Outside Bend

Haha, sorry about the delay DaddyO, I was preoccupied herding cats with work last week. Flies will go out by Wednesday.

Just got the last flies, definitely worth the wait! I'll start mailing stuff out Monday.

Haven't seen FS's flies yet, but I don't think the mailman's been by yet today. I'll get everyone's out ASAP.

Caddis should be going, try tan-bodied Elk-Hair caddis and other dry caddis patterns in 14-18. Smaller parachute Adams and blue quills in 18-20 can also be pretty effective this time of year. Pat's Rubberlegs in the deeper runs and if the water is up, sizes 4-8, Pheasant-tail nymphs are usually pretty productive, Griffith's Gnats too. Mohair leeches and buggers are both pretty consistent.

I believe that as long as you have the confirmation number for the license you purchased online, you'll be set.

Thank you for keeping on top of this, Phil!

And even if we can't agree on why the climate's warming, I think most folks would agree our modern society is based on a fairly stable, predictable, global climate regime. That those regimes are being perturbed could spell trouble for a lot of different areas around the world- not just for wildlife and ecosystems, but the humans which depend on their services. Regardless of whether you believe humans play a role in climate change or not, it's important to devise strategies ahead of time which limit the damage.

Glad to hear everyone's safe.

Nice Pup Jason, looks like a good one! I'm sure you two will have a blast in the coming years.

Love that line

Nice photos!

No Gotmuddy, episodes of mountain building, volcanism, and other factors played a role- factors which don't explain the climate shift we're currently experiencing. The one that does is pretty simple: the CO2 present in the Miocene atmosphere was eventually sequestered in formations of coal, natural gas, oil, peat, limestone, fossilized dino turds, and other carbon-bearing deposits. The reduction in atmospheric CO2 brought more moderate global temperatures- the climate our species adapted to. The stuff wasn't interacting with our atmosphere, until we dug it up and started burning it. The same chemical compound then seems to be the culprit today, how it's getting into the atmosphere makes no difference. While it's all well and good that Greenland was warm 15 million years ago, we're only adapted to the climate of the last 200,000 years or so. We don't know what an ice-free Greenland means for our species, we don't know how it affects trade, agriculture, geopolitics....we don't know what it means for habitated areas such as sub-Saharan Africa, central Asia, Australia, the American Southwest, or even Missouri. But if we look at recent history- drought and wildfires in Russia which reduced grain exports to the Middle East, and subsequent food riots which sparked the Arab Spring- it likely won't be pretty. Point is, I guess, it's about more than polar bears and cow farts.

The one time I went I snagged a 15 lb flathead, and an undersize paddlefish. Does anyone know the mortality rate for undersize fish which have been snagged and released?

This. I'd argue MDC's job isn't to provide anglers or meth addicts additional employment or supplemental income, but rather protect the state's aquatic resources. The reason why paddlefish caviar is so valuable right now is because sturgeon stocks are exhausted- every single sturgeon species on the planet now receives some sort of protection, largely due to overfishing by the caviar industry. To me, that doesn't mesh with the Department's objectives to promote conservation and the wise use of resources. I worry that creating a market for paddlefish eggs creates an entirely new constituency- one interested in economics over conservation. I could see it opening up a whole can of worms regarding stocking rates, length limits, creel limits, etc. We've seen how tough it is to balance conservation needs with commercial interests in our wild sturgeon fisheries, in our big-river catfish/carp/buffalo fisheries, in our aquaculture industry...I'm not sure bringing on more economic interests is wise, nor whether it really does MDC, sport anglers, or the resource any long-term good. And their are tradeoffs for the fishery, too: with more anglers and more pressure there's a reduction in the total numbers of fish, the mean size of fish, and often, the quality of the angling experience. Maybe the money's worth it, but I'd be reticent to tell my kids I traded their opportunity at a 70-100 lb paddlefish for a thousand bucks.

While sea ice may be growing, the article omits that ice sheets on Antarctic continent itself are shrinking. It all depends on what you choose look at.

From the article: "Warm conditions during the middle Miocene are thought to be associated with carbon dioxide levels of around 400 to 600 parts per million (ppm). In 2012, carbon dioxide levels have climbed to 393 ppm, the highest they've been in the past several million years. At the current rate of increase, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are on track to reach middle Miocene levels by the end of this century." The article isn't dismissing current climate change, it's corroborating current climate change- Greenland warmed then, as it is warming now, due to higher atmospheric CO2.

Cranked out a bunch of flies Friday afternoon and Saturday morning- had planned a trip to the White to try my luck with the caddis hatch, but bad weather and the snow nixed those plans. Wound up going to Beaver tailwater yesterday afternoon, no generation, chilly, lots of fish midging, couldn't get many to commit my imitations. Only caught a couple, had a few bumps on a pine squirrel leech but nothing solid. Left around 4:30, when all feeling below my knees had fully dissipated

Nice fly Billethead, I like the idea!

But Jeb- we know CO2 is a greenhouse, we know greenhouse gases increase atmosphere temperature, we know atmospheric CO2 played a role in many past climate shifts, we know the concentration of atmospheric CO2 is increasing today, and we know mean global temperature is increasing today. I read your initial post, I understand your position that "science doesn't know it's wrong until it's wrong." All I'm saying is it doesn't take into account what we do know.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_of_the_Flat_Earth It's a common misconception that educated folks of the day didn't believe the earth was flat- repeating it over and over doesn't make it true. The ancients were smart enough to look at a ship's mast as it headed over the horizon, and realized there's curvature to the planet. The Greeks had figured it out thousands of years ago. As for earth's orbit around the sun- the Church had a nasty habit of torturing dissenters throughout much of the Middle Ages- whether folks believed the earth-centric model because they thought it was true, or whether they believed it because they didn't want to be persecuted, is hard to tease out. And even if it were true, it's a red herring- the state of astronomy or geography 500 or a thousand years ago has nothing to do with climate science in the 21st century. Those past "mistakes" don't invalidate GPS technology, germ theory, vaccination, or other modern science and technology- why would they have any effect on climate science?

I don't know whether you're looking for landscaping trees or wildlife/reforestation, but the state nursery in Licking may still have trees left for purchase. You can take a look and order through the MDC website.

http://forecast.weather.gov/jetstream/doppler/ap_max.htm

Awesome photos DD, thanks for sharing those!

Don't worry about it Flysmallie, things happen. I'm likely going to be out of town most of this weekend, probably won't ship flies until the end of next week or April 1.

Just received Ness'.