jOrOb

Bass Fishermen! Chunk and wind, chunk and wind....

Sup yall! I kinda discovered this one a little late, but I gotta offer what I can anyway. I was under the impression that the additional spillway was exclusively to stop catastrophic failure of TRD. The way I understand it, the Corp (geniuses I know) determined that if Catastrophic failure occurred at TRD, Powersite would fail, causing BSD and GFD to fail, causing untold thousands of lives to be taken by a HUGE flood heading out to sea. Am I wrong here?? To that end, I would think destruction by explosives would be considered Catastrophic failure. Second, it would take MASSIVE power to blow a dam from the backside. Without water pressure to force the charge, it would just blow up the face and make a really loud BOOM. This is the purpose of developing SADM(Small Atomic Demolition Munition and MADM (Medium Atomic Demolition Munitions munitions. Seal teams worked on using these man portable (120 to 180LBS) nuclear devices to destroy dams. They figured that was easier than driving that big ole truck that Silvermallard was talking about (which would work if you got it close enough). While there are dozens of Russian versions, called suitcase nukes, available worldwide, it would still be difficult to get it into place and detonate without someone noticing. Also, in WW2 USAF bombers worked hard to develop Dam Buster bombs. The intention was to destroy the German infrastructure by draining their water supply reservoirs and power production grid. As far as I know, we never did it, but the intent was there. I agree that population makes us a less likely target, but it also makes us more accessible. Detonate one bomb and you get: Branson wiped out (pretty well known city) lots of lost life (who knows but Corps says a lot) Destruction of recreational fisheries which in turn destroys tourism (which is significant) tons of lost rice and soybeen crops to the south Sounds like a pretty sweet terrorist target to me! But I would swim it in from above.

Subject matter is exactly my point about standardized testing. Once you establish a standardized test, that is the subject matter that will get taught. No more or less, just that subject matter. So the scores only reflect how well we can prepare students to pass that test. I guess if the test is comprehensive enough then it works. The kicker here is that if we focus on test taking skills, and not content, test scores will still be high. Testing is essential. I couldn't agree more. Testing is also the best way to assess teacher performance, no doubt. I just don't think the current high pressure single exam process that is in place right now is the answer. I also do not agree with doing away with school sports. Time and again I see groups of students in public behaving well. These groups are usually athletic groups. High school sports teaches valuable lessons. I do agree that there is too much emphasis on it though. I won't open that can of worms!

Gentlemen, Standardized testing does not guage a teachers performance in the least. All it guages is whether or not a school system can develop it's teaching curriculums to fit the testing standard. Standardized testing has served as a teaching script ever since it's inception. It is basic logic...give me a test at the end, and I will base my lessons on ensuring the students can pass that test. So that is what school systems do, focus on the standardized tests. Forget about robust education, or developmenet of skills and abliities, just get em past that test. I teach EMT courses at the local community college. There is a significant testing process at the end for certification purposes. I am constantly struggling to balance the real world knowledge that these kids need with the textbook definitions required to pass the test. I know instructors that simply get em by the test, and their scores are high. They have good pass rates. But their EMT's leave school lacking some basic knowledge. I guess the point is that standardized testing is only as good as the standard. That is playing to the lowest common denominator, and it sells short about 85% of all students. jOrOb

Dano, You need to let me have that one for a few days and I will laminate the base with white. Really helps with dropped hooks and such. I have some of that roll magnet on my bench, and I love it. I must have run out before Ryne got any though, so he improvised.

That is an old fashioned magnet. I think my son took it out of one of those junior scientist kits. He sticks it to the nail, then puts his hooks and finished flies on it. I was fortunate to have some 13" wide 5/4 oak in my shop, so the little ones didn't take hardly anything to build. Just drilled some holes, glued the apron, and viola, tying bench.

The smaller one is a lot more convenient to move around with. The big one is hard to travel, and really needs to be in one spot. The small one can be taken anywhere, and will hold most of what I need. I do like the integrated light on the big one though.

Finally took some pictures. These two benches serve duty at my house. I use the big one and my son uses the smaller one. I have however developed a liking for the smaller one, and I am thinking about trading. I originally designed the smaller one for my Dad who doesn't tie flies, but jigs for bass.

Ryne and I are planning to be there. It is Olivia's birthday (5), but I don't think we have anything going until afternoon.

How about a couple more pics of the kids. This one is two kids, a little one and a big one. This wasn't his big fish, but it was a nice brown.

Do you find that it is too light and moves around alot??? I always worried that I would be chasing my vise all over the table. I have built a couple of different stations, and the one I like really well is a simple small station. It starts with a hardwood base, but plywood would work fine. Mine is about 12" deep and 16" wide. it has an L shaped apron along the left side and back with several holes drilled in it to hold tools. then I put a row of 16 penny nails along the back with the heads snipped off to hold threads and materials. I drilled a hole and put a brass tap in to allow me to insert the vise directly into the bench, eliminating the need for the clamp. The whole thing is really small but works great. I will post a Pic tomorrow when I get home from work.

