ness

LOLL (LOL, literally)

You're just being a smarty pants. Let's get back to the floggings now.

Yeah Alex, the enforcement isn't what it should be. Never has been.

Good stuff in this thread. It's about adapting and being resourceful on these little cricks. You size up your spot, and do what you need to get to it. Also, you look what you might mess up and decide if you're going to fish it or pass on it for the greater good. So many times I look at a spot, and know that's THE spot, but realize what I've got to do to get to it is gonna send those gossipy wild rainbows telling the whole stream I'm coming. Or, a lot of times I'll go way out of my way to approach from a different angle. After you've fished a while, you'll learn the ways to approach without doing so much back tracking. Bow and arrow is the very last resort for me because, as easy as it looks, I never know where the heck it's going. Usually about 3 feet off the rod tip is a good bet. The other techniques mentioned are all useful. Basically -- whatever you can do to get your fly to the spot without spooking the fish is OK. The long, graceful casts are mostly for spectators or photographs. I always drilled this into my kids heads: Don't count on luck to keep your fly out of the trees. Look around you and adapt your cast to the situation at hand. Flies in trees wastes time and money, and generally screws up your good time.

I'm probably in the minority here, but why not just develop it? Sell licenses to vendors who then can build restaurants, sell liquor, rent jet skis, sponsor fishing tournaments and wet t-shirt contests? It'd be like Lake of the Ozarks, but without the poop. Why not have a venue for Grateful Dead and Elvis impersonators? Where do we send our comments?

Just got started on "The Glorious Cause" by Jeff Schaara -- an author Al recommended a while back. It's historical fiction about the Revolutionary War, told through the eyes of Washington, Franklin, Cornwallis and others. I'm only a little way into it, but I think I'm gonna like it a lot. If so, I'll plow into some of his other books about the Civil War, WW I and II. Thanks for the tip, Al.

Very nice. The camera is only one part of the equation in a great photo.

I was flying into Midway once, and just before touchdown the pilot pulled up and gunned the engines. That was scary to begin with, but he circled around and at one point while turning he was rolled darn near 90 degrees (I think). I was on the down side looking straight out at the ground, at a pretty low altitude and a really slow speed. He finished the circle, leveled out and then landed. On the ground he finally came on to let us know the landing gear warning light had come on and he showed the belly to the tower to confirm the gear was down. I had some close calls when I was landing F4s on carriers during 'Nam -- but nothing quite like that.

That happened in Wichita,Kansas a couple months ago too. Over reliance on the ol' Garmin, I guess. It was a huge 747 variant cargo jet, and they thought it might have trouble taking off, but it did manage. Certainly a black eye for Southwest.

Nice!

Ha!

F&F -- I've got an endorsement for items of particular value like you're talking about . For a few more dollars a year I can get them specifically covered for replacement cost. I've got it for guns, photography equipment and jewelry. About 95% of the value of my photography equipment is in a single backpack. Somebody grabs that and I'm out big time. I've got it listed down to filters, cards, cords, batteries, etc. Add all the non-camera stuff in that bag up and it's more than the body. Come to think of it, I should add my tackle box and fly fishing duffel.

Sorry to hear that mic. Prayers and mojo heading your way.

What spot is that, Gavin?

Looks like a Labrador to me.

Man, the road to the Horseshoe is a tough one on it's best day. Glad he got out OK.

As soon as I figure out a way I can get there without a canoe, I'm back in. Who got sick and had to be walked out?

There's kind of a sentiment throughout this thread that the client needs to keep in mind that the guide needs to cover his costs. I guess I see that as little out of place. When you're running a business, it doesn't always work out every single time. But you try to make it work most of the time. And it's not your customer's responsibility. It shouldn't even be brought up. I would think a successful guide would look beyond his cost today. In a situation like flyman describes the guide gets $225 ...one time. Costs covered, he made a profit, all's well, right? But...pretty sure flyman won't be back, and he won't be recommending him to anyone else either. So, how many trips has he forgone? 2 this month? 10 this year? Seems to me a little concession from the guide could go a long way toward offsetting the sting of a zero day by instilling goodwill. Maybe offer the next trip free; or offer to knock off half the price today with a half off the next time. Repeats and recommendations are the backbone of services like this. Anyhoo -- this guy sounds more like a guy offering boat rides and less like a guide. I wonder if he got his wife to OK the boat purchase by telling her he could pay for it by guiding?

Well, that's the way I think it should be. I had a two-day stop in Tennessee a few summers ago (on the way to somewhere else I would have rather passed on) and hired a guide for a day hoping to make the most of it. It rained hard the night before and that morning, and the streams were all blown out. We drove all over GSMNP trying to find a valley that was fishable. All the while, this guy was telling me stuff about the area, history, the locals, fishing, where we were etc. When we did end up fishing, he worked with me on improving my roll cast, and I ended up with a couple fish. But the best part was the rest -- not those fish. Next time I go out there, I'll look him up and do it again. Maybe even take him to dinner. That's the difference between a 'real' guide and all the rest, IMO. He'll get repeat business, and recommendations from those clients for new business. It's a service, not fish purchase.

That wasn't very nice, Jerry. flyman -- You're not guaranteed anything on a guided trip, but from the way you described things, I think you've got a right to be disappointed. I'm not sure what the protocol is in the Ozarks fishing for walleye, bass, whatever, but the half-dozen times I've hired a guide while for trout fishing the guides NEVER fished other than to maybe demonstrate something. Regardless, I think the guide is obligated to do what he can to make your day a good one. Anyone that doesn't see it that way is in the wrong bidness, IMHO. Duck -- do you fish while you're with clients? What do you do if it's a rotten day? A guide I've used a few times, and who has become a friend, told me once the only guarantee was that he'd drag my body to the road if needed.

Me too

Interesting to see how things evolved this season. At first, out defense was incredible -- all sacks, some pick-sixes and stingy on giving up ground yardage. Offense had it's moments, but wasn't winning the games for us. By season's end, that pass rush had sputtered and the sacks were few and far between. I know opponents adjust, and the quick/short game played by Denver, Baltimore and others was cutting the time down, but it still didn't seem like we were even getting close very often. I like the idea of Bowe as a TE also. Heck, a lot of times when he's running a route he looks like he's blocking anyway. We need to get that secondary spruced up.

I just look at this and say 'how the heck did we lose it?' I don't think the injuries tell the story -- would we have scored a couple more touches with Charles, and Avery in there? Or prevented a couple more with Flowers? Maybe, but we did enough on offense: Alex Smith just muscled those points on the board. He was a stud tonight. Our downfall was the porous secondary, particularly against the hurry-up, which has been our Achille's heal this season. Oh, and a great QB in Luck. I've always been the first to jump D Bowe's arse, but he had a pretty dang good game. He turns that right foot in a shade on that last catch and we're likely moving on. But hey, he was off balance and getting a shove. Dang.

eeeewww.

Another thought: when I'm fishing with my boys or nephews I usually have rods rigged different ways so we can switch around. One with a dry or dry/dropper, one with a nymph and maybe one with a Wooly Bugger or streamer.