KATroutman13

Leonard, I bet you thought you had just dominated the world record brown or rainbow when you set the hook on that thing!

Oh wow! If I had a job lined up after graduation, I'd be asking for that time off already. That is an amazing deal. We did an Alaskan roadtrip in 2003, just two of us. In a month we spent about $3000 total, but that's when $2.00 gas blew our minds and we were sleeping in the back of a suburban! I was able to hook a couple of 20 inchers and those fish were incredibly impressive. I can't imagine a 30 inch fish. We've both said when we go back, we are targeting rainbows. For anyone who has not been to Alaska, this is an incredible opportunity. I don't even know these guys, so I'd do my research before dropping the loot, but considering this is an "out of prime" and non-salmon trip, this probably is an "extend the season" type of offer and a very good one at that. Like I said, if I had the money or at least knew I was going to be able to have the money my deposit would be on the way. All I can say is WOW!

Clay, Are you looking to build your own blanks (rolling your own graphite with your own resins) or just custom fly rods out of manufacturer blanks purchasing blanks from Sage and then building the rods from that point? If I were going to do this, I would build rods that varied b/w medium fast to fast action. I would also go cheap on the first 100 blanks and sell them super cheap just to get my name out and to get good at building these rods, see what styles you like, people like, etc. Give us some more information about what you are wanting to do.

We floated in toons today. Looked like they were running 2. We floated from Wildcat to Rim and we caught a ton of fish. Only an 18" brown to speak of for size. It was a good day considering we left Kansas City at 11:00 p.m. last night, bought licenses at Walmart and then slept in the truck in their parking lot prior to fishing. Hoping to have similar luck tomorrow. Fishing the shoals was amazing. More technical nymphing, but with good concentration and decent technique, we were able to pick off a lot of fish. If you all see two guys in inflatable pontoons tomorrow, say hi. I am the short fat one.

John, How long do you think it will be until they start generating water 'round the clock? When they do, will it be full bore?

Brian, Good to know that you are ok. How's ROLF holding up?

Kyle, Where do you live at. I could certainly hunt with a guy running a setter, as I run one as well. He actually had a great season this year for a 2 year old dog. I don't have any special places to hunt quail up near KC right now, just a few relatively well known public places.

Anyone ever fished any of these private pay to play streams? Dogwood Canyon Rockbridge Spring Valley? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Just wondering if there are any Missouri quail hunters around here? I live up by Kansas City and have been able to find a few covey, but wondering if there are any others who hunt Missouri quail

The one time I've eaten there I was very disappointed.

It has worked in the past, no reason to think it would not work this time. They did this in 1996 and 2004.

It's the "good", in all its meanings, I am worried most about.

Believe it or not, the market is pretty thin for attorneys right now. My grades are not stellar enough for the big time firms who pay big time money and I would never get to litigate with them any way. At least this position would put me on my feet and it would be on the side of criminal work I could stomach. Having trial experience, so I am told, opens up a new world of possibilities and as seen from my Conservationist post, I enjoy being in an adversarial system. Not sure what the pay is, but by God, it is better than no pay at all, right?

Trav, Right now I am just hoping upon all hopes that someone thinks I will make a good [insert any type] attorney. I have a colleague interviewing for that position in a few days. Hopefully I will hear back as well.

21 days my friend, 21 days. Actually this has to do with my application to the Taney County prosecutor's office. I was telling a friend from Ozark I was applying there and she corrected my pronunciation. We had a discussion. I decided to let this board be the neutral decision maker.

