The New Taney Boulder Clusters (Photos)

[Phil Lilley]

I just think shuffling is sad. I see fathers teaching their kids to shuffle. When I see it, I don't think bad of the people, I just think they're missing out on the thrill of fooling a fish in their natural setting and the satisfaction that brings. They've accomplished nothing but making their pole bend when shuffling. No skill involved.

It is illegal in some states but Missouri is not one.

[Justin Spencer]

Seeing people gathered around the outlets makes me smile. Not a real natural setting there either (skill involved?)

[Phil Lilley]

True. But I have thrown in a few times when it's not crowded... just to see what may come out. Camping there... that's not my cup of tea.

[fly2fish]

If I were in that picture I would be fishing the opposite bank, I have seen trout doing their own shuffling and watch all the other trout nearby dart to where the fish stirred up the scuds. These fish know how stir up the scuds themselves. First time I saw this I was wondering what was going on and kept watching other fish doing this. Sometimes if you stay in one place to long it seems like all the fish are at your feet and you have to get out so they will disperse where they are catchable again. Don't know why this doesn't happen at night, I have hardly ever seen fish around my feet at night, felt one bump my leg a couple times. I never caught any trout that were following me around, I have even let my scud drift through them and they just part and let if drift on by. Don't think shufflers catch all that many fish compared to the outlet snaggers. Just my 1 1/2 cents worth.

F2F

[Feathers and Fins]

I just think shuffling is sad. I see fathers teaching their kids to shuffle. When I see it, I don't think bad of the people, I just think they're missing out on the thrill of fooling a fish in their natural setting and the satisfaction that brings. They've accomplished nothing but making their pole bend when shuffling. No skill involved.

It is illegal in some states but Missouri is not one.

I think of it as I do the “stages of a hunter” everyone must progress through each stage to the final end. I posted yesterday about a Carp I caught, that fish meant more to me then the big stripers I’m catching. Why was simple, anyone who has fished carp knows how skittish they are and how hard they are to fool into biting a fly. Granted it was only a 5 pounder but the perfection of everything leading up to him taking it was more special to me then a 30lbs striper.

I understand Dads teaching the shuffle to the kids, they want them to catch a fish. I hope that as the child progresses through the stages they start wanting to get to the stage where everything leading up to the bent rod means more than the bent rod.

To me helping someone catch fish is more important than me catching one. Smiles mean more then my rod bent. When I was over there a few weeks ago there were dead shad on the bottom. I couldn’t get a bite on a scud or midge but noticed trout feeding on the shad. I switched to a white woolly and started catching them hand over fist. I learned this trick in Alaska. Salmon Die and Trout feed on the flesh. I didn’t have my flesh flies but the white woolly worked just fine. I showed an older gent and probably his grandson I would imagine what I had been doing as I left and watched them hook up. The kids smile was worth a million hook ups. But some would say that wasn’t fair. I matched the hatch simple as that, and now the youngster might look more at figuring out what they are eating and not shuffling. Who knows but the smile was great.

[Gallagher]

Ok, I feel I should "chime in" here. All this talk about the practice of "shuffling" just hits me wrong. Myself,... I try my best not to disturb the natural habitat or disrupt another person's fishing, but inevitably the fish always seem to gather at or near ones feet hoping for dislodged aquatic crustaceans. I guess I have a hard time trying to understand why it is that some people make this a common practice, I'd much rather have fish looking for the source of food on the end of my line rather than congregating at my feet. Probably wrong for me to suggest, but if a person is into shuffling, I'd say forgo the cost of a rod & reel and just rely on that net. Not a whole lot of sport there! I liken it to the same practice of putting up a Deer stand in close proximity to a food plot then blasting their unsuspecting brains out, and they call that "hunting" what actually is being hunted other than a way to keep warm. These are just my views & not intended to persuade others to do or not to do what they please.

Rant off