ozark trout fisher

Mizzou is in an interesting spot right now. As far as returners, you have a core of Phillips, Barnett, and Puryear. If you are Cuonzo those are the guys you want to do absolutely everything in your power to insure don't transfer. I think Phillips for sure is all in, and I have no reason to think that Barnett and Puryear are not. Those three are legitimate power conference starters, and will get big minutes regardless of who gets added to the program in the coming weeks. Obviously Hughes and Walton are gone, to the surprise of exactly no one following the program. Hughes in particular has been gone since December when Willie Jackson transferred. He already quit once mid-season before being convinced to finish the year out. I think there will probably be one more transfer, but not many more than that. Mizzou has to protect their APR and a vast exodus would not allow that. I have no information on who (if anyone) will still leave but I'd say three guys to watch would be Jacoby Kemp, Mitchell Smith, and Jordan Geist. I'd like for Geist to stay on as he is tough and scrappy, everyone needs a guy like him even if it's only for 8-10 minutes/game. Cullen Van Leer probably should consider a transfer, but I doubt he does. He will stay and have a vastly reduced role on a team that will outgrow him. I don't mean to be harsh, but that is very likely the reality. If he is okay with that, more power to him. If he can improve his shot he could at least be a spark plug guy, and get 7-8 minutes/game. The two we know are coming in are CJ Roberts and MPJ. We all know about MPJ, but Roberts can be either a PG or a 2-guard, but is probably better off the ball. He will be a four-year guy, likely a very good player, but I don't know how ready he'll be as a freshman. He'll get minutes, but I'd expect him to have trouble displacing Phillips or maybe even Geist right away. Then there is Knox/Tilmon/Harris. Mizzou needs to make a huge impression on Knox this weekend, as he has schools like Duke and Kentucky that are after him just as hard as us. I think we have a real chance, and him combined with MPJ and Roberts probably makes this a tourney team. But don't count on it. I think Tilmon will either end up at Mizzou or SLU. Hopefully it's the former. Harris is another player like Roberts who has a high ceiling, but probably won't impact the team a ton next year. He is a true point guard, and at most would be Phillips primary backup next season. I do think there is a very good chance he ends up at Mizzou, especially if we see another guard transfer. Bottom line: Mizzou is 1-2 big acquisitions from being a plausible NCAA tournament team next year. You have to maximize MPJ's time on the roster. Whether it's Knox, Tilmon, or a grad-transfer, I think we see at least one more very high-profile addition. And the possibility of the top recruiting class in the nation with both Tilmon and Knox, as well as Harris, remains. At that point you might be talking about a team that can not only make the tourney but do so as a top-4 seed. It's still a bit unlikely to play out that way, but it's not an insanely improbable scenario at this point.

The USGS isn't choosing to "take a poop" on anything. Thank His Royal Highness Greitens for that. I've always been of the opinion that knowing when a huge flood is coming at a bunch of people from upstream would be a good plan. But I dunno. Sorry for the tone, but given the environment we are working in there is no longer any room to be politically correct or pull punches. A bunch of Jeff City (and Washington) politicians who have no clue what they're doing are going to be slashing indiscriminately at things that will have essentially no impact on our budget for the next four years. These are people that have no regard for science or conservation. It is hard to see how it ends well.

Darn, when I've worked with the state government in the past and stayed in insect and pest infested field houses where power might not get restored for days after a big storm, I guess I just somehow just didn't notice all the luxury. Weird. You are confusing "DNR and MDC" with the state capitol and the governor's home. The two are a might-bit different.

One advantage of working on a region-wide research project is that sometimes that takes you to pretty cool places. That has already been the case the past few months; I've gotten to know the Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio woods and hills better than I thought I ever would, for better or worse. It has been an awful lot of time on the road. But sometimes it takes you right back home for a couple months, living and working in the Current and Black River watersheds, fishing your old trout and smallie streams on the weekends. Blessedly, that's my situation for the next few months, starting at the end of this one and into July/August. This wasn't a master plan to do this at all, or during smallie-fishing season, but it appears to have worked our pretty darn well all the same. Can't wait to see my own hills and creeks. I miss them more than I'd care to admit.

