stlfisher

I have no problem with paying something extra to keep the parks open if need be. However, I just don't trust that my money will actually be used for that purpose. Hey let's just borrow like we did with social security...that was a great idea! Bottom line is I have zero faith anyone in any party is capable of making a logical choice. That make me more than hesitant to vote for any increase in any tax until it is proven we can spend within our means.

I believe that Lone Elk is a pay for play type deal already...at least to fish.

Yeah you can twitch the flies and sometimes that helps out. Most often I just let it sit under an indicator and let the waves impart the action. Since they are stocker fish trout parks stuff work the best initially, but then they wise up after a few weeks (in the C/R lakes). Windy days can make casting tough, but usually the fish are more active than the dead calm days. Stripping has been hit and miss for me, but it does work at times...sinking line would help in that regard.

I have been using smaller flies the last several months for glassy water and spookier trout. I have had good sucess with midges, adams, and bwo's. Size 22 have worked the best. For faster water I like bigger more visable flies like a Caddis or something similiar to the Wulf as you suggested. If I had one dry fly to throw to spookier small stream trout in glassy water I probably choose a size 22 Adams or a grey/light dun midge also in a size 22.

I remember watching a game years ago...I think division two. It was Carson Newman vs. Northwest Missouri. Northwest Missouri scored 24 points in the fourth quarter to send it overtime. After 5 or 6 overtimes the final score was like 70-63 or something like that. Once of the most exciting football games I have ever seen and I don't even remember who actually won anymore just that the game was awesome.

Good stuff!

The east is definately the weaker of the two SEC division's and hopefully will allow Mizzou to finish with a respectable record. It would have been nice if the big 12 simply kicked out Texas or just stayed as the orginial Big 8. Texas ruined the old SWC and now the Big 12 IMO. I will miss playing Nebraska each year...that was becoming a pretty good rivalary. I'll will mis playing Kansas in Basketball. However, I think it would benefit both instuitions to play a yearly game in Kansas City like Mizzou does with Illinois in STL. It doesn't sound like KU wants to do that though....would be sweet if they meet in the tourney in a few years. That would be intense! It will be interesting if we do end up with 16 team conferances...I kinda think that we won't for at least a while...the logistics are a nightmare IMO, but if there is money it may happen. I am very interested to see were Texas, Oklahoma, and Notre Dame eventually end up as they are the top prize. The SEC really wanted Oklahoma and A@M last year, but Oklahoma is tied to Okie State so that killed that deal. In many ways Mizzou should probably thank A@M and Oklahoma because without A@M moving first (making a 14th team a necessity) and without Oklahoma turning down the SEC there is no way the SEC invites only Mizzou as the 13th. I think that is one reason why Mizzou was wise to move now...they will be an ok option to round out numbers, but would never be a team invited first...they would be the back end of a package deal which I think is substantiated by the Big 10 turning them down last year in favor of Nebraska. IF only we could somehow get that playoff...

For me it boils down to the this. When you have your opportunity you take your shot. The SEC is tough, but I rather take my shot and fail than not take it. I would be embarrassed if the administration shyed away because they were intimidated by the competition. All Texas needs to do is pack up and leave and the big 12 falls apart. It is Texas's conferance and there are not that many spots left in other conferances. Mizzou made the right call as they could have been passed over in the future if Texas or Oklahma (assuming they aren't tied to Okie State) wanted out. Why have your future tied to an instuitition you can't trust. Mizzou wanted stability like Colorado, A@M, and Nebraska and now controls their own fate.

I have done well so far this year too. I would fish the C/R lakes and use trout park type flies under an indicator. The put and take lakes can be tough if you aren't fishing bait...they can get cleaned out pretty quick until they get a few stockings and some holdovers.

At most Mizzou played two away games in Texas each year with an occasional bowl game. This year it was Baylor and A@M. It sounds like Mizzou will end up in the SEC East and have A@M as there annual rival in the west at a "neutral" site in Texas each year. So really Mizzou only loses one game in Texas. If I am playing and I want to play against the best I go to a team in the SEC....so really I don't think it will hurt recruiting. However, we will need to get more 4 and 5 star type players and not the leftovers after Texas and Oklahoma. Being in the SEC would help in that regard. The problems with the Big 12 is Texas. 4 teams have left and no other conferance will take them with the longhorn network. Why stick around when you get equality in the SEC, equal revenue sharing, more money, and a league with no buyout to leave because no one wants to leave. OR stick around and let Texas jerk you around like Oklahoma seems willing to do. Have some pride and go for it. I am pumped for next year.

