Kansas Fly Fisher

Your doing a great job with the website, fishing reports and the forum. I enjoy getting on-line almost daily and my first stop is the forum. The fishing reports are great and I use them to plan my next trip to Taney. This is my first year fishing Taney and all the info is a great help. Thanks for a job well done! John

Happy Holidays everyone. We had a pretty uneventful shift and actually got to sleep thru the night again. We responded to a total of 8 calls but none of them turned out that bad. Our first call came in at 7:50 am and was reported as a male complaining of chest pain. Then again at 8:24 we responded to a male with severe hip pain. At 11:35 am we were dispatched to another hip pain. At 3:45 pm we were called to a seizure and at 7:42 pm we responded to a psychotic breakdown. At 9:11 pm we responded to a fight at the American legion and transported one patient for high blood pressure. Probably the best call of the shift came in at 11:57 pm when we responded to car wreck. The driver of the vehicle hit a parked van on the side of a residential area road and knocked it into the yard a good three feet. The jeep he was driving turned over on it's side in the middle of the road. It hit the van hard enough that it bent a shock and a leaf spring on the jeep. It also bent the heavy bumper on the corner of the jeep. The driver apparently hit the windshield with his head hard enough to break the windshield and his chest hit the steering wheel hard enough to bend it! The best part of this story is that he was able to get out of the jeep and run from the scene. At last check the police were still looking for him. We finished the shift off at 6:23 am with a call to back up another station but was cancelled before we arrived on scene. All in all this was a good shift. I hope you all have a safe and very merry Christmas! Until next time; be safe, buckle up and slow down.

Hello everyone; my name is John Jackson. I currently live in S.E. Kansas and make the trip to Missouri as often as I can. I started fly fishing three years ago when my wife surprised me with a guided trip on the Arkansas River in Colorado. I've been hooked ever since. Can honestly say I've not picked up another type of rod or reel since. I just got my wife hooked this year after taking her to a four day fly fishing class at Bennet Spring. We've been fishing several times since. I really enjoyed my fly fishing but now I've started loving it since I can now share the experience with my wife. I'm a paramedic so my job allows me alot of time to pursue my love of fishing. I also enjoy the hunt as well. I hunt with blackpowder only. I've got a double barrel 12ga blackpowder for the birds, a .50 cal for the deer and a .32 squirrel gun for the smaller game. My wife and I enjoy camping and prefer the tent, but made the move to a slide in this year simply for comfort (the ground seems a lot harder now as the years pass). Sue (my wife) and I have been married for 25 years and have two great children and two granddaughters. Our son is stationed in California with the Navy and our daughter just graduated from Trinity Bible College in North Dakota. Our oldest granddaughter, Aspen, enjoys fishing and caught her first trout at the age of 4 at Roaring River during the Kids Day. We just started fishing Taney this year and it has quickly turned into our favorite place. Before that we fished at Bennett. Take care and be safe.

Hello John, My name is John Jackson, I'm a paramedic in SE Kansas. I started fly fishing three years ago and like you started tying the fly's almost as soon. Great to see another EMS'er on the board. Maybe we can get together and do some fishing and swap stories. Take care and be safe.

I agree . . . my wife is my favorite fishing partner also. She just got started fly fishing this year and we had a great season. I just got her a complete set-up for Christmas and can't wait for her to open it. I'm sure we will be making a trip to Taney in the very near future so she can give it a whirl.

I stayed in town this morning after getting off work at 8 am. The department's Christmas Lunch was today and it wasn't worth the 30 mile trip home just to turn around and come back. So, I decided to stay in town and do some Christmas shopping and of course stop by Starbucks! A little before noon I headed to our headquaters where the meal was to be. Just after I got there station 3 was toned out for a head on collision on the highway. Station 2 responded as the second out unit. The shift supervisor then requested a third ambulance and since I was there, my partner and I responded as well. It turned out to be a double fatality. We flew one victim from the scene by helicopter and transported two more. The fatailites turned out to be 15 and 16 year old girls! One was ejected thru the front windshield and the other was in the back seat. The patient that was flown from the scene also came from this car. The other two victims were in there late 20's and are expected to make a full recovery. Both of them had femur fractures (the upper leg) and one had an ankle fracture. One also had a collapsed lung. It turned out the car with the young girls in it were in a hurry and tried to pass a semi-tractor trailor and hit the other car head-on. Slow down people! Why risk your life (and that of others) just so you can get there now rather than a few minutes later? What could possibly be worth that type of risk? If it's so important to get there by a certain time then leave a little earlier - or just accept the fact that your going to be late! ALSO; I've said it before and I'll say it a many a time again. WEAR YOUR SEAT BELTS - THEY DO SAVE LIVES! Now there are two young girls that won't live up to their potential, that won't realize some goal they had! They (and their families) are going to miss out on so much. My heart and prayers go out to these two families and may God bless them each and every day. Until next time . . . be save, buckle up, and slow down!