Those look less like fishing lures and more someone attached treble hooks to a pair of ear-plugs.

Agreed on all counts.

They seem to have a pretty decent athletic department, to put it mildly. That's quite an accomplishment to win both in the same year. Surprising number of NFL players have come from there as well.

I think aside from MPJ, Missouri does have more players that are capable of contributing than you'd expect on an 8 win team. Terrance Phillips can be a decent SEC point guard, and Jordan Barnett and Kevin Puryear are honest-to-goodness talents. That's your core right there, and the challenge is finding a second or third guard who can play at a high level. Maybe that is Van Leer or Geist, but I see them as more of come off the bench spark plugs on a good team. Not an insult, they are worthwhile players. Just probably not starters. Frankly I think Missouri needs to add another good guard who can hit threes if they are to be a real contender in the SEC. I wonder if they look to the grad-transfer market. There will be some players who transfer out, but I doubt it's a lot. If you follow Mizzou basketball closely, you have a sense for who that might be, but I won't throw them under the bus here. Right now, with MPJ and better coaching, I see Mizzou as a team that would likely be around .500 or a little better next season. Something in the 16-18 win range. There are still just a few too many holes to contend for a NCAA berth. But I don't think we are done with recruiting, and with the right moves to fill out the roster 20ish wins are absolutely within the realm of possibility.

It's an iffy situation, ethically, I'll grant you. But there are NCAA rules that govern this specific thing, and based on what I know I am very confident Mizzou is within them. In cases like these, the family member must be a "real" assistant and not in a made up position. MP Sr. is a real, honest to goodness coach, at least. Mizzou would not have done this without looking pretty thoroughly into the NCAA legalities.

I'll mostly just give you my understanding of the legalities. I trust you're capable of making good decisions beyond that. In the case of many threatened species, the rule is often that targeted C&R is frowned upon, while incidental catch (and a quick release) is okay. The reality is that this is fairly toothless. This comes up a lot with Bull Trout out west. It's very common to see people who are obviously targeting bulls (what with 5" long weighted streamers and a sinking line) but they can always just say they are after the world record cutthroat, and there isn't a lot anyone can do. In terms of most endangered species I think it is pretty cut and dry. If you are "taking" them (which includes most any intentional disruption, targeted catch and release included) that is probably going to be a no-no. Again, unless someone is being super obvious about it or (heaven forbid) keeping the fish they'd almost certainly never be called on it... ...but yeah, I'd definitely try to stay away from targeting endangered species. Catch and release, especially with small fish is just such a touchy process. This doesn't bother us when we are talking about species with large populations, but when you are talking about a mortality rate of even 5% (or whatever they're saying it is for fly-angling catch and release these days) with an endangered species that would personally trouble me. I love targeting obscure species as well. So I've put some thought into this over the years.

When I am able to think rationally in a few days/hours I'll start looking at what I think this might do for the team next year. My guess is that it will be infinitely better than the last few years and also probably not quite as good as what some fans expect. I already heard someone say next year would be a failure if we didn't win 25 games and go to the Sweet 16. Which.....no. But when you can say with some certainty that you should definitely, at the bare minimum, double your win total next year, and have a player that is actually interesting to watch even for people that aren't diehard Mizzou fans, that is still a very good day indeed.

We all said this hire was important. I don't think anyone knew this would play out. Mizzou just benefited from a mix of a very good hire and a near cosmic chain of events ranging from Columbia to Seattle, all of which went nearly perfectly for us. Everything is upside down and I'm confused.

Mizzou is going to have the #1 recruit in the country in basketball. The year after we lost 24 freaking games in a season. My brain just exploded.

