Kayser

Don't forget black & yellow, no matter what brand! Black, olive, and white are the next colors in my top 5. Rob

I take 63 South from Rolla to Licking, and then cut over from Licking. 63 is a great road down to Licking, and it saves some time, along with being a much easier drive. I would just take exit 185 (circle drive thing) to avoid 3 or 4 stoplights on 63 in Rolla. Would NOT take this exit if towing a camper. Rob

Flyflinger- welcome to rural MO. Be polite and courteous, ask permission, and this will probably never happen. But be warned. Oh, and don't leave any trash. That generally strikes a nerve with landowners. Rob

Capps is not a park where you have to buy a daily trout tag, like RR, Bennett, Montauk, etc. Since Capps is not a trophy area, like the Current or 11pt, he probably assumed that you were planning on keeping fish, which you need the state trout stamp to do legally. Rob

Most of the spring fed stuff takes a lot of rain to bump them up and turn them to mud. Pretty much anything should be good, just remember to get your flies on the bottom. Rob

How about we refrain from replying until we can get the official wildlife code or a game warden in on this? Really don't want it turning out like last time. And can't you people go out and fish instead? I'm not in the area right now, so there should be plenty to catch. Rob

My, how the times have changed. Case in point (see my avatar) Then again, my friends keep telling me to get it cut... Rob

Through about 5-6 years of trial and error (and two months to forget it this summer...), this is what I've got- Park to Tan Vat- Fishing downstream is easiest, and there is a trail that goes from the park down past the sewage lagoon (you walk on the levee), crosses the river just before the hole at the bend in the river (end of sewage lagoons), and goes all the way to Tan Vat on the side of the river that the Tan Vat parking lot is on. Between the Rock garden (you'll know it) and Tan Vat can be somewhat overgrown this time of year, but the trail is there. Wear waders to avoid poison ivy, but watch out for stickerbushes. Tan Vat to Baptist- The trail begins on the sandbar adjacent to the first downstream run, but there are several in this area, so it can be confusing as to which one to take. Doesn't really matter, since you will be fishing downstream, not walking. The trail stays on this side of the river all the way down to Baptist. I think it crosses at the upstream side of Baptist, but I normally don't head this way. The trail is no more than 10-15 yards from the river, and follows the river all the way back up to that gravel bar at the first run. It does make a bend to head further off the river (not very far) where there is a high sand bank with a fast, deep scour hole with a couple rootwads, (looks like a prairie/briar patch around the trial, even a couple small cactus!) and makes a couple detours due to blowdowns somewhere along the way. Eventually, the trail dies off, due to it branching off into the multiple trails on the first sandbar. Just cut over towards the river and keep walking upstream, you'll recognize where you are. Baptist down- If you make it down to the big, dead water with a bluff at the end, after a VERY long run (fast, shallow water, about knee deep), the trail is on the side of the river that isn't a cliff. It crosses the river at where it flows past a high cutbank, makes a hard left at some rootwads, and then a hard right in a slow pool. River then heads into the long run. The trail can follow the gravel bars, or it can head into the woods on the right (looking upstream) to where you can look into some of the deep holes. Just depends on if you want to fight brush on land, or cross the river multiple times. I would recommend the park-Tan Vat stretch due to the generally less treacherous river, high number of rainbows, and shallower water. Just get your flies down with a good drift, and you should catch fish. And remember, just because you can't see them, doesn't mean they aren't there. Most importantly, try to find somebody that is willing to go fishing with you and show you where to fish, along with how to get back to your car. I've tried the "leave a car downstream" approach, but walking trails is quicker and easier. You just need to be more cautious of thunderstorms Oh, and bootfoot waders are harder on your feet. I'm thinking about getting some insoles for mine. Rob

Warmouth! Also known as black perch, I think. Last one I caught was about 3 years ago on a Zoom Fluke at LOZ, he hit it on the bottom during some, uh, technical difficulties. But I absolutely love them, wish they were more common. Rob

