunately, I can't give a recommendation because I've never hunted with a guide. If you don't want to pay a guide, it is going to take some scouting time & effort. I would try and focus on areas that are away from the refuge line, but still have water around - the further out of town you go, the fewer hunters & geese, but you can still find pockets of birds. Just my $.02

My $.02: John Hardy's BBQ in Rochester (can't go wrong with the pork plate) Stub's in Battle Lake (a great prime rib - never had a bad cut here & that is saying something) Cleveland Wok on Cleveland Ave in Highland Park (not just your average Chinese buffet) Ted Cook's off of 55 (best ribs, but you'll have to take it with you)

Chub is right on - hunted in ND near some guys with remotes who had significant success as compared to us without remotes as our birds would flare off (over water). However, we were hunting the 2nd week of the season & I really think it only makes a difference a couple weeks a year when you have well educated birds around. Once the migration starts and northern birds that are unfamiliar with the territory start arriving, they are zoned in. Are far as what they look at when circling. I have to believe that they are look around to check out the area - much like how you see geese turn their heads, etc. Thus, I would think that a mojo that is always spinning just looks like ducks piling in one after the other.

I see nothing wrong with being frustrated by the situation, but that is part of hunting. It is just like finding a field full of birds, but not being able to get permission. If you guys did not have permission to hunt the fields & had the proper equipment to hunt the water, would you have not hunted the water because it is the roost and someone else might be field hunting nearby? We all have hunts that go south due to other hunters, it is just part of life.

The age old question. Let me run a scenario by you (maybe from the other hunter's perspective). You spend all day scouting & find birds in a field (in this case carp's field). You stop by and talk to the landowner who says that someone else (carp) has permission to hunt & no one else can hunt it. Later you find the only open water in the area & decide that its your best for your last hunt of the season. So you hunt the water the next morning, bust the roost & don't shoot any ducks, but you wouldn't of shot any ducks sitting on the couch either, so it was worth the chance at having a good hunt. My main point is that just because the roost is busted does not mean that the birds will not come back (how does this guy know that its the only water around that is open?) Finally, the real source of the issue is access to land to hunt. If the guy had access to land, the roost would not have been busted.

Flowage tamer is correct.

For those of you who have learned to shoot with both eyes open - did you initially have problems with your non-dominant eye taking over? For example, I am right eye dominant & shoot right-handed, but when I have tried to shoot with both eyes open, sometimes my left eye takes over and I see the side of the barrel. Is this something that I have to "train" myself not to do? I have just always closed my left eye to avoid this problem & at one time I had a small patch on my shooting glasses to help, but it was easier to just close the left eye when ready to shoot as the patch some-what impaired my ability to pick-up targets. One last thought/question. For those of you who have dealt with this same problem, anyone (who wears contacts/glasses) ever try a just slightly weaker prescription in their non-doninant eye? Sorry this is so long, but shooting with both eyes open has perplexed me for some time.

Sounds delicious!! One question: is the wild rice already cooked when added in this recipe?

Noticed the A-5 comment. Everyone in my family grew up shooting (and still have)A-5's. However, if you're looking to find a replacement for the A-5, check out a browning silver. My brother just picked one up (all camoed out) and that thing fits like a glove for us as A-5 guys. After shooting at 2 flocks with it, I started saving my $$ for an new gift for myself. In terms of the original question - just take the time to pick each gun up and after that, it is all about what fits. That's why my family all shot A-5's for years, they just fit us well.

Am I also correct in that MN got the shaft this year in that in WI & IA you can now shoot 3 woodducks, but MN is only 2? I know its off topic, but kinda amazing how things can be so different accross a river.

Just a reminder/warning on tempurpedic type material. The stuff can be very hard when it's cold. So if you had it in an ice shack, it would take some time to warm up. Just speaking from the experience of taking our tempurpedic pillows car camping in cold weather & waking up in the middle of the night to a rock hard pillow! Not to say that it's not a good idea, just a heads up

Thanks!

A couple weeks ago, I saw a recipe that I wanted to try that was posted on here - it was a pheasant & dumpling recipe. I can't seem to find it again - maybe it was lost in the Forum upgrade? Could someone repost it for me? I would appreciate it a ton!!!