Today was a hot day, 95 degrees, and the humidity was high in the open but low in the creek areas.  It was refreshing to say the least.  I hit route N towards Blue Springs Ranch as far as I could go but the road was washed out and I could not make it to the public parking where the creek meets the Meramec.  Besides, there were a lot of people along the road swimming and splashing in the creek.  I went to the southern most public parking just south of Blue Springs Road and NO ONE was there.  Great parking place and I was the only one.  I when upstream about 100 meters with no fish in site and no bites.  I turned south and fished the next half mile or so.  I caught three fingerlings.  One was most definitely a rainbow trout, the other two were something I had never seen before.  It looked almost like a catfish, it had skin and a round mouth.  I am sure they were not sucker fish, some kind of catfish?  I caught the trout on a green scud with orange duck flanks for a tail that I tied, I was proud even if it was a fingerling.  Anyway, I won't be back for a while until I found out more about the area.

Peace.

So I sent an email to Whiting Farms asking how they treated and harvested their chickens.  Here is the email I sent and the one they responded with.

Love your products.  Lately I have been wondering about your harvesting practices.  How do you harvest your poultry and how do you dispose of the meat?  I ask because I am wanting to buy products that utilize the entire animal and not parts of the animal with the rest going to waste.  Any information you have would be fantastic.
Thank you and sincerely,
--
Roman Clarkson

They're response

Dear Roman – thanks for your email.  You ask some very good questions.  Because we must protect the feathers, we harvest with gas which is quick and more humane than most methods.  As for the meat, remember most of our birds are 45+ weeks old when they are harvested, (what is sold for food are 6 to 8 weeks old) therefore they are too old and tough for food, plus most are roosters which would be tough as leather so we compost the remains.  Dr Whiting is one of the most environmentally conscious people I have met.  The soil in this part of CO is very poor  for farming so he uses the compost for a small tree farm and for acreage that is cultivated. Also, the USDA will not allow the use of this meat for pet food.   We do everything possible to be responsible.  Feathers are actually a great resource for nitrogen which is needed in this area. I use manure and feathers for my home compose unit.  This is probably more than you wanted to know but be assured that not only is Dr Whiting a genetic genius, he is a very responsible citizen.   Thanks again for your interest in Whiting Farms.
Best wishes,
BJ Lester
Sales and Marketing Manager
Whiting Farms Inc.
bjlester@whitingfarms.com

Does this settle my mind?  I think the only other question I would have is are the chickens caged for life or free range?  I know I feel better about choosing Whiting Farm products.  I know now that I need to be more conservative with my materials.  Just because I buy a saddle doesn't mean I can just waste whatever I want.

I took my son fly fishing this Friday.  We did not catch any but had a great time.  I caught a couple of insects on film though.  I have been doing some research into the entomology of the Meramac but have not found a lot of information.  If you come across this and know some links please pass them on.  I need to check out the other insect on the right because I need to tie that as well.

Peace

It was hard to sleep. At most I only got a couple of hours of sleep in at a time and even then it was light sleeping. I was waiting for the alarm with anticipation and sleep was irrelevant. At that point, sleep was almost a chore and a barrier to my destination.  What made that evening's sleep unusual was that I was completely prepared to wake up running out the door. I had already packed everything I needed and laid out my clothes ready to wear. I went so far as to put all of my gear in the trunk of the car.  To expedite my morning preparation I had laid out my clothes so I could slip into them. By slip I mean I already had my utility knife on my belt that was threaded through the loops of my pants, placed the wallet in the pocket, and stuffed by socks in my boots. A zip, button and buckle and I am equipped to leave. I even slept in the shirt I was going to wear the next day.

There were two alarms set on my alarm clock. The first alarm was for me and the second for my wife so she could wake the children for school. Before I even laid down I knew that first alarm could not come too soon.  When the alarm played the classical music station I rose out of bed.  I remember thinking that the act of waking to classical music on mornings like this seem to make the transition from listless sleep to full motion more enjoyable.  It just sounded right waking up to some amazing musical genius to start my day with them encouraging me to learn my own genius. I of course proceeded to my clothes and with military precision I dressed, brushed my teeth and hair.

I then moved about the house in stealth not to disturb anyone else from their sleep. I waited until I was outside to put my boots on to insure my quiet get away. This small time in the house, the time between ready to go and out the door is my time.  It's where I began my transition between the world of home and work and my world of nature.  Here I let the haze of sleeplessness work in my mind and keep me from getting distracted from the things in plain site.  That haze let me walk out of the house without wondering about the house seeing all the things that need to be done.  Wondering things like if the dishwasher was started the night before or checking the trash to see if it needs to be taken outside.  That sweet haze kept me focused on the task at hand;  get to the river, get to the river, get to the river, over and over.

