Phil Lilley

Heard they were at the Cane Bottoms on the James last week. If you're in the right place at the right time... you'll get them. Just have to go seek them out.

I'm leaving for Texas tomorrow- should be able to check my email at night. Be back Tuesday night. I'd like more suggestions on which waters you'd be interested in. In addition to interest, which ones would you be able to give information about... not in depth- not asking anyone to moderate or anything like that. Just some ideas and why they'd be good to add at some point. One thing I'd look at is if the lake or river lacks good internet coverage- no forums or slow forum and few good fishing reports. Also, information about access and lodging. I don't want to throw up a bunch of new stuff just to have it sit- although I don't expect everything to jump up and go right off the bat. I understand this kind of deal builds on itself. The one thing I learned early on is that information has to be new, fresh and accurate or people won't click back. No second chances. I'm not giving up on waters we cover now... I believe Truman and Lake of the Ozarks should be covered better- I just haven't gotten the word out good enough yet.

Yes it is... but what KU did to MU today is even more so.......

It was a tough morning for everyone. The first place team had only 2 trout in the boat at noon. Some called it quits because of the poor fishing and conditions but those who stuck it out had a good afternoon of catching. Snow early and some wind even kept a few teams from starting until after 9 am! But 34 teams showed up and fished our little tournament. Stopped snowing about 9:30 am but started again about 1 pm and that's when the trout started to bite. Gerry and Bob Dwiggins of St Charles have proven once again that they are the guys to beat here on Taneycomo. Gerry is a 4 or 5 time winner of the Masters including this year with his partner Bruce Wucher. At the RAW a few weeks ago, Bob won with his partner Bill. This weekend is was all Dwiggins- both Gerry and Bob teamed up to win. They are jig fisherman- period. No bait-- no never. Even in the RAW where bait was allowed they stuck with their jigs and caught good trout. "If it wasn't on the bottom, you didn't get bit", Gerry told me after the weigh in. Two more jig fisherman who have shared the podium are JD and Jerry Dudley of Fayetteville, Ar. They took 2nd place with Jerry catching the big rainbow- 1.48 pounds. I was sweating the finish after weighing in 3 rainbows at 1.30 pounds, fearing a tie would cause a stir. No tie break rules were in place for a 3-way tie so when Jerry brought his 1.48 lb rainbow up I was relieved. Chris Tettrick and Tony Weldele, both area guides, took third place. Gerry Dwiggins, Bob Dwiggins, JD Dudley, Jerry Dudley Behind the scenes... lots of smoked chickens! Jerry and Carolyn Lilley look on from a dry place.

How would the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers be covered best? Suggestions?

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It's pretty big now... much bigger than I ever imagine. I've done some trimming today. Consolidating. It's so big you can't tell. I like dividing into states. I've already made a list of what I have. I like the idea of adding smaller waters around urban areas. We have alot of members from the St Louis and Kansas City areas. I want to fill niches. If there's forums and websites already doing the job, doing a good job, then there's no need for us to expand. Some people like the "controls" we put on OA and cut out the groupies and attitudes. Again, if there's a need, then we'll go there.

I LOVE blackeyed peas!!!!!!!

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This is a great option for those who don't want to be bothered by off issues or parts of the forum you don't want to wade through. If you haven't already discovered it, it'd be worth looking at. Great suggestion, Dan!!

I have added waters as time as passed at the request of active members here on the forum. There are those who live in KC and St Louis that have interest in the areas I mentioned in the opening that are 1. not in the Ozarks and 2. not on the forum. I would not add them unless there is interest. As for having too many, I understand that too but I also don't expect someone to be interested in everything on the site. I also don't expect to please everyone... that's impossible. OA isn't a small site the way it is and I think expanding is healthy. I am excited to see the trout park section take off. This is a strong segment of the angler community that promoted kid's fishing more than any other fishing activity, IMO. I hope those who fish the parks really talk OA up to those fishing around you. I want this topic to run for at least a week before I decide what to do.

Wanted to throw this out... I know this site is called OzarkAnglers (.com) but all the "waters" on the forum are not in the Ozarks. We've crossed the borders a bit to cover lakes and rivers of interest. We have also created "community forums" to share more ideas than just fishing. All is good. But with the following OA has and possibly that lack of coverage on other "waters of interest", I waned to explore the idea of expanding to other Midwest areas. For example lakes in east and mid Oklahoma, east Kansas, mid Arkansas, north Missouri and west Illinois. With this possible expansion, I may consolidate some of the forums we have on OA and eliminate some that aren't being used (not water related). It's not a matter of the forum getting too big- I don't think that's possible. It might need alittle tweaking, that's all. Spring is the time to jump on change. It's the time anglers are looking for good information on the lakes and rivers they want to fish. All comments and thoughts are welcome! Thanks- Phil

