Mark

Now that's funny!!

I never have luck in the blue ribbon area either. Sounds like they still haven't made the first stocking of the year in the white ribbon yet. Glad you caught enough for supper. Hoping to make it down this weekend if the weather cooperates and the rain holds off. What's the river level like? Plenty of firewood available? See many people? I know the feeling of tipping trying to get out of the canoe. The water always looks shallower that it actually is - watch out, that first step is a doozy!!

Has anyone been to Sardis or Grenada recently? Looking to go over Easter. I hear it has been so slow far but wondering if it has picked up in the past week. Looking like a late spawn. I can't find a current report on any sites online.

Very cool kid. Kids are so uptight nowadays, worried about appearances at such an early age, and what other kids will think. Be proud that you are raising an individual free thinker. I have a feeling you will have many more opportunities to be proud of her.

Guessing it is a little early for the first stocking of the year. Not as easy to catch the "educated" fish. It's easy to get spoiled when you slay 'em when the stocking begins!! You may have had better luck if you waited a couple more weeks!!

Just a couple nights ago there was an interesting NOVA on PBS that I had not seen about the effects of the reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone. As mentioned, the wolves started the much needed thinning of the elk herds, which in turn led to the reforesting of Yellowstone as not as many elk to eat the small aspen and willow shrubs, which has led to something no one expected - an increase in the beaver population of Yellowstone, which has led beaver dams slowing down the run off in rivers and creeks, which has led to less erosion and an increase of fish habitat along streams, which has led to more fish, which will lead to bears having more fish for their diets, which will lead to less stress on the elks as a bear food source, which will lead to more elk for the wolves to eat, which will lead to......on and on and on. And not to mention the effect on all the other critters, plants, and environment around Yellowstone. It is truly amazing what the effect was of the elimination of wolves 70 years ago, and the effects of Yellowstone with the reintroduction of wolves. And we are just now realizing some effects we never expected, i.e. the beavers, and who knows what else has been affected further down the food chain. Notwithstanding Yellowstone, it is truly amazing the effects on an environment man can cause with one simple addition or subtraction from the natural order of Mother Nature.

I received mine and already mailed it off. I was not aware of the stocking efforts in MO, so I didn't have much to add. I know walleye are suppose to be one the tastiest fish there is, but I can only remember eating walleye one time many, many years ago at a restaurant in Grand Forks, North Dakota. I don't remember much about the taste other than it was good. I would love to try some fresh.

Excuse me for not knowing but where is the "Fork"?

I think this season officially puts Haith on the hot seat.

Perhaps the lack of fishing reports is due to many of us are fair weather fishermen. Gonna have to warm up for me, getting cold while fishing isn't fun for me. I will report that I took the last 3 trout out of the freezer this weekend. Man they were tasty, maybe due to the fact that I hadn't had one since last October.

Just enforce the regulations that are in place - fines for riding horses in unauthorized areas, accessing in unauthorized areas, and failing to reduce speed in jetboats to oncoming canoe traffic.

Good point about the root of distrust. And I don't fault the guy trying to make a buck on horse trail rides, but stick to the authorized trails or private grounds. There are plenty of trails available and they don't HAVE to have their trail rides on the river, they just don't want to be told to keep their horses out of the rivers.

He'll probably turn out to be really 27 years old.

The biggest issue I see in this whole debate is that the regulations that were in place have not been followed by the locals. One side says "big government is wanting to close down local businesses and destroy our traditions by closing 65 miles of horse trails". What they fail to mention is the proposal calls for closing 65 miles of "unauthorized horse trails" - trails that should have never been allowed in the first place. One side say they want to close down accesses to the river and shut out people who have used the accesses for generations. Again, what they fail to mention is the proposal calls for shutting down "unauthorized accesses" that locals have made from private lands across the federally protected river banks, and have made their own private gravel bar with their own private access. What part of "unauthorized" don't people understand? All those in favor of local control are too busy spreading half truths about "losing our rights", "big government interference", "our traditions", and "closing down our businesses" to get people all inflamed while ignoring the fact that at issue is "unauthorized horse trails" and "unauthorized accesses". We wouldn't be having this debate if the locals would have been playing by the rules all along.

