GloryDaze

Yep

I think I'd be partial to the 14' model as well- I found one on Craigslist in Fayateville listed for $850 brand new but the posting expired. I sure like the look of it. If they would like someone to provide some Quality Control tests free of charge... shoot me a post I mean 60lbs with a max weigh of 550 isn't too bad- I couldn't find the rocker on the 14' model anyone know what it is??

Did you get a pic of the 20" smallie??

Did you make it down to the river? If so, did you fish the Jack's Fork or the Current- I'm floating the Upper Jack's Fork this weekend and am curious how the fishing might be after all the rain from last week.

Riverman- Not sure what you mean by PA, but if your putting in on the Indian in Lanagan, we floated it on Sunday. Russ can probably give you a better idea as of today but on Sunday it was up and moving way to fast to fish. The water was still pretty stained but in the banks. I'd take a guess and say it should be much slower by the weekend and probably cleared back up- but I'm not too familiar with that stretch.

That was funny Erick- well, I did go without the rod, but gotta be honest- had plenty of cold beer to pass the time. I remember at one point she turned around looke at the empties in the orange trash bag and said "you've drank that much and are still steering this canoe without us flipping?" I looked at her and just laughed and said- "you should see it when I'm with my buddies and we are fishing" I have plans to do the upper stretch again next Saturday, Sunday and Monday if the water stays up after the rain today and tomorrow- now that one I can assure you there will be some fishing happening.

Thanks guys- it's kind of funny because she is not really the camping, floating type so it only took me 4.5 years to convince her to take this type of trip. We made the decison to go a day before we left since the water level on the upper stretch was perfect- we floated Ponca to Kyle's landing with the air space 23" at the Ponca bridge. The river was busy and I was surprised at the amount of carnage we still saw- it scared her thinking we were going to flip, especially a Gray Rock Shoals. I didn't fish while we floated, but did once we settled in to camp. There is a nice shoal right at Kyle's and I spent a hour or 2 hitting it hard with a wacky worm. I caught 8-9 smallies, one that was right at 15" - the only problem with this spot was a carcass of an armadillo was on the opposite bank and it smelled terrible, it didn't help I was down wind from it either. She loves to hike (she is also a marathon runner) so I tied that into my sales pitch- little di did I know she would have m trekking all over the Boxley Valley!!

Here are some pics of a recent trip we took to the Upper Buffalo- http://www.flickr.com/photos/glorydaze/set...57622533938913/

Yeah- he actually removed the original seat, sawed off the legs of a lawn chair and uses that. Serves 2 purposes, one it is comfortable when he is in the boat and 2 he doesn't have to bring a chair for overnighters- just lift it out and there you go. Jean Ann had fully loaded canoe and at first she felt pretty unstable, but she's a great paddler so after 5 minutes she was as comfortable as if she was padling a kayak.

Just paddled the upper Buffalo in a 16' Buffalo canoe. Honestly, fell in love with the canoe as it handled nearly as well as my 12' kayak. I am looking at the 14' version since weight is not a major concern for me. My thought would be if you stick with the traditional Buffalo canoes-the 14-16' you can't miss, but the 10 and so on may be a challenge. Honestly, Al's observation about sitting too low is not exactly accurate- as a matter of fact you almost sit too high in the 10' therefore making it a little tippy- I floated this last weekend with 2 folks who used the 10' Buffalo canoe- Look for the female with the red canoe, this is a standard seat and I think it looks real tippy (she mentioned how high she felt she was sitting) here is the link to a picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/glorydaze/402...57622498092461/. Another guy I was with was is in a green Buffalo. He customized his seat and lowered it to give him a lower center of gravity and here is a link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/glorydaze/402...57622498092461/ They both enjoyed their ride- but if I was you, a demo may be the way to go

