jscheetz

For everyone on this forum who asked me to let you know - - My new CD is now out. If you want to check it out and have a listen you can at www.jeffscheetz.com - or available at the usual places itunes etc etc -fine music to fish by. On the fishing side - the flyrod did see action yesterday and won many battles against local bass - Hope to get down to Taney soon - JS

Yeah - that is one thing that I would like to see there - a minimum or slot on wipers. I really think if they did that and then put signs up telling people what they were catching it would help - kind of the "this is a rainbow trout, this is a brown trout" sort of signs. And while I know it is sometimes hard for people to tell the difference - last year I was down there and when I got there asked the guy down from me if he was doing any good, and he said "a couple nice white bass" - when he left he took his stringer with two wipers that must have been 6 pound each! Which was fine - it is just that I really don't think he even knew what he was catching, and I think that is a problem there. If there was a length or slot then education would be helpful. Could turn into a real nice hybrid fishery. But until then - - - the hybrids should start taking the topwaters better soon with this warmer weather!! JS

Think we would solve the problem if we would instead put this bounty on anyone releasing non-native invasive species anywhere. Anyone been to FL lately? You can't drive down the road in the keys after dark without coming across a python or two laying on the asphalt - - when will people learn? I think the bounty should do it JS

Hey Slider - man you are right about the number of fish being caught there. I am sure there are literally over a thousand fish caught there on any given day of the weekend. Kind of concerns me being a conservation guy - I wonder if anyone knows if hybrids are stocked near there - or do most of the fish come from downstream? As fishing drops off a bit I wonder if it is due to fish moving back downstream or just numbers being taken out, or a combination. I haven't seen any changes in the regs, and yet there has been definitely more people there everytime I have went for the last couple of years than there used to be - so more fish taken out - don't know how that will effect fishing in the future - but the last two times I was there I heard guys complaing about there not being any big crappie. Of course everyone they caught that was big enough to keep - they kept. Guess they couldn't see the irony in that situation. Anyway, just wanted to see what anyone knows about the hybrids - as a guy who fishes there for sport and not meat, you can take all the crappie and walleyes out of there you want - they're kinda like catching a dish towel or something but would be cool if they would develop the hybrid fishery by imposing limits relative to the number of people there. JS

Well, just for more opinions - I fish out of a 9.5 foot kayak and love it. I have never tried a solo canoe and while I would like to, am pretty happy with what I do with my yak. The canoe would be good for more room, but oddly enough that is one of the things I like about the yak - the fact that I DON'T take 27 rods and the kitchen sink of tackle boxes (like I usually do if I have the room) - so being in the yak makes me strip down the gear and I think that is a good thing - travel light only the essentials... Cause if I had more room - I know I would want to fill it up (you should see my studio) JS

hehehehehehehe That is beautiful GF!!! If someone would have shown me that quote and asked who it was from - I bet you 10 to 1 I would have guessed my bud GF!!! And it is true that C&R - or "molesting" as you call it can interrupt and mess with fish during the fall run - However, not nearly as much as Hanging one on your wall I would think. Cause taking them home and frying them up does make it hard to have "more and bigger". JS "Fish molestor"

Chief, You're in luck - there actually IS a tooth fairy - he evolved from Puff the magic dragon. JS

Thanks Trav! You know me too well! I did catch a bunch - a ton of whites and about a dozen smallmouth - was good fun, and you are right they are all back in the water swimming around for you waiting for your frying pan - I don't want to kill any, cause after all - according to you and Al, todays too-short white bass may be tomorrows Rhodes Scholar!! JS

