mcp633

I've done it too. I was fishing a out of the way access on one of the small rivers in in central MO. I left my dual rod/reel case and a tackle bag on top of my car. I drove about 7 miles of gravel road back to 50 highway and got back up to highway speed and saw the bag flying off in the rear view. Open none the less! Stopped, salvaged what I could, and back tracked for the rod case. I found it in the middle of the gravel road about 6 miles back. Rods were okay. Can't say that about the reels. They were pretty busted up. None the less, I feel your pain!

I've done Jefferson City to St. Louis in a 25 foot pontoon boat several years back. It was a flippin' blast. Four buddies with coolers stocked with beer and meat, a grill, sleeping bags, extra gas and nowhere to be for three days. Good times! Would I do it in a canoe or raft? No way! I don't even like being on the MO in my Crestliner 18 foot deep V!

As far as I know, it's always been that way. It's how my pop found out that ignorance of the law is no defense! There is frequently an agent in the area, and with the size of some of the fish I saw (I think there were more than a few that wouldn't fit sideways in the back of my F-150), the agent would be watching for sure. It's too tempting for the violators! I'm talking huge man, HUGE!!! fish. And not just to Tiny Elvis!

Yo Brownie, When I was down, there were boats out there. However, it would be illegal to throw up past the line to get to the fish! Ask my dad, he'll tell you all about the fine!

Seth, they're all above the line. if you sit up at the observation area the area above the line is packed with HUGE fish. I took my kids down the other day, just to look at it. really kind of cool.

I just made up my mind! I'm going this weekend come hell or high water! Been bluffing for too long so I'm going to pull the trigger. Anybody else???

Congrats on the beautiful blessing for your family! Won't be long before you're pumping her full of sugar and sending her home to mom and dad!

Big 10-4 on all of that CC and Phil. The really good cops who manage to have long careers (they are few when you consider the number of us out there), are those that can learn to leave their bad days at home, realize that they're not only there to take bad guys to the hoosegow, but the heart of their jobs is truly to serve and protect, and don't have to be a cop 24/7. I believe this "checkpoint" falls in the category of protect. I know the vast majority of you guys support your law enforcement professionals, but I acknowledge that we can do a better job of weeding out the 'Super Trooper' types.

I'm a little outnumbered here being the pig, but I'm not scared of a bunch of fishing bums ! It's true that just about every floatable stream on this board has a post about enforcement on the rivers, but when it happens, someone gets outraged. Lord forbid! As for over-zealous cops, yep they're out there. There's usually some in every department with a mile long blue flame shooting out of their butt! Most however, most are honest hard working folks (like me ) who want to do their jobs and go home after their shift alive. Don't let a bad apple that you've dealt with ruin the whole bunch. Yes, we should probably do a better job of "policing" our own personnel. We try! I will apologize for my misbehaving brothers and sisters in blue, or whatever color uni they happen to be wearing. They are just out there doing what they're told to do. I applaud the effort on the Niangua. Good job! By the number of violations, I'd say that it was the right thing to do. It would be different if they ran this detail and found nothing. Sounds like they're in the right place! Maybe next weekend, they'll be in the "next" right place!

I do agree that IF I pulled up a human hand on my anchor line, I'd drop the thing like a hot potato also. You should see how this river is running though. Knowing that area like the "back of my hand" like I do, (they started it!) there's not that much in that stretch to get hung on. I'm down there about every weekend and there's not that much bottom debris to get hung on. Possible? Yes. Probable? I don't think so. They usually drown one or two in that area about every summer and they are usually found within a day or two. There is a lot of recreational boat traffic in this area! If this is part of the body of the missing gal, certainly something else would have appeared by now, or the rest is already washed into the MO on its way to St. Louis. Just two cents worth.

I managed to get my hand on the link from the local paper the Jefferson City News Immune, uh I mean Tribune. Sorry! http://www.newstribune.com/articles/2007/0...local01hand.txt I think this is another dude starved for attention! With Bagnall Dam running eleven flood gates wide open for a couple of weeks now, someone would have to put one heck of a cinder block on a body to keep it down in the water there. The Osage has been bank full and fast for two weeks or better. IMO there's no way!

I'm not a big car guy, but I've had one "pop" out of park and take a solo drive on me as well . I was told the mechanism on an auto tranny that holds the vehicle in park is nothing more than a pin that engages a hole in the park "gear". That's why you always get that little extra roll on a hill when you put it in park. Sometimes the pin doesn't always engage the hole fully. I imagine that's probably what happened there. I've seen a few trucks and trailers "back" themselves into lakes. Always tough to see. I'm glad the feller didn't get hurt worse.

Uh, Since I can't use symbols, I'm at a loss here! Getting called out on the OA forum! Golly!

Third on Rich's

Generous?!? If I took my ex-wife fishing, one of us probably wouldn't come back!!!!!