A video from earlier this summer when we took Larry Harper the Bill Dance Fish Attractor guy fishing at a few places. We hope to be able to upgrade the quality our filming camera, we just need to sell a few more porcupine attractors though!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
No cool pics, just a recap!
I am on diaper duty right now. Brook is out at the lake with 15 junior high girls for an overnight retreat, and I just got the kids down for a nap and dont really feel like working much, shoot I might even take a nap myself!
Anyhow, been electrofishing a couple nights a week, stocking quite a few Hybrid Striped Bass, killing lots of duckweed, and even did a little fishing with some clients on their new fishing dock last night.
You wont believe this story: Anyhow we get all our business taken care of and its 7 pm and cool and calm and we decide to grab some gear and head down to the dock for a few minutes. Scott busts a blue fox spinner out and reels in a nice crappie and Terry casts out a night crawler and catches a pesky "little" perch. Inside I am glowing and admiring these trophy 10-12 inch fat yellow perch that the guys keeping reeling in on almost every cast until I find out that they didnt realize exactly what they were catching. Come to find out the pesky perch are so easy to catch they classified them as pesky bluegill and had been cutting them up for catfish bait on their jugs they set out!!!
Anyhow we got that squared away and let them know that those are indeed trophy fish and would be the envy of thousands of anglers across the midwest!
That brings me back to today. I had a couple appointments and an application to do today, but I also agreed to watch the kids and ended up pulling everything off and they are sound asleep and everything got done, but I dont think I could handle another day like today for quite some time. I got to get some rest before nap time is over so I had better get rolling!!!
Anyhow, been electrofishing a couple nights a week, stocking quite a few Hybrid Striped Bass, killing lots of duckweed, and even did a little fishing with some clients on their new fishing dock last night.
You wont believe this story: Anyhow we get all our business taken care of and its 7 pm and cool and calm and we decide to grab some gear and head down to the dock for a few minutes. Scott busts a blue fox spinner out and reels in a nice crappie and Terry casts out a night crawler and catches a pesky "little" perch. Inside I am glowing and admiring these trophy 10-12 inch fat yellow perch that the guys keeping reeling in on almost every cast until I find out that they didnt realize exactly what they were catching. Come to find out the pesky perch are so easy to catch they classified them as pesky bluegill and had been cutting them up for catfish bait on their jugs they set out!!!
Anyhow we got that squared away and let them know that those are indeed trophy fish and would be the envy of thousands of anglers across the midwest!
That brings me back to today. I had a couple appointments and an application to do today, but I also agreed to watch the kids and ended up pulling everything off and they are sound asleep and everything got done, but I dont think I could handle another day like today for quite some time. I got to get some rest before nap time is over so I had better get rolling!!!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
4br Home, Indoor Gym, Pond, and 5 acres!
Outstanding 4bd/3ba Home, Indoor Gym and Pond on 5 acres!
ListingID 22149267
Additional photos below
| Open House |
 | Sunday, August 16, 2009 2:00PM to 4:00PM More Information  |
| About this Property |
 |
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 3
Floors: 2.0
Square Footage: 3285
Year Built: 1988
School District: Dunlap
Garage Size: 2.0
Lot Size: 5 Acre(s)
Amenities:
Fireplace, Central AC, Carpeted Floors, Wood Floors, Appliances Included, Patio/Balcony, Basement, Bonus/Great Room, Central Heating, Deck/Porch, Garage, Jetted Bathtub, Lakefront, Office/Den, Active Adult, Tile Floors, View
- This estate is located in Peoria County on Rt 91 just down the road from the Shoppes at Grand Prairie, the new medical buildings, hospital, and the new Grace Presbyterian Church! Hoerr's Apple Blossom Farm Orchard borders the entry lane on the North side! The Home was constructed by Noah Herman Sons builders in 1988. A new roof and hybrid heating/cooling system were installed in 2007, and a brand new $100,000 very large kitchen with granite countertops and tile floor was remodeled in 2008! All of the bedrooms are upstairs and the Master Retreat features a fireplace, balcony, and jetted bathtub.
- The "Barn" was constructed in 1995 and features a 2600 sq/ft indoor gymnasium with full court basketball and volleyball. Also boasts an 1100 sq/ft banquet area with full kitchen and a 1000 sq/ft 3 stall garage! The House and Barn sits on 5 acres of land with over 300 feet of waterfront frontage, private beach, and a large deck/dock on a shared 3 acre pond. The pond is shared with the 3 other homes in the "subdivision". No other houses can be built in this subdivision!