I want to, at last, float and fish the Current and Elevenpoint Rivers this spring or next fall. I hope to take the family and do multiply day floats trips and do some camping. I'd like to fish a couple of lakes I haven't been on much - Stockton and Beaver Lakes. I am planning on spending 2 weeks at the cabin on Naknek in Alaska. Hope to explore a few new rivers and do some more camping. May be help my buddy Duane with the new camp but we'll see on that. I'd love to head to Wyoming and Montana in the fall. Al's fall pics were too much to bare! I'll let the cat out of the bag... Babler and I are going to try for the mother of grand slams. We're calling it the "Grady Grand Slam" after Rex Grady who is the only person who has done this that we know of. In 24 hours, on 3 lakes, catch legal limits of crappie, white bass, walleye, bass and trout but we're trying for a limit EACH. We're going to document it carefully with video, audio and images. Of course, the lakes are Bull Shoals, Taneycomo and Table Rock. Where each species will be caught will depend on the day and conditions.

Just posted some new videos under ozarkanglers - VIDEOS. They are some old videos I have on VHS tapes I've been converting to digital. Fun stuff. Lots of old flicks of the kids. I have the kid videos on my facebook page. But you can see all of them on my vimeo.com account AND my youtube account. http://vimeo.com/user1209677/videos phillilley account under youtube.

No problem Denjac... just wanted to make sure everyone knows we're on for March 5th. Should be a good time for all. I'm looking forward to learning alot from Bill.

I've never seen http://deletionpedia.com or heard of it... interesting. Why does http://wikipedia.org delete entries, especially 3 days after they're written? He was married to Tonya Harding? Can this be all made up??? Very intriguing....

You're welcome, very welcome. Hope you find what you're looking for (fish-wise). You're in a fertile spot!

I agree that MDC isn't forthcoming about some things. They won't participate on forums. I'm speculating on this so if I'm wrong someone correct me. Conservation Cafe used to be MDC forum. I wasn't on the forum in the beginning so I don't know for sure but I bet they found out real quick they couldn't respond to questions on a public forum so they sold or gave it away and it became just a public forum. When I ask a question of MDC via an email, it usually takes a few days to get an answer. I know it's not because they are slow -- they make sure their answer is the correct one before answering. They usually answer with cc's to other department heads who have a vested interest in the topic whether it's enforcement or fisheries. I see how it works... they have to be careful. I appreciate their willingness to answer questions for us. I don't feel like I can demand answers although they are in a service capacity to the general public. I chose to maintain a good relationship with those I know personally, not to get "inside" information and "stay in the loop" but because I respect the friendships we have developed over the years. That doesn't mean I don't get frustrated with them sometimes. No gov't agency is perfect - I don't expect that. Heck, you'd have a huge job to clean up all the fat in gov't. When people are involved there will be improprieties. If you want to bring change to gov't you better plan your strategy carefully. The worst thing you can do is burn bridges and I believe Dabblemont has burned way too many over the years. I say that because of what I see just here on the forum... he's rubbed alot of people the wrong way, in the public and I'm sure with MDC. I don't think it makes any difference how many thousands of "members" he gets, he's the wrong leader to bring real change to your issues. I may be wrong here. In some ways I hope I am and Dabblemont does bring useful and constructive change to MDC in areas they probably do need change in. I will keep an open mind and see what happens.

About 25-30 usually.

denjac- those are programs offered by MDC. There are groups of all kinds who reserve their rooms for programs for no charge. I'm one of those groups. You don't see SW Fly Fishers either and they meet there every month.

How many facilities did you volunteer at? And for how long? Additionally, there were too many staff bumping into each other at times at the facility I was at. I don't understand this. What do you mean by bumping and why is that bad? I have a very similar story about my grandfather... Roaring River about 1968- I think I was about 10, may be younger. I was fishing. I got bored and handed by grandfather the rod. He reeled it in- I was done fishing and he wasn't going to fish- we were leaving. He got a ticket- no license- for just reeling in the line. Our family, myself and my grandfather laughed about the incident for years to come. No one was mad. No one holds a grudge against the agent or MDC. If my grandfather was wise and had forethought, he would have bought a license so he could help his grandson fish and not get in trouble. Real names - I mean names of agents and MDC personnel in his accusations. Sorry, I thought that was clear. Of course I didn't mean MDC.

Birdfan... You should know by now you can't come on this forum and throw around accusations without backing them up. There's too many people here that will call you on the carpet. If you have problems with MDC, don't cloud your points with unsubstantiated claims (MDC mishandling equipment/inventory)- it doesn't bide well if you want to make a strong case. For example, what Dabblemont has done with his claims about agents giving people tickets... he loses anyway he goes cause he can't back it up. He can't use real names or he'd be sued. So why even bring it up? ALL that you say may be true but if it's not presented in a culpable way, you loose your argument. If you say you saw all this first hand (tools being stolen), then so be it. If people choose to not believe it, then so be it.

I was told he bought it from you... my mistake.

You're selling your dad's boat!?!?????!?!!

Did you see anyone catching whites or crappie. If so, how far up? Did you get a water temp? Thanks for the report.