Wayne SW/MO

Tyler Bend is nice, close to outfitters and supplies. There are several floats that can be made with it as a base.

There are some on the Niangua I believe, but they are the small SOT's

I wish.

If you have a week why not do a slow float to Buffalo City?

How's the boat working out Al?

Won't be long.

Good information SM, I'm glad to see that family farmers and rural residents are expressing what they know and are concerned about, they know that it all runs downhill and downstream, and that the corporates don't care. I'll repeat, anyone who wants to know the source of the Farms Bureaus stance only needs to go online and check the biographies of their board. Its not the Grange! They have been on the opposite of of outdoorsmen and people concerned with the environment for decades. I don't want be commercial here, but in the bad storm of March 06, we got hammered and Family treated us great.

I would be the first to admit that I probably don't do a good job of getting my point across, but the difference in priorities is exactly what I'm trying to address. If you tell many rural people in Missouri that their water might be polluted, they will shake their head, make a comment and go on. If you tell them they can no longer feed the fish in the river or creek to their children, but that the fish will eventually die out anyway, that the polluter takes most of the money and leaves, they will find a rope and a stout oak.

I haven't tried that, but I was thinking it was for braid, maybe not. I look for a loop that passes under the line and pull it free, I then start pulling more line off until I hit some resistance and repeat. You'll hit a point where it will hesitate and then release. With any baitcaster I believe it important to readjust every time conditions change, whether its the weight of the lure or the wind. In my opinion if its adjusted for maximum efficiency you'll get some minor backlashes from time to time, but ones you can pull out, not have to pick out.

I'm still not sure where you're coming from SM, but maybe I'm not making myself clear. I'm well aware of what Tyson does in Missouri, and what they've gotten away with, I also know that the farm with several chicken houses on the ridge sells to them. I know that much of the labor income goes south, way south. The problem with using polluted water as the reason for being strict is that our water is already polluted. I think its more important to point out that people will survive 10 cents a pound increase in chicken parts, 10 cents a dozen increase in eggs, much easier than paying the extra taxes to support thousands of American Missourians who have lost their jobs because the state can't attract outside money. I can buy good chicken here, and I would prefer Nebraska, Iowa, or Missouri Black grain fed beef to Texas range steers anyway.

I suppose that I'm not opposed to "divide" and using Tyson as an example. The chicken industry isn't big business in SW Missouri, and it shouldn't be allowed protection because the main buyer doesn't want to offer to buy the product at a reasonable price. Who is Tyson competing against, not China, not Mexico, just themselves. If they can buy cheap enough, they can sell cheaper and they can take business away from the beef producers, who then need to produce cheaper to combat the poultry industry, and the pork producer needs to produce cheaper pork to combat both, and not having to process waste is a big savings. The cycle has to be broken, and the fact that none of these industries will leave, but will only raise prices slightly if we hang on to the environment we have left is good reason. Pussy footing around won't cut it, the small farmer isn't the problem and would most likely love to see the field leveled.

SM I'm well aware of the agriculture situation in Missouri, I was born here and have lived most of my 68 years somewhere on the west side. I've seen the figures that you have and while they may rank second in cows, its not the beef producer that other states are. The best figure give the whole Beef Industry here 1.5 billion, and compared to figures that vary from 8 to 13 billion for tourism, they're not anymore important then other industries, including other non polluting agricultural endeavors. You're right that not all towns have the same stake in tourism, but what has that got to do with the fact that the taxes gained benefit all of Missouri, including Trenton where I spent most of my youth, a town heavily dependent on agriculture, but also dependent on shared taxes. The bulk of the problems that confront the environment come from feeder operations, and I don't believe you can find facts to support an argument that they are a big industry in Missouri, not in comparison to many others. By comparison I mean those that produce taxes, jobs and revenue in general that benefit the state. The Farm Bureau would support graveling I-70 if the corporate farms did, because their business is selling insurance to rural Missouri, and the large corporate farms rule the organization. Anyone can check the biographies of the board members and ascertain that.

I'm not anti agriculture, especially the family farmers, but while Missouri ranks high in beef production, the economic value pales when compared to the tourism industry. In fact the finish feeding isn't the total of the industry receipts, and I doubt that it makes up that much of the total, and certainly not enough to make a dent in offsetting damages to tourism. All industries have responsibilities that add cost, and the livestock feeders are no different.

Sorry Russ, I thought it had been, however weren't some concessions made by Arkansas, or am I off base? I wouldn't give too much praise to the state DNR before they act, while I know that the winds can change with every new administration, but they haven't been the best environmental ally on all issues in the past. I'm afraid this is also a reflection of the term limits, while they can be a good thing in many instances, this may be a situation to watch in that regard.

Two points, first while its hard to tell Barry counties residents what they can and cannot do, it is simple to apply the "Downstream rule", which would affect Stone and its residents. Oklahoma pointed this out when they sued Arkansas and won. I think the second thing is that all to often polluters get a hand slap and a bye, because after they are established the "Save Jobs" argument kicks in and no one wants to put people out of work.

I think its deeper than that, most counties don't have electrical standards (neither does the state), sewer standards, building, water, etc. The state does still allow people to govern themselves, and that would be a good thing if the education was available to make voters good stewards, but much of it is masked over by special interest. The state needs some revision to at least protect at the lowest level and educate at the highest level, the threats.

There's a lot of residual sympathy for farmers in this state, it was big business at one time fueled by family farms. That is not the case anymore and I thought it important to point out that the Bureau doesn't necessarily represent the farmers that made up our family members, but is more corporate in its representation now.

I'll most likely be there when I get back home. Reminds me, I tried that E-mail you gave me last fall and it didn't work, if you would, send it to me PM.

Would it be just east of the Cowskin bridge Phil? I hate to hear that Ollie. Did the greenie come anywhere around the slough?

I don't know this to be fact, but fish tend to return to the water they we're spawned in, and I'm afraid there aren't a lot of fish to return. I don't think Swan has had a viable spring spawn in 5 years, and it just may be that there aren't any adults that graduated from the creek.

I can address the crack I believe. The hull is most likely welded under the keel, they were when I worked for Lowe and I would imagine they still are. The keel is a harder aluminum then the hull and more likely to continues cracking. I would get the smallest drill bit I could find, carefully drill the ends of the crack, this will stop the spread, and then epoxy it. Obviously you should check every once in awhile to make sure the problem is solved, but I suspect it will.

Was that in OK?

vonreed have you been sneaking around and trying to learn my methods? On second thought its obvious you haven't, you got a bite.

If you click the photo and follow the loading of the large pic, its defiantly a Largemouth.

North Fork?