hornyheadchub

When life gives you lemons...learn how to fish from a boat. I used to have the same attitude as you when it comes to generation putting the brakes on my wade fishing. But then I saw the light...I learned how to fish from a boat. It's a dream when you can.. 1. pull off a 200 yard perfect dead drift right through some of the fishiest water on the lake- most of which you could never even reach when the generators were off. 2. cast soft-hackles all day long into an eddy to feeding fish. 3. stay warm and dry all day and cover more water than you ever dreamed of on foot 4. have access to fish the likes of which are NEVER feeding in low water. Those resident/educated fish that have avoided a hook/heron for a decade are much more likely to be caught in the higher flows which generate more dislodged food and struggling truck fish (to eat). 5. Have a cooler of your favorite beverages and a bite to eat right next to you. Do yourself a favor, the next time the Corps. blows you out of the water, get right back in by renting a boat from any of the marinas along the lake. Wade fishing is great, but boat fishing will make a believer out of you once you get the hang of it. Try starting with 9-15' leaders, and lightweight jigs with a #4 or #6 split shot a couple of feet above the fly, and use an indicator until you get the feel of the take....you might just get 'yer arms yanked off. HHC

Try http://www.blueingreen.biz/BnGNorforkDam/BnGNorforkDam_s.pdf or http://www.blueingreen.biz/post_treatment/...tmentindex.html

If I were only able to choose one fly for smallies, regardless of time of year, it would be a grey over white clouser with red eyes- lead or bead chain. My $.02

Uhh yeah, exactly how/what was I "proven wrong" about? I simply asked a question.

Have you reported this incident? I would hope that any seasoned diver would report such behavior to the proper authorities. Too many people die as a result of shortcuts taken in the Dive Industry to turn a blind eye to something like this.

I think they're just tired of being wet all the time and need to feel dry for a moment. Kinda like how it feels so good for us to take a dip in the creek on a hot summers day.

Slider, Thanks for the heads up. Though I, and presumably everyone else here appreciate your posts, I must point out that using all caps on the web/email/etc. is SHOUTING, and frankly unneccesary. Further, it's much easier to read and understand what someone is saying when caps are not used as such. I'm sure that others will be much more prone to actually read the entirity of your posts when the caps are used appropriately.

Sorry for posting a new thred, but the way this forum is set up doesn't allow me simply to reply to a previous thread. Anyone have any post-op news to share about Jack? He's been in my thoughts since I read the post about him having a quad-bypass. He's a great guy and I miss spending time talking to him in the shop. Fact is, they don't mak'em like Jack anymore. He'd bend over backwards to help out a customer and never think twice about it. I've been on trips that wouldn't have happened without Jack's generousity in lending gear (when a warranty rod or boots or waders hadn't returned in time). He once gave me a brand new Battenkill LA to use when mine had a bushing fail, I'll never forget it.

I read over this thread and failed to find a post that suggested we "take the law into our own hands", could you please point it out? If by "taking the law into your own hands" you mean telling someone who is poaching in your favored water that you are calling/photo'ing/ or informing them of the reg's they are breaking (the only things discussed in this thread as far as I can see), I'll have to respectfully disagree.

Please post the photos here, and in doing so make'em regret it so that they can move on to some other part of the country or change their ways. And I say that a "Wall of Shame" thread could be created here as a sticky specifically to post pictures of these guys. What say you?

Here, here. I had hair down to my butt for 17 years, drove a '76 VW Microbus, and boy do I relate. Still, never been in any real trouble with the law. EXACTLY. It is very easy to lose sight of this. Thanks for keeping it in focus.

What's to explain? If you drink and drive on a public road and get stopped, you have broken the law, and you should pay the price. If you aren't wearing your seat belt and you get stopped, you have broken the law and you will pay the price. You'll get no sympathy from me when you get a ticket. Maybe because I have lost more than one friend to an irresponsible idiot who drank and then drove and hit and killed an innocent person. Further, if booze is provided or even allowed at a managed hunt, I have to call into question the ethics of those who put the "Managed" hunt together. Sounds like an accident waiting to happen.

You thought wrong. What we had there was not a checkpoint where every boat was being searched or even stopped, perhaps that is what they do now, but not in my experiece. Checkpoints don't negate Probable Cause but if you leave a open beer can in your car in plain sight and pass through a checkpoint you'll go down hard. Further, only a small percent of the people that pass through a checkpoint are searched, and only if they have given the law Probable Cause such as no insurance, a smell of herb in the car, warrants, etc. Also, true checkpoints must be posted/advertised in advance in the public arena such as a newspaper; KSMU in Springfield does this as a public service (thanks to DJ Thom Hutchison) nearly everyday for speed traps and sobriety checkpoints. Probable Cause is constitutionally protected and certainly was req'd in this situation. The Deputy's admission of having none verified my suspicion that he was trying to take advantage of us. ALWAYS stand up for your rights when confronted by the law, ALWAYS, because if you don't they will exploit your ignorance and weakness to their gain every time. Well Terry, some cops are just that way; maybe he was behind on his quota. I guess it's true that you can't polish a turd

