fishinwrench

Pro-choice....that's good ! But yeah, I'd prefer a tuna salad sandwich over a fillet from a 8lb. LM That tale has BS written all over it....But then again, my ex-wife once noticed the diamond off her wedding ring was missing after feeding our chickens. Bet I don't have to tell ya where I found it

"Have not checked the records in Camden, Benton, or Morgan County. It would be public record of people arrested for fishing on docks, and would be easy to find." Sir Bill, There is no "specific list" of people who have been fined for trespass on private docks, so unless you had a specific name to run on casenet to see if they had been cited I'm not sure how it is "easy to find". For the WP or sherrif to snort and laugh at a report of someone on a private dock without permission would really suprise me, especially during the winter when LOTS of moored boats are vandalized each year. And there WERE moored boats where you guys were...it was not an "empty dock". I don't know which officer you are pals with but I doubt that Jody Hughes would condone it. And yourself being an ex-officer of the Mo. State Water Patrol should not condone it either IMO Now that I've said all that let me say that Personally I'm not at all offended and couldn't care less who's dock you were on, and I'm glad you guys had a good time and caught some decent slabs....but showing something like that on the web might make a few guys want to go out and give it a shot themselves....and they could potentially get in trouble. No? Actually I was just bustin' your chops a bit cuz I've read rants from you guys down there on Taney in the past concerning people that commit little infractions of the same magnitude. ya know, like fishing bait where they weren't supposed to be...or fishing across the cable somewhere, shuffling.. ect.ect. My comments were honestly in jest ... so chill. "One of the guides I talked to said he walks docks 100 plus days a year" That sounds like Pat L. (was it?) if so he DOES aquire permission first, he is a customer and good friend of mine. "Someone always has to make a big deal out of everything." Tellme about it....can't run to the store without putting a seatbelt on, can't walk a creek, can't drive and talk on the cell phone, can't drink a beer on a float trip without getting the shake-down, can't carry a pocket knife..... I hate it too. Peace, Wrench

15 inchers ? A nice mess for sure, but C'mon now...

Shouldn't be any different from filleting crappie while still on Lake Ozark....right? you can't very easily look at and measure a fillet to check if it is a legal species of the proper length. Which is the reasoning behind the rule. Head and tail intact until you are home..unless you wanna carry the carcass with you I suppose. But who does that?

There are no "public" docks on the lake (except for the courtesy docks at the MDC access ramps). You need permission to set foot on any dock or you are risking being busted for trespassing. They nail a bunch of guys each Winter that way.

Fine Brown....from a tough piece of river Ducky still wins the hat prize tho.

Knotty Pine resort on EE outside of Greenview, and Robin's resort in OB (knotty pine being a better choice, IMO) used to allow fishing for a fee without staying overnite. you'll have to google their number and call to check though. Knotty Pine is loaded with brush and positioned on good structure. Take along some blue/silver 2" Kalin' grubs and 1/16 weedless heads.....and/or minnows if you roll like that

Man DD that's a cool hat !!!

Awesome. Sturdy hull, and looks like she'll clean up nice. What more does a guy need. Have fun with her.

Right on ! What did ya get ?

"As in a fur trapper navigating the waterway for commerce. Precedence?" Absolutely. Commerce is commerce.....they follow the word to the letter in every other aspect. The gray area in my case was the point where I entered the stream (at a county road bridge) and no one could come to terms with whether that was considered "trespassing" or not, one deputy advised me that I was legally within my rights to be there but warned me of a cranky shotgun totin' old man that had crossed the bridge and saw us there. I had my kids with me so I just left to avoid a scene. I went back alone later that evening because I had saw some really nice smallies earlier and a different deputy and a MDC agent showed up and said that I was trespassing and wrote me up. I was of the thinking that where ever one public right of way (the road) crosses another public right of way (the stream) that I was within my rights to access there. That's the way it was up in Audrain/Monroe county's where I was born and raised. I researched it to death and really felt I could have beat the charge, even if I had to represent myself. But around here judges don't go for "representing yourself". The same exact words from a lawyers mouth are heard and respectfully considered, but statements and explanations coming from me alone weren't going to even be listened to, much less considered. So I had to pay the fine and haven't been back to that stretch of water since....but I really want to someday, and hope I can without fear of breaking any laws.

The degree of gravel buildup would not keep it from being considered navigable any more than a tree blocking the channel would. Many "navigable" streams have portages. There is a back-door method of determining what is considered a "navigable" waterway, the original federal definition includes any stream "used for commerce". The definition of "commerce" does include mining and/or dredging of gravel for sale. If gravel has ever been taken from a stream in question, and sold to anyone, then that classifys' it as a "navigable waterway" in federal court....but if you can't convince a county prosecutor of that, you gotta have the money to retain counsel to take it to a higher court. I attempted to fight a trespassing case in Morgan county concerning a major tributary of Lake Ozark....but couldn't afford it. I was charged, forced by the almighty dollar to plead guilty, and I was given a stiff fine.....but oddly enough it never showed up on my record. Whaddya make of that ? I then formed a MDC Stream Team on the same creek It has been hard to keep volunteers helping so now it is just my family and a few friends...but we keep it free of trash and have gotten excessive dredging and dumping of RV waste stopped ALMOST entirely. It is a cause worth fighting for, because not all landowners are kind to the waterway that runs through, or borders their property.

JDM, Which river do you own property on both sides of ? if I may ask.

