Burning More Prairie Grass

I worked late every night this week so I didn't get as much time with the kids as usual, so Friday evening I headed home at 5 pm and we all headed down to the Burger Barge and then over to the Hooked On Fishing Park. Although we walked around exploring and did a little fishing, sad to say the real reason we headed down there was to drop off some fish food to fill up the fish feeders, and come up with a list of stuff to do for the Kiwanis work day on Saturday. Anyhow we had a great time and caught some fish:






This week we finished our Warm Season Prairie Grass Burnings. Wednesday evening we burned over in Henry, Thursday morning over near Fairview, and Saturday over near Cuba. Here are a few pics, looks pretty sweet to have a clover patch bordering a 10 acre patch of prairie grass down in a creek valley eh?





We always burn the perimeter first before letting the fire roll with the wind.



Once the perimeter is burnt we divide the field in sections with fire and let er go until the fire puts itself out by running into an already burnt section.



This was our dividing line where the fire raced down with the wind, and then we move up another 100 yards and start the fire again with the wind.



This burning today in Fulton County was about 80 acres of prairie grass with some cool season grasses:



Lots and lots of smoke:




Pretty cool finished product:




After we got done burning this morning we worked on remodeling this camping trailer. We tore off the deck and striped down half the inside. We are taking it up to the Fox Chain of Lakes for a client and building a nice deck and screened porch once we get er up to there.

Then at the end of the day we headed over to our place at Norris to do our last burn of the spring! We are going to plant a mixture of 2 acres wheat, 2 acres corn, and 2 acres sunflowers in the field leading down to our lake, will be taking pics as that project progresses (if it progresses, our projects take a backseat to everyone elses).

Electrofishing Season Has Begun!!

Electrofishing or as most people say it, shocking the pond season has begun! The absolute favorite part of my job is going to new places and finding out what fish are swimming beneath the surface! Always is exciting. Yesterday did not disappoint, we went to some awesome places, met some great new clients, and dialed up some BIG fish. Here is a picture at sunset of the last place we were at.



Justin and I pulled off a marathon of epic proportions. First thing in the morning we headed out at 5:30 am towards Chesterfield, IL. We arrived at 8:30 am and installed a Vertex Air Three aeration system and an AquaPro ADF 75 fish feeder for a 2.5 acre pond.

This pond we electrofished last fall and the owner is now implementing his new plan for killing watermeal while growing some giant bluegills and feed trained bass. We also dropped him off a years supply of fish food and all the materials needed for cleaning up the pond. Then at 11 am we headed down south yet again towards Norris City, IL. We arrived at 2:30 pm and electrofished a 5 acre pond. We dialed up bunches of fish, but most were 8 inch bluegills and 11.5 inch bass. We did get this one big momma though was the only bass over 12.5 inches: BIG FISH



These pond owners want to consistently grow bigger bass. Here is the whole crew checking out the fish:



The pond is severely lacking in bottom contour, structure, and cover. There was only one shelf and one tree limb in the lake and thats where a majority of the bass were hanging out. To grow big bass, you need to create places they can feed efficiently and just hang out without spending any energy the rest of the day. This lake the bass all had to be roamers to find a meal and that just takes up too much energy to gain weight. Also the lake was 35 years old and all the bass originated from the same family, inbred mutts was basically what they are.



We didnt find a bluegill less than 5 inches long in this lake. Bass need to eat 3-5 inch bluegill in order to grow, if you want big bass than you need to make the habitat that will produce oodles of small bluegills! Anyhow that is just the basics of what was going down, collectively we came up with a plan that will work for them for growing some bigger bass consistently. Then from there we headed a few miles down the road to this brand new 3 acre pond. This guy is building a paradise for fish and kids and I guess grown ups alike. Wow is this pond gonna be awesome! Check out this dock rope swing catapult contraption thing:

Ok this pond is gonna be a crappie/walleye pond. No bass and no bluegill. A management plan like this is intense and labor intensive, but this guy knows what he wants and now has a game plan (with a back up plan) and a back up, back up plan for getting what he wants. Forage will be growing all summer long as the pond continues to fill and then 500 crappies per acre will be stocked this fall. Walleyes will be stocked the following fall to clean up the next years baby crappies. Bojo bug lights will be installed to feed the crappies at night. He has a complete plan that works for his budget and management style. Next at 5:30 pm we headed over to Carmi, IL to electrofish a newly acquired 2 acre pond.



