hoglaw

Cabelas is going to do very well in Rogers. I have always liked HLS, and try to get to Southtown as often as I can but it's in a pretty inconvenient location for me as it's not on my way to anything. One of the most telling things (for me anyway) is that often times these big mega stores will get some pretty tremendous incentives to locate their store in a particular city. Things like sales tax rebates from the municipality, indefinite lease agreements to avoid property taxes, and other incentives can really sweeten the deal for the big box store or other mass employers. For instance, Wal-mart has a couple of mega distribution centers that can be seen from space. We're talking square footage that is measured by acres. On one of the major hubs in Texas that handles imports from Mexico, Wally world paid for the real estate, paid for construciton of this monstrous facility, then donated the entire property to the county (or city...not sure which). In turn, they got a very long lease on the land from the county for a nominal annual lease fee that keeps them from having to pay property taxes on hundreds of acres. The Branson Landing was developed in a similar fashion (the city of Branson owns the whole area I think and leased it to the entity that operates it on a 99 year lease), and folks that want to build a new store there don't buy land, they "buy" a lease for the duration of the 99 years. There are still over 90 years left on the master lease, so the banks treat financing deals the same as they would for purchasing the real estate. Not sure what happens in the year 2100. There are a few watchdog type groups who will investigate these kinds of activities whenever these stores go in. As I understand it, the City of Rogers has received numerous freedom of information requests aimed at figuring out what kind of incentives Cabelas received to locate their store where it is. The answer is absolutely none. Rogers didn't have to do a thing to get that store. They wanted to be there and didn't ask for much. They required a number of conditional use permits for things like storing boats long term in a zone where auto dealerships and long term storage facilities aren't allowed, and the city was extremely accomodating in this regard, but Cabelas wanted to be in Rogers for a reason. When many cities and counties would bend over backwards to get a store like this built, Rogers didn't have to do much at all. They wanted to be here, and they wanted to be here for a reason. The only time I've been to the new Cabelas was a few days before it opened and I didn't get to see as much as I would have liked since I was still on crutches, but overall I think it's a really cool deal. I'll still frequent the other stores like HLS - mainly for convenience and what feels like local knowledge. But I'm thrilled Cabelas built here and I can't wait to make another trip when I can walk around it a little better.

We got pounded today JD. Hopefully your minions will be better off shortly.

I went the Tuesday before the store opened for "contractor's night" with a buddy who is a city attorney. I was still on crutches so I didn't get to look around as much as I would have liked to, but they appear to have plenty of selection in the fishing department. I went ahead and got a cabela's credit card while I was there so I looked through the hunting clothes since they were all discounted that evening plus I had $25 in points to spend. I didn't find a pair of pants for less than about $180, so I decided to wait for another day. I can't wait to take another walk through the place once I have both legs back.

Al's got it dead right. If you have a "noodle" for a rod, then a quick jerky cast is going to do a lot more harm than good. For a full umph cast, the rod needs to "load up." With a stiffer rod, this is accomplished through a flick of the wrist, or a much snappier cast. With a more moderate action or a lower modulus graphite, you need a longer casting stroke that is much smoother. Think of it as a lob, and you accelerate the rod through the cast just like a golf swing. You don't sling back and jerk forward...especially with a DD22. If the rod is properly loaded and you lob it out there, it should cast like butter with no snap in the line. The fact that you're breaking it off two inches above the knot leads me to believe you leave your lure hanging two inches below the tip top on the cast. Try eight inches with a much longer, smoother, and slower but accelerating casting stroke.

10-4 on the Frank's, Lousiana, and the Siracha (rooster) sauce. I feel like the siracha is hotter than Tobasco. I'm sure there's a quantitative way to measure it, but it always seemed hotter to me. I love it on pizza crust, chicken strips, and other bachelor food. But for me, there's no substitute for Tobasco in gumbo, red beans and rice, or things like that. I love that flavor. A friend of mine had some crazy pepper sauce at one point that was supposed to be one of the hottest available. This was ten years ago or so. Being a lover of all things spicy, I didn't hesitate when he dared me to put a little dab on my finger and try it. I touched it to my tounge and felt like someone put a cigarette out on me. I choked, teared up, and had snot running down my face for about ten minutes. It was absolute agony. It had a weird name like "foundation" or something. The lable had all kinds of warnings, and talked about just a drop or two in a whole pot of chili. I thought the joke was over and everyone had fun at my expense until I went to take a leak about twenty minutes later. That was bad news bears and I think I just went home at that point.

I've seen pools with many many gar between Noel and 43, but I don't know how to tell you to get there other than to float it and look down.

