hoglaw

How do you put that on the quarterback???

Oregon has been my surrogate favorite for a few years now. Hopefully they'll be on the opposite side of Alabama in the bracket? That could be a fun NC game.

Well that didn't work out either. Maybe I'll get to fish next year????? December is supposed to be the slow month.

Can't do it. Got a hearing on friday now and have to get ready tomorrow. Things aren't breaking my way lately.

Yeah, it sounds awesome. And I'm out. Headed to Dallas on Sunday. I hate it. Hope you guys have a blast and catch lots of big ones. I think I'm going to be able to sneak over to the Norfork tomorrow. That's a long day over and back, but it's been good to me lately. If anyone wants to join me, let me know.

You're right about that. And Chief, as I said I'm more prone to gripe about perceived poor officiating before the game than after. It was our game to win and we choked, as I said previously. I don't blame officiating for the loss. My point was worrying about officiating in Atlanta. I could see Mizzou on the wrong end of a bunch of that, and that would suck. There are certain crews that I just cringe when I hear they're calling our games. Can't wait for the championship game, and go Tigers.

I'm thinking about kayaking the Norfork on Thursday if generation and work allows. Weather looks great. High of 45, raining maybe a quarter of an inch. But not too windy. My kind of day. If anyone wants to meet up and go, let me know. Will launch at dam as soon as generation allows and take out at the confluence around dark, and spend most of the day wading. Jigs from the yak and flies on foot. Any takers?

I think Mizzou will have a tough time with Bama, but 14 points seems like an awful lot. I guess Bama gets props because they win. They win pretty, and they win ugly, but they win. Mizzou did a great job of doing what it needed to in order to win games this year. Bama has mastered that. If I were a Mizzou fan, I'd be more worried about the officiating at the SECCG. Call me paranoid, but I've seen it over and over - the league protects the team with a chance to go on and do something better. I tend to gripe about officiating before the game and not after because every losing team can point to bad calls, but I really felt that way on Friday - the fumble that was ruled incomplete, the fumble recovery by a guy laying on the ground that was ruled a recovery, then overturned on what should have been "indisputable evidence", the blatant hold of a lineman who was about to kill Mauk right before he completed his longest pass of the game. That kind of stuff just makes me paranoid. No doubt it was still our game to win and we choked, but that kind of stuff sure didn't help it sit well with me. So I wouldn't hope for any close calls at the SECCG. It may be like I felt watching Arkansas play Florida a few years ago. That was sickening. I'll probably be pulling for Mizzou. I hate Bama with every ounce of my being. I don't really have a reason to hate Mizzou. So I guess that makes me a Tiger for the weekend.

I don't think the year is a disappointment at all. Very few in Arkansas put us at 6-6 this year, including me. I don't think I'm hard of BA at all either. I like him. But I do agree with FF that he is just not that good. He might start for a couple other SEC schools, but not many. Certainly not top 5 in the SEC. No doubt about it. My observation is that as limited as he is by natural talent, he has done a commendable job running the offense this year. He has taken care of the ball, and has come through in a lot of clutch situations. He's failed to rise to the occasion a number of times as well, but for what he is, I'll take him. Where our opinions differ is I think he's the best option for the team. I think he's head and shoulders above Austin. I don't claim to be an expert, but I've attended all the home games and watched the rest of them. I go to the spring practice game every year. Maybe Austin could have given us a better year with his feet? I just feel pretty confident that he couldn't have done it with his arm. But I don't disagree with you that he should have pulled himself. I can see a coach giving their team leader deference, but at some point, the coach has to pull the plug. And you're right, every time he got smoked he was looking to the sidelines and fighting to stay in the game. He should have been sat, whether he did it himself or whether the coach overruled him. Ultimately the responsibility to pull a player rests with the coach. In the heat of the moment, it's easy to forget about pain and think "I can compensate for throwing high by just doing X...I can get it on the next play." I like that kind of toughness. But the bottom line is he didn't belong in the game, and he was obviously not healthy for most of the second half. It was just painfully obvious on the last drive.

Sent you a friend request Worm. I fished the LR on Saturday morning in 30mph winds. We put in at a private ramp just below Cow Shoals. I wasn't about to do a float with that kind of wind, so we just fished that hole. Good thing too. The wind was so strong that we were blowing upstream in even the fastest current areas. There are a lot of log jams in that hole, so we'd post up on one for a while and try to fish. Wife never got a bite on panther martins or rooster tails. I caught a rainbow and two browns in the 14" range on jigs. That was it. After getting blown around for two hours, we packed it in.

Two trips ago I had identical conditions but hardly fly fished. Caught a couple good ones in the McClellan's area on an egg/midge combo. Whacked them on jigs. This last trip I committed to fly fishing more. Wasn't a banner day, but we put in right when they shut off the generator and stopped at most of the runs. I was getting a lot of bites and connecting with maybe half of them on a czech nymph set up with a really heavy fly at the bottom, and a zebra midge tied on a dropper about 18" above it. It's a pretty effective way to fish some of those faster flowing deep areas. Haven't even though of fishing anything dry for a while.

