An innovative, and quick wat to tie a blood knot - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6AY-MJcrB8

Double Nail Knot, very strong as well. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fBtrrB2KtM

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

Back to back clinch knot is a blood knot.

Seeeeya; RJ Flowers

My favorite knot is the blood knot for tying leader to line. It's strong, very slim, and passes through guides easily. It seemed difficult the first few times, but isn't hard once you tie a few. Another method is to use a nail knot tool, and tie the knot with the mail line wrapped in spirals around the leader, leaving a long portion of leader on the other side. Then use the tool again, but this time wrapping the tag end of the leader around the main line. Pull ti cinch tight. This is another very skinny knot with exceptional holding strength.

Seeeeya; RJ Flowers

Here's the recipes for the meat, and pita bread
I don't have the recipe for the Tzatziki Sauce as I didn' follow one. But it has all of the correct ingredients. The antelope was ground at 2 parts antelope, 1 part bacon. for the gyro meat, the recipe was:

½Onion, cut into 4 pieces
2 lbs. ground antelope
1 tbs. Garlic, minced
1 tbs. Dried oregano
1 tbs. Ground cumin
1 tbs. Garlic powder
2 tsp. Ground dried thyme
1 tbs. black peppercorns
1 tsp. Salt
2 tbs. Olive oil

Make sure the meat is ice cold. Combine all ingredients until evenly distributed. Run meat mixture through the smallest plate of your meat grinder. Work the result into a thick paste. Butter the inside of a loaf pan. Put the meat into the pan. Bake at 300' F. for 50 minutes. Remve from the oven.

At this point, I covered the outside of a 2nd loaf pan with foil, placed it on top of my cooked loaf, and placed a cast iron Dutch oven on top to weight it down, and let it cool before putting it in the fridge..

Pita pockets:
3 cups AP flor
1.5 tsp. salt
2 tbs. SAF Red yeast.
2 tbs olive oil
1.25 cups water.

Mix into smooth dough, kneading for 7 minutes. Cover and let rise to double volume. Remove from bowl, punch it down. and form into an smooth dome. Cut into 8 equal portions. Roll out each portion into a thin disk, about 8 inches around. Pre-heat oven to 450' F. with the baking pan in the oven. When hot, take two pita disks and place onto hot baking sheet. Place into the oven and bake for 4 minutes. Remove and stack on round plate. Cover to prevent them from drying out. Repeat until all pita rounds are baked. Make Tzatziki Sauce and lightly fry slices of gyro meat. Serve and let everyone make their own gyros.

Tzatziki Sauce ingredients:
1 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup mayonaise
2 tbs. lemon juice
1 English cucumber, washed, seeded, finely chopped
1 small dill pickle, minced {didn't have any dill weed. Had to get creative)

Combine all ingredients. Chill for an hour. Enjoy.

Seeeeya; RJ Flowers

I have pictures. Now, I just need to figure out how to attach them. I also made Tzatziki Sauce, and the pita bread. It was the first time making any of them. The gyros were great. Followed up with strawberry floats for desert.

Seeeeeya; RJ Flowers

Got the gyro meat cooling in the fridge. Will show pictures before, and after slicing.

If anyone wants the recipe, and technique, just let me know.

Seeeeya; RJ Flowers

Lake Superior has that same characteristic. From Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmond Fitsgerald" - "The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they called Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy..."

I swam in that lake, often as both a child, and as an adult. It's frigid, and that's in the shallow places.

Seeeeya: RJ Flowers

I made a solid fiberglass ice rod, 34" length. I put American Tackle Microwave guides on it, and a fly rod tip top. It casts like a dream, and will haul in good sized smallmouth with no trouble. It's a blast to fish. It would be a great rod for kayak fishing.