Picked this idea up from TrophyFishR for non-camping non-shore lunch type trips. My favorite float trip snack is a Walmart rotissery chicken shreaded by hand into a tupperware container. High protein and tasty, even when cold. Other than that, I like to take some mountain trail mix (the one with nuts and M&M's) and a couple of Cliff bars.

I've never felt comfortable fishing around lots of other people...just kinda defeats the purpose for me. But my girlfriend's family likes to go to roaring river. I was getting ready for a trial last weekend but left the office in Rogers to head up there for a fish fry Saturday night. I got to their camp and no one was around, so I went down to the river to find them. I'm on crutches so no fishing for me right now anyway. We got down there and it wasn't as crazy crowded as usual, and the family was sharing a pool with a guy who was fly fishing and minding his own business. When my girlfriend's mother and neice (5 years old) started to leave, they walked through the fly fishing guy's backcast area. Now, I think you're always responsible for where your fly goes and you're responsible to know what's behind you particularly around a place like this where not everyone understands exactly what you're doing. But the guy had been making the exact same long cast for thirty minutes and was probably a little zoned out, so I certainly understand how this was a total mistake with some erros on both sides of the line. But sure enough, they walk about 50ft behind the guy and he tags the little girl right in the tricep and breaks the fly off. She starts to cry and he's trying to figure out what happened, and I can see the blue wing olive in her arm from the rock I was sitting on. Girlfriend's dad runs over to pick her up and asks the fly guy if it's barbless, he says it is, and he tries to push down on the eye and pull with hemostats. Nothing doing. The guy then equivocates and says maybe it isn't barbless. It wasn't. Now, I know the old push down and pull with fishing line trick, but I'll be darned if I'm trying it on a five year old that doesn't belong to me - in front of my hopeful in-laws at that. So I kept my mouth shut and followed them to the ER where they had it out in no time. I think all they did is numb the arm and give it a dead pull with needle nose pliars. But I sure wasn't going to try anything like that. Bottom line is if you must fly fish in a crowded place like roaring river where kids are running all over the place, please please be careful what you're doing. Also, if you're like me and you see a mom and a kid walking in a general area where someone is fly fishing, speak up and say something and don't assume that everyone knows what to watch out for.

I remember that game...I was there and very hungover. That was the last team Houston Nutt coached. He didn't even coach that game. I don't remember who did. One of the Dick sisters was probably the quarterback that game, though I don't really remember. I've been to two cotton bowls. One was the most boring game I've ever seen (Ark v. OU in 2001 maybe?) and the Mizzou game was one of the most frustrating. It was apparent after the first couple of possessions that the team just wasn't playing and Mizzou was firing on every cylinder. I had the impression they just ran all over us, though I really don't remember all that well. Some very nice Mizzou fans in my section shared their scotch with me most of the morning. I think it's great that Mizzou is in the SEC now, mostly so folks will stop talking about how Arkansas isn't really geographically connected to the SEC (or at least they'll lump is with Mizzou). There are no southerners in Missouri. Folks from Northwest Arkansas aren't really southerners either. Having grown up in Little Rock and spending lots of my time in the Delta, I can tell you that the only thing Northwest Arkansas has in common with the rest of the state is the Razorbacks.

Well, that's where it gets tricky. Arkansas, like most southern states, is an "at will" employment state. That means you can fire someone for any reason, just not the "wrong" reason. Firing a woman because she gets pregnant is against the law. Descriminating in promotion practices or hiring practices against a "protected class" is against the law. I'm sure someone knows more about this than me, but the protected classes include religious affiliation, race, ethnicity, age, and maybe disability. It does NOT include sexual orientation. So as far as I know, firing someone because you find out they are gay is not against the law since sexual orientation is not a protected class under the 14th amendment. It would take a supreme court ruling on the national level, or individual state supreme courts on the state level, or amendments to the U.S. or specific state constitutions to make firing someone because they are gay (or get married to a member of the same sex) against the law. That may not be the case in states with more employee-friendly employment laws that require some kind of cause or something, but I only know about the at will employment state law.

See, that's the thing people are getting all wrong. No one said they couldn't say it (other than the whacko mayor of XXX Massachusetts who said good luck opening a store here...or something like that). This isn't a first amendment issue at all. No one, as far as I know of, has threatened to cite Chic-Fil-A or arrest it or whatever. It's an issue of a company giving money to causes that many people find immoral and as a result those people ask others not to patronize that business. It's the same darn thing as not giving X company your business because they ship jobs overseas and asking others not to do it as well. The people who waited in lines weren't making a stand for "free speech". They were making a visual and monetary response to the folks who urged others not to go there because the CEO or whatever thinks that gay people are just wrong.