Hey all, Well, this is a fun topic! And on a fishing board! And Phil you are right it always should be civil and hopefully with a sense of humor - like the "descendant of a tiny cell" - quote - that was pretty funny to me - seemed to have ruffled some feathers... sorry about that, guess this is a sensitive subject to many of us. That's what I like about you Trav - you have an opinion and a sense of humor about things! I will say Phil, while you make a good point that the main way the Christian can show their faith is by living their lives as Christ like as possible (and many don't seem to) - I also believe that talking about things like the origin of life is EXTREMELY important as a way to share one's faith to some people. A long time knock on Christians (sometimes rightfully so) from the "intellectuals" is that they are just robots and blind faith followers without a brain. Well, I believe that Christianity does stand up under the scrutiny of honest science and archaeology. While many here have posted that you can't "Test" or "Prove" Christianity and that it is just a belief, there are many ways to arrive at a reasonable conclusion other than a currently provable experiment. Just like in a court of law there are many ways to present a case. - There is the witness of other writings of antiquity, there are eyewitness accounts that have been recorded - now you can choose not to believe them just like you can choose not to believe a witness in a murder trial - but if you have enough witnesses and enough circumstantial evidence then you are compelled to believe a certain way. There is more manuscript evidence for the new testament of the Bible than there is for many famous writers from history like Plato, Aristotle etc etc - much, much more, and yet, you rarely hear these same people complain that Aristotle is just a fairy tale and wasn't real. So I think having sensible discussions with guys like Al who are smart and obviously have contemplated the weighty matters of the world enough to have developed an opinion is a good thing. For both of us - we may never agree, but I think if we respect each other in that we know each has done some serious studying on the subjects then we may both become richer for it. One of my favorite still active authors is a guy named Ravi Zacharias - he is a brilliant man from India and travels all over the world presenting the case of apologetics for the validity of the Biblical account of history. His book "Can man live without God" is a very intellectual discussion of the points of contention amongst non-believers and he always says that the best way to figure out the truth is to sit down and talk about it. I figure that is a good place to start! While some of us here have made up our minds about such things as why we are here, how we got here, where we are going - some probably have not. So I think any discussion on the options is a good thing. In the meantime - tomorrow I go fishing! Will let you know how it goes - JS

Trav, I didn't write this - wish I did, but I'll pass it on to you see if this sums it up for you. You are the descendant of a tiny cell of primordial protoplasm washed up on an empty beach 3 1/2 billion years ago. You are a mere grab bag of atomic particles, a conglomeration of genetic substance. You exist on a tiny planet in a minute solar system in an empty corner of a meaningless universe. You came from nothing and are going nowhere. Now go have a quality day. JS

Hey Wayne - not while I was there - I walked a big topwater for a few casts but didn't get any action and didn't see anyone else getting any while I was there. But most were fishing for crappie. JS

Boy Al, gotta disagree here. While you acknowledge gaps in the fossil record, but then say that's not a problem - I find that is THE problem. I am sure you will disagree - but to me, and many, the real lack of transitional fossils is a definite stumbling block. I will grant you that there is no question that we certainly haven't uncovered all the fossils out there and it is not really a priority for many in poor nations, so we may discover something new. But, I have read report after report from evolutionists claiming there are these transitions between species and after reading a 5 page dissertation on someones findings on a breakthrough fossil - you find that the author himself can't say for certain if that "extra bone" is from a leg or a fin! And the title of the page says - "Early fish to tetrapod transitional fossil". The various cases that I have read are really, really, stretching the whole transitional concept and are taking many "leaps of faith". Of course the punctuated equilibrium concept used to gloss over the lack of TFs is usually thrown out there, but that seems to have more holes in it than my last waders. If there was absolute evidence of transitional fossils, evolutionists would be shouting it from the rooftops. - Hearken back to Nebraska man anyone? It was all over - all God fearing men were lunatics - Darwin vindicated - This tooth found in Nebraska was purported to be the "missing link" and we would finally see the connection. Except it turned out it was the tooth from a cousin of the pig. Bummer.... but back to that early tetrapod.......... I just haven't seen the fossil record "prove" the move from single cell organisim to me. I think those gaps are a problem. And as an aside - since you are an incredible realistic and astute artist Al, I am sure you have studied the concept of Irreducible complexity. And isn't it amazing? Whether you believe we all happened via Chuck's path or by divine intervention - it is simply something that everyone should dig into - because this world is amazing and seeing it scientifically, how things work together and how everything from a simple forest eco system to the human eye works up close is pretty mind blowing. Anyway, good chatting with you all. JS

