Justin Spencer

Only emu I ever heard of my neighbor shot in his driveway and ate it thinking it was an Ostrich. Emu was the most likely explanation but didn't make the story as good if that was included, always got to be some smart guy ruining the best stories.

True story here. A few years ago following a flood Amy and I discovered a pelvis and leg bones that had drifted down river in a flood. Being of biology background Amy and I were both puzzled by the odd anatomy of the bones. They were like nothing we had ever seen. We put the bones in the barn and a few weeks later an icthyology class from Pittsburg State University was down on a sampling trip. Dr. Jim Triplett (Chairman of the biology Department) headed the trip and too was puzzled by the odd skeleton. We sent the bones back with him to have Dr. Steve Ford (mammologist) take a look at them to see what he thought. He determined they were not mammal bones but probably from a large upright walking bird of some sort. Estimating the height to be around 5-6 feet tall without a full skeleton no determination of species could be made. As far as I know no birds with that description live around here, sounds like the "nighthawk monster" fits the bill, although the MDC insists that these do not live here, but are just passing through. As a side note, on itunes there is a song by The Dillards called The Biggest Whatever (that anybody ever saw). Mentions an unknown beast coming out of Arkansas up the West Plains road. Could this be another reference to the "Nighthawk Monster". Take a listen if you get a chance it's a pretty good song. The Dillards were the ones on Andy Griffith that were the Darlin boys, good music!

The next fish I catch will be the coolest, that's why I keep going fishing. Probably the coolest would be a 29 inch muskie I caught trolling with my dad (who would have been 63 today)as a kid in Michigan. He kept saying I was hung up but I knew it was fighting back. Once we got it up we were both scared to death of a fish with teeth like that. Finally unhooked it and threw it back and it went belly up on the bottom. Decided we'd try to dip it up and clean it since we thought it was dead and when we did it turned over and shot off. Another cool fish was a school of Dolphin my wife and I got into out the St. Lucie inlet one day. Caught them on mullet that Amy had cast netted, and kept one hooked in the rod holder which kept the school around so we could catch fish after fish. Kept a few for the grill and released quite a few of the green acrobats before the school moved on. Coolest on fly was a 29 inch seatrout in the Indian River Lagoon. Caught it on a flat with stingrays and other creepy crawlies swimming around me. First fish for each of my kids cool, first on fly for kids cool, just like deer hunting, duck hunting, bird hunting, seems like every fish has a story. I could go on and on but that would be boring for most of you. What a fun hobby we all enjoy!

Sounds like everyone is drinking the red cool aid. Me too! Hope they can keep it up, looking well balanced and finally the defense played pretty good on the road. Haley seems to have settled into his own, not making as many bonehead calls and if we get McCluster back I think the sky's the limit. May come down to the San Diego game as to whether we make the playoffs or not. Can't figure out how to change the name of this thread, but I was just kidding.

Moss didn't seem too bad, the water was nice but rather nondescript and subtle changes compared to the free flowing rivers I'm used to. Nice thing was drifting the flat water still produced fish after fish. I still like the challenge of the smaller waters better, but this is a great place to catch some fish and for those new to fly fishing, what a place to catch the fly fishing bug. Saw some big browns while motoring upstream but I was just trying to catch fish, not specifically big ones.

Headed down to the White yesterday with my Father in law and Brother in law. After they got their Hills Bros coffee can full of worms I loaded my flyrods and off we headed to the dam. With trout boat in tow I was assured we knew where we were going but I had no clue never having fished the tailwaters. After finding no boat ramp at the park I suggested we ask someone where we could put in, but that suggestion was met with deaf ears. I then suggested we work our way toward Gaston's as there must be a ramp somewhere down there. Finding a ramp at Gastons I slipped into the office to see what I could pay them to put in there and was kindly allowed to put in free of charge. Feeling guilty I bought a few Zebra midges as that seems to be the go to fly as of late. Off we went out into the mighty White, which was dropping as I believe all generators had been turned off. We went slightly downstream above a small riffle and anchored so the boys could throw their worms. After attempting to fly fish from a stationary boat I quickly went to drinking beer and watching them fish. My father-in-law caught a small rainbow rather quickly but after another 20-30 minutes no more were landed. Finally I was able to goad them in to letting us drift a little and I quickly added 2 small bows to our total, one on the midge one on an egg. As quick as I was able to land and unhook the 2 fish I was again instructed to anchor up as we were now below the riffle. Another fruitless 30 minutes of worm fishing resulted in two more beers for me, and my trash talking finally got us moving again. By now the river had dropped some and we had to carefully pick our way back upstream. We finally made it above Gaston's as close to the next riffle as we could get, and yes you guessed it, anchors aweigh. Twenty more minutes with nothing but another beer and I again got them moving. In less than 10 minutes I caught 5 fish and had one hooked as quickly as I could get the other one off. I think all of these were on the egg. I finally convinced my brother in law to pick up the fly rod, and while he struggled some he did manage 2 small rainbows in a relatively short period of time (his first two trout on fly I believe). By the time I convinced my father in law to pick up his fly rod the wind was howling and we were being pushed back upstream making drifting difficult. He had several takes but was too slow on the hook set and finally gave up. We headed toward the ramp where I picked up the fly rod for one more drift and was again quickly rewarded with the best fish of the day, a 16" brown which was promptly released. Next time if the water is low I think I'll just have them dump me out and I'll go wade while they anchor up and catch nothing. The main plan was to go learn what it's like to catch trout on fly rod so they can get the feel for it and maybe have some success on the NFoW. I told them not to bring the crutch because they wouldn't fly fish, and hopefully they now realize that the 10 fish that were caught in about 30 minutes of fly fishing came alot easier than the one fish on worms in a couple hours of fishing. For me it was a great day on the White, a wonderful fishery where the fish seem more than willing to take a fly when you get a good drift. Look forward to hitting the Norfork tailwater in the driftboat next time with no can of worms as a crutch.

