Terrierman

You really do stay mad at 'em. Nice report, made so much the better by having been there once with you. Happy New Year and good luck on the 52.

Same here. They're just way too cool and getting rarer and rarer or at least it seems that way.

Thank you. I hear the rehab is going to be quite a treat. The rotator cuff is due to an injury I suffered in a fall on the ice on 12/7/13. I have to get that fixed before I can do the knees. The right one was actually scheduled for 1/7/14 but it's put off now until the shoulder heals.

There is this one minor problem with your plan and that is the available head between dams that are only a few miles apart. They wind up being low head dams with very little storage capacity for flood control and also limited generation capacity.

It might or might not be a coincidence, but I spoke to my son today for the first time in several years and asked him to see if we couldn't try to get on with each other. We will see, it did feel good to make the effort. Thanks Phil, you are dead on. Merry Christmas to you and everyone else on the board.

We people seem to be our planet's worst enemy on many fronts. In case you haven't noticed, there are a lot of us around and we tend to take a lot of stuff for granted that we're finding out we shouldn't be taking for granted. Water quality protection is my profession and the overall trends are not good.

Rotator cuff surgery on 12/27/13 so unfortunately it looks like I'll be missing it. I still want to meet you face to face Phil.

There are tens of thousands of geese in Vernon County right now. If not hundreds of thousands. Suffice to say a LOT of geese.

Surface water sources with an impoundment are nearly always a good idea. The withdrawal rate is normally way way below anything that will draw the lake level below any level that is a problem, and the attention that is paid to existing and potential sources of contaminanats (including more sampling and testing) is definitely a positve, so are all the watershed protective initiations that can and frequently do come too. Be happy, its a net good thing.

I'm more along the lines of separating the boys who never grew up from the men who did. Now go outside and play.

I had an 18'6" x 60" semi vee with a 50 Yamaha on it and recently sold it. It was a good boat for the Missouri River and Taneycomo. I've got a 21'x 48" Shawnee with a 15 Yamaha now and it's better for the small rivers down here in SWMO. Neither one is a good ride on windy whitecapped water. But If I was going to pick one, it would be the deeper wider semi vee.

What it's telling anybody who wants to have the White River pretty much to himself, is when to go. That was one of the best parts of the trip, having that incredible resource as your personal oyster.

Nice job Bret.

You can sure tell it's winter. This thread on this board and one that's just plain ugly about sunglasses on another one. We got to have something to talk about I guess.

Pflueger President, Daiwa Exceller, and great reel for the money, Lew's Laser Speed Spin. I've personally had good luck with Shimano Sahara's as well but Shimano spinning reels have a reputation for binding when they get wet. That said, neither of mine has had that problem.

I was impressed with the increased casting distance that Nanofil gave this last Saturday. Impressed enough that I'll spool a couple of spinning rods with it. Did notice a bit of difference in sensitivity/hook set but not "revolutionary". But adding maybe 10 to 15% casting distance? That can be a big deal at times.

It'll be worth your time. Disregard the cynicism, there will be plenty of dedicated, very smart professionals there to share what they know with their peers. Enjoy.

I've got a 6'6" light / fast Clarus. I pretty much exclusively fish the rivers and creeks and find it to be plenty for any of my needs. I really like that rod a lot. Guessing that for what you are wanting the medium / fast would be plenty stout enough.

None taken here Joe. I was looking for humor in all the weather related stuff too. And honestly, it wasn't that bad at all.

What you talkin' about Willis? It's no wonder my wife was giving me the business Saturday morning about 5:00.

Phil, you are too kind for words. I've admired the way you run this site and your business and while we still haven't met face to face, I learned something more to admire about you this morning.

The standing wasn't so bad, it was gotmuddy in the spider seat up on that little deck on the bow that was hazardous. There was one time I thought somebody was going to get wet.

What a great time that was. Thanks Ham for having me in your boat and sharing so much of your incredible knowledge of that river and how and where to fish it. You really have it down. Sorry about the flat tire but we overcame. Riley's Station is a great place to stay for anyone considering a trip to the White. Yeah it was cold and a little windy but that's what they make fleece and gore-tex for. My hands were really all that got cold all day. LRF, props for a great fish fry, that's a really nice cooker you have. All of the action floating, fishing, cooking, eating etc. was all mighty fine. But the best part for me is the fellowship, meeting and making new friends. Thank you all for coming and including me in. I will fish with any of you any time, anywhere. We have to do it again and next time it will be my turn to bring and run a boat. P.S. Nice dog quillback. I enjoyed meeting him too.

Those grey mallards are right up there when it's time to fire up the grill too. Nice report. P.S. I've about given it up too, but we used to see teal right up to the end of season. Smaller numbers for sure but still. And man they eat the BEST of them all.

Thanks