- The pond is professionally managed and maintained by Herman Brothers Pond Management. It is fully stocked with Trophy Yellow Perch, Crappie, Hybrid Bluegill, Catfish, Bass, Walleye, and even Tiger Muskie. Large Rainbow Trout will be stocked this fall for ice fishing!
- The sellers of this property are now empty nesters and very motivated to sell the property to a family who will appreciate and utilize all of the amenities and activities this estate has to offer. Although the sellers are willing to negotiate, the property is priced to sell very quickly and at list price will not be on the market very long. Our Open House is scheduled for Sunday, August 16th from 2-4pm. House is available to move in immediately following the Open House.
E-mail the Owner
| More Photos |
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| Contact the Owner |
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Thursday, July 16, 2009
Venison Versus Beef
Sent to me from a client, author unknown. Kind of makes you think a bit?
"Controversy has long raged about the relative quality and taste of
venison and beef as gourmet foods. Some people say that venison is
tough, with a strong "wild" taste. Others insist that venison's flavor
is delicate. An independent food research group was retained by the
Venison Council to conduct a taste test to determine the truth of these
conflicting assertions once and for all.
First a Grade A Choice Holstein steer was chased into a swamp a mile and
a half from a road and shot several times. After some of the entrails
were removed, the carcass was dragged back over rocks and logs, and
through mud and dust to the road. It was then thrown into the back of a
pickup truck and driven through rain and snow for 100 miles before being
hung out in the sun for 10 days.
After that it was lugged into a garage, where it was skinned and rolled
around on the floor for a while. Strict sanitary precautions were
observed throughout the test, within the limitations of the butchering
en vironment.
For instance, dogs and cats were allowed to sniff and lick the steer
carcass, but were chased away when they attempted to bite chunks out of
it.
Next a sheet of plywood left from last year's butchering was set up in
the basement on two saw horses. The pieces of dried blood, hair and fat
left from last year were scraped off with a wire brush last used to
clean out the grass stuck under the lawn mower.
The skinned carcass was then dragged down the steps into the basement
where a half dozen inexperienced but enthusiastic and intoxicated men
worked on it with meat saws, cleavers and dull knives. The result was
375 pounds of soup bones, four bushel baskets of meat scraps, and a
couple of steaks that were an eighth of an inch thick on one edge and an
inch and a half thick on the other.
The steaks were seared on a glowing red hot cast iron skillet to lock in
the flavor. When the smoke cleared, rancid bacon grease was added along
with three pounds of onions, and the whole conglomeration was fried for
two hours.
The meat was gently teased from the frying pan and served to three
blindfolded taste panel volunteers. Every one of the members of the
panel thought it was venison. One of the volunteers even said it tasted
exactly like the venison he had eaten in hunting camps for the past 27
years. The results of this scientific test show conclusively that there
is no difference between the taste of beef and venison."
"Controversy has long raged about the relative quality and taste of
venison and beef as gourmet foods. Some people say that venison is
tough, with a strong "wild" taste. Others insist that venison's flavor
is delicate. An independent food research group was retained by the
Venison Council to conduct a taste test to determine the truth of these
conflicting assertions once and for all.
First a Grade A Choice Holstein steer was chased into a swamp a mile and
a half from a road and shot several times. After some of the entrails
were removed, the carcass was dragged back over rocks and logs, and
through mud and dust to the road. It was then thrown into the back of a
pickup truck and driven through rain and snow for 100 miles before being
hung out in the sun for 10 days.
After that it was lugged into a garage, where it was skinned and rolled
around on the floor for a while. Strict sanitary precautions were
observed throughout the test, within the limitations of the butchering
en vironment.
For instance, dogs and cats were allowed to sniff and lick the steer
carcass, but were chased away when they attempted to bite chunks out of
it.
Next a sheet of plywood left from last year's butchering was set up in
the basement on two saw horses. The pieces of dried blood, hair and fat
left from last year were scraped off with a wire brush last used to
clean out the grass stuck under the lawn mower.
The skinned carcass was then dragged down the steps into the basement
where a half dozen inexperienced but enthusiastic and intoxicated men
worked on it with meat saws, cleavers and dull knives. The result was
375 pounds of soup bones, four bushel baskets of meat scraps, and a
couple of steaks that were an eighth of an inch thick on one edge and an
inch and a half thick on the other.