I am researching Egg shaped fiberglass travel trailers and am looking for an OAF reader that owns one and would be willing to show it to me sometime. Unfortunately, all the manufacturers are way up north and too far for me to drive just to see some to compare. I am particularly interested in 13' or 17' Scamps and Egg Campers, but also would like to see a Casita, Oliver, Escapes, or Trillium, or any other small lightweight fiberglass model. If any readers would be willing to show off your fiberglass camper, it would be greatly appreciated. I'm sure this summer I will be in the areas of Southern Illinois, Northern Arkansas, or just about anywhere in Missouri. Thanks Mark

Ah, Missouri's semi pro team!!

Leanthony Earley is the real deal. I always root for the Wichita States of the world. Mizzou, on the other hand, if they make the tournament, which they don't deserve, they are one and done. St. Louis U no longer looks like the team of the first half of the season. Arkansas is certainly peaking. But the SEC is down this year. The National Champ, if not Wichita State, will come from the east coast.

Easily 2-3 inches of sleet on the ground in Ste. Genevieve - lull now before snow begins.

My radio is the transistor type. Volume at a low level so passerbys will barely notice. The Alice Cooper show can be entertaining at night, but agree that loud head banging music sucks anytime on the river. But we primarily just have the radio on for Cards game. Kind of takes us back to childhood, before cable/sat TV, when radio was the main source of following baseball. And on several days trips, we like to get weather updates on the pop up storms in the summer. Nice to get a heads up when you are in the path of lightning and high winds. We have also found we like to set up camp around 5pm in the summer. Get camp set up, collect firewood, begin Happy Hr., and leave time for everyone to get in that last hour of prime fishing time. But no matter how well we plan, we never get around to eating supper until 9:30-10:00. Agree that no need to spend much time on breakfast and lunch. NOTHING BEATS A BOLOGNA SANDWICH ON THE RIVER.

Three items I always have that are not mentioned; 1)Baby Weber grill 2)radio (any self respecting Cards fan has to have the game on) 3)Guitar Campsite priorities; 1)Evening and morning fishing spot 2)Enough wadeable water for a couple people to each have their own water 3)Enough tent room to keep snorers away from nonsnorers 4)Evening shade 5)Ability to get reception on radio for Cards game. There's nothing like sitting around the campfire, having a cold beer, and listening and laughing at Mike Shannon.

We do have far more lenient laws with regard to our streams in Missouri than a lot of other states. We can float and fish practically any stream in Missouri, pull over on gravel bars, roast weinies, let the kids play in the water, and pull the car over at any bridge or crossing and go wading anywhere we want. That just isn't possible in a lot of places anymore. I am truly thankful to the local populations in the Current River watershed for banding together decades ago and not allowing a dam to be built across the Current River. I just wish they could see the need to have some regulations to do all we can to protect this natural resource for future generations.

