Seth

Is that why Brady threw two interceptions and Mahomes threw.....none?

I'm really surprised that the game was a nail biter at all knowing how crappy the Chiefs defense is and the fact that they didn't score crap during the first half. The Patriots got to Mahomes with several big sacks and Brady threw multiple interceptions. Neither is typical of those guys. If the Chiefs could get some better defense, I think they could be the new Patriots. There offence is obviously loaded, but they are screwed if they don't put up a pile of points and even then it gets iffy.

I get your point. However, that single penalty cost the Chiefs a guaranteed win. Everything that had occurred up to that point really didn't matter as the Chiefs were in the lead and that turn over would have sealed the victory for them had it not been for the off side penalty. That's why I put so much emphasis on it.

The first half played out nearly identical to how their first meet up this year went when the Patriots beat the chiefs 43-40. The Patriots started out strong and the Chiefs came on strong during the second half. During the first half, the Patriots outscored the Chiefs 24-9, but the Chiefs came back and outscored the Patriots 31-19. Not having a strong first half doesn't take you out of the game. Remember when the Patriots came back from a 28-3 deficit at half time to beat the Falcons in OT two years ago during the Super Bowl? Coin tosses always seem to fall in the Patriots favor. I do recall one play where Mahomes tossed a floater to the end zone a little too hard and over threw his target for what would have been an easy TD in the first half. That sure would have been nice to have!

That's a big IF. I don't see how a guy being a foot further back has any difference on that play ASIDE from the fact that the Chiefs would have won the game by not losing the interception due to a ridiculous penalty in the most crucial moments of the game. Nobody except Brady knows if he knew that Ford was offside before the snap. It's really hard to not put most of the blame on Ford when the Chiefs had the game won had he not received that penalty. All they would have had to do was run the clock down.

I didn't watch the Saints/Rams game, but it sounds like the Refs played a big part in the out come of that game. The Chiefs and the Patriots game is the one I was referring to.

Dee Ford cost the Chiefs that game. Had he not been offside, that interception would have sealed the win for the Chiefs. You don't give the greatest comeback quarterback ever extra chances in those situations or you will lose. I saw bad/no calls for both teams last night so I don't think the refs really made THAT big of a difference in the outcome.

I'm near sighted like Al. Anything within a few feet is clear, but it gets blurry enough to be annoying after that. I've got contacts that I wear when I am fishing or hunting, but I just wear my glasses for the most part. Lasik would be awesome, but I'm a tight wad.

Creates a new account and makes one post pimping up some guy that none of the local Table Rock crew has even heard of. That's not fishy at all!

I pretty well just use pink because it always works, but I have heard of others using red and orange with success down there as well. I've got orange for Maramec though. Those park fish love those orange trout worms. Learning to slow down and fish deeper takes some practice. I grew up learning to fish jigs at Maramec just like you so it took some time to get adjusted. Unless fish are midgning, you will typically want to keep your jig down near the bottom at Taneycomo. When they are midging, you can chase down the midgers and fish just like you do at Maramec and catch them.

I don't throw the NED very often, but I have been using Swingoil Baits NED head with the 1/0 hook. My favorite thing about them is that if I forget to bring fresh glue, they have a bait keeper on the hook and it keeps the Elaztech on well enough to where I'm not constantly adjusting the bait after every cast. When I actually do remember to bring glue, I just nip the keeper off. The price is right as well, but he doesn't offer them in the really small sizes. I've always used 1/8oz anyways. Also, I believe they are a forum sponsor. https://www.swingoilbaits.com/NED-HEADZ-SKU-244.htm

Once you get the jig thing figured out, you will rarely be out fished by a baiter IMO. The ability to put your lure in front of a lot more hungry trout versus just waiting for one to swim by your bait really pays off. I started off watching Phil's videos and then just tried to mimic him. Learning to keep a jig down in heavy current is definitely the hardest thing to learn when jig fishing. It's much easier with 0-2 units of water running. My buddies that are fairly new to jig fishing are starting to get the hang of it in low generation, but still struggle when the current is heavy. Another tip is that if the wind is really whipping along, you may need to go to a heavier jig so you can maintain better contact with it. The other thing you can do is go to a fast jigging retrieve like @JestersHK mentioned. When fast jigging, I like to use a rod with a whippier action. My reasoning for this is that since you are constantly bouncing the tip, you risk the trout feeling the sting of the hook point when it bites before you can react and set the hook. A whippier rod lets you get away with this more so because the flex will absorb some of the shock when the jig doesn't give due to being in a fishes mouth. You're giving up sensitivity with the whippier rod, but if you watch your rod tip as it bounces, you will learn to tell when a fish has grabbed the jig by how the rod loads up. When fishing the jig the traditional hop and drop way, you want something with a good backbone to drive the hook home on the hook set.

