tjm

Never bothered me to fly at all, but I'd drive 14 hours to avoid airport security freaks. Well that and so I could tote my tackle.

Not only that but it takes them 65+ hours a week to get in 40 on the job, if they take lunch likely more, then they stress that they have no family time; it's the American Dream.

Lot of people that chose to live two hours from where they work or chose to work two hours from where they live. Then there is the guys that will drive three hours each way to fish a few hours, many reasons for high miles.

As far as I can find Yellowstone NP, Alaska,Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Rhode Island, and South Dakota have bans on felt; Vermont did have but lifted it in 2016. Some companies never stopped making felt an option. Put the phosphorus in back in detergents, eh?

I looked that up, didn't find the paper I had read before, the Bothwell that wrote the original “On the Boots of Fishermen: The History of Didymo Blooms,” actually did more intensive research and found didymo to be native and the "bloom" to be caused by low phosphorus, blamed on climate change; then wrote “The didymo story: The role of low dissolved phosphorus in the didymo blooms.” Too bad the regulations are cast in stone and founded on ignorance and unfounded conclusions, but they probably rescind them, I found this, it gives the gist of the story; https://www.concordmonitor.com/didymo-rock-snot-felt-wader-3007790

I read studies about three years ago that said the felt deal was bogus, the researcher that wrote the article that got got all the regulations passed did something wrong or didn't have a big enough sample to make his stuff valid or something like that. My thoughts on the start was if felt transfers didymo then socks and canvas shoes must also, but MDC said only felt could do it, so only felt was a problem.

So sweet when you sigh and get that look... I don't think any of those materials fit the description of "synthetic worm". I've never used any of them, so only familiar by name in some catalog some place some time, are they soft and stretchy? I had the notion the drib and larva lace were imitation Swannundaze, at least I've seen them compared/classed together. I'm not sure I ever read a description of scud back, just saw it referenced as a material. I'll try some of these things out some day, likely when I run out of muskrats, possums and chickens. oh. and Swiss Straw for the scuds. I'm not disagreeing, exactly, but technicalities is exactly what makes fines roll in.

Doesn't say that a synthetic unscented worm can be legal if permanently attached, if you are correct then super glue could be in demand. After reading about the squirmies, I did play with one of those balls and the "worms" on them are soft enough and stretch enough to get a fish to hit multiple times. No wonder the Euros wanted them disqualified in competition. I never really thought about why the unscented soft plastic was prohibited, just fished fur and feathers and never thought beyond that. This seems to prohibit squirmies.

So, squirmy worms- are they flies in Mo. or soft plastic? I've not seen one but the description sounds like it fits both definitions. Dropper flies in fly only waters and the parks, many years ago the Barry county Agent told me that droppers were banned under the "single point" rule, yet several times at RRSP I have encountered fellows happily fishing two flies, has the rule changed, or are these fellows violators, or was the Game Warden wrong?

Line is easier to feed trough the guides if folded about 4' from the end and the fold/bight fed trough the guides, it's been a long time since I rigged a spinning rod and I can't recall if it works on the big guides or not, but a folded fly line can't fall back through the guides because the loop will open up bigger than the guide if it is dropped, a simple thing that I never see anyone doing at the park, never saw it in a tube video either. Mono can be tied in a bow knot that feeds through the guides like a shuttle block and won't fall back, just clip the bow off when rigged. When feeding tippet through the hook eye and or tying tippet hold it against a contrasting background and it will appear magnified, dark brown works best for me, so my hat is brown. It makes 6X look like 0X. Find knots that are easy to tie and don't require three hands, I use a double surgeon knot for almost everything and by using just one knot it does get easier. I have enough to tote with fly boxes, tippet spools, forceps, hook hone, this and that etc. I bought a tool that makes nail knots easier and it found a home on the tying table. I bought a tool for pushing the hook out for releasing the fish and it stays in the tackle bag, I probably won't buy many more gadgets. As I age, simple becomes much more attractive.

wow, those are gadgets

Most of the roads I drive are so crooked that the only head lights you see for more than 10 seconds are in your mirror. I find that it doesn't matter at all if both drivers are on the right side and if either is on the left side the headlights are the first to know.

I'm the guy that high beams all those drl folks and yells across the parking lot "hey dummy, ya left your headlights on, again". Son in law has told me about thousand times that they will go off after while and I keep telling him to get that fixed. So, coming home from RRSP the other week out on the prairie near Rocky Comfort I see what looks like landing lights coming towards me and then a yellar light bar on top starts flashing, kinda like a wrecker; I slow down and the lights so bright I'm going about 10mph and looking in the right ditch til I get even with it and look over - it was a hard top buggy and another was behind it with lights like low beam car lights. That lead buggy was lighting up fields 300 yards on both sides of the highway. Was Sunday and I suppose after meeting. Met two more farther down but they were just moderately lit up. Those that run fog or rain with no lights just need to be towed in few times. haul em to jail and the vehicle to the impound, Suspected impaired, because failure to drive safely, after the blow send them on their way. Just advertising that it was going to happen would cure most of them.

