Phil Lilley

Where exactly were you? Not being from there I'm alittle confused. Wish I could run over but too many irons in the fire here.

Yes- Marsha said I just missed you as I came back from town. I'll have to drop your place next time.

26 Illegal 7 No Change

Not much has changed... fishing is real, real good (can't say excellent). Lots of midge hatches esp in the evenings. On the boat ride back tonight, it was like summer. The midges were hitting us in the face and the trout were all over the surface of the water feeding. Jig and float using either micros in sculpin, brown, black or olive- very good. Also use marabou 1/125 oz jigs in same colors plus using an orange head- very good. Fish them close to the bottom in 3-6 feet deep and fish them 5-6 feet deep in deeper water. Also use red or black #14 zebra midge shallow or deep with a fly rod or spin rod- same areas. Use 2 lb line for more strikes but 4 lb seems to be fine, esp on stocker rainbows. That's about the best technique I can report on. If it's not something you do usually, you need to try it! The wind has been alittle tricky but not impossible... and you need some wind- better fishing when there's a chop on the water. Hold the rod low, close to the water if it's windy so the line won't blow around.

Need I say... this was an unusual day in the midwest. The temp neared 90 degrees bringing out the shorts and sandles. But first a word about the previous few days. John Johnson, a very good friend from Kingfisher, OK brought a group of great guys over for a 3 day fishing trip, an annual trip for them. They boat- don't wade- and most like to fly fish. They fished primarily above Fall Creek and use either scuds or jigs and occassionaliy a zebra midge. John told me today they caught and released hundreds of trout- by far the best trip of all time. They just bit all the time. John caught an 18 inch brown on the last morning of the trip Tuesday that was fat-fat and beautiful. Caught it on a olive micro jig. Good for you guys, John. Now for our short trip this afternoon. Megan called me as Bill Babler and I were driving back from KC. We were asked to speak at the Missouri Trout Fisherman's monthly meeting last night, which was a real treat for us. Had 62 in attendance- food, fellowship and the people were great. Anyhow- Megan wanted to go fishing... how can a proud dad say no!? So we headed out by boat about 4 pm up past Fall Creek almost to Lookout. I threw an anchor out because the wind was alittle tough out of the south- we were on the shallow side of middle of the lake- 2-3 feet of water. I tied on a black #14 zebra onto Meg's fly rod and I did the same to mine, setting the palsa indicator at 16 inches deep. There were midges all over the place and the trout were very active on the surface. For the next 90 minutes is was non stop action, interrupted only by our conversation and taking fish off our barbless hooks. The largest were a couple of 16 inch rainbows- most were under 12 inches. No browns.

BH- is that Zach's video? Didn't know he was offering video on his site... I recognized the url. I've been wanting to get into video on OA but TIME- I don't have enough of. I've done a few stream videos but I'm not happy with the quality- yet. But soon I hope.

This is my all-time favorite reel. Peter Matheison sent it to me to do a field test on it for BASS magazine and I fell in love with it. http://www.pfluegerfishing.com/products/pr...nning-reel.html I sell them in the shop but they are hard to come by. I think I have a couple. Price- I'd have to look but I'm thinking $65. For the little extra money, they are far above anything I sell. PS- any of the Shimano's are good reels for the money.

Excellent advice. I'd only add one other thing. Jigs- throw 1/16th oz jigs using 2 lb Trilene, green XL line and a medium action spin rod, 6 ft ideal. Hold the rod pointing high in the air and jig it jig up and let it fall, while reeling. Try different speeds and don't be afraid ot let it go to the bottom- most of the bottom is gravel and you won't get snagged. If you do, it's just a $1 lure. Try black, brown, sculpin and even white.

Take a serious look at Cricket Creek Corp site... very nice campground, excellent fishing, close to all kinds of fishing- bass, crappie, white bass. Excellent bait shop at the marina there- a place to keep your boat in a stall. Mark (owner) will put you on fish.

85 here today and 90's in Oklahome... my, my, my. I bet it was in the 70's in Iowa- short sleeve ice fishing! Welcome to summer in March.

Looks like he'd been eating alot of sculpin from the looks of his belly.

I want to fish it cause I think I know where some bass are and they aren't that far away... gotta think- creeks, cuts, coves.

What?!?!?