Net. I de-barb all of my flies at the vice, so the net helps for admiring fish, getting pictures, and "officially" getting the big one. It's a problem when you get the big one in, but can't get your hand around it. Rob

1- Haven't used them, but I think that, like anything else fly-fishing related, you need to put in the time to find what works for you. If you like this, great! But it also doesn't mean a thing if you can't get a good drift. 2- I was using orange poly yarn tied to my leader with 5x mono for a while, but then I just got rid of the indicator entirely. I feel like I get hung up a lot less on logs/weeds, have much better control over my flies and line, can get drifts that my fishing partner can't (under logs and trees), and can get to the bottom a lot quicker. But I put some time into learning this tactic, and it's starting to pay off. Also, changing rigs to streamers or dries is a lot quicker, and my leader isn't kinked from the indicator. Of course, the dry-dropper still gets plenty of use in my favorite stretches of the Current, with shallow water, spooky fish, and caddis hatches. Rob

Thanks to everyone that beat me to it- saves me a lot of typing. Here's just a few things to add, in no particular order- There have been zombies ever since people started getting famous for music in the modern age. Grateful Dead- not that great. Beatles- revolutionary (see While my Guitar Gently Weeps). Both had zombie fans, but there were some that chose to think for themselves. Drug use continues among musicians to this day (see Red Hot Chili Peppers), and leads to some very weird, and other very awesome music. 14 year-olds are stupid, have been for a long time, and will be for a long time as well. They also have disposable income, making them the primary target to be zombies. Toby Keith isn't that great either, and there are very few popular country songs currently that I would consider "good." George Strait still remains my favorite country artists, but Waylon Jennings holds a special place in my heart for the Dukes of Hazzard theme. And just for the record- I don't like Family Guy, Adam Sandler, Will Ferrel, or really any other obnoxious, intentionally stupid "humor." I find it an insult to the intelligence of the average American. Sadly, I'm beginning to think it might be more of an indication... Rob

As a 20 year-old who has grown up with the "music" from Nelly and his fellow rappers, I can honestly say that it IS the death of culture. There is no style, not much originality, intelligence, or culture associated with it. I truly hate rap music and pretty much anything that goes along with it. As someone said earlier- the kids that go to shows are mindless zombies. At least the music from previous generations challenged people to think about their world or form their own opinions about the meaning of the music. Not to mention that the bands were actually SKILLED MUSICIANS. With rap, there's no skill or thought involved- just get high and go off "pimpin' some hoes" to some beat playing at a soothing billion and 5 decibels. And for the record, there is very little current music that compares to previous eras, both in substance and in skill. People just aren't as creative anymore. Rob

The MS, and MO rivers aren't that contaminated, there are less consumption advisories for those waters than most others in the MO/IL region. I regularly eat buffalo (big suckers) and catfish from the MS below STL, and don't see a problem with it. People just get turned off because of the muddy water and what they think is in it, due to the paranoia of certain groups and organizations that get lots of press. These fish are extremely fast growing, which means A- they can't be a substitute forage of shad, for larger game species, which is the problem and B- they don't accumulate toxins, chemicals, or parasites to nearly the same level as a catfish, bass, etc., which is good as far as eating is concerned. They also aren't bottom feeders, like common carp, so they can't pick up contaminants in the sediment as readily, and have mostly white meat, as seen in the video. It looks to be whiter than blue cat, and probably cleaner. I can't think of any better reasons ever presented to eat a certain fish. Rob

The poll asks for what you would be MORE willing to try. If you don't want to eat any of it, just put down what sounds best, and leave your thoughts below. This is just for fun, to see what the favorite of the three is. Preliminary results don't look good for Kentucky Tuna... Rob

http://www.state-journal.com/news/article/4810880 The article states that Kentucky has launched a program to increase marketability of these invasive fish, and that New Orleans fishermen call them "silverfin." Apparently they taste like shellfish (scallop and crab), so would you be willing to try it? Rob

