Be Thankful For What We Have

[joeD]

You guys need to get your minds right. On one hand, you're decrying the selfish plutocrats who buy up streams and privatize them, either for profit or personal use. Your outrage over this subversion of public will is well justified. But, on the other hand, you get pissed off when people (other than yourself) start using public water that you mistakenly thought you had to yourself. Take a kid fishing you say. Expose others to the great sport of angling. Very admirable. Smallmouth fishing on our lovely streams is available to one and all due to the foresight and inclusive nature of our fish and game governmental management. Everyone shares in our natural bounty. Unless of course the general population decides to recreate in your favorite fishing areas.

George Hanson

→ Oh yeah, that's right, that's what it's all about, all right. But talkin' about it and bein' it - that's two different things. I mean, it's real hard to be free when you are bought and sold in the marketplace. 'Course, don't ever tell anybody that they're not free 'cause then they're gonna get real busy killin' and maimin' to prove to you that they are. Oh yeah, they're gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom, but they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em.

[Guest TLewis74]

That's an awfully broad brush you're painting with there, Al. Some of them are idiots, like the ones who want to take the steak off your table, and others are just trying to stop horrors like this:

and others are just trying to stop horrors like this:

Though the two don't directly link up, I wonder what your view's on the unborn lie with posting such a provocative pic, number one.

Number two, though that is not the most pleasent picture OR line of research/study to observe, the bottom line is that the animals used in experiments go a long way to curb disease and ailments that you could not do any other way, and that is just a fact, period.

People really don't like the practice until a loved one obtains a terrible disease and thus finds out that any advancement to cure said condition, was probably learned through animal research.

I think you LEFT that out with your propaganda like pic/post.

[Guest TLewis74]

I have no problem with shuttle fees. Even the ones I think are more expensive than they should be. I understand that shuttles don't make the operator much money and take time. There are places that charge $45 or more for a shuttle that's less than 15 miles by road, and that's ridiculous, but they are usually the only ones servicing that stretch (or in at least one case, the two that service the stretch got together and both agreed to charge the same exorbitant fee). But even in those cases, the $45-50 is not much more than it would cost to drive two vehicles that far from home instead of one in order to do it yourself.

Interesting that Diamond Valley Lake in southern CA was mentioned. I had to make a business trip out there last week, and got in a day of bass fishing on the next lake over from Diamond Valley, which has the same fee structure. Keep in mind, that's a public lake. It was interesting in that a lake that size with fishing that good in MO would have had 30 or more boats on it on a nice weekday...that lake had three boats including ours. Was the cost the reason, or just the fact that there aren't a huge number of bass anglers in SOCAL?

I also had to chuckle about the whole inspection thing (trying to keep out quagga mussels). We had to get out as we left and dry off the boat with a big towel, and then got chewed out by the inspector lady because we missed a little puddle in the overflow area next to the motor. And yet the trailer bunks, covered in carpeting, were still dripping.

And my fishing friends out there are really ticked off about the "environmentalists" (actually animal rights idiots) who have convinced the legislature to force the fish and game people to close large segments of the coast to all fishing. Makes having a conservation department independent of the legislature here in MO something to be happy about. No way I'd live in California.

No way I'd live in California.

Based on the native population level leaving the state, you're not alone with that observation. Wonder why???

[Guest TLewis74]

Not exactly sure how to get there, so I bet it wouldn't be for the right price.

But back to the topic at hand, we should be thankful for what we have. Easy public access to any kind of fishing or floating you could want. A great variety of guides and outfitters that can help make your trip successful, and four wonderful seasons that each provide their own pros and cons.

No, there really is a Beaver Creek about 30 miles to the west of you, Not trying to make a joke, it just kinda came across that way...

[eric1978]

People really don't like the practice until a loved one obtains a terrible disease and thus finds out that any advancement to cure said condition, was probably learned through animal research.

And that's how you feel about stem cell research, too, RIGHT?

Propaganda? No. Painful reality.

[Justin Spencer]

No, there really is a Beaver Creek about 30 miles to the west of you, Not trying to make a joke, it just kinda came across that way...

I know there is, but it is about an hour and a half from here to Bradleyville (no good straight way to get there). Be $150 bucks for a shuttle on your vehicle, won't do it on mine. There are outfitters that service that creek out of Ava I believe, a quick google search and you should be able to find them.

[Justin Spencer]

I think you LEFT that out with your propaganda like pic/post.

I think what you left out in that picture was the fact that in 2006 that particular monkey (while vacationing in the Amazon Rainforest) mudered in cold blood an entire family of banannas. Being an assistant coach at a prominent university this was swept under the table until last year when he was outed and subsequently executed in the electric chair. Are you really going to defend this monkey?

[eric1978]

I think what you left out in that picture was the fact that in 2006 that particular monkey (while vacationing in the Amazon Rainforest) mudered in cold blood an entire family of banannas. Being an assistant coach at a prominent university this was swept under the table until last year when he was outed and subsequently executed in the electric chair. Are you really going to defend this monkey?

LOL Yes, I have to, for without the monkey, the Amazon Rainforest cannot make billions of dollars. People come from far and near and pay big bucks to see the jungle and the monkey, banana murderer or not.

[Al Agnew]

I'll continue to call the ones idiots who seek to stop fishing and hunting for no other reason than that they think it's cruel, who lobby to protect invasive wild horses and burros and don't care what kind of damage those animals are doing to the native critters and the ecosystem, who scream bloody murder whenever somebody suggests that it might be a good idea to kill some deer in suburban areas where they are overpopulated, who believe that nobody should eat wild meat...

And even idiots aren't wrong all the time. They may be right when it comes to certain kinds of animal experimentation. But if they also believe the other stuff I listed...they're still idiots.

[Al Agnew]

It was Skinner Lake that I fished. Did well, including several stripers on topwater and a bunch of 2-4 pound largemouth...didn't catch any smallmouth.

Eric talked about painting with a broad brush. I don't know a whole lot about California, but from what I've seen, when decisions are made based upon sound science, they are usually the right decisions. CA has made a lot of environmental decisions based upon sound science, science that seems to be ignored in some states, or science that applies only to states with extremely high population centers like CA. But they've also made a lot of decisions that were NOT based upon science, and the fishing closures are just one example.