troutgal

Most of my mom's family is from Oregon county going back to the 1850's we have a lot of cool old pictures and stories passed down through the generations! The Irish wilderness holds a lot of old tales, and there were some pretty notorious (in there own way) families that lived in the wilderness there! I'll IM you some of the old pics I have if you're interested. My great grandpa and grandpa worked for the logging companies and at the CCC Camp. It's a really cool area with lots of secrets and hidden treasures!

If the wife likes to stay closer to Lebanon, and you don't mind the 15 minute drive out to the park, the Best Western Wyota Inn is a great place. You even get free hot breakfast from the adjoining restaurant every morning (ordering from the menu, not a "buffet") All of the rooms were updated in the last 2 years or so and the staff is very friendly...nice pool and patio area, too.

Just a note...I don't particularly like the fishy taste either, I've found that skinning the trout as soon as possible after catching them keeps the fishy taste down quite a bit!

OK, so obviously this was taken long before the digital camera, but it's one of my favorite pics of me, my sister and my dad. This was taken in August of 1976....I was 5, but I still remember that day like it was yesterday. For all of you with little ones, don't think they will not cherish that time with you, I know I still do. My dad and I still fish together at least once a week some 32 years later! I now have a 12 year old of my own, and I take her with me whenever I can, to give her the same memories I have. Thanks, Dad!

sissys!!!!!! LOL

I personally, (as a female) don't see any reason to separate the genders in this case. Sponsorships included. As was stated in the earlier post, why should the women have an advantage in gaining sponsorships if there is no advantage given in other areas of the circuit. I do, however think that the earlier statement, that the only advantage might be that a man has fished since a young age is offensive to those of us who happen to be female and have also fished for our entire lives. Advantage is moot in this case. Just my 2 cents....

Sadly, the little girl has been found. http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=133784

Looks like they took the advice and got a second opinion. The news corrected their story after consulting a MDC employee. Here's the link... http://www.kctv5.com/news/14514294/detail.html

My dad and I were at the park on Tuesday, and spoke to the conservation employees there. They told us that they actually stocked a whole mess of browns in the river on Monday. I only hooked into one...a nice one, but he got away just before I could land him. You thought kids day was nuts, be glad you weren't there to see Tuesdays spectacle. Literally 700 kids from St James school district 6th grade thru high school with what seemed like 3 chaperones! We were in the river below the park when we heard what sounded like the bridge falling down... four high school boys jumping off the bridge into the water on the downstream side! This was downright disrespectful to the 2 older gentlemen fishing right there! Not to mention the loud mouths foul language that could be heard all through the park. I have no problem with kids being taken to the park for a field trip or what have you, but it should be used as an opportunity to teach...you know things like respect, stream ethics, how to use a trash can, etc. It was ridiculous. I'm tempted to call the School district and report the distruction to administration.

Dad and I were down on Tuesday and I saw something incredible. I was walking along the bank headed toward the handicap access at the beginning of the park. I was headed downstream, coming around from the cable bridge. As I looked into the shallow water just above the falls I saw a 14-16" Brown in the water near the bank under the big tree that bends out over the water. As I got a little closer I could see there were actually 2 browns, about the same size(actually abot 10 &11" each). Then I noticed they were on a stringer tied to the root of the tree! No one was fishing anywhere near there, so I walked to the people fishing the handicap hole and asked if they knew who it belonged to...they didn't know. I let my dad know what I had found, and we decided to wait around for a couple of minutes to see if anyone came up to them, and sure enough, about 3 minutes later a guy we'd walked past 20 minutes earlier all the way down at the log crossing came up and looked around, then picked up the stringer and put another fish on it! He was behaving in a very suspicious manner. I was going to walk over to him and mention how much was wrong with what he had done, but he shot away from that stringer so fast I couldn't get to him in time. I decided that since he was being so "sneaky" I should just let someone else tell him. I walked up to the MDC Hatchery office and explained the situation to the agent. He immediately got in his truck and drove up the hiil and watched for about 15 minutes with binoculars before the man returned. The man obviously saw the agent, because he started to collect his stringer, then suddenly put it back in the water and walked away. A few minutes later I saw the agent drive off, and the man then slowly went back to his stringer, picked it up and headed for the parking lot. AHH! but the agent must have been watching still, because he suddenly appeared just before the man got to his car. Don't know the outcome, but I just have to say that I hate to see that kind of thing! If nothing else, maybe it will keep that guy from trying to pull a stunt like that next time!

Has anyone else noticed that the 2007 Trout Unlimited Calendar has 31 days in February? I was planning a trip to Taney that weekend, now I don't know if I'll make it!

my daughter says she'd name her Sandy.

Thank God, they have found him safe in Kirkwood, MO.

In case you haven't heard the wonderful news, they were found today in good physical health! Shawn had been missing since October of 2002! Prayers for their families need to be said.

phil, I can't seem to get these links to work...the first one worked fine, these don't even highlight to be clicked.

Reminds me of my husband with chocolate cake!

Hey all, I've been to Phils seminar a couple of times in years past. It is very informative and interesting. A lot of time available for Q&A also. My dad and I will be there...would love to meet any of you in person if you can make it on Thursday. Gretchen

LMW, Being from St Louis area, we fish Meramac Springs about once a week all year, between trips to taney. When we stay overnight we always stay at either the Comfort Inn at St James, or the Amerihost in rolla. It only takes a little while to get to the park from town, and they are friendly with all the amenities you need like internet access. We usually just drive down for the day and return home in the evening, though during the school year, as I have a daughter in elementary school. PM me sometime, and I will fill you in on all the good places to eat, stay, and play in that area from a non-local. Hope to see you there soon, we were just there yesterday...lots of fat rainbows right now, lots of bites, too. Gretchen

Hey guys! Has the water cleared up at all? Dad and I might come down Saturday morning after we drop some folks off at the airport. Hoping to see some good action. Gretchen

Yes, if the water level is not too high, you can spin fish from the bank almost all the way from the cable at the dam on down.

well, how was it? I'm hoping to get down there on Wednesday.

It depends on what you're looking for, really. My dad and I fished at Dogwood last thursday. My mom and daughter were bored and wanted to do something different ( they don't fish) so we agreed to go to dogwood so they could rent bikes and picnic and we could at least wet a line. There is of course the $30 or so fee to catch and release, and it is definitely not a challenge to fish, but it sure makes for a fun day if you're dragged away for other reasons, like ours from Taney. We probably landed 75 trout in a 2 hour span, most around 2 lbs. To give you an idea, my knees were bruised the next day from kneeling down to release so many fish. We also caught 5 or 6 bass! One nice thing, there was not a single soul fishing other than the 2 of us, so it was very relaxing. The area is beautiful, clean, and well maintained, too. It just depends, like I said, on what you're looking for. It would also be a good place to take a kid or adult to introduce them to the "feel" of landing lots of fish.

I'll take 12/30/06, please.

Sorry I'm late on this one, but here's a fill in on the 84 trout stamp, as well as a couple more duck stamps. I have all of the duck stamps from 64-84 if anyone's interested in seeing any, let me know and I'll post some more.

Chuck, I just got back from the Smokeys, and the place I enjoyed the most was fishing the Cherokee Reservation outside of Maggies Valley. It's just outside of, and bordered by the Smokey Mountain National Park. You can access the stream from almost anywhere on the Reservation, you just have to buy a permit at any of the local stores, gas stations, etc. We stayed in Pigeon Forge, fished the pigeon, but with such a hot summer, the fishing was poor at best there. Was there from 7/31-8/12. Let me know if you need any more info on the area... Gretchen