hank franklin

We tried Jadwin after Christmas and they never answered. Akers charged us $53 to ride with us to Cedargrove and return vehicle to Akers. Akers is high but they have always been reliable for me, can't argue with that. NOt sure when you're coming from but by the time you factor in gas, additional time etc. we just pay the shuttle.

Gavin, always enjoy your WFT reports. Did you put that tent up in the dark? Was that your below Cedargrove spot? My cousin and I hit Cgrove to Akers Dec. 29 and had the exact "silly" fishing you describe. Literally a fish a cast at times.

My daughter and I did the Hwy 8 to Scott's Ford trip this weekend. Looking for some biting trout and didn't find them. Not even one. I wasn't fishing HARD but I was still fishing and not a one. As in ZERO. The river however was beautiful and the gravel bar camp sublime. A gigging boat by early evening, a couple lonesome cowboys in a little aluminum john paddling by this morning, and some walk-in fly-flinger above Suicide by noonish. Bald eagles abundant. Deer prints abundant but no deer. Saw a bowhunter on north bank just above Dry Fork Creek, hope we didn't disturb. Saw what appeared to be a small tarantula on the gravel bar, though I'm not an arachniologist. I also saw 15 mountain lions but I wudn't skeered. Daughter just waved at them. Fun fun.

jdmidwest, I forgot to mention bears. They're above feral hogs, below drunk hillbillies. Outside Bend, all I said is if you catch a mountain lion in Reynolds County, dump him in Arkansas. I didn't say kill him. I'm not going to carry a gun while trail running. I highly doubt a mountain lion would take interest in me but you never know. I don't want mountain lions around. Sorry.

Okay, here is my list of worries on a typical trail run / orienteering outing: 1. Twisted ankle from root / rock. Major concern. 2. Slip and fall, etc. 3. Poison ivy. 4. Rogue teenager with gun. 5. Vicious spider in web. 6. Rattlesnake / copperhead on trail / under rock. Worse scenario, snake hanging from tree! 7. Tree falling on head. Worse, falling rock from bluff nailing you. 8. Wild dog, especially pack of wild dogs. 9. Drunk hillbilly on ATV with gun. 10. Drunk hillbilly on ATV w/out gun. 11. Feral hog(s). 12. Ghosts / spooky things / MoMo or equivalent. 13. Mountain lion. 14. Asteroid / space junk etc. falling from sky. As you can see, mountain lion is rather low on my list. I just wish it wasn't on my list at all.

I know it's conjecture, but we've gone from mountain lions being extremely rare to almost common. Mountain lions are here. I hike, float and probably most dangerously run through the outdoors. (Trail running and orienteering.) I'm not so concerned about myself but about my little ones. We don't want to see a mountain lion on Bell Mountain for example. I am especially concerned about my pre-dawn runs through my small town on the Missouri River. We have deer a-plenty and one credible source who claimed she's heard an unmistakable mountain lion squawling. A few years back I saw what appeared to be a mountain lion while driving the county roads. I don't like the idea of mountain lions in my neighborhood, but it appears to be a real possibility. I'm not a knee-jerk wacko who says kill 'em all, but I would prefer that we not accept established mountain lions and instead take measures to assure they don't get established. My two cents.

http://www.ky3.com/news/ky3-mountain-lion-caught-in-missouri-20120105,0,4799154.story I'm really not sure I like this. Maybe we should have dumped him in Arkansas.

In case anyone is wondering, the fishing below Cedargrove is TERRIBLE. Just a couple spin-fishers throwing rebels and jigs and spoons. We didn't go hungry. We actually put a trout in the ground which I can tell you works real fine. Dig a hole, fill with coals, cover with trout, a few more coals, then clean gravel on top. Sit around and drink a few and get real hungry. Open up late at night and you got combination roasted smoked steamed trout. With lemon. Mmmmm. The one sensible thing I might say is the river at this level below Cedargrove is fantastic. Most winter trips finds the river in this area a little low and clear. The river is up now and is in prime condition. Below Welch however the river at this flow is less easy to handle in a boat (canoe) for thorough fishing. So unlike previous trips where the Welch to Akers stretch provided best fishing, this time it was Cgrove to Welch. The Current is majestic, we are lucky to have it so near. Where have I been all these long months? Spending my time on the Meramec. Oh well.

My wife bought me an All-Star graphite rod for Xmas but it's not quite what I want. What I'm looking for is a 2-piece spinning rod, 6'6" medium light, rated 4-10lb line weight, fast or medium fast action tip. Something in the $75 to $100 range. Anybody have any suggestions I'd love to hear them. Thanks

Awesome, my boy is 8 and has been floating since he was 2 but never in a kayak. Very impressive.

Beautiful photos. How old is the boy?