This little gem hasn't been managed or fished much over the years and WOW was it full of some awesome fish! About as good of a natural balance as I have seen in similar situations. We shocked up a handful of 3-4 lb and a 14 lb catfish, bass of all sizes, monster bluegills, a couple small walleyes (that had been stocked 4 days earlier) and pulled these big crappies out of the cage the owner caught and put them into 3 days earlier.









These guys want to produce lots of fish for eating. With a 2 acre pond, a natural balance isn't going to produce as many fish annually as these guys want to eat. I can tell, they are big dudes and they wanted to eat all the fish in the holding tank. I talked em into just eating the catfish for now and gave em a plan for producing 100's of pounds of meat every year!

At 8 pm we were back on the road headed for home. Five hours later I was in my own bed conked out. We were supposed to take 2 full days for this road trip, but a couple guys in Mt. Vernon canceled and we were able to reschedule everything on the fly and get er all done in one day. I am pretty excited for this season and especially anticipating the end of the snow and cold! The next few months are gonna be pretty exciting.

Mike Iacanelli Recap with Pics

Lets just start with the food eh? Chef Todd and Chef Kevin cooked all weekend. Their specialty was blueberry, bluecheese gourmet elk burgers! If you like blueberries, blue cheese, and elk than you loved their conoction. If you didnt like that stuff, surprisingly enough they convinced quite a few people into trying it out of curiosity sake and a good majority of those people will now be serving blueberry, bluecheese burgers at their cookout this summer. Let me know when you next attend or attempt a cookout with that combo!

Just want to say that Mike Iacanelli didnt eat his blueberry elk burger. Not that he probably didnt like it, he just actually is a pretty small guy. He didnt even taste it as far as I know. He was too busy speaking, talking, and signing autographs. I offered to sign a few autographs, but didnt have any takers for some reason? Mike however had a line that stretched through the whole 40,000 square foot store waiting to get his herbie hancock....

Here are some pictures of Mike's seminar. He used our trout pond for some demonstrations:

Here are some pictures of kids fishing in the trout pond. We had over 400 kids fishing in the pond over the weekend. Probably 75% of the kids on Saturday caught fish, but only about 40% of the kids on Sunday caught fish. The trout were worked over pretty good the first day.

Here is a pic of filling the pond from Thursday night.

At the end of the day Sunday, we were all pretty tired from standing around, talking, and eating all day long. Everyone helped take everything down and clean up which was much appreciated! I also want to give a shout out to the limestone high school bass fishing team!! They helped kids fish in the pond from sunup to sundown both days! Here they are draining the pond.

Here are some pictures of burning prairie grass last week. We do this on these fields every 2-3 years. On large properties we rotate fields so that we end up burning 1/3 of the grass every year. This helps create amazing year round habitat.

You definitely need to be careful when playing with fire. We start alot of back burns like this one below to help keep the fire from getting too large. Just use the wind to your advantage to start fires that will eventually put themselves out.

Its about 5:45 am on Monday morning. Justin and I headed down to Southern Illinois for a mini road trip. I am actually using his wireless card and typing while he is driving. Pretty cool! Anyhow our first stop is in Chesterfield, IL to install a Vertex Air 3 aeration system, fish feeder, and teach the property caretaker how to maintain the pond for the upcoming season. We are unloadin a years supply of fish food (500 lbs) and some herbicides and algaecides and bacteria to kill the watermeal, duckweed, and algae.

