Fishing University TV show to be shot on Green River Lake

Anglers Charlie Ingram and Ray Brazier will video Fishing University
 on Green River Lake in mid-October.

        Charlie Ingram and Ray Brazier with Fishing University will video a bass fishing show on Green River Lake later this month. It will be shown on the Outdoor Channel in 2014.

The anglers and video crew will be at Green River Lake Oct. 17-19. There will be a “meet and greet” and autograph session at the Green River Marina from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 19. The public is invited.

Taylor County tourism is helping host the event. Video for the show will be shot on Friday and Saturday, according to Alisha Nelson, executive director of the Taylor County Tourist Commission.

However, Friday morning there will be a program for students at Taylor County High School. The anglers will talk with students about the importance of education, and about other aspects of their TV show.

Fall turkey season is tough hunting and takes back seat to other seasons

Fall turkey hunting is challenging, but dedicated hunters enjoy the sport. Photo courtesy Masolowski NWTF,

Turkey hunting can be tough in the best of conditions. Many hunters spend several years learning techniques and skills before bagging their first spring tom.

There’s a fall season as well, but not many hunters take advantage of it, maybe for a couple of reasons. There’s other game to hunt, and taking a fall bird is really difficult.

Throughout most of fall and early winter, hunters can use a bow to take a turkey. It is extremely challenging to take a turkey with a gun, and to harvest one with a bow is something few people try. But there are those who try and succeed.

In Indiana, turkey archery season opens Oct. 1 and runs through Oct. 27, and then opens again Dec. 7 and continues through Jan. 5.

Firearm season opens Oct. 16 and continues through Oct. 20 or Oct. 27, depending on the county. A separate turkey license is need for fall hunting.

While it’s the same wild turkey whether hunted n April or October, the actions of the birds and the hunting is quite different,.

Hunting wild turkeys during the fall requires tactics different than those used during the spring season. The following tips from the National Wild Turkey Federation can help hunters bag more fall and early winter birds.

Bust'em Up--If done properly, busting a flock can be a fun and effective way to hunt wild turkeys in the fall. Once a flock has been found and the decision to break it up has been made, sneak as close as possible by using available cover.

--In a controlled manner, safely rush the flock while making as much noise as possible. 

(A growing sport among some hunters is to use dogs to break up the flock. It takes a specially trained dog, but advocates say it really is a fun way to hunt turkeys.)

--If the birds spook in the same direction, mark their landing area and try to bust them again. You want the birds scattered in all directions.)

--Once you have busted the flock, set up and wait until you hear the birds calling to get back together. Start calling and let the birds come to you.

Unlike hunting turkeys during the spring, when toms can be found by the sound of their gobbles, fall hunters must rely on less audible yelps, clucks and kee-kees, turkeys scratching in leaves or flapping their wings.

And unlike the spring turkey hunting season, when turkeys typically roost, strut and feed in the same areas day in and day out, fall flocks range over a wider area in their search for food, sometimes not returning to the same tract for days.

The typical range for a fall flock is between 250 and 400 acres, depending on the habitat and availability of food.

Whether you limit your hunt to gangs of old gobblers or the more vocal hens and young-of-year birds, remember that the only thing on their minds is food. Turkey flocks will move throughout an area, scratching for acorns and berries among the leaves. They’ll also look for waste grain in fields that have been harvested or “bug” for insects along grassy lanes.

Despite not having the advantage of gobbling birds, large flocks often make a ruckus when they descend from their roosts and gather on the ground. Listen for the sound of frantic wingbeats, loud yelps and putts and the kee-keeing of young birds. Once gathered, flocks usually don’t call much, so the earlier you are, the better.

Competitive carp fishing; a fast growing sport coming to U.S.

Roy Buchanan of Greencastle checks his rods while fishing for carp at Cataract Lake.

Sometimes I think I should have been an explorer, but then reality sets in and I realize I’ve never been tough enough. I prefer to explore while utilizing my car or truck with plenty of water and peanut butter crackers along.

But i do enjoy taking my vehicle accompanied by my rat terrier, Tyler, and sometimes wife, Phyllis, for drives along new back roads along streams and lakes.

