ness

I found the 'View new content' link -- so I'm good for now. Cleaner, more up-to-date look for sure. I gotta feeling we'll find some cool stuff in here.

Well, you are wrong -- I didn't assume you were targeting spawning fish. My assumption was that you'd be asked the question, and I thought I'd just get it out on the table. It wasn't my intention to call you out, put you on the spot or question your ethics. Sorry if it came across that way. Based on what you've said, I suspect you and I look at things pretty much the same way. They were cool pictures -- something most people haven't seen, especially from such a special place. Thanks for sharing, and again -- I'm sorry.

Had to Google that one. Is this what you're talking about? I found it here: CLICK

Wow -- TJ is a stud! And, a future tax-paying, license-buying, rule-following outdoorsman. Good for him and good for you and his dad for getting him out there!

You know, I don't think the end result has to be an immediate bust to have an impact. If you don't have service, make the call when you you do. If the agent is on the other side of the county when you call, that's a tough break. But you've planted a seed. A couple years ago I called on Crane Creek a couple days after I saw some ya-hoo fishing there with what looked like worms. They said they'd go check it out. Did they do it? Hell, I'll never know. But I sure improved the chances, right? This is about raising awareness and getting them to pay attention to an area. They've gotta patrol somewhere -- make them think about your stream first. The more (legitimate) calls, the better. Remember -- just seeing an MDC truck in the area will be a deterrent to some folks. Sure, a bust would be nice, a conviction and fine even nicer, and a front-page article in the local newspaper about CA crack-downs would be ideal. But it all starts with a phone call. So, act now! That number again: 1-800-392-1111

I just figured someone would ask whether you fished the redds -- given the pictures and all the emotional talk on the subject. So, no -- you didn't miss anything. Just being a smart a*s -- it's what I do.

Feels like I'm beating a dead horse with this, but.... If you're seeing violations, or even evidence of violations, call the game thief hotline. That'll draw attention to an area, and the odds of an agent getting out there go way, way up. No new rules, no new people -- just getting the ones out there to go where they're told. Squeaky wheel, and all that. That number: 1-800-392-1111 again: 1-800-392-1111 Call 1-800-392-1111 within the next 15 minutes and I'll send you some steak knives.

So, is she on the market or not?

Wait a minute there mosouthpaw, it's ok to dig a pond and stock it with bass, as long as there's a 2/3 majority of the club members and 100 percent agreement as to the species, and they've got to be wild but not necessarily native bass (without a red eye). Trout of any kind are ok, excepting of course for sea trout, which aren't really trout whether they're native and/or wild. But, you could probably get an ok if they're stream bred, but that ain't gonna happen if there sea trout, see? Blue gill are ok. Green sunnies or any of the lesser fish are right out banned. Dry flies only, 100 percent C&R, but that really goes without saying. Hope this helps.

Somebody needs to ask him. Ain't gonna be me though......

DOG PILE!!! Just kidding. Welcome to the forum. I think the discussion was legit and the only got derailed when the topic of respect for the guy came up. Hey Cricket -- what kinda cigarette was it? I'm guessing it was a Kool

Ahem! Corn and marshmallows, fished from a dock...how positively boorish! Grandfather said this would occur when fishing was allowed among the hoi polloi.

When it comes to fishing tackle, Santa doesn't ride in a sleigh, wear a red suit and come down the chimney. My 'jolly old elf' comes in a brown truck, wears a brown uniform and brings stuff to me right here at the office.

Awe, come on man -- that wasn't nice. It smells of tackle snobbery, which just rubs a lot of people the wrong way and helps give fly fishermen a bad name. He's a guy out fishing, following the rules and caught a helluva fish. What difference does it make what tackle he was using? Would he be more of a sportsman if he was drifting a glo-ball with a Winston / Abel setup?

KC -- I love to fish for crappie, and eat them, but I haven't done it in several years. Just one of those things that gets pushed aside by the daily grind.

Thanks for the info. I would have been scared to sand on a blank like that, fearing I'd get down into the fiberglass. But, really I've got nothing to lose with that old war club of mine. I'm gonna put that on the (ever-growing) list of things to do this winter.

You know, this is just a personal preference. He was operating within the rules (like you said) and he decided to keep it. I'm a C&R guy, almost exclusively, but I'd probably have kept that one. And not to eat -- to hang on the wall and brag about. Get me a new avatar too. You know, important stuff like that.

Finally got back to look at the rod. Nice work there! I'm curious what you finished the blank with, and how you applied it.

Who all?

I think the current stockers are more mutt than 'McCloud'. They have introduced McCloud blood into some that they've stocked in 11 Point WILD trout area, but there's all kinda stuff mixed in with the current Missouri and Missouri Arlee strains. Here's a good article if you want the particulars: Missouri Trout

You're just plain wrong about that.

John, I think your confusing the concepts of wild and native. I didn't want to have to go to the dictionary, but ... Wild: –adjective 1. living in a state of nature; not tamed or domesticated: a wild animal; wild geese. 2. growing or produced without cultivation or the care of humans, as plants, flowers, fruit, or honey: wild cherries. Native: –adjective 1. being the place or environment in which a person was born or a thing came into being: one's native land. 2. belonging by birth to a people regarded as indigenous to a certain place, esp. a preliterate people: Native guides accompanied the expedition through the rain forest. A lot of folks use the terms interchangeably, but they're different. Wild means they've been out of the hatchery long enough to adapt to their environment, i.e. learned to find food and avoid predators. The term is commonly used when describing these trout (NFOW rainbows) because they behave differently than trout fresh from the stocking truck. And, that's a distinction that's important enough to warrant being called 'wild'. I use the term stream bred too -- it's a little more specific than wild. But wild is wild, and native doesn't fit any trout swimming around in the midwest. As to your DNA comment -- well, there have been DNA studies done, on Crane rainbows at least, and they're pretty confident there's no 'stocker' in them. They're extra special in my book. Again, rainbows in NFOW, BSC, Mill, Crane, etc. are wild -- by definition.

That's some sweet looking stuff there, and priceless time spent with your boy. Hell, you just may be alright. Tim: 'feral' has such a negative connotation to it. Makes them sound like trashcan-raiding tomcats or pesky hogs. I just like 'wild'

kdan, I hereby encourage you to snitch. It's a huge problem, and it has been for years. When you snitch you do two things: you alert the Conservation Agents that there's a problem in an area and you just may get one of the criminals busted. I'm not so mean-spirited that I want to see somebody get nailed, but I can look beyond that and know that it's a good thing -- because it deters him, everybody watching and everybody who hears about it, from breaking the rules. Here's the number -- everybody put it in your phone right now. 1-800-392-1111 I'm waiting...

I left, but then I came back. Then I left again. Now I'm back. This time it's for keeps.