Chief Grey Bear

MMMMMMMM, fried snapper. That is good eats right there.

My mistake. I thought he said Missouri water was no good for trout. My point was if the water was no good, how do we have all of these mostly forgotten isolated pockets of trout that have survived for who knows how many years since the last stocking. We all have a creek somewhere that has not had a bonified stocking in 20 years minimum. And they are surviving just fine. That is what popped in my head when he stated the water was no good.

Looks like you guy's had a great time. Thanks for posting the pics.

Explain to me all the wild trout then?

I was goning to bring this up a few weeks ago as a question. I am glad you mentioned it here. I was not sure but was pretty confident that they would survive. I have had this happen on occasion too. This is where a good pair of hemo's or needle nose pliers comes in and everyone should be carrying them with them. If it does happen, I come in from behind the gill plate and carefully work the hook back over the gills. One thing that I do when fishing soft plastics is to bury the point in the body. You can put a little extra bend in the hook to help with this. But I do this more for making it as snag proof as I can and not to aid gut hooking. And it may not help. I don't really know. As for hooking fish in the eye, I am not imune from that. Thank goodness most times it is between the eyeball and eye socket. But, I can say that in all my years fishing, I can count on one hand the number of one-eyed fish or ones that were clearly blind in one eye.

In fact he loves Bob's music too. I too enjoy a good brownie trip. So get your big ol' butt down here so we wet a line and discuss the problems with the republican party.

My preference is a pair of old fashioned Adidas Chuck Taylor high tops. You can get at most places for about $40. I learned from experience to by a size larger than you wear. After a few trip and drying, they will shrink a little. But for the money they offer awesome protection for not only your feet but ankles too. I have been bouncing back and forth between them and sandles depending on the wade trip. My current pair I have had for 3 years and I don't a rip, tear or anything. I know they are not fancy looking or cost a lot of money, but by golly they work and work good.

1. I was not talking about 40+ years of SMA. I was speaking of 12inch 6 total limits for unimpounded waters. We are getting to a point we could equate the smallmouth debate to gun ownership. We keep making more restrictive gun regs because of a few thugs and it does nothing but punish the law abiding gun owners like myself. And simply put, I view this debate as the same. 2. Now here I was speaking completely of SMA's. And the point was you wanted the MDC to "stick their neck out" and do something for smallmouth as they have done for trout. I simple was stated that they did. And I believe, though I haven't checked it out to verify, there are more specially protected miles of smallmouth streams than trout. I would even let you throw in all the White Ribbon streams on that too. 3. The fish are there. Members of this forum have caught them. So again, we can't point our finger at the "What if" crowd. You just need to man up and quit casting blame. I have never caught one either but I will never blame it on anything other than me. Someday maybe I will ge lucky and get one. But if don't, so what, I have had one hell of a good time. Oh yeah, Dylan is a cool name. Thanks. Dylan thanks you too. He was named after Bob Dylan. And I named my daughter Sierra after the Sierra Mountains. That is a very valid point. And very true. But also on the flip side, when one reads all the reports and see's the pictures, I would have to think that, and I think you would have to agree, that fishing on that side of heaven does look to be incredibly good. And I hope to enjoy it myself soon.

You tell ol' Jack he ain't playing fair! He can't catching all those bigguns without me there! Ain't it a blast watching them catch fish all day!!!!!!

1. The rules have worked for 40 some years now. But if they are not followed, of course they won't. It doesn't matter what rules you have in place. 2. That certainaly was not your argument just a few months ago. I seem to remember you and the posse wanted to implement those same rules on just about every stream of water in the state. 3. If they want to catch a bigger fish, they don't blame every Tom, Dick, and Harry plus the MDC for the reason's why they can't. They just go out and fish harder, better and smarter.

There is no gray area at all. We all understand the rules and regulations. You either choose to abide by them or you don't. And the old agrument of what someone can do to a creek over the summer is not a valid point. You cannot regulate "What If's". I believe the MDC stuck their neck out when they implemented the SMA's. Did they not? And I wouldn't go so far to claim the Smallmouth is the most cherished native species of sportfish in the Ozarks. It just all depends in what group your are in. Some may say it is the catfish. Others may say it is the crappie. Still others may say it is the largemouth bass. The MDC's priorites are with the conservation and use all species. You must remember that in the whole scope of things, you are a huge majority. Yeah I know that is a oxymoron but it rings a lot of truth. It was no joke and you know it. You started your same stupid dung you always do and you got your desired results. Happy?

I don't have a problem with differing opinions either. But berating and belittling someone is not offering a differing opinion.