You all do understand the term in the title of the publication, right? It can't all be just about hunting and trapping, which in most cases unless I am shooting, leads to killing of the animal. There has to be an overwhelming need for conservation as well, without conservation you would be walking with a gun, or setting a trap in a stream, not hunting. I have not really seen this publication become "Anti-Hunting" by any means. Granted, it has a lot more non-hunting stories, but that doesn't mean it is "anti-hunting." If it was anti-hunting, they wouldn't have articles about youth hunts in nearly every issue. They wouldn't focus on bringing quail in Missouri back to "huntable" populations in more than a mere few areas. Also, the "lunatic" is either a tax payer in Missouri who is gets The Conservationist for the mere cost of being a tax payer or she is a paid subscriber. Either way, she has a right to her opinion as do you and I. Finally, on the conversion of fisherman to "Catch & Release", you do realize that this is probably one of the most essential portions of keeping our lakes and streams at fishable population levels, aside from stocking which is another can of worms. Catch and release fishing has saved wild trout across the nation and has allowed many other sportfish to flourish where others can enjoy them later. It's called conservation and from my experience is, in a lot of cases, poorly practiced by outdoorsman in this state. For instance, I've watched baitfisherman on the Norfork, the White, and Taneycomo gut hook fish because they were too busy dicking around to realize they had a hit, cut the line, and send the fish "swimming" away only to die shortly afterward. Why, because they didn't want that fish to be their limit. Or watching a guy move a covey of about 14 birds on public land and take his 8 bird limit out of that covey. Most biologists will tell you that the covey will not exist next seaon because of natural predation. I think the conservationist in its anti-hunting articles are trying to show people that hunting, fishing, and trapping not only affects those animals, but other animals. And that there is more to do at MDC lands than hunt and fish. And that conservation goes a long way to maintaining and rebuilding populations. And that we as hunters and fisherman and citizens of Missouri have a duty to protect the precious amount of land that is left in this state. Take the Prairie Chickens article this month. What an awesome bird. I hunt Greaters in KS several times a year, they are incredibly sporting. It is hard to believe that Missouri's population was once very big and is now almost gone. It is awesome that MDC has land set up to see one of the coolest dances in nature. That is another part of MDC's job, to show us some of the cool parts of nature. To let us know that what we are doing, as people, is destroying these bird's habitat and decimating their populations. But hey, I am the guy who'll yell at someone for kicking at Taneycomo -- which I will now pronounce TAAAANEYcomo.

I've tried to fish that river on 3 occassions. Once rain storm came through and blew it out; one snow storm came in and kept me home; one ice/snow storm 3 days before decided to melt off the day before my trip and blew the river out. I want to fish it, but there are better places, I am sure.

Just applying. Haven't got the job yet.

Is it Tanny como or Tainey como?

I am graduating from law school at the University of Missouri - Kansas City and the prosecutor has an opening and I am going to apply Just wondering if anyone here knows someone in that office who likes to flyfish or just knows them in general who might be able to get my resume past the initial culling. Thanks, Wes

Where in IA are you coming from, that would certainly dictate your progression for me. Generally, I would not suggest Crane for the types of people you described, it will result in a trainwreck.

When fishing at night, I try to keep my light off as much as possible. The one thing I have noticed is that fishing at night on Taneycomo has become very difficult because of the crowds. This used to be an excellent way to fish that river, but has become way too crowded, especially in the fall. I think that light, some less than others, will spook fish when it is sporadic (not like the lights off of the dam) and does not provide a food source. If possible, I will not even use my light when wading. My vision is pretty good, so I can see the boulders in the shallower water and I take my time, so that helps. Whenever I do put my light on, I will turn my back to where I am fishing and try not to shine the light in the water while tying on a new fly. As to the shufflers, this is something that gets me pretty upset. I hate it when people are just shuffling and dropping their fly at their feet and letting it drift and in many cases snagging fish. I think we see this more in the summer time because of the people. This really tears up the bottom and shakes up the habitat, which takes a suprisingly long time to repair itself. It is kind of funny, I remember when I first started fishing down there, they had a brochure about how shuffling was unethical. Why doesn't MDC make a regulation against shuffling, who knows, but they should.

Well, I made a stupid mistake and one of two things happened. While doing some loading/unloading I placed my dual rod case on top of the vehicle we were in. Well, they were either taken while I was fishing or they fell off when we drove off. I am hoping/confident for the latter as that only requires my own stupidity and not the wrongdoing of others. At first thought, this happened at the confluence of the Norfork and the White, but not 100% sure. So, if anyone found or hears about someone finding a blue dual rod case with a couple of rods in it, I will be happy to describe, with great detail, what the case contained and would offer a reward to the person for the return of the rods. Thank you, Wes

We fished Norfork for 4 nights about 3 weeks ago. It was very slow except for 1 spot. Not only will I withhold that spot because I didn't "find" that spot, you don't want to try to make the wade if you don't know the area. I wouldn't even wade that spot without the guy who took me there. Very freaking scary wading. A guy from our group on that past trip just spent a week down there. He said it was slow, even in that spot. He said no big fish either and not many little ones. Here's a tip - sleep and get up about 2:00 a.m. and fish until sun up. Take all your gear to fish in the day and fish in the early morning before a ton of people get there.

We had a couple of amazing days on the Green in July of 2003. First day my buddy landed a brown, bow and cutt all over 20 inches. The next day was my day with a brown over 20 and a bow over 20. We got a good "tip" from a guy to be there at dusk. It was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen in my life. You'll understand why they call it "Flaming" gorge and the view is even better as the water starts to dimple with rising fish for as far as you can see. We had no clue what they were, but the fish were taking griffith's gnats as quickly as we could put them out there. What a great trip!