Then from there we head down to Norris City to electrofish a 5 acre lake that wants to grow bigger bass. Then we go a few miles down the road to consult for a brand new filling 3 acre lake that wants to focuse on an intensive plan to grow monster crappies. From there we head to a hotel near Harrisburg.

Tuesday we are electrofishing for a newly acquired 2 acre pond near Carmi to find out whats in there and come up with a gameplan for growing better crappies and walleye. Then we probably head for home or maybe make a stop through Brownstown to check on some clients if time and schedule allows.

Huge Fishing Sale, Portable Trout Pond, Mike Iacanelli

Hey guys, I just want to let you know that this Saturday and Sunday Presleys Outdoors in Bartonville is hosting a mega fishing sale to kick off the 2011 season! I will be down there both days helping people pick out the right gear and also we set up our portable trout pond inside the store for kids to come and fish!!

We stocked the pond with some catfish, bass, and a couple hundred big rainbow trout. For a $2 donation to the hooked on fishing park you can fish in the trophy pond, or a $10 donation you can actually take your trout home for dinner. Also we have 10 tagged fish in the pond that if you catch you win a brand new fishing rod and reel combo! Fun Stuff!!

Next, Mike Iacanelli, a pretty good bass fisherman and phenomenal speaker is coming in on Sunday and going to be signing autographs, sharing fishing stories, and at 11 am gonna give a seminar to 100's of kids from high school bass fishing teams from around the state. All are welcome to attend.

Ok, last thing, Chef Todd will be cooking Elk Burgers, Venison Hot Dogs, and other traditional grilled items both days! Stop on down for a gourmet bite to eat, grab some fishing gear 20% off, take the kids fishing in the pond, use the nice restroom facility in the store, talk to me or Mike about fish for a few minutes, bring your trout home for dinner, and wala you just made the most out of a 30 degree and windy weekend!

Leading up to this weekend has been pretty interesting. I did some consultations on some awesome fish projects, installed 1000' feet of new fence for a property line for a client in fairview, burned 100's of acres of prairie grasses, installed some fish feeders, and staked out a new hunting lodge we are building for a client.

I will take credit for all the work our guys did this week, but really Justin, Josh, Joel, Allen, and Ryan are ones who get all the work done. I am telling you that one thing that I have done good is assembled the best crew of workers on the planet. They are young, but each have their specialties and amazing unique abilities, and they all work extremely hard and long hours.

Justin is my brother and coowner of HB. He is our fix and rig up anything mechanic, engine guy, and run any type of equipment operator. Allen is our office manager/computer specialist, but he spent the last 3 summers spraying lakes and ponds with Justin. Josh is a professional bull rider and a carpenter, but everytime he breaks his ribs and liver and stuff we have him for a few months while he is recovering. Ryan is a land renovation and habitat specialist. Joel is a super athletic guy, but more if a pretty inside salesman as opposed to down and dirty redneck. He rides along with me for aeration installs, and helps out where needed. He has been a volunteer coordinator for the Childrens Home up in Leo, Indiana for the last 3 summers and will be coordinating the fishing park program for us this summer!!!

I figured it was time to introduce our crew. Like I said I get all the credit for all the work they do.

One last tidbit before I have to head out to Presleys. One of my consultations this week over near El Paso. A brand new one acre pond, 20 feet deep with currently no fish. The owner has a couple high school aged boys and a whole herd of high schoolers if you include his 2 or 3 daughters. They dont want to wait 3 years to be catching big fish, they want to make an instant bass fishing lake. In 3 years jimmy and johnny will be off to college.

For less than $2000 they will have an instant bass fishing lake by Memorial day with some awesome feed trained Arkansas Bass. These bass are the best genetic fish I have found on the planet (that work in our geographic area). We stock them at any size, but in this case at a 1.25 lb average with some in the 2 lb range and some in the 1/2 lb range. For $1000 worth of these bass, and $1000 worth of big catfish, hybrid bluegill, and regular bluegill these guys will have an instant fishing pond and will be catching 2-4 lb largemouth and 2-4 lb catfish by the end of the summer. They are going to feed the fish by hand for this summer to help em grow to their fullest potential.

