Ice Fishing | Fishing Tackle | Hunting and Fishing | Wild Mushrooms

Recipe for Oyster Mushrooms

Larry — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:30:46 +0000

Please welcome guest poster Bobby from Chinese Recipes

Here’s another great side dish to go with your Chinese dinner – a recipe for Oyster mushrooms. Oyster mushrooms are very good to eat and you should be able to find them at any decent market. They are commonly used in Japanese and Chinese cuisine as a delicacy. This recipe is very easy and is nothing more than a basic stir fry. Normally I just sauté my mushrooms in garlic and butter and that tastes great, but I think this is a lot better! Instead of just adding garlic and butter we are adding other ingredients such as soy sauce, white wine and rosemary. I was really amazing by the great flavor that the mushrooms had after frying them. If by some chance Oyster mushrooms are not available to you, I would think this recipe would go great with many other types of mushrooms as well. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
8 ounces fresh oyster mushrooms (rinsed)
1 tablespoon garlic (minced)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon rosemary (minced)
1 teaspoon butter
2 teaspoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon dry white wine (or sherry)
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Slice mushrooms into pieces. Sauté garlic in olive oil for 15 seconds. Add mushrooms and sauté 3 minutes.
Step 2: Add rosemary and butter and stir fry until butter is melted. Sprinkle mushrooms with flour and stir fry.
Step 3: Add wine and soy sauce and cook until liquid slightly thickens and the mushrooms are tender.

Fishing Bluegills Loads of Fun and Great Eating

Larry — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:35:01 +0000

My son says it was massive murder. He loves to catch them gills and really enjoys the fish fry that follows. We packed all our gear up and headed for the lake yesterday afternoon. The action was fast. First cast I landed a large bluegill. It did not stop their. It turned into two hours of fun and produced a nice mess of fish. My bait of choice for this trip, a Black fly. My son simply used crawlers and a bobber. Both fishing baits did very well.

How Good Can it Get Mushroom Hunting Today Fishing Tomorrow

Larry — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:35:23 +0000

A beautiful day here in Upper Michigan. It is starting to dry out , so we do need some rain. I was out of town last week and we had a couple days of rain. Right after the rain would have been a great time to go foraging for Oyster mushrooms. Although a little late I decided to go take a look today and see what I could find. I was able to find enough Oyster Mushrooms that weren’t dried out to take home. I will be posting the recipe we used on this collection of mushrooms in the recipe catagory . If you are not familiar with the oyster mushroom I have included the link from a previous post. Wild mushrooms-Hunting the Oyster mushroom
I also came across a mushroom called Platterful. This mushroom is edible but has absolutely no taste. They are very plentiful here in the spring and early summer. But are of no use.

Platterful Mushroom (Tricholomopsis platyphylla)

Cap-2 to 5 inches brownish grey streaked with dark radial fibers. Gills attached.Stem-3 to 5 inches fibrous with tough rind.Spore Print WhiteSeason-May to early October

Habitat-Found on logs, stumps and wood debris.

Fishing Tips Choosing a Fishing Line

Larry — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 10:17:14 +0000

If you have been reading the articles I have posted. You probably realize I always say get by with the lightest pound test line possible. What is the main reason for this? Some fish seem to be more line sensitive than others. An example is Brown Trout. I don’t think I have ever caught a Brown when using over 8 lb test mono tolling here in Keweenaw Bay. Usually I am trolling for salmon with heavier line. When I have a guest on my boat I will put down an extra line or two. Out of necessity one of the rigs will have lighter line. And like it is magic that line will produce at least one Brown Trout and maybe two. Crappies are another great example. One time I can remember being out fished big time by a buddy of mine. For fishing lures both him and I were using 1/8 oz pink and white crappie jigs. The only difference was he had 6 lb test mono and I had 8. I caught two fish. He caught his limit of 25. What a huge difference.Carry extra spools of line with you. One a little heavier and one lighter then what you have on your main rig. More factors come into play than just the fish. How many snags are their? Four pound test monofilament line will break a lot easier than eight. You have to be able to fish. Being hunk up and breaking your line all the time in snags is not the way to do it. Your only solution may be to use the heavier line. Also fishing with lighter line you need to use a lighter drag setting. How much room do you have to let the fish run? Do you have to be concerned with holding them in to a tight area? These are all questions you should ask yourself when choosing what pound test line to use.

If none of these things will create a problem then go with the lightest line possible. Keep your drag set on the light side, you can always adjust it in battle, and you are ready to catch fish.

Wild Mushrooms-Sweet Tooth or Hedgehog-Hydnum repandum

Larry — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 00:44:06 +0000

This is one of my favorites. The sweet tooth mushroom or in this area they are called the hedgehog mushroom is very plentiful here in upper Michigan. Season starts in July an goes though September. I have my best luck foraging for the Sweet Tooth mushroom starting around the beginning of August and though the middle part of September.When my kids were younger-this was their favorite. They would come running to the door when I got home to see if I had found any.

This mushroom is good tasting an very easy to identify.

Instead of gills it has spines. The cap is good size 1 ¼ to 6 inches. The color is cinnamon brown to white. The stem is tapered at the base and the same color as the cap. The spore print color is white.

If you aren’t sure what you are picking don’t eat it. If you are new to mushroom hunting consult an expert for positive identification.