My 7 year old had a half day of school on Wednesday so I made good on my promise to take him to Dry Run to catch some fish. After stopping at Blue Ribbon Fly Shop for an out of state license and a few sow bugs we were off to the hatchery. I had not seen the creek since the improvements had been made, what a work of art! I can't imagine a more well designed and fishable strech of water in the world, they have done a magnificent job of designing a fantastic trout stream. We rigged Eli's 4 wt. Ross Journey rod with some 5X tippet and a pink San Juan worm and quickly he was hooked up with a small 8" bow. A few casts later and a 13" rainbow was brought to the net. I soon realized the frustration of trying to get a 7 year old to hang on to a fish long enough to get a good picture, but we managed a few during the trip. I also had my 6 wt. rigged with a #18 copperheaded sow bug and fish were readily caught on it as well. While unhooking a 15" brown it began shooting eggs into the net so a pre-larval fish pattern was promptly tied on. The fish were more than receptive to this pattern and in an hour or so of fishing at least a dozen fish were brought to hand. I witnessed several 18" + fish take the fly but they were either never hooked or the fly was pulled from their mouths (it's hard to coach a youngster to let the fish run by letting go of the reel). What a thrill to see Eli cast, mend and hook several trout without any assistance. If the fish were a little better at hooking themselves Eli would have caught 20-30 fish. Probably only 5 other anglers on the stream so room was not an issue, can't wait to get back maybe over Christmas break. Taking an adult trip to the tailwaters on Sunday, will be my first official trip down there to fish.

Unfortunately it seems as if most of the boobs I see need to be followed by drugs to get the picture out of my head.

If you do let me know.

Great ideas! They have talked about using turbines in inlets where you always have water rushing in or rushing out, basically using the tides for generation. Seems like this would be a dependable source that would be fully predictable unlike wind or solar, and tides happen on the coasts where most people live.

My link Check this out, if you don't think this is a good idea please share.

I think MDC manages for what they feel the most people want out of a fisherey in conjunction with it's potential. Not everyone wants fewer/bigger fish. Many people would rather catch 20-10 inch fish than 1-20 inch fish. In fish management many times that is the choice, and that is achieved somewhat through regulations and harvest. We can change the small rivers and streams through stocking and regulations much easier than the oceans and great lakes can be altered. We also have to realize the world is always evolving, although now it seems to be more due to man made introductions or global warming. One thing I like to see are the old timers showing pictures of how good the fishing "used to be" while holding up a stringer of 50 bass in the 3 to 5 pound range. Not hard to see why the fishing went down hill.

Nothing beats that flush when you realize it is a rooster and go to blastin'

Got back yesterday from my trip out west, 2 days driving 2 days hunting. We hunted hard walking miles and miles of CRP, milo stubble, wheat stubble, and waterways. Hunting was tough, seemed to be birds around but were concentrated on areas we weren't hunting. We killed 21 birds over the 2 days between 9 of us and like usual left several we should have killed. We walked by some birds in thick cover that would get up behind us, and some would flush wild, but for the most part I think the birds were sitting super tight. With mostly young dogs I think we walked over quite a few birds. My dog Finn did great finding at least 4 long cripples that we would have never found, including one that must have been winged by other hunters. Several of his flushes we thought were mice as the birds would hold tight as he was digging into clumps of grass (felt like preserve pheasants). It was fun to get together with old friends and walk a truely unique part of the country. Amazing how the grass and gullies hold tons of big deer (both whitetails and muleys) as well as tons of jackrabbits. While we got our share of birds we worked extremely hard to get them I'm sore and worn out from the long drive, glad to be back at the river. Hunted until dark both days and cleaned birds by headlight so I forgot to get any pictures.

I take full credit for Bowe and Cassel's turnaround, I think they must have read this thread and been motivated. Defense is a different team in Arrowhead but if they win out at home looking at 9-7 and if we can sneak out 1 more road win maybe playoffs. I hate to say it but GO DENVER!

I have nothing against anyone all of your money spends equally well, some drunks just like to fight and sometimes wake me up in the middle of the night, then I make Amy go tell them to quiet down.

I assume you are talking Lick Creek in the Gainesville area. Haven't talked to anyone who specifically fishes it, very rain dependent creek and probably not floatable unless we've had good rains for awhile. I'm sure it has some fish in it as long as it has some holes. I'll ask around and see if anyone fishes it. Maybe Brian Wise has some local knowledge.

