jdmidwest

Wow, take a weekend off and look what happens. Good to see Phil and others involved in a political opinion on here, believe it or not, politics affect all of us even while we enjoy our pasttimes. We should all take a stand and VOTE for our beliefs and not just poke and hope. Chief, what are Obama's credentials? I have dismissed him as a phoney and have not really researched him. I have not seen anything on him except he wants to change things. Al, I vote for Gaylon too, good moral fortitude, but he is way too smart to run for Pres. Remember, lets all have fun here....

Man, I need to get my eyes checked, I thought that said Osama Bin Laden thread..... Nice ring though.

11 Point river is full of meat eating fish. Minnows and crayfish are staples. Stoneflys and hellgrammites are good too. That being said, I have seen them pluck a caddis and I know they will take a nymph too. Hares ears and elk hair caddis work as well as hoppers and beetles this time of year. Longer rods let you cast the bigger river well. 5 wt should be fine. The Alton motel is OK as long as you are not expecting much. Its a place to sleep and shower and the price is right and its close. If you want luxury, there is a nice motel in Thayer and others in Winona, Doniphan, and West Plains.

I believe that there is a fee and certification to guide on a National Park Service river. Check with either Sam Potter or Brian Sloss to confirm. Sam guides on the upper Current, posts reports on here, and has a website http://www.tightline.biz/index.htm. Brian runs Eleven Point Canoe, posts on here, and has a website http://www.11pointcanoe.com.

Snails are a big food source in this river, its full of them. I tye a beadhead pattern with a black antron body and copper ribbing to imitate them. Works pretty good most of the time.

Decided to take a weekend trip to 11 Point this weekend. Left out Sat. morning and piddled our way over there. Stopped by and checked out Fourche Lake, wind was blowing pretty good so we decided not to unload the yaks and fish it. Campers that were just coming in said everything shut down an hour before. We rolled into Hufstedlers and set up camp and decided to look the river over. First time over since the floods this spring. Headed up to Alton and finally got to meet Brian at 11 Point Canoe. Chatted with him and Ryan a while and headed back out. Drove up to Thomasville, found things there low and slow like normal this time of year. Turned around and drove back to Boze Mill and hiked down to the river there. One thing I was noticing was a lack of people on the water and at the campgrounds. Especially for a holiday weekend. We took a shuttle to Whitten Sunday morning with another couple and launched the kayaks. The river was in great shape and flowing good. Did not take long to start noticing changes, new gravel bars, shoals, trees in water. The flood really did a number, but everything seemed to be for the good. Floating was easy and there was no trouble spots. Fishing was great, they must have stocked the river earlier in the week. Lure of the day was SSR5 Rapala Shad Rap in crawfish color. We tossed other lures but they wanted crawdads. Some fish I landed spit some crawdads out at me and in the boat. We caught several Goggle Eyes, not may smallies. After Hall's Bay we paddled on into Riverton or we probably would have caught more smallies. Nothing big this time, just lots of fish. Most of the fishing was done out of the boats, we never even had to get out and wade. We had alot of this on the river this weekend, I did not expect it either. Solitude

Snap, I'll give you a better idea after this weekend. I plan to float thru from Whitten to Riverton this weekend. In the past, there was wading above. It is deeper below for a while.

I have the same problem, someone told me it was a manganese deficiency and to add epsom salt to the soil to raise the level.

McCain went and sealed the deal today by selecting Governor Sarah Palin as his VP. What a great choice, good values, great ideas, and a proven outdoors person. I believe she stands a good chance to become the first woman president. Just look at her resume, -A leader in everything she has ever done. -Governor of the Largest State in the USA. -Pro-life. -Union member of the working class. -Loves the outdoors. -Wants to solve the energy crisis. -Proven record of shaking up big government. -80 percent approval rating in her home state of Alaska. -Raised in a wholesome family, dad was a teacher, mom worked at school. -Excelled in athletics. -She is young, vibrant, full of conviction and ideas. -Cut taxes and returned money back to the people -Has a son in the military and is proud of it. -NRA life member. -Fishes. -Owns and pilots a float plane. -More and more...................... This is what I have been wanting, real change, real ideas, real people, not politicians, not smoke and mirrors like the others. She makes up for what McCain lacks. Other countries are probably shaking in their boots today, 2 future leaders that will really take on the problems we have now and maybe make them better. Just another great thing to come out of the great state of Alaska. Her credentials far outweigh the other guy that the Democrats put up for President yesterday, what was his name???? Seems like he dropped into oblivion today, although I did hear mention of his hate filled speech last night. And she is only going to be Vice President, second in charge.

