stlfisher

I heard the Cardinals may only have offered 7 years and they did try to engage him several years ago. They were told it would take Arod type money to open negotiations. Lot's of speculation, but if true, 7 years is kind of weak and wasn't going to get it done. Would have been good for the Cardinals though. As others have said good riddance...should be very interesting to see how management responds the rest of the winter. Beltran might be a possibility in an outfield rotation with Holliday, Craig, and Jay. Fielder might be a possibility if he would take a 5-7 year deal. .

I was talking about the Angel Food Cake at his restaurant not that Albert was going to Angels. I trust ya man...I think!

I too felt his personality didn't alway reflect what he claimed he stood for and I think this kind of proves that. I also agree the Cadinals screwed up by not signing him to an extension years ago. I wanted him as a Cardinal, but for that kind of money and that kind of length...I'll pass. The last 3 or 4 years of that contract is going to be brutal. I just heard on the radio (KMOX) and this has suppossedly been confirmed for real. They are serving free Angel food cake as dessert at his restaurant in St. Louis. Not cool.

I found this atricle today. It appears the plus one model is being given serious consideration. I hope it happens. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/andy_staples/12/07/img-forum-plus-one-ncaa/index.html?eref=si_writers

Those look outstanding...well done!

It is certainly debatable, but hands down for either team? Hardly. As I said I think OSU deserves to play in the title game since Alabama already lost to LSU. I would have liked to see the offense and defense battle. There is no way to measure how Alabama or Oklahoma State would have done if they played the same schedule. The best and most deserving are not always the same. And that is a huge problem with the BCS and it was exposed this year. It would have helped Oklahoma State's case tremendously if Texas (who never should have been ranked) and OU (missing many of it top players to injury) had better years. Bottom line is the loss to Iowa State was much worse than the loss to LSU. A plus one would have been ideal because it could have been settled on the field.

Even though I think Alabama is better than Oklahoma State they already had their chance and lost. A plus one would have been ideal in this situation. LSU vs. Stanford and Bama vs. Oklahoma State. Shoot you wouldn't even have to play the plus one every year...just on years like this when there is no clear cut #2 team.

Tell her you need a few hours to hit the local shops for her Christmas present and sneak down to the water. Then order something online when you get back home.

The urban stocker rainbows in St. Louis have been hitting them very well last week or so. I just hate casting those things into the wind after they get waterlogged.

I use them and I think they are worth it. I have a fast action rod so I can snap off with really light tippets if I am not careful and I think this helps protect my tippet on those overzealous hook sets. One thing I have noticed is they last me about 3 or 4 months and then I need to change it...so I usually by 3 or 4 at a time and carry them in my pack. For 1.95 I think they are worth it.

sweet pics. That is a great fish!

16 probably the most, but I do use 14's and 18's on occasion. I try to throw the bigger size to keep some of the 3 inchers away, but sometimes the little sizes are what they want the most. You know how that goes...just when you have them figured out....

The prince is my favorite nymph hands down. Lot's of variations are possible. I would say it is not necessary to track down the hen unless you want to stay true to the pattern. I have dubbed a different color body (in place of peacock hearl like a physco prince) and dubbed a funky collar at times in place of hackle. Both have worked. However, most of the time I keep it simple and leave off the hackle and collar all together and just use hearl, brown biots for the tail, white for the wings, gold wire for the ribbing, and a tungston bead for weight.

Yeah SLU lust looked off. In the long run it might be good for them to get knocked back a bit. On any given night you can lose. No doubt SLU and Mizzou have the talent to make the tourney and make some noise. The KU/MU games are going to be intense this year. Can't wait for them.

This made the STL news last night as well. Good to see conservation success getting some press in them mainstream media.

For me the "McCloud mystique" is a nice addition. Pure strain maybe, maybe not, but I think Crane is still special/unique simply because the trout most likely have at the least some McCloud heritage, maybe not pure, but at least some. The toughest and strongest of that bunch has survived and reproduced in an environment far from home in a place that is not ideal for trout. All this was occuring while they were stuggling or mixing with other strains in their home range. That is good enough for me to move Crane into the unigue/special places I would want to fish. I admit I am eager to see if there is any evidence of secret stockings at a later date. And yes, I agree the MDC wouldn't report it if there were true, but I still question why they would do that and keep it secret for so long. Personally, I think the more likely scenario is the MDC is using, on occasion, some of the eggs from Crane to help fertilize our hatchery fish. What could be more effective than using a strain of fish that has been displaced, but has managed to find a way to survive and reproduce successfully in MO for 100 of years?

Very cool!

Wow that is a toad of rainbow for that creek!

Maybe I am not understanding the thread, but I am trying to understand the benefit of a secret stocking of fish in Crane by the MDC? If they did need to stock why wouldn't they report it? Crane is a nice stream and the "McCloud mystique" is nice (whatever that maybe as others have stated), but is it a valuable enough commodity to essentially lie about the stocking dates? If so Why? Crane does not strike me as a national tourist hot spot,so what value would the MDC have by essentially covering up both the strain of fish and the date of the last stocking? Seems a bit of stretch to me.

Yeah, the loss of Bowers is going to hurt...unless Green can step it up. As you mentioned an elite team with size may give them trouble. I agree Haith was not liked at first but winning has certainly changed that for the time being. It is going to be fun a team watch. English looks like a different player this year and you really have to question Anderson's coaching last year. It looks like a different team under Haith. Even SLUH looks good under Majerus this year...they may be a tourney team this year as well.

I have fished the Meramec trout water a few times this year and had a little bit of success, but there are not a lot of trout and they can be spaced out a bit. I had most of my luck between Cardiac and Suicide. Best day was probably 10 fish or so for a full day of fishing. The floods the last few years have decreased the population by about 30% from what I have read. Some normal water years may bring it back a bit, but it is tough to have a great day on the water. I think Scott's Ford is at the very end of the of the trout range. As far as floating you can float or wade it from the end of the park down to Suicide and probably further (I haven't been down must past Suicide though). Wade fishing is best around 350 CFS. Floating should be no problem, but after a flood there may some lay downs across some of the narrow stretches...so keep your eyes out. There should be some browns somewhere, but I have never caught one down there.

Anyone else watching the games the last two nights? Dang they looked good in two blowout wins. They are fun to wach as well and much more disciplined than last year. Let's hope they can keep it rolling all year...could be a good one.

So very true indeed....

I would target the dock area or the little gazebo's around the edges. There is some brush on the far side, but casting is difficult in that strech. Boathouse lake is certianly an urban lake in which it is surrounded by a concrete sidewalk..so not alot of structure besides the dock and a few brush piles. Access is easy, but it can be crowded and since it is not C/R it can get cleaned out pretty quick. I live 10 minutes from Boathouse lake, but usually drive the extra few minutes to Jefferson Lake in Forest park which is C/R until February 1st. Both Lakes will be crowded, but it is a friendly crowd.

I would tend to agree. On the little streams the fish take of like torpedo's if there is any disturbance. If you are not very careful they are long gone before you ever even see them. I suppose this is probablty true when comparing most big streams to the little ones. Don't get me wrong though on both the Current and the little streams it can be difficult to catch the trophies...maybe just a different kind of difficult.