My PMAX20 powers up but has no screen anymore and I am looking for a replacement, doesn't have to be a 20 but my kayak is already rigged for it so a 20 or something else that will use the same setup(mounting, power and dual beam transducer) would be great.

Thanks,

Jeff

Hi,

I used to post as freediverca here... never had a chance to meet up with anyone. Quick story got married, had a son and quit my previous career to move to Westport,CA in Mendocino County to start a small scale family farm, based on Permaculture principles.

We are in the process of getting the farm up and running with plenty to do as you might imagine. Currently we have a lot of young fowl around and are building up our infrastructure gearing up for next year.

Haven't done much fishing, kayaking or diving (free-diving or SCUBA) recently so it seemed a name change was in order. On other forums I have used justhavinfun and so it seems appropriate here as well.  My wife has always been my partner for everything but now with a two year old, it just is not possible. She is the wonderful and understanding type though......

So I am also looking for fishing/dive partners or general hookups in the area. So far none of the major events work out yet but I will make one soon. Since I have no formal job currently I can be available most days of the week for fishing or freediving with or without kayak given a few days notice in advance, sometimes I can drop everything too but it really depends on where we are on any given day. As stated above getting a farm up and running out on the edge of the wild is obviously time consuming but the call of the ocean is strong.
I am 40,  SCUBA certified and have been freediving for a lot of years though neither recently. I have kayaked rivers, lakes as well as the ocean though also not recently. I have just about all of the gear I need for kayaking/fishing/freediving and maybe even some to lend. I want to get into kayak crabbing also. At 40 with a wife, child and a farm to get up and running I am not a big risk taker anymore....but I am still up for anything reasonable.

Jeff

Below is the original recipe (notice mushrooms are never mentioned) after that there is the current version I am cooking with today.
 
 
Joe Hilton's Drunken Mushrooms - an old pile driver recipe:
 
3 lbs. butter + 3 lbs. margarine
1 jar crushed garlic
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons pepper
 
check for taste/flavor (salt)
 
5 teaspoons chopped onion flakes
1/4 - 1/2 lemon juice (container of frozen concentrate)
1 3/4 cups red wine vinegar
2 cups soy sauce
1 1/2 cups teriyaki sauce
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 spoon celery salt
garlic salt
BBQ sauce one bottle
parsley
cooking wine (sherry)
crown royal
 
Note: Anything else you get he'll throw in.
 
That is the original recipe.
 
When only cooking for a few people and to be a bit healthier we use the below version.
 
3 lbs. butter
1 jar crushed garlic
fresh ground pepper to taste
2 cans of beer
let all that melt into a large pot
then 1/2 - 1 cups lemon juice concentrate (frozen is still fine)
1 3/4 cups red wine vinegar
1/2 bottle very teriyaki sauce - teriyaki to taste but this isn't very strong to start off
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 to 1/2 cups balsamic vinegar
1 - 2 bottles BBQ sauce
Drambuie
1 bunch fresh parsley chopped fine
1 bottle sherry (cooking wine)
2 - 4 cups Crown Royal
2- 3 cups Whiskey
 
Bring all that to a vigorous boil to mix everything - takes a while to boil
That fills my pot to about 2/3 full.
Next mushrooms go in (any kind , baby portobellos are great) I clean and prepare them all at once but only about half go in right at first.
Wait until boiling again to add the rest of the mushrooms it helps distribute them better in the water column.

If my pot is not yet to 3/4 full now I will add as much beer to adjust the level.
 
As the recipe states anything else you like can go in.
Reduce heat to a slight boil and let sit stirring occasionally the longer the better.
After an hour or two the mushrooms will start getting drunk (getting darker and sinking to the bottom)
When they start floating to the surface again they are ready or close to ready.
The very best ones never float to the surface.
All through this add whatever you need to taste and whiskey,Crown Royal and beer to keep your fluid level near 3/4 full.
 
Once cooled if you skim off the butter the remaining liquid is some of the best marinade for just about anything. Steak I'll soak it for and hour or two, chicken 1/2 hour to an hour, and on halibut I'll pour some over it just as it goes on the fire or in the oven.

Now that we have a Trader Joe's in the area I have been able to finally find Panko bread crumbs. The one problem I have come across with using them is when I add spices to them the spices seem to settle out of the mix to the bottom of the bowl very fast. Has any else come across this problem? Any ideas?

Thanks,

Jeff

I just wanted to thank Sean and Leah of GWKC. I am pretty sure I placed my order on Wednesday and yesterday it arrived. Amazing service and real great people to deal with.

Thanks again,

Jeff

Are these cliff swallows? They are nesting about 10ft or less above the water.

A cool side note look to the far right of the picture and you can see a couple of birds stopped in flight. I was not trying to accomplish this but for you Pentax Optio w20 users here is a tip you may or may not know. I have only had my Optio for a couple of weeks now and I notice the default ASA setting is auto400 which means that the camera will auto adjust the film speed from 64 to 400. Well you can set it to auto1600 which will auto adjust the film speed from 64-1600. I am pretty sure without making that adjustment I could not have been able to get the birds stopped in flight so well with so little blurring. Most of our photos are outside with lots of sun so you may as well take advantage of of being able to use a faster film setting when you can. The beauty of it is, it is all still an auto function so you don't have to make any judgement calls here; the camera will handle it seamlessly for you.

Jeff

Hey does anyone know what kind of carp are in the delta? I keeping hearing and reading about people fishing for them and I'd like some more info.

In the summer when it is nice and warm out late at night I have seen huge carp like 5-6 feet of carp in Big Break.

I know that grass carp are illegal to fish for and must be returned if caught (If I understand it right the grass carp are sterile and introduced to help reduce some of the weeds clogging up the waterways)- so  i assume these are not the carp people are fishing for.

What I can add is I have read that grass carp have no barbs at the corners of their mouths and it seems like they tend to be smaller in general.

What I am after is a know fishable species of carp in the delta and a good way to distingush them. Strictly for catch, sleigh ride and release.

Some of the guys I have read about catching carp are catching up to 20-30 lbs fish. That alone sounds like a fun little ride but I know I have seen fish much bigger than that.

Thanks,

Jeff

A question: Aside from the trout trollers looking for light line fishing. Why are you using or wanting to use a downrigger?

Personally I was thinking about it because I am concerned about the dropping of lead specifically regarding salmon fishing. I know tungsten is available and is a safer option but too $$$$$$$ in my opinion.

I've been looking over previous discussions and I think in general I like kayak fishing for the KISS of it all. So I have chucked the idea of a downrigger, I might come back to it but I think for me I have a better solution.

Keeping in mind I prefer the KISS approach to fishing but also don't want to leave lead lying around I am thinking of working on making steel weights. I am still playing around with it currently.

Here is my idea: Take a weldable bar stock (easiest to acquire and cheap) and cut it down into a few trial lengths. Weigh these lengths to find a length to weight ratio on the bar stock so I can cut a bunch of them at the length (weight) that I am looking for then weld an attachment point to them or drill them and use them in place of lead sinkers. You are already dropping them so they don't need to be pretty or anything else and you have the added benefit of the steel simply rusting away and not piling up in the ocean. Since rusting is a natural process it should be more readilly dealt with by nature.

A couple question about this:

1. Does anyone have any experience using other than a ball style weight? Will a piece of bar stock (I guess similar to a torpedo weight) have a different effect in the water when trolling? I am thinking the stock would not be longer than say three inches. If I have to go to a bigger diameter stock to keep the 3" or so rule I will.


2. Will steel in salt water create a charge similar to a steel leader when fishing for sturgeon that will effect the fish?

Jeff