Sat, May 17 2008
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This morel season has been strung out. A good find in one woods has not guaranteed success in another. Last year, my last morels were picked May 3. I expect the end is very near. Perhaps no later than this weekend.
Just haven’t had time to hunt much the last few days. When I did it was new ground that I haven’t hunted before.
The good news is that only a few of the really large yellows have been found locally. Perhaps, we’ll still see the grand finally.
I write this column on Tuesday morning. My last reports were of 300 morels found near Alexandria on Monday. Friends, Jan and Ed Baker, found 22 Monday and 16 Tuesday. “The ones Tuesday were a lot larger,” said Ed.
Morel hunter Jim Wilhoite called and said, “You won’t believe the mushroom, I found.” He was right. Picture a black walnut shell split in half with the inside flat down to the ground. On the outside of the shell was a small hole made by a rodent. A sponge morel came up through the 1/32-inch hole in the shell. Once the stem of the morel passed through this small hole it got much larger in diameter. The head of the morel developed fully and was larger than the nut shell.
I’ve been receiving reports of good crappie being caught at Mississinewa Reservoir. On cloudy days the fish are shallow. They move out about 8 feet on bright days.
I checked out www.anglers-dream.com and found some interesting stats on smallmouth bass in Lake Michigan. In a couple of Anglers Dream Tournaments last year it took five bass weighing more than 22 pounds to win. The fish are being caught near the shore and inside break walls along the southern shores of the lake.
Anglers Dream is holding a tournament on Morse Reservoir Saturday, May 10. Entry fee per team is $90. Contact Todd Shelton at (317) 281-7329.
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Fort Harrison State Park will host its second annual Civil War encampment May 10-11, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. The encampment will be located near the park office.
The program will feature a military encampment from each side of the conflict, and will highlight Civil War era cannons and uniforms, along with demonstrations of war weaponry. There will be an open Civil War era camp featuring camp life from 1861 to 1865.
Fort Harrison State Park was named for Fort Benjamin Harrison, a U.S. Army base in northeastern Indianapolis from 1904 to 1996.
The latter was named for President Benjamin Harrison, a Civil War general in command of the 70th Indiana Infantry Regiment. The regiment fought several major battles in the Civil War, including the Battle of Resaca, Georgia, in May 1864.
In March 1865, Harrison was promoted to Brigadier General after the Battle of Peach Tree Creek. Harrison was elected the 23rd president of the United States in 1889.
For more information about the Civil War encampment, call (317) 591-0122.
There is no fee for the program; however, the weekend gate fee of $5 for in-state vehicles and $7 for out-of-state vehicles applies.
Rick Bramwell’s column appears on Thursdays. He can be reached at rick.bramwell
@aol.com.
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