Terry Beeson

Drew, I tried a 4wt, 5 wt, and 6 wt on mine. The 4wt did ok-fine, the 5wt did fine-pretty good, and the 6wt is the one that feels the best. Personally, I would go with the 5 over the 4, but then if you have a 6, try it... you'll like it... It's not so much about the line weight when it comes to fishing...

McManus... it's easy... read my former post. It's just a matter of good personal hygiene and keeping your fingers, line, waders, etc. out of your mouth. And do try not to drink the water... Chances are if you do get some in your mouth, even at the high levels, you will just get a bad case of the back door trots and feel like s#!t for a couple of days. Now, if you fill up your water bottle and take several big gulps, then you might be in trouble...

I designed it and my lovely bride had it custom made at a laser art place in Jonesboro. About any of those places at the mall that make the license plates can ususally make them and customize them. I figured that I would put my four passions (other than my wife) on the truck for all to see...

Aha! Another glitch... Well, more than one... Turkey (Wayne is correct...) Black Bear... Elk... Probably more under similar circumstances...

Ch'yeah... right.... when monkeys fly!!!... NO... WAIT... It's an anniversary surprise!... She's going to take you night fishing on Taney as an anniversary gift!!! Dang... now I went and spoiled the surprise... The fishing was "OK" for me... picked up about 8 or 10 and missed about as many... But the conversation in the parking lot was worth the trip. I'll try to have more brew next time, but you gotta bring your own Cap'n Morgan... Hey, Michael, I cranked up a little AC/DC for a little road music while pulling out of the parking lot. Hope it was entertaining to the stragglers... Anyone know if Duckydoty ever left?

Bill, click here...

Remind me to never do that... Might result in no fish, but additionally, sunk boat and two very angry but much entertained fishing partners... Sounds like you dodged a bullet there, Bill... Good report!

Just found out the "family" is headed to Celebration City for the evening. That means I can come out to the dam and PLAY!! I'll probably time it to be there sometime around 7 or so and show you guys how to catch big pheesh at night!!!... Dang... gotta remember to get my light... Look for the big brown Dodge 4x4 with "Bucks & Ducks / Turkey & Trout" in the back window...

Nice pheeshes!!!

Their ancestors came from Austin, Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas/Ft Worth... not to mention cities in Mexico. 'Dillo's will laugh in the face of St Louis and KC traffic... ESPECIALLY the ones with ties to Monterrey, Mexico...

OK, guys and gals... let's get to the real story here... First of all, saying there is E. Coli in the Spring or ANY river is like saying there is WATER in the river. It is and always HAS been present as long as there have been ruminants (cattle, goats, sheep, bison, deer, elk, and antelope) in the area. E. Coli is NECESSARY for digestion in some mammals. You have some form of E. Coli in your digestive system right now. This was a water test of the Spring that has probably not been conducted before or not for a long time. The levels are over the EPA guidelines, but is not cause for a big scene of people running scared in the streets. This bacteria has been in our lakes and rivers at high levels for a long time. We are just now looking at what to do about it. The strain E. coli O157:H7 is the one that is toxic in high levels in humans and causes the illness. The main way to get infected is by eating undercooked meat (beef), unwashed veggies (especially bean sprouts, lettuce, spinach), drinking raw milk, or contact with humans who are infected. You can also get it from drinking contaminated water (like in the Spring River) and possibly from swimming or wading (by getting some in your mouth or nostrils.) The bacteria is completely harmless on the skin. It is only harmful if ingested. So, WASH YOUR HANDS with hot, soapy water and/or alcohol based cleaner before eating. Boil any water prior to drinking you suspect is infected. Cook beef, venison, etc. to a proper temperature all the way through (at least 160 deg F.) Don't drink raw milk - only pasteurized. Keep kitchen counters and utensils clean when you are cooking meat or veggies. In other words, some really simple common sense hygeine will keep you safe. As for keeping cows out of the rivers and streams, that is not a practical idea especially fencing the river banks. The idea of pumping to drinking tanks would help a bit, but it will not keep E. Coli out of the stream. No, farmers should not be allowed to dump cattle manure into the river or even when spreading manure on a pasture, there should be a "zone" from the stream they are not allowed to spread it on. I'm all for improving our water quality, but we've got MUCH bigger problems that need to be dealt with before worrying so much about E. Coli.