Another fine story butchered by our local holier than thou residents. Sorry you were the brunt of it this go around. BTW on my trip to the JF with KC, I personally caught 4 brownies and Dylan caught one or two that had been gut hooked by some anglers that did not keep a check on the last foot or so of their line. These were not big fish by any stretch of the imagination. But they did have hooks, complete with rotten soft plastic bait, firmly imbedded in their throat. So I wouldn't always point my finger at the bait fishermen. If you boy's truely want to stop harming the smallmouhth, then stop fishing for them. We have all caught one that may not make it. Whether you are tossing a crankbait, soft plastic, or live bait. You will kill a smallmouth. If you say you haven't, you are lying.

reading pleasure. http://rhtrav.com/wordpress/?p=2532 World-class’: Size of the fish, or beauty of the fishing? While fishing the Mineral Fork in Washington County on Saturday, my father remarked repeatedly how beautiful the landscape and clear the creek is. “Dad, this is why I fish,” I said. He’s relatively new to Missouri and very new to the creek fishing many of us enjoy in the Ozarks. It has taken me quite some time to convince him that, in the Ozarks, creek fishing is a blessing. The Ozark streams are gems of peace and beauty. The rugged terrain, bold bluffs, clear water and abundant wildlife are blessings. And the smallmouth bass — the underdog with attitude — are a special gift for sport fishermen. Much attention has been given lately to the quality of smallmouth fishing in the Ozarks. The Missouri Smallmouth Alliance, a club of bronzeback devotees, created a “blue-ribbon” panel to propose a plan for the Missouri Department of Conservation to create a “world-class” smallmouth fishery. Debate has been passionate among those who have differing ideas of how the state should manage Ozark waterways for the fierce fighter. Beautiful smallmouth bass like this one, caught in Huzzah Creek, are what makes fishing in the Ozarks world class. MDCs fisheries biologists are charged with the difficult task of managing the states fisheries for a variety of interests. While our methods and motivations vary, we are all anglers and we all have a reason to want quality fishing. As far as I can tell, the folks at the MDC are doing a fine job. Since I moved to Missouri 12 years ago, I have always been impressed by the simplicity of fishing here. The regulations, free of influence from elected politicians looking to cozy up to lobbyists and special-interest groups, are easy to understand. A resident annual fishing permit, a mere $12, is among the lowest of any state within a day’s drive. Access to quality streams is generally easy, unlike some states that continue to experience legal battles for stream access. Ultimately, the MDCs responsibility is not to cater to the fleeting desire of humans to practice the type of fishing they prefer. It’s role is to manage the fisheries for the fish — to ensure that they have adequate structure, food and water to sustain healthy populations for our generation and those that will follow. In 10 years of pursuing smallmouth bass in Missouri waters — on the basin rivers and the little creeks that meander through private land — I can’t recall any trip when I was disappointed. The greatness of fishing for smallmouth bass in the Ozarks lies not in the size of the fish but in the beauty of the places in which they live. We already have a world-class smallmouth fishery. You can read the MDCs 2009 smallmouth bass white paper summary here. The Missouri Smallmouth Alliance’s Power Point presentation with smallmouth bass management proposals can be downloaded here.

I went to Cabela's in KC this weekend. Got out of there for about $4. On a side note, I hit BPS about 3 or 4 times a year. I think I have only been there once so far this year.

I too always it the Outlet store first. I guess I am just a tightwad, the most I ever spent was $60. Most the time I spend less than $20.

The fishing is defininetly as hot as the weather.

Happy Birthday KCRIVERRAT. I know I am a day late but wanted to give you a shout out anyway.

You know eric only says that so he can C&E them. That's Catch and Eat. Don't let him fool you. Word on the street is he makes a mean scrambled egg/smallmouth bass kinda omlet thingy. I hear it is out of this world. Especially when doing an overnighter.

Yeah it is a boat seat. Caught them on sale last year at BP. That's Bass Pro. But as far as the solo, I find no problems. Yeah it adds a little more weight but it is definitely worth it to me. I have spent almost 40 years riding on those hard butt "benches" and I plan on spending the next 40 in comfort. I am going to make a couple of changes that I think will shave off a little more weight. I would just eat less of them. Don't worry about that seat mounting. My dad actually broke it first. I just made a quicky repair hoping to make one more trip. You didn't do anything. I have it fixed like the back seat now.

Definitely great looking. The mods I made to mine don't even begin to compare. They look cheap because they are cheap but they work. Well I did have to redo the front seat after it got destroyed by Wheatie.

No you didn't say you were smart. But we like you anyway. Does your wife know you are playing on the computer again???

I think you put this on the wrong fishing report.

Looks like you struck gold again. Hard to stay home when they are biting like they are right now!

I agree and stand with you 100%. But don't you find it a bit ironic that in a post earlier this year you said we shouldn't have the right to harvest smallmouth.