Yeah, the MIZZOU IS CURSED pessimism gets tiring. Not calling you out JoeD, it is a common perception. Things can change. We hired a pretty darn good coach who is being paid a lot of money to see that it does. Here are the facts: Washington has released MPJ, Mizzou just hired his dad tonight, and there is, being conservative, a 75-80% chance the #1 recruit in the nation will don a Mizzou uniform. Cuonzo has recruited multiple 5* guys with 0 NCAA issues to show for it. Nothing is certain. Darn near everything is looking good for Mizzou hoops, though. After the last 3 years that feels pretty good.

Welp.....MPJ has asked Washington for his release. He isn't going there. Should know pretty soon whether he will be in Columbia, but it is seeming ever more likely.

Yep, nothing is certain, but it does look good. I'm not sure the Porters have any remaining ties to Washington. They do, certainly, have ties to Missouri with both sisters in the women's basketball program and seemingly doing very well there. If/when the Porter Sr. hire gets finalized I'll feel pretty comfortable that it is happening. Before anything can be made official Washington has to let Porter Jr. out of his LOI. They will feel a lot of pressure to do that if MPJ asks for this...programs that don't find it challenging to recruit afterwards. That is why we are hearing radio silence right now. Mizzou can't technically recruit him until Washington grants the release. With all of that said, the Porter drama upcoming is only so important. MPJ is only coming for a year, if he comes at all. His brother, while good, is more of an unknown. Neither is going to define Martin's tenure. Even with both of them Missouri probably doesn't make the NCAAs next year, though they'd certainly expect to be above .500 at the very least. In any case, Missouri's roster is in a situation where with more modest upgrades, they can be back in the 20-win range within about 2 years. That expectation remains regardless of what happens with the Porter family.

I love fishing for little, obscure species. This (and brook trout) is why God invented the 3-weight. When I am in a strange watershed or region (as I often am, my research dictates that I spend time in all kinds of weird locales across the rural midwest and western Appalachia) I also find myself streamside looking at various flora and fauna at least as much as I'm actually fishing these days. It doesn't help the fish count and confuses some people who are dead-serious anglers...but I can't say that it usually results in much regret.

I am in the business of researching our forests here in the Midwest. My job title may as well be "Titantic Desk Chair Re-arranger". It is truly depressing.

We'll see. If one/both Porters come 20ish wins are possible next season. Without them, with the current roster (plus a few less splashly additions you'd expect) and a proven D-1 coach now at Mizzou, 15-16 wins are probably still realistic. Not great, but it would be clear progress. I like Kim Anderson, but coaching errors and lack of player development really hurt Mizzou. It isn't all a talent/recruiting problem, although that was certainly a big part of it.

Almost certainly, unless he gets injured/has an awful year. He's projected as a top 5 pick whenever he comes out.

He may be bringing Michael Porter Jr with him, the #1 recruit in 2017 and by all accounts a potentially program changing player. Appears to have hired the kid's dad onto his staff already. Hard to be much more obvious than that. IF that works out (and it's still very much not certain) the "rebuild" may be very short indeed. Of course even if he does come, he's just one guy...but still. That's obviously a big situation to watch right now.

is Missouri's new coach. This is a very solid hire. Not a home run, but very good. He should get Mizzou back to the 20 win range in due time. I don't know how much more he can do, but that would be a nice start.

Awesome! There are some surprisingly cool places in north western Indiana. Of course none of them are secrets that close to so many cities, but the state park system is pretty robust and most of them are worthwhile. Tippecanoe has a good trail system and the river is supposed to be very solid for smallies. Definitely worth doing.

Yep. There are many places in Indiana that remind me of the Ozarks. Southern Indiana in parts of Hoosier National Forest is especially indistinguishable, unless you look at geology/vegetation really closely. That's a good thing for someone who tends to pine for home more than I ought.

No, this isn't Michigan or Wisconsin, but you couldn't tell based on the scenery. It's far northern Indiana and the Tippecanoe River. Tried a few casts, but it is below freezing here and unsurprisingly the smallies had no interest in anything I threw. Still a great day.