There's this: http://mdc4.mdc.mo.gov/Documents/12001.pdf And this: http://www.missouritrout.com/weavers/winterseason.html

Hmm, interesting. I was basing that statement on the fact that some guys got busted for having a stringer of smallies during the C&R season several years back. I'll have to look into it deeper....but heck the Ranger should know better than me, for sure. A mess of G'eyes, baked beans and hushpuppies sounds pretty good. Update (edit): Nope, here's the way it reads word for word. No fish may be possessed during the catch & release season, and all fish caught are to be released immediately, unharmed. Proper catch & release techniques are essential for released fish to survive. Doesn't say "no trout", it reads "no FISH".

Yep, that was way before he earned the nickname "tube", and also before Dave T. was known as "head". LOL You know, you are only one mishap short of getting your own pet name.....Gazer and I were talking about you on the way back from the river Friday....we may have one in mind for ya. Some plans are being sketched out...How's your schedule looking this winter ?

Hook: mustad 3399 12 - 16 Thread: red 3/0 monocord Material: dyed rabbit fur (white, brown, moss green, or peach) spin the fur up in a thick dubbing loop, wrap forward, whip finish and cement the head. Probably more big fish caught on this "fly" at Bennett Spring over the years than any other single fly pattern I know of... seriously. Sight fish it (the white one is easy to see, just set the hook when it disappears) or you can dead drift it under a bobber. It's a trout park staple and has saved many a persons day.

sold, thanks

Just wanted to stick my nose in the door and mention what I think is a really good "bargain" rod...I am actually a St.Croix LU loyal follower....BUT as for the lesser priced fly rods The Cortland CL series rods are really, really good fishing tools, I have two that I use for backups and keep them behind the seat of my truck all the time (the 8 1/2ft. 2pc 6/7wt., and the 8 1/2ft. 4pc 4/5 wt.) and I love them almost as much as my SCLU's. They are very well designed rods for less than 100 bucks, yet I never hear anyone mention them. I may even overhaul mine this winter and install single-foot guides....which is the only improvement I can think of for them.

Atwell Mike Atwell....whew! All brain cells accounted for now There's mention of him here http://www.flyfishingteamusa.com/TeamUSAnews/article017.pdf

I was afraid you might ask that, but no it wasn't Runyon. It will come to me later when I'm not trying to recall it. He was a fairly thin fella, reddish blonde hair, and back then he sight-fished with a sweet little green Orvis that we all drooled over. He had a tiny (minus 20) little fly that consisted of simply a body of twisted and wrapped woodduck flank fibers and two turns of peacock herl for a thorax.....he caught and landed EVERY lunker he spotted without fail. He and Ed were pretty tight, and last I heard he was working for an outfitter out west.

Just dug through some old photos recently and found some from an early C&R trip, it must have been 1981 or 82. I should try to scan and post some of those pics.... but for now I'll just describe them: There we are, 2 of my best buddys and myself decked out in those green "Northern" hip boots, leaning against my first vehicle, a primered 1967 chevy 1/2 ton 3 on the tree and a gutless 250 inline 6 with bald mud'n snows and sandbags placed strategically over each wheel. Hair down to our shoulders and "cool" (non-polorized) shades, myself clutching a brown Fenwick 6wt. with dark green 333 level line and a 9.00 Martin bought from Erdel's True Value hardware in my home town of Mexico, Mo. My homeboy Steve has a firm bite on a loosely twisted Backwoods cigar and is busy rigging a little 6 1/2ft. yellow Wright Mcgill 5wt. (one of those that sold for 24.99 at the same hardware store then, yet bids on the same stick will run 60-80 bucks on Ebay NOW)...go figure. The other fella in the pic is my boy Dave, his hip boots are folded down and his big bell Levi's are soaking wet clear to his boys, if memory serves he took a ride off the rock shelf at the highbank hole in the first 10 minutes of the trip. His hands and face are bright pink and he looks pretty cold and miserable. There's another photo of the three of us and Ed from Springview, we are standing by the fireplace at the old shop and all of us are intensely looking towards Mike at the tyin' bench who was known as the best "stick" on the stream at the time, all of our eyes are half closed and red as beets.....I'm pretty certain why the "three amigo's" had the blazed gaze...but I'm sure Ed was just fightin' a bad head cold at the time, and I'm guessing that Kay must have been behind the camera. Yep, those were the days. One of the things I remember most is the feeling I got when stepping out of the truck after the three hour drive and getting that first sniff of TROUT in the crisp air..... Man, it was heaven....and it still is Have I painted the picture sufficiently ?

Egg flys (glowballs), or better yet furballs are good flys to start kids off with. invest in a set of polorized glasses for him too, being able to see the fish will keep him at it longer. Jig-flys are "ok" but fish don't hold onto them long and he might get frustrated watching that bobber twitch without hooking many fish. Furballs are notorious for sticking in a fishes mouth...like velcro, and gives you a few extra seconds to set the hook. Get some White ones tied with red thread, a few chocolate brown, and a few olive.

a 20" Brown on 7X is something to be proud of...nice job ! How was the crowd today ?

Coach, If you guys will be assisting your kayaking partner with a shuttle, you can dump him at the 64 access, fish the access area awhile, then drive down to Barclay to meet up with him....and of course fish there too. Leech patterns are probably the best "search fly"... trout and Smallies will both eat'em. Fish the leeches dead drift, on the swing, and on the swing with twitches, ya never know which way they want them on a given day and it DOES make a huge difference. If your kayak'er buddy takes a spinning rod with him he can have a blast with the Smallmouth (and possibly a nice Brown or two) on Husky Jerks and big tubes like the "Mudpie" color Case 3 3/4in. tube on a 1/8oz. head, in and around the bluff holes and deep eddys. And yeah, if you are going to be there during the weekend you can't beat the fishing in the park for numbers....and size.