Allow me to pass on a bit of advice that my grandfather (multiple law enforcent agencies over 50+ years) gave me that I fee everyone should know, not just for their own benefit, but perhaps more for the benefit patrols our highways, byways, and city streets. If you ever (most of us have) see the flashing lights in your mirrors the following are a few things that will go a long, long, long way in your favor when you have the distinctly unpleasurable conversation with Johhny Law. First, consider the geography of where you are with respect to hills and curves. Don't just pull over immediately and place the officer in a bad situation on the backside of a hill or on a blind curve. Instead, engage your turn signal to indicate that you intend to comply, but wait until you are able to pull over in a place that is safe for Johnny to: A) Exit his vehicle. B} Approach yours. C) And allows his lights to be seen by traffic approcaching from both directions. Even if this means driving as much as a mile. Trust me, he/she'll prefer it. Second, If you have tinted windows, ROLL THEM DOWN. This decreases your chances of getting shot (seriously). Third, park your car and turn the ignition OFF. He/she will see your actions and be more comfortable with approaching a stranger (you). Fourth, and perhaps the most important, put your hands directly on top of the steering wheel. This way they can both be seen from the vantage of the cop while he/she waits for the requisite radio communications to be completed. Don't reach for your wallet, or fish around in your console or glove box for insurance, registration, etc.because this looks SUSPICOUS. How does he know you aren't trying to hide something or that you aren't reaching for a pistol?? If it is dark, turn on your dome light so that the interior of your car is illuminated enough for the cop to see you. Above ALL ELSE be respectful and curteous. Such behavior goes a long way these days. When all is said and done you'll come out better if you remember this advice. In the words of Big Smith: I tell him I don't wish him harm, But I sure don't wish him well.

Huh, wishful thinking. As it was said before, easy pickens is the case at least in my experience on the Niangua. Allow me to elaborate. c. 2001, I went to the Niangua on a gorgeous weekday afternoon with a female friend. We put in at NRO, nothing was said by the outfitter about a 'check point' on the river. Now let me stop here for a moment and point out that this checkpoint consists of one or two agents located atop a bluff or hill that overlooks the river, fully camoflaged, and with spotting scopes and radios. When they spot "illegal activity" they radio descriptions etc. downstream to a group of agents who are ready to arrest you. I was in the bow, she in the stern. I brought two fly rods, one with a sink tip the other without. We had a drybag, and a cooler. No beer or booze. I was legal as far as permits, and trout stamp. She was not fishing, just paddling, smoking some hand-rolled cigarettes (nothing more) and enjoying the day. All the while there where groups of idiots in aluminum boats screaming, urinating and deficating where they pleased, littering their cheap beer cans, throwing cigarette butts in the river; and if one did tip over, do you think they picked up the trash they spilled? Hell no. When we approached the checkpoint I was actually stoked to see some MDC agents and Water Patrol around hoping they would do something about the idiocy. I was pleased to have an MDC agent check my ID & Fishing permit, and my cooler for game (there was none). I thought we were about to head on down the river when a cocky little Dallas County deputy ran, yes ran out to the boat and began to try to (unlawfully) search my drybag and try to pat me down. Now, I grew up with an extended family full of law enforcement officials, from game wardens to HI-PO's, to USDA law enforcement to City cops, to Prosecutors so I'm no idiot about interactions with law enforcement. The best advice any of them EVER gave me was that you should NEVER, EVER, EVER trust a law enforcement professional, EVER. Simply put, even the most virtuous of men falter under the weight of such power. So I told him to cease and desist at once. I asked him for his probable cause and explained to him that I know my rights as a law-abiding citizen. All the while the MDC agent stood as witness with more than a little embarrasment on his face. He admitted he had no probable cause, and I explained to him that if he had simply asked, I would have been glad to permit him to search. As a gesture of my honesty, I opened the bag, and dumped the contents in the hull of the boat. Unsatisfied, he approached my female friend and began to physically pat her down. I was beside myself; this is ILLEGAL SEARCH no two-ways about it. He ordered her to empty her pockets under threat of arrest. She complied out of fear (by definition a terrorist threat toward her) and he found no contraband of any sort. The goups of idiots I mentioned before were lazily floating past some were literally so drunk that they couldn't even sit in their canoe seat and rather chose to sit in the hull of the boat so as not to fall out. Was a single boat of these idiots stopped? Hell no. Does the Dallas Co. Sherrif's Dept. care that they'll be behind the wheel of a car in an hour or two? Obviously not. I did report the behavior of the Deputy. I'm sure it fell on deaf ears. I know a defense atty in Colubia, MO who handles HUNDREDS of cases from this operation every year. His advice is to avoid Dallas County at all costs. In his words, perhaps the most corrupt county in the state. I'm sure I'll be crucified for what I'm about to say next, but mark these words, it will come to pass in my lifetime: Missouri will be forced to require daily permits, applied for in advance, to float the most popular rivers in the state such as the Niangua, the Spring (SEMO), the Current, the Jacks Fork, etc. The nuber of boats/day will be limited to a specific number, and accountability will be beholden to all of those who choose to enjoy our streams in this way. We will follow in the footsteps of those states, many considered to be out West, who have done the same. This will require an initial investment on the part of MDC (or some other agency), as well as USFW, MODNR, etc. It will happen, start getting used to the idea now. And rather than resisting it kicking and screaming, look at the states who do this and let's try to take the best of each of them to make ours the best and fairest. I'd love to see some analysis of daily Nitrogenous waste and Human cloiform counts for the floating season on these rivers. I guarantee you'd think twice before swimming, or even cutting your line with your teeth given this info. I'd love to see the kind of enforcement you find along the Buffalo, where a six-pack of glass bottles will cost you $$+250, and not strapping your cooler and gear down will cost the same. The fact is that if some people will not take resposibility for their own actions and consider those who will come after them when using a natural resource, those responsibilities will be forced on us all by a lawmaker simply because a small portion of people ruin it. Have any of you ever confronted the group of belligerent Frat boys and Sorrority girls who make the experience on the river less enjoyable? I have, at the risk of my own safety I admit. If nothing else, write doen a boat reg # ot outfitter name and a description and report deplorable behavior to the Outfitter. Let'em know you are paying atttention. Rant over.