fishinwrench

A lady up the road from me was always bragging at church about how many Crappie she was catching ("spent 3 hours everyday this week cleaning fish", ect. ect.). So one of the other church members hotlined her. A MDC agent backed-up with a deputy sheriff stormed her house and learned one of two things.. 1. Fisher-women tend to exagerrate too. or 2. it takes her 6 hours to fillet one crappie. She had one bowl soaking in the fridge with 6 fillets in it. And as a side note: I hear the piano at the church needs dusting.

You forgot... ... "and just dump all the currently housed trout stock into the rivers and call it a day. If they make it and start reproducing... GREAT, if not... Too bad !"

As far as "brand" I'd lean toward Leatherman. I had a Gerber that was a POS, and I have a Buck that has gotten pretty loose/pretty quick. My original Leatherman (bought back in the early 90's) has lived a hard life and is still tight and basically good as new.

Are you gonna post a link to this tap-dancing frog, or do I have to go looking for it myself ?

Supposedly. But the term "federal offense" has a bark much worse than its bite, most generally. Every case that I've known of that was called a "federal crime" my first thought was "Oh S#!t this dude is going DOWN"... But then I always see them several months later driving a new truck and living the good life. So it must not be as big of a deal as it sounds. We've been conditioned to loose our breath for a moment when we hear the word "federal".

They probably have reason to think that he shot a hawk or an eagle. That charge will get dropped.

How do you get a "warning" for "doe deer prohibited" when you don't even have a hunting license ? I love the way they purposely stack bogus additional charges on top of valid ones to give lawyers room to negotiate. Such a game. In the end he'll plead guilty to 2 counts, loose his guns and all his money, do 90 days and get some probation. The charges on the woman will be dropped as soon as she writes a statement, whether it aids the prosecution or not. And all the deer meat will get tossed in a dumpster. Why not just charge him with 2 counts to begin with, and eliminate tying the courts up for 2 years ?

That's cool, I'm glad that one of them I have is one of yours, Al. It is definately my favorite, because the image actually tells a story. I'm assuming that the truck is a 1937 hatchery truck ? Did they really used to use milk cans to transport the fish, or is that just a carryover from the old stalled-train legend that's been told for ages ? Phil, can you post pics of those stamps sometime ?

I tried googling up an archive of all the trout stamps issued by MDC over the years, but I struck out. I have a few, and thought if any of you guys had kept them we might be able to fill in some gaps. Here's the only ones I have managed to hang onto... 87 88 94

Weighing in at a full 1oz. to boot, it would take a flippin' stick to throw it.

I dunno y'all, I probably would have done the same thing. Even if the hunters had just backed on out of there after seeing the cat... those dogs weren't going anywhere. And going under that tree to physically pull the dogs away and leash them would be a pretty stupid move, and one I wouldn't even consider. I'd definately take out the cat before I'd leave my dogs. The only issue I can see in this is whether the guys were TRULY coon hunting...or had someone seen the cat in the area, so the guys were actually out hunting IT ? Do they have any coon pelts in the freezer to show that they have actually been out actively coon hunting this year ? If so then there's no reason not to buy their story and just let it go.

No you don't. IMO if you're fishing tiny flies the place to skimp shouldn't be the hook. Have you tried the TMC 500U ?

Towing a glass bass rig on ice and snow covered roads...been there/done that....ain't no fun

Yeah I was expecting Viagra spam too.

Killer pics, memorable times I'm sure, and that's a nice Brown.

Nah, EVENTUALLY they will just scan the chip that was implanted at the base of your skull upon birth No, we just want them to spend the money they take from us in a reasonable manner. I'd also prefer the corner store quit giving me 8 inch long paper reciepts for a soda and a pack of cigs... and just drop the markup a few cents. Not complaining about the cost of a fishing/hunting permit (i'd pay it if it was 100.00/year) but this seems kinda gay, and it's something new to piss and moan about.

