eric1978

Awesome smallie. I could pack up after that fish and be a happy guy.

Does Delorme have county roads on it?

If the fishing's gonna be crappy, why even bother? Sorry, I couldn't resist. Thought I'd bump your thread for you since you didn't get any answers.

Thanks Greg. That makes me feel pretty good because I wound up with a Sage Launch, a Konic reel and Rio Gold line! The rod and line I bought online, so I haven't had a chance to play with my new toy yet. I think it will be a good beginner set-up and I'll let you all know how I do with it. Thanks for all the pointers, fellas. I'm sure I would have wound up making a bunch of mistakes and spent way more than necessary without all your help. OAF comes through again!

Thanks buddy. Figured you'd know.

Anyone know where you can get county road maps, preferably for FREE

Those G3s aren't L short by any chance are they?...I'd snatch 'em up.

Glad to see you on the forum Louis! I've heard a lot of good things about you and your canoes from Kevin and others. What are the specs of the new canoe you're building? I'd like to take a shot at naming that bad boy, but I figured I should know something about it first.

THAT THING IS A MONSTER!!! Gonna be released?

From Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission Commission fisheries biologist Tom Bender at our Benner Spring Fish Research Station conducted a study in 1992 that examined the impact of corn on trout. For the study, two groups of hatchery rainbow trout were held in separate tanks and tested for 54 days. In one tank, 20 rainbow trout (average size 8.3 inches) were fed a diet of whole kernel corn. In the second tank, 20 rainbow trout of the same size were fed a standard trout pellet diet. During the 54 day study period, no mortalities occurred from trout of either study group. However, study results did show that the trout fed with a corn diet did not digest the corn particularly well. The growth observed by the corn-fed trout during the study period was only about half of that observed from the trout that were fed the standard trout pellet diet. The conclusion from this study was that there appears to be little reason for concern about the short term health hazards for rainbow trout when whole kernel corn is used for bait. Although there are better diets for trout than whole kernel corn, this study confirms that mortality does not occur when trout ingest whole kernel corn.

Awesome fish!

That's part of the reason a lot of us are so unhealthy...corn. Just about everything we eat nowadays has corn in it, and it just ain't good for people...or fish.

Sounds like a great company. I'll keep them in mind for future purchases.

I'd just go to the library and look up the subject. They'll have tons.

I'd just about convinced myself to hang up the smallie gear for the season, but I think I might have to schedule a little trip. You've been fishing somewhere between Mill Rock and Noser's I take it? (No worries, C&R only, and I'm a spot killer). You can PM me that info if you care to share it and don't want to do it publicly.

That is some killer fishing for this time of year on any river. Can't believe the Bourbeuse is producing like that. That 3.7 had to break 20 inches, right? Well done!...maybe I've been doing something wrong on that river.

Hmm...I don't think I have any issues with clowns or monkeys. But you put the two of them together in the same room, and I'm out'a there.

Sounds like a plan...now how do we get that done? I know where the governor lives...whoever is willing to go kidnap one of his kids, PM me and I'll send you his address. And while we got hostages, we might as well get all those regs changes we all want, so get your lists ready fellas. Seriously though, I would have thought shocking would be far more expensive than stocking. What makes smallies so difficult to raise? I think we should, because I just got into it. Actually, like I said before when we were having a heated debate about it, I don't think the trout hurt anything, so why not? If it bothers someone as an angler that they're not native, they should fish for something else.

If they weren't so wormy, I'd be more enthusiastic about eating them. I do usually keep them, though, and do, uh, something with them. Agreed on all fronts. I wouldn't suggest stocking anything that wasn't a native strain. And you're right, you couldn't just stock a couple times and then stop, because the spots would just take over again. But if MDC started a program that stocked a good number of smallies way upstream every year, I think it would effectively increase the ratio of smallie to spot. It would have to be a neverending program, though, but it's not like they don't have those...ie trout. Look at that list Zack posted...I know it's AR...but they stocked nearly a million fish in just one month. It really wouldn't take that much money to dump a few thousand fingerlings at, say, Mint, Tea and Mill Rock for 5 years or so just to see what would happen. I'm just frustrated that none of the MDC resources (that I know of) go directly to smallmouth preservation, when they are a species that could certainly use some help. I'm all for the trout programs and all the others for that matter, but how about throwing a bone to a very worthy gamefish where they need it?

That little guy was unbelievable. Love the signature, Don. Do the chickens have large talons? Nevermind.

Mostly politics. Lincecum started 4 more games and pitched 37 more innings than Carpenter, but Carpenter had a better ERA and better W/L record, which is what I would vote on. Lincecum had a lot more Ks, though, and people like Ks, just like they like homers.

I pretty much agree with you OTF, but the fact is we are doing nothing, aside from removing the limits on spots and doing some roundups. I just don't think it's enough. Sad to say, that river might be shot. My rationale works this way: Say a mile of the Bourbeuse can sustain 1000 bass. And lets just say that there are 500 smallies and 500 spots in a particular mile. Say you stock another 1000 smallies and now have a total of 2000 fish in that mile, 1500 smallies and 500 spots. Assuming that smallies and spots have an equal ability to survive (this may be a problem with my equation), you would be led to predict that when the population drops back down to sustainable, you'll now have 750 smallies and 250 spots, as their respective populations would decrease at the same rate. Add 4500 smallies, and eventually you'll wind up with 950 smallies and 50 spots. If substantial numbers of fish were stocked year after year, perhaps the spot population could be significantly thinned...hypothetically. And of course you couldn't add too many at once or we'd see stunting. Maybe they could stock a few million baitfish while they're at it. Now all this is thrown out the window if spots are simply better adapted to surviving in a river like the Bourbeuse than smallies are, which appears may be the case. Eventually they'd just take over again, as you said. It'd be an interesting experiment, though, and certainly things couldn't get much worse than they already are.

What a heartless bastard. How do you sleep at night? I think you must have developed some kind of primate complex because of that giant gorilla they have in front of that motel in Gravois...is that thing still there?

Cook Station is about 20 miles upstream from MS

I just figured if you increased the ratio of smallie to spot, the smallies may have a better chance at regaining a foothold. But I'm not a fisheries biologist, so what do I know?