ness

Yep those kind of forums would definitely slant it, but I've got a little more faith in the OA community. We're outdoorsy folks by definition, with a better-than-average understanding of the world around us, I'd guess. Polls always have issues. This one, for example, would likely lean more heavily toward the "yes" side if the word "MAJOR" wasn't in there. That implies we know the extent of our impact, when most of us simply don't. The problem for most of us (I know me personally, for sure) is most everything we hear on this topic has been so heavily filtered through someone with an agenda, that none of it passes the smell test in the end. Personally, I don't really care to hear what Al Gore or Rush Limbaugh have to say on the topic. I just don't consider them authorities on the matter. Somebody show me a distilled version of some real-live science dudes who've looked at this pretty hard and have made a determination that doesn't make me wanna say 'Oh, bull****!' and I'll happily read it. But, I'm withholding my vote for now.

I'm in. Put me down for ness' X-tra Terrestrial. Hopefully I can beat the deadline.

Hard to know. It's such a contentious issue that everybody seems to scurry over to their favorite political/ideological side and hide behind a wall of hyperbole. No doubt 9 billion people burning stuff makes it a little warmer.

Out here in the 'burbs there are a whole lot of parents out there pushing their kids, and many seem to take pride in talking about their brutal schedules -- this practice, that tournament, whatever. I've always been of the mind that kids with too much to do, especially sports, are missing out on the 'kid' stuff, so we've always limited that to one sport at a time. Where we live there's a lot of undeveloped land around, and we've always taken time to get out and knock around on it. My babies have been fishing since they were very young, and the boys hunting since they were about 12. Problem for me now is that they're teenagers, and hanging out with dad ranks below almost everything. But I know that's just part of the deal, and they'll come back around someday. Every once in a while I'll get a surprise though: in October we did our annual family get-together at Roaring River, and my 100% girl daughter told me she wanted to fly fish -- which we haven;t done together in several years. Well, the trout gods were smiling on us because she hooked and/or landed about a half-dozen fish in an hour, all on a leetle, tiny white Cahill. Probably another half-dozen looked real hard or took it and spit it. It is always a thrill for me when that happens, but watching her getting thrilled was the best part. Just gotta plant the seed, take them with you when you can, don't make them go if they don't want to, give them something else to do when they're done, and don't make it about yourself. It's gonna be harder and harder to keep the outdoor traditions alive the way things are going though. Rural-area economics have changed so dramatically that they support fewer and fewer people. Small/medium-sized farms just don't support a family on their own. The incredibly cheap foreign labor tempts business to send it overseas, rather than to the small towns. It's sad.

Good stuff, Brian. Amazing watching your little man cast out there and then toss in a perfect mend! And, he's got some good moves too I'm curious how you're doing the time-lapse stuff. In-camera, or with software?

It's human nature to want to cast as long as possible. But in real fishing situations, the distances are typically pretty short (30 to 50 feet). First thing will be to get the timing down right so you're not "cracking the whip". If you're doing that, you're starting your forward cast too early and casting too fast. The idea is to lay the line out behind you parallel to the ground, load the rod, and reverse direction so the line flows out parallel to the ground in front so that the fly lands lightly on the water. Put a fly on the end of the leader but snap off the hook point so you don't hurt anybody. Then practice laying the fly on/in a target. It's great you'll be getting some casting instruction. Hopefully you can get on some moving water with him and learn how to deal with the current, mend line, etc. Good luck.

I'd tie.

That was fun. Lots of good shots, angles, interesting fish. What's the story on the fox? I've never seen one sit still when people are around.

ahhh.... J. Edson Leonard. Leave out the "i" when you hunt.

I'd head over to Amazon.com. They have a huge network of used book dealers. I've bought several old /out-of-print books that way.

I'm a current or former reader of several forums where selling something on post #1 would get you lit up pretty good. Just sayin'.

+1

Never tied on a Peak. Like my Traveler though.

Good stuff. Love the long exposure/northern lights stuff.

OK -- I'll PM you if we end up going. It's about 50-50 right now.

Phil -- there's a ton of good WIHA around Greensburg. I hunted that and some private land north of there. There's a good Mexican restaurant right next to the motel on the highway, BTW. Possibility we'll be out there next weekend too. brittsnbirds -- tough break on your younger one. We've got a couple britts so I always notice your name and avatar. One is 10 and slowing down some. Got a pup a couple years ago so we'd have new blood coming in. Here they are at the motel evening of opening day: I try not to spoil them.

I've got the Apache & Gila on the bucket list.

Looks like a blonde lab to me.

Coolest? I s'pose it's the Colorado River cutts I caught a few years back. They've been darn-near extirpated in their native range (west side of the Divide in CO, WY) by introduction of rainbows and brookies. Hard to get to, at least where I was, and hanging on by a thread above a natural barrier that kept out the bad guys. Small fish that have really got the odds stacked against them.

Good on you, Chief. It's been a good conversation.

...looks up...drifts back with the current, watching...quick flip of the tail and he lets it go by.

...and, all the chemicals that we put on the yard, or put down the drain. There's just so much going in that it's hard to know what all the effects are. For a long time I partially wrote off the 'good old days' as selective memory from the old timers. But there have been such dramatic changes in my lifetime (and I seem to notice more and more all the time) that I'm not so quick to dismiss it these days. I went pheasant/quail hunting on a very sweet property in northern MO a couple weeks ago. I saw a dozen or so turkeys, no quail and one pheasant. The 'old timer' with us had tons of stories about the huge numbers of birds there in the 70's, and he's not the kinda guy to exaggerate. Of course there wasn't a turkey in the whole county back then. Maybe not even a deer. Definitely no cougars, and they just had a confirmed sighting a couple counties south of there this week. Everything's changing, and it seems like we're getting farther and farther behind in reversing the trends.

The sampling data I've seen supports Gavin's earlier point that there just aren't a lot of tiny rainbows through there. Personal experience seems to back it up too. I don't know what the factors all are, but the hatchery fish in there are certainly dominating the system and they're not necessarily going to be as successful at spawning as a non-hatchery fish. For generations and generations they've been doing it in-vitro with a helping hand from man. Maybe they've 'forgotten' how to do it.

Yeah, he looks phenomenal lately. Patient, quick, slippery. Amazing to see him grabbed and get 3, 4, 5 more yards. Jones is no slouch either. Love to see the slants to Bowe too. His head finally seems right.