Out the front door at 5:36am.  As with every predawn trip I observed the world at peace. I was still a few minutes away from leaving my house to pick up my partner and friend so we could begin our trip.  I took that time to watch and listen to birds begin their wake up rituals in search of morning insects. I watched squirrels forage around without fear of cars in search of new fallen nuts. I already knew the nocturnal creatures had already gone to their dens, leaving only the smallest traces of debris that they had discarded in their nightly trash can raids.

It is in this moment that I remembered the reason for all my trips. I need to see nature acting upon itself and upon me.

I started doing some research on building my own bamboo rods.  Pretty neat stuff but I am not sure I am ready to make the leap yet.  Here are some web resources that I have found. (I keep adding to the list.)

http://hipwader.com/2004/building-custom-cane-fly-rods/1
http://www.thomaspenrose.com/tonkin.htm
http://www.2computerchicks.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=GW&Category_Code=RAWMAT
http://www.bamboobroker.com/order.html

I have been fly fishing for a little while and I have to say that I have gone through a lot of paradigm shifts.  At first it was all about catching a fish, then how many can I catch, how many can I eat, how many can I catch and release, how many, how many....

I finally got over that on my last fishing trip.  Probably because I caught so many I could not keep track of them all.  The real magic did not have to do with the numbers at all.  Rather it was the experience of fishing my own tied flies and an original fly by a buddy of mine.  I never caught a trout on a dry before and it was unbelievable.  Yeah there were a lot of them pooling together and it was kind of like shooting fish in a barrel but who cares?  Not me.  A close friend and I got to go to our fishing hole and just have fun all day playing "where's the trout" and winning.

This article by Tom Chandler touches on some of my thoughts about the "fishing game".  I would have to say that he poses some good questions about why fishing is the way it is and lets you come up with the answers. http://www.troutunderground.com/bodycounters.htm

HOLY COW!  What an amazing day outside of the park.  I paid $3 in parking and no tags.  We went straight out of the park.  First cast was by Ken and it was a catch on his new Schweba.  I am trying to get him to post some pictures on his site.  Soon, he will unveil it. We caught an amazing amount of fish.  I caught at least 12 and hooked 18 rainbow trout.  I caught them on the Schweba (one variant), light Cahill, olive blue dun, and an Adams.  My buddy Ken, caught at least 24 and hooked another 24 rainbow trout.  He caught them on the Schweba (three variants), light Cahill, and an Adams.

We caught an amazing flurry of top water trout.  It was unprecedented for me to see something like that on the Meramec.  I end up having to fish the guide bug, nymphs, worms, etc.  Not today however.  It was amazing to see the dry flies that I tied up from a picture in a book hit them like there was no tomorrow.  It was my first time catching a trout on a dry.  One thing is for certain I will always want to be hitting the top if I can.  Fishing under water is fine.  I learned a today about dries.  I mean a size 20 hook is so small I did not know how to hook the fish let alone bring it in.  What was amazing is that the fish barely get hooked, I crimp all my hooks so they are barbless, and when they come up to you, you just grab the fly and make a small rounding motion and plop the fish is gone.  I did not even have to touch the fish.  Why is that so important to me?  I have decided to go catch and release except in farmed streams.  I did not want to touch the fish unnecessarily or tire them out too much.

It was awesome.  I have to give a special thanks to Ken who has been showing me all the trout holes these past two years.  Without him, I would not have had the experience.  If you are ever looking for a Missouri trout guide email me and I will pass it on to him.

Water: 62 degrees (approximate)
Weather:  Overcast/Partly Cloudy
River: Up
Wind: 0 to 10 mph
People in Party: 2
Longest fish: 15-16 inches
Caught: 36
Hooked: 42
Fun Factor: 9.4
Flies:  Schweba (black, brown, pheasant on size bead head 14), Light Cahill, Adams, Olive Blue Dun (All hand tied on size 18 & 20 hooks)
Time: 730 to 1230 non stop

Several times a year a friend and I go trout fishing. We almost always take a day off in the middle of the week to go angling for trout. We prefer the weekdays because there so many fewer fisherman in the rivers. I have to say that I really cannot stand to go fishing in public parks on the weekends. The reason that I even started fishing for trout was to experience the art of fly fishing and simply enjoying the great outdoors. I just find it hard to enjoy relative peace of nature in a park with a hundred other anglers all vying for the same trout in the same one mile stretch of river. I mean really, can you image trying to catch a fish while someone down the river, just out of the corner of your eye, is catching a fish every few minutes. What pain! Hurray for the guy, but what about me. What about my fish, my fishing experience? I guess I will get over it and just keep looking for some new holes.

With the Meramac at flood stage we are have to choose an alternate fishing hole.  Here is the location to a great trout ranch Rainbow Trout and Game Ranch, Inc. and their link is web site.