Chief Grey Bear

Oh man here we go again. Should have just posted this stuff under the poll thread. Can any of you post anything that either party has done to impact hunting or fishing?

I can buy everything you are selling there Kevin. You hit that one in the center. Good shot!

Hey there JD, I know we differ completely politically but would like to point out that Obama is wanting to give you back $1000 of your tax money. At some point in time we are going to have to pay for what has happened with the unprecedented spending of the last 8 years. I don't feel that it is the responsibility of my kids or yours. It is not the responsibility of my future grandchildren or yours. If you want something, you have to pay for it. America wanted Bush so now we have to pay for it. Well really America didn't want him as he was not voted in, in his first term, he was appointed by the Supreme Court. But what do you do.

I now what you mean Al. There wasn't a lot to work with. Here is a fact though. Obama caught some heat earlier for not being patriotic because he didn't wear a flag lapel pin. So he started wearing one. When that came out, the same day in fact, I turned my attention to Insane McCain's (I apologize for that. I said I wouldn't do that and I did.) lapel and to this date have yet to see a flag pinned on there. Yet you hear nothing. The point being, they don't have anything on Obama. So there must be fabrications. Trav - I agree with your whole post. I would like to add that many church's, I believe, cross the line when it comes to politics. They are not supposed to speak of politics in the way that they do.

Thanks for posting. Interesting indeed. Not to make it political but did you notice the time lines? It appeared this got started in the '80's during B-41 admin. Then, starting in 92, and Clinton's 8 year admin it all but ceased only to begin a new, and more intense in 2002 during B-43. Maybe there is nothing to it but, it just looks funny to me.

I can't answer that Taxi. Was JFK accused of being inexperienced? Laker - sounds like you only have fun if you are the one making fun. Chill out. If you are gonna dish it out, be prepared to eat what is on your plate. Trav- your butt?

The use of the term "...discussion of politics on OAF..." must be used with extreme caution. I have yet to read any "discussion". All I have read is the typical scare tactics, if you have low common sense you may believe them, that have been heavily used and perfected since the 2000 election. Two members have attempted to debate in this thread but, as you have seen, it is much more fun, I guess, to attempt to lob sophomoric attacks at the other side. Have fun boys, I'll be staying out of the reindeer games. If need be though, after the election, I will be able to forward some delicious recipes for crow.

Funny you mention that SWMO. Just so Buzz would go fishing with me, I bought him a brand new paddle. I'll be danged if he as used it yet. I have just about wore mine plumb out too!

It is amazing the difference in the maturity level between the Obama and McCain supporters.

Yep CW it was another fine day of fishing. Although it was not as productive as some other trips, we caught more than a limit of bigun's. I didn't do as well but I put Buzz and Dylan on some quality fish and they hooked them. And I will do the same for you this autumn. With the cooler than normal temps we have been having, its really getting my fall fishing blood flowing. I can't wait. When you and your friend come down this fall be sure you pick my boat to go in. As you can tell from our reports, when I guide you are going to catch fish. Quality fish. Notice we don't report when Buzz is in the back of the boat. (Oh man is he gonna kill me)

The margin you speak so highly of keeps loosing its wide berth though. At on time it was 100%. Now its under 50%. Better close this down now before it ends up the other way.

Uh Trav, yer not over the limit there are ya?

Finally I found it. From Field and Stream 2004: Tiny ZM invaded Lake Erie from overseas in the late 1980's and now cover virtually all of the lake's hard rock and grabel bottoms. They feed by filtering the water, resutling in a dramatic increase in water clarity. How have smallmouths resoponded? "The fishing has always been good, but now it's just beyond belief," says vetern Lake Erie smallmouth guide Bob Troxel, who docks at Ohio's Catawba Island. "Erie's producing more smallmouths over 5 pounds than ever." Again, don't shoot me, I'm just passing on what I read.

What the......I thought she was purring like a kitten?