Caught all the hybrids on a Bobby Garland slab slay'r I think it is called - pink perl color - the 3" ones - with a pink 3/8 jig head. I was throwing a two jig rig - so the other jig added some weight - it was a smaller one though. I was reeling real slow - seemed to be better going slow. Hope you knock them out - I was just upstream from the handicap dock in the slack water - JS

Got to the dam at 4 pm - 3rd cast snagged a 25 pound spoonbill - landed him - next cast snagged a 5 foot long gar in the tail - landed him - so the first two fish took 30 minutes of time!!! (Eating into my hybrid catching!) - Did catch a few nice hybrids - none over 6 pounds but all nice. Caught a few whites - did snag another 15 pound carp that I managed to land - at least fun catching those spoons and stuff on 6lb test with the ultralight! There were lots of crappie being caught - I caught a few by accident but usually try to avoid those. Hybrids were best for me earlier in the evening - by 7:30 it was mostly crappie active. Didn't stay for the after dark bite - but if you want lots of fish (and lots more people) then the dam is good now. Couple times it seemed like opening day at the trout parks with people shoulder to shoulder. JS

So Hoglaw - you seem to be saying that evolution as a theory is OK - but because as you said you seem to discount it completely due to it being "religous". However doesn't evolution begin with an end? We are here - how did we get here. It is indeed trying to "fit pegs in holes" as you stated. This is why this argument is so difficult, because everyone comes to the table with an agenda - usually either pro God or pro no God. Makes it hard to sort out the facts. And as far as evolution as a theory - it has holes in it just like many scientific theories do. A theory is NOT an absolute knock out punch - it is the building of evidence and provable data - - - but with still the option that it could be wrong due to new information coming to light. So I see no reason why ID is thrown under the bus from a building of the theory standpoint - other than some just don't like the "religion" aspect of it - which is not being very scientific. I see you are pretty well versed in the "provable" and the "empirical" ways of life. Question - when you get in your car today - do you know absolutely by previously proven empirical evidence that you will not get in a wreck on the way to work? No. There are new situations that can come up - but you go on the best evidence you have. Heck, some may even say you have "faith" that you will not. There are a lot of theories in the scientific world - to say one is not viable to be explored and further developed due to is religious leanings is simply not very good science. Unless of course science is not the main objective. JS

Trav, your unbridled optimism and positive cheery outlook on life is almost bringing a tear to my eye - you gotta take a valium or something to "keep it real" so the rest of us down here in the trenches don't get too hopeful. That is SO right on the money. While many Christians may be "hiding" behind ID as science to legitimize the belief in God - there is no question that many more people with anti-Christian agendas have been "hiding" behind "science" and "evolution" for many, many years. So much so that I believe that has made it very difficult to get to the truth of the matters. To act like "science" is this noble thing which only seeks the truth is not only naive but smacks of a distortion of the truth. And to say that - This is not totally true either - I know MANY Evolutionists who absolutely think they have one definitive answer... God does not exist. JS

Haven't seen the movie - heard both sides about it - kind of like hearing about the Al Gore flick. Regarding the evolution comments - There are two main kinds of evolutionists - Naturalistic and Theistic. The Naturalistic evolutionist believes that the earth began by natural events with no "help" from any deity - while the Theistic evolutionist believes that basically God was involved in the evolutionary process to some degree. Sort of used evolution to "build" his world. The Naturalist has to rely on the "Space plus time plus chance" method to get the ball rolling - which is in this day and age an almost indefensible position even for the most die hard athiest. But some believers realizing the concepts of adaptation within species in the natural world have come to believe in the "Theistic" way of evolution - much to the chagrin of the Bible believing community at large - due to the seemingly difficult way of rectifying the creation story of Genesis. So my point is I guess that there are some different views even within the scope of the term "evolution". Anyway - always good to chat about the important things in life. And while I have studied and preached and taught and debated many times in many countries on the Creation concept - Even with all that "head knowledge" still the one main thing that leads me to believe in a wonderful God who created beauty instead of pure chance causing it all, is to spend one day alone in the mountains wandering along a trout stream and taking the time to immerse myself totally in the wilderness. JS