In my mind, being an outdoor writer, gives me some license to be nosey. It gives me reason to stop and ask a fisherman or woman what they are fishing for, are they having any luck, how often do they come to this place, and more. And of course, I do a similar inquisition with hunters, hikers, campers and more.

While on a recent evening safari with Phyllis and Tyler to Cataract Lake, I noticed a fellow fishing on the bank not far from a boat ramp. I stopped, attached Tyler’s leash, and exited the car to see if the angler would endure some of my questions. I had noticed the fishing rig he was using was not typical or at least what I call typical. He was utilizing three poles, set on a rack. The reels were equipped with some sort of electronics.

When the fellow looked up, I asked, “Are you fishing for catfish?”

“No,” he replied. “I’m fishing for carp.”

He continued, “I fish tournaments. Last weekend, I placed third. I just missed winning by one fish.”

The angler was Roy Buchanan of Greencastle, IN, and he went on to tell me about the growth of carp angling, including tournament angling in the U.S.

Competitive carp fishing isn’t something you hear or read much about. Bass and crappie, yes. Carp, no.

I was aware of bow carp tournaments in both Indiana and Kentucky, but frankly was surprised about growth and level of carp tournaments and recreational angling in this country.

From several trips to England, I knew carp (rough fish) angling is big in Europe. It is No. 1. But, I had no idea of its growth here.

CarpAnglersGroup.com is an interesting site and claims carp to be the world’s greatest sport fish. It says it is the largest carp club in the U.S. and is dedicated to the sport of catch and release carp fishing.

Roy Buchanan’s carp techniques are based on those developed in Europe.

The Carp Anglers Group site has an area for beginning carpers. While it says most any rod and reel can be used, it recommends some particular gear.

According to the site, “The most common reel used by carpers is the “Baitrunner”, used by carp specimen anglers. It’s an open faced reel with a rear drag system that has a lever at the back. 

“Lever in the back switch from “Running” drag to “Play / Fighting drag”. The baitrunner allows line to be pulled from the reel by the fish, thus the name “Baitrunner”. When the angler flips the switch (or starts reeling) normal drag is activated.”

In tournaments, anglers fish from a specific assigned bank stake, which is determined by a drawing before the start of the event.

All fish caught during tournaments are released, and must be alive to be counted for the angler.

Another website with carp information is: Indianacarptalk.com

Additional Kentucky carp fishing can be found on the web simply by looking for “Kentucky carp fishing” or at website:kentuckycarpfishing.webs.com 

9/ll still vivid in my mind; the towers, the people remembered like yesterday

         Visions of the burning Twin Towers on 9/ll still are strongly etched in my mind. I'll never forget. Below is a column I wrote several years ago, and the event remains just as vivid in my mind and heart today....
------

My head is filled with thoughts related to 9/11. They are numerous and difficult to organize. That may be the case for many Americans.

I know exactly what I was doing when the first twin tower was hit. My wife Phyllis and I had made plans to attend an outdoor writer’s conference. We planned to take our motorhome, so I had scheduled some minor maintenance at a Tell City automotive garage.

When I arrived at the garage with the motorhome on the morning of 9/11, a radio was playing in the back of the shop. A newsman was talking about a plane crashing into a World Trade Center tower.  A short time later, the second plane hit. Being an old news guy and retired Air Force officer, it didn’t make sense. 

The rest of the day, and for several days, I was glued to the television and radio. It was hard to believe. I couldn’t get enough information.

The thoughts and mind-pictures from the scene poured into my head, and my heart. I felt for the victims, their families and their friends. And to me, the physical loss of the buildings also was like losing a friend.

For four years, I rode the train from Mt. Lakes, NJ, to Hoboken, then boarded the PATH (Port Authority Trans Hudson). Rode under the river to the train station in the basement of one the Twin Towers. Each evening, I made the reverse trip.

I can still see the escalators which carried me daily up from the lower level station. There were sandwich shops and restaurants. I often visited them for lunch.

There also were other restaurants higher in the building.. And if I remember right, in the early days of CNN, the network had an office there that covered Wall Street. I sometimes worked with its reporters.