Patrick McManus? Didn't he use to write for Field and Stream? I think he was the guy who wrote the short stories in the back that were very funny. I'll have to look for that book. I always enjoyed his stories.

It's 8am and I'm back on shift for another 24 hours. The day started at 8:49 with a call to the local hospital for an emergency transfer of a 36 year old female that was in active labor. Problem being, she was only 22 weeks along and her water had broke and she was dialated to an 8! We took her lights and sirens to another hospital that was capable of handling this type of labor. We got back to the station just before noon. At 2:45 pm we were dispatched to a local beauty salon where a 74 year old female had fallen outside and possible broken her leg. After some morphine her pain level had decreased to the point we could move her and not cause to much discomfort. We transported her to the local ER and the last we saw of her she was on her way to x-ray. Before we could clear the hospital we were sent on another medical emergency across town. This turned out to be the same frequent flyer we transported the last shift. We'll call her Mary Frost (the name has been changed to protect the innocent). Mary was once again complaining of chest pain and difficulty breathing. She was also taken to the local ER for further evaluation. It's now 5:15 pm and we're back at the station. Time for some supper and hopefully and uneventful evening and a good nights sleep. It's 6:50 pm and we're dispatched to a local assisted living facility for a 89 y.o. male reported to be having chest pain. When we got there it turned out to be a belly ache. The patient told us he had ate too much Christmas candy and cookies. Apparently the staff over reacted. We did convince him to go with us to be checked out just to make sure there were no problems. He reluctantly agreed. We cleared the hospital and were back at our station by 8:45. At 10:05 pm we were dispatched to one of our frequent flyers. This time however it turned out to be her daughter that is two months pregnant. We'll call her Jo Prickett (name change). Jo's 17 years old and only two months into her pregancy. Although we haven't responded to many calls for her, she is starting to become a regular. Jo was complaining that her belly was cramping and wanted to go to the hospital. We got back to the station at 11:20 and decided it was bedtime. It's now 7:20 am and we slept thru the night. That's a rare occurance at this station. The EMS gods must have felt pitty on us from our last shift. Time to start getting ready for the next shift to take over. Until next time - be safe and be happy!

Started the morning off at about 9:00a when we responded to a medical emergency involving a possible stroke. The male pt was found by his wife and had obvious left side involvement. He was transported to the ER for further care. Remember the early warning signs of a stroke: 1) weakness on one side, 2) difficulty talking, and/or 3) an unsteady walk. Then at about 1:00p we responded to a female complaining of chest pain. This turned out to be one of our "frequent flyers." Her chest pain was, and is always, caused by gas which was relieved in the ER with medications. It's now a little after 3p and we're back at our station. It's time to rest and prepare for the evening calls. It's a Saturday night and things are sure to get fired up. Yup, it hit the fan as expected. At 9:50p we were dispatched to a medical emergency at one of the local care centers. We had a female patient that was not feeling well. Once we got there we discovered her blood pressure was well below acceptable levels. She was transported to the local ER and at last check was doing better. They admitted her to the hospital for further care. We cleared the hospital from the previous call at 11:00p and recieved our next call at 11:17p. Dispatch sent us to a vehicle wreck out in the county. When we pulled up on scene we found a small car had rolled over several times and ejected all four of it's occupants. (NOTE: SEAT BELTS PEOPLE!) We ended up transporting all four patients. All 15 year old kids. We took two in our rig and the second out ambulance took the other two. One boy and three girls. Now why was four 15 year old's driving at this time of night? The injuries included: two bruised ribs and a broken back for the boy, a broken shoulder bone and broken rib for one girl, a broken shoulder bone for another girl, and a broken eye socket for the last girl. All in all they were very lucky! As a side bar here: Seat belts DO work! In my years of EMS I have picked up seveal dead bodies from the roads, ditches and sidewalks. I've even cut some bodies from the car itself. But, I have NEVER cut a dead body from a seat belt! Get the hint? We cleared the hospital from the wreck at 2:49 am. We were able to crawl into our beds at just about 3:30 in the morning ready for a few hours sleep. But not so, at 4:44 am we recieved a call to go to the hospital and take a patient back to one of the local care facilities. Not because she needed an ambulance to get there, simply because the staff didn't want to get out in the cold and go pick her up! We cleared this call at 5:30 in the morning and crawled back into the rack at just about 6:00. Just in time to get our morning wake up call at 7:00 so that we could finish the shift at 8:00. I'm now at another station in our jurisdication working the first half of the shift. When I finish this shift I will have worked 36 hours straight. Here's hoping for an uneventful shift. I'm at home now. The extra shift went well. We responded to only call at just before noon. A male in a local nursing home had low blood pressure and needed transported to the ER. We started IV fluids on him and transported. Until next time - be safe and be happy!

