Fitty's Angling Ramble 6.0

[RMBros]

Screw fishing for them, I have a 12 ft double weighted cast net. I say I come up, we go in and we'll be done in 20 minutes. 6 weeks till the squid start running in the Indian River Inlet. They've rebounded from near extinction since the commercial ban was put on them within state's waters.

Damn, looks like I'm going to have to learn to cook crappie well.

Oh mighty powers that be, please forgive my ignorance and guide my hand as I prepare this fish.......

That aside - I didn't know that squid did river runs. Do they get up into the fresh water, ala bull sharks and salmon, or just get into the brakish in the Inlet?

I've always been amazed that ther aren't any non-shelled FW mollusks (octopi, squid, cuttlefish - don't think there are any others with the shells on the inside).

I actually did some research on the "why", and there is some sort of reason - I've just forgotten what it is.

[fitnessman]

Screw fishing for them, I have a 12 ft double weighted cast net. I say I come up, we go in and we'll be done in 20 minutes. 6 weeks till the squid start running in the Indian River Inlet. They've rebounded from near extinction since the commercial ban was put on them within state's waters.

Never see anyone netting them on Erie. Not sure why. See tons of folk fishing for them.

[Hartski]

Holy inflation, Batman! I dropped $460 at the grocery store last night for one cart full of stuff. Granted, 2 cartons of smokes accounted for $110 of that, but still........


On the plus side, the snow is melting really fast. The golf course could be open as soon as tomorrow or Friday!!

[|ceman]

Holy inflation, Batman! I dropped $460 at the grocery store last night for one cart full of stuff. Granted, 2 cartons of smokes accounted for $110 of that, but still........


On the plus side, the snow is melting really fast. The golf course could be open as soon as tomorrow or Friday!!

Aside from the fact that you will die early and quite likely cause an early death for the people you love the most, I don't understand how people can afford to smoke anymore!

[lhprop1]

Yeah my Wife once said to me that she really likes seafood and fish... To which I replied "See that's good because I keep bringing home Crappie and Walleye fillets!"

She looks at me like and explains "Walleye isn't seafood like Tilapia!"

She's got this vision in her head that Tilapia are brought to market buy some guy in a yellow rain slicker who's been smoking his pipe and driving his schooner through the Nor-easters to catch her Tilapia... When really it's just farmed out of a tank, and they live on the bottom feeding poo of other aquaculture fish.

BUT... I'll live with it!

You should inform her that tilapia have been caught in the Mississipi River in downtown Minneapolis.

[Nainoa]

You should inform her that tilapia have been caught in the Mississipi River in downtown Minneapolis.

That I did not know!

Wow I didn't think they could even live this far north!

[Nainoa]

Holy inflation, Batman! I dropped $460 at the grocery store last night for one cart full of stuff. Granted, 2 cartons of smokes accounted for $110 of that, but still........


On the plus side, the snow is melting really fast. The golf course could be open as soon as tomorrow or Friday!!

That's funny... Because last July and August I spent $110 per month on groceries. Which was mostly just meat and cheese to go with all the fruits and vegetables I was picking and eating every day!


I keep talking about how the mass transit food industry that runs our agriculture as an organization CANNOT continue was it is.

Step one of that system collapsing is inflation in food prices that don't plateau.

The Recession is masking people's awareness about what is going to become one hell of a crisis in the next 10 years.

Even in natural inflation... The price of food should go up... Level off... Go up... Level off.

Right now in the Northern Hemisphere it should be the worst of the year, since nothing is in season and all our produce is air shipped from South America or Mexico.

Watch what happens in 2012 Late Spring and Early Summer... In a normal cycle the price should come down. If it keeps going up... Don't blame inflation... Blame infrastructure!


And of course by then Nainoa's Guide to living off the land should be available on-line thru pay-pal for just 1 easy payment of $99.95.

[RMBros]

That I did not know!

Wow I didn't think they could even live this far north!

Me either.

We'll have them everywhere soon, then.

At least they might be better game fish than snakeheads and asian carp (and walking catfish, and......).

[RMBros]

That's funny... Because last July and August I spent $110 per month on groceries. Which was mostly just meat and cheese to go with all the fruits and vegetables I was picking and eating every day!


I keep talking about how the mass transit food industry that runs our agriculture as an organization CANNOT continue was it is.

Step one of that system collapsing is inflation in food prices that don't plateau.

The Recession is masking people's awareness about what is going to become one hell of a crisis in the next 10 years.

Even in natural inflation... The price of food should go up... Level off... Go up... Level off.

Right now in the Northern Hemisphere it should be the worst of the year, since nothing is in season and all our produce is air shipped from South America or Mexico.