Am I ever glad to see the cooler weather finally show up. I’m tired of sweating like a pig as soon as I hit the outdoors. Wait, pigs don’t sweat. I wonder why we say that then? I guess it's better than that other saying about the lady that looks very uncomfortable sitting in the church pew.....Anyway, I’m glad to see it. I like cooler weather for other reasons, too. I must admit that autumn has to be one of my favorite seasons of the year if not my very favorite. With the change to autumn comes the cool, crisp breezes, Friday night high school football, getting out the chili pot, the brilliant blazing colors that Mother Nature bestows upon us for too short a period of time, and a hot cup of spice apple cider drunk on frosty mornings. And, ahhh yes, the end of lawn mowing season! Such sweet rejoice! The fall also spurs on an elevated level of wildlife activity, including fishing. The cooling temperatures starts some fishing action that up through October and into early November can and will rival that of the spring spawn. For me there is hardly any better time to float a river and pick up some bass getting fat for the winter. The change in weather from hot and sultry to cool and brisk triggers a reaction in fish that will cause them to gorge themselves with just about anything that moves, thus adding to their fat reserves that last through the long cold winter. I remember a couple of years ago when my father and I were floating a stretch of Center Creek. I had been trying to get him to float it for years. Finally, at about this time of year we did it. It was a great trip, too. We caught a boatload of bass. Most were largemouth, but a few were brownies, and nothing spectacular, but that is not really important to me. Now don’t get me wrong, of course, I want to catch fish, and I hate getting skunked, but just being in the outdoors is satisfaction enough. I was using a Rebel Crawdad, and my dad was using a Heddon Tadpolly. I remember that he caught one bass that wasn’t much bigger than the Tadpolly. I don’t know what he thought he was going to do with it, the belly of the fish was so full. The fish looked like it had swallowed a baseball. Not only does the fishing get better, but another reason I like autumn is that small game hunting gets started. And what better time to get youngsters into the great outdoors. I love to get out in late October and November and do a little squirrel hunting. There is not a better opportunity to take your son or daughter out and start teaching them the basics of good sportsmanship and gun safety. I can’t believe some of the hunting programs that I have witnessed on television and of pictures sent into outdoor magazines. I am appalled at the sight of a 7- or 8-year old deer- hunting with a high powered rifle. At this age I am of the opinion that these children are just not ready for this type of responsibility. I mean, did they also drive a big SUV into the woods to deer camp? When I was 5, my dad started me out with a Daisy BB gun that I still have to this day. It is a black and gold single pump. It looks just like a shotgun but not like the ones made today that resemble rifles. I just barely had the strength to pump that thing. In fact, I had to stand it on the ground and pump it. I did that so much that I put a curve in the plastic stock of the gun. Dad always would take me north of Carthage down to the Spring River at Francis St. He would have me shoot at the little balls that grew on the Sycamore trees. I don’t think I ever did hit one, but, boy I must have shot a million of those little ball bearings trying. After I proved my proficiency with the BB gun, when I was about 8, he let me start on shooting a .22 single shot. After again proving my ability, I got to start using a .410 shotgun. I was about 10 when this happened. Rabbits never stood a chance after that. Then for my 14th birthday on my first deer hunting trip carrying a gun I got to use a 30-30. Talk about luck, I scored a eight-point buck at 6:35 a.m., the opening morning of my first deer hunt. Dad told me to treasure that moment because it would never happen that easy again. I thought to myself at that moment he was crazy. There was nothing to it, but, boy, was he right! That was in 1982, and to this day it has never happened again. Thanks for the memories, Dad.

