hoglaw

Any reports from the other end of the lake? The White got pretty big. Is the water bad muddy in the 412 area? Was hoping to cut out and do some crappie fishing tomorrow. Wonder if that's still an option? FF, you think what water we got is enough for the catfish to do their thing in PC?

The graphs didn't post, anyway, both War Eagle and Richland are blown out and went vertical, but Richland is falling now. I think Beaver gets a major bump, but unless that storm drifts farther to the east, I don't think we see flood gates this time around.

Yup, War Eagle has gone "ballistic": But Richland Creek has crested....not sure about the White: It looks like they've backed off the totals some to me. Eastern Oklahoma is getting pounded, but the storm doesn't appear to be moving east much, mainly going from south to north. There's a massive amount of stuff over Dallas right now, but if most of that stays west of us and keeps going north, it looks like we may get spared with only 5 inches or so. Trophy is right, Eastern Oklahoma is clocking in over twelve inches already with the worst yet to come. But meteorologist Hoglaw is backing off of his rain-pocalypse predictions.

Randy: I'm thrilled you are pleased with the rods. You have no idea how nervous I was handing over materials someone else had paid money for. I, of course, had to do some testing with both rods and I was very pleased with them both, so I was more than willing to pay you your cost in them for both. They would make good additions to anyone's arsenal, including mine. I'd done quite a few rods before yours, but never for anyone else so it's great to hear they are working out well. I've done a number of projects for myself over the winter, and I think I just about have a rod for every possible lure and line now! I still need a good heavy A-rig rod and a frog rod. For most folks those would be the same rod, but once you get bitten as hard as I have with this building bug, you've got to have the perfect setup for each. Thanks for the vote of confidence, and I hope they serve you well for a long time!

And I'm sure this has been posted before, but Gavin, do you have a reccommendation for a 100% braid to mono or braid to floro leader knot? I can't seem to maintain very good strength when I try to put them together and a small shock between my hands pops the knot ever time.

Line digging on a bc reel can be an issue if you really crank down, like if you try to pull a snag free by thumbing the spool completely still and pulling with all you've got. For normal fishing and fighting, I've never had an issue. I haven't had braid tied on a spinning reel in quite a while. I've been building my spinning rods with micro guide setups, and they strongly disagree with flurocarbon. The line I use on everything depends entirely on the lure I'm using. For crankbaits it's either mono or fluro. Jigs, worms, bottom bouncers, spinnerbaits - it's fluro. I use mono on jerkbaits and sammies, braid on frogs, buzzbaits, and heavy football jigs when night fishing. So far I've stuck with mono on my spinning rods simply because the micro setups disagree with flurocarbon, but I may have to give braid a shot again this year. I do very little spin fishing anymore. Pretty much reserved for trout and flick-shake worms. Even shakey heads I prefer to use a baitcast rod anymore. But I did just build a really nice SCV spinning rod that's 7' in medium or medium heavy...one or the other. It will be a great rod for swimming a jig this summer and I'm sure I'll run mono on it. For mono I've always used the green XT too. Mostly 8lb, though trout is a different deal. I've never used a co-polymer line. My understanding is it's a little limper, doesn't stretch, and neutrally boyant. Of all the ones you guys posted about above, which co-polymer do you reccomend? My brands are: Mono: XT green Floro: Segaur red label Braid: Power pro or suffix

You must be spending too much time inside looking at the calendar then. I could care less when the calendar says it's spring. When the redbuds are in full bloom and the dogwoods blooming, when the turkeys are gobbling on the roost, when the crappie are on the banks, when the whites are up the river, when the fairways turn green, and when Beaver is over 60 degrees, it's spring. I can check every single one of those off the list. I bet we're going to have a very late very warm bass spawn this year though. Last year the river fish were on beds as late as May and June as I recall. I bet they'll ride this one out and wait for the water to come down before they go to bedding this year again.

I had a dandy myself. In three weeks of spring, I've joined a new golf club and played two and a half rounds. I've hit balls a few times. I caught some wiggle wart fish on beaver and some honking finesse worm crappie. Didn't manage to get in a river float, but I did walk to Kings River Falls today and take a polar bear swim with my girlfriend. Have to say, it was a nice spring and I'm glad I did my best to enjoy it, because I'm going to miss it after this week. I count a total of eleven possible inches of rain over the next four days according to NOAA. The last time this happened everything was hammered until May, and then it got hot. Here's hoping that doesn't happen again, but I'll set the over/under on rain for the next ten days at a foot in Fayetteville, Arkansas. I expect the river arms of Beaver to be chocolate milk shortly. I hate when this happens, but at least I can sleep with the windows open. Hope last Spring doesn't repeat itself and everyone stays safe.

and promptly beat it to death with a pitching wedge it appears

I'm certain they do General Tso's or something like it. The food is fantastic and not your standard cookie cutter chinese place. You won't regret it.