Watch what happens in 2012 Late Spring and Early Summer... In a normal cycle the price should come down. If it keeps going up... Don't blame inflation... Blame infrastructure!


And of course by then Nainoa's Guide to living off the land should be available on-line thru pay-pal for just 1 easy payment of $99.95.

I hear that the whole Urban Farming thing is really taking off in Detroit - plenty of abandoned houses and folks are taking over several yards to put in gardens.

I think there is even legal effort to make it legal (under certain conditions, of course).

I'm stuck in a small yard, but I have grand designs for either a tiered mobile garden or a green/live roof garden. Neither may ever happen, but they seem like fun ideas.

In Boulder, front-yard gardens and chicken coops weren't unusual at all - and there isn't a ghetto neighborhood there, so we're talking 400K to 1M+ homes with gardens for front yards.

[HairyScandinavian]

That I did not know!

Wow I didn't think they could even live this far north!

You can't kill them fawkers. Down here they're stocked in a few lakes for hydrilla control (or something, I dunno) and it's illegal to leave the lake with ungutted fish. They make for great bait, very tough fish and will withstand multiple casts and remain very lively, stronger than perch.

[RMBros]

You can't kill them fawkers. Down here they're stocked in a few lakes for hydrilla control (or something, I dunno) and it's illegal to leave the lake with ungutted fish. They make for great bait, very tough fish and will withstand multiple casts and remain very lively, stronger than perch.

Good luck on the whole don't leave with live fish thing.

Now, if we could just get the bastards to eat zebra muscles, we'd have something.

Don't we ever learn?

Hey, let's bring in Kudzu for erosion control.

Hey, let's bring in Asian Carp for algae/hydrilla control.

Man, wouldn't it be fun to catch some pike out of this lake, as well as trout?

Hey, these Cane Toads should help control pests in the sugar cane fields.

Hey, there are a lot of rats in Hawaii, let's bring in some mongooses (sp?) to kill them off.

Hey, I know we have a lot of **** that jumps already, but let's bring some rabbits to Australia.

Hey, I've got an idea, let's release breeding populations of every bird mentioned in a Shakespeare play - starlings won't ever become a problem.

And that's the short list.

[lhprop1]

That I did not know!

Wow I didn't think they could even live this far north!

There were a few reports of them being caught by the Ford dam last year. Not many, but they are there.

[lhprop1]

Good luck on the whole don't leave with live fish thing.

Now, if we could just get the bastards to eat zebra muscles, we'd have something.

Don't we ever learn?

Hey, let's bring in Kudzu for erosion control.

Hey, let's bring in Asian Carp for algae/hydrilla control.

Man, wouldn't it be fun to catch some pike out of this lake, as well as trout?

Hey, these Cane Toads should help control pests in the sugar cane fields.

Hey, there are a lot of rats in Hawaii, let's bring in some mongooses (sp?) to kill them off.

Hey, I know we have a lot of **** that jumps already, but let's bring some rabbits to Australia.

Hey, I've got an idea, let's release breeding populations of every bird mentioned in a Shakespeare play - starlings won't ever become a problem.

And that's the short list.

Solution: Put muskies in every lake. Problem solved.

[RMBros]

Solution: Put muskies in every lake. Problem solved.

I'm ready for a muskie vs snakehead vid - youtube here I come.

[Nainoa]

I'm ready for a muskie vs snakehead vid - youtube here I come.

Snake head is below an adult muskies standards... Killing a snake head for a Musky is like Usain Bolt running in the Special Olympics.

Real Musky wait for Aligator Gar!

[Nainoa]

I hear that the whole Urban Farming thing is really taking off in Detroit - plenty of abandoned houses and folks are taking over several yards to put in gardens.

I think there is even legal effort to make it legal (under certain conditions, of course).

I'm stuck in a small yard, but I have grand designs for either a tiered mobile garden or a green/live roof garden. Neither may ever happen, but they seem like fun ideas.

In Boulder, front-yard gardens and chicken coops weren't unusual at all - and there isn't a ghetto neighborhood there, so we're talking 400K to 1M+ homes with gardens for front yards.

When it comes to the whole "Urban Farming" thing... While there are some differences... For this topic it's fair to say that I qualify as an "Urban Farmer" as far as using land in a non-ag area to supplement my families food.

In my .75 acre lot... I have more "Garden and/or Orchard" than I do lawn. On my property anything that can grow food does grow food. Everything else is either driveway, foundation, stream bed, walking path or septic tank. (Plus two greenhouses)

This basically cuts $5K off my ANNUAL food cost for my family.

So the real problem with our agriculture as a NATION is that it's been centralized. And of the top 4 production regions (California Delta, Ogallala plains, Emerald Valley and the Mid Atlantic) Only #4 (Which is a distant 4th mind you) the Mid Atlantic Region is the ONLY ONE that isn't operating beyond max capacity for water, labor, transport costs.