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We had a great time the other day fishing Cedar Creek. We didn’t take any fish home though. That is not because we didn’t catch any that were not big enough, it is because we practice catch and release most of the time, especially on smaller creeks and rivers--fisheries that take much longer to recovery from fishing pressure. Now don’t get the idea that we don’t like to eat a mess of fish with fried taters and onions. That there is some powerful eating! You can’t get that in any fancy-pancy restaurant. I need to digress I can remember back when I was a kid, not much bigger than my son Dylan, when I would join my parents, a couple that they ran with and their kids. They would pick one of the coldest Saturdays in January or February to pack up and head down to the river. Dad brought a floor furnace grate that he had put adjustable legs on all four corners. They used it to cook on. The kids would head out to find all the small-to-medium-sized sticks we could to get a fire started. The menfolk would start on gathering some of the larger logs. We would get a fire going good and when it burnt down just right, we would put that furnace grate over the fire and, wamo!, We had a instant stove. Now the men would start slicing taters and chopping onions. Another would start breading fish. On this day the men did all of the cooking and tending fire while the women got to sit around and tried to stay warm. Us kids would be looking for squirrels and rabbits with our BB guns. After the fish was battered and the taters and onions were prepared, into the cast iron they would go. After about an hour of cooking, we would eat one of the finest meals known to man: fried fish with taters and onions, and pork and beans. Of course, it tasted even better outdoors from the kettle than eating the same meal at home. Off to Shoal Creek Dylan and my daughter Sissy, pictured at Cedar Creek, went to Shoal Creek with me the other day to the bridge at Lime Kiln access near Neosho. There was a young man out there fishing off of the bridge. He was very proud to show off the goggle-eye or northern rock bass that he had on his stringer. I have got to say he had a couple on there that were some of the biggest I have ever seen. I would have been just as proud of them as he was. After making some short talk, he was fixing to leave and offered us the rest of his worms. We thanked him and went back to grab our rods. I couldn’t wait to get down into the water and start fishing our way downstream. Out of courtesy to the nice fisherman, we didn’t fish around the bridge until after he left. We walked downstream about 100 yards to a good looking waterhole. On the way we hit a couple of promising looking logs but didn’t even get a nibble. I thought the sites looked pretty good, but misjudgment is just the way it goes sometimes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The identifying characteristics of the northern rock bass, Ambloplites rupestris, more commonly known as "goggle-eye" or "redeye" from the family of sunfish are that they are thicker-bodied than most of the species with a large mouth and very large eyes. A distinct pattern of dark spots arranged in parallel lines along the sides differentiates the northern rock bass from its closest relatives the Ozark bass and shadow bass. The northern rock bass is found with the Ozark bass in Newton and Jasper counties in Southwest Missouri. The average size of the fish is 11 inches and one pound in weight. Their lifespan is seven to nine years. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After we got to the first hole, we fished around a downed tree that had hung up at the bottom edge of a riffle--just a classic looking area to hold fish, and it did. We quickly caught 5 or 6 goggle-eye. I was surprised that we didn’t pick up any small mouth bass from this spot though. After fishing here for about 15 minutes, we noticed a husband and wife making their way back upstream. We struck up a pleasant conversation with them. They had been fishing here just about all day and had a really nice stringer of goggle-eye. After seeing those two stringers of fish from a stretch of creek about 200-yards long, I knew the section was going to need time to recover. These stringers of goggle-eye were all in the 9-to-11-inch range in length. Now if you are talking crappie that is not even legal size to keep but for goggle-eye, bluegill, and redear, that would be considered a good-sized fish. For these species of fish to get this size can take 6 to 8 years. Here is the link with a pic of the kids. http://www.joplinindependent.com/display_a...raber1159203818

