Flysmallie

Wow. Really. We sure don't have the same values!!

There's a lot more to price than the cost of materials.

I think these threads are a bad way to judge a person. I totally cringe at some of the stuff Chief says. Wrench sets me off with some of his ramblings as well. But I have been fortunate enough to spend some time on the water hanging out with both of them and you just aren't going to find better guys. The crap that is spewed on forums is just that. Crap.

You guys are already behind.

#1 Manufactured Racism

Thanks for sharing Dan. Good luck.

Who doesn't think that an officer, who is pointing a gun at you, is going to shoot you if you reach in your pocket? Anyone? C'mon people, everybody knows better than that. He wanted to be dead.

That is an awesome photo.

I don't know. Bill is looking pretty good.

I always loved the feeling when realized you pushed it just a little too far and you are about to stab one or come down really hard. If you are patient and calm (I am not) then it's not a problem. Not much fun. I was probably 24 or 25 when me and a buddy fished a tournament out of State Park Marina on Stockton. I was going to run all the way up the Sac river around Birch creek. I knew the wind was blowing and the side the marina is on looked rough but wasn't horrible. I came around the point heading south and holy crap I was all of a sudden in the middle of the ocean. Somehow I got right out in the middle of it and rode those waves south. IF you live, you learn.

It gets the same way on Stockton at times. Not as often as those southern lakes but I have seen it just as bad.

You just never know. Might be surprisingly good and you catch 30 bass one day averaging 4 to 6 pounds. Or it could be surprisingly bad and you go back to the ramp wondering if you have any idea what you are doing. But you never know when that next bite is going to be a true monster.

I know his pain. I grew up fishing farm ponds in Oklahoma with my dad from float tubes. Sometimes those snakes would just make a beeline for you. I think they really thought it would just be a nice place to crawl up on and bask in the sun. ALWAYS freaked me out. You would have to wait until they got close enough to slap the water in front of them to get them to stop. Then came the worst part, they would go under and disappear. Then you had the occasional beaver that was trying to defend his spot. I saw a beaver in a float tube and I went the other way just as fast as a little fat kid could go.

Yeah it's not unusual to get blown off of one of these southern lakes. Spent a lot of days sitting around trying to find something to do. But it's all part of it. Here's a video coming out of Little Mustang and running back to Lake Fork Marina while a storm is brewing. The problem is that you can't just run across the lake and make a good angle across the waves because there are trees everywhere. I had to make two bad cuts across the lake that day and my poor beat up cancer stricken dad, who was never a fan of my boat rides, was in there so I had to try to take it easy on him. GPS is a beautiful thing on that lake. Make good paths and continue following them. When the waves get big some of those trees are hard to spot and some disappear altogether. Sound is weird because the camera is mounted to the trolling motor on my dad's 20ft Champion. https://youtu.be/QXbtxTD-NQQ

I'm sorry. To me a jig hook makes it easier to make the fly ride point up. And while I do swim it quite a bit it does get drug a lot too. That hook keeps the line and knot up out of the rocks. And the last thing it does is that it seems to me that the legs don't get tangled around the line as much when using a jig hook. Now all of these don't mean squat. But I have tied it both ways and I have more confidence in the jig hook so that's what I do.

Yes.

Fork is probably my favorite lake to fish in the world. Reminds me a lot of the farm ponds I grew up fishing. I might be the only living person in SW Missouri that probably has more hours of fishing in on Fork than Table Rock. Spent a lot of time burning up that highway between here and there. Spent most of my time in Birch or Little Mustang. Man I have some good memories from there. All I can say is have fun. I never finessed fished it much. Seems like at times like that it didn't matter what you threw, they weren't hitting. But maybe the Ned would make a difference. Haven't seen many guides down there taking that approach but if they would have been where I could have watched them then it probably wouldn't have been the best choice, so maybe they are. That time of the year it's just a roll of the dice. It could still be too early, it could be too late, it could just be the wrong moment. But when you hit it right it's pretty special. They like rattletraps. They really like them. There is a reason that every boat down there is running around with at least one rod with a rattletrap on it during the spring. Those fish love them and its perfect for fishing over the top of the grass. Most everybody will have a red one tied on. Pretty cliché for that lake. I like this one. Chartreuse Shiner. Have a good time. I hope the weather is perfect for you.

That is correct. I'm OUT on this one.

It's open for C&R fishing Friday thru Monday. The flood didn't hurt it.

That is problem #1 in our country.

I grew up in southern Oklahoma so armadillos have always been just another creature in the woods. No different than a possum. We used to have them in our yard all the time but I only remember my dad shooting a couple of them that acted "strange". Most the others were just chased back into the woods. If chased is the right word. They are pretty slow moving to be considered chased I think.

It's only sad because they were stupid enough to think that a gunfight with law enforcement was an option. That never ends well. There is nothing you can do or say for the LEO to say "Oh don't worry about it, I was out of line and you shooting at me resolved everything". They shoot unarmed kids, they aren't going to take kindly to someone actually firing a shot at them. Just cleansing of the gene pool.

I don't get having a fish or animal hanging on your wall at all. Plus I'm too lazy to actually clean fish if I do catch one so they almost always go back no matter what kind of fish it is. I have a couple of big bass mounts hanging on the wall in my office that belonged to my dad. Those will be the only two I will ever own.

I used to think that exact same thing mjk86. Then one day on Table Rock a megabass changed my mind about all that. Is it always better? No. But sometimes they are. Just like sometimes on another close lake a gold rogue with a white belly will get bit when nothing else will.

Hey I have bought them before with an f'ing coupon.