timinmo

I work at a sporting goods store. My family is almost afraid to buy me anything.

Just read on Riversmallies, that Norm passed away a few days ago. Norm was a frequent contributor to Riversmallies as well as an occasional contributor to OzarkAnglers. Norm gave some of the most readable trip reports and he will be missed by many. Prayers to his family and friends.

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas. Our holiday season has started, granddaughter is out playing in the snow.

OK I missed the posts that got deleted. I will assume I did not miss much. Mitch I guess it is my turn to buy now.

Oh, by the way great fish!

So here is what you do. Go to TW, buy a gift card which is 10% off, turn around and use the gift card to purchase the line which is presently discounted. Or come see me and we will go out for lunch you can buy.

it's all good, just kiddin'. That stuff will be there when you get there.

I wondered. Thought you were coming by the store. Cheater.

Well guys I guess I did not say it in so many words but I think water quality probably has improved since the sixties for several reasons. The Clean Water Act being the biggest. If you are looking to blame the influx of spots on something I don't thing you will find it water quality. The habitat might have went down hill but if we had the data I would bet that in most cases the chemistry of the water has improved.

The best way is to go to the Stream Team site and in the blue above the green headings there is a topic marked "interactive map" it is to the right. That will bring up a map of Missouri with test sites all over the map. You can zoom into the area you are interested in and click on the emblem. Some of these sites are inactive, that is, someone tested there once and never went back or there is no current data. What I thought you might find interesting is "we" MSA Stream Team 509 participated in a year long project to sample 20 sites in the Meramec Basin. 509 sampled two of these sites once a month for a year, other teams sampled other sites. We tested turbidity, nitrates and phospates in this study. Normal Water Quality Monitoring test for some other things as well. If you send me your E-mail I will forward the results to you, it is about twenty pages. In my eyes the project did not answer any questions but I don't believe it was designed to. As a disclaimer I will tell you I am not a scientist and do the WQM as an excuse to get out on the river. Is water quality part of the spotted bass issue? I don't think anyone can answer that with any degree of certainty, but poor quality can not help. I'm just not sure it hurts. If the quality is bad it is bad for all the bass varieties. Habitat could be a different thing but I don't mind admitting that I do not have an answer. As a person who fished the Bourbeuse in the sixties and seventies I can tell you to my untrained teenage eyes it was in much worst shape then than now. I caught the biggest MIssouri smallmouth I have ever caught in the sixties and while I do not keep records, I can not recall catching a spotted bass until years later. As others have stated the Meramec basin is full of them now. I will leave it to others to argue the how and why but no one can dispute their presence.

Some of the water chemistry can be seen on the interactive part of the Missouri Stream Team site. I will provide a link. There have been other tests done by Volunteer Water Quality Monitors. Some of this is available but some is waiting to be published. http://mdcgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=7c138e6907dc438d8ecad5eb212e8560 http://www.mostreamteam.org/aims_wqmselect-NEW/select_stactivity.asp?LOC_NUM=3237 I hope one of those work I am not the most computer literate person.

Jim I enjoyed your thoughtful response. Certainly we all don't have to agree, but I would like to think we can disagree civilly. Best to you and your's.

Wally, you're killing me. Beautiful fish.

I reread my above reply and thought the tone left something to be desired. Please let me explain. When I started working at DD I was retired and I only work part time now. They knew I worked on rods and asked if I wanted to do it for our customers. What we have worked out is people can drop off at the store and pickup there. The store will collect money if need be. That is the store's entire involvement, the money they collect goes directly to me, they charge nothing on top. It is mainly for the convenience of our customers. My rod repair station is our dinning room table, which right now is my wife's Christmas wrapping station. I would like to stay married, so this is a battle I choose not to fight. If you can bear with me I can promise you a professional long term repair. If anyone needs a rod repaired quickly I normally refer them to John at Bullseye.

I do replace guides at Denny Dennis and for anyone in the north St. Louis area Bullseye Bait and Tackle also does them. The only problem for me is that I repair them at home and this time of the year I will not be very fast. Christmas is a big deal at my house, ask my wife, and everything takes a back seat to holiday doings. Normal turn around is two to three weeks, depending on whether I have to order guides. I keep a fairly large stock of guides but always try to match what you have. Right now turn around maybe closer to 4 weeks, after the first of the year I would expect to be back to 2 to 3. Have a Merry Christmas!!

Starting on Friday December the first, people in the St. Louis area will be able to pickup stickers at Denny Dennis Sporting Goods. Phil send me several to give out. Ask at the fishing counter. Sorry for the delay but I am off right now due to some minor surgery. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Good stuff Norm. Glad you were able to get out. Hope everything is going well.

Al, I don't think many of us have the mind for great detail that you do. What your comments bring to mind for me is the endless conundrum of whether I should fish a familiar stretch of a familiar stream or go visit some new water. Certainly both have much to offer. I am usually happy fishing water that I know well but if I go with my older son he always wants to fish some place new. Both have a draw obviously, but like your post points out it is nice to know the good spots. Joe, are drinking again?

Thanks for posting Brian, good stuff indeed. Have you heard anything about the plans for the Thomasville FS site?

A. I do not flyfish. B. Have never fished in a swamp. C. Always enjoy your videos. You do a great job. Can not wait for the next one.

Beautiful fish!!! Glad your are able to get out.

Guys one of our friends from the northern Illinois area has been absent on the forum for some time. As most of you know Norm has had some health issues. I sent him a message a while back and received the following reply. I sure your prayers would be welcomed. I have been in and out of hospital 3 times recently . trouble with blood pressure , doc finally changed dosages . also just found out throid issues, more meds . cancer treatment done for now, it really tore me up, still in recovery mode

Glad you had a good trip. My sons and I just did the Schlicht Spring to Riddle Bridge float at the beginning of the month. Like you we caught quite a few largemouth. With good weather it is always wonderful to camp on the river. Plenty of good camping on the Gasconade.

Nice pictures of a good trip. You guys need to catch alot more fish and post alot more pictures. I had my knee replaced last week and won't be getting out for a while so I need to live vicariously through your pictures and trips.

Nice fish Joe. Glad you were able to get out. I would be more impressed if I didn't know that your knuckles drug the ground while you were standing up straight.