Gavin

The locking wrap helps on all guides. They won’t come off w/o taking a razor blade to the wrap.

Usually camp @ Sunburst, but Sunburst's Lodge @ Trout Island would be the spot for a cabin trip, followed by ROLF. Pop your NFoW cherry by running the falls in a canoe, catching a trout, and filling your waders after slipping off a slimy rock. You can complete all three tasks in less than 5 minutes. Good luck.

The camp host will have wood available to buy and there are several places between Licking & Montauk that sell wood too. Have fun, water is dead low and clear.

Yes Gene all is well! You?

Very low & clear, fishing slow. Lots of people at Montauk. Fished the blue ribbon a couple mornings and had fun but nothing noteworthy. Went for an afternoon hike with the fam and did some fishing in the White Ribbon. Caught some trout for dinner, several smallmouth, and a rare largemouth bass. Only a 11” LMB but it’s a rare catch for that area. I’ve only caught 2 other LMB’s between Montauk and Akers in the last 30 years. All bass were released.

Good shooting! Those look clean enough to roast whole.

Kill board is online this year. Good Luck.

Welcome back. I would imagine that you could get an Uber on Taney if you need to cut your float short. Add a cable and a lock to your kit just in case.

Nope its depth...Lots of them have been mapped down to 200' or more. MO DNR has some good publications on the subject. Frankly, that spring diving stuff looks like fun for guys who cant get a date. Real scuba diving requires scantily clad women, steel drum music, and clear warm water. MO DNR Springs Page

Saw that on the news the other day. They must really like what they do. That’s really deep for tank diving (14 atmospheres).

Glad that creek still has some trout in it, thanks for the report. Haven't stopped to punish those fish in a decade or more but glad it still looks the same. It was always a minnow factory, with the better fish keying on them. Good luck.

Cunetto’s is pretty good, big portions and low prices, nothing fancy. Same with Rigazzi’s. Not sure what’s great and still open anymore.

Buddy finally killed some from his pit in STC yesterday. Shot one more this AM but we only hunted till 8:30. His new dog got a new chew toy. Numbers building slowly.

Good for you! Had a great day at Fountain Grove last year. Bunches wanted to be were I was. Certainly wasn't anything I did, just hidden were they wanted to be. Didn't take long to fill out. Shooting did not bother them, they couldn't hear it. Looks like NW corner is covered with birds, not so much on the east side. Shot a couple, and I'll take it. It will get better every week.

You definitely could paddle and fish out of that boat solo and enjoy the heck out of it. Very nice boat, good condition, and a fair price. Why don't you keep it and paddle it until your perfect canoe finds you? That one might turn out to be it. I'm very happy with the two canoes I've kept, but many have come and gone. You cant lose money if you buy them used. Good luck.

Your not gonna catch much up in the forks this time of year. The fish have probably moved downstream to wintering areas by now. Grab a map, and go check for access, knock on doors and ask for permission next year.

And he was a Jesuit....Converted many to Christ at gun point no doubt.

Have you seen the people that frequent Ozark Outdoors?

Taking his toys and going home😀!

Did not see this earlier. They will dump some trout in the lake at Tilles in early November. Jefferson Lake in Forest Park gets a couple thousand more.

It is capitalism at its finest! The tables have turned. Crappy employers will have to up their game, or go out of business.

A Bell Morningstar is a fine boat. It is yours to do what you want with, but it's always going to be around 6" too wide to be a good solo canoe. I'd send it down the road before I hacked it up like that. Might take you awhile to find a used solo canoe, and you may have to travel to get it, but you will find one. Good luck.

See T Man's boat. He appears to be properly prepared for an evening or two of life on a gravel bar. I'm sure that he has a full sized lawn chair, jumbo sized sleeping pad, roomy tent, packed full sized cooler, real cook ware, and accessories. If I'm set up like that, I will have three rods rigged (Caster, spin, fly/spin, fly, fly/ or caster, caster, spin) depending on location. On a day trip. I'll rig 4-5 rods.. Al runs with around 5-6 rods. More bait casters, than spinning rigs. It' a PIA to run more than two rods out of either of our SOT kayaks. The seating positions really limit your reach to what is right in front of you. Your butt is stuck in that one spot.

I like my 15' Mad River Solo Canoe allot better than either of the two 12' sit on top kayaks that we own. It's faster, lighter, tracks better, you sit higher, and it has less tendency to roll in serious chop. There are no disadvantages on the water. That Esquif Echo (15' solo) looks like a really sweet boat, I'd go for that over that 12' solo.

I put a Thule Aeroblade on the cab of my truck, and the back of the canoes get supported by the back bar of my ladder rack (Trac Rac). I can have 2 canoes on top...bikes/coolers in the pickup bed, and tow a travel trailer at the same time. 12' kayaks fit well on the ladder rack. I only put the blade on for when I haul canoes because it creates some annoying wind noise.