Outside Bend

Guys, we get that you really, really don't like Al Gore. It's irrelevant.

Works for me. Jeremy, you're in.

Better yet- make it a documentary. Think Spinal Tap meets BASSMASTERS. And there's no shortage of filmmakers on here

That's the whole point of science GotMuddy, it IS unbiased. It'd be far more lucrative for scientists to work on the side of the fossil fuel industries to disprove global warming- funding is practically limitless, and is basically guaranteed. Compare it to a government grant, which typically don't run all that much, require a fair bit of oversight & accountability, and which can be bound up in bureaucracy, postponed, or dry up entirely. To me that these scientists aren't following the most lucrative money stream indicates it's not about personal enrichment, but that it really is about conducting good science. That's just me, though.

I tend to think of it more like the last half-hour aboard the Titanic- despite overwhelming evidence the place crashing down all around you, let's keep the band playing, let's everyone remain calm, nothing to worry about...

Yep, that's a rainbow color variant.

Njardar- I've caught innumerable wild trout in the Ozarks on mohair leeches, as well as fish in Wyoming, Montana, Yellowstone, and British Columbia. Definitely an excellent pattern, not just for trout but smallmouth, rock bass, panfish, and all sorts of other species. I can certainly never have enough, and will gladly take yours if you're gonna tie them Thanks.

Your photo wouldn't work on my machine, nor could I upload any photos of the two critters in question. But if it was in Missouri, I'd bet a twelve pack what you saw was a genetic variant of rainbow trout, sometimes called golden or palamino trout. They're basically a color variant of rainbow trout, not a separate species. Like how koi and common carp are the same species, just different colors. Or horse, or dog breeds. Same species, different colors. It's just a breed of rainbow trout- some hatcheries select for that coloration, but it also crops up from time to time in nature. Neosho probably doesn't specifically breed that strain, but when you're raising thousands of fish a year some are bound to wind up freaks "Real" Golden trout, depending on who you ask, are either a separate species from rainbow trout entirely, or are unique subspecies of rainbow trout. They're native to a few watersheds in northern California, and have been stocked in some high-elevation lakes in the west. Chances are they wouldn't be able to survive in Missouri trout streams.

List is updated with JDC's and Jeff's ties. Thanks guys.

Got it guys, thanks.

Each tier does 24 flies of the same pattern. Let me know what pattern you'll be tying and I'll put you down in the OAF Winter Swap thread.

Every action has consequences.

In Boy Scouts I was able to do some snorkeling on a few reefs in the Keys- it's unreal, I wish everyone could have that experience. It's pretty humbling jumping in and realizing you're surrounded by thousands of barracuda, from twelve to more than sixty inches in length. I was able to see snook, parrotfish, permit, sharks, rays, swim through bait balls 30 feet in diameter, an incredible experience. I also saw the bad stuff- acres of dead, bleached coral, devoid of most life aside from a few rays, sometimes right next to seemingly healthy corals. The contrast was incredibly stark. I've also spent a lot of time in the Rocky Mountains, backpacking and fishing in some pretty remote places. Gorgeous country, unbelievable fishing, and I've been able to see and do things some folks never get the chance to. But you look around- at thousands of acres of dead and dying trees, killed by a native insect which couldn't tolerate high altitude cold, but which has been able to access these forests due to recent climate shifts, and you begin to wonder. You listen to pikas- guinea pig sized critters that live on rocky talus slopes at high altitude- animals which can't survive above about 70 degrees, and which have been disappearing throughout the west, and it makes you think. It's easy to claim nothing's going on when you haven't witnessed it firsthand. I don't pretend to have the answers, but I've seen enough, in enough ecosystems, to think something's happening. I think most folks, sportsmen and conservationists in particular, want to leave this earth a better place than they found it for their children- at this point I'm not sure that'll happen for me.

Sorry folks, I was out of town over the weekend and unable to attend to this. So far it looks like we have: 1.) Jeremy Hunt- - Recieved 2.) JDC- Magic PTN 4.) Jeff Hearn- White River Czech Received 5.) FishinCricket- Received 6.) Flytyer57- Received 7.) Njardar-Mohair Leech- Received 8.) Gavin- Recieved 9.) Daddy0- Hare & Copper- Received 10.) Leonard- MnM (Mid-night Munchie) Recieved 11.) Outside Bend- Caddis Larvae- Finished 12.) Zach Bearden- Let me know what you're gonna tie when you have an idea. Tie 24 of the same pattern, and get them to me by Feb 1. Wide open as far as pattern goes, tie whatever you'd like. When you have your flies done let me know and I'll PM you my address. Thanks guys, I look forward to seeing how this turns out!

