SilverMallard

I only use 3 knots for fly-fishing. They are: Double Surgeon's Knot - for joining tippet to leader, etc. Clinch Knot - w/6 wraps of the free end. Occassionally, I will feel compelled to add the half hitch to the end to make it an Improved Clinch Knot, but not often. I use this one for ALL hook-to-line connections down to size 20 flies and 7x tippet. Nail Knot - improved with UV cement for line to backing connections. Note: I use looped leaders and add loops to fly lines for a loop-to-loop connection at that juncture. So no knot there unless I'm fishing straight mono for warmwater fish. In that case, I use the Improved Clinch Knot on the leader attached to the loop in the fly line. I find this more than adequate for everything I've encountered in 10 years of fly-fishing. What say you?

Lilley's Landing is "one stop shopping" for what you're looking for. http://www.lilleyslanding.com Another good option that recommends lodging is the Orvis shop in Branson, http://www.riverrunoutfitters.com Those are the two best based on what you asked for. And ask them about fly patterns. They're on the water every day.

Dan, there are already "nuisance suit" laws in place in MO to protect farmers from such lawsuits. That's BS. He just didn't want to tell you he's voting for it. Under current MO law, if a farm has been in place for over ONE YEAR, they cannot be sued for disturbance related issues, city/county ordnance violations, etc. for common ag practices. Common ag practices are determined by the county extension agent and/or private lands conservationist for that county. There were some cases in St. Charles County a few years back where towns had grown up around long-standing farms and neighbors were harassing the farmers over things like not mowing their crops to meet city/county ordnance lawn grass regulations and noise ordnance violations. So MO passed a common sense law prohibiting city and county ordnances from being enforced in that manner against ESTABLISHED farms. Furthermore, these laws also apply to long-standing drainage discharges that are within certain parameters and so forth. So they fed you a line of BS.

Yes, the most teaching jobs are going to be where the most young family growth is. And that is the southern suburbs of Springfield in Greene and Christian Counties. From those communities, you can be on great fly water in from 10 (warm water) to 30 minutes (Taneycomo, Crane Creek). Within 2 hours you can be on Capps Creek or down in Mountian Home...or up at Bennett Springs or Roaring River...or on the Current or Beaver tailwater. (all trout fisheries) And there are smallie and white bass streams in that radius way too numerous to mention. Those districts would also have the best opps for advancement as they are growing and tend to employ more young teachers. In the rural districts, you're waiting for some Baby Boomer to retire or die before a job opens up.

Just in from Table Rock Lake Water Quality, Inc.: Hi Ken, I am still in Baltimore but I was able to read your email. Thank you for sending these links. I agree this bill does not seem to be in the best interests of the environmental community. I am going to make my board aware of this situation and also talk to our State Senator and Representative. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. David David Casaletto, Executive Director Table Rock Lake Water Quality And THIS guy has been in Baltimore, Maryland, all week at a water quality conference! Gotta admire this sort of response.

Unfortunately, the @senate.mo.gov email addresses were a stab in the dark based on the one Senator Champion's CoS gave me for her. As I explained in a post way back on this thread, it seems the senate webmaster has not been forwarding ANY email to Senator Champion about SB 364. So I have no confidence in the email server on the Mo Senate website. They had over a week to receive mine and several others', and had not gotten any of them. Now, Dan Clemens should be reachable through Dan@ElectDanClemens.org The others we will probably have to call and perhaps get email addresses from their offices for the benefit of others.

Senator Jack Goodman, who represents Taney, Stone, Ozark, Barry, McDonald, and Lawrence Counties. Roaring River SP, Taneycomo, Table Rock, and I believe NFOW are in his district. Tourism and not ag is the lifeblood of his district. So clean water is an easier sell and he's more responsive to anglers and paddlers by nature. Try jackgoodman@senate.mo.gov or call his office at the number listed on the state senate website. Senator Chuck Purgason has the Current River, Montauk SP, most of the Mark Twain National Forest, and I think the Eleven Point in his district. That's another good one we should be able to count on. He has mining interests in his district that are pretty strong, but so is tourism. Again, try chuckpurgason@senate.mo.gov Senator Dan Clemens represents Greene County, Christian County, Webster County, and Douglas County except for the city of Springfield. BUT he's got a masters in AG from Mizzou and has held significant positions within the Mo. Farmers Assn (MFA). On the other hand, he has served with the James River Basin Partnership as the ag liason and is an avid hunter and fisherman. His family owns a 400 acre ROW CROP farm East of Springfield. He would be an important person to convince to oppose this bill. But his loyalty is to the ag lobby and farmers in his district, while his ideology and personal past-times might provide grounds upon which can appeal to his better nature. Try danclemens@senate.mo.gov or Dan@ElectDanClemens.org or call his office. He has co-sponsored legislation last year that was passed that SB 364 would NEGATE! So there's a good chance he can be convinced to oppose this bill. The @senate.mo.gov email adresses I posted here on a hunch apparently do not work. Folks will need to CALL THESE PEOPLE'S OFFICES AND ASK TO SPEAK TO THEIR CHIEF LEGISLATIVE ASSISTANT. We already know the senate email server is not reliable. So don't waste time filling out the form on the senate website that you get when you hit "Email the Senator" on their senate pages. CALL THEM. If I get working email addresses for these folks, I will post them here.

