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Joined: Apr 2002
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Editor, Pond Boss Magazine
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Left Sunday, met up with Fred & Connie Bingaman and Dave Sefton and a number of folks as we electrofished Fred's pond in Brownstown, Illinois. After a hiccup with water in the fuel tank, we got things going, and going well. We shocked up big numbers of fish and logged their lengths and weights. Fred took notes and lots of photos were shot. Here's a few I took.


Electrofishing Fred's pond.



Pretty big crowd on the dock...



Photo op...nice fish from Fred's pond.



The two biggest bass, largest was over 5 pounds.



Fred (Bing) holds two big bluegill. The one on the right is one pound.

Next, we headed off to see some projects Dave Sefton has been working on.



This site sits north of Brownstown. Looks like a nice pond, maybe two acres, in the making.



Jim Neeley (l) and Dave, stand near some logs they harvested for the client. If they can sell a few saw logs, it helps with the cost of building the pond. That's part of Dave's service.

Then, we headed eastward, to Columbus, Indiana to meet up with Dr. Mark Griffin and Jody Doles, Tony Stewart's ranch manager. Met up with Tony and two game rangers, Tim Beavers and Jay Noble. We shocked up, weighed and measured 180 bass. It was a great day on Tony's 10 acre lake.
Here's some photos....



Part of Tony's collection of cars. For the most part, these are race cars he has won races in. That's Purina's Dr. Mark Griffin.



You might remember a famous race where Tony flipped many times. He kept the wrecked car.



More of the car collection for you to enjoy. He has another room in his warehouse that has more cool cars...street variety, such as a corvette, a dolled up hearse and several other classics.



Daughter Ashley especially liked the "Smoke" Lamborghini. I saw a video on youtube about this car. It was delivered to Tony at the California Speedway.



We collected lots of fish during our electrofishing excursion.



Debbie fell in love with Tony. She said, "I could hang out with him anytime. He is so kind and a complete gentleman. He is so down to earth and fun and funny." She's right. He's a dominant force on the race track, but on his ranch, he's a gentleman, friendly and kind. Oh, and yes, he gets extremely excited about his fish.









Evidence!



Tony was gracious allowing us to take time for a photo op. He even autographed a few things for the silent auction at the conference next September.





This shot came as we struggled to pull this big, heavy electrofishing boat out of a lake from a ranch about 40 miles from Tony's. These folks are wanting to renovate an 8-10 acre lake and turn several different ponds into fishing lakes near Cope, Indiana. Yes, we did get the boat out. It's easy to launch but not so easy to get out sometimes.


Next day (last Wednesday) we headed to Richmond, Indiana to tour the Purina Mills plant where specialty feeds are made. We saw the entire process....and likely some of the fish food you will be feeding in the near future. I was impressed and amazed at their quality control. There's not a question about the ingredients which go into Purina's feeds.





Debbie asked a ton of questions. Manager Eric Kennedy was gracious taking us on the tour. That's Dr. Griffin on the right.



The bagging process. Each bag is tagged and has a batch number. The bagger looks at each bag to make sure the batch number is correct and legible.



Don mixes a batch of feed. His job is to make sure the exact ingredients are mixed precisely to formulate the correct diet for that batch of food.



Dr. Griffin holds two monkey biscuits. That's right, Purina Monkey Chow. This special diet is fed to monkeys involved in cancer research, so it is imperative that this aspect of their diets is properly balanced and the ingredients are pure.







These are the labs where all kinds of tests are run on the ingredients as well as the finished product.





Debbie and Ashley enjoyed their tour of the Purina Mills plant.



Last edited by Bob Lusk; 05/17/09 12:43 PM. Reason: add captions to photos

Teach a man to grow fish...
He can teach to catch fish...
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Editor, Pond Boss Magazine
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Here's some new photos from recent leg of the trip.



The film crew and the young talent, preparing to embark on their day of shooting BassPro's Next Generation TV show on Friday morning.



Filming the takeoff.



Dave Buhler picked up a fly rod, offered a popping bug. A three pound bass accepted the offer.



The result.



An excellent, 1 lb, 6 oz coppernose bluegill from Richmond Mill Lake. Debbie likes to net fish from the electrofishing boat.



A gorgeous dragonfly on a spatterdock bloom.



Anyone recognize this fish? I'll post a seperate thread in a minute with several different species of fish.



Know this fish? ....Give up?



How about now?



The kids enjoyed their stint in the electrofishing boat.



We shocked up this American eel. Pretty cool creature. Released it.



Eel's head. (Sounds like the name of beer, doesn't it?)



Eel body.



The show's stars spent time learning about fisheries biology. They did a good job weighing and measuring fish.



Here's why they call it "coppernose" bluegill.



Here's another good looking fish. Recognize it? Check in on the "fish" thread.



Here's another fish we collected. Recognize it?



Please excuse the quality of these next few photos. My lense was wet on the inside and I didn't catch it until after the fish were released. Oops.



Tiny little....what is it?



