I stopped for a break. Scuba equipment gets pretty heavy when you have to carry it up a two rut gravel road for ¾ of a mile.I decided to go out of the box on this one. I grew up in the area that this mine pit was located in. Many times I stood on the steep rock embankment overlooking the pit and watched two very large small mouth bass swimming their way along the rock shelf 30 feet below the surface of the water.Over the past couple of years I had emptied my tackle box on these two small mouth bass, trying to get them to strike. I tried early morning, evening, and the middle of the night. I tried sneaking up to the shore line quietly and casting from a stooped position over the shale layered rock on the edge of the pit. No hits- no misses-just nothing.

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There is a lot to learn depending on how involved you want to get. You might want to focus on the easy to identify edible wild mushrooms when you first start out. A few I would suggest would be, the Morel, Oyster mushroom, Chanterelle and the Shaggy Mane. These all have fairly easy to identify characteristics. Several good books on identifying wild mushrooms is a must have. When you are choosing a book the colored pictures of the mushroom is as important as the information it provides. You want the pictures to be as true to the actual mushroom as possible to help with accurate identification.

For collecting your mushrooms carry a sharp pocket knife. Cut them off close to the ground, but high enough to leave the dirt behind. If you are collecting a mushroom for identification- take the whole mushroom. Make sure you get all of the stem. Do not put them in plastic. A plastic bag will destroy the mushrooms before you can even get them home. Use paper or a basket with a flat bottom. Do not mix varieties of mushrooms and never mix poisonous or mushrooms you are unsure of in the same bag. I like to carry paper lunch bags with me for collecting specimens I want to take home to identify. I package each of these separately.

Pay attention to the time of year it is. Chances are you won’t find a Shaggy Mane in the middle of the summer.

Is the mushroom growing in a wooded area or a field? In clusters, fairy rings, singly or on a tree? All characteristics of different genera’s. Know the characteristics of the Wild mushroom genera you are searching for.

Note the cap color, size and texture. Smooth or sticky, fibrous or scaled. How long is the stem? The color of the stem can be different then the color of the cap and many times will aid you in a positive identification of the mushroom such as the Chrome-footed Bolete.

Is the flesh soft brittle or rubbery? What does the mushroom smell like. I love the smell of the Chanterelle. It is as close to the smell of fresh apricots as you can get. Another one I can think of off hand is the Almond scented Russula. Smells exactly like almonds. But although this Wild mushroom smells great this Russula is a poisonous mushroom.

I hope this article was some help to you if you are new at hunting Wild mushrooms and has provided some helpful tips for you on mushroom hunting. If you cant positively identify the mushroom don’t eat it. Consult an expert to aid you in the mushroom identification.

Tags: mushrooms, wild mushrooms, how to hunt wild mushrooms

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Using surface lures for fishing has always been one of my favorite techniques. It doesn’t matter if I am Pike Fishing, Bass Fishing or fishing for gills. If there is any sign at all they are feeding on the surface-I will try it before anything else. I guess one of the best fishing tips I can give you with this type of fishing is take your time. I have caught many fish while the lure was floating on the surface doing nothing. There is a variety of fishing tackle that you can purchase for this. You are probably aware of most of it such us, Hula Poppers and Jitterbugs and ect… I pretty much use them all. For the purpose of this article I am going to focus on one you don’t here a lot about. The Smithwick Devils Horse.I remember back when I was first introduced to this fishing lure. I owned a sport shop at that time and was working on my order to restock my fishing tackle for the month. One of my customers came in and saw me going though the catalogue and asked me if I could order a Devils Horse. I had never heard of them before but they were in the catalogue. So I ordered a couple extra for myself. That was 30 years ago and I still use them. They are not real easy to find. Not here in Upper Michigan anyway. Bass Pro shops does carry them in their catalogue, I have not been able to find them in Cabelas. I am sure if you look around you can find more sources. For colors I like the silver with a black back and the perch color. These seem to do well for me. As far as size. I like the larger size- 3/8 oz.When you make a cast and the lure erupts the surface take your time and let the ripples settle down before you begin the retrieval. Many times you will get a strike before you even have a chance to move it. So be prepared. Depending on the distance of the cast I like to stop the lure at least once or twice before it gets back to the shore or boat. I can’t count the number of fish I missed because after I stopped the lure I started monk eying with something, or stated talking to one of my fishing partners and missed setting the hook.I can remember a time a buddy of mine asked me if I wanted to go try fishing a back water in Leona, Wisconsin. It was a great day for fishing. It was cloudy with a chance of rain and very little wind. The area had a lot of dead trees extending out of the water along with some very decent weed beds. The Pike Fishing was suppose to be good. I dug into my tackle box and pulled out a perch colored Devils Horse. I made the cast so the fishing lure would parallel a weed bed just outside a drop off. While I was waiting for the water to settle down from the cast before I started my retrieval I turned to talk to my partner. His eyes were locked in the area where my surface lure had landed. “Where did that log come from” he asked? It was not a log- it was a very large Northern Pike. Poised floating on the surface with its back extended out of the water ready to make its killing strike. The water exploded and the battle was on. I think that was the largest Pike we caught that day-in the 40 inch range. We landed many more that were over 30. Every perch colored Devils Horse I had was ripped to shreds by the time we ended our fishing trip.So the next time you are updating your fishing tackle add a Smithwick Devils Horse. It will soon become one of your favorite surface lures.
Tags:fishing, pike fishing, northern pike fishing, fishing tackle, surface lures, surface fishing