He hails from a HUGELY pro-ag district. But this isn't even pro-ag! What about the farmer next door to a polluter who uses the same water he does? If SB 364 becomes law, he won't be able to sue his neighbor for poisoning his livestock or burning up his crops!

That's a MODEL letter, Dan! Excellent. Can others use it if they want to? And thanks for taking the time. SB 364 is one of the 3 worst things I have ever seen considered by the MO Legislature.

I got a very nice and encouraging email from Holly Neill, ExDir of James River Basin Partnership this morning. She indicated that they are working with Watershed Committee of the Ozarks on the lobbying efforts I posted above. And she apologized for the delay in replying to my attempts to contact them. Very professional and very appropriate response. But I would have expected nothing less from Holly or JRBP.

OK, as of this morning, this is what I know: Senator Champion is opposed. Watershed Committee of the Ozarks is opposed and working with Springfield and Greene County officials who work with the legislature to lobby against the bill. I have no new info from the Upper White River Basin org or from Table Rock Lake Water Quality, Inc. But they both expressed concern and interest in the issue on Monday. It's only Wednesday. I still have not heard from James River Basin Partnership. And, as you can see, the gang in Arkansas is more worried about nobody saying a potentially negative word than they are in preventing a major step backwards in terms of water quality. Doubt we can count on any assistance from Friends of the White River...which is sort of ironic given their name I think. On the subject of people's misplaced concerns, I got an email last night from the Ops Director at Watershed Committee of the Ozarks, who is a member of this forum, and a call from the ExDir of the same organization first thing this morning. While I was very encouraged by their reaction to the bill and how quickly they have been able to take appropriate action, the main thing they were concerned about was the fact that I am giving this running update on what is going on regarding SB 364 and my communications...or lack thereof...with the various non-profits that focus on water quality in our region. They were very distressed that I mentioned in a previous post that I had sat on hold for about 10 minutes before having to hang up to take another call...from my state senator. Things were said like "slander" and "attack" and "if you want to make friends and get people to help you." Of course, I politely recommended they talk to their attorney about slander so that they don't misuse the term in the future and pointed out that slander...or any issue of defamation...has to first and foremost be UNTRUE. I also explained to them that I am, first and foremost, an outdoor journalist. And that trying to intimidate me for reporting facts in the public forum is probably not in the best interests of their organization or their personal professional reputations. (readers please note I am NOT calling these guys out by name) It certainly wasn't MY fault that I sat on hold for 10 minutes Or than Senator Champion's chief of staff returned my call at precisely that moment. From the conversations, I got the impression that they were deeply distressed that folks might perceive that they do not respond to communications from the general public. Well, I've made it clear in the past couple of posts on this thread that they DO and that they are moving aggressively in the right direction. Has anyone here NEVER been left on hold for an irritating amount of time or had to hang up to take another call while on hold? I know it happens almost every time I call my bank, Mediacom, City Utilities, the phone company, and most state and federal government agencies. So I fail to see why anyone would be so hyper-sensitive to someone reporting that it happened when someone called THEM. But more importantly, can't we all focus on the REAL ISSUE: SB 364? Cleaner water. You know, that sort of thing. I make mistakes. And I'm usually the first one to admit that fact when it happens. Everyone performs in less than the ideal way from time to time. This is a fundamental fact of life. It amazes me that so many well-educated adults cannot seem to accept this reality, and spend so much time and effort trying to cover them up instead of fixing them. If we all spent all that negative energy on positive things (like cleaner air and water), just think of how much good we could accomplish! And threatening journalists is NEVER a good professional move.

Yep. Did that on purpose. And it probably ain't over yet. I'll probably need to go remove the pilings at some point in the not so distant future. Those rubes burn in effigy anyone who tries to do a thing about water quality issues down there other than Wilson's beloved D.O....which I'm not too sure he even understands that well. Remember the reception Fox Statler got last year? I'm sick of their ignorant BS. And folks who keep bringing this AR vs. MO thing up on threads about water quality issues we should all naturally agree on aren't working their way up my buddy lists, either. If you want to trash talk me, why don't you go do it on Wilson's forum. That's what it's there for apparently. But this is CONSERVATION forum and this thread is about a piece of very dangerous legislation we're trying to stop up here. Being an Arkansan who owns lake property and who fishes mostly in the Branson area, I'd think you would see through the distractions and focus on the issue. Oh well.