ORR, You got the before and after right... Looks like they are scheduled to flush Taney (2 units / 100 MW?) from around 3-7pm... Should make for a good night!

If not that, just listen for the "plop-swiiisssshhhh!" sound of the top of a Sam Adams or Rolling Rock being removed... Oh.. wait... that could be ME!

Hey, Michael... remind me to tell you the "hoot owl holler" story... bein' an ol' farm boy, you'll appreciate it... You boys be sure to bring your stripper poles and minks, ya hear?

Phantom pains, huh? You should know... As far as specifics, you're right, Tom... There are a "bunch" of materials used and my objective would be to look at several of them to find a "good fit" for the canoe. I like the foam insulation (styrene) with a fabric (glass or other composite) cover idea. If you used the right cover material, I would say it would be good in about any water. Some of those planes are designed to take a lickin' and keep on tickin'... At least if you are building canoes, you won't have to have the FAA come in and inspect your work and OK it... HEY... here's an idea! A home built aircraft that you can land on the water, retract the wings, and fish/float. NO NEED FOR A SHUTTLE!!!

Can't help you much with the Samallies in Taney, but welcome to the forum... and the madness...

I plan to be on Taney late tomorrow afternoon and will most likely hang around 'til after the hoot owls holler!!

Yeah... and in another post, too!!... darn... now my BRAIN HURTS!!!!!!!

Could you expound on what the "shipping foam" you are talking about is? Where it came from? Depending on what it is, you may be SOL (OK... that's TWICE I've used that term in five minutes... ) on getting any color to adhere in its present state. Unless the colorant is added during the processing (molten state of the plastic) it may not be dyed by any means that will keep it buoyant. Even though the foam itself may be quite porous, the compound itself might, and probably is, very NON-porous and will not accept any kind of "wet" dye. Earl Stanek has a bit of a solution if you can get it. 3M developed tiny glass "bubbles" that are used in the SA floating line. Earl (being an old 3M guy) got some of the bubbles and mixes them with regular ol' WalMart craft paint. This makes the pait very buoyant. I saw one of his flies - a hopper pattern - with legs made of natural paint brush fibers (horse mane hair?) painted with this mixture and the legs floated on TOP of the water!

Not to really make light of Wayne's response of "good ol' plastic," but that phrase does open up a whole area. There is a plethora of new plastics and composites out there some of which would be well worth looking into for building a canoe. The problem is that most canoes on the market are molded one piece units and unless you have a mold and some sort of machine to introduce the plastic in a molten state to the mold, you are SOL. Using sheets introduces the problem of seams and preventing leakage. Careful work and good epoxy will do the trick. But reliability in the long run comes in to question. One avenue you might consider would be using the materials used in the home built aircraft industry. Light weight and durable. I think this would make a good canoe. It would be akin to Duckydoty's idea of canvas and paint only on a more advanced technology plane. OK... Technical brain off for a while...

OK... new reality show... Based on "Deadliest Catch" only instead of crab fishing in the Bearing Sea, it will be mudbug fishing in the Ozarks.... We need a good name for the show... hosted by Mike Rowe of course... So... give it your best shot... show title and theme song. Can't use "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi... already taken...

Forget that one... get a big ol' birch tree and take a hatchet to it...

There was a comment on this forum a few months ago about 'dillos not being able to cross the Missouri River... The crossed the Red River, the Arkanasas River, and the White River... I think the Missouri will be a piece of cake...

Weeeellllll! Look who's back! And he's SLOW STRIPPIN'!!! So where are all the pictures of these big pheesh? (OK.. so 20 inches ain't BIG for you...) By the way... If'n you're makin' it to Taney in a half hour... There's a MO Hiway Patrolman who wants to speak with you...

I think the amount of red meat depends somewhat on the condition of the water it is taken from. I could be wrong, but just seems like better water tends to mean more white flesh...