I'm off to Gillett, AR for 4 days of dove hunting, crappie fishing, and trying to keep the boys workin' at Budweiser and the Wild Turkey plants. Looks like rain and more rain but we'll see what happens. The sunflower patch was mowed yesterday and is resting until tomorrow. 500 rounds of ammo and I'mmmmmm reeeaaadddyy:D :D :D

Good luck bud... pack a camera, and take some pics for us to see.

If it rains, I'm sure those boys at the plants you mentioned will need overtime.

Good Luck - it rained on me in SC but I still drug out to the reserve....LOL and if not I'm sure the fellas over Auggie's won't mind putting in few more hours!

HAVE A GREAT TIME!!!!!!

Good Luck Dave. Be safe and I hope you get to burn up those 500 rounds.

good luck man, hav fun and drink sum bud

good luck Dave..........

Good luck Dave, hope you don't need all those rounds. Who you tripping with?

These guys (http://www.pvtmurphy.com/strips/full/132-redeployment-cartoon.jpg) seem to keep the AB folks busy already, but I'm sure they appreciate your help too. That's a lot of ammo. Have fun and return safely.

Well, I'm back from a fun 4 days. My step bro flew in from Minneapolis and got to STL about 3.5 hrs late. We stopped at the Ware clubhouse, racked and got down to Gillett, AR about 1P Thursday. My buddy met us at his river house on the Arkansas River, loaded his truck w/ our guns, ice cold Bud Light and out to our friends dove field. We ended up w/ 40 and came home for some fried flathead & fries. Got up Friday and hit some backwaters of the Arkansas River. I started using a Yamamoto Grn pumpkin w/ black flake Senko and ended up w/ my limit of nice bass, the largest of which was about 3#. My bro had a huge grennel alongsdide the boat and it got off and then he hung into about a 6# long nose gar. We dove hunted that afternoon after some serious rain and ended up w/ 5. Catfished the White River Sat AM and ended up w/ 17. The majority were about 3-4# and we had about 5 nice small fiddlers which I plan on dropping in the oil tonight. I had never fished w/ catalpa worms and I'm telling ya...they are the BOMB!!! Left out yesterday AM and got back to the clubhouse about 3P. Picked up my 4 wheeler on my bro's 18' car hauler and started back. I hit those tracks on the N edge of Coulterville just a bit harder than I like too and thought I should have known better. We got between Fayetteville and Freeburg and I looked back and holy crap...NO trailer...NO 4 wheeler.:confused: I was steady yacking w/ my bro and hadn't looked back since the tracks outside Coulterville...Big mistake:( I'm usually pretty good about keeping track. Just tired from the drive I guess. Called State Police and told them I was heading back looking. Found it about 4 miles N of Coulterville off the side of the road. 4 wheeler still strapped down, no damage to it and minor damage to the trailer. The chains must have snapped right when it hopped off the ball which A. made me mad that they didn't hold up w/ only a 4 wheeler on the trailer but B. glad that the electric brakes deployed and kept it from running off too far. I was majorly worried that it might have hurt someone, particularly in light of the 200+ bike DARE poker run that we passed. I snaked the trailer out and got it home just a bit worse for the wear. Quite an interesting way to end up a good 4 day trip.

I haven't fished with catalpa worms in a few decades. My grandparents used to have a catalpa tree on their place in Michigan and we'd go out every year and collect a bunch of worms to use as bait.

What do you mean by fiddlers? Sounds like you were pretty busy while you were in Arkansas. It's good the trailer and your 4-wheeler were still there. Did you put some stronger chains on right away?

I have a good many catalpas..but no worms this year!!! And they are definitely THE BOMB for catfish..catfish just gobble em..well so do crappies, and bluegill and just about anything that swims...

Dave wish I would have been home...I would have helped you with your trailer...Those tracks are God Awful...I always idle across them....missed the batch of bikes..we rode the bluff road yesterday...

Sounds like you had a great trip! and lots of good fishing!

That's where he was.......I guess I missed the post!!!!

Fiddlers are smaller channel cats that run about 12 to 14" . Skin 'em and deep fry them whole. I just dropped off the trailer a few mins at the Camper Exchange to get it tuned back up and new heavywt chains on it. It's my bro's trailer that I used since my boy was using my big one. I am going to call the company that made it and ask them why the heck they are putting on chains that won't support the weight of the trailer and a measly 4 wheeler. God help if I had a car on there.
I got a kick out of using the catalpa worms. They had been frozen but they still smelled kinda funky and were bright green and black. I still have black stains on my fingers from them. We used 70 and I swear, I had a bite every time I put that hook in the water. I'm trying to hook up w/ a guy that sells them outta Bloomington. He was asking $6 a dozen for them which is outrageous (which I told him) and he dropped it down to about $.42 apiece if I buy 20 dozen. Still outrageous but cheaper than goldfish..LOL

hey..I promise next year...if I have catalpa worms...you can just stop here and gather you up a big mess...I have lots and lots of catalpa trees...
I had no idea you could freeze them...hmmm wonder how they do that? I would think when they thawed out they would just be a big ugly slimy mess...

Okay remember next year..I will share catalpa worms!

I would have paid for a video of you BSing along... check the rearview...see your shock... Then you whip your head around...completely amazed it's gone!!! make up some new words???

You were thinking "man this truck got REAL power, I don't even know I have a trailer.... Wait I DON'T have a trailer!!!"

LOL

The exact words I can't repeat here but I can tell ya, it wasn't pretty. Thanks Gretchen for that offer. Gathering those worms would be a definte moneymaker if you wanted to go that route. My buddy froze these. he said if you drown them 1st, and then freeze them, they keep their color and shape. I did some research today and I saw a number of folks advisning to add a bit of Sure Gel (jelly additive) to the water and it keeps them green and juicy. Others said to put them in a bag w/ cornmeal and freeeze them. I think my buddy said they were getting $.15 apiece down there and up here they are outta sight. I think that may be due to folks in our area not having them on their trees for some reason this year. Thanks again for that offer and I will gladly take you up on it next summer.

Hah! Dave...I could be building my retirement stash one catalpa worm at a time...

Those worms are worth how much? :eek:

Good Lord, I stomped away a fortune in my youth. :rolleyes:

I didn't read the whole post first. Glad your trailer experience turned out OK. That could have been a major - Oh Shoot!

It wasn't exactly "Oh Shoot" but 5 of the 7 letter are right:D
I was shocked at the price on those worms too as my buddy was a bit miffed that he paid $.15 each for them. He offered me a hundred or so to take home and I said "Naw, I couldn't do that." Havin' second thoughts now..LOL