Here are a few short stories that I had published in a local paper. Wow, what an action packed weekend! It started about 6 a.m. Saturday morning as soon as I got home from work. I went to my son’s room to ask him if he wanted to go fishing. I was pretty sure what he would say but, being it was that early in the morning and the fact that he is like his mother when it comes to sleeping, I wasn’t 100% sure. So, I asked him. “Can we go to that place on Cedar Creek where we got those big’uns last week?” he wanted to know. “If that is where you want to go?” I responded. “Yeah, I want to go there!” was his excited response. By 6:15 a.m. we were on the road to Cedar Creek in Newton County. Now for those of you acquainted with Cedar Creek, I know what you are thinking, and you are right. If you laid long ways across it, you could touch both banks. But to a kid it’s as big as the Missouri River. One our favorite types of fishing is by wading small creeks and rivers. Especially with the hot weather we have been having, even that early in the morning it feels great to step into that nice cool water. Small creeks such as Cedar offer a different style of fishing. It is also an excellent chance to teach children not only about the diverse amount of aquatic life that inhabits creeks and rivers, but also how to read a creek. Read a creek? What in the world can I be talking about? Well, that would be how it flows--meaning learning how a creek or river operates as it makes its meandering journey through different types of territory. Basically there are two types of creeks and rivers in my book: prairie types that flow through somewhat flat terrain usually associated with cropland and mountain types that generally flow through moderately hilly, rocky, and heavily wooded terrain. Both types offer different styles of fishing and both can be productive. Prairie type creeks are generally slower flowing because of the slow drop in elevation they experience, and they have a murky consistency. Most of these also have mud bottoms and banks and have fewer riffles and gravel bars. This is due to the fact that they mainly flow through bottom-type land areas. Mountain type creeks are generally faster flowing than prairie type creeks because they come rolling down out of the hills, dropping greatly in elevation. They can be absolutely crystal clear with several gravel bars and riffles and mostly rocky/gravel bottoms. Both types offer deep pockets of water that are great places to try your luck. We hit the creek about 6:30 a.m. With just a short walk in the cool water we hit the first hole. Dylan was the first to make a cast and the first to catch one. There is nothing like watching him reel them in. I don’t know who has more fun, him or me. We caught quite a few in this fist hole. Some were really big nice Bluegill in the 7 to 8 inch range, or really good size for a small creek like Cedar. We continued down to the next hole that I would venture to say was only about a quarter of a mile away. Before we got to it though, we had to stop at a riffle for some minnow and crawdad catching. Well, it was more agitation than anything, but Dylan was having the time of his life, and that is what counts. After about 10 minutes, we made it to our final destination. Though this spot was productive, it didn’t compare to the first hole, but that was okay, as we weren’t looking to keep any fish anyway. It was getting along about 9 a.m. I figured by this time the wife would be getting up, and I was feeling like a little breakfast and needing to be going to bed shortly thereafter after working all night. I asked Dylan if he was ready to go get something to eat. “Not really,” he said, but he was willing to go if I promised to bring him back. Not a problem there. Not a problem at all.

Well not quite there. I help pay for those trout. So do a lot of people. Including you. Gotta question for ya. If you spend 2000 hrs a year on the water fishing that is about 40hrs a week. Then you spend that same amount if not more on just this forum. How do you do it?

I think you just quoted what was running through my mind when I read those two bits.

I am sure they will. I fear what it will be like when my son is my age. Just like I think my fathers time and when he fisrt had me out on the creeks and lakes was the good old days, my son will think the present is the good old days as he and my grandson will be doing some type of fishing somewhere. I hope.

Yeah I hear ya. How do you fix a dying lake? None of them in this coner of the world are how they were years ago. But that is the price we pay for cheap chicken, beef and pork with a million dollar view.

I am not so sure Table Rock doesn't need a good flushing. It's not the lake I knew 25 years ago before all of the development. I'm not sure though, this is the way we want to do it.

This is a short piece of an article in Outdoor Life. Not the one I am looking for but, I stumbled on this one looking for the other one. Again I am not advocating the introduction of ZM. The habitat for bass in Lake Erie has been improving since zebra mussels invaded the lake in the late '80's. By filtering zooplanton and other nutrients out of the water, the mussels allow sunlight to penetrate deeper than ever before, stimulating a surge in aquatic vegitation. Extensive beds of milfoil and other vegetation now surround the rock and rubble shallows, providing food and cover for juvenile bass while attracting large forage fish and crustaceans for adult smallmougths. In the spring of 1991, Lake Erie experienced an incredible hatch of smallmough bass and this year these fish should top 20 inches. Moreover, the fish are growing faster than ever before, promising supe-sized smallmouth for years to come. The other article was similar to this one in that I read it, there seems there may be some benifit to fish. I'll keep looking for the other one.

Funny you mention this. Just the other day I read an article in In-Fisherman that spoke of Zebra Muscles. Give me a couple of days to locate the issue to give more detailed and or accurate account of what I read but, in my opinion, it seemed to speak favorably. Anyway it stated that this river, way up north, is now flowing clearer because the Zebra Muscle is a filter feeder and has cleaned the water way. It is claimed that a direct result of this is a larger number of smallmouth in the 4 - 5 lb range being caught. But before I go to far let me find it and quote it. Let it be known that I am not in favor of them being in any waterway in the US. Just gonna report some news that is showing something that could possibly be good news about these little trouble makers.