Here are the pics- http://www.flickr.com/photos/glorydaze/set...57622498092461/ Me, Russ and Jean Ann headed to Powell Friday morning set out for an overnight trip on the Big Sugar and Elk. What a treat to float this section this late in the year with the trees turning and the water flowing!! We all three had a canoe loaded with dry wood, food, beer, fishing tackle- hell, you name it we had it!! We did a little fishing, but honestly were not hard pressed to fish too much since we were just happy to have a Friday afternoon paddling opportunity. The upper section was flowing great and we didn't run into a single strainer after the flooding. We camped just below Cyclone and built a big ol' fire and had some beans and meat soup along with smores as a night cap. It was peaceful on the gravel bar and not too cold once the fire was stoked!! Russ called it an early night and me and Jean Ann stayed up way too late sharing stories and laughing at Russ when he would come out of the tent to go to the bathroom. The next morning we fired up the stove and had some bacon, eggs and ham. The rest of the crew met up with us on the gravel bar- Me, Russ, Jean Ann, Local Larry, River Rat Scottie, Crazy Ken and Yard Sale Barry enjoyed the rest of breakfast complete with some home made biscuits and Gravy brought by River Rat Scottie and darn they were good!! There were 7 of us in 7 different canoes floating to the Hog Heaven- - quite a cool sight from the back of the pack. When we got to Craig O' Lee the great debate was who would run it and who would chicken out- In order, Crazy Ken- ran it with ease, Russ- ran it with ease, Local Larry- ran it with ease, Barry- ran it with ease, but oops... he took on so much water he came up out of the rapid and turned righ over- MAJOR YARD SALE- clothes floating downstream and everything. Me, Jean Ann and Scottie pussed out and portaged. After gathering all of Barry's things we built a fire at the next gravel bar and settled in for some chili, dogs, brauts and sandwiches. Honestly, Barry was a trooper- everyone in the group was ribbing him and we laughed for at least an hour as we replayed him tipping over and over again!! Uneventful from there to the Heaven and we all had a blast!! The thing I enjoyed the most is the fact that we did not see one other person on the river besides us and our group for 2 full days!!

Thanks for the funny stories- see Crappie, you came here to vent and had to walk away with some pretty funny chuckles. I'll admit, it can be pretty darn funny watching the action at a boat ramp- but I'm not above being the side-show. Believe me- I am far from being a professional at loading and unloading a boat, maybe that's why I was a little sensitive to start.....

So you got out and offered to help them right?? Didn't know it was a law you had to be a professional at putting a boat in and and taking it back out. Part of the problem when learning how to do it properly are the impatient people who think they "own" the ramp leading to even more anxiety and continued mistakes. Come on now, you have to admit even you weren't perfect when you started, it just takes time and a little practice. Just my observation-

Chub- the pic taken next to your size 6 shoe doesn't qualify it as a big fish-------- just funning, great fish.

Z- thanks for the info! I had no idea it even existed, but enjoyed reading about it. I can only imagine what a prime drinkin' spot it must have been in high school. It's too bad it's such an eyesore now days next to such a pretty area. Next time I drive by it, it just won't be as exciting.....Oh well.

So heading to the Pruitt put in from the north on HWY 7- about 3 miles up on the left side of the windy roads sits an old rundown "ghost town" loking place complete with a waterslide and what looks like to be a large natural spring . I kind of imagined it was another Ozark business venture gone bad, but the thing just intrigues me for some reason. Does anyone know what it is or was?? The wife and I headed to Kyle's Landing this weekend- did some floating and hiking so I will post a trip report in a few days!!

Might see you on the river Bobber- looks like we will do Steel Creek to Kyle's tomorrow afternoon. If you see a BOC canoe with a guy in the back fishing and a woman in the front playing "princess" that would be us!!

Hog- come on now a loaded pistol... on the Buffalo- I think you have been watching too many movies. Although, as you drift off to sleep you just might hear that faint sound of a banjo playing and within 5 minutes you may be "squeeling like a pig" YYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Have a great trip!!!