And in fact you would have an easier time logically proving the existence of Unicorns and Leprechauns than you would finding the logic to tell me that everything is going to work itself out in the California Delta, Emerald Valley (Colorado River) and Ogallala Aquifer... And the water crisis loaded up in those regions has nothing to do with economy, and still doesn't factor in fuel costs and energy crisis.

The next sentence I write is an important one... Read it a 8-10 times, say it out loud... Mention it to your Wife...

As things are now there is a 100% chance that your children will know famine in their lifetime.


And it's not a taxes thing, it's not a government thing, it's not a climate change thing... It's an over population and resources thing that exists on a practical level.

A century ago our cities were fed by the local farms around them. When we made the move to being an urbanized culture, corporations took over our food production. Now it's all screwed up. And unless we begin relocalizing agriculture EVERYWHERE in the country, it is inevitable that we will see a collapse of our food production system.

/Rant

[fitnessman]

In two words:

Victory Gardens

[Nainoa]

In two words:

Victory Gardens

But that was back before the Urbanization swell that happened at the end of WWII.

My Grandmother had a victory garden in her neighborhood, because there were 4 houses on the block and enough land that they could all plant it.

Now it's a mini mall and a small apartment building.

The available land in Urban areas (And the skill sets required to maximize them) just aren't there anymore.

[Hartski]

And I've only got maybe a 20x30 spot for the garden. Don't know how much I'll be able to grow in it. Every little bit helps, I guess.

[pavchaos]

its like mid 60s here today - cant believe it.

[RMBros]

And I've only got maybe a 20x30 spot for the garden. Don't know how much I'll be able to grow in it. Every little bit helps, I guess.

Green Roof Garden.

Basically, beef up the supports for the roof, put down a waterproof layer (are you really, really sure it's waterproof?), add irrigation, add soil - there's your garden.

Tiering might be a good idea, or at least something for footholds.

If the bugs and weeds get too bad, throw in some barnyard fowl - now you get eggs too.

It's supposed to be good to great insulation and will obviously hold up to storms better than shingles (you do have to put in some method of preventing the soil from eroding).

Not sure how practical that is in heavy snow areas however - snow + soil could be a huge weight.

Oh.....it's not a good place to plant your orchard, if you were thinking of that.

[RMBros]

Snake head is below an adult muskies standards... Killing a snake head for a Musky is like Usain Bolt running in the Special Olympics.

Real Musky wait for Aligator Gar!

I think you're right for the version of SH that is loose in the US, but I think the giant SH gets close to musky size. From what I remember though, Giant SH practices the whole "Gentle Giant" thing.

Saw a few vids featuring SH vs NP or Muskie - not one was a fair battle (fish of similar size) and most weren't even fights, just one fish taking food from another.

Did see one where an Alligator Gar swam around someone's fish tank with an SH in his mouth for 5 min before the SH escaped and swam around as if nothing had happened.

[Nainoa]

Green Roof Garden.

Basically, beef up the supports for the roof, put down a waterproof layer (are you really, really sure it's waterproof?), add irrigation, add soil - there's your garden.

Tiering might be a good idea, or at least something for footholds.

If the bugs and weeds get too bad, throw in some barnyard fowl - now you get eggs too.

It's supposed to be good to great insulation and will obviously hold up to storms better than shingles (you do have to put in some method of preventing the soil from eroding).

Not sure how practical that is in heavy snow areas however - snow + soil could be a huge weight.

Oh.....it's not a good place to plant your orchard, if you were thinking of that.

I've got a mag that recently had an article on this rooftop garden. A guy who basically put it into place on an existing house.

Problems:

1. The cost to reinforce an existing house is borderline prohibitive. So you're looking at it for building a house intended that way.

2. The soil depth is shallow, which reduces actual "Vegetables" you could grow up there, unless you get really friggin' crazy on the weight. Or just grow lettuce (Which is a spring and fall crop)

3. No protection for the actual veg from summer storms, so EVERYTHING is getting blown over with each strong wind.

4. Because of the shallow soils and disconnect from the natural ground water it will be very drought sensitive.


It ultimately falls into one of those categories of things the Tree Huggers dreamed up that works better in the mind than in reality.

[Nainoa]

And I've only got maybe a 20x30 spot for the garden. Don't know how much I'll be able to grow in it. Every little bit helps, I guess.

I'd do a 3 sisters (Corn, Beans and Squash) Then I'd buy rabbit fence and some cheap studs to make a trellis (Set to the same south facing angle equal to your global lattitude)

Then tomatoes and potatoes to round out the rest.
*Plant Potatoes on the east side of the garden

Rack herb garden near the back door.