You are right Terry, there is a deep hole on the near bank that was holding a couple of 25 inchers. Skyler hooked up one of them, but a big fish like that controls the engagment. We had a blast! It was interesting to me that when we all went out on the Fork for some Big guy fishing, Skyler was the only one to catch a fish. I will post a pic of Ryne's big un tomorrow when I get home from work. jOrOb

Ya gotta have tan on Taney. I like herl scuds and trout crack. Both are here on the board. Both are easy to tie. Both catch fish! I tie both in Tan and grey. I don't worry about any other colors. Oh yeah, I usually do 16s and 18s for low water and 12s and 14s for high water. Add a little weight to the big ones to fatten them a little.

Those look sharp! Ryne and I will be up to get a couple this weekend. It makes a good excuse to go to the fly shop!

I thought you were done when the thread broke. Isn't that how you know?? No wonder my flies all look half assed

I bought some 1/80th #10 heads at BPS over the weekend. They didn't have any 1/100th in Branson. Bought some gold and some unpainted. We will see how they turn out. BTW, what is your favorite color jig???

Speaking of Nametags, I had some hats made up for my guys a couple of years ago and had their names embroidered on the back. It looked pretty good. I have also seen some work embroidered on the sides around the band. Perhaps we could look into geting them custom ordered. Top Stitch in Harrison has worked well with us on hats, and I don't think they have any significant setup fees. At least they have never charged me one. I paid about 7.50 for two color low profile hats with an emblem on the front and custom name on back. BTW, I am in for two

I favor the unreal egg these days. It has a glass bead, so it gets down quicker, plus I tie mine with an antron, so it is pretty durable. I like the dubbing egg if I am looking for a really small pattern. Of course I have also cheated and glued 2mm pom poms from Michaels onto the hook. Those work pretty well. I like to hang a scud below an egg and bounce the whole thing along the bottom.

OK, here is a short description of how I learned to make a dubbing tool: Start with a Jumbo paper clip. Straighten both legs so that you have one bend. Next, make a V bend in the shorter leg, a little over halfway from the end. You need more on the tip to make the next bend. It really doesn't matter how long the bends are, as long as they are all there. Now make another V bend in the tip. Try to make the legs of the first V about equal length. Put some angle in the long leg so that you can spin the big V without too much wobble. I found the tool to be hard to hold onto (and pickup off the bench). I wrapped mine with tape to make the handle thicker, but anything would work. Here are three examples. The one on the right, as well as the one in the middle, I made. My 11 year old son made the one on the left. To use, wrap your thread around the Big V, then back to the hook shank. The V will hold the loop open while you insert material. Spin the loop as you insert material to hold it in place. Once you get enough material, spin the crap out of the loop to create a nice tight rope. Grab the loop above your dubbing tool with your hackle pliers, then slide the V out of the loop. You are ready to palmer (or whatever you are doing with the dubbing). It is pretty easy and makes a really buggy fly. I sometimes put a little dubbing wax on one side of the loop to hold material before I start spinning if I am using a really coarse dubbing. As for the Dubbed Egg, I learned it from Charlies fly Box. I could never get the traditional egg to hold together. Check it out here. http://www.charliesflyboxinc.com/flybox/de...cfm?parentID=27 Let me know if it works for you.

I know guys that have tied for years and have never used a dubbing loop. I love to use it. Like Terry said, the dubbing loop gives you an excellent buggy dub. I even like to use a loop to make my egg patterns. It just gives you another option. You can make a dubbing tool out of a paper clip and it will work just fine. Just bend it into a v with hooks on either end. If you like, I will try to find a pic to post.

Did anyone catch the video of a guy with a Gold ribbed Hares ear embedded in his eye? That alone is enough for me to go barbless.

One of my favorite things to do is to tie using ABM (available bench materials). It I don't have the specific material called for, I just try to substitute whatever I have on hand and see if I can make it work. I also enjoy using hobby lobby tying materials. I say just try it. If you don't like how the fly looks, cut it off and start again. I would however add that I do enjoy reproducing some of the classic patterns exactly from time to time.

I have made a number of whip finishers and dubbing tools from paper clips. They work pretty well. Just bend a jumbo paper clip into the shape you are looking for. Like this:

Ryne and I will be there. We should get there about 0830 or 0900. What do I need to bring?

Nope, it isn't. The White River Border Lakes License , called WRL, is not valid on Taneycomo. It was explained to me that Taney wasn't a border lake since it isn't in AR, only MO. I think it is a crock, and I have expressed as much to AGFC, but that is how it is. If you are an AR resident, you need: MO Non resident fishing (Feb to Feb) = 35.00 MO Trout Stamp = 7.50 Total = 42.50 If you are thinking about doing it right now, I recommend that you simply buy a trout stamp (7.50), then buy a one day (5.00) for each trip until February. Unless you plan to fish a bunch of days, it will probably be cheaper. The trout stamp is Feb to Feb, then it is just 5.00 for each trip.