The steaks were seared on a glowing red hot cast iron skillet to lock in
the flavor. When the smoke cleared, rancid bacon grease was added along
with three pounds of onions, and the whole conglomeration was fried for
two hours.
The meat was gently teased from the frying pan and served to three
blindfolded taste panel volunteers. Every one of the members of the
panel thought it was venison. One of the volunteers even said it tasted
exactly like the venison he had eaten in hunting camps for the past 27
years. The results of this scientific test show conclusively that there
is no difference between the taste of beef and venison."
Underwater Scuba Diving Footage
Video of some underwater fishing reefs at some of our featured properties.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Indian Point Campground and Fishing Club!
Spent Saturday afternoon at Indian Point Campground and Fishing Club near Abingdon, IL. The property is an old rock quarry that is 22 acres of water surrounded by big enchanting timber! The lake is over 70 feet deep in places and is littered with islands, rock cliffs, and boulders. Currently there are just a handful of yearly memberships available, but once word gets out about the fish we shocked up on Saturday, and the management plan that is being formulated this place will have a waiting list.
Unbelievable and Unlimited Potential! Currently I would rate the fishing prospects at this lake as way better than average for many species of fish, but I truly believe that in a matter of 2 or 3 years there will not be many lakes in the state of Illinois that will be able to match the quality of fish combined with the enchanting Canadian Lake fishing scenery.
While we didnt get any of the "Big Boys" landed in the net during our survey, I saw numerous largemouth barely stunned in the 4-7 lb range hanging just out of our reach! This lake is one of the few lakes in our area that truly has a 10 lb largemouth potentially swimming in it! I havent officially entered all the fish data into the computer yet, but I know we netted dozens and dozens of 15-17 inch largemouth along with great number of crappie and flathead catfish.
The gizzard shad population is fairly large, and that has severely impacted the bluegill fishery, but we have a plan to turn those protein pisces into Hybrid Striped Bass Biomass!!! By turning loose more predators against the gizzard shad, we are going to create bonus fisheries as well as get the bluegill sizes back up to match the trophy caliber of all the other fish species.
Walleye and Rainbow Trout have been stocked in the past and are still roaming around the lake. We are however formulating a complete stocking and management plan that will boost the numbers of these species as well as create annual stocking ladders to allow for different year classes that will grow to their fullest potential without competing for the same size prey!
Here are a couple pics from our survey:
It was very hot out so we could not waste any time taking pictures, but I did get some good video footage of the process that I will post soon as well.
Filming, Fishing, Weed Cutting, Electro Shocking, and Stocking
This week we compacted about 10 days worth of work into just 6 days. We delivered 100's of Hybrid Striped Bass to clients starting at about 4:30 am a couple days this week, and still ended up working until well after 6 pm every night. We cut down tons of cattails for a client with a 1/3 acre pond on a natural preservation site. They cannot use chemicals on the property, so we will need to set that pond up to prevent and deter aquatic vegetation from taking over! We also treated a handful of lakes, did some on-site consultations, took some people fishing, filmed a couple shows, and finished up Saturday evening with a Full Lake Audit and Electrofishing Survey for Indian Point Campground and Fishing Club- More on that Later!
I did happen to have a few hours of free time from 8 pm to 11 pm a few nights this week and spent those hours working on and getting my house for sale. I got er listed and now will spend every spare minute I have just finishing up odds and ends projects I should have finished 3 years ago before I moved in! I am actually getting kind of used to sleeping for 6 hours and working for 18 hours per day, but I am also looking forward to September and a much less demanding schedule for the fall and winter!
Peoria, IL House For Sale By Owner
SOLD!
In 2005 my wife Brook and I built our current home. With the help of our families, lots of leftover material from Noah Herman Sons Builders, and many nights and weekends, we built one the most beautiful homes in the entire area. We have now lived in the house for 3 years and have decided it is time to put the house up for sale and rent a home for a couple years while we build another house and start the process over again. Three years is a magic number for living in the house, because we dont have to pay the 30% capitol gains tax by doing so.
Building a house during weeknights and weekends is no easy task and is more work than you can feasibly imagine, but with the resources and work ethic I have been blessed with, it is just about the best way I can provide a nice home for my family and still be able to put food on the table as well.