Well, I guess that takes care of the renaming question. Looks like they might be able to make a market for it after all. This article also mentions they're marketed as "silverfin" in New Orleans- http://www.state-journal.com/news/article/4810880 So, just a quick show of hands, would you be more willing to eat Asian Carp, Kentucky Tuna, or Silverfin if you saw it on a menu? Rob

I don't think it made the state record, just shy. But anywhere you can get a bunch of 2's, a couple 3's, and a 4lb crappie would probably become the top crappie lake in my mind. Rob

Sorry Phil, but you got some bad info there. That is a black crappie from Lake Kinkaid, in Southern IL, caught in early March. The guy that caught it is from Waterloo, my home town. While I don't know him, I do remember when it was caught, as there were plenty of stories in magazines and local papers. Here is a thread about it on another site- http://www.muskyhunter.com/forum/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=101&topic_id=14603 Here's another article as well- http://www.iloutdoornews.com/articles/2010/04/08/top_news/news03.txt I think that there was also something about it in IL Game&Fish Magazine, but I'm not seeing it right now. But anyways, it's one heck of a crappie from one heck of a lake. Makes me wonder why I leave my home state... Rob

Sorry about that, please just disregard. I only used that terminology because I have been bombarded with it so much, it was the first thing to come to mind. But the point stands, I don't think I've heard of the valves really failing while the lift is up. And now that you mention it, I think I have seen some large padlocks put into the frame of the lift to keep it from descending. I think this is mainly to prevent theft, though, and not as a check against leaky tanks. Rob

1 & 3, definitely not poisonous. While #2 looks very similar to #1, the way it's coiled doesn't exactly say water snake to me, and I think you can just barely see the pit in front of it's eye, making it a cottonmouth. Could just be my eyes, though... I try not to kill any snake if I can avoid it, even the watersnakes that try to crawl up my leg when I'm fishing the Current. For copperheads, I just leave them and watch my step- it's his woods, after all, I'm the trespasser. As far as cottonmouths, I like to either stay in a boat, in cold water, or on a dock. That and there aren't very many moc's where I go. Rob

BP could have stopped it, they just chose not to because it was still profitable. But this isn't the place for that. Yes, you definitely still want to tie your boat off. While I have never seen the valves fail, people do tend to forget to put the lift on "Hold," and the lift will sink back down and the boat will be in the water. Rob

There is a second fail-safe valve on the hose that leads to the tank(s) that can be closed for long term storage, just in case the Hold option doesn't "hold" like it should. It traps all of the air in the tank(s), and since it can only go out through the fill hoses or the bottom (when filling), the two valve system works pretty well. Small chance that you might get wet when trying to close this valve, due to it's positioning... This is what most people do at Lake of the Ozarks when they cover their boat up for the season. I really haven't seen any lifts lose pressure and sink down, and I've been down in March, when people have been gone for a few months, after some ice storms and big thunderstorms. So they hold a few months without problems, I don't think a few weeks would be too much trouble for one. Rob

Would also like to add that there IS a physical stop (not air operated) on the lift to keep it from going above a certain point. AKA- they will go up so far, catch on the stop, and not go up any higher in relation to the dock, no matter how much air you can pump into it. And the control boxes usually consist of an On/Off switch for the air pump, and a selection lever (valve) that can select either Raise/Lower or Hold. Raise/Lower opens the valve, and you can either turn on the pump to raise the lift, or just open the valve to let the air out and lower the boat and lift. Turning the lever to "Hold" closes the valve to the tank and keeps that amount of air in it, holding the lift at that height in the water. Whether it's up, down, or somewhere in between. And then you an put a lock on the control box to make sure nobody messes with it. Hope this helps, Rob

I kinda agree with Pflugradt- I could care less about the pellet-fed scarred-up hatchery trout. I have recently taken up chasing wild trout, and have a few over 15", with one 25" in the mix. Also, the big browns in the Current River present a good fight and challenge, even if they were stocked. But when smallmouth are around, it's hard to pass them up, especially on the fly. Good luck, even if I can't offer much help. Just get down for the goggle eye. Rob