OFF Members, It is IMPORTANT that as many respond to these bills as possible. As is becoming customary, notice of these hearings was not announced until late yesterday, making it difficult for us to have representation at the hearings. That means that we need YOU to make as many phone calls as possible to let these committee members know our position! Emails can be sent, but likely will not be read in time for the hearings. You can let the legislators know that notice of these hearings were announce very late, which did not allow an earlier response. Please leave a message with your name and organization with the staff if you are not able to contact the legislators in person. They will pass on the information! Remember - your voice DOES count - but only if you make the phone calls!!! SCR29 - Senator Graham - Bill OPPOSES the sale fo national forest land in Mark Twain National Forest. - we SUPPORT this bill! Even if you can't make the 12:00 deadline for the SCR29 bill (SUPPORTING Senator Grahams bill!!) your calls will still be on record and acknowledged. HB 1761 - Tom Loehner/ Mike Dethrow - we OPPOSE this bill!! The rules for sand & gravel mining have not been given a chance to work. We do not want the stream protections rolled back. A simple call identifying yourself with OFF - OPPOSING this legislation will at least have another voice on record. There is a hearing at 6:00pm Wed, March 1 - please call as many on the committee as possible. A brief summary of the changes in the rules are outlined below for your reference Following is a summary of the changes being proposed in this bill, and why we OPPOSE it!! Parts of the bill are, frankly, difficult to decipher. In general, the gist is that the bill will 1) exempt many more operations from the permitting requirement; 2) reduce the stream-side buffer requirement for these exempted operations to five feet; 3) specifically allow for equipment to be in the water; and 4) allow local governments to contract with others to mine gravel for government use without a permit. (5) exempts landowners who remove streamside trees to mine gravel from the permit requirement. The bill also repeated refers to "department guidelines" without specifying what those guidelines are. We can assume it means the guidelines that existed before the new rule took effect, but it is unclear. The bill further waters down regulations on gravel mining and therefore should be opposed in my opinion. By exempting operations from the permit requirement, it both makes it more difficult to track the operations and deprives DNR of funds to enforce the law. Brief Analysis of HB1761 (2006) 444.765(12): Adds definition of "noncommercial operator". This is a very loose definition that encompasses anyone who mines gravel from 1) farmland; or 2) other property used primarily for purposes other than mining. The definition states that the mining must be conducted in accordance with "department guidelines" but does not specify what those guidelines are. 444.766: Exempts the removal of trees for "land improvement", despite their location, from the permit requirement; this would allow landowners, for example, to clear a gravel bar of a maturing stand of trees without a permit. 444.770: (1): Exempts noncommercial operators from the permit requirement. (1): Exempts all operators from obtaining a permit when the mining is done at the request of a property owner for the "primary purpose of managing seasonal gravel accretion on property not used primarily for gravel mining." This is a very broad exemption from the permit requirement. I would expect that this would be used to exempt most operators from the permit requirement. The language restricting the exemption to the management of "seasonal gravel accretion" is so broad and vague and to allow this exemption to be applied in almost all situations. (5): Broadens the exemption from the permitting requirement for local governments to allow them to contract with mining operators to obtain gravel for their own use. Under existing law, local governments have to use their own equipment and personnel to claim such exemption. This will expand the number of mining operations that are exempt from the permit requirement. (6): The intent of this new section is not entirely clear. It begins with a reference to the section addressing the local government exemption. It then states, however, that landowners or operators who are otherwise exempt from the permit requirement must still conduct their mining in accordance with department guidelines if they are going to sell the gravel. The intent of this provision is seemingly to require all mining operations that sell gravel to comply with department guidelines. The section is vague in that it refers back to the local government section and in that it does not specify which "department guidelines" must be complied with. I believe the reference to the prior subsection (5) refers to the exemption therein for private individuals mining for personal use. In other words, this new section would allow those private landowners mining for "personal use" to sell their gravel and still remain exempt from the permit requirement. (7): This new section prohibits noncommercial operators from mining from March 1 through the end of May. This would seem to be the result of lobbying by some entity concerned with fish spawning. (8): This new section specifically allows noncommercial operators to drive their equipment through streams to conduct mining activities. (9): This new section requires noncommercial operators to leave a stream-side buffer of five feet. This is smaller than the ten foot buffer requirement in the new rules. And much smaller than the 25 or 30 foot buffer that I believe was required in the original guidelines. Edward J. Heisel Executive Director Missouri Coalition for the Environment 6267 Delmar Boulevard Suite 2E St. Louis, Missouri 63130 314.727.0600 (office) 314.401.6218 (cell) 314.727.1665 (fax) www.moenviron.org State Committee Members Hobbs, Steve, Chair 573-751-9458 fax 573-522-4969 http://www.house.mo.gov/bills061/member/mem021.htm Day, David, Vice Chair 573-751-1446 fax 573-526-0761 http://www.house.mo.gov/bills061/member/mem148.htm Brown, Jason 573-751-6593 fax 573-522-9278 http://www.house.mo.gov/bills061/member/mem030.htm Darrough, Bruce 573-751-9760 fax 573-526-1393 http://www.house.mo.gov/bills061/member/mem075.htm Dethrow, Mike 573-7581-1066 http://www.house.mo.gov/bills061/member/mem153.htm Franz, Ward http://www.house.mo.gov/bills061/member/mem151.htm Liese, Albert Joseph http://www.house.mo.gov/bills061/member/mem079.htm Lowe, Jenee' M. 573-751-2437 fax 573-526-5759 http://www.house.mo.gov/bills061/member/mem044.htm May, Bob http://www.house.mo.gov/bills061/member/mem149.htm Weter, Raymond 'Ray' 573-751-5713 fax 573-751-0733 http://www.house.mo.gov/bills061/member/mem142.htm Witte, Terry L 573-751-9614 fax 573-526-0905 http://www.house.mo.gov/bills061/member/mem010.htm Wood, Dennis 573-751-2492 fax 573-526-9794 http://www.house.mo.gov/bills061/member/mem062.htm Young, Terry 573-751-9851 fax 573-522-8172 http://www.house.mo.gov/bills061/member/mem049.htm

