WebFreeman

I use it on my mac and pc. It's great and much less virus concern. And I loved the tabbed browsing. I have 5 tabs open right now and it doesn't clutter up the screen.

Did they used to market those as combo rods? Seems like there was a kit or a pack rod version or something like that.

At that size it would be great for Crane Creek, too. They used to carry the spinning rods at BP, but I haven't looked in years. I always liked the look. Kind of flashy it a classic sort of way.

LMW: I was looking at my reel last night that shop put a sticker on the back side of the spool that told me what it was. You might pop the spools out and see if that did that. Hopefully it's in there. I would guess that since you bought nice stuff from a shop, they wouldn't put level line since hardly anyone recommends it.

I think Ameren UE is overmatched. I have a friend in Eureka that was w/o power for 5 days w/ this storm and I think 5 days earlier this fall when they had some big storms (which I think they later said were tornados.) It seems to be one thing after another with them. There was something at Bagnell Dam (I think) with a big fish kill a few years ago and then the Taumsauk disaster and now this in St. Louis. I wonder how they've stayed in business.

BDS, that was very nicely said. You should put your columnist hat back on. You've still got it.

I haven't fly fished in a long time, but I was in the same place you were. I started fishing a lot of wooly buggers, something I could strip and have more contact with. The strikes were a lot more like what you'd expect with rod a reel. I've seen some threads you been a part of, but cast parrallel or a little downstream and let the current take it down, stripping it back as you go. As it turns in the current is when you get strikes often. Also, when I fished taney I always had better luck in the quicker water, like the tail end of the rebar stretch. Fishing the very slow water for a novice was difficult I found. It seems to me the movement of the water gives you a little more margin of error and the fish in those locations are usually there to feed, so they'll be more aggressive. In that case, you might size up in fly, too. Keep in mind I really don't know what I'm talking about, but reading these forums has got me thinking about Christmas gifts. You might also try one of the trout parks. Seems those fish are maybe a little dumber and good to build confidence on. Hope my 2 cents helps a little.

12/23/06

The search engine bots come out at night to index things. That might be it. The web stats of the sites I've managed always have a huge spike sometime in the middle of the night.

The news-leader quoted the MDC today as they are open game year-round. We've had one digging in our landscaping and I just ran it off. Those things are creepy as anything.

You said something the other day about P-line. Do you use the florocarbon or the other (CXX I think?)? Also, do you any tips for drop shotting w/o really good electronics? We've got a depth finder, but not a great one. Finally, this will sound stupid, but is the "blade" a spinnerbait?

A general or news area to talk about current events, like Chris Simms losing his spleen!! That's got to hurt....

probably best w/ a tripod and turn the flash off as it's only effective for about 10 or so feet. You might read the manual and see it says anything about fireworks. You probably just have to guess and set it to be open for as long as possible. The tripod will keep you from jiggling w/ a slow aperture. It's possible that I just made all of that up, so if Roland says differently, listen to him.

I much prefer Bill's report to what's on espn. This is pretty ccol.

is that just spam or a bot or something?

My thought was Aaron Martins, too. KVD seems versitile, so he may do well, though he didn't do as well in the Busch Shootout last year. Gerald Swindle did well last year, so I think he has a top 5 chance. I like the fact that they're all clueless. Should be fun.

No offense to Jimmy, but he was half the fisherman he thinks he is, he'd be able to catch fish on a carolina rig or a drop shot. Anybody can run a spinner bait past a stick up or a log. Just like the fish, some people adapt and some don't. Sounds like he didn't/can't/won't. I'll be real curious how this Bassmaster event turns out.

People see Jimmy Houston and Bill Dance catch fish all day, year-round on spinner baits and think it translates to every lake. I fished with a friend once who was whizzing a spinner bait to the bank. I turned around and threw to the middle of the cove and caught a fish. Some people just don't get it. I haven't had a chance to put all your good advice to work yet, Bill, but the next time I get on the Rock, I feel like I'll have a chance. Do you think the pressure from the Heartland Elite and the Bassmasters will have an effect of fish the rest of Sept?

Good tip, Greg. I've been in the same boat and the idea of $60 for line I use a couple times a year is though. I can deal w/ $20. The other 20-40 would buy a lot of flies and leaders.

I've seen Spoonbill jump like that on Table Rock. It's a startling site, for sure. I'd hate to get on upside the head!

That is what I was talking about. I was thinking Swindle finished second. I'm not a big tournament guy, but I'm curious how they fish the waters I know. Swindle got into a w/ Zell Roland under the bridge. I think Swindle does that a lot. It's funny how they started w/ 12 fisherman and they got in each others way. Is there professional courtesy when they're on the lake? Do you guides avoid they lake when they're around? Sorry for all the questions, but it's just really interesting to me.

It does answer my question. I'll be interested to see how it turns out.

The Bassmasters will be here in a couple weeks. If you were fishing it, would you take a similar approach? I remember they had a tournament around this time last year. 1st place ran up the James and fished for LM and 2nd drop shotted the 86 bridge for Spots.

What's your analysis, Phil? If tradition holds, as you've said before, the Corps. should side with MDC and deny the request, don't you think?

I saw a recipe once that involved stuffing the cavilty w/ stove top stuffing. Anyone ever try that?