Aaron J Scott

EQUIS!

Had a good time out on the Nianger on Friday. As mentioned in the previous thread, we floated Bennett to Barclay. Left Bennett around 10:30 and got into Barclay right before sunset. Without describing events or naming names, I will say that I was really glad it was around 70F and sunny yesterday. As for the fishing, my dad and brother caught just about everything on spoons. I was the only one with a fly rod and landed all my fish on conehead bunny leeches – brown and olive. Had a really nice fish shake off a chartreuse double bunny. (I like meaty flies, and I like zonker strips, if you couldn't tell.) We had a bald eagle follow us down the river, probably eying my brother's stringer. We decided the eagle bird poop smells like America, that it would be an honor the be crapped on by a bald eagle. So patriotic!

Happy Thanksgivings, guys. If any of you Nianger regulars are out on Friday, me and the other Scott boys are floating/fishing from Bennett to Barclay. We'll be the three guys in the 18' canoe with our lines all tangled together. Give us wave and a shout!

I was down on Saturday night around Rebar with a couple friends and once I wrapped up fishing, I turned my headlamp to the bottom of the stream to check out the wildlife. Sculpins were everywhere, about one or two every square foot. Also saw a crawdad that looked like it belonged in the choose-your-own-dinner tank at Red Lobster. The bite was good, though I'm still getting a handle on fishing at night. Only saw a few other people out there with the water off – we were surprised there weren't more people out taking advantage of it. It was a beautiful night for it.

Is this at Suites at Fall Creek? I was down on assignment back in the spring to shoot an engineering company that was overseeing the work there after the flooding from 2008 and they said, in addition to building back the retaining walls, the resort was planning on putting in a new "marina," too. That's how they termed it, though I don't know to what extent that would be, if it would just be slips or something more. That could be what they're working on now.

Michael— Congratulations on the news. Thanks for all the help you've given me these last couple of years as I've gotten into fly fishing. Montana is a potential vacation destination next year, so I'll be sure to look you guys up when I'm out there. I look forward to meeting Tim and Becky.

I like the name Daytona. It's interchangeable between genders and supremely American. Or, if it's a boy, you could call him Jacob, so you could have your own little Jake strutting around the house.

Congratulations Michael and Kristina! A wonderful family > Montana. And I'm pretty sure Montana isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

The N-L has a online blurb about a potential conservation area in Dade Co. Anyone know where it might be or if any of it is fishy?

In this week's issue of Springfield Business Journal, the honorable Phil Lilley is featured in the Branson Chamber News. It's the last entry titled "Fish don't know it's winter."

Well, it's either tossing a pair of leaky waders in the landfill that are never going to break down, or giving them over to this company for repurposing. It would be nice if they a) paid for shipping and/or offered heavier discounts on items repurposed from your waders. From what I can surmise, it sounds like repurpose only what they get in, so they don't have massive inventory to sell. If you donated a pair and ordered stuff, you would be paying for their service to create something new for you that would otherwise be thrown in the trash.

When you guys do wear your waders out, send them here: Recycled Waders repurposes your leaky britches

Also, you might try Photoshop Express, an online, stripped-down version of PS. I've never tried it, but I've heard it's fairly handy.

At homoe, I use Apple's Aperture to process RAWs – I'm not sure what editing capabilities it has for JPGs. Then that goes into Photoshop. At work, I just run all my RAWs through the RAW converter in Photoshop. I would prefer that method at home, but it would also mean buying a new computer ($$$) and upgrading my version of Adobe's Creative Suite (more $$$).

I have a small Fishpond chest pack that Michael outfitted me with. It's compact, but I haven't filled it up yet. Wanting something to carry a bladder, waders and other gear, I picked up an Osprey Talon 33 from Dynamic Earth. I noticed that a lot of the angling-specific backpacks were pretty heavy, and I wanted something ultra lightweight. This pack is great. I don't think it's waterproofed, but it's both bare-bones and roomy enough to pack in wading boots, waders, rain jacket, chest pack, reel, 3L platypus, snaxxx, etc., with toggles to lash down a rod tube and a net. And once I've got the waders and the boots on and mostly emptied out, I can barely tell it's there. And there are plenty of loops and stuff to attach stuff. I got a few cheap caribiners and some key rings to hook my chest pack directly onto the should straps. So there's an option. I just ordered an REI Stoke 9 from REI.com, basically to carry around my 3L platypus, rain jacket and snaxxx if I can just get out of the car and get on the water. When it comes it, I'll let you know how it stacks up.

