ness

Welcome CS, Lotsa good folks here that will lend a hand, but the best advice I can offer is to team up with somebody who is good at it. Good move on the TFO. Those are nice rods, and should be a big step up from the Wally Mart rod. You're positioned about perfectly in Springfield to take advantage of all the Missouri trout water.

Smallmouthjoe, I'd bet by now you're thinking wading doesn't sound so bad, eh?

Nothing -- I was just poking Wayne in the eye 'cause his post was missing a few etters.

Way , I tot y a ree.

Eric, would a keel on your paper plate help much? Keels are typically found on wide/flat hulls. I'm not really a fan of the flat and wide designs that are so popular with the canoes billed as 'fishing' canoes (with or without a keel). They offer a lot of 'initial stability' so it takes a lot to get one to start tipping. But they lack in 'secondary stability', that is once it starts to tip you're toast. With the wide/flat design you have to work harder to get where you're going -- whether it be straight in front of you or anywhere else -- because you're moving so much more water out of the way. The more narrow, rounded bottom canoes will not only track well, but will turn or go against the current better. Just some things to think about.

Oh my gawd -- Claude Dallas is your nephew? My first job was working Dietary at St. John's in the late seventies. Started out on the evening dish crew, before working my way up to the line. Well, Claude started working the EDC as part of some special program. I was around 16, and he musta been about 30 or so. He started out almost at the low end of the totem pole -- a 'Rinser' rinsing the plates coming in on the conveyor belt from the cafeteria. This was one of the nastier jobs, and was always dreaded by all the rest of us. All you really had to do was get the silverware off the plates and into a tub, pitch the trash and then rinse the slop off the plates into a trough of moving water that went into the Somat. Somat was an industrial-strength garbage disposal, and you needed to be pretty careful around it. If a knife dropped into the trough and made it into Somat, it sounded like a gun going off. A sensor would shut Somat down and a supervisor would have to come over and check things out, then push the red button to start things back up. After a couple violations, you'd end up with 'Pots and Pans', which was even worse than rinsing, but required some skill and strength (because the darn cooks would burn the crap outta stuff in those pots). Anyway, McGonigle, the boss, thought Claude could handle rinsing, so he started him off there. About 10-seconds into his first solo, he sent a glass down into Somat. Well, it didn't trigger the sensor, but it shot glass shards back out the front and hit this pregnant chick who was just looking for a reason to sue somebody. Last I heard she got a full-ride C-section. So, Claude kept at it and about every-other plate something would go into Somat. McGonigle got so tired of coming back there to reset it, that he gave me a 2-cent an hour raise and made me assistant manager, just so I could reset Somat. That turned out to be a full-time job. Plates, forks, knives, glasses, bottles, cans, you name it. Claude would fumble stuff all through the shift and really keep me hopping. I'll never forget this because it happened the same day Elvis died. Claude got ahead in his work (a real first) so he climbed up on the conveyor belt to get ahead of the oncoming dishes. Well, his apron dropped into the flowing water and got sucked into Somat. Fortunately, he slammed into the side cross-wise, so he didn't get sucked in. But it took two of us to hold him while another got to the kill switch. Anyway, after that Claude left. I heard he got a job in the lab.

Just jumped in this thread to see what all the hoolpa was. Dayum! $600 for a spinning reel? That's nuts -- even if you do make your living fishing, that's nuts. If I had a deal and could get a $600 reel for $300, I'd still pass because people would think I'm nuts. I don't spin fish enough really put the gear through a good test, but I have all sub-$100 Shimanos and like them. Gavin -- that Daiwa looks pretty nice, and is reasonably priced.

Yep -- that's a big part of things out west. Nothing more exciting than a dry fly chess match with a fish, regardless of its size. Personally, I like to get away from the people, and size isn't the main thing. I'd rather fish for a rare native cutthroat of 12-inches than a tailwater pig. But there's a lot of things in between that work too.

What??? How can you say that about the folks that brought us the Pacer, Gremlin, and Hornet? I had a friend in college that had a Whore-nut. This guy's about 6-6 and was cramped even with the seat pushed all the way back (which reduced the capacity by one, as half the back seat was lost). His blinker stick just came off in his hand one day, so he replaced it with a Popsicle stick. Man, that was a sweet ride. Wheatenheimer -- that's my idea of a fishin' car you've got right there. Only thing that would make it better is vinyl wood side panels.

Phil -- please ban that eric1978 dude. He's always starting trouble around here.

Hell, I haven't fished them all yet. Have all you guys? That one over there in the avatar would be in my top 500.

I always thought this would be a great fishing car: I work with a guy who owns a 2002 Jeep Laredo. He added all his repairs up and it totaled $12K, including transmission, A/C twice, power window motors all around. I work with another guy whose daughter drives a Liberty. Her left front wheel started wobbling one day, so he called the dealer. Turns out there was a recall, but they were spacing out the notifications so that the dealers weren't overwhelmed with repairs -- they were down the list. I work with yet another guy who put a new transmission in his Jeep after 2-years. As much as I like the whole Jeep thing, I just couldn't buy one.