This^^^ is 2/3rd of what I have going in my "Acidic soil" garden.

[Hartski]

Yeah, the rooftop garden thing doesn't sound like a good idea. If all else fails, I'll just take the 20x40 area I have set aside for my future shop and expand the garden.

[HairyScandinavian]

You guys are screwed.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0371954/

[Hartski]

I'd do a 3 sisters (Corn, Beans and Squash) Then I'd buy rabbit fence and some cheap studs to make a trellis (Set to the same south facing angle equal to your global lattitude)

Then tomatoes and potatoes to round out the rest.
*Plant Potatoes on the east side of the garden

Rack herb garden near the back door.


This^^^ is 2/3rd of what I have going in my "Acidic soil" garden.

Don't like squash, and the tomatoes are going in seperate planters on the patio. Might try the trellis for cucumbers, though.

[RMBros]

The next sentence I write is an important one... Read it a 8-10 times, say it out loud... Mention it to your Wife...

As things are now there is a 100% chance that your children will know famine in their lifetime.


And it's not a taxes thing, it's not a government thing, it's not a climate change thing... It's an over population and resources thing that exists on a practical level.

A century ago our cities were fed by the local farms around them. When we made the move to being an urbanized culture, corporations took over our food production. Now it's all screwed up. And unless we begin relocalizing agriculture EVERYWHERE in the country, it is inevitable that we will see a collapse of our food production system.

/Rant

I've been trying to make the same point (if for slightly different reasons) for quite a while now.

A lot of people assume that over population is just the result of an increasing global birth rate, but it also stems from decreases in infant mortality and increases in life span.

Throw in the nearly universal desire to have a standard of living that is at least a bit better than the previous generation and you get a snowball effect that consumes a scary amount of resources.

We honestly need a good war or plague to clear the place out a bit - the only other methods of population control rely on birth control, some sort of Logan's Run lifespan limits, or colonization of space.

The sad thing is that space colonization is probably the most likely of those three, because it doesn't count on people choosing (at least tacitly) to do something that is painful (restricting number of children, voluntary (or voting for mandatory) sterilization, or killing grandma when she reaches a certain age).

Regarding Standard of Living, I think we're up against the same model - I don't think anyone can present an argument that will convince the public as a whole to unlearn consumerism. Historic events like world wars and major depressions have altered some of the behavior for one generation, but the pendulum seems to swing right back, given a chance.

I don't completely agree that children in the US will face famine, but I do agree that we will definitely be learning to tighten our belts, whether we want to or not.

BTW - one of the best ways to fight a big chunk of illegal immigration is decentralizing crops - part of the model is being able to get all of the workers in one place cheaply.

[HairyScandinavian]

Nainoa, that 3 sisters experiment didn't go so well for me last year. I had tons of squash but the corn and beans never really did squat, we couldn't figure out when to harvest the corn (lol) some would be ready while others not so most of it was wasted by "checking" it, the beans grew well but refused to grab hold of the corn stalks and then died out in rapid fashion. Same beans planted along my hog panel fence walked up the fence and grew all year.

Don't like squash, and the tomatoes are going in seperate planters on the patio. Might try the trellis for cucumbers, though.

Squash is great steamed with a light dash of your favorite season all type powdery stuff. I steam it and sprinkle heavily with Tony's Creole... /drools

[RMBros]

I've got a mag that recently had an article on this rooftop garden. A guy who basically put it into place on an existing house.

Problems:

1. The cost to reinforce an existing house is borderline prohibitive. So you're looking at it for building a house intended that way.

2. The soil depth is shallow, which reduces actual "Vegetables" you could grow up there, unless you get really friggin' crazy on the weight. Or just grow lettuce (Which is a spring and fall crop)

3. No protection for the actual veg from summer storms, so EVERYTHING is getting blown over with each strong wind.

4. Because of the shallow soils and disconnect from the natural ground water it will be very drought sensitive.


It ultimately falls into one of those categories of things the Tree Huggers dreamed up that works better in the mind than in reality.

I'd probably have to agree, but I do like the idea.

For a retro fit house, the soil depth and associated weight for veggies is too large.

I've seen a few sod and wildflower roofs that claimed to be successful, but drought tolerance and hardiness are obviously major issues in plant choice.

If I ever do get around to putting in that two-story deck I talk about, I will def consider making it sturdy enough to sod the second floor - might have to put a sheep up there to keep the grass down. I'm not sure I'd like to haul a mower up a flight of stairs.

I'm guessing that would probably triple the cost though, so it's more than likely going to be a passing consideration before I put in some exotic, non-sustainable South American hardwood deck.