Well in JoCo's defense.... We all know what a Johnson is, but WTH is a "Wyandotte" ?

I actually have a self-serving agenda in defending and recommending a 7wt. Most companys only carry a single model (within each line) of a 7wt. rod. No choices, just always the old 9' for 7 While 4, 5 and 6wt rods can be bought in 2pc or 4pc, and in 7.5'... 8'... 8.5'... 9.0'... 9.5'... ect. Complete with grip, guide, and reel seat choices and with or without fghting butts I guess I just love 7wt's, and I know if they fade from popularity any more than they already have the choices will become even more slim. I actually wouldn't mind having a 8'6" for 7 SC Legend Ultra (or equiv.) as the perfect stream smallie rod for myself, but they don't exist. If it weren't for steelheaders alot of companys would have probably already jumped the gap from 6 to 8 and eliminated 7wt's altogether.

My original thought was... "oh cool, now I can keep a copy in each of my waist packs, and a copy in each boat and won't have to get undressed to get to my wallet if checked". Then I read this: Then I think, "if I print it out on my own PC printer, then make a couple of copys...how is a field agent gonna be able to tell it is not the original ? Field polygraphs ? What this tells Me is that they are not going to be checking permits very often anymore. Not sure where the "savings" is coming from here. I bought my last few permits online and they were mailed to me...but I DID pay additional postage, and I'm sure the cost of the yellow vinyl was considered in the permit fee. What-ever.

Ok, let me ask that question in a different way... What does Crane, NFOW, Lil'Piney, and the Eleven Point have that allows a reasonable amount of natural reproduction, that other streams such as the Niangua, Capps, and Current (for example) do not. What exactly do trout require in order to sucessfully complete a spawn ?

Ahh, so THAT'S why so many of the KC area guys think I'm a total Jackass

After all the years of chasing trout here in MO. and reading everything I come across about "trout" in general.... I STILL don't know what "proper habitat" consists of. What exactly is it that most cold-water Missouri rivers and Spring creeks are lacking ?

In the 80's-90's there were quite a few eccentrics here around the lake that had panthers, lions, cougars, alligators and all sorts of exotic critters. There was even a full grown male gorilla roaming the woods for awhile (he eventually "came home" on his own). After a few escapes and complaints from neighbors the county enacted a "task force" and forced these people to either find proper homes for the animals or GTFO. I have seen (in the past) 2 cougars, a huge white tiger, and one black panther, uncaged and running wild, No BS. And as far as anyone knows, "Wally" (the alligator) is still at large somewhere in Gravois or Little Gravois creek. Anyone that fished/guided on L.O. in the late 80's-90's surely remembers "Kitty Kat Cove" at the 21mm.

Trout Talk magazine (I guess you could call it a "magazine") printed an article and map with the most commonly recognized nickname holes several years ago, also explaining how the supposedly earned their respectve nicknames. You could probably google it up.

I decided awhile back not to enter into "best rod/reel/line" type debates but I guess I just can't help myself.... Being able to cast somewhat oversized flies with a 5 wt. is one thing, that's a skill that can be learned. But having enough backbone to stab a #2-#4 hook into a fishes mouth gets harder the smaller the fish is. If the fish doesn't have enough size/weight anchoring it's position then it is pulled towards you during the hookset, and a 5wt. trout rod doesn't get the job done as well. Just something to think about. Most of the smallies you're gonna catch are going to be 10-13" and while you certainly do not need a fast 7wt. to win a tug of war with a 12 incher, it sure does help with the hookset, and the 7wt. is a better match for 8lb. tippet. A well balanced 7wt. shouldn't wear you out, and you'll appreciate the extra muscle and increased line speed if you start flinging 1/40oz. clousers and 4" strips of wet rabbit fur that cast like a wet dish rag on a 5wt , and you'll REALLY appreciate it when you start throwing sink-tip lines. Just some food for thought.