It's Earth Day, so being your resident friendly forum wacky green hippie conservationist thought I would say - let's all go out and plant a flower, or recycle a can, or hug a tree. And, for a few of my buds deep down in the Ozarks, I know that hugging a tree may be too much for you, so here is what you can do - just kill three less things today than you would on a normal day and you will be "conserving" too. Peace and love, JS

See how your mind works Terry? Actually Hoglaw we were doing our own show (Jeff Scheetz band) - at a place called George's - and Derek was in the bar next door - maybe called Dave's?? You are right about Derek and WP Dan-o - but the best thing about WP is Jimmy Herring! He's probably one of my fav players right now - JS

Yeah George is fun - still dig listening to the raw energy on the first couple of records. I did a show with him a couple of years ago and even though he is getting older, he still had that cool nasty rock sound and vibe. And he is a character. Robert R is awesome - did you hear his stuff on a cd called "The Word"? Very cool bits on there - that was back when he was 2 years old - hehehehehehe well at least pretty young. Eric Sardinas is kind of a modern George - real raw - those guys are more "rough" and Robert and Duane are more finesse - of course I think maybe the best and most musical slide guy would have to be Derek Trucks - he is amazing. Two years ago we were playing this club in Fayettville and when we pulled in to setup looked at the club next door and the marquee said "Tonight - Derek Trucks". Things you don't want to see before the gig!! Not across town, or across the street mind you - ACROSS THE PARKING LOT!!! Geeeesh - bad karma I guess. The good news was that we were done before he was and got to go over and watch awhile. JS

phw - now I think you've stumbled onto something - a gigging season for politicians! All in favor say aye. JS

Am I in the twilight zone? I am agreeing with taxi. The bear baiting thing is not really "hunting" - it's just killing, and certainly should go. But while many seem to think that just cause you aren't doing something yourself you shouldn't be allowed to comment on it - I would say that what I see many times in many walks of life is that sometimes when you are doing something you have trouble seeing the big picture - just a thought. Ah.... OK, Gonefishin disagrees with me.... Things are back to normal then. JS

True Taxi - but if there weren't all the rednecks riding their 4 wheelers wherever they want hunting wherever they want then the fences might not be necessary. I can tell you the attitude up there is that no one should be allowed to put up a fence or no hunting sign - and it AIN'T due to concern for the wildlife movement! GF that's exactly why I think abstinence should be taught in the schools. JS

Hey Al, You are a bit more kind towards the FWP than I would tend to be, but at least they went through with the restoration in the first place - but it was not without fairly stiff opposition. From what I have seen up there they have some big supporters by way of gun and hunting lobbyists who usually get their way. But I think the wolves will have a stand in the parks - but I'm sure you know that many of the "locals" up there have thought there was a season on them all along. But you are indeed correct with it being more rich up there - I too have spent many hours watching the Lamar and Slough creek wolves. It has been some of the most beautiful sounds I have heard sitting in the valley at dawn and hearing the wolves howl - seems as though everything is right with the world at that moment. gonefishin - good to hear from you. Are you getting out and hauling any fish in lately? I should have known mentioning regulating killin something would bring you out like a taney trout to a big hunk of cheese. Love ya! JS

Friday the Rocky Mt Gray Wolf was taken off the federal threatened and endangered species list. Report said FWP was "pleased". Of course they were - they don't like being told what to do up there much. As someone who has followed this and been semi involved with the entire restoration process, I disagree with the delisting, but if they feel the pop is where they want it to be then they will move forward on it - and I can certainly rejoice in the fact that it has come this far. The legal challenges mentioned are that several suits have been filed to stop the delisting, but I doubt it will be changed. But the troubling part to me was this also in the report - Are we humans as a species only interested in other species if we can hunt them for sport? I mean, can't we just let another animal live and exist and value it for it's own unique place in the world as one of God's creatures? Do we have to have a season on everything? It is a strange world we have created from God's Eden. Anyway, just how I see things - JS