BayouSlide

An invasive species, a varmint that just happens to taste good ?? Check your local regulations though: here in Louisiana, even though considered "an outlaw quadriped," you can only hunt them on state and federal land during open hunting seasons for game and only with weapons legal during that particular game season. On private lands, no restrictions. As Roadwarrior states, they are incredibly destructive to the land and to crops: they breed twice a year and it has been estimated that you would have to kill 80 percent of the population each year just to keep their numbers from increasing. And they are smart: once they are exposed to hunting pressure they go nocturnal, to traps, they grow wary and avoid them.

Much leaner...and a heck of a lot more work than store bought when you have to haul it from the woods and do the butchering yourself. Only the shoulders, hams, loins and backstrap are worth dealing with. Dragged the first one (176 pounds on the scale) I ever shot two miles out of the woods with a dog chain and dog training rope attached to a stick. Had been bird hunting when my dogs cornered it. Had to wait for a passerby to help me load it into the back seat of my 4Runner. ? Better prepared since that day and have an area in a local wildlife management area that I can access by boat that holds a sounder or two which I'll hunt every year. They wise up quickly so it's easier to target (and haul out of the woods) the young 80- to 90-pounders. The shoulders and hams need to be cooked long and slow, either in a ceramic smoker or the oven, and makes pulled pork as good as anything from the store. The big old boars supposedly are pretty rank smelling so they won't make good meat, but the smaller males aren't and are as tasty as the females. Here's what a 176-pound wild hog looks like (for comparison, I'm 6 ft. 1 in.).

And you thought gators couldn't climb trees ?

Always weedless rigged with new Gamakatsu G-Finesse Cover Neko hook in #1/0.

I don't have that model but now have five different models and have yet to be disappointed. Academy carries some of the line and I've benefited from many $20 off $100 purchases as a card holder, in addition to a 5 percent discount. Excellent value at $129, yet alone for $105 on sale with discount ??

Not what you asked for, but I would wholeheartedly recommend the Falcon LFC-74H Heavy Cover jig over anything in the Fury lineup for $10 more. Sensitive and with better cork than any of my Dobyns Champions.

My deepest sympathy on the loss of your friend: their lives are so short, which is why we love them so intensely during the period we are blessed to share life with them.

6th Sense bluegill colors have always worked well for me.

I have run Precision Sonar's Ninja Grass Blade successfully on two trolling motors of mine and even bought one for my BIL, an ex-boat mechanic who's "on call" when I run into boat issues ?. It really helps reduce weed fouling. Before I got it I was often pulling up the TM to remove vegetation; seldom have to now. If you get one follow the installation instructions carefully on placement for greatest effect.

The lower end Z-man chatterbaits have hooks that need sharpening right out of the package: once I did I stopped losing fish. Or buy Siebert or Jackhammers...better hooks.

Interesting. Which size(s) can you use on the UL?

We enjoyed fried bullhead growing up...it was a nice change from trout, which we had often. Another nice change was fried yellow perch on occasion during ice fishing season. Otherwise, it was all pan-fried brown and brook trout. Trout, trout and more trout. ?

I can feel the same way at times...then I have to remind myself that's it's the hunt for bass, the learning, not the catching, that is the source of the passion. When you succeed it's the frosting, not the cake itself.

I hear ya. For most things they have it covered and covered well. The problem with Amazon is when you have an issue that falls between the cracks of their pre-programmed CS options. That's when I long for an actual person I can talk or chat with. Even the chat function is built on canned responses, great handling for 98 percent of the problems but on at least two occasions recently I have had a problem that didn't "fit" and it proved very frustrating.

Got some as a promo giveaway from reel purchases. Get a size on the larger size for you so it fits loose. They work in Louisiana's humidity and are my absolute favorite fishing shirt: https://daiwa.us/collections/apparel/products/tatula-performance-long-sleeve-shirt

Thanks for putting this on my radar. An enjoyable and compelling narrative!

lf the shoe was on the other foot, a company screws up and bills someone twice, that customer would want them to correct the error. Same thing when a company screws up and sends someone two of something. Do the right thing, as you did here, with the knowledge that correcting either of the two will be an unholy hassle. That does not apply to Amazon because, apparently, there is no one to talk to, no people involved, only computer systems ? No ink, have them mail you a return label. If FedEx does a pickup on a prepaid mailing label, the pickup charge would go to the shipping customer's account.

Had to order some Sunline Sniper FC elsewhere yesterday when it wasn't listed anymore on the TW website. When I asked about it today, rep wrote: "We currently have it unavailable for purchase, this could be due to a recall or defects in line, or it could be a request from sunline. I am currently trying to figure out why we took it down for the time being." If there is a problem, I hope it isn't widespread. I'll be checking the spools coming from Scheels very carefully.

Yes but for buzzbaits only.

Alone, by choice, except on a rare few occasions. With the exception of a very short list of friends, I also prefer hunting alone, though I bird hunt with my dogs of course. When you're by yourself you don't worry about having to please anyone else if the fish or game are no-shows. By myself I'm generally happy either way. ??

Too windy to fish today so I decided to tune some buzz baits. When my wife got home she heard all the racket in her shop and said "I really need to oil that fan motor!" Obviously, the tuning had gone well ??

Shallow is nearly all I fish, 4 feet or less. I live by Mega Live in horizontal perspective mode. After a while you can tell the fish from the trash by their movement.

Yes, I have fond memories of the delicious smoked mullet from Publix supermarkets when I lived in Florida.

A Dobyns Champion XP DC 736 CB Glass, Shimano Chronarch MGL, Sunline Shooter 16# flourocarbon here. It's one of my best setups: invested more than normal because I fish chatterbaits on nearly every outing and this setup seems absolutely perfect to me. It's a joy to use. FWIW, after I went to the DC736 CB Glass, I seldom lose a fish: hookups are significantly improved.

A number of good ones but my all-time favorite is a Hog Farmer Spunk shad: been using it successfully on chatterbaits, spinnerbaits and swim jigs. Has become my go-to trailer.