Probably should go in the politics forum. Social media being what it is these days, these things can get very big very quickly. I guess we're fortunate to not have bigger issues in the news? The bottom line is the company gives money to groups who advocate a view point that says certain people are worth less and should be kept to fewer rights than the rest of us. If a restaurant chain openly gave money (and made public statements about it) to organizations who advocated segregation and abridged rights for black people, then I wouldn't spend my money there. I suppose it's pretty much the same thing here. Everyone has a right to express their viewpoint, but that expression comes with consequences. If I advocated keeping every smallmouth that's legal, I'm sure folks on this board would be upset. Maybe they wouldn't want to fish with me. I don't see how it's any different. I've tried to steer clear of it and I don't really eat there in the first place, but I don't view homosexuality as a choice and I don't view people who have a homosexual orientation as second class citizens. They are entitled to the same thing everyone else here is, and that is my complete and utter indifference what they do in the bedroom. The idea of same sex marriages doesn't bother me. I don't want to watch two dudes make out in public any more than I want to watch the rest of you. I guess it probably grosses me out more, but that doesn't mean I don't think they should be allowed to get married the same as me. I guess the bottom line is it boils down to whether you think homosexuality is an involuntary characteristic...the same as brown hair or being prone to cancer. Having known enough folks who repressed it throughout their young adult life only to realize later on that what they had always been taught was wrong was who they really were, I have to say from experience that I just don't think it's something someone chooses at some point along the way. I have absolutely zero inclination to be attracted to other men...none. Nada. Zilch. Honestly, the thought puts me off a little. Therefore, it's impossible for me to understand how someone could just say "I think I'll try dudes today." So, if someone is born a certain way, that certain way doesn't hurt me, children, or anyone else, then I think they should be afforded the same rights and protections as anyone else and I don't think the State should go out of its way to make darn double sure they never get that. And if Chic-Fil-A wants to donate money to causes that vehemently oppose that very same idea, then I don't think that's right. It's not on my agenda and it's not something I've thought much about until right now, but I have friends and clients who are gay and I don't like the idea of someone speaking out against a trait they didn't chose to begin with. Everyone has a right to say what they want. Chic-Fil-A doesn't (as far as I know) descriminate in its hiring practices or who it serves. Everyone is well within the law. The remedy for speech you disagree with is more speech, and all the protesters who have urged others not to go there are doing a good thing as far as I'm concerned. If you think gay people shouldn't get married and should keep it behind closed doors, then I suppose you're doing the right thing by making special trips there too as far as you're concerned.

troutbum, I keep an old film canister with a broken half of a razorblade and some pills (ibuprophen, antacid, benadryl, zyrtec) in my wading pack when I can remember it. Good way to transport it without hurting yourself. Man, there are so many good lines out there these days that with the proper rod there's really not much of a reason for mono anymore. The only reason I could think of to even use mono would be for a crankbait or jerkbait, but with a good rod that's not even desireable for me anymore. I've never looked at the comparisons and I"m about to, but I've always liked Seguar Red Label for floro, P-line premium for mono substitute (as I think it's a co-polymer but I really don't know), and power pro for braid. None of those are "high dollar." Man, I saw some floro the other day that was like $50 a spool. Maybe that sniper stuff or something Japanese? I can't remember. I'm a self confessed gadget guy when it comes to high dollar rods and reels for sure, and I'm particular about my line, but I just wonder how much of a difference that stuff can make? I'm not going to try any just because I'm afraid I'll feel like I have to have it.

Nicely done. Love that Mad Season song.

This is my last weekend on two legs. Having microfracture surgery on Tuesday and will be on crutches for 8 weeks after, so I tried to pack a whole bunch of fun in this weekend. I can't really canoe/wade right now because of the knee, but I can still boat fish and play golf so I decided to do a whole bunch of both this weekend. I'm lucky to have access to a dream farm pond here in NWA owned by a friend's family member. Friday after work he took a flatbottom and my girlfriend and I took another and met around 6. This pond is absolutely packed with big bass and doesn't get fished except by us (and one trespasser we ran off a month or two ago that probably had 40lbs of bass on a freaking stringer). During the day the bass will lay in the thick grass and not do much at all, so we were just hoping for an hour of chaos right before dark when they start eating frogs. That had been the SOP for the past few fridays, but we had some really nice dark clouds rolling over us so I thought maybe they'd get going earlier. My buddy hadn't arrived yet so the girlfriend and I were glad to get the jump on him. We launched our boat and motored towards the deeper grass-free area of the lake near the dam. I had us all rigged up and ready to go, and handed my girlfriend a stout frog rod with a zoom horny toad and 30lb braid. On the way across the lake, she was hanging the rod out of the side of the boat with about a foot of line...just standard casting length. I didn't think anything of it until a big one smashed her frog right next to the boat while we were running full trolling motor speed! She about had a heart attack and nearly lost my rod in the process. From then on, it was clear they were eating. We went through four packs of horny toads. 20 frogs, all eviscerated by fish. They were biting so hard and heavy that it was immediately clear to me that running out of frogs was a real possibility, so I started leaving the "cripples" in the bottom of the boat to flip over and use later. Sure enough, we went back through most of them. I have no idea what our final count was, but it was pushing 50 that were brought to hand. We didn't catch any giants by that pond's standards, but probably had 10 or so in the 4-5lb range. I'd rather watch a fish eat a horny toad than any other top water lure. These fish were coming a foot out of the water just crushing them. Not a bad last trip before 8 weeks of hobbling around on crutches.