To me it represents trout fishing about as accurately as standing arsehole to elbow with fellow anglers at a trout park trying to entice a fish, which has spent all of four hours in the stream, to eat my canned corn. Some folks enjoy doing those things, and I'm not about to tell them they can't or shouldn't. I'd rather base my judgment of a program on whether it accomplishes its goals, not whether I agree with it.

MDC owns Shepherd of the Hills, and it's irrelevant. If your position is trout shouldn't be trucked from one place to another, it makes no sense to support trucking browns from Branson to Lebanon but oppose trucking rainbows from Lebanon to St. Louis or KC. Some folks don't have the luxury of time or money to do that. You like fishing for trout, what's the harm in sharing that experience with others? MDC produces about 370,000 of each (hybrid/striped bass and walleye) a year. Shepherd of the Hills alone produces more than a million trout a year, and a large part of that difference is due to the cost of producing the different fish species (highly predatory fish require specialized diets, more space, etc when compared with trout). Trout are simply easier and cheaper to produce than walleye or stripers, and you can be more liberal with your distribution of a fish that costs a quarter than you can with a fish which costs you two bucks to produce.

Let's go ahead and leave it wide open- whatever you feel comfortable tying is fair game. Right now it looks as though the following are interested: FlyTyer57 Ness Njardar? JDC Fishinwrench? Eric1978 Gavin Daddy0 Myself If y'all are a go, we'll take one more to make it an even ten, and tie an additional set for Casting for Recovery. Each member ties 22 flies of the same pattern, when you have them finished PM me and I'll send you my address. Would a Feb 1 deadline give everyone plenty of time to tie them up?

If we can get ten or twelve folks involved, I have no problem hosting it. I had a couple thoughts on themes- Tie your two most memorable flies from this past season. Maybe they saved the day, maybe they caught your biggest fish, maybe they were shared by a friend or stranger, or perhaps they're just meaningful to you in some way. It a pair of the same pattern, or two different ones. We could pick a particular water/fishery, and tie our most effective patterns for that place. It seems like a good idea, but I'm not sure everyone has that much overlap in the places they fish. We could also do the standard nymph/wet, dry, streamer, etc categories. And a warmwater swap could b efun. Any thoughts/suggestions? Also, would folks be willing to tie up an extra set or to as a donation to Casting for Recovery?

I know the holidays are a busy time of year, so there's no rush to get the ball rolling on this. But is anyone interested in doing an OA swap?

The trout parks provide anglers an easily-accessible way to catch trout. It's a bummer the area's been messed with, but I don't think it should really surprise anyone that MDC/DNR would try and make the area more accessible to anglers. That's sort of the point of the Trout Parks in the first place- offer an easily accessible area for folks to catch trout.

Nice photos and excellent editing, thanks for that!

If you're saying we shouldn't truck rainbows from Bennett to urban areas, why should we truck browns from Shepherd of the Hills or Neosho hatcheries to Bennett? You've never taken, or wanted to take, an once in a lifetime fishing trip? Is it meaningless because you were only able to do it once? Hybrid stripers, walleye, pickeral and bowfin all have this nasty habit of eating each other in hatchery raceways. They're far more expensive to produce than pellet-fed rainbows. The sum total of these "privileged few" is more than three million residents, or about half the state's population.

Should MDC quit stocking browns in Bennett/Niangua too then? They do augment those ponds with stockings of channel catfish and bluegill, but when water temperatures are in the 40's or lower they're tougher to catch than trout, which is why the trout are stocked. I don't fish the urban lakes, nor do I fish the trout parks during catch & keep. But to me it seems the urban program has to be at least as valuable to the anglers who do it as the trout park system is to that angling demographic.

I'm sure it's an eyesore, but I really don't need blue pipes pumping hatchery effluent in the water to remind me I'm not fishing a pristine trout stream when fishing at Bennett. If I want to experience an authentic Ozark trout stream, Bennett's not even a blip on the radar. And I'm not sure why it matters where the fish go after being raised at Bennett- we all pay for them, and whether they're stocked and creeled in Laclede Co. or stocked and creeled in St. Charles Co., the end result is the same. Stocked Blue Ribbon segments can only hold a certain biomass of trout, dumping more fish in ensures their survival about as equally as dumping them in an urban mudhole. Look at it as a chance to get out and do some exploring...

Has to be a Sasquatch/Mothman hybrid. Only in the Ozarks...