Wheatenheimer

OK, so I have to chime in on this one. If you are so fortunate to find one of these incredibly sweet rides..........jump on it! I have an 1986 AMC (same folks that made the Jeep for many years before Chrysler) Eagle wagon. It has the Jeep 286ci (4.2 liter) in-line 6, independent front suspension, shift on the fly 4 wheel drive. I have 116K miles and it purrs as if it were new. I consistently get 20 mpg and have slept in the back comfortably when the weather was too rough for the tent. I would feel confident driving it to the Pacific Northwest for a Steelhead Odyssey and back with no hesitation! "It's sort of like a Jeep thing.........even I don't understand!"

Picture # 5: in Missouri, and something in the background gives it away, and bonus if you can name either of the dudes in the picture, and they ain't Paul Dallas either: If this is an old picture, it kinda looks like the James just above the old McCall bridge. Once was a cool old one lane iron bridge, now two boring lanes of concrete. The two dudes...............don't know, but they are loaded for an expidition of Lewis and Clark preportion! I Love this game! Kevin

Fishing was really slow. Catch of the day was a really fat Bluegill that could have been filet'ed! Nothing much else happening. We had the girls with us and they were more concerned with when we would pull off and pick flowers and such. Compromises!

Ding, Ding, Ding! We have a winner! Congratulations, Creek Wader! It is the Elk. This is a spot about 3 miles up from the MDC Cowskin access off of highway 43. This was my first time to float the Elk. We met up with our friends Louis and Nikki from Northern Arkansas. Louis and his brother built my canoe and they call their company Two Brothers Canoe. It was a beautiful day on a beautiful river! Thanks for checking it out and playing along! Kevin

To put a date stamp on it, picture was taken yesterday afternoon. That was Saturday, October 3! Hope this helps! Kevin

Not the Meramec, not the Buffalo. That may be Humpus Ozarkus in the middle right, didn't notice till Hank pointed it out! Buckshot Dad, I don't know where falling rock cave is at. To narrow it down, it is in Missouri...........barely! Good fun! Kevin

Ok, so Hank Franklin posted a pic earlier and I thought it was so much fun that I would start another "Where's Waldo" thread. ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Good Luck, Kevin

Nice job! It looks great! I was wondering if you could build me a "beer holder/pouch" for the size of can pictured on the left? All kidding aside, thanks for sharing your wisdom and skills with us! Kevin

Very nice! I love the "beer holder/pouch for stuff" option! Lookin' good, Brother!

Hey Eric! That's an awesome deal, the fish won't care if your boat is camo, it just won't look as cool on top of your Range Rover! We'll have to get together and meet somewhere halfway, like the Gasconade or one of them Piney's for a float sometime soon! Smallmouth Joe, check out http://www.twobrotherscanoe.com/ This is a buddy of mine that lives just across the border in Arkansas, about an hour and half from Springfield. I have their Royalex 14 footer and it works great as a solo for me, it is also big enough that my lady can go too. I think they still have a few boats left and you'll find them in about the same price range as what Eric paid. Thanks, Kevin

Yep, caught a little bit of it tonight. Got the DVR set up for the rest of the week! Anything Ken Burns, is worth watching. I love his Doc, many years ago, on Lewis and Clark!

Well, Crane was my original intention. Then last night, I stayed up a little too late and after a few too many, I thought "Seeing how Flysmallie doesn't return calls, I'll sleep in and give the Triathalon a shot!" Eric, I thought about going to the take out first and dropping off the bike, but at this point I was running out of daylight and really wanted to get on the water. As it turns out the bike really wasn't that bad of a floating partner. He never once complained, or got his line tangled up in mine............he never even farted! I wish that fishing with Flysmallie could be so pleasant! TroutRinger, Yep. Just parked at the little pull off area on the side of the road. My new found friend with the free beer said it would be OK. If you can't trust someone that offers you free beer, who can you trust? Seriously, I have parked there many times in the past and never had any hassel. Thanks again to all for responding! Kevin

So with today being such a fantastic Indian Summer day, I decided to carry out one of my many hair-brained ideas. I could solve the ever-daunting shuttling problem by taking my bicycle with me on a float. When I get to the end of the float, chain the canoe to a tree, strap everything on the bike and peddle my way back to the wagon! Why didn't I act this out sooner?!?! I put in at the first bridge below 160, off of Seneca road. When I pulled off to park, I noticed a fine gentleman sitting in a lawn chair at the private park pavillion. So I decided to walk up and ask him if it is OK to park here. Super nice fellow! As a matter of fact, he went on to tell me that they had a big retirement party last night which involved 3 kegs of beer and he was waiting for a lady to come pick up the kegs to take them back to the BD. Only problem was, only 2 kegs were empty. Number 3 was full! "Ya want some beer?" Well, twist my arm, Brother! I sat and visited with my new best friend and drank a few glasses of his free beer! I felt as though I just won the lottery! As tempting as it was to sit and drink and spin yarns with this Saint among men, I had a mission! The "3P" triathalon! So down the river I go. I fished a bit along the way, caught a few Goggleye............. Lots of Pumpkinseeds.................and the strangest of all..............2 White Bass! Seemed a little odd for this time of year. I got to my take out and chained the boat to a Sycamore a bit upstream and out of view, then loaded down the Mountain Bike and started heading back to pick up the wagon. Felt good to work the legs after paddling for the last couple of hours. I then drove down to the next bridge and picked up the canoe. This worked out really well, I do believe I will be participating in more "3P" Triathalon's in the near future! Thanks for lookin'! Kevin

Great Pic! It's surprising how good Deer can swim considering the hoofed foot thing. Thanks for sharing. Kevin

