David Unnerstall

Has anyone experience an "undertow"? Can an adequate swimmer walk out into a river and be exposed to a phenomena that will cause him to drown even if he is making the proper decisions.

Yeah a WTD dog bait is easier standing up in my boat. But I prefer any bait that floats in a canoe. At least once a trip I cast out -- say a tandem spinner bait -- and a gust comes along. I have that heavy wooden kayak paddle that requires two hands. I put the rod down, reposition the canoe, pickup the rod and am snagged.

While onsite at my last job my customer called me and told me they were running late. With nothing to do I turned on the TV in the hotel room and Looney Tunes were on -- I laughed my butt off and still remember it twenty years, later.

It had suction cups on the other side. It works perfect in this application. Here is a link: https://www.carid.com/seachoice/white-cockpit-organizer-mpn-50-79321.html

It is a cedar strip that I made about five years, ago. It gets less pretty the closer you get but it does not affect how it paddles.

' Good thread, Ness. That is my real name. The picture is at Marble Creek camping about five years ago -- Bushmills and a cigar. Roger Willoughby is the character Rock Hudson played in "Man's Favorite Sport." (It is just a character in a movie and has nothing to do with Rock Hudson). He has become an authority on fishing and has never fished a day in his life. He has learned everything from hearsay. His employer does not know this and enters him in a fishing tournament. It is a hilarious movie. I can talk fishing with the best of them -- catching fish....now that is an entirely different issue.

My solo does paddle like a kayak, and it is fun. I aim to add a short one handed paddle for sudden wind gusts, like Al Agnew mentioned some time ago If I am fishing by myself for an afternoon, it is easier to launch than the bass boat. It can go on top of the teardrop, in the bed of the truck if going down the road to Crane Lake or, for longer trips, I have a canoe carrier that goes in the trailer hitch. And the weight is no problem. Now I am sitting low but I don't mind it -- I do have trouble getting around after I get out, though.

I managed to attend. There were, perhaps, forty or so others. The Forest Service gave us a brief history of the lake, a fisheries biologist from MDC gave us the results of an recent sampling and attributed the increase in redear population to the planting of vegetation and someone who, I believe, represented the community, who discussed amenities at the lake. The Forest Service admitted that, in the past, they did not engage the public on matters. I can see why. There were some in the crowd who were hostile. The Community Development Specialist, whose only area is picnic tables, rest rooms and the like was pressed on the dam construction. I guess she just represented government. But there a lot of thoughtful reasons why the dam should be repaired mentioned, also. Now, Sheri Schwenke says the decision is hers but we don't have a formal estimate on the cost of the dam and a decision will not be made until then. A temporary boat ramp will be installed and the lake will not be drawn down any further. I did take my solo down there on Friday. I stayed a few feet from the bank and it was easy to get through the vegetation to the main lake. The spatterdock is difficult but if it is adding oxygen to the lake I am for it. Before the new lock and dam was built near Alton on the Mississippi there was a backwater slough that was full of vegetation. It was a blast catching largemouth on top-waters. After the new lock and dam was built it became a sterile wasteland.

I bought property on Crane Lake road right before the dam was lowered -- it broke my heart. I read about the Forum at The Abbey on the 12th in the Mountain Echo (Arcadia). I might take a couple vacation days and attend. I did email Sherri Schwenke. Crane Lake is the reason I bought that property. I have not caught a lot of fish there but I don't catch fish, anywhere. But it is an enjoyable experience in my solo -- I can paddle the from the boat ramp to the dam in twenty minutes when it is at normal pool. The trolling motor on the bass boat has to fight through the vegetation. The DNR offered the USDA-FS two million dollars to help with the repair some time back -- I don't know if that is still on the table. And JD, I don't see any evidence whereby the decision has been made that the dam will not be repaired.

That is Lee Bluff! Sutton's Bluff is a National Forest Campsite for cripe's sake.

Lee Bluff from MTNF. I don't plan on walking down that hill anymore.

I saw him in St. Louis before he passed. He had a lot of fun doing "One Thousand Pounds of Banana's."

OK, the results are inconclusive. Rick and I fished Wappappello on Saturday. Now he and Billy pulled 56 out of there a week or two before but the water was high and the current would not allow us to control the depth of our bait and boat control was a major factor. We heard that Clearwater was on fire so we went there on Sunday. There were a lot of boats but everyone we spoke to said "you should have been here last week." I caught two and Rick caught four -- decent thick and healthy fish, though. Candy came home from the hospital and until she is able to get around after the hip surgery my fishing is on hold. But I spent some quality time with her chicken-!@#$ little dog. She had no experience with this lifestyle and she did ok and did what I told her.

I always want to dissect these stories. So he got snagged, moved the boat over to the snag and fell overboard?

Oneshot, you did ask a serious question and I feel I must offer a serious reply. Exercise is the equalizer. The human body is not meant to be sedentary. But you do appear to be quite active. It is difficult to say you should accelerate the activity level. I get in an hour of strenuous activity every day. Now, Wrench is right. The human body also has an amazing ability to heal, especially if one is living a healthy lifestyle. But there are things that can be fixed and fixed more easily if caught early. The number of things that can be learned from just a little bit of blood is amazing.

Maybe we can blame the MDC for arthritis.

When my father-in-law gave me his fishing gear I took the reel to Hargrove's and had it reloaded -- good idea. And then I bought a $225 Patagonia fishing vest -- bad idea.

Harbor Freight sells an orbital buffer that is both cheap and good.

I applied for my first land-owners tag. But my wife fell and broke her hip and now we are told the first surgery failed and she needs a hip replacement.

You should not have given us ideas.

I have always thought that if you water from the bottom up you are training the plants to go deep with their roots for water, thus creating hardier plants.

Why are we using flouro these days? I know it is invisible, under water, and sinks faster. But what is the current mindset? I will tie a flouro leader at home, but if I lose it on the water I tie straight to braid. I HATE tying knots.

You can say that again.

Some time back I read a book on using topo maps to select deer hunting spots. Basically you find "funnels" that deer have to use to get from one section to another. I bought several maps of Mark Twain National Forest and spent a lot of time on this.

That is why I hate wearing waders. But if a guy keeps his glasses on, I say he won.