I think Mizzou will be fine in the SEC and I am excited they are making the move. Mizzou has a surprising 20-8 record against SEC teams. They won't challenge Bama, LSU, or Florida anytime soon, but the bottom half of the SEC isn't any better than the bottom half of the Big 12. I think recruting will benefit more than anything and I plan to travel south to watch some games...sounds much better than going to Iowa State or Baylor. KU would have jumped at the chance to go the the SEC if they were invited...hard to blame Mizzou for leaving when they had the chance.

very very cool and sweet picks. Thanks for sharing!

For Brown's something big and meaty looking...streamer's mostly. For the rainbow's eggs, prince nymph's, mohair leech, some type of caddis larva or pupae with a touch of green, and something with rubber legs. Dries I would probably bring caddis (14-20), BWO (22 or smaller), trico's (26-30), Adams (18 - 20) and an big attractor like a stimulator,Humpy, or Wulf. Tippet I use mostly 4x and 5x fluoro unless i am throwing small dries or fishing the slower pools in low water...then i go to 6x, but the fish aren't that spooky on the current IMO.

3 hours one way for a full day of fishing is my max. If I drive that far I plan to fish sunrise to sunset. In the summer time that can be a long day since I usually leave about 3:30 in the morning and fish from 6:30am to 9:00pm and then drive back home. That is a long 21 hour day, but usually worth it. Once the days get shorter drives an 1 1/2 each way are more doable. I would prefer to stay and fish a couple days, but the one day trip usually works out better and I can get a lot more of those in.

I have the used the Cabelea's GII dry plus. Bought them two years ago and they ahve stood up very well to the abuse i have put them through...even bushwhacking through some nasty thorny brush. They go for $129. http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabelas-Dry-Plus8482-G-II-Stockingfoot-Chest-Waders-Stout/749370.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch%2F%3FN%3D%26No%3D40%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dwaders%26Ntx%3Dmode%252Bmatchallpartial%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts%26WTz_st%3D%26WTz_stype%3DSP%26form_state%3DsearchForm%26search%3Dwaders%26searchTypeByFilter%3DAllProducts&Ntt=waders&WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products

The current receives a large stocking of 8-10 inch brown trout each spring (I believe) to sustain the population. Your right the brown's don't spawn successfully, but like the drunken kid at prom they sure give it the old college try. Not sure if they actually produce eggs that get fertilized or if the egg's just don't survive, but the rainbows sure like egg patterns down there.

I would like to see Joe Maddon manage the Cards. He has done an amazing job in Tampa,competing with the Yankee's and Redsox with not even half of the payroll, in a city that could care a less about baseball. He grew up rooting for the Cardinals and has said that this his dream job. I say pull the trigger. I do not want Terry Francona as he lost in Philly before he went to the Red Sox. Makes me think the payroll had more to do with it than him and the red sox colapse was just as bad if not worse than Atlanta's. We already did the Torre thing once. Joe Mcewing is nother wild card and you may remember him as little mac when Mcquire was playing. He has been managing in the Mets minor leagues for a bit and is considered and up an comer and will get a shot at the majors soon. Oquendo is another option and he is best friends with Albert...may make Albert happy.

I didn't take any pics....My camera took a dunking earlier this year. The water did look pretty low in most spots, but hard to judge since it was my first time. The biggest I caught yesterday was probably 10-11 inches, and I would agree nymph's fished on the bottom are probably the best bet for the large fish. I was surpirsed to see fish that size in the that creek, but they are there. Need to do a better job sneaking up on them.

I fished both sections actually starting by the park and upstream in the morning and then fished the springs on down in the afternoon.