Hey Tyy! Welcome back! With you living in Ozark, you have one of the best Smallmouth, Panfish streams in Missouri right at your fingertips.......the Finley! Both upstream and downstream of Ozark, will offer you and your boy's some fantastic wade fishing of the warmwater persuasion, but act fast, the calander is not in your favor. When the warmwater species die down, it's time to think about Trout! Just 30 minutes down 65 and you'll have your boys wading below the dam at Taneycomo, but call ahead and make sure they are not cranking four units (417-336-5083.) It's getting to be that time of year that we have the opportunity to hook into some monster Brown's and Bow's below the dam. If Taney is too crowded, there are a few wild trout streams that are less than an hour away, do to the threat of physical harm and dismemberment, I am not to mention their names on an open forum such as this. These are pristine places that require the upmost respect and discrete behavior. Preferably, single barbless hooks and catch and release only!!!!! Drive to the east a bit farther and you can hit the North Fork of the White and a bit farther, yet, the Eleven Point. Both fantastic trout streams that are a bit more difficult to wade due to the volumn of water, but fantastic wild streams, nonetheless! Utilize this great resource we have here at OzarkAnglers, thanks to Phil and all of the 9000+ contributers, we have tons of fantastic information right here, always available! Aside from Idaho and the Western US, if you had to pick a place for great stream fishing, you made a wise choice! Good luck, hope this helps! Kevin

I know how you feel, my brother, it happens to me all the time...................then my alarm goes off and I get up and fix a pot of coffee! Awesome fish and an awesome story! Thanks for sharing! Kevin

Representing the Wheat Bros, I would like to thank Phil and Marsha for letting us come down and provide a little bit of musical sunshine. We had a blast! The food was out of this world, John Richerson was kind enough to bring Halibut that he caught in Alaska to share with all of us! We met many great folks yesterday and was honored to be a part of such a great organization. I hope we get to do it again next time! Thanks for posting the video Phil! And thanks to Zach for wearing more than a Speedo! Kevin

Gather 'round young lads and lasses', for I am about to tell a tale of one of the greatest fisherman to wade this fair land. The tale of your own personal, old soul, Wheatenheimer and the Esquire, Sir David Whitlock. No, I never got the chance to fish with Sir Whitlock, but I did spend many an hour with the "Noble" one over a course of many years. This was back in the day that I was honorably employed by the legacy airline that I won't mention the name of, but our initial's were TWA. This was when Sir Whitlock was residing in Mountain Home and would frequently fly out of the humble land referred to as Springfield. Leaving our fair land the only stop along the path of anywhere was a far away land, yet close enough to reach by a mechanical bird...........Saint Louis. So keeping this in mind, this land had an airport that was designed in the era of smaller propeller driven aircraft and they felt as though it was a good idea to construct runways side by side to accommodate the air traffic that so desired this majestic land. The only problem was, as the airplanes grew in size, the runway's remained the same. Now that the larger birds were bringing all the wonderful people from all around the world to this enchanted land, the pavement could not accommodate during inclement weather. So, to make a long story longer, I spent many hours with Sir Whitlock, in our hamlet we call Springfield, anxiously awaiting a time when our mechanical bird could find a slot into the mystical Saint Louis to carry him on to destinations such as......Patagonia........New Zealand........Mongolia............New Jersey...........etc. I treasure these moments, my children. For Sir Dave was always a true gentleman, even when everything that had any relation to the process of air travel made it's way to becoming entirely and completely screwed up (which was often) this noble being was always no less than pleasant as pea salad! He would talk to me about streams and lakes and flats. Then hatches and patterns and materials for as long as the delay would last. As fine of a gentleman as they come! If any of you ever get a chance to meet this noble man, shake his hand and let him know that Wheatenheimer say's Thank You!

The Wheat Bros will be playing Sunday night. Zach, I sure hope you are not wearing the same outfit as in your picture. I have a hard enough time remembering lyrics as it is! Look forward to seeing all of ya'll there! Kevin

I'm with Greg, a little sad to see it go. My Girlfriends Parents met at a Christmas party in 1958 at the Riverside. They were married in the spring of '59 and we celebrated their 50th at the Riverside earlier this year. The original owner (can't think of his name) painted several beautiful murals in the restaraunt that are still in tact, despite the years of flooding. Unless they dismantle the walls by hand and relocate them, those gorgeous paintings will be gone forever. It seems that every year it floods and every year they clean it back up and open the doors for business again. I don't know that anyone has ever been trapped in the building during a flood and didn't make it out. Seems a little "fishy" to me..........Pun intended. Kevin

Hey, no worries............I'm glad you're gonna stick around for a while. I enjoy your insight. Granted, we can all be a little cantankerous at times. Really, I've been been poking and prodding at Flysmallie for quite a while now (talking smack about how he blames his bad habits on his Grandma and such.) But, being the better man, he "turns the other cheek!" Dude, seriously, you've got some good sh$# to say, don't let a couple of A-h0les getcha down! Kevin

Awesome report! Can't wait to get back out that way again! Thanks for sharing! -Kevin

Eric, Thanks for sharing a great story! It's funny how something that most people take for granted, like the way the Moon looks or the long awaited feel of Autumn will bring back memories, that we would otherwise not consider, to the kindred souls like most of us. I have so many great memories of camping and fishing, I'll have to reflect for a bit and get back to ya! Thanks again! Kevin

Sure, but on one condition.............................if we share a hotel room, I'm demanding seperate beds this time!

Jeez! That brings back some memories, that was a long time ago! It's too bad they closed it to fishing, there are some bruiser's in there. Man, we need to get out and fish together sometime soon! Give me a shout! Kevin