Team Fowl Mouth

Shout out to 2 great companies: mathewsinc and blackwatersports856. If you’re wondering if Matthews archery stands by their warranty, they do. After 15 years and Lord knows how many shots Justin’s Creed developed a slight delamination in one of the limbs. Mathews sent out 4 new limbs completely free of charge. A quick install from Jeff and boys, along with a new D loop, and paper tune had him back in the business in less than 10 days. Wolnt be long now.

The final morning greeted us with fog thicker than pea soup. There would be no racing to the spot this morning just a slow idol, the kind that lets you sip a cup of coffee as the anticipation builds. The familiar channels suddenly unknown, rocks and tree lines appear suddenly and disappear more apparition than reality. And there, the familiar string of buoys that deters pleasure boaters and attracts anglers for the same reason. The fish were feeding, slowly at first, then building to a boil of Largemouth Bass, Chain Pickerel, and finally a Northern Pike that seemed to catch a bucktail as it broke the water’s surface. It was Justin’s day to shine as he landed all of the photo worthy Esox, topping Adams long time run as the king of toothy fish. Another year of Adirondack angling in the books and we plan to return soon!

Special evening out on the water with Kaia catching her first fish. On the 2nd cast a decent yellow perch perch grabbed the night crawler and stayed hooked all the way to the boat. Hitting this milestone surround my mommy, daddy, sister, uncle Adam, and uncle Mike made for a special moment. Several more perch, and pumpkinseeds were added to the tally causing Kaia to literally jump for joy. Mike and Adam also go in on the action taking a few chain pickerel on swim baits in the shallow Lilly pads. Dad also helped his one year old, Alanna reel in a small perch which she proudly paraded over to mommy.

First morning in the Aditondaks! The bit was hot and the boys boated a record 17 fish and a variety of top water plugs, bucktails, and soft plastics. Unfortunately, most were small bass and cookie cutter sized chain pickerel. Justin managed one picture worth pickerel midmorning that you see here. Can’t wait to see what the rest of the week has in store!

Freshened up mineral sights and started a couple new ones across 4 properties before the rain. Saw 11 deer including 5 spotted fawns, a welcome sign. Also found this blue glass Raleigh’s brand apothecary bottle that is likely well over 100 years old! While we still have some fishing and crabbing planned for the summer months, the whitetail archery season is just 6 short weeks away.

Monday nights storms managed skirted all around us, allowing a few hours of bass fishing. We hope the pressure change would have the fish in eating mode but no such luck. We picked away at them and Justin eventually landed a quality best just a couple ounces shy of the 3lb mark. The unique black spot on his tail will be a dead giveaway if we catch him again in coming years.

Update 2.0: Left a jar for my dad which he opened about day 4. He reported his jar had a pleasant taste reminiscent of 7UP. Despite being essentially a non soda drinker he found it quite pleasant.

Update: the process worked as described with the fermentation process, causing a “carbonation” of sorts. However, while recipes vary between three and six days, I personally think the five days was too long. It started to take on a flavor, reminiscent of kombucha, more than soda. We intend to try again and open closer to the three day mark, which was when the product visually looked most appealing.

First attempt at making “Pine Sprite”! We will have a tasting in 4 days or so and see how we did. Anyone else ever tried to make a natural soda?

The boys finally had a proper trip, enjoying a beautiful morning of freshwater fishing. Started off quick with a good swim bait bite, Adam landed several including a 2lb-8oz largemouth. The bite slowed but they picked away including a solid 2+ that took a popper. Finally they put on some hard baits in an effort to catch some of the pickerel that at been shirt shrinking a tearing up the soft plastics. The next hour turned into an all out blitz on floating minnows and inline spinners. When the dust settled they had taken yellow perch, pumpkinseed, bluegill, chain pickerel to 22”, and largemouth bass including a 3lb-3oz specimens that smoked a rooster tail! It’s nice to know in a wold of glide baits and sea urchins the classics are still producing.

My sidekick and I freshening up some summer mineral sights. The weather has been hotter than the hinges on the gates of hell, but that hasn’t stopped the thoughts of velvet antlers and red summer foes from creeping into our minds. With a little luck whatetail bucks will soon reveal themselves on the trail cams. These are mostly tried and true locations, but as the stock market has reminded us previous successes do not guarantee future returns. If you ever wondered what it’s like to carry a 40+ pound three year-old, 5 gallon bucket of corn, and a bucket of mineral in on a single trip when it’s 93°, well it’s about as much fun as you’d imagine.

Justin and Mike had a chance to hit the water for a few hours the other night. The bite was slow as expected with the bear hundred degree temps, but they picked away boating 5 bass to 2-9 and a bonus pickerel. Quality was decent with 4 of 5 bass going in the two pound class. It’s been several months since the last outing and it was nice to feel the familiar tug at the end of the line.