ness

Bump. Empire of the Summer Moon about the demise of the Commanches. Pretty interesting section on Cynthia Parker -- a teenaged girl captured by the Commanches who watched members of her family beaten and butchered, then suffered horrible treatment by her captors before being accepted into the fold. Relatives searched for years, and when she was finally brought back to 'civilization' she wanted to go back (sound familiar?) She was mother to Quanah, who became a great chief, raised a lotta he!! and ultimately became a wealthy guy within the white-man's system. One of the things that really stands out is just how savage they could be. It was routine to torture, rape, dismember, burn, whatever, their captives. Pretty good stories, but the author is prone to hyperbole and bounces around in time so that it's hard to follow at times. It's got me wanting to read more on the topic.

Saw a bozillion snows on the ground up around Squaw Creek NWR a couple weeks ago.

I wonder if Spence could shed any light on that discrepancy. I'm just curious because Dean seems to have leaned pretty heavily on Spence as a source. I wonder if he was referring to the other hatchery that someone mentioned was on a tributary of Crane. Anyhoo -- I see now that Chief posted that story in an earlier post. Just swiped all Andrew's documents to add to my collection of stuff. Thanks for that.

I found where I read that there were stockings up into the 1960's: Right here

Try here: http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/cof/COF_1889-1891.PDF pp. 89-ish

I find this pretty interesting, and I wish I had the time to research it. Hopefully Spence Turner will shed some light on this. The US Fisheries Bulletins at the NOAA site are a wealth of information, but man they're hard to wade through. There are a few I've copied off and kept over the years, but they don't address this specific question. I do vaguely remember something about some later stockings, but I don't remember thinking it spoiled the 'pure' McCloud story. Seems like the official line has always been 'no recorded stockings' which is easily translated into 'no stockings'. And the vast majority of the info floating around is word of mouth, not documented stocking info. So I've always had a bit of skepticism about the whole thing. Essentially all trout everywhere are mutts. Even the extensive efforts of Colorado to isolate pure Greenbacks weren't successful -- years later some scientist found a couple Rainbow genes mixed in. Pure? Nope, but that's thee best we've got. Regardless, like some others have said, it's a pretty special place with a good story, and I like all that. It doesn't really matter to me that there may be a few funky genes mixed in. It bothers me more to see tires, Gatorade bottles and other non-biodegradable stuff in the creek.

Welp, looks like it's unanimous! I'll generally root around and find something about the same size and color of the last bug I saw fly by. If there's nothing in the air I'll go with a small Adams, EHC, BWO, or white Cahill, roughly in that order, or I might grab something else if my tummy tells me to. And, I'll lengthen and/or size down my tippet to 6 or 7x to improve my odds of a strike. Or not. I find myself tying on two dries a lot lately -- one I can see and one I think the trout will eat 12 to 18 inches off the 'indicator' fly, but not always. Hope this helps.

Seen on KU's Facebook page: "Missouri forfeits century-old rivalry. We win." It is a bummer to see one of the greatest rivalries in sports get flushed, regardless of what side you're on. Here in KC there's always a lot of buzz, and you kinda fall in one camp or the other even if you're not a fan of either. I guess that's the end of that. Hope you Mizzou fans get something for this, but I think you'll be the red-headed stepchild down there for at least a decade.

Well you'd better hurry and buy all your stuff. They're all going out of business but Mr. Big, whoever that is

Yeah -- I'll never go into Cabela's to buy a specific/sized thing anymore. They just don't carry enough stock, and they adjust inventory seasonally, so sometimes it's more limited than others. Off the top of my head, I can remember not being able to buy specific brands/sizes of waders, boots, fly line, hackle, tippet, flies and a rain jacket at the Cabela's 15 minutes from my house. All the stuff was available online though. Still bought some stuff -- like fudge or candy-coated nuts -- and handled some shotguns over in the gun library, so it wasn't a total bust. Last time I made a substantial tackle purchase I called Tim's Flyshop in Cassville, MO, talked to him about what I needed and he had it drop-shipped to my house from the manufacturer. That was a pretty easy and fair transaction.

That was neat. I liked seeing the hand work, like the girl doing the wraps, the logo and the handle.

