Randall

no, i want more... NOW... START WRITING AND DON'T STOP UNTIL I SAY!!!!!!!!

i'll stop by monday probably.

i'll probably stop in and talk to you on my way through springfield. are you east or west of 65?

well, yall are gonna hate me for saying it, but i was born in '84. first picked up a flyrod in 96, actually got good at it (better than i am now) fishing down at rockbridge. sadly, i put it down when the only place i could trout fish was maramec. i used powerbait and spinners until last summer when my buddy took me to taney. i haven't cast a spin rod for trout since. i've been down three times and i'm goin for my fourth next week.

okie, i'll be down there next week as well. if you want a little practice fly fishing, i'll help out all i can though i'm not exactly a master. the fly rod is a ball at night, but if you don't feel comfortable, rapalas work pretty well. there's a few post further down where they explain how they use em. as far as line, 4 or 6# should work just fine.

i dead drift the crackleback as a dry... had to use hella floatant though. i've had really good luck on copper johns, pheasant tails, and scuds in the past, might be worth a shot to try. wd-40's work okay too.

whenever i saw em hitting my indicator, i put on a crackleback in a similar color and get ready to set the hook.

i went out saturday morning around 8ish and caught on chartreuse copper johns, then went sunday about 3 and did well on the pheasant tail and the green crackle back. maramec springs has got to be the most frustrating place i've flyfished. i think i get hung up as much as i get on the water. crowds make flyfishing there even worse, and i noticed i was getting eyeballed a lot. there are definitely some people there that have the wrong opinion about flyfishermen. its a ball in the middle of the week later on in the season though.

i know cardiac, where is suicide hill?

i had absolutely no idea we had anything but leeches here. i'm guessing that they're pretty rare, and don't have the numbers to do much damage. would a lamprey attach to a person? i ask because one of the articles from dano's link talked about whales being attacked by em.

beautiful birds... its only been a couple years ago that i saw my first one in missouri. nice that they're making a comeback.

i've had good luck with black woolys and darker colored fish imitations stripped quickly, of course the only time i ever seem to get on the water at night is during a full moon.

i know nobody's copying my signature... seriously though, none of us could stop laughing the night we found the site.

some laws on the books are there to keep people sporting. it is illegal to bait deer in missouri. are there any effects from baiting that harm the population? none that i can think of. outlawing the baiting of deer, in my opinion, was an ethical decision. you didn't quote all of what i said. any person seen dragging or kicking their feet along the bottom of the body of water AND fishing in the wake. if the person is not fishing in the wake of their disturbance, they are not shuffling.

i'm coming down to taney the that week (my spring break), but i don't know if i'll be able to go to arkansas that weekend. i'm gonna try to make the tuesday tying class that week, so i'll talk face to face with whoever is there and figure out if i go or not. look forward to meeting some people on here in person.

shuffling: any activity that involves purposely disrupting the stream or lake bed with the intention of causing game fish to feed. any person seen dragging their feet along, or kicking the bottom of the water body, and fishing in the wake of their disturbance shall be defined as a shuffler. i won't lie, i just got back from the bar and came up with this wording. find me a legal activity it outlaws and i'll change it up.

i haven't gotten to go yet, but my brother said its about as much fun as you can have with your clothes on. i'm not really sure how it affects the population though i can't really see noodlers keeping that many more fish than fishermen or causing any ecological harm.

its all in the wording. if the wording outlines only acts of disturbing the streambed for the purpose of causing fish to feed, fossil hunting, boating, wading, and the given example of hatch matching would still be legal, while shuffling would not.

where do i get those marker pens you listed?

well, anybody couldn't just do it. there would have to be some kind of screening process and training. besides, whats the difference between a civilian and a law enforcement professional? for the most part its training and a job. its an idea... maybe not my best work ever, but it was worth getting an opinion. if nothing else, conservation minded cops or retired law enforcement could do it. after i get done with college and academy, i'd be glad to volunteer to enforce game laws on my days on the water or in the field- if mdc would allow it. if a cop sees a person blatently using illegal harvesting methods, such as spotlighting, they can make an arrest. as far as checking licenses and game, i don't know.

well, an agent can check anybody fishing, hunting, or trapping at any time they please, without probable cause- similar to the way a cop can give a sobriety test (not exactly implied consent, but similar). like driving, hunting and fishing are privelages, not rights. you have to be licensed to hunt, fish, and trap. at any time, an agent may stop and check licenses, fishing rig/ firearm, and any game in possesion of the person. truth be told, nothing would please me more than to be checked at least once each time i'm on the water. if local agents actively checked fishermen on the water, and hunters leaving the woods, i believe it would decrease the amount of poaching and use of illegal methods. the only problem is that there aren't enough agents to actively check every person. now, if shuffling were made illegal, like dano said, there would be something that agents could easily look for. this would allow them to cover more ground, and watch more fishermen. now its a hair off subject, but what about having sportsmen police themselves in a way? have volunteer fishermen go through a class or some type of training and be given the authority (and a badge) to check licenses, fish, and rigs while they're on the water. tell me what you think.

as one of the tourist, i say stock fewer. when i came down last fall and got into some big fish, it was a ball. besides, maybe if there were fewer fish in the lake, i wouldn't trip over and step on em when i back up.

sounds good... we'll probably end up going.

further up the thread, there are two posts that give examples of parameters. there is a big difference between wading and shuffling. like snagged said, they ruin the fishing for those around them, and it is pretty unattractive compared to real flyfishing. whats the point in fishing if the challenge is taken out? i'd rather spend a day catching only a few, learning from my mistakes than spend it cheating to catch tons of fish. it really just gets under my skin when i see a person resorting to unsporting methods to acquire game. flysmallie, i respect your opinion on hunters, but many many years ago, when people settled this area, they killed off the local predators. we then hunted deer and turkey to the point that they were nearly wiped out. conservation efforts have brought them back, but without predators in a food chain, we get overpopulation and starvation. i'd rather be shot than starve any day of the week. i believe that hunting is ethical because it serves several purposes: 1) thins out the population so that there is enough food to support the population during the winter, giving us a healthier and stronger herd. 2) puts food on the table- venison is lean, high in protein, and tastes good. 3) high populations in parts of the state have significantly affected farmers' profits- hunting, once again, thins the herd so that there are fewer deer to eat the crops. 4) hunting has created a multi-million dollar industry that provides jobs. 5) creates a healthy obsession- a good hunter will spend time in the woods scouting and hanging stands, and late season drives can be a workout too. I don't mean to be condescending, i really don't, but i take it personally when people say that hunting is unethical. hunters that use what they kill are ethical, wasteful hunters aren't.

this year for spring break, i want to get my dad, my brother, and i together to do some fly-fishing up by the dam before my bro leaves for basic. i'd like to know what kind of crowds there are, because i don't want to set it up when it'll be packed. i'm thinking middle of the week, but i've never been down there in the spring. i appreciate any input.