eric1978

It does to me. Some people don't care. The challenge is Man vs. Fish, and while I don't consider using live bait "cheating," I do think it is more rewarding and meaningful to take any fish on artificials. But we've already beat this one to death.

True, but if nonsense was eliminated from the forum, it would be a pretty boring place. It might be in the wrong thread, but that doesn't mean it's not worth talking about.

Japan is not that cold, in fact it is actually more temperate than our part of the country. It sounds like a perfect LMB climate to me. Winter, from December to February, is quite dry and sunny along the Pacific coast and the temperatures rarely drop below 32°F. The temperatures drop as you move north, with the Central and Northern regions experiencing snowfall. Southern Japan is relatively temperate and experiences a mild winter. Spring is from March to May. Temperatures are warm but not too hot, plus there isn't too much rain. Summer begins in June and the country experiences a three to four-week rainy season during which the farmers plant their rice. It is hot and humid during this time and temperatures are often in the high 90's. Summer wraps up in August. Autumn is from September to November and is characterised by light breezes and cooler temperatures of around 46-50ºF. I don't care about the world record coming from a non-native country...of course, I don't care about the world record at all.

I've never in my years on streams encountered a situation when I felt I needed a firearm. Now we have conditions in which confrontations that would have once ended with a bloody nose and some broken bones in a hand, can now readily end in brains on the gravel bar and another prisoner for the taxpayers to financially support. Great. I say "how ya' doin'?" to anyone I see on the river. If they seem nice, I talk a while, if they seem weird, I move on. Never had a problem, and people won't bother you if you don't get in their business, even if they're up to no good. I know of a few people that have CCLs that scare the hell out of me...They are perfectly legal, and they are perfectly nuts and dangerous. We have a wolf by its ears now. LMAO!!! Why Flounder? Why not?

Good thing Grandpa's iron sights were lined up right, or that could have turned out badly. Stories like that are exactly what keeps me from doing anything except saying "hi, hello, how are ya, nice weather we're havin', any luck?" to anyone I see on a river. You just never know.

+3 I stayed at Lake Fork Marina twice and they are great there and have everything you need from tackle to good food. It's been more than 10 years since I was there, but it sounds like they're still going strong. Recommended. Oh, but take your beer down with you. When I was there it was a dry county and we had to make an hour trip (one way) to pick up some brewskies. Might want to check if you plan on putting on a buzz after a nice day of hauling hogs. Have fun. It's a killer lake. Big fish, lots of fish. I'm jealous.

Bingo.

It's not selfishness FG, it's just a matter of what's realistic and what's not. I too carry out a bag of other people's garbage when I float, but if I see a beer can 100 yards up a hillside, I'm not parking the canoe and making the hike to get it. I truly admire and appreciate the time and effort that some folks put in to take care of our streams, but some of us just aren't blessed with that kind of time. I think I made about a dozen trips to a stream in 2009, all of which were one-day trips or shorter. I saw a grand total of one gigging boat last year, because I just wasn't out there at night very much. And I tell you what, I don't know if they had illegal fish or not, but I wasn't about to play "vigilante conservation agent" and check their creel. That's not my right or my job. If I would have seen them in violation I would have certainly reported them as soon as I could, but I can't promise you I would have confronted them right then and there, because they could have been dangerous nut-jobs for all I knew. There's only so much an ordinary citizen can safely do. I wish I had the ability to be more involved, but I don't, and that's just reality, not selfishness.

Clearly not as good as yours. Wow, great reports from you guys. I didn't get to do much fishing this year, and what I did do was mostly from late summer on. Only got to float a handful of times. Twice on the Bourbeuse and six floats on the Meramec. I waded a few new streams and creeks, and conveniently didn't have my camera for my two best fish of the year, a smallie around 18 inches from the Bourbeuse and another that just broke 19 wading the way upper Big River. I did buy a new solo canoe and had some fun playing with that. The biggest breakthrough for me this year was finally picking up a fly rod and starting that learning process. So far I've found it to be one of the most rewarding ways to spend my time. I set up my first tying station and even learned to tie a couple easy ones. Got to see the Atlantic Ocean for the first time over the summer, and even though they're not fish, whale-watching was incredible, to say the least. Although I didn't fish as much as in years past, I have to say that I've learned more this year than any other from all the great folks on this forum. I made fast friends with a few and even managed to meet one of them so far, with hopes to meet many more in the future. Here's Pat outfishing me at Busch. And I guess the most important development of the year is that I have a new fishing buddy baking in the oven as we speak, and although that will surely throw a wrench into the 2010 fishing prospects, I look forward to my new partner and can't wait to teach him/her to fish. The biggest disappointment of the year is that I could never figure out how to correctly post pictures on the new format, so I apologize that they are all tiny or huge. Maybe I'll figure it out someday.

