Justin Spencer

What I don't like about the vegans we hear about (and one I have known) is that they act like they are holier than thou for being vegan, yet always look like they are working so hard to keep their strict vegan diet. I have no problem with people doing it for health reasons, but that is more of a veganish diet than totally vegan. Give me a break you can't eat honey!

Why is all vegan food patterned after animal products. Humanely raised and slaughtered animal foods and dairy are readily available now so why not use them? Seems like a lot of work being a vegan for what reason?

So far we got real lucky down here, haven't been up the drive yet to see how slick, but we can still see grass, and have no ice on the trees. Best case is the river comes up a few inches and I'll be thrilled! Weather looking pretty cold the next few days, but a little warm up for the weekend.

Wow, much adoo about nothing down here(I probably just jinxed us). Very little ice on trees and can still see the grass through the snow and sleet. Wind and cold going to be as advertised I'm afraid. Everyone who got hit hard be safe and tie up a bunch of flies.

Still just rain on NFoW. Hope we don't get up to the inch of ice that is possible. Jason, don't let the wife get out in the beamer!

So I'm in bed with the flu all day and you have to rub it in by doing that out in front of my place. If everyone keeps out fishing me on my own property I'm going to have to cut you off or start charging by the inch. Glad you had a good trip and hope to see you next time.

Gotta watch out for those mountain lions also when alone. Sounded like a great weekend, I had big plans for the nice weather and instead spent all weekend in bed with the flu while Amy delivered fishermen to various parts of the river for a great day of fishing. Hopefully I'll be 100% for the winter storm.

I think the govt. could take this good idea and expand on it. If they took a portion of each individuals welfare check and put solars panels on their roofs, or on the roofs of low income housing this would offset energy costs year after year and would save money both for the welfare recipients and the govt. as they could lower payments. I'm sure the panels would be considered a scarlet letter by many so I'm sure that's how that idea would be shot down.

I've read some on this new venture and it looks like a great company, raising livestock in a responsible manner that is healthy for people and the animals. As with any livestock operation the environment is usually the main concern, already tons of small dairies and cows everywhere (I'd be more worried about these than any new ones), so as long as it is being monitored correctly I think it will be a good thing for the entire area.

In addition deforestation leads to warmer temps much like the concrete jungles. When I drive from the campground into the mature oak forest we have going up our hill you can feel a big temp. drop as you enter the woods. At the top of the hill you come out of the woods and immediately feel a warm up. Multiply this times all the forests that have been cut and common sense says that adds to the warming factor. I prefer to look at real life examples that that, and like what Tim has said about people's way of life changing due to different weather patterns. It is only a snapshot, but when generations of people have lived one way, and then their lives have to change due to differences in climate, it is obvious something is going on (because of man's actions).

How did I mess that up, I wasn't really even close. Thank you for the correction.

I, for one, prefer to stare and wonder! "And yes, they're real and they're magnificent"

Good thinking. Some are already doing this and making money, but I think some of the only ones with enough money to really research some of these sources are big oil, and they won't use what they have found to compete with themselves, so oil has to get super high for them to start the shift. There really has to be an effort across the board to switch to greener energy, if there was a ton of money in it I believe individual companies would have already been reaping the benefits, which doesn't seem to be the case. It will have to be (sorry far right) government regulations that push us toward green energy, I just don't see it happening otherwise.

True dat. It really doesn't matter if there is global warming or not. We all know that pollution is bad. We all should hope we can reduce pollution through greener energy sources. This may or may not help global warming but will help air quality, acid rain problems etc. If we do the common sense things that should be better for the earth we all win (especially our kids and grandkids). That's all folks!

Jason Great meeting you and glad you had a good day. Just finishing up the PBR you gave me (wouldn't accept money but did accept beer). Started putting the roof on the new "fly shop" today so the beer was well earned. Once I get that done I can start selling you tippet instead of giving it away, but was glad to do it. Pay it forward.

If it's stalking me and knows I'm a person it will end up with a bullet between it's eyes like the others, provided I can stop shaking, chances are if it's really stalking me I'll never know it. Really don't think this has been the case with either of the two shot in Missouri. While I don't think people should shoot them, if they are stalking people then by all means that is when it can be justified.

Did the flood gates opening change the White and North Fork much below the dams a few years ago. Would think it opened up some holes and really cleaned out the rivers.

Clouds, sun as long as it's not following a streach of really cold weather trout fishing is wonderful all winter long! Those midges do like the sun they were thick yesterday along with a few small mayflies.

We have gone to Jackson kayaks in our business and visited the factory in Sparta Tn. this fall. The kayaks are solid as a rock and a bunch of good people working at a good ol' American factory. They are continually developing new models and really have their act together. Sometimes easier to spend your hard earned money if you know it's staying at home instead of overseas (not that overseas is bad, they need money too I guess).

Anyone else find it interesting where on the head the cat was shot. Just to add to speculation, it looks like it was shot down through the top of the head. Shooter had to be higher than cat (maybe deer stand), I don't think the cat could have been looking at shooter when shot, if they were at same level I'd say it had it's head down sniffing along ground not in a position that would seem to indicate the shooter was in danger. On the other hand, if the cat knew the shooter was there and had an easy escape route, I would have expected it to turn tail and run quicker than someone could get off that accurate of a shot (so maybe he was in danger). Hope we get some details from the shooter himself, but I'm sure he's lawyered up.

I was thinking how cheap they were, you are getting a WHOLE HOUSE for that price. He has to clean the house after each visitor and do linens, etc. By the time he hires someone to do this for him, if he doen't have time to do it himself, he is barely making any money on them at all, not to mention I bet he had to buy them in the first place.

Found this from the Wichita paper's outdoor writer, kind of interesting another states take on what's happening here. Many have wondered if the last two trail cam photos of mountain lions in northern Kansas were the same animal. The photos were about six weeks and 100 miles apart and went from west to east. That would be the assumed travel route of a mountain lion wandering in from the Black Hills or Rockies. They don’t have to worry about such things in Missouri because their last two confirmations have been shot and killed. Quite the month or so in the Show-Me State. A cat was photographed in a tree mid-winter and then within a few weeks two more were shot and killed. I guess the thing to wonder about now is if the mountain lions photographed on trail cameras in Kansas are still alive or if they died in Missouri. Read more: http://blogs.kansas.com/outdoors/2011/01/24/2nd-missouri-mountain-lion-shot-this-year/#ixzz1By6Q4I3B

Bingo Look at all the draws that dump in to rivers, always a big pile of gravel at the mouth. Watching the flood events we've had here over the last 7 years it is amazing how the river changes following each one. Big floods, while I hate them, make the river look beautiful. Unfortunately streamside erosion increases with these big floods so we lose bank in some of the vulnerable locations. Amazing how water can erode even areas with a good riparian zone. After a big flood the river slowly fills back in with the smaller floods until we get another biggie which scours it out again. Not sure how we get the banks back after erosion, unfortunately it widens the river, and seems to reduce channelization and slow the flow. Ultimately I think bank erosion is much worse than gravel filling (at least on the NFoW) because the gravel seems to get cleaned out while erosion just gets worse. I always knew Eric was a potamologist!

Don't discount those grey squirrels, they get the best of me everytime. Tons of fun, squirrels are everywhere (until you hunt them) and hard to hit with a .22 (especially when you get buck fever). I love to eat them and when your done you have some new fly tying material to boot.

Maybe that's why I have this persistant cough when I really get in to trout fishing.