3 pages, and I had to take a peek... This sure seems like a lot of different ways to screw up a day of fishing. Blech.

Gavin's right. I'm on their e-mail list and haven't heard boo since they were bought.

...and that's why they call you oneshot.

That's a beautiful fish buddy. Did you put the priest to his head or toss him back?

Well, we've already established I am a dumbarse, so I best be careful. Did you give it a try yet? I may have to study up on this. I see more of those than I do morels, and that's without even looking. Of course, they stand out a little better. BTW -- just started a hard cider a couple days ago.

Actually -- I had to look it up. Not much of an expert on wild mushrooms, though I had heard of Chicken of the Woods. So, yeah, kind of a dumbarse. I actually saw one similar to that in SW MO last week. Not sure how easy to ID they are. Anything bad that could be confused with those?

I'd pitch it.

Go Panthers! (ok -- I looked it up)

This is why I always carry. No hillbilly grandma and her inbred spawn are gonna jack up my relaxing day of fishing.

I suspect another major reason we don't stock cutts is that they'll cross with rainbows. The emphasis on wild trout streams is well established in MO. Nobody's gonna want cutts in there muddying things up.

When I'm on the water, the foremost thing on my mind is not 'How do I look, and will others be impressed with me?' Father taught me to scorn the bourgeois. That said, when you can afford the finest, why settle for less? For example -- Why struggle with ill-fitting waders when a call to Perk will put a custom-fitted pair (with the family crest!) on my secretary's assistant's desk the next day? Why nickle silver, when sterling is sooo much nicer? Sure, it requires more polishing, but I have people for that. And these newfangled graphite rods? Why, I wouldn't sully my vintage Gillum, Dickerson or Garrison rods by having one in the same Range Rover. It's unthinkable! Oh the stares I get from the hoi polloi! It's one of the reasons I so rarely fish the Ozarks; that and the absence of landing strips and suitable accommodations. But I certainly understand if your position has limited your resources such that you must purchase sub-par tackle.

Some stuff I've got Blue Ribbon - Greer Spring to Turner Mill Access White Ribbon - Downstream from Turner Mill Access <strong>Stream Details</strong> Greer Spring Branch (0.0) N36° 47.9053' W91° 20.3150' Greer Spring Access (0.4) Access at Highway 19 N36° 47.6438' W91° 20.0381' The Split (1.0) no access N36° 47.4262' W91° 19.5182' The Big Bend (3.0) no access N36° 47.1480' W91° 17.6947' Little Hurricane Creek (3.4) N36° 46.7358' W91° 17.5275' Hurricane Creek (4.5) Access on Forest Service Road 4031?? N36° 46.5789' W91° 16.6160' Turner Mill Access (5.6) N36° 45.9474' W91° 16.0196' Access from north on Forest Service Road 3190; Access from south on Country Road 127

Here's what I've got: Blue Ribbon – Montauk to Cedar Grove. White Ribbon – Cedar Grove downstream. Montauk Park boundary (0.0 miles) Access Follow CR 667 through Park N37° 26.732′ W91° 40.142′ Tan Vat (0.6) Access CR 667 through Park 1.5 miles to CR 664 right N37° 26.999′ W91° 39.659′ Bluffs (1.4) Access 0.5 miles upstream from Baptist Baptist Camp (1.9) Access CR 667 from Tan Vat 1 mi to Baptist Camp Access sign right; 1.5 miles to access N37° 26.108′ W91° 39.332′ Ashley Creek (3.1) No access N37° 25.745′ W91° 38.988′ Love’s Cabin Dumpster Run The Horseshoe (3.8 ) Access by difficult road ¼ mile past turn-off for Baptist. Best for four-wheel drive vehicles only. Large bend in the river with steep bluffs. N37° 25.223′ W91° 38.664′ Parker Hollow (6.3) Access CR 667 from Baptist Camp Access road 0.7 miles to CR 652 right CR 652 1.7 miles to access N37° 26.219′ W91° 37.198′ Cedargrove (8.4) Access N37° 25.078′ W91° 36.225′

Oh -- and wait until the 7th week to separate from mom, according to Wolters and a bunch of others.