You own Hunan?????? I love that place. I could eat there every day but try to limit it to once a month. You have the BEST schezwan (sp?) beef ever. Extra spicy, add peanuts. It's a regular stop for the men in my office when the girls aren't eating with us. Massive food coma type place. Absolutely not your standard chineese fare. I've started lifting during lunch time so I don't get out to eat much lately, but I'll try to come by soon. I can't imagine how good that would be after a day on the water. I feel like homer Simpson right now. Mmmmmmm, Hunan.

which restaurant? My office is the old building with Rolandos in the basement. Got into the scotch tonight and I can't remember the building's proper name, but it's on the northwest corner of 2nd and Poplar.

You could put in at the Pineville public ramp and paddle up the B.S. if you wanted to I guess. I'm sure you could paddle up and float back from just about any of the access. Also, the lake at Noel is as good a place as any to just paddle around and fish, but why not pay Wacky Worm to ride with you and take your car back to his place, or to leave your kayak at his place and have him follow you to the take out then make the turn-around? He's always charged me a very fair rate and you might as well do it right.

FF, do you actually hold yourself out to be a guide on Beaver or do you just fish it a bunch? My girlfriend would get a kick out of a striper trip I think (and I would too). Only intentional striper fishing I've ever done has been for topwater schoolers on lake Maumelle in my younger days, and a guided trip on Texoma where we stroked them slow rolling big spinnerbaits. When you talk about the restaurant, are you talking about Across the Creek by chance?

I've always found spinning reels to be more "cantankerous" in the line twist department. I'm sure line twist can happen with a baitcaster, particularly jigging spoons, but I've never noticed it being a problem. New line on a spinning reel and line twist can be a serious pain in the neck. Building spinning rods is tougher for me too. Guide placement is way more important when it comes to casting efficiency than it is with baitcasters. There's a lot more to it than just static testing. The funny thing is now that I've gotten into building rods, I see how little attention is paid to guide placement and guide size on commercial spinning rods. I've started stripping guides and replacing them with micros for the choke and running guides, and bigger ones for the first two guides and it's a world of difference in how they cast and how they feel. Those big heavy guides and improper placement really kill the action of a lot of off the rack rods.

This would be an outstanding canoe rod for anyone looking at a nice set-up. I have the GL3 with identical specs as that blank and its absolutely awesome.

Ugh, I'm not really that knowledgable about fly guides. But, I can tell you that I don't hesitate to use single foot guides on spiral wrapped baitcast rods where most of your off the rack rods have double foot guides. Check out rodbuilding.org and they may have some advice there. I would imagine that you wouldn't have a problem with them as long as you use appropriate thread tension and a forhan locking wrap. I've yet to have a guide pull out. If you do have a guide fail, it will certainly not be from ordinary fishing conditions, casting, or even tangling line around a guide. Properly wrapped guides pull out from abuse, not use.

I built two SCV blanks this winter - one football jig casting rod and I'm about to finish a shakey head spinning rod. They are very nice blanks.

I'd echo what so many others have said on here. Most folks use right hand reels either because that's how they grew up or because they didn't think about it when they thought "I want to buy a baitcaster." The first reel I ever put my hands on was a spinning rod. I grew up fishing a little creek behind my house. So when it came time to get into baitcasting, I didn't feel the need to change anything. Most stores will stock fewer left hand models for sure and you may encounter the occasional availability problem. But that inconvenience is far outweighed by fishing the way that comes natural to you, and because there are serious deals to be had. I've been slowly stocking up on nice baitcast reels like a curado and revo to replace some of my older cheapies. But I build rods much faster than I can afford to acquire reels. Over Christmas, I was back home and went into Gander Mountain. They had Citicas marked down to $89 or something, so I asked the guy if he had any left hand models. He basically blew the dust off of one and I played around with it for a minute, and asked him if he'd take $60. He said he could do $65, so I bought all three they had left. They are good servicable reels. They are darn decent reels for $65. The ONLY drawback in my mind is that 95% of folks use right hand models, so it's a little tougher to jump in someone elses boat and use their equipment. A spinnerbait, worm, or crankbait is no problem. But you should see me try to work a sammie or rogue with my left hand. It isn't pretty.

I can personally attest that TrophyFishR's custom paint jobs are the bees' knees.

Don't think you'll go wrong with any of those selections. Don't know much about flyrods, but I've been very pleased with MHX's blanks for casting and spinning. Batson makes outstanding blanks for sure, as does TF. I'd think that you'd want a more moderate action with big streamers though, but once again my fly knowledge is limited. One of the fly blank makers rates not just MF, F, XF, but on a scale of 1-12 or something. Maybe St. Croix? If you really want to spend the time and effort, demo a few "off the rack" 8wts, get the model number, and ask St. Croix which blank they used in it.

Good post. Cut and suck was still taught when I was a boy scout. Now the consensus seems to be not to do it. Why is that? Is it completely ineffective? Is the venom absorbed just as easily through oral mucosa? Or is it that the certainty of infection outweighs any benefits of removing a small amount of venom? My brother got popped on his hand by a copperhead a few years ago. He had to put a chain under a log. He looked under it first, the scraped a stick around under it and heard nothing. Apparently there was a very quiet and angry copperhead underneath, because as soon as he reached down it nailed him right on the hand. He went straight to the hospital. By the time he got there he was in excruciating pain and his entire arm looked like a football. Bad news bears if he was wearing a ring. They didn't treat with antivenom and he suffered no long term effects, but scared the pants off him.

