ColdWaterFshr

The video had some really great elements in it. It followed the Classical Quest Pattern, the loss of innocence and the gaining of experience. Character development was a little bit weak, but the overdubbed whistling helped us to identify with the main character, the garbage on the front porch revealed his general laziness and was reinforced when he relied on the 4-wheeler to make it that short distance down to the river. Cinematopgraphy was stunning. There were 2 great moments of tension in the film. The first was when you opened the cooler and only diet coke was visible. You took us right to the edge when your hand retrieved a beer rather than a diet coke. And it occurred again at the end, only this time when a Busch Light was retrieved. Had these beers been Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or Bell's Two-Hearted or even just PBR, the viewer would have had a stronger sense of rejoicing . . . . but there I go, getting all JoeD arm-chair film critic on ya. Fine film-making. How much that cabin go for and what is the availability for March 22nd and 23rd?

NICE report!!

JoeD - weren't you the guy doing the mea culpa a few weeks back? release your anger young skywalker. True, many of the videos are an exercise in voyeuristic cheese, especially if there is some bad rock band powerchord going on just as a fish jumps, but overall I kinda dig on 'em. Its better than no video. We all know and fully understand that the highwater mark for fishing excursion filmmaking was set by the legendary PaullDallas. Cameras back then weighed around 75 lbs, cost about $100 grand in todays adjusted dollars, and the brightness of the lamps could blind a person. This was well before betamax and vhs came on the scene, nevermind the digital stuff and gopro that has everyone thinking they can be Quentin Tarantino or Kelly Clarkson from American Idol. Sadly, all of the Paul Dallas archived videos from the 70s and 80s that were true masterpieces were destroyed by the tsunami that struck coastal Japan a couple years ago, wiping out a warehouse along with the worlds largest collection of soft-core erotica owned by former Japanese Prime Minster, Ichi Sokkamammary.

Thats the best I've read in a LONG time. Club magazine and an old wool sock.

Not a bad idea. My wife teaches at a middle school and sees the PE teachers pretty much just set-out the dodge balls everyday and then go sit on their butt and talk to a fellow teacher.

If I remember right, drivers ed was an elective for 1 semester in high school, but thats been a long time ago for me. Did they even have cars when you were in high school? Did they even have high school, or was it still 1 room and then you were off to the world when you reached hay-bailing age? But I digress, with the way things are going, more guns flooding the market than ever . . . and talk of people arming teachers and crap . . . it will probably eventually be necessity to teach gun safety training in schools. We can thank the NRA and the pro gun crowd for that. Everyone should pack! Here's a real uplifting story: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/05/16841405-pistol-packing-pupils-becoming-an-everyday-occurrence?lite&ocid=msnhp&pos=6

Therein lies the problem Wayne. Stupid people. That and a pervading and perverse love of guns in this country precisely BY stupid people. The badder-asser the gun, the better! More guns in the hands of more stupid people = generally bad results. Only in Missouri would such a brilliant piece of legislation ever be conjured. Yes, time involved for educators who have their hands full and struggling mightily already just trying to teach the 3 R's let alone adding gun safety to the curriculum for. And for 5-12 year olds. Wonderful stuff. Teachers time would probably be the least of my objections, but okay, its a valid one, so what? Might as well add bungee jumping safety to the curriculum. I tell you what, while we're on the subject of fixing stupid and absurd ideas that'll never fly . . . . 1) for every round of ammo sold and for every gun sold above normal retail price (TBD by Uncle Sam), every penny above and beyond normal retail price goes to fund mandatory annual mental health screenings for every gun owner in America. 2) you own a gun you have to get it licensed and taxed annually just like a car, and must carry minimum liability insurance on it, just like a car. Proceeds from taxes and insurance go to funding additional mental health screenings, particularly for stupid people (IQ threshold TBD) who also happen to be gun owners. Or screw it, Make all guns legal and free, issued to each and every citizen strong enough to hold and point one (yes, that would be the test), all subsidized by the government of course, because by the NRA's logic and here's the real beauty of their wisdom . . .we would ALL be safer. We could get rid of whole homicide units at Police Departments all across the country. No one would need security systems. The president would no longer need the Secret Service even. Think of the lives that will be saved and the money that will be saved! The economy would prosper under the rapid growth of the gun industry and the possibilities would be endless.

No pictures? Bummer. Was there snow on the ground? We got about 4 inches saturday night in STL, but not sure about other areas. Thanks for sharing this. Hawn is one of my favorite places. Need to get down there again soon. Would love to hike it during a snow or right after.