I'm sorry that I have nothing productive to add, but I have to say the incomplete title of this thread on the index page made me laugh out loud.

Excellent point, and I hadn't even thought of it that way. I guess if Proenneke had died out there, he would have been seen as foolish, too. I haven't actually read Into the Wild, and have just seen the movie (several times), so I really don't know his story inside and out. I admire people that break free from all the materialistic aspects of our society, because I never could. Too bad he screwed up that moose, because those hunters would have rescued him had he made it another couple weeks, which he would have with all that meat.

Which do you think would be a more effective deterrent, CGB? Educating people on the dangers of drunk driving (which we all know), or life in prison if you're caught behind the wheel with a buzz? Me too. Because that's THEIR job and is what THEY get paid to do. But it is a good idea, and if I was rich enough to spend lots of time on the river, I would do it. But I'm not rich, and the tiny scraps of time I get to go fishing is spent...fishing.

Proenneke was a survivalist. McCandless was a wandering tramp, a modern-day Beatnik type much like Kerouac. He just made the mistake of taking on one of the most unforgiving environments out there, and he definitely died because of his lack of knowledge and experience. I think much of his ill-preparedness was conscious and had to do with his philosophy of detachment, individualism and non-materialism, but he was certainly somewhat naive and foolish to try what he did. I respect him all the same, but I wouldn't have gone at it the same way, to be sure. He should have stayed in northern California. He'd probably still be alive, living in a thatched hut and strolling through the mountains like John Muir.

Just watched that again the other day. Good movie. Robert Redford is a cool dude, too.

What an incredible guy. Wish I could meet him. They just don't make 'em like that anymore.

Holy cow. You sure you didn't catch the first and last ones out of a koi pond? Good lord those things are pigs.

I haven't noticed the erosions of freedoms you mentioned, except that since 2002 the government can surveil me without a warrant. I personally don't care about that, because I have nothing to fear. But I can understand why that would bother some people based on principle and political perspective. Other than that, what freedoms, specifically, have you recently lost? Look, I agree that the legal system is backward. A guy can get locked up for years for having a bag of pot, but well-connected bigwigs can do whatever they want without consequences (I'll spare you examples, but you know plenty of them). Yes, the system is a mess, but we have to have some laws. If not, it's just anarchy. Do you really want that? How about making burglary legal since the punishment for that crime is so inconvenient for thieves? Allow me to make an anology: Banning gigging would be the same as outlawed campfires in certain forests. Gigging violations are destruction of a resource, plain and simple. Same as man-caused forest fires due to negligence or arsen. Why are campfires against the law in some places? It's not to take away your freedoms, it's to protect the resource. If you are somewhat inconvenienced because of the rules, well that's just too bad, because your small sacrifice means that thousands of others can continue to enjoy what you haven't destroyed. I can't tell you how many times I've been backpacking in no-fire areas when I would have loved to have had a small fire for warmth and entertainment. I'm quite certain that I could have responsibly started and contained a campfire without causing thousands of acres of old-growth forest to burn to the ground, and I would have left that campsite with all but a trace of evidence that I was there. But accidents do happen, and I also understand that many people don't know how to properly manage a fire. So I begrudgingly accept the fact that some people's irresponsibility means that I have to adhere to rules I may find unnecessary, in order to reduce the risk of accidental or intended harm to a resource cherished by many others. So again, we must have laws. Deciding which laws to implement and how to enforce them is the difficult part. It's my opinion that laws should be decided based on what is best for the most people. Liberal creel regulations for smallmouth is advantageous for only the few meat anglers who constantly take limits. (I use the word few in comparison to the greater number of anglers who mostly C&R smallmouth). The impacts of those few are greatly disproportionate to the impacts of the larger majority of those who prefer to conserve the resource. I think it is unfair that a small group of exploitative people can have a direct and profound effect on the enjoyment and experiences of a larger group of people. And therefore I think the laws should be changed to accommodate the larger group. Same goes for giggers. If participants of the sport (and I do see it as a sport, if it's done in a sportsmanlike manner) cannot, as a group, be trusted to pursue the activity in a way that is non-detrimental to a resource that many others enjoy, then the activity must be banned or more strictly regulated in order to benefit the greater majority of the relevant population. I know that's not the world we live in. One percent of America's population owns 95% of the wealth. We're greedy and exploitative people. We only think of ourselves and our own interests. And I know that the opinions stated above are wishful thinking and not likely to ever be realized, but I still think that's how it should be. It's a shame that one bad apple spoils the bunch, but it does, and every once in a while you have to just throw out the whole barrel.