Windows on the World was a wonderful restaurant atop one of the towers. The food was good, but the view was even more spectacular. I remember attending a Christmas party there. The view at night was breathtaking.

I worked about a block and a half away in media relations for AT&T. It still is hard for me to imagine or believe the towers are gone.

One day a wacky guy using suction cups on his hands and feet decided to climb one of the towers. Fred Heckman, the former news director of WIBC in Indianapolis, was a good friend. He called me and asked it I could see the climbing guy, who I think called himself,”The Human Fly.”

“Sure,” I said. The next thing I knew I was live on WIBC providing an account of the nutty guy’s climb. In fact, I did several reports for Fred.

I have many memories of the now missing beautiful buildings. I still see them in my mind.

Had the timing been a bit different, I could have been in one of the towers.

My fear is that something similar will happen again. It is hard to protect against people who have no respect for human dignity, for life, and freedom.

We do the best we can.

Dishwasher salmon? Yeah, no joke

Salmon, northern pike, and lake trout are good eating. They are tasty baked, broiled, smoked, and made into patties.

And nutritionists claim it is one of the healthiest meats you can eat. They say fish and seafood are healthy additions to a well-balanced diet, and salmon is one of the most nutritious fish you can place on the dinner plate. 

Salmon is high in protein and low in calories and saturated fat. Salmon is also a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, which offers a wide range of health benefits. 

There are many recipes and ways to prepare the salmon, but when fellow outdoor writer Jim Zumbo wrote that  he had just cooked a salmon meal in the dishwasher, I thought it was a joke. But, believe it or not, it wasn’t. Jim does work for the Outdoor Channel and who formerly was hunting editor for Outdoor Life, and really prepared a salmon meal in the family dishwasher in his Cody, Wyoming, home.

According to Jim, “I cooked this meal in my dishwasher. Yep, I'm serious. I learned the trick from Mabel, an Inuit woman whose family I hunted with for muskox in the arctic. I understand this is a fairly common Inuit technique. 

“And no, for those of you who are wondering, they don't do this in an igloo. They have perfectly fine homes in the settlement of Cambridge Bay, well north of the Arctic Circle. 

“So here's how you do it. (A dish of northern pike and onions.) I put thin onion slices on foil, put several squares of butter on top, then fish fillets which I already coated with herbs and spices, then another layer of onions and more butter. Wrap the fish tightly. Then double this with another layer of foil so the food is essentially airtight. 

“Lay the package on the top rack of your empty dishwasher. Lay it flat, not vertical. Obviously you do not add soap. . Turn the dishwasher to its longest or highest setting if you have the option. 

“Guaranteed a superb, fantastic meal. It cooks by simply baking the meal inside, and I think the heat and water combine to add a different dimension that you don't get with conventional baking or steaming. 

“So why bother with this? Three reasons. The food is wonderful. No cleanup. When you're done, toss the foil. And what a conversation piece. 

“Say you're sitting there and your friend Susie says, "wow, that's delicious. Did you steam it?". And you say, "nah, cooked it in my dishwasher." The incredulous look on her face will make it all worth the effort.”

(Read more from Jim at: outdoorchannel.com/jim-zumbo-outdoors. You also can order his books as well.}

Apparently any meat that can be slow cooked can be used along with the spices of your choice.

However, there is the potential of again having to run the dishwasher through another cycle after you complete cooking your meal.  Is it worth the time and energy?

Italian food writer Lisa Casali says you can cook your meal and do the dishes at the same time. She says the method can be quite environmentally friendly.

         There's a method: Instead of using aluminum foil, as many websites recommend, you should put the food into airtight canning jars or food vacuum bags. Then the hot water doesn't touch the food. So you can add soap to the cycle and really clean your dishes while poaching dinner.

Dishwasher cooking is best for foods that need to be cooked at low temperatures, Casali says. "After some experiments, I found that it wasn't just a different way to cook — it was a really particular technique," 

On You Tube you can find recipes for everything from shrimp, salmon, spinach and pears cooked in the dishwasher.

        No dishwasher at the Junker house, except wife Phyllis and maybe me a couple times of year, so I can't try the method. If you do, add a note and let me know how it works for you.

Bon appétit!