A sampling of the larger bluegill of the day. All of these were larger than a pound.



Big bluegill...about a pound and six ounces.



Very cool fish, unique to this part of the planet.



Most of you should recognize this fish.



What a cool sunfish. So sorry for the foggy photo.

I'll post again, as the trip continues.


Teach a man to grow fish...
He can teach to catch fish...
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Editor, Pond Boss Magazine
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Well...I can't believe the last six weeks. So sorry for not posting. I just simply haven't had time. It's been utterly consuming, with lots of things happening. I usually wake up when I must, throw on some clothes, brush the pearlies and hit it...then quit when I must (depending on where I am and what I am doing). It's been a giant balancing act. Thank goodness Queen Debbie has traveled with me a bit. That's helped balance family time. So, for this thread, I'll show some photos of the remainder of the Shock and Jaw Tour and then start a new one.
From the photos above, shot during the first half of the trip, I'll pick up the trip and roll on.
From King Fisher Society, I rolled west and met up with NASCAR driver Ryan Newman and electrofished his lake. He has a beautiful setting outside Statesville, North Carolina.



Ryan Newman and one of his ranch managers, "June Bug", admire a fish.



As we finished electrofishing, a young osprey hovered above. I shot some photos and then watched as it repeatedly dove into the water, trying to catch one of the floating fish that had been jolted with a few volts. This photo shows the bird coming out of the water, after being totally submersed. Very cool to watch.

I left Ryan's and headed to June Bug's house to visit with him about his lake. It was a 40 minute run westward on I-40 in NC. Visited with Bug and his family for about an hour, couldn't launch the boat because there's no way to get it out, as heavy as it is. Headed back east and northward, finding a motel room in Fancy Gap, Virginia. Up early the next morning, I drove to Louisville, Kentucky, to meet up with long time client and good friends, Bill and Ann Boone. They have a cool story. It's in the July-August issue of Pond Boss, "Pond to Plate."



Electrofishing Bill and Ann Boone's lake.



We harvested 75 bass from their 5 acre lake. Filleted every one of the little guys.



Spent the night with the Boones, left at 4 a.m. and rolled due west. Went through St. Louis about rush hour, headed toward Johnny Morris' ranch north of Springfield, Missouri.



Ranch manager Josh Braun helps net a big buffalo (never thought I would go buffalo hunting with Johnny Morris) that Johnny grabbed. He has some pretty cool lakes, many of which are reclaimed strip mines.



Johnny and his son, John Paul, with a nice tiger musky.



Had trouble with the shift linkage in my outboard motor, so Josh called the local Tracker manufacturer. Those guys were kind enough to stop what they were doing and take a look at it for us.



As we were electrofishing a large tailings pit, I saw two little wood ducks swimming in the middle of the lake. Got close enough to take a look. They couldn't be more than a day old, and were alone in the middle of the lake. They probably hatched late and missed the big jump. I didn't want to think of their fate. I told Debbie about them and showed her the photo. She asked why I didn't bring them home. That's Debbie.

I stayed at Morris' ranch for four days, electrofishing often and many hours each day.



There's a bald eagle's nest in a tall tree on the largest lake. We kept a fair distance, but here's a long shot, cropped, of the two young eagles we saw in the nest. Parents weren't far away.

From there, I headed to Tulsa. Met up with Darwin James and his entourage, where we are looking to help him revive an old Tulsa landmark fishing club lake, Fin and Feather. Lots of history on this old lake, but it's in dire need of some love. Darwin plans to use the lake to entertain family, friends and clients with a long term lease.



Darwin James and his group. Boy, we had a fun evening of electrofishing and frolic. Darwin brought me up to date on some intriguing history of fishing. Tulsa, Oklahoma, has played a significant role in the bass fishing industry. The first life member (and dear, dear friend of Ray Scott), Don Butler, was from Tulsa. He made the "Okie Bug" spinner baits. Darwin had a contract with Zebco for years. Zebco was named the "Zero Bomb Company". Something to do with the times and funding. Banks wouldn't loan money to a fishing reel company, but would loan to a defense contractor. Darwin made all the screws and other parts of Zebco reels for a long time. He also told me some of the inside stories about Carl Lowrance and how his company evolved. Lowrance Electronics are still key players on the fishing business, all over the world, plus some things we don't even know about.

After finishing with Darwin's, I headed over to meet up with "Cheezy" a Pond Boss forum member and leaky pond expert. His name is Darrel Pearson and I got to meet his family and hang out with them for a few hours before heading south to tour another ranch and then back to Fin and Feather to sleep a few hours.

Next morning, I met up with Mike Peyton and his business partner, Roy Bliss to electrofish their lake near Kellyville, west of Tulsa.



Roy Bliss, (left) and Mike Peyton admire one of their nicest bass.



I looked up from weighing and measuring fish to see this red-wing black bird sitting on a snag in the lake.

After finishing with Peyton's lake, it was time to head home. I loaded up and after 17 days on the road, headed home.


Teach a man to grow fish...
He can teach to catch fish...

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