Seeeeya; RJ Flowers

Reminds me of a time perch fishing in Back Bay, in Brimley Mi., with my dad. I was about ten years old. We usually fished streams for brookies. However, on this day, my Dad rented a row boat and rowed us into the bay. We used crawlers and shiners for bait. Now you have to understand, my dad was very good at catching fish. He almost always limited out. Me, I'd catch half my limit usually, in the same water. On this day, a school of perch happened to start hitting my bait fast, but only on my side of the boat. I was pulling them in as fast as I could get a hook into the water. Well, after a few minutes of this, my dad demanded we change sides of the boat. I thought this totally unfair. However, just as we switched, the school had migrated to my new side, and I continued to pull them in, while my dad was having little luck. It was the only day I ever fished with him that I out fished him. It was a very memorable day for me.

Seeeeya; RJ Flowers

I have two Walmart fly reels that freely spin, are silent, and have pretty good drag. For fresh water brookies, they are perfect, especially for the price point. I have a 7+ weight Lamson Guru II on my 7 weight Winston BIIIx that is buttery smooth. I like it a lot. I'm currently building a CTS Affinity 8 weight. Not sure what's going on that rod yet. I may just sell it to one of my sons who's interested in it, for the price of the parts (he is my son after all, and it's still a $650 build). He can decide what reel he wants to use. I'll probably recommend Lampson Speedster. It's a rod for larger fish, maybe even some Chinook. He'll need a good reel.

Seeeeeya; RJ Flowers

Gonna take 2 pounds of the ground, mixed antelope and make gyro meat with it. I already did the research, and have a recipe and technique, as wellas agreement from everyone that this would be great. Sorry, no pictures of the antelope.

Seeeeya; RJ Flowers

I was about 14years old (before the wheel was invented), and was fishing a stream in Michigan's U.P. with my dad. We were dunking night crawlers for brookies. We stopped to fish a beaver pond. There was a likely lookin log close enough to flip my worm to. I sent the worm, and sure enough, a good 11 incher lunged for the worm, which was a few feet from the log. Inches before he nailed the worm, he came to an abrupt stop, like he'd run into a glass wall. I reeled in and cast to the same spot. Again he lunged, but came to that same abrupt stop. I again reeled in and re-cast, but this time, closer to e log. I hooked him. As I reeled only about 2 feet, he came to that same stop. I couldn't get him any further. Well, I wasn't about to lose him. I waded into the pond to find that someone else had caught this beauty, and had snagged their line on the log and broken off. This fish was tethered to the log. I reached into the water and snipped the tethering line, and put my catch into my creel. Got several more good fish that day from that pond, and other holes ,under banks, and fallen trees. It was a very good day.

Seeeeya; RJ Flowers

This morning, my son harvested a Montana antelope. It was home, and being butchered by 10:00 a.m. While he was butchering it, I vacuum wrapped the back straps. I the ground everything he said to grind at 2 parts antelope to 1 part bacon. After all was ground, I vacuum packed it in two pound portions. This went on until dinner time at 6:30 p.m.. I am 66 years young, and a dialysis patient with somewhat decreased strength. I was superman until about 47, then started to lose strength and agility. Multiple stays in the hospital, for several weeks at a time took away a lot of it. you know, use it or lose it. Yeh, you don't get a lot of exercise in hospital beds. I am on the mend, and slowly getting stronger. Standing over a meat grinder, and vacuum sealer for hours just makes my neck and upper back ache a little. But I wouldn't trade the opportunity to help. Just can't be useless. I also help with my grandkids.

i love it, but it makes for a long day.

Seeeeya; RJ Flowers

Stroh's was my Dad's favorite beer. And oh how I remember Kincheloe Air force base, especially when open to the public. As a boy, I loved the F106 Delta Darts, the big cargo planes that dropped the nose to load cargo, the trained German Shephard shows, etc. KAb did fly overs right over us during the 4th of July parades. My step dad was part of the VFW drill team. And best of all, you rarely got skunked when fishing, especially for perch Like I said, SSM was a great place to gro up, especially if you lived in the country, and had access to woods, and water, which Ihad in spades.

Seeeeya; RJFlowers

I have only experience with a cheap reel purchased at Walmart, and a Lamson GuruII that I really like. I know Lamson makes good stuff, but want to hear from others who have experience with multiple brands.

Seeeeya: RJFlowers