Maybe I'll bump into you sometime out at one of the mudpuddles...sometime when you can't walk on the water. Looks like March maybe. Welcome.

I think that may be the best and perhaps only way to curb gigging of gamefish. Spike the penalty to something ridiculous like a thousand dollar fine, or even better, lose your boat and equipment. Then MDC can auction it off and the proceeds can go to more enforcement. Since giggers know that their chances of being caught are just about nil, the only thing that might slow them down is drastic consequences. You should also have to take a species identification test in order to get a gigging license, so no one could use that "I couldn't tell the difference" BS if they were caught.

I'm pretty sure that was sarcasm... At least I think it was... At least I hope it was...

I've just gotten to the "shrug your shoulders" point on this one. What really can be done? As mentioned, gigging will never be outlawed, and there will always be some scumbags who poach...period. It's the human condition. However, I think it would be reasonable (although probably not popular) to outlaw gigging on some stretches that are SMAs. This might be difficult on rivers like the Big, where the SMA is very long. But the Meramec SMA, for example, I think would be a good prospect to try it. There is plenty of other water nearby to gig in if you have to. Another idea would be to outlaw any motorized watercraft on certain skinny stretches of river above a point where it's just too dangerous to have one up there anyway. Obviously, this wouldn't protect the fish in the bigger and probably better water downstream, but like we always end up saying, it would be better than nothing. I don't expect this problem to ever go away. This one REALLY is an issue with enforcement, because the one agent in the county is probably getting ready for bed when the violation is taking place. As usual, this problem is one that can only be addressed by changing laws and increasing enforcement, and I'm really losing confidence that the powers that be are interested in taking progressive steps to increase protection of smallmouth. If it's simply left up to the conscience of the average human to do what is right, without possibility of consequences to do what is wrong...well, that battle has already been lost.

I've been thinking about driving to one of my favorite rivers, putting in and paddling up about a half mile to a spot where I know some good smallmouth are wintering. I think if I spent 3 or 4 hours slowly working that one hole I could pull a few out. I don't think I'm up for a whole day solo float, given the dangers of hypothermia and how one nasty logjam in the wrong place can mean death if something goes wrong. No thanks. I don't mind the cold, as long as it's not WINDY on top of it. I hate wind. I haven't caught a smallmouth or even tried to since early November. I'm really glad I've finally begun climbing the mountain of knowledge that is necessary to learn fly fishing and all its related activities. It's a great cold weather time-killer.

Those saws are great. Very sharp and packable. Don't expect to hack through any giant logs with them though. Be extra careful if you go by yourself. I would try to float a stretch that you're pretty sure doesn't have any really tricky spots if I were you.

I bought one of those for backpacking where every ounce counts, and I absolutely hate it. If you're gonna be canoeing, just buy the full length one. You don't have to get the most expensive and thickest model....just put a little extra air in it if you buy the cheaper kind. Steer clear of the 2/3 length models!!!

GloryDaze is totally right...buy a Thermarest...it'll change your whole camping experience...warmer and much more comfortable. Get a good one and you'll be a very happy hung-over camper.