Don't know what your budget is, or what the Old Town costs. Here's a retailer in the KC area that sells canoes, but not OT. KC Paddlers They carry Wenonah, and the Vagabond is an excellent canoe for Ozark waters. You might want to compare the weight of the OT to the Wenonahs.

Yep -- I remember a couple years ago with you on NFOW. There were times when the 'toon looked great, and times when it looked like it sucked (like in the frog water). But the canoe is just kinda there in the middle. Never great, never sucks. I do think a 'toon would be nice on a couple places I fish close to home -- small lakes, etc.

Here's what I'd suggest to get set up for fishing at Bennett, beyond rod and line: 1. monofilament loop tied on the end of the fly line at the shop. 2. three-pack of 9-foot 6X leaders. Rio are pretty good, and come with a loop on the end (to connect to the loop you got in #1). 3. one spool each of 4, 5, and 6X tippet. 4. both dry flies and nymphs* -- smallish sized. I'll leave specific recommendations to someone else. 5. some small split shots -- not the big 'ol honkin' ones you spin fish with. No bigger than BB sized. 6. some strike indicators. That's fancy for bobbers. I use the foam slide on anchor with toothpick variety. 7. Gink or equivalent to waterproof your dry flies to help them float. 8. Dry shake -- silica-type stuff that you dry your fles with to help them float. More numbers here: smaller sized flies have bigger numbers. Practical range would be 18 to 12. Smaller would help, but those are getting tiny. I think if you roll into Bennett with this stuff, you'll be ready to go. As far as technique, well I'd count on a seasoned angler or friend to get you started. Or, Google around and find something that way. Practice on the lawn before you go. You'll need to learn a couple basic knots, too. I use a surgeon's knot to tie tippet to leader and an improved clinch to tie fl to tippet. Orvis has a pretty good animated knot thingy, that you should be able to find via Google. Hi ho, hi ho...

Here's a quick tutorial on fly tackle: Fly lines are set up in a three-piece system: Backing -- which is kinda like thin string. It's purpose is to lengthen the system beyond that of the fly line, and add diameter to the reel's spool, making it easier to retrieve the line. Backing lasts virtually forever. Fly line -- a plastic coated line that is built with a taper. The most common and best taper for a beginner is a weight-forward taper. This expands slightly towards the tip end (if you put it on correctly), adding weight which makes the cast easier to manage. Fly lines will last quite a while (years), especially if you take good care of it -- keep it clean, keep it off the ground so you don't step on it. The fly line should match the rod's weight -- which will be on the rod. zhoyt gave a good set of guidelines for line and rod weight and fish type. Rod weights go from 1 to 10 (with some smaller and larger). The practical ranges for fishing for trout, panfish and bass are about 3 to 8. Smaller means lighter tackle, larger number means bigger. Leader -- a section of monofilament (like regular fishing line) that also is built in a taper, from thick at the butt end to very thin at the 'tippet' end that's tied to the fly. When the tippet end gets too short or tangled up, you can tie a piece of new tippet on. When the whole leader gets messed up, you can replace that. Leaders are sold in length/tippet size combinations like 9-foot 5X. Tippet sizes range from very fine 8X to pretty stout 1X. Ten minus the tippet number equals the approximate pound rating, i.e 1X is about 9 pound test, 8X is about 2. Practical tippet sizes for trout would be about 4 to 7X, favoring the larger number (smaller size) for small flies in trout parks, larger size for larger flies and/or fast/broken water. Sing along: The back-ing's connected to the fly-line. The fly line's connected to the tip-pet. The tip-pet's connected to the fly-eye. Rods range from 6-1/2 to 9-1/2 feet (again, with some shorter or longer). A practical range for most is 8 to 9 feet. So, about an 8-foot 4 weight with a 9-foot leader tapering to 6X would be a pretty good setup for Bennett Springs, give-take. Hope this helps. PS: Cabela's will sell you a package with all this put together.

I'd probably start with an 8-1/2 foot 4-weight. Cruise on over to Cabela's -- they've got a wide range of products for you to touch and feel, and knowledgeable staff to help you out. I bought a couple low-end rods from Cabela's last year (Traditionalist II and something else) for my sons. They're pretty nice rods, both with a medium action. They've got several reels to choose from -- from pretty economical to stupid. Personally I'd steer away from the plastic ones, but that's just me.

I used to have a mint condition Arkansas Traveler jon boat, but somebody stole it off me on the Meramec about 25 years ago. I stole it back three times, but that guy just keeps coming back to get it. He's beat it all to heck.

Yep, you're right. I like canoes now. They are absolutely the best for everything, everywhere, period.

I like pontoons. They are absolutely the best for everything, everywhere, period.

11 Point above Turner?

I'm DVR-ing the whole thing -- just can't devote that much time to watch it live. It's sure reminds me of just how good we've got it here. And, such diversity -- from Alpine to desert, and every imaginable thing in-between. My bucket list is growing daily.

I have a tendency to believe that, but it is interesting that he may have drawn from that area for his book. I always kinda wondered where it took place, so to speak. Gavin -- good point re: smallmouth.

I dunno.... Obamanomics? Religion? Catch & release?

I messed around with those to try to find a balance between good quality and huge files. What I see when I print or on the monitor is very crisp and easy to read.