Terry Beeson

I think a certain land development company should be forced to pay double the market value for it and then donate it to AGFC for public access...

Don, Let's see... Which heavyweight champ are you talking about? WBC - Oleg Maskaev WBA - Nicolay Valuev IBF & IBO - Wladimir Klitschko WBO – Shannon Briggs EBU - Vladimir Virchis I think the last time I actually sat down and watched an NFL game, Dandy Don Meridith was singing "Turn out the lights.... The party's over...." While I'm not blaming the players at all here, to me the institution of the Player's Union was the demise of pro football for me. The owners and players have lost respect for each other and the "allegiance and loyalty" of the team has disappeared. Many of the fans are the only ones loyal to the team and that's questionable at times when you look at personnel change attitudes of many fans. Honestly, if I have a choice... Put a fly rod or rifle or shotgun in my hand as opposed to a remote, and I'm a happy camper. Offer me a free trip to the Super Bowl or an Alaskan fishing and hunting expidition, and sit back and watch me head for the 49th state. Of course, anymore the only decent thing to watch on TV is reruns of Andy Griffith anyway.... Hey... Barney is just as funny in HiDef.....

Are there any known gravel mining practices that have been successful in maintaining an ecological balance in similar situations? What is Missouri's standard on this type of issue?

SIO3, I heard the Taneycomo giant man-eating squid is a caffeine hound....

Zach, Did you get it repaired? I'm wondering about the guide placement. Is this a two piece or 4? Dano, I thought that was right about Dorber. Does Dorber make any blanks for brand name rods anymore? Shame if they don't. I know if I take up rod building, I want to go with Dorbers myself. Yeah, LL Beans are good rods. Almose as good as my Shakespeare... I'd like to have one of those Anniversary editions.

Hmmmm.... Not so sure.... Winston, Hardy, Thomas and Thomas... now THAT would be sacralidge. Sage MIGHT be... LL Bean...that's just a 2nd degree sin... Take two "hail Mary's" and call me in the morning... Flem, would you need to tape the spinning reel to the reel seat of a fly rod? It might just fit without it. But I've never tried that, so don't know for sure.

Here ya go, jeff

Nobody is gonna go fishin' this weekend, russ.... it's too crowded.... Yeah, I'd like to know the answer to that myself.

I think Kerry indicated he was for being against the draft, but with further information had decided the best course of action would be to be against being for the draft. But then again, I could have taken what he said as something he meant, when in fact he did not mean what he said, but meant what he didn't say even though he was saying what he was not meaning to say but not saying what he was meaning to say... I think I was just a few months from registering for the draft when it was stopped. Vietnam was over and there was "no need" for a draft. Even at that age, I "argued" that there was still a need for draft registration and even calling up men to service to "fill the gaps" that might occur if the "all volunteer" military did not result in sufficient numbers of troops. Of course if there is no need for the troops, it does cost money to administer the draft in order to "be ready" when something similar to WWII starts. Are we willing to pay that extra tax?

"Only" a foot off the tip? The action on that rod is completely changed now. I'm not the expert, but I would think that might change the line weight for that rod, if you do put a tip top on it. Honestly, I'm thinking take the rest of the rod, buy a new blank, and make a new rod with the parts. I'm anxious to see what the "man" at Woodsman tells you. Good reel choice.

Safe travels and Happy Thanksgiving to you all. Leonard, I hope you get that big 20 inch "turkey" you are after for your Thanksgiving table...

Davy Wotton.... davyfly (at) ozarkmountains (dot) com Davy is a member of the forum, so I hope he'll come in and comment.

Wow... what a football! Good pics!

What do you mean by a "small bit?" Was it broken at the tip? A chip out of the side? Whatever it is, this COULD affect the action and if it is split, the split could grow and make the rod useless. If it looks like it can be repaired, then I would take it to a good shop and have it looked at for repair. I'm not sure where you are, but Bass Pro has a good shop in Springfield. But, all in all, I would make sure it is OK before even thinking of putting a reel and line on it. As for a line and reel, well... you need to give us more information. You want backing first. Then, depending on what you want to use it for, an all around weight forward floating line is my best guess. RIO and Scientific Angler are the two brands I would recommend. As for a reel... how much money do you want to spend? Again it depends on what you want to do with the rod. Go to a good fly shop like Backcountry Outfitters in Springfield and get some good help choosing a reel that goes with what you need and want.

Ain't nuthin' like it....

Good thing he had his Wheaties for breakfast...

Somewhere in there I'm willing to bet Dano gets "beaver bit"

Ron, I've had something similar in the past, and you're right... it's pretty doggone good stuff... Thanks for the recipe.

Yep... that's a big boy... brook, brown, bow, or cut... even lake or steelie... jeez... that's just a big fish...

Well, Dano... at least it wasn't one of them squawkin' herons....

Talk to some of the guides who have been fishing these waters for a long time. Most of them, I bet, will admit they are "still learning" as well. Things change... that's inevitable. And you have to go through a learning curve to catch up. That's part of what makes it such a great sport! I got to watch the first half hour or so of "A River Runs Through It" the other night, and I was thinking about the differences in what they were using back in 1909-1930s and what we use now. Wow... what a difference!! But, I bet on some of those old rivers in Montana, the same thing they used back then would still work today. When you hire a guide, get one that will give you fly fishing lessons. Specify to him that's what you want. I talked to John Wilson a year ago about needing that and he told me to get him for a full day... lessons in the morning, fishing in the afternoon to put what I learned to the test. I bet there are a lot of guides who will do just that. Yep.. Leonard is a good one to help you learn Taney, but I bet he'll say the same thing...

Ducky, yep... Dave... I'm a Quality Engineer for Northrop-Grumman Interconnect Technologies. We make printed circuit boards... BIG printed circuit boards. I've been a QE for 25 years or so... but new to PCBs.

Well, since I've lived in Missouri for almost 6 months and my boss gave me a really good evaluation of my first half-year at work, I thought I'd go ahead and change my phone number to a MO number and I would update my website. Click here to take a look at my website For any of you who have not visited my website, I'll invite you to do so now. Yes, there is a lot of fly fishing stuff on there, but also some hunting and other fishing stories as well. Hope you enjoy! And be sure to sign my guestbook...

TL, Get with a good fly fisherman like several on this board. Any good fly fisherman worth his weight in salt is EAGER to help you learn. I tried the "on my own" learning curve when I first started fly fishing, but after my first "lesson" with someone who knew what he was doing, it made all the difference in the world. Even moving here and starting to fish Taney was different. After a night with Leonard, I saw several differences and the next few trips were way more productive than the couple before going out with him. You'll be surprised how quickly you will stop relying on your spinning rig to catch fish. LMW, Swing patterns are just streamers that are fished in the swing. All swings are streamers, but not all streamers are swings... (someone will prove me wrong on that... ) Really, it's the technique more than it is the fly. GF, Don't waste your time on the 1-800-Hot-Babe thing... nekkidnymphoneighbors dot com is much better....

OK... dang it... where is Bill's place? The hot tubs in the rooms... full size or just jaccuzi tubs? My anniversary is Tuesday (one year...) and I was going to find a place to stay this weekend with a hot tub in the room for my lovely bride. I searched, but couldn't find anything. But... for next time.... Hard to believe a year ago today I was in Jamaica ON THE BEACH... 80 DEGREES... Yep, Duane... it's heaven on earth. I spent 6 years "over in the bottoms" in Jonesboro, AR trying to find a way to move back to the hills and away from the mosquitos. I ain't NEVER goin' back!!!