I would love too if I could sneak away next weekend but I have to work. I actually convinced the wife to head there this weekend with me. We are leaving Saturday morning and coming back to KC Monday morning. Looks like th Buffalo Outdoor Center is reporting the air space a the bridge at 16" or so. We're base camping at Kyles and hiking Saturday- floating Sunday morning and hiking again Sunday night. Looks like Hemmed in Hollow should have quite a bit of water dropping!! I'm going to bring the fishing gear and at least wet a hook-

Riding for a great cause. Sorry guys and gals, I just can't resist this post. There are days I go to work and realize I have the best job in the world. On Sunday, that's exactly what it was!! I'm lucky enough to be in charge of the Midwest's and Nations largest motorcycle ride for the March of Dimes. After 9 months of planning and more planning it all came together at the Kansas Speedway where we had over 7,000 motorcyles ride 115 miles across Kansas for the March of Dimes. The festivities were led by radio personality Johnny Dare and we even flew in a special guest Dee Snider who sang and rode a customized Chopper. If you have never seen 7,000 bikes riding at the same time, you are missing quite the treat- all you have to do is look on You Tube and search "Bikers for Babies Kansas City 2009" you will find all sorts of videos. We raised over $670,000 which is a new record for the event!!!!!! This is NOT a shameless plug for me or my company- I would have done this before if that was the case, just one proud smallmouth fisherman that is awful darn proud to be the person responsible for this entire event. The newspapers will tell you smaller numbers, that's because they want numbers right away, and well now that we are 2 days past the event these are the real deal. If you could just imagine the sound of this many bikes.... just gives me goosebumps thinking about it!!! Did any of you ride?? Well, now I guess it's time to concentrate on my first true love- floating and fishing!!! Here's a video one of the riders already did- (enjoy!!!!!)

Help me understand something- You head out to fish, big water, small stream.... doesn't really matter. You are excited to come back and share the specifics of your experience with folks. You do, and then someone asks you not to share your story?? With all due respect, it's none of their business on what information you decide to divulge and what you decide to keep secret. I assume it's a public stream you are fishing?? Didn't know the fish police patrolled message boards?

I love the fact that everyone overlooks the hidden gem of BBQ in the area. I'm just lucky enough to have the only one in the city nearby- and Paola Cat.... Good Old K&M BBQ in Spring Hill- used to have a better "old smokey and plaid table cloth" look but they built a new one about 1.5 years ago. By the way- any ribs wet will never hold a candle to Memphis style........ especially from Rendevous BBQ!!!!

Well dangit C&R I was feeling pretty good about this one.. then you had to go and land that hog- I caught mine about the same tme of day. I think that LM looks so big because of the angle of the pciture (Just joking) Well I'll be darn- now that I compare the two pics, mine loooks like a dink!!

OK- so after a little thought, maybe I will bring a source for fire. (By the way, I will have some back-up items just as a safety precaution, but will only use them if necessary) I will bring a cell phone- after all this is the guy who just fell off a rock on a recent 4 mile trip with my wife and dislocated my shoulder and had to be taken to the ER. Hoglaw- not sure when I'm making the trip- I plan special events for a living so my work schedule can change on a dime. I'm looking at the 22-25th as of today. The lower wilderness is option #1- I have floated from Ponca all the way to Rush. So I would like to do from Buffalo Point to the White.

So this weekend I was watching the movie "The Edge" with Anthony Hopkins, Alec Baldwin and most importantly Elle Mcphereson- If you haven't seen the movie, they get stranded in Alaska after a plane crash and have to survive on their own while being stalked by a man-eating Kodia Bear. Anthony Hopkins plays a genious who has all the knowledge in the world how to survive but does not know how to put it to practical use. This got me wondering as I a currently am preparing for my annual 3 night 4 day solo pilgrimage to the BuffaloRiver in October. Should I forgo some of my comforts with the idea of "survival" on my mind? However, if I do- does anyone know of a great "Survival Guide" that could help me along the way? Something that is pocket-size with very practical survival techiniques and topics covered. Here is what I am thinking about leaving at home: (maybe I'm crazy, but darn I love a thrill!!) - Shelter- and all the comforts that go with it... bag, pillow, etc... - Food, except for beans.. - Fire-starters - Extra clothes, I would bring bare minimum Anyone have any thoughts on a "MUST HAVE" book?