Hey, I just reread this stuff and realized that I kind of short-shrifted the Ops Director at Watershed Committee of the Ozarks. He actually emailed me shortly after I posted that update on what was going on Monday. We had a good conversation and he told me he would take this to the Executive Director. Another source from that organization informed me tonight that they discussed SB 364 at their board meeting this week, and that the board is looking into what position or response they may take. And that is good news. But I still haven't heard any more from Holly other than an email that said my phone was disconnected...which it is not...to which I replied with my phone number again. Every time I call there during normal business hours, I get her voicemail.

Thanks for the report. But in the future please send them to my private email instead. LOL

Just having a little fun. And, yeah, with 3 guys in the boat, that would be very doable. I was thinking 1 guy cuz I usually fish alone. But that's because nobody likes my sarcastic and dry sense of humor.

Mo Farm Bureau is more than a big insurance company. It is THE agri-business lobby in MO. Behind the Dem and Rep Party apparatus, Mo Farm Bureau is the most powerful organization in state politics.

Arkansas River just West of Colorado Springs. Not too much of a drive for day trips. Just do some Googling for websites and more info. I've fished there and it can be great.

P.S. I left out the Upper White River Basin guys. They are also working up a position starting today. And they will email a statement to me later this week. And the ExDir there knows the score. I was impressed with him.

Norma Champion (Springfield) is opposed and 99% committed to voting no. Her direct email is normachampion@senate.mo.gov They have not received ANY email on this bill from the STATE SENATE website...mine, yours, or anyone else's. CALL YOUR SENATOR'S OFFICE IN JEFF CITY AND ASK THEM FOR A DIRECT EMAIL ADDRESS!!!! The state senate webmaster is either not doing their job, or screening SB 364 emails for the Farm Bureau! I spoke to the ExDir of Table Rock Lake Water Quality, Inc. just now. He's in Baltimore, MD, this week at a water quality conference. But I am emailing him the links to the Senate summary and supplemental summary so he can forward those to his Trustees. They will reach a concensus and get back to me this week. The bill is set for final reading, debate, and a vote later this month. Senator Champion's staff thinks there will be strong opposition and vigorous debate on the floor of the Mo Senate. She is generally opposed on principle to more state control and less local control on MOST issues, but especially so on public health and environmenal regulatory issues. I have repeatedly contacted Holly at JRBP and OpsDir at The Watershed Committee of the Ozarks and gotten ZERO response from them. The OpsDir @ the Watershed Committee left me on hold and wouldn't even pick up the phone. I have left voicemail and email for Holly at JRBP and never even gotten a live person on the phone. I have now sent emails asking BOTH to go on the record with a position statement THIS WEEK. You see, gang, none of these orgs want to torque off the Mo Farm Bureau. Neither do the state Senators, Reps, or Governor. So we are going to have to give them something to seriously consider if we want this bill defeated. They are going to have to clearly see it: sportsmen and environmentalists vs. ag...choose your poison. And most of them are probably quite ignorant as to how many of their constituent supporters and voters are sportsmen and environmentally conscious. WE HAVE TO EDUCATE THEM ON THAT POINT.

Come on, Phil! That's 2 trout per minute. That kind of action doesn't even happen on schooling crappie and would be EXCEPTIONAL on running white bass. Trout? Maybe out of a run at the hatchery. Trout just don't feed that aggressively. I ain't buying it.

Looks like we're gonna have to make phone calls and do some digging for residential and cell #s. I'm gonna call Norma Champion's offices in Jeff and Springfield tomorrow and see if I can actually get any meaningful dialogue started. I'll also call JRBP. I get great responses from Congressman Blunt and my two US Senators from MO when I email them. But I haven't talked to ANYONE who has heard "boo" from their state legislators. And Holly not getting back to me is verging on unforgiveable unless she's been out of pocket for some reason.

This came up at last night's SMFF banquet. Has ANYONE gotten a response from their elected officials on this? I have not only not gotten so much as a "got your note/call" acknowledgement from gov't officials, but I also haven't gotten any response from Holly, the ExDir at James River Basin Partnership. And THAT is a bit disappointing.

I just wear milspec night vision goggles. They're a bit expensive, but hey! ...it's fly fishing, right?

Best poison ivy tip? Sure! DON'T TOUCH IT!

Dangit, Terry! I thought I was the only guy around here who tied that pattern.