Chief Grey Bear

This post above was not directed to Al.

Yeah I don't understand all the discontent! With a resounding endorsement like that, who could resist! Why would you resist! And what fools! Of course a little unknown fishing forum from the hills of back assward Missouri ain't going to generate any traffic! Hey, just between me and you, what's this Eakins jig? Never heard of it.

Well at any rate, it'll be me that gets blamed for bashing the Ned.

Phil are you gambling?

Whoa up there partner. That is along the same lines of what I have been saying to you guy's over the last few years during the gigger bashing and it was vehemently dismissed.

Will do

Ahhh yes Shannon Spring. Sharon Spring is a town in western KS. I'm booked this weekend but can look at next weekend.

So you live at Sharon Spring? Or just a little east? I've always been going to stop at the bridge by Wanda and just see what was there, just haven't yet. I have caught them at B City but haven't tried any further up stream. I haven't ever messed with South Indian or Middle Indian. I like exploring like you are saying. Let's do some wading and see what we can find.

That's a good question. As you move out of the more Ozark type terrain and into the slower more prairie type and the gradient slows, the stream structure and ecosystems go from favoring brownies on the Elk to LMB on the Spring. It's a slow transformation that is really quite fascinating to experience.

Elk does seem to have the better reputation for producing bigger fish. I think they both produce large fish it's just much harder to catch them in Shoal. She is very finicky about sharing her secrets. I love fishing both Spring and Center. Those are the two I grew up on. But again you are getting to the the very fringe of the Ozarks with these two and they fish a little different than Shoal. To me, those two are much more crankbait oriented systems. Center gets a lot more action than you realize. It gets hit pretty good but continues to produce decent fish. Haven't caught any real hogs from her but she entertains me. Spring and Center both have brownies but not in the numbers of those to the south.

Not to be nitpiky but SWMO is actually in the Neosho watershed. But to try and answer your question, even though both systems, the Elk and Shoal, are very close in proximity, they are different in many ways. The Elk traverses a more rocky, hilly type topography more closely associated with those streams from the Ozark interior. The Elk and especially its tribs have a higher gradient drop per mile and a lesser amount nutrient density. In fact one trib has one of the steepest drops per mile in the state. Shoal traverses a more transitional area from Ozark type topography to a more pairie type. It's just a little slower and with more nutrient density. It's gradient is a little less, although there are short areas of quick decent. Shoal has more and better habitat than Elk. And I can't help but wonder what Elk would be like without all the traffic. Does the traffic cause an undue stress on the biodiversity of the stream? I'm not and never have been a big fan of the Elk. I do love her tribs though. Be very proud of your 18's from this corner. I've been fishing here all my life and have only caught one. The MDC has only found one 19 and very, very few 18. I have caught numerous 20's LMB from these rivers. One thing to remember is that fish of these sizes are getting very near the end of there life span. And they don't get this big by being stupid. But to me that is part of what makes it so fun. The chase!

I thought that too!

I think that plate is just a little overkill for that dish. Resubmit please.

I was hoping nobody would ask. I don't remember the exact name. The wife and I were at one of those Dollar stores that morning. Which is a story in itself. Not the store but how we ended up there. Anywho, I always love hitting these stores as they will always have some off the wall food item that you don't normally find. I happen to spy a package of McCormick marinade. It was some kinda Smokey Chipotle grilled seafood marinade. It came complete with warning to not marinade for longer than 30min. Odd?? So I didnt. Well I did. I went about 33 minutes! Take that! It was pretty good. I would try it again. I will by bigger shrimp next time though. Like a 20 count.

I did some shrimp yesterday myself. Nobody in my house will eat them so I had all of these to myself!

Awesome!! I have always wondered about doing this.

Well I see I'm too late!

Per 1lb of ground meat of choice 1 TBS Brown Sugar 1 tsp dry mustard 1/4 tsp salt and pepper 8 oz can tomato sauce 1/2 c Ketchup 1 TBS Wooster 1 TBS vinegar

Hey way to go! Great company you were with! Phil has really built a very nice place over the years.

Mix with a box of Mac n cheeze and enjoy some of life's finer quzine!

I dig Manwhich's. I got a recipe for that, that I really like.

the mobile version apparently doesn't have the smilies.

Oh they hate your guts. They hate everyone. They just wanted in on your hotspots.

I will agree Ness, BBQ contest are tailgating on roids! It is the best time you will have. I used to know quite a few people that are/were on the KCBS circuit. I've been to the Royal quite a few times. Talk about some parties!! And yes David Klose is just as crazy in life as he appears on TV. It's the judging and some of the rules that I'm not square with. I'm not sure what you could do about the judging though. I do kinda like the BBQ Pitmaster contest. A little of Myron is like a Texan telling you how great they are. It just goes on for freaking ever! That is the fairest contest there is in my opinion though.

All of that because I don't like Cilanto?