Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss 2014 Morels

Made a high speed on my lunch today.. Found 22 around one tree and would have loved to have left them for a couple of days but they would have been gone..

On another note, they were full of springtails or another small bug.. And looking at other pics in this thread so are others..

Best pic I could get of them.. This is after soaking and rinsing several times.. Just protein I guess but some people don't think they need the extra.. LOL

Good find, well done! Try saltwater...helps kill the critters and makes them easier to wash out. I try not to think about it much - but realize whenever I prepare and enjoy morels there's plenty of hitchhikers!

I used to soak mine in saltwater, but started to wonder if the salt would kill the spores. I always dumped the water I soaked them in outside, in the hope that I might find morels growing there sometime in the future?

You're the mushroom expert TJ, is it possible to transfer spores in the washwater??

I use mesh bags so while I walk I hope the spores are dispersing themselves. Unless I get REALLY buggy shrooms nowadays I simply half them, run under cold water for 5-10 seconds, dry about 25% moisture in dehydrator [1 hr], then vacuum seal in freezer bags and store up to several years. I've learned not to look too hard for critters and never let the wife help me or she'd likely never enjoy them again.

So, yes Tony I think you're right, some spores make it back home and would be in the water. I have read volumes on Morels, and several expert scientists seem to disagree on conditions necessary for propagation...it's one of the wonderful things about Morels, they are mysterious and all our efforts to control or predict them have largely failed. Adds to the intrigue!

FYI, only went out for 30 minutes Monday, nothing yet. I'm checking my hot spot on Friday and should have some action. Next week it will be on I'm hopeful.

I haven't found anything close to a "shroom"... But I've found about a dozen #*%#@ ticks on me so far .

I've been using a mesh bag for a couple years.. don't really like them for all day hunts seem to dry out the shrooms pretty quickly.. and I've found shrooms before with so many bugs they literally coat the water I soak them in saltwater and 1/2ing them seems to work good..

I know an old man that's mushroom hunted for almost 60 yrs and for the last 40 he has picked the whole mushroom including the root clump, when he gets home he cuts the root clump off all them and throws them along a tree line in his backyard and every year he pulls a nice mess off that tree line.. I'm convinced it's the cuttings because there ain't much more going for them on that tree line.. pretty neat trick I'm thinking about starting..

I'm calling it quits as of today. Our woods is finished, or very nearly so. Ended up with around 300 very nice yellows. Best year for me in quite some time.

Do you see them appearing about the same time as the lilacs flower? Or at a different time?

Jack-in-the-pulpits, Dutchman's Breeches, Bleeding Hearts, and Spring Beauties are the indicators I look for.

My Grandad swore that there was no point in looking until the oak leaves were the size of a squirrel's ear....

Squirrels ears is one if heard since a kid.. I go by a lilac bush I have in my front landscape

Lilacs are probably a week away (maybe by the weekend with weather in the 80's late this coming week) from blooming here.

Hit it for 6 hours yesterday - pretty disappointed with only 22. It's been very dry for 10 days here, and last week was very cold. Yesterday popped up to 97 degrees, I think it was a record. I hope we'll have one last push for large blondes...received a good 1/2-1" rain last night should be enough. Will hit it hard Friday and keep in touch.

Such a difference between southern vs. northern Indiana.

We figured it was about over around here, then found a big yellow by the farm pond we were fishing (not ours), so we decided to check a couple spots. We found 5 pounds in an hour. Pretty easy to rack up the pounds with morels like these...

Thanks misskiwi....I am drooling now! Great find and no need for the Condello picture pose!

I'm jealous! I can't seem to find 'em but have no problems finding Maitake (hen-of-the-woods) mushrooms in the fall.

John Wann, great pic .

That one might be a little tough..... Great pic!

Anyone who has not had one of these needs to have one these are my new favorites I'll take these over morels anytime especially when I find just 1 that's 20 lbs

chicken?

Yes this is a white chicken the better of the 2 the other being the yellow chicken yellow grows directly out of wood while the white grows out of the roots a few feet from the tree very tasty actually have to say it might be better than actual chicken

My brother said he did pretty decent with the Morels this year. They have been spreading.

I did rip out a bunch of stuff from the woods a couple years ago, which was pretty dense and you could not even walk thru it.

I of course left the much larger trees, but cleaned out a lot of the thick stuff.

He said they are in the area's I messed with, but not much further into the woods (Forrest) It can get thick, pretty quick! Maybe just have to open it up a bit more.