I have a source, the Mammoth Spring Warmwater Hatchery employees told me so. It was in the news also, several of the Federal Fish hatcheries were closed. We used to visit with them several times during the year. The state hatchery at Dam 3 was not affected, state monies. Local lakes at Clearwater and Wappappello started charging fees as did Council Bluff near Belgrade. Another lake west of Van Buren was affected also. Al may remember the Council Bluff affair. Clinton stripped alot of funding from the park service and fisheries divisions. Bush has not done anything to change it though.

Just a dumb question, were you wearing a Life Jacket?

We Republicans normally practice Catch and Release................

Now that you bring that up, the Clinton Admin stripped funding away from several Federal Hatcheries like the one at Mammoth that used to raise Smallies and Stripers. They were closed for several years, some are coming back online now. The Clinton Admin is also responsible for all the fees now at the Corp and NPS properties. You have to pay to park, launch, dock, swim etc now. That was all enacted during the Clinton Admin as a big money raising scheme for the Federal Government. And they had to hire people to collect the fees, so it created jobs. The assault weapons banned were a little high priced for your average criminal. AK-47 $400, AR-15 $800, HK $1000. Most street crimes were commited with cheap handguns, sawed off shotguns, and Tec 9's. Organized crime had the higher powered weapons. People were just trained that the target weapons were the bad ones by the media. Black gun, bad gun! Semi auto is a machine gun.... Stuff like that scared people.

I was down a few weeks ago and in the middle of July. Not many trout, ones caught were small and few between. Walleye and Goggle eyes were easy to catch. River has changed and is flowing good. It has finally dropped to normal levels.

Anybody notice the new Hippo Avatar? Caught him with the camera on the River Walk at the STL Zoo. It was hot but fun. We spent about 6 hours there Sat. and did not make it to everything. They have a special Dinosaur Exhibit this summer. You had to pay to go thru and at the end they had a short 3D ride that was fun. I have always loved the zoo, best free thing going. You can spend alot of time there and see some neat things. I usually catch a few good shots with the camera while I am there also. This is the time of year to go, crowds are thinning out and its getting cooler. The Penguin exhibit is really great, you can get right up next to them. All were taken with a Canon A560. I am having trouble getting all settings right and end up with alot of grainy shots. Some turned out pretty fair even thru glass.

Tomato worms. If your plants are thick and leafy it will be hard to spot them. Look for black pellets under the vines, worm poop. They blend in with the plant well. Careful with the Sevin if tomatoes are bearing, read instructions on how long before you can eat the tomatoes after the dusting. I usually just pluck them off and stomp them while tomatoes are ripening, nailed six small ones today. I have not had much of a problem with them this year.

Why would fishing be tough at Halls Bay? Good spots above and below.

Beeping could be the POST telling you what the problem is. Power on Self Test beeps certain codes when the motherboard receives a fatal error from the hardware. Check your memory and see if it is seated well. Go to HP website and have them trouble shoot for you. There should be a list of POST codes on there.

I have always used Daiichi or Mustad. Both hold up well. 100 packs are the best if you can get them. New flytyers will go for the 25 packs to get a variety of hooks but if they tie alot will soon migrate to the 100's.

