Greg

Great fish. Kind of sad if ole Rip's record is broken though. Greg

That's really interesting. And I think you have it pegged. The old dog is indeed a bigger Corgi. In his prime he was close to 40 lbs. Strong as a bull despite the short legs. Our 2 younger Corgis must be the "show" type. They are considerably smaller and lighter boned. I have to say also that the old dog was absolutely fearless and the younger 2 are most definitely not (LOL). But as I said all 3 are (or were) wonderful dogs. Sorry didn't mean to hijack the thread Rusty. Greg

Well said. This is the kind of topic that lends itself to friendly open ended debate. Who says you can't open up a topic to debate without taking a firm stance? I'm not sure any of us on here know enough about the specifics of this topic to give clear cut absolute answers. Perhaps not even the MDC. Good topic and I've enjoyed it. Thanks for starting it. Greg

Going strictly by the definition of "native species" you are right of course. And I actually stated that in my prior post. I was just throwing out a theory that it could be viewed as a gray area. Greg

DaddyO thanks for the reply. Always enjoy hearing about Corgis. We too had a family Corgi (Corky) that was wonderful with our kids and very much a part of our family. Heaven help the person that spoke harshly to one of the kids when he was around. He would even snarl at me if I was scolding them! He passed away a few years ago at the age of 16. We currently have 2 Corgi's (Kari and Ringo). All 3 of ours have had distinctly different personalities but each has been a delight. Just a wonderful breed. I agree about the shedding. My wife and I have said many times that is their only fault (the heavy shedding). Greg

This is a really thought provoking topic. A couple of other random thoughts occurred to me that I thought I would share: The first is that how long before an introduced species (like trout) is considered a native species? Maybe never if it was introduced by man. But you could certainly make an argument that some of our trout that have been introduced years ago and that are no longer stocked (like the bows in Crane Creek and NFOW) and that have been thriving for decades (over 100 years in crane creek) would at some point be considered a native? Maybe not ever totally but certainly a shade of gray in this discussion. To me the concern of trout not being native here (in MO) is much less relevant than in other states. In other states non native browns and rainbows have totally pushed out (in some cases to near extinction) the native trouts. Meaning brook trout and the various strains of cutthroat. In that instance the introduced species directly compete with natives and force them out. To me that is much more serious and detrimental than the situation we have in MO. Greg

I'm probably biased on this issue because just like you (OTF) because I am first and foremost a MO trout fisherman. It's what I love too. But I agree with Eric in that I'm not sure the trout that are stocked in our streams and rivers have that much of an impact on the native species. My impression is that they just have an entirely different ecological niche than do smallmouth, panfish, suckers, etc. Take 2 of my favorite streams the NFOW and the Current. Both rivers have smallmouth and trout. But they coexist very well. And while there is overlap the trout thrive more in the colder areas of the streams and the smallmouth in the warmer (but still cool) areas. I think some areas like Taneycomo would be fairly barren without stocked trout? I don't think anything but trout could thrive in those frigid waters especially the upper regions. Which is why they started stocking trout once the dam was built - it was well know that the thriving warm water fishery would not completely die out - but would certainly wither away. Greg

One of my neighbors had a cairn terrier for many years. He was a great dog. Feisty as heck. Friendly to people but wanted to fight every other male dog he saw. My family has welsh corgi's and the cairn would always pick a fight with my male corgi whenever he saw him. He always lost (our corgi was just bigger and stronger) but the terrier would never give up or give in. Even though small I would view a cairn as a pretty masculine dog (like our corgis). I'm glad you were able to find another. Kids deserve a good dog. Greg

Scudz If you have looked at any statistics lately on fishing and fly fishing - participation in the sport is going DOWN. To keep the sport from dying and to keep $$ flowing into conservation we need to attract people (especially young people) to the sport. Those $$ and participation are simply vital to keeping our rivers and lakes clean and full of fish. Along those lines sharing info is not a bad thing (IMHO). I fish the current several times a year and at this point crowding is not a problem that I see?? Now the canoes/floaters - that's another matter entirely!! But that has nothing to do with this site. I've been fly fishing in MO a long time. I consider myself fairly knowledgeable. But I learn things all the time on this site. Is that bad? I don't think so. And I truly wish this site had been available 30 + years ago when I was starting out. Helping your fellow human beings is not a negative thing. If you think that.........well never mind!! Greg

Looks great Terry. I wish you well with this endeavor. Greg

Nice report John. I've been hoping to catch some wadeable water on the White in the next month or so. I hope it holds. Where is the narrows? Thanks, Greg

Thanks but I do always check both the schedule and the real time generation number. I have found the schedule to be extremely unreliable. Maybe right half the time? Greg

Wow I've never been unlucky enough to have that happen. I generally keep my fly boxes in the upper pockets of my vest. After reading your post I'll continue to do that. Greg

Just curious: Caught on a fly rod? I'm just asking because I know from your posts you fly fish a lot. Either way a beautiful fish though. Greg

Interesting looking fly. Thanks. Greg

I use a LOT of BPS tungsten beads both in that size and the one below it. I've never had that happen? I would be willing to bet it's just a bad batch. Frustrating but I would take them back to BPS. I'm sure they would exchange them and hopefully you could get some from a different lot #. What is a hair and copper fly? I agree that tungsten flies catch a lot of fish. I catch most of my fish on zebra midges, wooly buggers, mohair leeches and scuds - most tied with a tungsten bead. Greg

I googled it and that's a really interesting boat. With the big open cockpit it's kind of a fusion of a SOT and SINK isn't it? Looks like it would work very well for fishing although it's just a bit heavier than I would like personally. I'm going to buy one in the next year (or a solo canoe) and I've this one to my list to look at. Thanks for the heads up. Greg

Watched it this morning. Very nicely done. I've never been on the NFOW when it is flowing that fast. It's amazing that they could catch fish on a fly rod in that type of current. Brian you've got good taste in fly vises. I've got a Peak too. Best vise I've ever used even over some pricier ones I've tried. Greg

Now that's funny!! I guess I'm an honorary member of the Arkansas chapter too seeing as I spent a week there last summer and got to fish 2 days out of the 7 due to to 24/7 generation on both the white and norfork.

Have to say I kind of miss him. He could at times aggravate the devil out of me. But he could be extremely funny and knowledgeable as well. He sure got things stirred up at times!! Greg

If I had a buck for every time that has happened to me........ Greg

Brian - you've sure gotten the press the last few years. And well deserved. Congrats. Haven't seen it yet but have the DVR set to record it this Fri. Maybe it'll show me how to catch those NFOW bows? Just got back from CO and found the wild trout there much easier to catch than those on NFOW. LOL. Greg

I voted mono. I've tried the furled leaders and just didn't care for them. I've thought about full fluoro leaders but the cheaper mono last and work very well for me. I do use fluoro tippet most of the time. Greg

Several years ago my wife hooked herself in the thumb with a fly pretty deep. The only way for me to get it out was to push the hook the rest of the way through, smash the barb down, then back it out. OUCH. I try to remember to debarb everything now. Greg

Dano I meant to reply to this earlier. But I think this could be a great idea. I loved the family vacation and would not trade that for anything. But I'd also love to go out west and concentrate on the fishing...... We could probably do it pretty inexpensively too if like you said we could find a van or 2 and share gas $$, campground fees, etc. There may even be someone that wants to participate that has a camper? Greg