We floated an Old Town Disco 69. At last Friday flow the river is in excellent shape for floating, maybe a touch high for good wading. We had no issues floating, including below 8 bridge which at lower flow can be a drag-fest. A guy in a pontoon floated through so I imagine a drift boat could do it. There is a pretty awesome rift right above Cardiac which we walked through. A very big wave and a large tree obstacle right in the middle of it. It is runnable but also risky with a loaded canoe, so we lined through. A few other areas of brushy channels etc. No big deal, just be careful. River was in excellent shape. Fishing was terrible. Bring your camera, I took lots of pictures, just none of fish.

My cousin and I hit the WKW 8 bridge to Scott's Ford run on Friday. We caught more smallmouth than trout. In fact just one trout between us for the trip. I would have rather targeted smallmouth anyway but the law says no soft plastics. So we were flinging cranks and jigs and spoons etc. Caught a pretty smallmouth right at the Maramec Spring entry. Only trout was caught just below Dry Fork. Maybe the eagles are eating them, they were abundant. (The eagles, not the trout.) Does anybody catch trout on this stretch? Wait, check that, does anyone SEE trout on this stretch? We struggled to even see any. Maybe a couple. I am not a trout guy though I do love that Dry Fork area, and the wildlife viewing and river character through there is gorgeous. But if the trout are so skinny then why not lift the regs and allow poor smallie-seeking guys like me the chance to dance a fluke through those flowing deep holes. It's a crying shame to "manage" for trout if the trout aren't there. The smallmouth we caught were some fighting cowboys. Maybe limit the trout area from spring to Dry Fork and call the rest open season. Very impressive deer stands on the right bank below Cardiac by the way. Wow. A few guys with some bonus tags could lay waste.

OB, I have a lot of experience working with state and federal government. A few state employees are so-so but the vast majority of them have been very good and some downright excellent. The state of Missouri is generally very well-run and I have very few complaints. I have found the exact opposite with federal agencies. Like I say, don't get me started. The census was absolutely terrible. FEMA is ridiculous. EPA is terrible. Federal Highway Administration is terrible. The Corps isn't terrible, merely bad. I have no experience with the Forest Service, but have you been to their website? The two federal agencies I've had good experiences with is USGS and the National Weather Service. The federal government as a whole is absolutely upside down. You think people are fired up now? If they only knew.

I'm late to the party and apologize, but have any of you had any direct dealings with EPA? I have, and it is not pretty. Incompetence, stifling and inept bureaucracy, wastefulness to make your stomach turn. Trust me, it's absolutely terrible. Public servants all of whom make $75K plus, most in the $100s. I've looked up their salaries. I have no problem with Missouri DNR and their enforcement. The federal govt via EPA is absolutely upside down and in my opinion in need of utter destruction. Rebuild it from the ground up. Use Missouri DNR as a model. Don't even get me started. Trust me people, EPA does not serve you. They are against you and an enemy of the people.

Al, what section of the Meramec were you on? Upper middle or lower? I was thinking about hitting it Friday, not sure exactly where.

Excellent, thanks. Didn't think to check Traveler online.

Haven't seen much good info on the 50K acre fire south of Salem. Anybody know exactly where this is? Any link to a good news report? Thanks.

How did the float go?

Riverview to Onondaga is quite a long way. If you want to be leisurely and fish a lot you might want to cut that down a bit. Yes there are gravel bars in abundance. There are also some slow sections here and there. I doubt you'll see many giggers if you're floating Sun-Tues, if you do see them they probably won't be out too late.

My bad, just saw your sig line. Very cool. I've got so many rivers it would clean me out. Maybe buy one or a couple as a present.

kayak kid, where did you get the stickers in your ID photo? I like them.

We floated Round Spring to Jerktail that exact time frame a couple years back and the crowds were medium to low and actually quite pleasant. The giggers were out in force and many gravel bars were taken but the giggers make for fine scenery in the evening, you can watch the shadows and shapes of the gigs by the lamp and firelight and it's quite beautiful really. I would highly recommend it.

I meant to put a little explanatory note on them. Steve I (I believe) posted some 11-pt gravel bar pics that got me thinking I oughta share some of mine. All pics from 2011. Lyrics of little ditty interspersed between pics.

I've been to Florida / I've been to New Jersey I've been to Piedmont / I've been to Bois D'arc I've been to Canada / & Kansas City There's no place on earth / that I'd rather be Than the banks of an Ozark stream I've been to Alton / I've been to Galena I've been to Blue Eye / I've been to New York I've been to Tall-hassee / & North Dakota There's no place on earth / that I'd rather be Than the banks of an Ozark stream Say goodbye to another place that I called home Say goodbye to another place that I called home Say goodbye to another place that I called home