I guess this is why so many hippie communes have come and gone over the years. For the most part these people stay to themselves and cause harm to no one, but they too have a history of being seized by the feds. One in Douglas County was raided back in the 70's or 80's can't remember the timeline exactly, but they were busted because they were growing some pot. Sounds like they had a good thing going living good peaceful lives in sinc with nature, but the government had to stick their noses in where I personally don't think it belongs. I'm not personally a pot smoker but guarantee I would rather have a bunch of stoners in the campground and on the river than a bunch of whiskey drunks.

Let's go. Ness- Finn is an okay pheasant dog (flusher) but a great retriever we duck hunt more than anything and he does very well. Haven't got him on any great pheasant hunts yet so hopefully this weekend will be the first. He's done very well tracking and retrieving wounded birds and works pretty good in the field. A little hard to keep track of him in CRP because he is so small and the others I hunt with think a bell makes the pheasants run. I helped with a continental pheasant hunt last year and Finn loved retrieving the birds he got some big 150 yard retrieves and had no problems. Have tried to get into some woodcock hunting but have had very little success. I know a few people around do well when the birds are migrating, but I've yet to get the knack. Hopefully I'll have some pictures to post after this weekend, not looking forward to the 9 hour drive tomorrow. I always forget from year to year how far it is to get out there.

If you are willing to walk a little most of the accesses have decent fishing spots. Patrick #1, fish below bridge, then go into campground and hike up trail to island #1 keep hiking and there are a few other spots on up to another island. Kelly #2, fish run around access and hike up to Lamb Shoals. These accesses get the most fishing pressure so don't expect too much. Need to get out and float the river and you will have most of the good spots all to yourself. The water below the dam at Dawt Mill also is easy to get to and can be really good. Blair is okay but would be my last public access choice. All risk walking on private land to get to the next riffle, Patrick is mostly on MDC land.

Thanks for chimeing in Idlywilde good to hear from someone with first hand knowledge of what was going on.

Not sure what county Camp Zoe is in, but for a county without a Wal-Mart such as mine, in Ozark county we rely heavily on community events such as Hootin and Hollerin' in Gainesville to keep our county running. I'm sure this county will take a bit of a revenue hit with the loss of these events. If the community was outraged about this camp then I have no problem with it being shut down, but if there were few problems outside the venue then shutting it down hurts the community (schools, law enforcement, etc.) Very slippery slope because of the legality issue, but how often does the government turn a blind eye to something that helps it. Seems like we pick and choose who to persecute and the little guy usually looses out.

I talked with a convenience store owner on highway 60 the other day weeks before the raid, a local man in his mid 60's and he had nothing but good things to say about how repectful the concert goers were that came through his place. Kind of surprised me to be honest with you. I think we all know how well the "war on drugs" has gone and all the feds do is push the users from place to place. I don't think they were trying to hide what was going on at these concerts, if you ever heard a commercial on the radio I think the narrator was stoned. Not sure what was gained by this raid and now instead of having a camping venue that kept these like minded individuals in a safe setting for the weekend (and brought tax revenue to an area that needs it) we now have thousands of kids (and adults) doing the same thing probably driving around and endangering themselves and others. While I don't condone this behavior it is going to happen until the end of time. Way to go law enforcement real tough case you cracked here! Maybe someday the government will find a way to use the rampant drug use in this country to prop up our now fragile economy. Instead of spending billions of dollars fighting a never ending battle, lets make a little money on a segment of society that otherwise contributes very little.

I am fortunate enough to have some pasture and the time to tend to my own small herd of cattle and a sheep herd as well as raising chickens. We eat and raise most of our meat and try to raise vegatables, although our time is more stretched in the summer. What we don't produce ourselves we try to buy at farmers markets or natural food stores such as The Truck Patch in Mountain Home. In these hard economic times the more local we can buy the more we keep the money closer to home. It's fun going in to some of the smaller natural markets such as Mama Jean's in Springfield and Ava, or the Truck Patch and they actually have local farms labeled on some of their produce, as well as grass fed beef, pastured chicken, and at The Truck Patch they have wonderful seafood. If those of us in small areas can move to a more localized food web we can help ourselves with healthier products, help our local economy by supporting our neighbors and even reduce our carbon foot print by eating locally produced items. It's going to cost you more money in some cases, but well worth it in my opinion. Everyone has there own agenda and beliefs so if this isn't important to you so be it, but I for one like to know what goes into my meat, and if I can grow or buy heirloom produce I can be comfortable giving these to my kids. If you don't have the ability to raise your own livestock open up the horse trader and often you can find organic livestock that you can have butchered without even meeting the animal, we buy a pig every year split it with friends. Anytime you get big corporations such as Monsanto or Big Oil involved they look out for #1, they know they will always have consumers, and unfortunately we need them because of our shopping habits.

Boy you were wrong, but on the bright side Cassel and Bowe look like Rice and Montana against a weak prevent defense! Maybe the passing success will give them some confidence (however false it may be) and we can balance our attack. WE NEED OUR SAFETIES BACK!