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 2.5
Floors: 2.0
Square Footage: 1938
Year Built: 2005
School District: 150
Garage Size: 2.0
Lot Size: 135x95 Ft.
0.29 Acre(s)
Amenities:
Fireplace, Central AC, Carpeted Floors, Wood Floors, Appliances Included, Basement, Bonus/Great Room, Central Heating, Deck/Porch, Garage, Jetted Bathtub, Office/Den, Tile Floors
E-mail the Owner
In 2005 my wife Brook and I built our current home. With the help of our families, lots of leftover material from Noah Herman Sons Builders, and many nights and weekends, we built one the most beautiful homes in the entire area. We have now lived in the house for 3 years and have decided it is time to put the house up for sale and rent a home for a couple years while we build another house and start the process over again. Three years is a magic number for living in the house, because we dont have to pay the 30% capitol gains tax by doing so.
Building a house during weeknights and weekends is no easy task and is more work than you can feasibly imagine, but with the resources and work ethic I have been blessed with, it is just about the best way I can provide a nice home for my family and still be able to put food on the table as well.
Custom Built Luxury Home Without the Big Square Footage
ListingID 22126677
Additional photos below
| Open House |
| Sunday, August 9, 2009 2:00PM to 4:00PM More Information |
| About this Property |
|
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 2.5
Floors: 2.0
Square Footage: 1938
Year Built: 2005
School District: 150
Garage Size: 2.0
Lot Size: 135x95 Ft.
0.29 Acre(s)
Amenities:
Fireplace, Central AC, Carpeted Floors, Wood Floors, Appliances Included, Basement, Bonus/Great Room, Central Heating, Deck/Porch, Garage, Jetted Bathtub, Office/Den, Tile Floors
This quality custom built home was not only built to last a lifetime, but it was perfectly designed and carefully constructed with all of the features and upgrades that come standard in every luxury home built by Noah Herman Sons Builders- without the huge square footage or price tag!
- Beautiful Stone and Concrete Siding
- Side Entry Garage
- Huge Luxury Master Bath
- Open Kitchen with Island
- Custom Arches throughout
- Walkway over the 17' tall Great Room
- Plant Shelves
- Bonus Rooms
- Contemporary Mouldings and Trimwork
- Perfect mix of Wood, Carpet and Tile Floors
- Fireplace
- HUGE Deck with Bench Seat Railings
This home consists of 1429 square feet on the main floor and 529 square feet upstairs for a total of 1938 square feet that is finished. An additional 1429 square feet is prepped with the necessary plumbing, window, and electrical to finish in the basement which consists of a Future Bedroom, Bathroom, Huge Rec Room, and Storage Room with custom built shelves.
This home is located on the North edge of Peoria tucked in a very nice Cul De Sac with great neighbors!
- 1 mile from Interstate 74 and Rt 6
- 1 mile to Weaver Ridge Golf Course
- 1.5 miles to Gander Mountain
- 1.5 miles to The Shoppes at Grande Prairie
- 2.7 miles to The Northwoods Mall
- 2.8 miles to Super Wal-Mart
- 6.1 miles to Down Town Peoria!
Plan on Attending our Open House on Sunday August 9th from 2-4 pm!
E-mail the Owner
| More Photos |
|
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| Contact the Owner |
|
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Friday, July 10, 2009
Funny Yet Informative Porcupine Fish Attractor Video!
A couple weeks ago we made a whole bunch of fishing videos with Larry Harper the inventor of the porcupine fish attractors. We went around to several of our featured properties filming and catching fish over the porcupine fish attractors we placed.
This is the first video we have completed and by far the most fun. Hope you enjoy and stick through to the end!
This is the first video we have completed and by far the most fun. Hope you enjoy and stick through to the end!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Porcupine Fish Attractor Fishing Pics
Spent a couple days last week filming some fishing shows with the Bill Dance Porcupine Fish Attractor guy Larry Harper! We caught some awesome fish fishing over his fish structures on my Lake!!
The videos wont be ready for a couple weeks, but here are some pics of the fish we caught while filming on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week!
The videos wont be ready for a couple weeks, but here are some pics of the fish we caught while filming on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week!
Awesome Floating Dock Pics
We built this 12x16 floating dock with wrap around bench seats for a client in Secor, IL. The decking is Sandalwood Weatherbest and the completed dock just looks awesome!!!
Here is the Concept/Drawing:
Here is the Finished Product:
Here is the Concept/Drawing:
Here is the Finished Product:
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