Flyfisher for men

Thanks, Gavin. Good to know.

I'm coming in from NE Kansas. I've since learned of a basspro in Columbia. The main thing I'd need would be things like leaders, flies, maybe tippet. If I ran into Salem or Licking, it might be worth stopping in at a place that sold fly tackle.

I'll be in the park next week and was wondering if there were any other sellers, maybe in Licking or Salem. I can't seem to locate any other sellers.

There's certainly a mortality. On another board, BSSP's catch and release season came up, and a poster mentioned they need to add fish during it to keep numbers up. I do wonder if a C&R area might allow for some growth and bigger fish. That all said, My main point in my responses was that I wanted them to do what promoted kids and families. The other was that I wouldn't mind if they eliminated the zones entirely. I can't seem to find a good rationale for them. I actually asked that once in an email as to why the parks have them and why they vary from park to park. The answer I got indicated they really didn't know themselves. In any case, if they want a catch and release area, my thought is to have it an area that is not all that conducive to bait fishing, and then open up some water to bait that's good for a kid and his grandpa to dunk a worm. More than anything, I want to keep the swimming pool going. I didn't mention it on the form since fishery isn't under the same management, but that is an important part of the park. I know they've had problems running it.

So what did you guys actually suggest? I said if they wanted a catch and release area, it should be a stretch in zone 3 or downstream from the CCC bridge. Those are more classic flyfishing waters and those areas would not hamper handicap access. They could open up some other water for bait maybe downstream from the outlet or the spring area.

Was there anything of note to come out of this meeting? Some one mentioned "future trout management" as a topic.

I don't have access to blues, but have caught surprisingly numerous channels on the fly--mainly buggers. A few flatheads, too. Underrated as a fly fishing species.

Ah, thanks. Ed Story was mentioned by another poster as one for the list.

I figured Bob Gaston would get mentioned, but I never had the honor to know him. I know Ed Story only as the originator of the crackleback. Nice to see he had a connection to Bennett Spring.

Charlie Reading is definitely one for the list.

Seeing the comments on Larry's Cedar Resort getting sold reminded me how great a lot of the people around Bennett Spring are. Larry was great, and I knew it from just a time or two in there. I'll miss it this year, but the people at Bennett Spring help make it great. On my list: Jerry and Brenda who ran Weaver's Tackle. Always wonderful. Nobody could write a fishing report like Brenda. They retired after Jerry's eye trouble, and I understand Brenda passed away. Not sure about Jerry. Bruce and Kathy at the old Oak Hill. I camped there and they treated me like a king. Bruce even fished with me a couple of times. Last I heard, they headed for retirement in Florida. One still there as of last year: Gary at Hidden Valley Outfitters. it became my campground after Oak Hill closed. Another one who treats me like a king. Oneshot--He keeps us informed. (I suspect I met him once while he strolled through with his grandkids). Another group without names: the Catholics that meet at Sportsmen's Chapel on Saturday evenings. As a priest, I've said Mass there a few times to help out the pastor. A neat group of people. So who have been the Good People of Bennett Spring?

Up here in extreme northeast Kansas, and started started getting some hints--On the road yesterday and saw a couple of skunks and there were lots of geese moving. Crocuses will be up anytime.

Then, if this is ultimately about your kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids, then all respect and honor to you. You're simply going to be better at it, though, if you are informed as much as is reasonably possible. That means using what resources you can, even if they are imperfect like the news. One thing is certain: ignorance won't change things. Neither will staying out of things. One of your loved ones wearing the stripes and taking the oath might be the one who influences the others around them and makes things better. They may not be changing Washington, DC, but they may at least be influencing a police department, a squad, an army platoon, or some other unit. It's very doable at the lower levels. If they do as you say, that's not going to help solve the problem. We can easily say "Screw the police!", but there's still going to be police, and your loved ones are still going to be stuck with them. It would be better for them if you taught them to try to influence things in the right direction, being what's called the "salt of earth." You'd be teaching them to be the same thing, and it would make you worth your weight in gold.

Check out the Freedom of Information Act. That's significant for accessing documents that have been deemed sensitive in some fashion. Requests can be made to get them released through a review process to be sure there's nothing in them that might compromise something like national security. That's what I would have had to have done to access the docs I encountered.

Some things do need to be written down and stored away. And it could be years later that you need to access it. I've actually worked with declassified documents in a class held years ago at the Eisenhower library, part of my education as a history major. One of my classmates in particular ran into all sorts of classified documents on his topic, the Hungarian Revolution. That is the sort of thing that could expose intelligence channels, agents, etc. My topic was the St. Lawrence Seaway. That got into all kinds of assessments of U.S. and Canadian industrial capacities and military strengths, and that meant NATO. The data was extensive and needed preserved for reference, but you obviously wouldn't want just anyone to see it, particularly in the heights of the Cold War. There were still a few documents under a classified status of some sort and therefore inaccessible. I didn't need to, but I could have requested a review of them for potential declassification. My guess is that they involved Canada.