As spring kicks in, so does the breeding season for many reptiles and amphibians. Matt and Siobhan decided to take advantage of this to spend some time looking for creatures that are making themselves more visible as they look for mates. The adventure gets started on a noisy spring evening as the peepers call for mates in the vernal pools. We often find it hard to believe that frogs this small can create a noise so loud that it can approach levels that cause hearing damage. As exploration continues, several interesting species of snake are located, and a pair of breeding snapping turtles are observed in the act, as Matt describes their fascinating breeding ritual! Be sure to click below and join them!
CHARTER FISHING THE GULF COAST
The recent trip our crew took was focused on herping. You'll find that video by scrolling down, Of course, the local culture and fantastic food of New Orleans was investigated as well. But being in a new area, the opportunity to explore the fishing this region offers was too much to resist. Since space was limited in the vehicles taken, it was decided to take a day charter out into the Gulf of Mexico. Charter fishing is a great way to put some fish in the boat. The local knowledge of the Captain and mate running the boat is invaluable, and they provide the gear and bait as well. This makes it easy for travelers to enjoy a day on the water without having to pack all the fishing equipment, and hope they can find a good spot to fish on short notice. We were not disappointed fishing with Grand Pass Outfitters. The day was spent reeling in sea trout and drum, and a bonus sheepshead was hooked! If you find yourself on a trip with limited time and space, look into a charter It's a great way to spend a day off outdoors, and put a few fish on ice!
MIKE'S OPENING DAY TENNESSEE TURKEY HUNT
After a very successful spring season last year, hopes were high as the season neared this spring. Mike had scouted his new surroundings for turkey, and continued to do so until the last minute. He then headed out well before dawn to try his luck. Greeted by nothing but songbirds at daybreak, he did hear a bird a ways off, and started heading in that direction. Not one, but two birds responded to his hen calls when he arrived at the area he had heard them calling from. With high hopes, he set up and did a bit of light calling. The only way to describe what happened next was "if it wasn't for bad luck, he'd have no luck" We hope you enjoy this video, and be sure, the turkey season will continue. Hopefully his luck improves!
HERPING LOUISIANA AND MISSISSIPPI
Our first herping adventure of 2023 is here! The Crew took a trip to south central USA for a change of scenery and an early spring herping trip. The warmer climate to the south can get those reptiles and amphibians active earlier in the year than up north. But an untimely cold front swept through slowing things down a bit. This didn't keep them out of the field though! While they had to endure the cold taking in the culture of the French Quarter, they soon found themselves in the wilds searching for critters. Of course, alligators, cottonmouths and copperheads put in an appearance, as well as rat snakes and many other reptiles an amphibians native to this region. This included several "Lifers", the term for creatures never personally observed before. Their trip also included an encounter with some mammalian wildlife that decided to appear in our video! We hope they'll be more great adventures of this sort to post soon!
THERE'S GOLD IN THOSE CREEKS!
No, this isn't actually a gold panning video. Michael managed to catch his first Golden Trout while he was fishing with Mike not long ago! These trout, also know as Palomino, are hybrid rainbows. They are stocked along with the regular trout in some of the the streams we fish. This trip took place a while after it had been stocked, and we did enjoy some good luck. If you fish for trout in streams that warm up in the summer, you may want to try them a bit later and pull out the fish others may have missed after opening day. This time of year many waterways are getting stocked with fresh fish, and this will often draw the crowds away from previously stocked areas leading to a peaceful day on the water. It also puts those fish to good use on the table, as they will die when the water warms up this summer. We hope this is just one of many fishing videos we get to publish this spring. But until we can get back to a full production schedule, be sure to check out our Frugal Fishing videos while you're here, for more great fishing action!
HERPING INDONESIA
As this winter progressed, and we were busy trying to get our relocation accomplished, Chris took what many would consider to be a trip of a lifetime! He's no stranger to international travel though. His last trip was to the Galapagos Islands where he encountered many of the creatures that area of the world is known for, like the Marine Iguana in it's natural habitat. You can use the link provided above to join him on that amazing trip! But it seems his ecotourism has continued. He traveled to Indonesia on a Cobra Quest, and the video below is the result! Join him as he travels through the rice paddies and jungles of Borneo, encountering all sorts of amazing reptiles and amphibians, and even Orangutan swinging from the trees!
BANK FISHING WATTS BAR RESERVOIR
Bank fishing is something we do a lot of. While having a boat is nice, and we can't rule out that there is not one in our future, pulling up at a lake and walking down to it's edge to go fishing is far less expensive. We're sure that as the exploration of Tennessee gets underway, they'll be quite a few bank fishing trips coming this spring, but until that happens, we wanted to share this video. Mike and Dana have been visiting Tennessee for years looking for a retirement home. This was the trip they actually found one. But on these trips, real estate listing were not the only things they would research. Hunting and fishing opportunities were scouted as well. They would often stay at a lakefront rental and spend their free time lakeside in the evenings doing just that. They would also scout nearby public access, and in this video they found a spot that produced a crappie! Spring crappie fishing is a favorite of theirs, and they like to take advantage of those spawning runs to fill the freezer with tasty fillets! So we bet they will be headed back to that spot very soon to see if they can't reproduce that success as they settle in! We'll post that video here just as soon as it gets produced!
JOIN US BELOW FOR PAST ADVENTURES GET SOME IDEAS TO PLAN ONE OF YOUR OWN!
Florida is an amazing place to do some herping. While the climate is warm, there are seasonal changes. These changes are much the same as the rest of the country, and spring results in more activity for breeding seasons. This video resulted from a spring trip to visit Chris. We certainly hope that now that our home base is much closer to him, we will be able to produce more videos with him for our Herping Florida video series. The wildlife of this state is amazing, and deserves more exploration!
This video is the product of very our first visit to Tennessee. We all had a great time, and caught a bunch of fish, even shooting a second video here for our Frugal Fishing Series. We had no idea that this trip would result in our returning for a number of years, and then deciding to relocate there! Perhaps we'll wind up fishing here again. It's now a whole lot closer! Click below and join us!
We mentioned above that spring crappie fishing is something we take seriously. So seriously, in fact, that on the drive back from Florida after filming the video beside this one, we took a detour into Georgia for a guided trip to fish with Doug Youngblood and fill our cooler with crappie to take home. We had fished with him on Lake Lanier before on a trip to catch striped bass, and knew he would put us on fish. We were not disappointed! We hope to find new crappie holes in Tennessee that produce this well!
While we will be making our new home well away from the Chesapeake Bay, we are already planning a trip back to that destination next summer! Our fishing season would not be complete without a weekend fishing for snakeheads! Delicious on the table, we know Michael will join us. But Matthew surprised us, tried them, and says he wants to try fishing for them as well! He may even drag Siobhan along, and when you get those three together a Herping Maryland video just may result in addition to the fishing! Why not plan on trying this yourself!
One of the benefits of living the outdoor lifestyle is
bringing game and fish to the table. With prices
going through the roof for everything, the clean,
self-renewing, non polluting food sources we
utilize in this fashion not only helps with being
more self sustaining, but it can also shave those
grocery bills down a bit! Even more savings can
be had if you do your own processing! We know
it can be a bit overwhelming to get started at this