Had a good trip. It was VERY hot. Got to meet Tim and he was extremely hospitable and set me on the right path. Caught quite a few fish but nothing to write home about. Had big rains on Friday and especially Saturday. Saturday's rain stained the water quite a bit. Fished the C&R section right after it and couldn't see fish, but they hit a hopper pretty well anyway. It's an interesting place. I've never fished around that many people before, or even seen that many folks in one place. But it's a beautiful area and no shortage of fish in the river. Thanks again for the local knowledge and good gear Tim!

I think I fished up there before...maybe when I was in college during the winter. I remember catching some big fish on the fly. This coming weekend my girlfriend's family is doing a camping trip. From what I can tell, their campsite is on the river in zone 1 which appears to be artificials only. I'm sure I'll carry a fly rod, but if I want to fish around the family I probably need to carry a couple spinning rods as well. Anyway, just hoping for some general information about roaring river. I've always heard about how crowded it is and I have no illusions about getting a section to myself to fish. Just want to help my girlfriend's little niece catch some fish and maybe sneak away to the fly area in the evenings. Is the water tail-water cold? As in, too cold to wet-wade? Any general information would be much appreciated.

The finger is a for sure must...just make sure you move it out of the way before you set the hook on heavy braid. Otherwise you'll be using the next finger down. I dang near hit bone a couple summers ago fishing big live crawdads for big drum on the Ouachita River. It's a very soft bite and they don't pick it up and run with it, so you have to drop the hammer quickly. 30lb braid cut me like a knife.

Yes, bend the hooks up a little on the hollow body frogs. I've never had too much of a problem with hook-ups on horny toads and find them to be about the same as any topwater bait. They do make a little stinger hook for them though. Girlfriend and I caught some serious slop donkeys last Friday. I told her she couldn't break the braid no matter how hard she tried and to get nasty on these fish. Then my knot failed so she won big fish by default. Man I love that kind of fishing.

Step dad's Yamaha 25 2 stroke had the identical problem and a new fuel line fixed it.

The "action" of a rod refers to where the rod flexes, not how much it flexes or how "stiff" it is. An extra fast rod can feel less stiff than a moderate rod. As RPS said, stiffness is determined in large part by the modulus of the graphite. Lower modulus or composite modulus is going to feel less "stiff" than higher modulus graphite regardless of the action of the rod. But I agree with everyone's general comments. For a traditional texas rig worm rod, I want a long rod with a "fast" action that feels very stiff. If you're going with a store bought rod, you can check action by flexing the rod against the ground and seeing where it flexes. To check stiffness, you see lots of people waiving the rod around in the air to just sorta feel which one feels stiffer. Personally, I'd do that and get the feel for it, and then narrow down to a few competitors based upon the specs (lure weight, length, line weight). Once you've done that, you can hold the rod near the reel seat, and bang the blank just above the foregrip into the heel of your palm and see how long it takes the rod to recover - get still again. The ones that continue wiggling for longer have a longer recovery time and will feel less stiff. For maximum sensitivity, find the stiffest rod that's in your category. The lighter the rod is, the more sensitive it will be. The farther back it balances, the more sensitive it will be. The smaller and fewer the guides, the more sensitive it will be. And I really like the exposed blank reel seats.

Does this thread have to go four pages before I can claim my epic troll patch, or can I go ahead and get that sent to me now?

Man that sucks. That kind of thing just makes you absolutely sick. It's just a way of life most of us can't imagine. Craigslist and the local paper are certainly good sources as well as the local pawn shops. But as it happens I know a guy who knows a guy who has a 2005 mercury 5 horse electric motor for sale...no title though. Word is he hasn't had it long and not sure how it runs, but he's a very motivated seller

darn Al Gore.

Can you share a bit more about what you're doing? You're fishing a river I take it...don't need to know where, but would be nice toknow a bit more about your technique...time of day, presentation, bait, etc.