When you think of trout fishing, often your thoughts lead to some winding stream rushing through a mountain valley. While that may be accurate and something worth day dreaming about, we have some great angling for trout close to home. The St. Louis winter trout fishing program provides ample opportunities to catch beautiful trout in…
If you enjoy chasing smallmouth bass and sunfish on small creeks, then carve out some time to try your luck fishing the Mineral Fork. This small, clear Ozark stream is located in Washington County, MO. The lower portion of the creek is located on state-owned land with one public access that I am aware of….
Whooping cranes in Illinois? As a former resident of Nebraska, home of the great Sandhill crane migration, I got really excited when I heard that there have been a pair of whoopers observed in Randolph County, IL. I grew up watching the sandhill crane spectacle, and in the process managed a few sighting of whooping…
I ended my 2019 birding year with a big whimper. I’m not sure that I added any new species after September. It’s possible that I did, but my record keeping efforts dwindled as well as my motivation to work for new birds. I thought that I would be able to push myself a bit harder…
Somehow even with all the time spent exploring the area, I had never visited Hughes Mountain Natural Area near Caledonia, MO. The 462 acre area is covered mainly in oak/hickory forests with a few glade areas at the summit. Sounds pretty typical, right? Far from it. These rhyolite glades formed from lava 1.5 billion years…
The Red Ribbon trout section of the Meramec River ranges from the Highway 8 access downstream about eight miles to Scott’s Ford, with numerous access points in between. This stretch of river holds both brown and rainbow trout. I have always wanted to give it a try, so on my winter break I headed down…