I hate lights on all the time from the factory on my cars and on cars I meet. It doesn't make any body any safer than requiring all cars to be orange from the factory or requiring all drivers to brush their teeth before bed. GM sold that myth and many countries bought into it when GM had the patent rights, and all other manufactures had to pay them, yet studies in some of those countries show it prevents no accidents. It does strain your charging system and shorten the life of the bulbs. Two toned- Chartreuse over Safety Orange with reflective markings, that's what they all should be. Any one not smart enough to turn their own lights on should not be driving period. Also, any one not smart enough to turn their lights off. Enforce laws we already have, don't add more til some are removed. Half the population is cops put them out there when the weather is bad, ever notice they get busy on pretty days and disappear when it rains? Head lights are a pet peeve of mine though in that these LED, or what ever they are, are so bright that they hurt and the blindness is slow to dissipate. As a matter of fact I met a suv yesterday afternoon running High beams and even in day light they were blinding as he was turning and slightly above me. All vehicles with those lights should be recalled. And what is worse is the jacked up big man pick ups with after market off road lights blasting down the night with four or six zillion candle powers of ultra brites. Every body I've mentioned this to agrees that they are bad. Again the modified lights are an enforcement issue, federal law says no tampering with safety systems and lights are safety. My insurance man said that when enough one car accidents are tied to the oncoming brights that they will be banned, but it's hard to get evidence from dead folks.

some vague memory says that MOPan is right, I seem to recall the AG writing an opinion to that effect ... so, as long and as often as the charges are dropped or the accused pays the fine, the adjudication never happens and "It's like déjà vu all over again." .. and again I live half mile from a lovely creek and have seen this happen many times over the last 60 years. Some body with money needs to go creek by creek and get the case law established on every permanent stream in the state. Or we need a Constitutional amendment to require all streams be meandered and the land under them returned to the state, what a jolly undertaking that would be.

Neither MDC nor DNR has any authority on that, actually the legislature nor the governor can't change it; the Mo. constitution and multiple court cases in several jurisdictions and going back a couple hundred years have set those rules. The key to determining right to use a stream is to get charged with trespass and then take your case to the state Supreme Court, chances are that if you hire a lawyer the case will be dropped, but then the next guy will get charged. Each stream needs a higher Court ruling to set it officially as a thoroughfare. As long as no case on a particular stream is pursued to the higher courts that stream is open to more trespass charges. Locally the canoe outfitters have been responsible for the closing of most accesses on ROW and private land. What MDC could do and has done is buy land and provide access to the streams. On the other hand DNR is prone to deny access, as they have told me in an email.

When I lived in the Newport RI area (long ago USN days) deer swam about a mile from a peninsula of the MA mainland to the island most evenings to eat in the truck gardens and landscapers gardens of Portsmouth and swam back in the mornings, seen that many times, maybe 15-20 deer in the water at a time. On the other side of Aquidneck Island, in the Bay there are some uninhabited islands and one of them had deer that regularly swam to Aquidneck. Deer swimming isn't that unusual in my mind, I've several places where they swam across rivers, but I always wondered how/why those MA deer got started making that long crossing. That said the feeding by hand of a wild buck, the deer being terrified at the start but remaining in the same exact spot for several days and "recognizing" the guy all sound made up. A lot of, maybe most, livestock won't approach and eat out of your hand, to think a deer would is mind boggling. Ever think that a bass recognized you? For that matter a mixed herd does and bucks is rather out of the ordinary and there is no way to tell if they are "young" unless they still have spots, in which case it would be difficult to tell bucks from does.

Had to look that up, you fellows use big words sometimes. I have wondered, what is the difference between a plug and a crankbait? I look at the pictures and see plugs.

It should all but final cost be available now. What branch of government keeps score on DNR money?

wow, that's fancy Engineering and paperwork are often as costly as the material on government projects, aren't they?

I enjoyed it; there'll be another day and I have been there many times when the wind wasn't howling. Intended to look at Hickory Creek on the way home but it started to rain a bit, Wipers all the way back home.

Does anyone make pork baits nowadays?

Found this a while back while looking for trout in Ks. "Walleye have been stocked on the Mined Land Wildlife Area in Units 7, 17, 20, 21, 22, 24, 31, 33, 34, 39, 40, 41, and 44 to provide an additional species and angling opportunity on the wildlife area. The units and strip pits that have been stocked with walleye provide adequate habitat with deeper water and cooler water temperatures. Trolling and vertical jigging techniques will be a good technique to try." https://ksoutdoors.com/Fishing/Where-to-Fish-in-Kansas/Fishing-Locations-Public-Waters/Southeast-Region/Mined-Land-Wildlife-Area map https://ksoutdoors.com/KDWPT-Info/Locations/Wildlife-Areas/Southeast/Mined-Land

Look up Mark Twain National Forest, there's gobs of it around the area. Most of the COE lands are open to hunting.https://www.swl.usace.army.mil/Missions/Recreation/Lakes/Table-Rock-Lake/Shoreline-Management/

It was windy, real windy. I didn't even take my rod out of the car windy. It was even more windy up by the mill. Did get to meet Buzz and Ollie and watched the guys cast for a while- I can watch with my hands in my pockets. Wind is worse than rain or snow, imo.