Polar Bear, I can certainly understand your point of view on the debate concerning regulations on the Current River and Jacks Fork. And please feel free to correct me on my take of things as you may certainly know the specifics more than I. The Current/Jacks Fork Rivers have been place on an "Top 10 Endangered Rivers" list by certain environmental groups. Even if this is a trumped up claim by some environmental group, we all should be concerned about the health of our Ozark streams. Are not the majority of accesses to be closed considered "unauthorized accesses"? From what I understand, people with land adjacent to the National Scenic Riverways have made trails or dirt roads or used existing trails across the 1/4 mile of federal protected land to make their own personal access to the river and have their own personal gravel bar on the river. These are not public accesses but private accesses made illegally across federally protected land. Just because it has been done for generations doesn't make it right. Should people that own land adjacent to Yellowstone National Park be able to make trails and undeveloped roads for their own personal use to access Yellowstone? It is the same with the 65 miles of "unauthorized" horse trails that are planning to be shut down. Just because someone lives near the rivers doesn't mean they should be allowed to do what they want on federally protected land just because "we've had it this way for generations". Wasn't it just a couple years ago that the Jacks Fork was deemed "unsafe for swimming" after one of the big horse trails rides? Do we really want to allow that to happen just because the trail rides are a "tradition"? And I say "we" because all of us are owners of the National Scenic Riverways. I really can't speak scientifically about the negative effects of motor boats on the rivers, although I would imagine that some destruction of habitat and erosion must occur. I know my biggest issue is being in a canoe and having jet boats fly by me without slowing down and having no regard for others on the river. Yes, they act like they own the river. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a jet boat fly by a family with young kids in a canoe and seeing the canoes dump or come close to it. Do you really think they need boats with 50HP, 100HP, over 100HP on these rivers? I believe it is the law that when you pass someone on a waterway, you are to do so at idle or no wake speed. This never happens on these rivers. These points seem to be the big rant and rave of Sen. Jason Smith - "They are taking our horse trails away, our accesses away, trying to tell us how to manage our rivers the way we have for generations". Well, I say "What part of unauthorized don't people understand". Just because "we have done it for generations" doesn't make it right. No one is trying to close the rivers, not allow camping, horseback riding, put local business out of business, impede on personal freedoms. What most of us want is to protect what we have, establish some rules and guidelines, and have people follow the guidelines. None of this would have even come up if people had not been doing "unauthorized" practices. I, for one, am not if favor of turning the riverways over to local control.

It's tough to put a cohesive team on the floor with so many new faces. Mizzou is definitely athletic but will be a matter of whether they can gel in the next few weeks. Still inconsistency will bite them in the butt come tournament time. Haith is a good recruiter but it's hard to play the rebuilding game year to year with transfers and juco recruits. Unless you are loading up with McDonald's All Americans each year like Kentucky and Duke, Haith will need to get some solid classes of recruits that will stick around for awhile and learn to play the team game, i.e. SLU. I'd much rather watch the Billikens than Mizzou this year.

Oh yeah, he knows how to play to his audience. There are a couple of points he fails to mention though. The 65 miles of horse trails that are being debated to close are unauthorized trails to begin with. The same with closing unauthorized accesses, they shouldn't have been allowed in the first place. As far closing down camping on the gravel bars, again no one is suggesting that floaters will not be able to camp on the river. The intent is to eliminate people who have made unauthorized trails and roads to the river, drive their 4 wheel drive trucks out on the gravel bar, and camp out of their trucks and RVs. As far as Sen. Smith supporting no further regulations on motor boats on the rivers, again he is preaching to the choir, and uses terms like Obama bureaucrats and big city environmentalists to appeal to his predominantly GOP voting base. It isn't a debate of us vs. them, or Democrat vs. Republican, or big government vs. individual/states rights, or local interests vs. outside regulators. The issue is do we take steps to protect our streams and enforce the laws vs. allowing the status quo of ignoring the regulations in place by allowing some to do whatever they want on federal ground because they live in the area and it's always been that way. The question remains, why don't we enforce the laws that are already in place by eliminating the illegal horse trails, illegal vehicle accesses, and illegal parking on gravel bars. I have no doubt that there are some locals who believe it is their river, they have riding horses wherever they want, making their own accesses, and driving the pick ups on the gravel bars all of their lives and don't want anyone telling them they can't do it anymore. I don't believe the solution is to remain the status quo and allowing some people to disregard the regulations already in place.

Definitely not too many teachers using the teacher union's resort. Assuming you are using sarcasm. BTW - A letter to the editor in today's St Louis Post from Sen. Jason Smith advocating leaving the regulations alone on Current and Jacks Fork.