Where's the granola bars (energy)? and/or a bullion cube or 2 of chicken broth A swiss army knife cheap plastic poncho which can be made into a small shelter or ground cloth What about a flask of some fire-water? calm the nerves or a helpful firestarter

No. How?

I would not waste one more second of precious time. I would call the FBI.

Required catch and kill of spotted bass is a bit militant, Al, but I'm down with it! Fill a stringer or feed the varmints on the bank. I'm not convinced that the regulations have had any impact on the smallmouth populations, except in those areas where enforcement of the regs is routine and consistent (not many of those!). Don't get me wrong, I'm all in favor of the strictest of regs for smallmouth. If it were up to me it would they would be a C&R only fish in Missouri. Here is what I think Okie is getting at and it really seems the most logical. I've added a few things: 1) The catch and keep mentality is still alive and well especially on rivers like the Big, regardless of whatever section you are in or however much you want to believe it is a safehaven because of a regulation. Spots, smallmouth, doesn't matter . . . if its worth filleting, more often than you and I really want to know, it probably goes on a stringer or in a livewell. Yeah there are some more remote sections that probably don't see as much pressure and harvest, but hear me out. 2) We have already talked in great length in other threads about how far smallmouth will travel to wintering holes and then return. So the deck gets re-shuffled every season. Some fish may not move, but most do and we've discussed travel distances as far as 40 miles on fish up in the Huzzah going down to mid-sections of the Meramec to ride-out the winter. 3) So knowing that the smallmouth travel and do this reset every year . . . and whether the spots do or don't to the extent that smallmouth do doesn't really matter . . . but I think a river will find its new equilibrium each and every spring. Maybe a spot beats a smallmouth back to that perfect habitat in the early spring as temps warm. Maybe that smallmouth gets harvested enroute back to that safehaven or home habitat. Each smallmouth of reproductive age that gets removed from a river is much more difficult, or it takes longer anyway, to replace (biologically and ecologically) than that same competing spot. They are more prolific, right? Spots can take more punishment, and don't have to have perfect conditions for a successful spawn to the extent that smallmouth do, right? We know they gobble up the food with just as voracious an appetite as smallmouth do if not more. Less food, more neighbors eating it, habitat in decline . . . but the kicker is having those SMB slow-growing reproducers removed from the population. Not as detrimental to a spot.

Thats kind've what I believe. Its as simple as more fishing pressure over the last 20-30 years with more fish being harvested overall. The spots populations reproduction rates are more resilient and can handle it better than the smallmouths can.

11) Jimmy Hoffa's left arm.

There was. Paul Dallas was the owner-operator of a 47-ft trawler, the SS Poositania out of Sauget. Those were the days. We ran up and down the Mississippie and dragnetted every gill-breathing creature we could capture between there and Chester, IL and all the way up Quincy and well up in to rivers like the Meremac. Oh, the parties we would have. It was Caligula on the Mighty Mississippi. In one infamous episode of filming, Jacques Cousteau accompanied us in his famous boat the Calypso which we took all the way up to the mouth of the Big River on the Meramec. It was a nighttime mission and Andy Williams was a special guest and we blared him singing Moon River over the loud speakers as the ladies ate appetizers and poured maritinis in the glow of tiki torches on our decks. The nets brought up many a treasure that night I can tell you. Here are the contents of the first one we brought up which we carefully recorded: 1) 432 spotted bass, including one impressive specimen that went 9 lbs and had a live 4 lb smallmouth swimming in its belly which we were happy to cut open and release. Also in the belly of this massive spot we found a well preserved unopened box of Cracker Jacks, which, ironically, as its surprise had a coupon for a free can of Chicken-Of-The -Sea tuna. Jacques got a kick out of that one and cackled like a school girl. 2) a 28 lb walleye that was missing all of its teeth and had fresh weber grill marks on its starboard side; we could only surmise was a lucky escapee from an unattentive gravel bar shore lunch chef from earilier in the day. 3) a dented bumper off a Volkswagen Microbus with a bumper sticker that said Proud Supporter of DeSoto Police Officers Association right next to a steal your face sticker. 4) various rare and exotic Spanish gold galleons and dabloons that went unreported on Jacques IRS filings. We promised each other to keep quiet about it. We later went on Antique Roadshow and found out these coins were worth millions. 5) a parking meter with 23 minutes still left on its time, and it was still ticking. 6) a small white dolphin which was clearly hundreds of miles north of where it should be. We clubbed it and ate it. Dancing around its carcass like a pack of peyotee'd Apaches. A hired hand on the Calypso leaked this story to the press where it became the inspiration for Ted Nugents song White Buffalo. 7) 11 baseballs, 2 of which were signed by Stan Musial, one was signed by Ty Cobb, and another by some kid named Tyler. 8) A yellow Schwinn Lemon-Peeler with a cable-lock attached to a bicycle rack. 9) 197 smallmouth bass 10) 3 brook trout