Here's a few different videos I made last year of me fishing jigs, straight and micros under a float, as well as one of me fishing a pink power worm under a float. The pink power worm is my favorite technique for putting numbers of fish in the boat. It should give you an idea on where to begin. Lilley's shop can hook you up with anything you need for either technique. I'd recommend orange head/sculpin/peach, green head/sculpin/ginger and white for colors. Black and black/olive are also good, but I always start out with the first three that I mentioned. Rarely do I not catch them on the first two. White can be great or terrible. It's very hit or miss. Pink Power Worm Under a Float Micro jig under a float for midging fish (you can throw this on a spinning rod just the same) Water off fishing a 1/16oz jig Heavy generation + flood gates with a 1/8oz jig

Cue the Too Much Fun by Daryle Singletary You could be boat 20 at RAW and still beat everybody to the Landing with that!

What did you have done to the Gator? New big block?

If you are strictly fishing shallow rivers, then a pair of powerpole/talons would probably work great. A few guys in the river bass clubs that I fish have them and seem to really like them. One thing that is VERY nice about having them on the rivers is when you beach the boat. No worries trying to drag the boat up far enough or finding something to tie off to to keep it form floating away. Just powerpole/talon down and the boat isn't going anywhere. I fish a lot of water while targetting crappie and trout that would be too deep for Powerpole/Talons to work properly so the trolling motor was a much better investment for me.

I didn't notice any. If I had to guess, it will have to get really cold for an extended period of time before shad start dying. It has been fairly mild since November up until the past week. It was only 9 days ago that it was 65 and sunny while fishing the Boswell on Taneycomo.

We fished the trophy area for a little while yesterday morning before heading back. As luck would have it, we got up there right as they went from 2 to 4 units and fishing was tough. Our drift from the cable down to just above the Narrows produced two trout and three smallmouth with only one for sure missed bite. A buddy was drifting along with us and I think he also caught two trout on his drift. There has to be a secret to catching those fish as soon as that water kicks up, but I sure don't have a clue what it is right now. Once the water stabilizes for a few hours, I can usually start getting bit again.

Another vote for the Ultrex and spot lock. I’ve used mine several days on Taneycomo in the past few weeks as well as one trip for bass on the Gasconade and I love it! I also spent a little time on this past Friday trolling crankbaits on taneycomo and it was great for that as well. Set the speed and heading and focus on watching the rods. Get hooked up, slow down the speed, reel in fish, handle fish, toss out bait and go back to trolling speed. It just makes so many things WAY more convenient!

Two fished up.

We struggled early for quality bites, but finally figured something out about an hour before they turned on 4 units. Most of what we weighed came during that one hour spell and then the bite died as soon as generation increased. After 4 units came on, we found some fish willing to bite near Monkey island, but they didn’t have any size to them. Sculpin/orange and sculpin/ginger jigs were our best lures. My partner caught several on a black/gold rooster tail and I picked up a few on a countdown rapala.

Hopefully it stays down at 2 units or even lower for the weekend. More importantly, I hope those fish snap out of their funk! Maybe this snow storm will get them active. I've never had a bad fishing trip when it was snowing.

I'll have to try one this weekend. I'm sure I will have to make another donut run before coming home or I may get in trouble by those depending on me. We're big on the maple bacon and fruit pie filled donuts.

I know it's late, but we ended up stopping at Hurts for a donut run followed by eating dinner at Mel's Hard Luck Diner. I've never ate there before and figured we would try it. The food was decent, but a bit pricey. I'm sure there was a bit of an upcharge to cover the talent since the waiters/waitresses could sing really well. I'll stick to Dana's next time.

Gigging on Taneycomo has become more popular and I'm sure that it has definitely had an impact on the numbers.