My First Turkey Hunt in Iowa

Turkey season is rapidly approaching and I don't have any plans on hitting the timber before sunrise waiting for a gobbler to walk by. I do have a story though for those of you getting all pumped up for the upcoming turkey hunting season.

My first turkey hunt was in April or May of 2006 in Davis County, Iowa, I don't really remember exactly the date because I just didn't care enough about it. Back then we owned a 170 acre chunk of timber outside of Bloomfield that was completely chuck full of turkeys and by golly we were going to get tags that spring and bring home some spurs, beards, feathers, and meat.

So I usually always turn the channel when a turkey segment comes on TV, but I caught enough of them pieced together to know how to go out and kill a gobler. Especially on a piece of property where everywhere you turn around there is turkeys flushing.

So I get out to a spot that looked good about 1.5 hrs before light on opening day and sit on the ground leaned up against a tree. After a few fishing dreams and close encounters with whitetail deer virtually walking into me, it finally just barely starts to get light. And bam, all of a sudden the turkeys started gobbling like a heavenly choir competition. My goodness I had never heard such a melodious blood pumping racket.

So the gobbling continues for about 2 hours, getting softer and less frequent during that span. All the while I am sitting in obviously a deer path and having one of the most amazing deer hunts ever, but I never actually saw a turkey. Me being the genius I am remember that everytime I walk through the woods on this property I always scare turkeys and many of them are well within shooting distance, kinda like pheasant hunting.

So about 7:30 am the noise had stopped for awhile and I decide the birds are done working for the morning so its time to go find them. Plus I can't sit much longer than that anyways. So I get out of my hiding spot and start walking and low and behold I see two turkeys running away about 150 yards out. Ah you numbskull....

Anyhow I start walking around looking for turkeys and actually flushed one out of the edge of timber, but didn't shoot it cause it was a lady. After covering the property its time to head in about lunch and wait for the next morning hunt. I had a new place scoped out for the morning.

The next morning I didn't get out quite so early, but just early enough to get situated before the birds started gobbling. Same thing only this time I was a bit closer, but not close enough. I sat longer this time and had a decoy out. This time about 8 am I couldn't believe what was actually happening. I heard a little gobble down in the crick valley and it was getting closer.

A few minutes later and Jumbo comes strutting up the hill towards my lady! I didn't have a turkey call cause I didnt know how to use one or what to say even if I did know how to use it, but this big boy was coming up the hill anyways. Let me just say that this dude was no small youngin, he was the real deal, the king. I had seen this part on TV enough times to know that this dude was coming in and was going to put on a show so I decided just to watch for awhile.

At one point he had his neck straight up and was standing about 30 yards away, but I didnt even have a thought about a taking a shot. I was a purist just like everyone on TV and wanted to enjoy this moment forever. So anyways that turkey was still about 40 yards from getting to my decoy so I figured I would just sit back and watch and then about the time he gets ready to mate with the deke, thats when I will shoot him....

Ok, so when I figured I had about 10 more minutes left of watching this beast strut his stuff, I really only had about 10 seconds. Because before I knew it, I blinked for a split second and he was already half way down the hill with his tail tucked blazing a trail towards the timber. At that moment I knew I had been duped, not by the turkey, but by TV. TV hunting just isn't real life and it definitely didn't prepare me for what I learned on my own in those two days out in the field looking like a complete moran.

I didn't end up going back out for that last day of our turkey hunt. I just didn't feel like it. I have since learned quite a bit about turkey behaviour and proper turkey hunting tactics, but for some reason I just don't get fired up or even excited even a little bit about turkey hunting. Maybe things would be different had things gone just a bit different on that first turkey hunt, but for some reason turkeys with stuffing and gravy on thanksgiving get me more excited than do spring turkeys with spurs and beards.....