Can't argue with you there, except maybe I don't lay as much blame on him as you do. Brandon had a great first half. 8/11 for 77 yards by my count, and two touchdowns. Second half we saw a different guy. Clearly he was hurt. He threw maybe two accurate balls the entire second half. I agree 100% that he should have been pulled. It's tough to say "I don't have it today coach" and take yourself out of a game. The coaching staff stuck with him because, as I've said before, he's by far our best quarterback and our best chance to win. Only, he wasn't in the second half on Friday. I don't know how many times he had to scrape himself up off the ground after taking late shots before the coaches pulled him. Were they waiting for him to just stay down? It burned me up. Like a guy on one of the message boards said, "watching BA scrape himself off the ground after late hits without being pulled was like watching someone kick a puppy...that was tied to a leash...secured to my balls."

Thanks for all the excellent advice. I was probably a little unclear. I was asking about thoughts on arkansas river crappie from fellow beaver folks. River crappie in the winter I meant.

I hate it but I'm looking doubtful. I may be in Dallas on the Thursday and Friday of the trip, then back there again on Monday and Tuesday for depositions. I'll make it if I can, but I just don't see it in the cards right now.

I've always heard the white crappie move shallow when the water gets cold, but the blacks stay deeper. Maybe it's the other way around. I don't know much about crappie on Beaver, but I like going to the Arkansas river and have a few places that are piled with them in the Spring - areas where feeder creeks pour into a big flat that's mostly impounded by jetties. So you've got a 5' basin with some wood and a bunch of rocks. Are those areas good all winter long? Once we get into January, do the crappie push out deeper? Into the main river channel? I know I can whack them there in the Spring, but I'm curious about fishing right now.

I'm with you there Quill, but I'm not sure that even Mallett could engineer big come backs with this group of receivers. The one thing that I keep wondering is why on earth are our tight ends not getting the ball on 75% of the pass reps? Keon Hatcher is a very good receiver, but certainly not great. He's a good route runner but he can't compete for a ball. Hunter Henry on the other hand? That guy can absolutely manhandle anyone. He is darn near uncover-able, particularly when you consider he's normally covered by a linebacker or a safety. If we had a real percision passer who could utilize Henry's body position, we'd be destroying folks. He may be the best tight end in the country. And Derby isn't too far of a drop-off. I think this is what Arkansas has planned for the forseeable future. Without anyone knowing about it, we're becoming tight end university. We'll line up with three of them in some formations. We'll throw to them in the flats, and on delays and wheels, but very rarely do we throw the tight end seam pass straight up the gut against a linebacker or safety. I think a lot of that must have to do with the fact that our quarterback is only 6-1 or so, and his line averages like 6-6. Skipper would be a tower to try and throw over. What I'd give for Mallett's height, accuracy and arm strength with those tight ends. Only problem is we don't pass block that well, and we need someone like BA who can help take some of the pressure off the O-line with some quickness and escapability. I can live with BA at quarterback. He's totally servicable and the best of the bunch by a long shot. I wish our O-line was a little more mature (they're almost all underclassmen) and I wish we had a better go-to receiver. The coaching staff recruited receivers hard, so we've got some good ones coming in. The line will just continue to get better. Next year we'll probably have the best O-line in the NCAA. The year after that, we may have the best line ever in the NCAA.

Bad judgments? Last year he threw for 1738 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. This year...so far...he's thrown for 1992, 16 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions. He's actually an extremely efficient quarterback. I'm not sure where you're getting the footspeed thing from. He runs a 4.8 per some quick googling. He escapes pressure really well and has great instincts for taking off. He's scored with his feet at least once or twice this year. I'll give you that Brandon is by no means a world beater. He doesn't seem to have the ability to take the game on the back of his shoulders and go win. That would be nice. But that's not really his job in this system. And Austin doesn't have that either. If you see the line playing better when he's in, it's not because they respond to him. It's because we're already two quarterbacks deep into the depth chart and the next one burns a red shirt. They darn well better protect him. Austin is severely lacking in arm strength. Hopefully it will get there. Austin's snaps have been limited and of course he's young, but he seems confident because he's not getting more than one read into his progression. It's either there or it isn't. He stares down his receiver the whole way, and that's ok. He's not developed enough to do much more. Brandon is finally getting through his progressions, though I've watched him completely miss some open routes with tunnel vision. But they're routes that I don't think Austin has the arm to even throw to yet. Aside from inexperience, Austin's biggest limitation in my opinion is a lack of arm strength and accuracy. But the most telling thing is this. When the lines for this week opened, we were at -1.5 or 2 in most places. But they took them all off the board with concern that Brandon wouldn't play. Folks were likely loading up on Missouri as a home underdog with Arkansas's starting QB questionable. If BA doesn't play, Mizzou would wind up being favored and the smart money was already in. But it's off the boards at most places now. We'll see what happens when it's confirmed that he's playing. I guess I just don't get the BA bashing. Lots of folks seemed to be doing it at the beginning of the season, but it's quieted down now. Meanwhile he's quietly becoming one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the SEC West. Maybe Austin will be a world beater in three years, but the smart money is on BA this year and next - no doubt about it. He's just a better quarterback than his brother is in every category that matters.

