eric1978

If I took a trip and that was the case, I would take that into consideration. The only guides I've hired have been independent business owners. Just for the record, the few times that I have hired a guide in my life, I have tipped them. I just think it's wrong to expect it. My work is seasonal, too. So I save and budget. I don't cry about not getting tips on top of my regular salary. And yeah, ness, compared to a day of my work, the chores that come with being a guide does seem like heaven. I'm not saying it's all gravy, but at least they get to be on the water. Can someone tell me who it is that decides which occupations deserve tips and which occupations don't? I'd like to give him a call. It all seems pretty arbitrary to me.

No kidding. I have a feeling we could all come to a lot of agreement in a place like that. Sounds nice, Al. Thanks for making us all jealous.

No, I'd rather have what I offer my customers, which is the best service I can provide for a fair price. It's ridiculous to quote someone a price for a given service, then whine behind their back because they didn't give you more than you asked for. I am tipped occasionally, and I'm extremely grateful, but the tips are always completely unexpected and unnecessary. And someone who provides mediocre work because he knows he's going to be paid the same price no matter the result is just a lousy person in my book.

Leave it to you to point that out. What I meant was, he's two hours away from the streams I'm two hours away from. So most likely he's not eating the best part of my next fishing trip. Happy? And RPS, I totally recognize his right to eat those fish, I just don't condone it. That's my opinion, and since he threw it in our faces I guess I'll express it. No offense intended. That 17 incher took nearly 10 years to get that size. Just a shame, that's all.

What OTF said. They can have anything else...how about leaving the sportiest, most coveted, native Ozark species alone...just this one? Why not? C'mon Chief...you know you want to agree!

Glad you don't live in my part of the state. Here we go.

That's what I should have said. Well put and exactly right.

Whatever the solution for improving smallmouth fishing in Ozark streams, it's NOT eating more of them. Shame on you, Bob Todd. I think every reasonable person knows we're not going to grow a world record smallmouth here, but that doesn't mean we can't try to improve the numbers of bigger fish, and that ain't gonna happen in the frying pan. I can't believe he's a member of the MSA, not to mention the "Blue Ribbon Panel." And as far as "running off half the fishermen" from a stream because of tighter regulations, I say good riddance. Sorry, but go eat some fish out of a lake where the water is big enough to sustain populations even with considerably liberal harvest regs.

Everyone hopes for a tip, but to expect one is a little presumptuous IMO. Most guides already charge a substantial fee for their services, and if they want to be paid more than that, they should say so up front and adjust their original price accordingly. Besides, I have trouble tipping anyone who makes the amount of money in a half day of work what I make in a full day, especially when their "work" is what I consider heaven. It would be different if I were a millionaire, but I'm not. I quote Steve Buscemi in Reservoir Dogs: "I don't tip because society says I have to. Alright, I'll tip if someone really deserves a tip. If they really put forth the effort I'll give them something extra, but I mean this tipping automatically...it's for the birds. I mean as far as I'm concerned, they're just doing their job." I'll save the rest of the scene for another forum. And just for the record, I always tip waiters and waitresses because their salaries depend on the tips. If they were making $20 or $30 an hour, I wouldn't tip them either.

In all seriousness, I don't think there are any hard-and-fast rules. I'm sure any guide would be happy if you threw him an extra $20. As mentioned before, a lot of people don't tip at all, and I probably wouldn't either unless it was just a phenomenal day and the guide went above and beyond the call of duty somehow. They charge you what they think is a fair price, and I don't really think a tip is necessarily expected.

Those smallmouth in your first post are some nice fish. Are you floating or wading?

It's really no secret. Lane Spring down to Milldam Hollow I think is about 7 miles, and that's gonna be your best trout water, especially during the warm months. I'd take a canoe and float that stretch, stopping at each riffle and working from the tail of one pool down to the head of the next.

No stretch of the Bourbeuse, Big or Meramec is any secret, so I wouldn't worry about your spot being taken over now that you spilled the beans. Besides, any similar stretch of river 20 miles upstream from that spot will produce the same kind of fish. It's not like they're locked up in one pool right there at the confluence. As far as the state record-sized fish you mention...I'll believe it when I see it. I don't doubt there are some big fish in the Meramec, and it's certainly possible that a state record could come out of there, but I haven't seen any that big personally or in pictures. I'm with Gavin on his ranking of 18"+ fish...that's pretty much how I see it, too. I use imageshack to resize my images and post them here. It's free. http://imageshack.us/

Hey stlfisher, don't pay attention to wrench, he's just paranoid. Gov'ment took ma baby.

Guide Tip Calculation: (Y + 5L + 3F + 4N - 2G - 10M + 6P) / 9E 　 Y = amount of fish you caught L = amount of lunker fish you caught F = amount of guide's flies you lost N = nightmare snags or knots the guide fixes for you G = number of fish the guide caught M = number of minutes late the guide was, if applicable P = on a scale from one to ten, guide's personality in general E = number of fish you expected to catch (be reasonable) 　 Practice equation: So you went on your trip and expected to catch 100 fish. You ended up catching only 40 fish, but 5 of them were what you consider quality fish. You lost 12 of the guide's flies, and he had to pull over the drift boat to fix a mess you made with your line three times. He neglected your needs long enough for him to catch four fish himself, but he was on time and he was a nice enough guy, so you gave him a personality rating of 8/10. His tip is calculated as: 157/900 Which comes out to 17.4% Or you can just give him whatever you think seems fair, which is what I'd do.

Do you mean what size can you keep or what size should you keep?

Chain Pickerel Grass Pickerel MO has both. Not sure about the Finley specifically. Cool fish.

Of course we're talking about millions of gallons instead of half a pint. Worth a shot, though. It would be nice to see something done. I'll email the White House.

That looks like a good one, too. You're right, it's almost exactly the dimensions of the Disco 169, except bow, stern and freeboard are about 2-3 lower on the Northfork, and it's 2 pounds heavier. Also says it has an inch of rocker. I'm assuming the Disco has none...anyone know?

A little tough to tell from the pics, but I'm pretty certain it is. The dorsal fins look pretty connected, and it has a smaller mouth. Is that a relatively big one?...depends on where it was caught. On a stream where spots are non-native it would be, but compared to a TR fatty, not so much.

I've been looking at the specs, and I think I've narrowed it down to the Disco 169, Penobscot 17, or the Spirit II. I like the dimensions of the Disco just for the stability and weight capacity, but it's the heaviest one at 85 pounds. That's no biggie, though, I'll never use it as a solo. But I do wish they made that canoe in Royalex...then it'd be perfect. The Penobscots and Spirits are very expensive...I'd have to find one of those used.

Cool bobber! That would be pretty awesome. I'll hold you to that so expect to hear from me one of these years... How much does that 174 weigh KC? Royalex?

I have to say I was a little underwhelmed by large portions of that stretch, and somewhat surprised to hook into such nice fish. I don't need great scenery when there are pigs to cast at. Now I just need to get the braid off my spinnerbait rod so I can land the things.

CLASSIC!!! Holy cow those are some loaded canoes. I have a bunch of backpacking equipment so a lot of my camping gear is small and light...I'm sure I could stay under the loads in those pics...even with two females with me.

I thought Mohawk went out of business, no?