Just wanted to announce a newly scheduled trout tournament Saturday, April 1 out of Lilleys' Landing Resort & Marina. I've had alot of people ask for another tournament so April 1st the best day for us and it should space the tournament days enough to be somewhat successful. Same entry fees, same format as the Masters and Team Tournaments. There will be a big fish pot of $5 per person. Details and flyers to follow.

Grif- I would not like to see the aftermath of you all's meeting... your big jon against his little jon. It would not be pretty. Hey- July's getting closer everyday!

Buster Loving or Bill Babler among others... but for white bass, you'll have to be flexible- go at a day's notice (or two). Buster has caught whites on TR the last couple of years on the main lake fairly consistantly. We'll see how the white bass season works out this spring.

Brian- this subject has been brought up earlier on another thread. The owners of K-Dock have been badgering anglers in boats for quite sometime. They've supposedly been warned by the water patrol and the sheriff for harrasing anglers in boats around their dock including people I know personally, first-hand. I've tried (used to) to get fishing reports from them and the gal who answers the phone has actually hung up on me. I don't mean to pick on them... I'm not stating second or third hand "rumors"... just what I know first hand. I have been in their shop, bought snacks and gas from them and they do seem like decent folk. I guess you just don't want to push their "buttons".

It would be great if he does some reporting on the forum... when I need a guide for Bull Shoals, I have had NONE to call because I don't know of any. I divert people to Table Rock all the time for bass, crappie, white bass and walleye.

No one is arguing with that... you're right as rain. We should discuss those issues- create another topic and go for it.

It seems this is a valid issue in other states. And it's a subject that's worthy to be discussed - pro and con.

Everyone has brought up good points... but I would caution the tone. We can agree to disagree but we also can agree not to condescend for activity that is presently legal. Water quality issues, boating saftey, breaking rules in the trophy area are all good topics and have been discussed- and should be discussed further. For clarity sake, I would suggest they'd be discussed on different topic headings. Thanks guys.

It also depends on where you're fishing... streams, parks, lakes. But scuds, midge, woolies, streamers are all good in Missouri's waters.

For those who need an excuse to fish... http://ozarkanglers.com/team_06.html I'm going to organize a pre-tournament~tournament on Friday afternoon. Some of the guys have asked for a bass tournament on Taney so we've going to have alittle fun with it. From noon till 6 pm we'll have a bass contest. No entry fee. Winners will get their choice of a Lilley' shirt, sweatshirt or hat. 2-man team. Will weigh in 8 bass per team (no length limit on Taneycomo). With the warm weather this week, the bass fishing may be red hot on the lower lake. If a bass tournament becomes popular, we may have to host other events. I used to host a bass/trout contest in April but it didn't go. We'll see what kind of reception this gets.