I don't have an opinion on the Elder case because I haven't read it. If it says what everyone thinks it says, then it's certainly binding law on the clown court, so long as the facts at issue are not distinguishable. I chimed in more to give my opinion that the lawyer's email wasn't out of line or improperly leading. I don't really remember what the facts were that led to Chief's charge in the first place. You have trials to determine facts. The jury (or judge in a bench trial) acts as the finder of facts. The judge interprets the law and how it applies to the facts that are found to be true. If everyone is in agreement on what the facts are, then it's typically pretty easy to submit a case to a judge on stipulated facts and let him determine how the law applies to those facts. At some point I'll try to read that Elder case and chime in, though I suspect you guys that have read it like Al probably got right.

There's nothing leading about it whatsoever. If I were representing Chief, I would have told him the exact same thing. This is where I've got you so far, and this is what it will take for the charges to get kicked. If you want to go forward and have your day in court, that's fine with me. This is how much it will cost for me to prepare for trial and go to court with you. That's all he said. Whoever suggested that Chief have a meeting with the prosecutor without the lawyer, the prosecutor cannot ethically communicate with a person he knows to be represented by counsel regarding the subject matter of the representation. For what it's worth Chief, I wouldn't tell you anything different. The email from your attorney is completely normal, and is certainly not cause for others on here to tell you you need a new lawyer. If you don't think he's earning your money and doing a good job for you, then by all means fire him, but there is NOTHING in that email that would indicate to me that he's not doing a good job. I do a very good job for my clients. You will not find one person in the world who will tell you that I'm greedy, lazy, don't work hard, or don't care about my clients. I give very good advice, and part of that is clearly explaining to the client the situation and the costs and benefits of various alternatives. All of this spouting off about constitutional rights and whatnot is severly misplaced. If you want to look at it from a "greed" perspective, the lawyer is explaining the costs involved and he doesn't make any money if Chief doesn't pay him fees. To put this into perspective, this case is in clown court. It's a misdemeanor and traffic court. No proceedings are on record. There is no appeal to a Missouri appellate court. If you want to "make law", that has to be done on appeal. The case first has to be appealed to the general jurisdiction level and tried again from scratch...a "de novo" appeal. From there, it can be taken to an appellate court that makes reported law. It seems what most of you want is for Chief to lose twice - once in clown court and once in general jurisdiction criminal court. That assumes that two judges will disagree and find Chief guilty, and a prosecutor doesn't say "this is stupid" and just dismiss the case. If Chief actually wins at either of those levels, no law is made. It's not an opinion anyone else can rely on. It's the finding of a clown court judge, and/or a general jurisdiction judge/jury. I can't give anyone advice on Missouri law of course, but I know what I would do if I were in Chief's situation. I would ask my lawyer to set up a conference call with the prosecutor. I would explain clearly to the prosecutor exactly where I want to float and where I want to step foot. If he's agreeable to that, then I'd call it a day and walk away knowing I was right and saving a good deal of money. If he says I can't float where I want to float and I can't set foot where I want to set foot, then I'd want a trial. I'd want Mr. Prater to come to court as a witness and for him to hear the judge's decision. There are no "countersuits" or "counterclaims" in criminal court. Those are civil issues. It may be that you, or anyone else who has been run off by Mr. Prater could file a lawsuit against him to establish an easement by perscription for the general public relying on the recent Missouri cases, but that would certainly require the opinion and representation of a lawyer who knows how to handle those kind of issues. I guess the bottom line is to the extent folks are getting worked up about your lawyer based only on that email, it's my opinion that his position is typical for a professional who understands the situation. If you don't trust your lawyer or don't feel like he's earning his fee, there are LOTS of us in the world. If you trust him, then rely on his opinion and communicate with him so his opinion will be an informed one. If you aren't going to rely on a lawyer's advice, then why would you pay one in the first place? Whatever you decide to do Chief, good luck. I hope it all works out well for you.

Just weighing in here to defend the anoynomous lawyer. Nothing in what Chief copied was wrong at all (except, perhaps, for the copying and pasting of attorney-client discussions which would piss me off for sure...but then again I don't put in print what I don't want the world to see). For you guys badmouthing the lawyer and talking about a countersuit in a misdemeanor clown court criminal case, you're really shooting your mouths off with very little ammunition. I've prosecuted and defended, and now do higher-end litigation, and I can tell you that nothing in the lawyer's email was unreasonable. Chief, you just have to decide whether you want your day in court or not. I'm sure you could discuss with the prosecutor whether going on "Prater's land" involves the streambed or not and you can be clear on any agreement you make. You aren't going to make law here and you aren't going to the Supreme Court. I'd say listen to your lawyer first. Second, if they're going to kick the charges and make sure to note that you can float and fish until your heart's content as long as you don't set foot on his land, then it sounds to me like you're in pretty good shape.