Wayne SW/MO

I hate to say it, but who hasn't pinched off a ragged worm and dragged it across the bottom on a jig head? Grubs were fished that way and i don't know when the appeared, but it wasn't recent.

Enforcement is the job of the state and the Coast guard. As a rule the CG doesn't do driving infractions. The real solution is probably, I hate to say it but, taxing businesses that derive most of their income from the lake and paying the cost of patrolman, boats, maintenance and fuel. One unit can't be cheap, but passing the cost down to users is probably the only realistic way to go. Another way would be for resorts, home owner associations, and docks to sponsor a unit for a specific area. They would obviously have to make long term guarantees.

I've fished the H&J Variant dry fly for decades here and in Oregon and it will produced surprisingly well on a given day. It's a rare day that it or a simple ginger hackle dry won't produce here.

In my opinion the park itself has changed the environment. Since they made it less family friendly in their push to make it more resort like they changed the atmosphere. As far as the river goes any losses there would have to be suspected of coming from overcrowding. It used to be a float river, now it's a wet out of sight party destination on summer weekends. That's the fault of the DNR primarily in not having a plan to limit use. 30 years ago they could have put the clamps on and not really harmed any outfitters, but now they are buried in inventory and new outfitters come along at will. The Niangua is a great example of how to rape a nice river. Overcrowding, cattle in the water, and bank side clearing have had serious negative effect on it. Anyone who floated it 30 or 40 years ago know what I'm talking about.

Things change Oneshot, like the addition of an interstate to California coming through town. most of Bennett is served pretty well locally and only one route to the park really comes through Lebanon. 5 grazes it and OO and 64 form the south and west don't come close. If you look at Lebanon today and compare it to 30 years ago you can see that Bennett didn't build it, jobs and highway, period. This Hillbilly Days just doesn't compare to the old one in the park. I don't think it will ever come close unless they can centralized it in one location with all the services required.

I would fish North of the bridge and all the way to Indian for smallies.

TR is no longer the super clear lake that was hard to get to in the 60's and it hasn't stopped changing. Some will fish around the problems and others will have to move on We're lucky in Missouri, we have lots of lakes.

Bennett and the river were bound to top out eventually. The park can only hold so many and in reality so can the river on weekends. The New Hillbilly days will never match the original. In the park people parked and walked to the various attractions, but now it's a drive on a busy highway that isn't really conducive to slowing and looking. I think Lebanon is more interested in 44 then 64.

On to the Parmachene Belle!

News sources are reporting 74-78 from their reports.

I don't know, never tried it, but the braunschweiger spread is good. Maybe that's why trout are good?

I never purified dish water, I let the boiling do that.

Not dissing the NFOW, but with what you want to do have you thought about the Eleven point? I suspect it might fit your needs better. The limit changes there after Turner, if I'm not mistaken, and there are river accessible only camping areas.

I've made a similar dip for years. I smoke mine for about 20 minutes and then put them in a pressure cooker. After the cook I do the chill and pick also. The recipe is also good if you replace the trout with braunschweiger.

Go to Katadyn and check out their line. I've used a PUR pump for many years, but the filters are no longer available. I have the earlier model of the Katadyn Ultralight now. If you get a pump, keep some coffee filters handy along with some bread ties. They will keep the crud from stopping up the unit prematurely. Mountain house freeze dried meals are pretty good and all the require is hot water. They're available at most outdoor stores and Wal Mart. They aren't so expensive that you can't try them at home to see what you like.

I thought that was strange because the storm seemed to cover a larger area then that, but that's what the news reported. I don't know where they take the measurement, but it's probably wireless and prone to mistakes.

Old story.

Same here. I was fond of Silver Thread when it was available, but I think P-Line is better. I've used the original for probably 10 years now and no complaints. One thing in its favor is that it works on spinning and casting really well and that's rare in a line.

Nice. If I read you right he hit during daylight and that seems to run against the norm.

If I don't want to risk losing one I put the rod tip under the water and pull their head down. It works everytime if the timing is right. I think it depends on the lure also. They get a lot of leverage from a crankbait, especially a long one, but nothing from a jig or plastic normally.

The higher water has eliminated most of the good bank space and some of the current at the Pothole and I'm sure this has had an effect.

You could always go formal and call it James.

Branson got an official .01 yesterday, but we got close to an inch. We're 8 miles NE and we generally get what comes from the James watershed. We've had a lot of rain through here, but I think parts of Barry and stone have had more so I'm not surprised the lake is rising fast.

I don't know about the beans, but the cukes should recover. This slow growth period from the rain and lack of sunshine should actually help them.

Greenbrier Inn in Branson lost some of it's roof. It blew pretty hard here in northwest Taney, but it was short lived. Rained buckets though.