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Not a lot to talk about for a Fishing Report. The weather here is finally warming up a bit. It has been a very cold spring. The water temperature in the bay is hanging around 39 degrees. there are some salmon and brown trout being caught. But you have to work really hard to get them. The steelhead run was not great but some nice fish were caught. The local news paper here ran some articles and pictures on catching suckers. That is pretty sad when that is the best you can come up with. With the opening of walleye and bass season this month and some warmer water things should pick up. I know that many parts of the country our way ahead of us into the fishing season. If you have any pictures of your prize catch or would like to just sent us some photos of you latest fishing trip for our gallery email them to: larry@fishhuntexplore.com

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With summer almost here the thought of hunting Chanterelle Mushrooms gets me pretty excited. This is one of my favorites. This mushroom is one of the easiest wild mushrooms to identify. They are very good and many times grow in large quantities. They have excellent size, caps ranging 1 ¼ to 6 inches. They have a good texture and taste great. They also freeze well for later use. I have not tried canning these- but think they would also take to that very well. Their color being yellow to a yellowish orange makes them very easy to find. There are some poisonous look a likes so be sure of your identification before eating them. The Chanterelle Mushroom has a great smell. It smells just like fresh apricots. They don’t have true gills, but instead have shallow thick edged wrinkles and veins descending down the stem of the mushroom, often being crossed veined and distant. The stems are about the same color as the caps being ¾-2 1/4 by ¼ to 1 inch. They are found in July though September here in this part of the country. I seem to have my best luck in hardwood forest areas. But I have found these in almost any type of wooded area. As with almost any mushroom you do need the moisture in order to have a good season. Their are also growing kits available for Chanterelle Mushrooms.If you are new to Mushroom Hunting be sure to consult a professional for positive identification. If you are not sure what it is -don’t eat it.

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I think we all have had a day out fishing that the fish weren’t biting. But they were really jumping. Jitter bugs, Hula poppers, crazy crawlers, devils hoarse -you threw it all at them and nothing would work. Something to keep in mind is that things are not always as they appear. By appearance you would think that those monster bass are jumping at bugs on the surface. But in all reality it could be a feeding run on a school of minnows under the surface. I guess what I am saying is look at the big picture. Anyone that says they catch fish every time out either doesn’t fish or they are much better at telling stories then I am. But there are ways to increase your chances. Something that works for me quite often in this situation is a number 11 floating Rapala. Weighted with a split shot sinker. The idea behind this is to get the lure to sink a little deeper and weighed enough so when you stop retrieving the Rapala it returns to the surface very slowly. Almost suspending it self just below the surface of the water. When you are retrieving the lure stop a couple of times and let the lure make its way toward the surface. Don’t be in a rush. Take your time. The strike will usually come while the lure is slowly floating upwards. This also works real well if you are fishing a river in a current. The split shot will hold the Rapala just below the surface.This article was really not meant to be an ad for Rapala- its just the way it came out. This may work equally as well with other brands of crank baits. But the floating Rapala is the one I have had my best luck with. Another good time to use this technique is when you have one of those outings that the fish keep following the lure in but wont take it. This will allow you to stop your retrieval 10 or 15 feet from the tip of your rod, with the lure suspended in the water to give the fish a chance to strike. And they usually will. So the next time out when the fish are throwing you a curve ball. Give this a try.

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With the weather warming up a little bit and the water coming down into a reasonable fishing range, we could have a great fishing week end here. Unfortunately I will be out of town. Some smelt have been taken in the falls river in the very early morning hours. The water level is now down but the steelhead fishing is kind of spotty. It has warmed up a little and that should help.The water in the Huron river has also come down quite a bit. Some fish are being taken but it is also on the light side. Hopefully we will see an increase in activity over the week end.

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Toward the end of the Morel hunting season and after a couple days of good rain. It is usually a good time to start hunting oyster mushrooms. Although Morel mushrooms have to be the most popular there are many good wild mushrooms to be picked though out the summer and fall. In the early part of the summer one of the first to appear are the oyster mushrooms. These can pretty much be divided into 2 groups. The most popular being the summer oyster ( Pleurotus populinus), And the darker fall version (Pleurotus ostreatus).

One advantage to hunting the fall oyster mushroom is you don’t have as many problems with insects destroying the mushrooms before you can get to them. As far as look a likes- there are not many. Most of them are so tough or thin you can’t eat them anyway. I find the summer oysters growing mostly on dead or dying poplar trees, from ground level all the way to the top of the tree. Which can get kind of frustrating if you are a short person like me.

This mushroom can get pretty large. Cap-2 ¼ to 5 ½ inches.

Color-Brownish white to white or grayish- in the shape of an oyster shell as the name implies.

There is a very short stem if any. The flesh is white. The spore print should be white to lilac.

The oyster mushroom is classified as an excellent edible.

This article is written for educational purposes only. If you are not sure what you are picking- don’t eat it! If you are new to mushroom hunting purchase some good books. Consult a professional for positive identification.

If you are not comfortable picking wild mushrooms there are many mushroom growing kits on the market. You can purchase a kit. You can also purchase spawn and start from scratch.

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