???? In what respects is Austin a better qb than brandon? I'm not talking about potential or what may be, but Austin doesn't have a single advantage over his brother right now that I'm aware of (maybe he's slightly faster.

Took two co-workers to float the Norfork yesterday. We had a great low water window, and some really nice weather. Well we thought it was nice, I guess the fish didn't. I fished a jig in the first two long holes, and we stopped to fish the run against the boulder bank between them. Caught exactly zero fish on the jig. That's an exceptionally rare day. I got into a few of them in the run fishing a heavy nymph with a purple ruby midge tied on a dropper above it, Czech style. That's becoming one of my favorite ways to fish the heavier minimum flow areas on the Norfork. We spent most of our day in the McClellan's area where we caught maybe 15 fish between the three of us. When we got back in our boats, I picked up the spinning rod again and stuck with it for the rest of the day. The jig fishing was still extremely slow. I was starting to wonder whether the bites were just really subtle, because I've never struggled that much out there. I did manage to get a really nice rainbow just over 17" when I switched to a white jig. Had him on for quite a while. Next cast in the same spot I hooked into something massive. He just sat still for a minute, then made a screaming run downstream under my kayak. I lowered my rod into the water to make sure he could take line, which he did and hard. But then nothing. Got it in and the hook was bent badly. That may have happened on the rainbow I landed, but I didn't check. Big mistake. Missed one more in that area and saw a big gold flash when he rolled and sucked in the jig. Seemed like it was probably a good fish. All in all we caught maybe 35 fish between the three of us. Quality was good with a number of 15 and 16" fish. But the takes were very subtle, and the fish would hardly move when first hooked. I was wishing I'd brought my nanofil reel for the jig rod. Maybe that would have helped. We took out at Ackerman instead of going all the way down to the river. Not sure I'll do that again. Those stairs were a lot tougher than I remember from my younger days of doing that float. It was a slow day on the Norfork, but we caught enough to keep it interesting.

I'm going to be a game time decision unfortunately. Have a case that's heating up and may be taking depositions in Dallas right around that time. We'll see.

It's do-able, but it's going to suck going down McClellan's shoal and down the drop-off above Ackerman. Getting it down through Ackerman would be no picnic either. I don't know how deep they draft, but I'm assuming deeper than a canoe. I'd be worried about a rise too. In a canoe, I'd feel like I could get out safely. Not so sure about that thing. At the very least, you could take it down from the dam to the top of McClellan's shoal, park it, and walk until your heart's content. It would be great fishing in the big hole above there too. Then just head back upstream with the trolling motor? But if the water came on, you wouldn't be making any headway at all.

That sit-in one really wasn't bad at all. I'm every bit of 240lbs. I'm strong, but not very nimble. I was nervous that it wouldn't work out, but I was pleasantly surprised after I got over the fear of being trapped in it. One big advantage of it is you're so low in the water, the wind doesn't affect you very much. Not great for seeing fish, but I was able to get around and jig fish from it just fine. Getting in and out wasn't easy. I pretty much beached it and rolled onto the bank. Very graceful.

I was on the river this weekend as well. Probably saw you out there on Saturday or Sunday. 3 guys in a big boat with a 90 jet. We hammered them on the Norfork on Friday. Lots of thick fish. Best brown went about 5lbs I'd guess. Didn't get a good measurement or a picture because my legs were stuck in a death-trap of a kayak that I rented from 2 rivers. Just kidding, a little. We wanted to rent a canoe from them on Friday, but they said none of their canoes were fit for the water anymore. So we grabbed two kayaks instead. My buddy got a sit on top and I got a sit in. I felt very uncomfortable with waders on stuck in that thing, but in truth it was extremely stable and I had no close calls. But getting to stuff in my pockets was a challenge. Our norfork fish were caught on zebra midges below an egg or worm, or on a zig jig. The big one ate a zig jig in the long hole just above McClellan's shoal and came off a lay-down. She skeeted eggs all over me. Fished the White on Saturday from about Gastons to just below the narrows, then we loaded up and trailered to Rim Shoals for the afternoon. Caught them ok all day, but it was very windy and I"m not that great at fishing jigs in the wind. Nothing big, just lots of stockers. Sunday we fished White Hole to the Narrows again and caught the stockers pretty good. We saw some absolute monsters swimming around White Hole. Some of the biggest rainbows I've seen in a long time.

Played golf at Aberdeen near STL when I was passing through the other day. Great course. The greens were covered with woolly worms that were mostly black with a little bit of red. Doesn't that mean something?