Great questions. I will do my best to answer. 1. Woolly bugger isn't my go to sub-surface fly for fly-fishing for smallies, but I guess it will work. Tie 'em BIG though. Leave the size 6 or 8's at home and think size 4 or bigger, or better yet go articulated type buggers or clouser minnow variations that you see on some of Brian Wise's videos. Float 'n fly is a dead-drift technique similar to nymph fishing for trout. Never been a fan of that method for smallies, but I've caught a few that way. Tim Holschlag's book Fly-fishing for Smallmouth is a great resource and covers the method in extensive detail, particularly the Holschlag Hop which is a little different than nymphing for trout. I suppose float and fly is a winter tactic because it is much slower than stripping buggers. Smallmouth aren't going to give a whole lot of effort to chase in the winter, which is also why I don't bother fishing for them until water temps warm up in the spring to at least mid-50s. 2. Rootballs? I guess it depends on a few things. Size of the river or creek, speed of the current, time of year you are fishing, etc, etc, and then of course the depth fore, aft, and middle of the rootball, the amount of cover offered by rootball and its relation to other available cover in the immediate vicinity, where the current seam is, and a bunch of other things. If in doubt, work all areas! 3. Tailouts? Ah he11, get your head out of the books. Fish it ALL. If it looks fishy, fish it, especially if you're not getting bit. They might be there! 4. Synthetics nah. For jigs there really is no substitute for the real thing -- but I like rabbit hair, big floppy magnum strips, bear hair, even good ole marabou piled on thick. Synthetic flashabou interspersed with real hair, yes, but synthetic hair itself, no not a fan. Bucktail sometimes is good too. Finally, smallmouth aren't that picky. They are ambush predators and opportunists will eat just about anything, which makes them a nice change from the fickle prissy salmonids who steal away so much undeserved attention. Dr. Dallas

I saw that add-on story in the paper today too. Not sure that it was news-worthy or really changes anything about the story. Whether he was offered a ride or just said hey to a dude in a truck at the 8 mile point (and could've easily asked for a ride if he knew he was in trouble, but didn't) . . . what difference does that make?? Changes nothing. Obviously the trouble didn't begin until the heavy rain started and the temps dropped on the way back.

put and take fishery + poachers paradise + the upper section isn't big water and is closer to being a creek than a river + low-low water for almost a year + the places that big fish can hide aren't that many and well-accomodating during even normal flows + record heat this past summer + increased fishing pressure over several recent years and . . . what was the original question and why is anyone surprised?

I'm all for it. Won't have any affect on how you do your duck or deer hunting. This country has far too many handguns and assault-style weapons in the hands of far too many irresponsible folks. It comes down to . . . do you think the country is better of with MORE guns, or FEWER guns??? We lead the world, by a HUGE margin, in per capita gun ownership and gun violence and murders.

One other interesting thing I read in the article (and it could be wrong) . . . it was an 8 mile one-way hike just to get to Suttons Bluff with an 8 and 10 year old. A 16 mile rndtrip hike for a day trip is pretty ambitious for in-shape adults, nevermind having an 8 and 10 year old in tow.

Today's Post Dispatch explains the details well enough. He had a cell phone and a flashlight but the power had died at some point on the cell phone. They missed the turn-off on the trail that led back to the resort. At that point they would've only been 20 minutes back to the resort. They were a mile past this missed turn (where they were found). As Hank said, there really isn't any mystery to me. This is classic hypothermia. Heavy continuous downpour and sharply dropping temperatures and not being prepared for it . . . thats all it takes, and it doesn't take much time for hypothermia to set in. A small backpack with some ponchos in it might've made all the difference. Very sad story. Will remind me to always be as prepared as I can be.

buzzbaits

That Wildman. I know him. Paragould . . . at the Black Velvet Widow Lounge down on the corner of Prospect and Bad News. We've had words and he cheats in poker, a lousy tipper, and his fish stories got more holes than a rusty colander. Not sure who that other character is, but i've seen better side burns on circus monkeys.

Chetsnuts! Good one! Merry Christmas, Ness and everyone!