Fished Mill creek for the first time yesterday and had a blast. This is certainly the smallest stream that I have ever fished and there is not any casting room in some stretches. It certainly felt more like stalking than actual fishing. If you don't spook them they aren't too difficult to catch...at least the little guys. I fished a small adams and caddis and caught plenty of fish in 6-10 inch range. I fed the trees a dozen or so flies in the process. The coloring on these fish were beautiful. There are a lot of fish in the stream, but you won't spot many...they are very good at going undetected. I have heard some rumors of a few big fish at Mill and I can confirm they are absolutely true. I spotted a 20 inch fish and spooked 2 pod's of 3 fish each that were in the 16-18 inch range. I covered a lot of water so there are not many that size, but there are certainly a few large fish to be had. The 20 incher was the easiest to spot with no way to cast to her. Try as i might I simply couldn't get my fly near her. She was a real beauty. I will admit I was shocked the creek held fish of that size, and it makes me wonder what is lurking in the little piney. I will certainly be back to try for the bigger fish.

One of the most exciting world series games ever. I like Joe Buck's homerun call...pretty cool it was almost 20 years to the day his dad made that same call. One more game...I am not sure I can take another one like tonight!

Nice fish! Great looking little stream...impressed last time I was there!

Yep, I think everyone's fishing heritage is quite meaningful and important to each. The stories, details, and backrounds might be unique, but there seems to be fundamental meaning we all share.

I have been fishing of and on since I was 5. Took up fly fishing 3 years ago and haven't looked back. I spent most of the my early fishing days fishing with my dad and my grandpa. My earliest memory is catching a catfish at busch wildlife that was longer than I was tall. I will have to see if I can find that pick of me stuggling to hold it up over my head. I remember fighting a snag at the Alton lock and darn while grandpa patiently cheered me on even though I was just snagged on the bottom. I remember watching my dad cast a large topwater at Busch one evening and while I was busy throwing rocks in the water. I begged him to let me cast his rod with the cool new lure I had never seen. After tugging on his pants for a half hour He finally relented and on the first cast I landed a 3lb bass. We talked about that one for years. I remember my grandpa showing me pictures of his fishing trips to Canada with these huge toothy looking fish I had never seen. They turned out to be Pike and Muskie. I hooked into a grass crap the same year and I remember my grandpa holding onto my belt so I wouldn't be pulled into the water. Never landed that one either. During summers of my high school years I would spend many of my days at Busch fishing for anything that would bite. I would use large 6 inch minnows and catch catfish and bass all day long. Never caught a bass worth a darn, but landed some nice Catfish. One day my grandpa and dad joined me and I hooked into a Tiger muskie that they used to stock. Never had a chance to land it, but there was a lot of excitement for a few minutes. Didn't fish much in college...to busy chasing women and drinking. Picked up fishing again a few years after college when my dad invited my brothers and I for a weekend outing. For whatever reason fishing hadn't even crossed my mind when he suggested it. From there it was like the old days. I spent almost every weekend at a local lake or pond or river. I discovered you could catch fish on lures and this started my bass fishing days. My dad I fished often and I discovered a few honey holes close to me and had a blast catching largemouth between 2-4lb's. One November night, with the temperatue about 45 degress I landed my largest bass to date on a night I shouldn't have been fishing and they shouldn't have been biting. A 6lb largemouth that I still think about to this day. 4 years ago a college friend invited me on a camping and fishing trip to Bennett Spring with some of his high school friends. I had never fished for trout and this started my new passion. I bought a fly rod and the following year I was catching trout with consistency and tying up my own patterns. Since then most of the group has converted to fly fishing. During this time by dad passed away...would have loved to see him with a fly rod in his hand and I know he would have loved everthing about it. My grandpa is too old to fish, but still loves to tell stories of his fishing days in Canada. I think of those two often while I am on the water. I now spend as much time as I can exploring the trout water around the state as well as the streams and rivers for smallmouth. I have a new fishing buddy that shares the same sense of adventer and passion and a girlfriend that not only encourages it, but will join me from time to time. I figure that I have anouther 30-40 years to discover new water,new species, and new techniques. I can't wait to share it with my kids and grandkids.

Pete, it is working out great. I overloaded a six weight and the line has worked great for casting a few bigger flies for the smallies. I'll return the favor one day i am sure. Thanks again!