I agree, Redbird, traditional fertilizers are far and away better than petroleum-derived fertilizers. And "applied correctly" is definitely key – but I think, too often, people (be it lawn junkies, golf course groundskeepers or crop farmers) over-fertilize. And then, not only is the soil burned out, but all the excess fertilizer washes into the water table after the next good rain. And then, eventually, the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico expands. Somehow, this just came up in the newsroom, which I e-mailed around to my people – an article that ran in the NYT a while back re: "cow power." Out east, they've developed a way to turn waste from a dairy operation into methane, which they then burn to generate electricity and sell it back to the power company. I have no clue if the same potential exists for chicken or hog operations, which I figure there are more of around here than beef or dairy as far as CAFOs are concerned, but I think it's a great example of solving two problems – 1) excess waste from an ag operation and 2) an ever-increasing need for regenerative power – with an innovative solution. But that is outside the central issue at hand, which is a CAFO's proximity to RRSP and Roaring River itself. The Globe has a detailed article from Thursday's hearing, and I'm interested to see what happens during (and after) today's hearing. When it boils down to it, my beef isn't with the people operating the CAFO – I'm more concerned that DNR isn't doing more to protect the areas in and around public lands. Had the permits not been approved in the first place, they wouldn't have spent the money to build it and, it can be speculated, find an alternative use for the land. It's not the first CAFO built in Missouri and I doubt it will be the last, but I hope that, after this, it will be the last built within just a few miles of a state park or other public/recreational/protected land. Maybe this is something that will change with a new DNR director (Coonrod?), and we'll just have to wait a few more days to find out.

GET A ROOM!

Mrs. Ducky, thanks for reeling it back in. You are correct – this is an emotional issue. Beyond that, it is an environmental issue, a food issue, a social issue, etc. And that's what tugs at my emotions. I often feel like the regulations that the various administrations have set in place allow business, be it industry or agriculture or whatever, to run roughshod over nature – as if the environment is just another competitor in the free market. And if it can't adequately compete, then it stands to lose to something in the process of business, in these entrepreneurial pursuits, just like any other competitor. That's why I believe we need to stand up as a voice for nature, for the environment. As sportsmen, I don't understand why more people don't feel a responsibility to that. As for your third point, I've been harboring the same worry all week. I fished down at Capps last weekend and came back with a nice scratch across the top of my left hand from catching a briar while hiking through the brush. I didn't notice any posted warning this time (didn't really think to look), but the last time I was down at Capps, there were warnings regarding high e. Coli levels in the stream. For a few days, the scratch only worsened, but now I think it's starting to heal. But it's a real fear when you think you might have become infected while trying to enjoy nature on public lands due to the effects of runoff. And with the strong winds last weekend, there was a reminder how close a few farms are to the stream. And Capps receives much less pressure than RRSP, so I can only imagine what the backlash would be if odor becomes an issue from the contested CAFO. As far as your fourth point, the food issue, that's a much larger debate. I realize that finding or creating quality protein sources is a continuously growing issue for a continually growing population, but I hope there are alternatives to opening more CAFOs. I think one of the most effect alternatives would be to examine the typical American diet as it stands today and adjusting accordingly. I think there will still be plenty of opportunities for agriculture, but I think a less damaging and more sustainable process is possible.

Friggin' Swedes ... think they're sooo great ... There's also , which I caught on Rogue Angels and Moldy Chum a while back. More single-handed Spey and also some two-handed casting, but prettier to look at. Of course, I wish Joan Wulff was my grandma. Michael, next time I'm in the shop, show me how to reach cast. I've keep trying to figure it out but it doesn't seem to work.

HEY! I resemble that! But seriously tho, this is pretty great.

Read through this legal document filed in 2007 by the plaintiff's attorney. Does it still sound like a non-issue?

My point is that the waste produced by hatchery trout is manageable. The hatchery operations have been producing trout for years and have solutions for spreading or discharging waste that will not severly damage water quality. According to MDC's "A Plan for Missouri Trout Fishing," the hatchery at Roaring River raises 190,000 trout (or 146,000 pounds) per year. Assuming RRSP has a similar wastewater treatment protocol as BSSP, the waste from their production probably, more or less, winds up back in RR. Despite that, it remains a clean stream. I really don't think you can put a hatchery in the same category as a CAFO. Just because my front yard has a thousand earthworms doesn't make it a CAFO. Placing a CAFO within a mile of the stream poses serious risks to the stream and watershed. If waste from the CAFO doesn't wind up directly in the stream, it will get there from the groundwater. A spring as large as the one at RR is going to pull in water from a lot further out that one or two miles. From the Joplin Independent Web site: So, imagine 7,000 people living on a few acres next to a popular state park and fishery and all they're good for is crapping A LOT (and making hot wings).

What MDC does with the wastewater from the BSSP hatchery: (From the MDC Web site)

Today's trip peaked before I even got on the water. I was standing by the Wallaby Rd. bridge tying on the first fly of the day when out of the bushes comes a real live armadillo! (And here's the photographer without a camera.) I have never seen one that was both 1) alive and 2) in the wild. We both were surprised to see each other and he wattled off into the brush. I wattled into the creek and enjoyed the beautiful day by trapsing up and down the stream, landing only a few widdle guys. No trout, unfortunately. Fished down to where it meets up with Shoal and then back up to the bridge, had lunch, then upstream. Couldn't find any trout. Finally saw some fish to cast to, but they weren't buying what I was selling. Despite all that, it was a terrific day.

I'm about to swing by BCO and pick up some flies and then head down to Capps for a while. If you regulars see a blue Toyota Prius in the lot down by the bridge or up by the mill, give me a holler.