timinmo

It is always good to see friends. Bill and Scott. Next time I will get you some chairs.

Smalliebigs and bjovan, I timed the two of you. You did talk for hours. Tim

The truth is that many good lures do not look particularly "fish-like". The other truth is that no lure ever caught a fish hanging on a peg at the bait shop.

I normally use an EWG hook and Texpose, but I have noticed several pros going to the straight shanked hook with keeper. Get some sleep.

ned rig

Mitch, one of the biggest fish I ever caught in Missouri was on the Strike King version of a fluke in that Elaztech like material. That was on a stream we both fish. It might have been 15 years ago. I always wondered if whoever held the patent for the stuff was making it for Strike King, anyway it seems to have disappeared.

Andy you may be thinking of another Norm. The recent stories refer to Norm Leppo who to my knowledge never posted here. Norm M. (last name escapes me) lived in northern Illinois and did post here as well as on River Smallies. His posts were great and he passed away last year I think. I remember now the other Norm's last name was Minas. Anyway two great Norms both will be missed.

As this thread has kind of gone sideways I don't mind going with the flow and pay my respects to Norm. Norm was very committed to the conservation cause and did much to further it in anyway he could. He was a long time member of the Missouri Smallmouth Alliance as well as a member of the Missouri Conservation Federation. He both supported and worked with other organisations that furthered the conservation cause. Norm had many sites that he monitored for water quality thru the Missouri Stream Team banner. Norm not only talked the talk but walked the walk. We could all learn alot from his example. And yes Norm loved the Panther Martin.

The best thing any river fisherman can do is to purchase MDC's Paddlers Guide. I may not have the name quite right but you can get it online or at Powder Valley. It is like $9.00.

Thanks Jim.

Gavin and all, at this point I can not make it but I certainly appreciate all the work that has been put into organizing this event. I really like all the camaraderie this has generated and hopefully things will change and I can make it, even if it is just for the day.

It doesn't get much better than that. Great time for you and the kids.

Harris come in to DD and talk to me or PM on this forum. I kind of need to know what weights you want to throw. We can probably find something for you but may have to order it, which we do for people all the time. As you already know the selection of baitcasters in that length in light power is rather limited. I can think of a couple off hand but the prices are above your range.

I don't think anyone on this thread said they bed fished. While my stream had more color than usual, I probably had 3 foot of visibility. For over 20 years my brother and I did multi-day floats in the second half of May. On rare occasions we would see beds but most of the time the spawn was over. We all know that this spring has had a lot of high water and maybe that has delayed the spawn. In any case we caught a few fish and none of the fish we caught seemed to be in any stage of the spawn.

Cwallis Fished today did not see any beds. Fishing was slow.

When applying to a boat that already has one that is failing, how do you get the old, bad one off?

Ah Aaron you articulate just fine. I was just giving you trouble, but you know that. Keep up the good work.

Hey, you did not say what you were catching them on. I am sure this is just an oversight on your part.

I sent you a PM.

I'll be your Huckleberry. But not Friday. I'm someone else's that day.

Would love to eat with you guys but can't make Friday.

Not cheap. Fish Monkey sells one with perforations at your mouth and nose. They also have some great sun gloves. I don't have a link nor do I sell them.

Have to agree with the above as to the pickerel. Slack water, sloughs and have caught many more on the Eleven Point. I am sure that both streams have Gar but have caught many more on slower moving, more turbid streams.

So I have not nor do I plan to read this whole thing so if I have missed some meaningful stuff I am sure someone will let me know. I will be 66 this year and yes it is much better than it was when I was a kid. Is it as good as it could be? Most definitely not. Could we do more? We could all do more. Criticize me if you wish but we as a nation can not base our activities on what China and India do. That is like throwing trash out the car window because everyone else does it. Should we encourage other countries to do more, certainly. I will not get into the "Global Warming" debate but we as a country and we as individuals could all do more than we are doing to improve the world we live in.

I will be standing in line to take Gavin up on his offer. George Winter is close for everyone.