Cajun Crappie Recipe

Larry — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 23:02:25 +0000

(Please welcome guest poster Bobby from Chinese Recipes)
One of my favorite things to do during the summer here in Michigan is go fishing. Bluegills and crappie taste great and there’s nothing better than some fresh fish. A few days ago I went fishing and caught some pretty nice crappies and I figured I would try something different with them. I decided to try a little heat by making a delicious recipe for Cajun crappie. I felt the Cajun seasoning played an important role giving it just the right amount of heat. The fish is first tipped in batter, rolled in a spicy cornmeal mixture, and then fried in the pan. This recipe is best served with Tabasco sauce, pepper sauce, or pineapple salsa.

Ingredients:
1 lb crappie fillets
1/2 cup milk
½ cup flour
2 eggs
1 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Mix together flour, eggs and milk in a bowl. In another bowl mix together corn meal, Cajun seasoning, salt, and pepper.
Step 2: Dip crappie fillets in the wet mixture to coat and then roll in the dry mixture.

Step 3: Fry fillets in oil on both sides until both sides are golden brown or until fully cooked.

Crappie fishing Tips

Larry — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:35:25 +0000

The wind really blew here Saturday making fishing very difficult. So we waited till Sunday and decided to do some crappie and gill fishing. Along with the wind on Saturday it was very hot here. A cold front moved into the area on Sunday. The cooler weather-especially the 1^st day usually slows the fishing down but we decided to go anyway. We did not catch a lot -but did wind up with some very nice fish. Enough for a good meal.. We started out using crawlers and flies on the gills then changed to ¼ oz pink and white jigs toward evening for crappies. All in all it was a nice fishing trip.Just a few quick tips for crappie fishing.Use as light of line as possible-preferably 4 or 6 lb testThe fishing jig colors that seem to work best for me are pink and white, black on black and black and white.If you are fishing from shore use a weighted bobber with a 1/32 or 1/16 oz jig. This will help increase your casting distance. The bobber will also help keep the jig out of the weed beds and bottom snags.

Pause your line frequently. Many times this is when the crappies will strike.

Finally- don’t quit fishing to early. Crappies are mainly evening and night feeders. Many times they will start hitting real heavy just before dark.

Tags:fishing, crappie fishing, fishing tips

Fishing Report Keweenaw Bay-Trolling for Lake Trout and Salmon

Larry — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 13:13:21 +0000

It is the 1^st day of the Annual Lake Trout fishing Tournament her in L’anse Michigan today. It is very windy making a tough start . It is an offshore wind which helps a lot. Even though the bay is choppy the turnout seems to be very good. Lake trout fishing in the bay has been good over the past couple of weeks. This contest ends Sunday afternoon. If the wind doesn’t go down bobbing for lake trout will not be possible- it will strictly be a trolling game.Just a quick tip on trolling for salmon and lake trout using downriggers. Use a slider line- cut a piece of monofilament line the same pound test you are trolling with- about 10 to 15 feet long. Attach a swivel to both ends. Lower your main line down attached to your downrigger release. After you have it set into place use the swivel on one end of the line and attach to your main line. Put a fishing lure on the other end and feed it into the water. The swivel will slide down the main line and come to rest in the bow of the line from the current caused by the trolling movement. You now have a suspended line helping you cover a lot more depth area.This works really well if you are trolling for lake trout. Lake trout usually run deep but salmon will usually be suspended. Run your main line deep and attach your slider. This method gives you a good shot at both.

Huge small mouth bass-scuba and a speargun what a mistake

Larry — Thu, 29 May 2008 17:25:22 +0000

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.

I was at the edge of the pit now. It had to be about noon. The sun was very high in the sky. I looked down at the spear gun lying next to my scuba tank. Ya- I thought by the end of the day one of those huge small mouth bass will be mine!

Instead of entering the water right away I decided to wait till I saw the two fish. At least that way I would have a general idea of where they were at.

The water was so clear it was like looking though a window into another dimension. And just like it was meant to be -their they were. Two very large bass slowly swimming their way along the bottom like they were patrolling their territory. Unaware of the dangerous event I was about to impose on them.

I finished securing my equipment, placed the mouth piece from the regulator in my mouth and slid as quietly as I could under the water.

The water was very warm on the surface. As I approached the thermo cline at about 20 ft I knew from experience in these mine pit’s the change would be extreme. Even with a wet suite I had to make the change gradually to allow my body to adjust to the change in temperature from a very warm 70 degrees to about 40.

As I approached an underwater plateau I glanced at my depth gauge, I was already 60 ft. down. The water was so clear when I looked back up at the surface I could see the sun appearing like a star in a hazy sky. The hunt was on.

The bottom was shale rock. With large boulders scattered throughout the top of the plateau. Their were no weed beds for the fish to hide in. As I neared the end of the area the water started to darken. I knew their had to be a very sharp drop off. The mine pit is small but is over 200 feet deep before it turns into a shaft continuing down to who knows how far.

Their they were right on the edge of the drop! I cocked the spear gun and moved slowly toward the two fish to get into range. My presence did not seem to bother them. I chose the largest of the two bass. I would make this a head shot. As the sight of my spear gun came to rest on the fish I slowly squeezed the trigger.

What happened next-I could not believe my eyes. The spear launched right on target- I felt the pull of the spear as it reached the end of its rope. In the super clear water I had failed to estimate the distance of the fish accurately. The spear came to an abrupt halt ½ inch short of the fish. This was over -I would not get another chance.

This happened years ago. I don’t know how long small mouth bass live. But these two deserved to live forever. I often wonder if I went back their if I would still see these two fish swimming peacefully along the shore line.

Tips for collecting and identifying edible Wild mushrooms

Larry — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:21:22 +0000

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