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WOW! Nice sturgeons (sturgi?) ND. It's a well-documented truth that the word sturgeon is Hiawathan for damn ugly fish! Even Jimmy Houston wouldn't kiss one, and he would kiss just about anything. Seriously, that looked like great fun. By the smile on your face I'd guess that you haven't had that much fun since the night you put your first quarter in the vending machine on the diner's restroom wall back in your high school (jr. high?) days.

Ron

Yep...you fit in juuusssttt fine.

Got a hunt/fish report for last week from Camp Mental Floss.

Monday, 5/4, son #2 took his first spring gobbler in a pouring rain storm. 19#, 10" beard, 1 1/4" spurs. Spotted him in a field, was sneaking up a wood line to set up on him and the turkey walked out of the woods @ 30yds. Headshot him on the fly with #5 Hevi-Shot. Not a Mossy Oak Classic hunt but the turkey is just as dead!

Thur-Sat, I hit the Yellow Perch hard. Had enough fillets for a Klose family fish fry last night. Let me tell you, the grandaughters may be into dancing, gymnastics and other girl-type stuff but they are two-fisted eaters when you set a platter of batter-dipped perch fillets in front of them! Makes this old Pop-Pop proud!

Headed to camp tomorrow for another mess of perch. This retirement stuff is hard work! LOL

Ron

Thanks, Tzone.

Looks like you have a real turkey hunter coming along for you. When do you plan to give him his first owl hooter? Pat's (Son #2) 2-yr old dug Pat's call out of his vest and hasn't stopped blowing it yet! He has until August to get tired of it, then the new baby brother arrives and owl hooting season comes to a screaching halt! At least Pat says it does!

Ron

He's been running that call until his mama takes it away from him. He'll discover the hooters soon enough...oh you ment the calls. I probably have one in a box somewhere he could have, I don't use it. I used to have a vest with every call known to man in it. Now I carry a gun, a slate, and binoc's.

Tell your son Congrats from the Tzone. That is a big beard. The first bird I got had a 10" beard, but it was 20#. The one I got on Friday had a 9.5" beard and weighd almost 22#

Ron, do you get your perch on Lake Erie? My BIL lives in Cranberry TSP and hits Erie at least once a year for Perch.

Bill

From what I hear...the Jumbos are starting on Green Bay too. We have caught a few of them while trolling for walleyes. Some on cranks, but most of them were on crawler harneses...some were 15"

Those are nice perch.

Biggest perch I ever saw was just over 16" that was caught by a guy staying next to us on Grind Stone Lake back in the late 70's. He caught it on Lac Court Orieles. Don't remember what it weighed, but it was a pig.

Nothing like a meal of jumbo perch. I think they're even better than Walleye.

Yep. Fortunatly the walleys think so too. I kept a few eyeballers last year for a meal out of Green Bay. The 19" eye, had a 9" perch inside it, and the 23" eye had an 11" perch in it. and they still ate my crawlers. No wonder they get so firggin big out there.

Prolly the same for Erie as well.

Latest issue of Wisconsin Outdoor News arrived yesterday. There's a big article on the Perch decline on Green Bay and Lake Michigan. According to the article, the catch rate on Green Bay and Lake Michigan fall 60% and 70% respectively from 2007 to 2008.

Causes are listed as poor spwaning rates, the impact of fish eaters such as the double breastes cormorants, white pelicans and preditor fish.

It wouldn't have anything to do with the fisherman either would it? There are sometimes 50-100 boats camped out on top of the school of them.

We fish a lot of walleyes just outside the "pods" of perch fisherman...imagine that, walleyes hanging out near the perch.

Comarants take their fair share too. I think a few years ago, the DNR shot a bunch on them on Lake Winnebago. I can't remember for sure though.

Walleyes, Salmon, Muskies, Northern, poor spwaning years and fisherman all contribute to the decline. The commercial perch fishing industry is all but shut down.

There was another article in the same issue that the WI DNR will continue its' efforts to oil Cormorant eggs in order to reduce their population. The fish eating Cormorants are just plain nasty. They'll also take eggs and hatchlings from other birds and water fowl and destroy habitat from their dropings.

I hate those frickin' birds...you're right, they're nasty suckers. They kill ducks too.

What does oiling the eggs do? Keep mama away from the nest? I haven't heard of that.

I have the day off tomorrow, and I'm heading up to fish the Chippewa Flowage with a buddy of mine I used to work with. It should be fun. He's more hard core about fishing than I am and a hell of a fisherman. We have the same style of fishing, so we work well together. Walleyes are on the menu, but with this cold front coming in, they may be tough to come by.

I've been told that the embryo inside the egg gets the oxygen it needs through the shell. I would imagine that oiling the shell would fill in the pores and suffocate the embryo.

What a whirlwind the last 2 days were! Looked for lots and for-sale-by-owners until dark Tues nite, then was at it again by daybreak wed. There is not a house currently on the market that we will buy. However, we did find some lots we like and are seriously considering building.

One thing I wanna research is the different heating systems out there. Obviously natural gas/forced air, but also in-floor, air-to-air heat pumps, geothermal heat pumps, etc. Anybody know anything about any of these? for in floor, what is better, an electric boiler or a gas hot water heater?

Make sense. They should just make omlets out of them, mixed with comarant meat, and some cheese, peppers, hashbrowns, and a nice side of fried walleye. That'd a little ironic, but I'd eat it.

If you build with in floor, you'll never be without it again! Once it warms up to temp, it is great. My step-dad has it in his cabenit shop 40x60, and leaves the heat temp set at 65*, and it is rarely less than 70 in the building. They make real even heat throught the house. If you have tile in the house the wife will thank you for in floor heat too.

I don't know a damn thing about the others you asked about, but give big thumbs up for in-floor. The only thing I would wonder about with radiant heat would be cooling. If you want air conditioning, you'd have to go another route.

Tom, bucktail had it correct. The oil sufficates the embryo.

Good luck fishing. Temps only supposed to be in the low 50's here Saturday. Probably colder where you're headed. Try cranks in the shallows in the windy side and over weeds if you can find any.

I am thinking about in floor in the basement and the garage. it gets a little trickier on floors above the basement. then forced air as well so you have cooling. I wanna check out the heat pumps as well. anyone else have any advice?

Cranks are plan "A", but with that cold front I'm thinkin' we'll have to slow it right down. Lindy's over the deep rocks is my guess.

I'm starting with cranks though. Seem to get the bigger ones that way. I'm hoping for a few limits of 15-18's, with a couple dozen 25's" thrown in...is that too much to ask?

Really if I could even get a 1/2 dozen 28's I'd be happy.