I agree also Chief, the reason I keep on with this is to prove to others on here ( and Phil ) that you can debate politics without getting personal. And it does have an effect on what we as sportsman have in common to look forward to in the future. I don't believe that either party is evil, the whole system is ruined and flawed. The great part about it is that it is still the best system in the world. I would like to vote for a person based on morals and character and believe that he will do the best job. I just can't seem to find them on the ballots lately. I can never find many on the Democratic side that stands up for the hunters and fishermen so I tend to lean toward the Republican side. To answer your question, I hunt with an AR-15 post ban 223 rifle. I have taken coyote, deer, ground hogs, and feral dogs with it. I have shot squirrels with it using the .22 caliber conversion. The Ruger 10-22 I own was affected by the ban, I could not purchase a folding stock or a magazine larger than 30 rounds, both of which I owned and used prior to the ban. I owned a HK-93 and planned on buying more of their fine rifles, they went sky high and I could not afford them. My pistols were limited to 10 rounds during the ban unless you wanted to buy cheap mags for them. I was starting a pretty good collection till the Brady Bill banned import of a lot of nice functional, fun to shoot guns. Remember the Uzi and Mac 10? They were fun on the range and fairly cheap before Brady. The thing with gun control nuts is that they portray all firearms as bad and killers. Fact is, not alot of honest, law abiding citizens that are sober and mentally stable kill people with firearms unless a criminal is breaking into their house or carjacking their car or hurting their loved ones. Its the criminals that have stolen guns that commit the firearms violations. The laws in place already make it illegal for them to do what they do. The background checks and training and keeping guns out of kids hands are all good and I support it 100 percent. Back to this election, do you think Obama will ever show up at a NRA banquet, BASS tourney, WTF banquet and try to drum up votes? I gotta vote for the thing I like the most, hunting and fishing...

Other parts of the Brady Bill banned imports of assault weapons like the AK-47 and the Heckler and Koch firearms and certain shotguns deemed for Law Enforcement only. It banned the High Capacity Mags for both handguns and rifles. It started mandatory background checks for handguns and registration of all firearms thru a check in procedure. This background check was a good thing and I never had a problem with it after it got all the kinks out. Helps keep those that can't own firearms from getting them.

I wish I was stuck up there till spring! Lots of good water around there, teach your buddies to fish and you should not have problems finding a ride. Lane spring was always interesting, I have drove 3+ hours to fish it in the past. I have caught some nice bows there. The areas around Newburg are great too. Of course, Montauk and Upper Current River, Bennett Springs, and Meramec are close also.

That should make for some nice fish. I wonder why they don't set a size limit for the rainbows. It would cut down on the stocking and increase the amount of fish in the stream.

I don't know about the Duck Hunter part, unless there was a skirt in the blind. He might have heard some good ole boy's in Arkansas say "we're going after Suzie in the morning" and followed them to a blind thinking he was going to get some tail. My girlfriend gets mad at me every November when I spend time sweet talkin suzies. I know for a fact that the Brady Bill was signed during the Clinton Administration. I know for a Fact that Obama is a Senator from Illinois and it is a gun owner unfriendly state. I know for a fact that the NRA is strongly opposed to Obama based on his views and past voting history regarding gun ownership and it is clear on their website and in their magazines. I also know for a fact that the Brady Bill tried to make all pump shotguns a part of its restrictions based on its higher capacity capabilities. The SPAS 12 was banned from import during the first Brady Bill and made LE only, a unique shotgun that was both semi-auto and pump if the gas system failed. Any gun control measures that Obama supports could affect hunters in the long run. A Republican Governor in MO got the CCW passed where the DEMs of the past blocked it. A Republican President and Congress repealed the Brady Bill that was imposed under a DEM President and Congress. I have noticed that nobody on here has stated what good will happen if OBAMA is elected. What will he change for the good? As I have stated in the past, I don't have a horse in this show. I don't like either of the choices, I just like one less than the other.

While none of that will restrict my rights to hunts, it makes it more of a pain to own firearms and ammunition. Some of the antigun legislature coming up deals with banning lead of any type and serial numbering bullets. This affects me as a reloader and a hunter that loads my own ammo.