ness

1) Kansas has the last known population of wild jackalopes. 2) The British don't put cheese or eggs in the refrigerator. 3) Fruit Loops don't contain any fruit. 4) Just because a car's speedometer goes to 140, doesn't mean it can go 140. 5) Mo-Mo was a hoax.

I only caught about half the show, which ticked me off. I just need to DVR American Experience -- it's one of the best shows on TV. I'm pretty sure they built the old lodge at least. Don't they even call it the "CCC Lodge"? I gotta tell you, the 'improvements' at Roaring River sure have changed the flavor of the place. My first time there we stayed at the old motel. I was sad when they tore it down, but thought the new lodge looked cool -- at first. Now it just looks out of place to me. Sure, it's a nice place to go potty if the campground restrooms are overflowing, but I'd never stay there. Ate there once -- high price, bad food and service. Now they've got the new store -- just like the one at Bennett. They've got more floor space devoted to girly crap than fishing gear. Dammit -- if I want a toe ring, pink cowboy hat, dream catcher, cappuccino, Christmas ornaments or a tote bag, I can get it at the mall.

Most of my canoe-side-bumping comes when I'm trying to maneuver the full-sized paddle with one hand and fish with the other. You know, right when you don't want to do it.

You know Wayne, that's exactly what I was thinking. I saw some dude on the Eleven Point a few weeks ago. Had his three cute kids, wife, about 400 pounds of gear and hisself in two canoes. Each of the little ones had a little paddle, and it got me to thinking.... I try to think two or three steps ahead and do 'corrections' like you're saying. Doesn't always work out, but I try. Wrangling the big paddle into position for a minor correction right when I need to be fishing is a hassle. A leetle paddle just may be the ticket.

I just noticed the guy has a whistle in his mouth. I guess that was to draw attention to himself? Yeah, I know they float good. I honestly haven't tried them for a couple reasons. First, I typically fish pretty skinny water, so I don't want to lob a kickball out there. Second, I don't like things that I have to wrap my leader around -- cause it kinks it up. As for the system the guy is advocating -- I think it has merit for really deep fishing situations. I like to be able to adjust my indicators, and this seems to make that a hassle. But, I'm noodlin' it over. I went over to the craft store yesterday, and picked up some stuff. I'm gonna go down to the lab and try to cook up something that meets my needs. I hate spending a buck-plus for indicators that either sink, break, get tangled up, scare fish, whatever.

Being a well-known and sought after Ozark fly fishing legend, I get a lot of calls from companies wanting me to try out their products, give them feedback, tell them how to run their business, etc. I got a call from Thingamabobber CEO Jean-Claude Gaibeaux last summer, asking me to come to their company picnic and kinda get the troops excited about their new product. I'd never met him face-to-face, so I didn't really know what to expect. Anyhoo, they had a big parade for me: I gave them a rousing speech, then got the heck outta Dodge.

Abel is a high-end reel maker. Not familiar with their rods, can't afford their reels. Abel

I think the suggestions for a longer boat are on track. I've got a 16'6" Wenonah Solo Plus, but I can't tell you whether it would work or not. I've paddled it with myself and two kids (front and back) with a total weight over 275, but that's spread out. I also just took myself, one kid and a bunch of gear down the Eleven Point. I'm about 215, son about 90, and gear, but again it was spread out. It's a great canoe solo, just ok all loaded up. I know Wenonah really takes things seriously, and has a lot of good info on their site and in their catalogs about selecting the right boat. You might check that out or give their customer service a call. I'm sure this isn't the first time it has come up, so it might be covered in their FAQs. If they can't help, call another top canoe company (Bell, OT, Dagger) and ask them. Or, call a specialty paddling shop. They might even let you try one out at a lake or something. KC Paddlers in ... guess where ... Kansas City would talk with you. I know they take a bunch of boats out to a local lake periodically to let people try them out.

Good stuff Matt. I love what you can get with that ultra-wide lens. Money spent on glass is usually money well-spent.

please don't deactivate me.

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...