Got off work this morning. First day back after a week off. We had a pretty good shift. We responded to 3 medical emergencies and one vehicle accident. The medical emergencies were pretty uneventful except for one. We had an 87 year old female in respiratory distress. This one made us work a bit. But after some IV meds the respirations improved and her color came back. The car wreck was very minor. We transported one female with an injured knee. She had slid forward in her seat and hit it on the dash boards - WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED IF SHE HAD HER SEAT BELTS ON (HINT HINT). We only had to get up once in the night when we responded to the breathing difficulty call at 3:00 a.m. That's good for the station I'm at this month. Normally you respond to an average of five to six calls and only get about 4 hours of sleep a night. And that's not at one time. I'm headed up to the city tomorrow to pick up my niece at the airport. She's coming home for the holidays. She's stationed at Great Lakes with the Navy right now. My daughter's on her way home from North Dakota as I write this. Her and her husband will be home for a couple of weeks. My son, also in the Navy, will be home on the 28th for two weeks. Until next time - Be safe and Happy Holidays

This post comes to you from North Dakota where Sue and I have traveled to see our youngest child. It was a very nerve wrecking trip as we left Kansas just as the winter storm moved into SE Kansas. Finally on day 2, just north of Souix City we broke out of the nasty weather and road conditions and was able to relax. Hopefully the weather will hold for the trip back tomorrow. Today my daughter, our youngest, graduated from Trinity Bible College in North Dakota. Jacqui and her husband of almost two years are currently living and studing here in Ellendale, North Dakota. She is looking into youth ministries, and Lee is studying towards youth ministries and coaching. As I watched her go across the stage this morning a sense of pride was present. I must say that I'm proud of both of our children. Jaqui and Lee are both looking into the ministries. John, our oldest, is in California where he is stationed with the U.S. Navy. He is just recently back from the Gulf where he was assigned to a fixed wing attack squadron. He and his family should be coming home for Christmas and I'm anxious to see him after almost two years. Reflecting back today, I realized Sue and I have done well with our children. John is serving his country defending our freedom and helping others to obtain, or keep, their freedom. A very worthy cause. Jacqui is helping others learn the word of our Lord. Also a very noble profession. We can now set back and say "job well done." It's a good thing for a parent to see their children pursing very worthy causes.

I'm setting here in my warm house looking outside at the ground. There's a small dusting of snow on the ground and they are predicting 3 to 4 inches by tomorrow. Now normally this would be a good thing. You see, I love winter time. I guess I'm still a kid at heart; I like to get outside in the white stuff and just plain play. But tonight, it's a different matter. Tomorrow we leave for North Dakota, and as luck has it the first snow of the season is on the day we will be traveling. Our daughter, the youngest of our brood, graduates from college on Friday and we're making the 12+ hour drive up to watch this great accomplishment. What was going to be a fun trip has now changed to worry about road conditions. So, a little emergency planning and a small change in plans is in order. We'll be leaving around noon tomorrow and taking it a little slower getting up there. We had planned on leaving after my wife gets off work and driving for a couple of hours to make the trip a little less stressful. I'll post again when we get home and let you know how the trip went. Until then, take care and be safe.

Good evening, it's time for me to get on my soap box for a bit. As you may be aware, if you've read my first entry, I'm a paramedic in S.E. Kansas. Here's my pet peeve . . . IF YOU SEE THE RED LIGHTS, BEHIND OR IN FRONT OF YOU, PULL OVER TO THE RIGHT AND COME TO A COMPLETE STOP! If you're in emergency services then you understand. If you're not I want you to think about this. What if it's one of your loved ones that were trying to get to? Turn your radio's down (so you can hear the sirens), check your mirrors often (they're there for a reason), and put the cell phone down (no distractions)! The few minutes, or seconds, that we save by not having to slow down to wait and get around you could me the difference between life or death for someone's loved one. Don't try to "beat" us to the intersection, just wait for us to pass and proceed on your marry way. Ok - enough said - thanks for the opportunity to vent. Now - for some fishing! My wife and I spent the Thanksgiving weekend at Taneycomo. Fishing was so so up to Sunday morning. Then they turned it on and we had a blast. This was my wife's first trout fishing expedition and it was a great one for her, and me. It's always fun to have a fishing buddy with you to share in the memories. It's even better when it's your best friend. In this case, my wife. Even during the slow times we worked on her casting technique and even got into an impromptu casting competition. We enjoyed being outdoors with each other even if the fishing was slow. This was a great time for Susie (my wife) to learn about the stream, feeding lanes, and trout behavior. With the water so clear we could watch the fish as they reacted to the many food forms available to them. Thank you Lord for the beauty of it all. Until next time; Be safe and tight lines to you all.

Good Job! I have never thought about taking my cell with me. But now it will be a part of my vest. The good part of this story is . . . they will get caught sooner or later. Although by the way it sounds they have already been caught before.

November 22, 2005 I'll start this by letting you know a bit about myself. I'm a paramedic in SE Kansas. We work a 24 hour shift and then have 48 hours off. In my off time I enjoy being outdoors. Fly Fishing and duck hunting are my two favorite outdoor activities. My wife, Sue, and I enjoy camping and fishing. She's just started fly fishing and we're having a great time on the rivers and streams around the area.