Chief Grey Bear

Yes fish are a renewable resource. So long as you have a resource to renew. Here is a short list of other renewable resources that used to inhabit this state in great numbers: bison, elk, swamp rabbit, jack rabbit, alligator gar, prairie chicken, and many, many others. And without solid, very strict regulations deer, which was closed to hunting for many years, and turkey, would not be where they are now. Now you obviously don't pay attention or you don't have a clue how slot limits work. I have never called for the halting of the harvest of bass from rivers and streams. All I have ever advocated is the implementation of a slot limit that benefits both the resource and those that use it. By having a slot limit you still get to harvest fish to eat. That does not stop. Remember, it is a resource for all of us to use. But it is not a resource for some to rape repeatedly. You are not the sole owner or user of the resource.

No argument there. But what if Ford would not have had those assets to sell? They may have taken a bailout. Maybe not.

That true about Ford Scott. But they sold off a ton of assets to stay afloat. If it happened again soon, I am not sure the results would be the same.

I care more about the resource than looking cool.

Me too.

Thank you, thank you. You are far to kind!

Yeah because no rod and reeler harvested a trophy fish ever.

Nothing stick to my paddles. Every fall I rub them down with possum fat so the water drains right off and don't get in the boat. Works great. Works on the bottom side of the canoe too. Really slides through the water.

I think the number of legally kept smallmouth is being downplayed for some reason. Most of the local people around here that go smallmouth fishing keep all legal fish when they go out. I see pictures from friends all the time of nice 15" plus smallmouth that they catch on NFoW and Bryant creek, and they usually keep a limit when they go. Exactly! That is what I have trying to get across. We have already brainstormed the ideas to make a win win for the resouce and fishermen on workable regulations. But no one seems to want to work towards getting the ball rolling. I have offered 3 times in the last few months, once just this morning, to get together and work on this. But woe is me and it won't happen in my life time. Well probably not if your only avenue is this forum. Thank you big Al. Gore that is.

Its not whether I believe it or not, as I have stated I don't know how many times over the years now, I do believe there are some bass as well as other species, that are illegally gigged. Can illegal giggers do damange? Of course. Any illegal activity does damage. I have never denied that. The fact still remains that on average MDC sells 2.5 million fishing permits per year. If only 25% of that number fished the rivers and only kept 1 limit per year, that would still be 3.75 million fish. It is easy to see where the vast amount of damage is coming from whether one wants to admit it or not.

I know what point he is trying to make and it is insane to assume that, as you just stated, giggers are "strictly targeting large smallmouth" while the R&R guys only keep 10"-12" fish. We have all seen stringers of larger fish come from R&R guys on the rivers. I even reported about one earlier this year.

You are exactly correct, poaching of any type will never stop. Can it be slowed, possibly. But there is still a predominantly large portion of the fishing public that are law abiding. I am of the belief that if we have have a change to stricter regulations on unimpounded waters of this state, it will make a positive effect on the resource. A little fun fact. In Missouri, and other states where deer is king, we have the exact same amount of deer agents as we do fish agents. Exactly the same. And deer season is much shorter. Much shorter. The problem is they have so many other mandated obligations, they hardly have time for their field work. And that needs to change too.

Whether it is legal or not is not the problem. Which not all rod and reelers follow the law either. In fact I would wager there are far more rod and reelers that poach than giggers. And that is my main point. I believe, and with good reason, that there are far more large bass, and just bass in general, being harvested both legally and illegally by the rod and reelers than by giggers. I fully understand that giggers can decimate a stretch of water. But one must also realize that rod and reelers can do as much or more damage on a far greater scale by virtue of shear numbers of participants and having far greater mobility. The question is do we want to unite and try and create plausible solutions that could possibly be adopted by the MDC therefore making a positive impact or do we want to continue our tradition of constant complaining on this and other related subjects year after year? That is the most import question that I believe always goes unanswered.

Take those same stretches of water. Over a years time, you can very conservatively say that it has seen 50 different anglers. They only need to keep one large fish apiece. It is all a numbers game with the law of averages on its side. I am not going to say large bass have not been gigged. I am positive it happens. I just don't agree that gigging is out pacing legal stringers and illegal stingers when it comes to legal and illegal harvest of big bass.

I really need to proofread sometimes. Imagine. That should have read "relationship repair." In talking with different contacts over the last couple of years with in the MDC, MSA is not on their best sellers list. We need to fix that. I am not making any comparisons. I just liken it like you did the recent economy .thread.

Sugar Island uses it for take out. They hog the whole area. Reported them to the MDC once. They had trouble with them before and said they would talk to them again. I haven't run into them there again. Not saying they don't still use it, just haven't run into them again.

If this is not sold, let me know.

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Forgot to mention, I don't think it is deep enough to launch a boat, but thumbs up on canoes and yaks.

No ramp but you can put in and take out very easily. I was just there today and it looks like it has been fixed up since the flood.

I'll bet any amount that there are far more bass taken legally than gigged. In multiples of thousands. Then add in those poached by rod and reel and it is thousand more. Imagin that on any given weekend there are,conservativly speaking, 5,000 anglers spread across this state on some thousands of miles of rivers and streams. Then just imagin if just half of those kept a limit. Cut that in half again if you want and it will still come out to a ton more than giggers. I understand and appreciate the passion to save the smallmouth. It is my opinion, if anyone cares, that we need to focus on rewriting the regulations for unimpounded waters of this state. I spoke with a Regional Fisheries Supervisor this spring and he was receptive to the idea of a slot on rivers. But I could tell there was also some relation repair to be done first.

Blended cheeses TEND to be softer and don't do AS well AT HIGHER TEMPS. Sorry about that. Just wanted to clarify my statement a little better.

As long as you don't exceed about a 90* you'll be fine. And as long you stick with firm cheeses you shouldn't have any trouble. Blended cheeses sometimes tend to be to soft and don't do well. But I do love a chedder and swiss blend. Oooh thats good. If you keep it in the 70* range, do you a loaf of Velveeta. Makes for some mean dip! And for goodness gracious, put in a tray of sea salt and smoke it. Smoked salt is da bomb!

Actually no. Bacon is cold smoked. Most meats that are cold smoked usually do not rise about room temp. Since cheese has such a low melting point, I was thinking that keeping it cold and keeping it solid would work better. Most people smoke cheese in the winter when the temps are much cooler and it is much easier to accomplish. I haven't done it this way yet, but I have been thinking about it for a few years now. At some point, I'll get off of my lazy butt and try it.

Some of those lazy people, about 5000 of them are in the active military. Acitve military people also live in HUD housing. And of course they are also on the dole for healthcare. And as posted on OAF before, here is the skinny on the bamster phone. http://www.factcheck.org/2009/10/the-obama-phone/ I will agree that these programs need to be tightened up.