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MattS

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  1. Like
    MattS reacted to snagged in outlet 3 in Couple big fish left 1-21-17   
    Isn't it catch and release down there in the winter?
  2. Like
    MattS reacted to Kayser in Leaving the Ozarks   
    After spending entirely too much time in school, I graduated and accepted a job in northern Indiana. I'll be moving up there Sunday, and starting the week after. Not much for flowing water up that way, but I'm taking some fly gear just in case.
    I'm going to miss the fishing, hunting, and general accessibility to incredible outdoor opportunities around Rolla that I probably took for granted. But I'm going to miss this forum as much, if not more- you guys are top-notch, and the info you post on here is second-to-none. Trip reports, techniques, conservation, recipes & cooking, and just odd opportunities I would have never thought of. I can blame all of you for my obsession with paw paws, oyster mushrooms, and wild trout. And possibly a bout or two of frostbite from chasing winter smallies and trout.
    So a big thanks to Phil and the other mods, and to everybody here, for making this place what it is, and helping others enjoy this amazing playground I took for granted for far too long. You are one passionate bunch, and I'm glad you choose to share it here.

    See ya,
    Rob
  3. Like
    MattS reacted to fishinwrench in Wind Direction and White Bass location.....   
    Where I fish (not Stockton) the Whites don't wait on the wind to position the shad, they will herd them into shallow bays and get them cornered and then feed like crazy.  
    If you go looking I bet that you'll find there are just as many shad on the calm side as there is on the windy side. North side areas always seem to be better for whatever reason.  Angle of the sun???    Protection from North winds???  I dunno.   
    You can either stand on the trolling motor and fight the wind all day and collect a limit after awhile, or you can locate a shallow bay and just wait for them to show up and go crazy and limit out in 15 minutes of casting.  From 3:pm until dark is when it happens here on LO.  
  4. Like
    MattS reacted to Plastic_worm in Another trip   
    Spent 4 days in Pointe aux chenes, LA filming the new Cuda HD with JK mediahouse.  It was a great trip filled with lots of redfish on the fly.  Here's a short, under a minute, teaser video.  Working on a full video.   We stayed at PAC kayak rentals...the houseboat rents for 150/night and sleeps 6.  All the fish were caught less than a mile from there.  The kayak launch was the coolest I have ever used...raises and lowers with the tide.  Had rollers to help slide the kayak in the water.  There's also a small beach for camping...but it does get noisy.
     
  5. Like
    MattS reacted to Drbucketmouth57 in Yesterday 10-25-16   
    I don't remember ever seeing anything in the conservation codes that say you can't take a picture of your catch regardless of whether it's "legal" or not. I've released unharmed more fish in a season than alot of people catch in a lifetime so please hold your comments about how I should conduct my business and worry less about mine and maybe a little more about yours. 
  6. Like
    MattS reacted to TRRANGER in Bass Pro Shops buying Cabela's...   
    I FIGURE HE WILL DO THE SAME THING HE HAS DONE TO HIS SPRINGFIELD STORE, TURN IT INTO TO TOURIST TRAP WALMART, HAVING  WOMENS UNDERWEAR, CROCS SANDLES IN 85 COLORS AND QUIT SELLING ALL THE STUFF THAT MADE HIM ALL THE MONEY HE NOW HAS TO WASTE. WHILE WE START SHOPPING AT TACKLE WAREHOUSE TO GET THE STUFF WE REALLY WANT. ANHEUSER BUSCH INBEV NOW OWNS MILLER BREWING, BASS PRO OWNS RANGER AND CABELAS, IS NOTHING SACRED ANYMORE.
  7. Like
    MattS reacted to Spoon Feeder in Lake Norfork Fishing Report 7/29/2016   
    For 1/2 oz and bigger spoons I use a 5.6" medium heavy bait cast rod with an Abu Garcia Revo Rocket reel. For 1/8 oz and 1/4 oz I use a spinning rod and reel.  The bait cast rod also has a pistol grip. These are hard to find now as they seem to have gone out of style. We have made prototypes of a 5'7" rod with a pistol grip that Darrell Binkley of Bink's Guide Service has been testing for a little over one year and it's working great. We will be going into production with them soon. The reason for the shorter rod is two fold. One, it helps tremendously with the line wanting to tangle on the treble hook and two, you can get a quick and strong hook set. The pistol grip will keep you from wearing out your arm. With this rod you can work a spoon all day with one hand and not wear yourself out. The Abu Garcia Revo Rocket has a high (9:1) gear ratio which allows you to reel in line fast when you get a hit. This is especially important when you are fishing deep. Once you set the hook you want to make sure your rod is always bent or you are likely to loose the fish. As far as the line I only use 10 or 12 lb Berkley Vanish Fluorocarbon. It is almost invisible which is important for clear lakes and it's low stretch which is also important for jigging spoons especially in deep water. I also tie on my spoons with a Palomar Knot. It's easy to tie and I think it's the strongest knot you can use. Here is a link to a short video on the Palomar Knot. http://www.berkley-fishing.com/Berkley-ae-how-to-tie-a-palomar-knot.html  It say's it's primarily used on braided line but I love it on monofilament and fluorocarbon line. I got a lure tied up a few weeks ago bass fishing on a tree in the water, it was 8 lb test and my lure was tied on with a Palomar knot. I am 6'2" and weigh 230 lbs and it took everything I had to break the line. (I am almost 60 so that may have had something to do with it). I personally don't see any reason to go over 12 lb test even if you're fishing in timber, if you get snagged up it will just be harder to break the line. 

  8. Like
    MattS reacted to Bill Babler in bear !   
    Branson had at least 7 bears last year in the city limits.  They were caught digging in trash cans and did some damage to bee hives in the rural areas.  I know the folks up the Kings River used to see them on a weekly basis, just at the Carroll, Stone and Barry county line.  I believe that a few years ago Denny's son had a trail camera picture of one near Roaring River in his deer feeders Barry/Carroll Counties.
    Also last year Phil Stone took a video of one swimming Bull Shoals near Elbow Creek.  It was on KY 3 news and I think he just took it with his phone.  It was a total Monster Cinnamon colored Black Bear.  Huge Boar.
    At Harrison at the Archery Shop they have an entire counter top of pictures of Archery Killed bears within 30 minutes of Branson, with some absolutely huge bears.  I know Lisa Lilley's husband Paul has a hunting lease just inside the Arkansas Border, I believe also in Carroll County and they are about as common as seeing deer.  He said last year he helped load one into a Pickup that he estimated to be 400 pounds.  He said it took an army of guys to get it in the back of the truck.
    There is some great TV stuff from Arkansas about how their dept of Conservation is working with the bears in this area.  Fantastic
  9. Like
    MattS got a reaction from marcus in dallas vs blues   
    Blues matchup VERY well against the Stars. Stars are banged up (Seguin) and the Blues are coming off a physical and emotional series. I think we'll handle them just fine. 
  10. Like
    MattS reacted to Flysmallie in A picture is worth 1000 words...   
    Looks like joeD is a TPB fan! I loved that show. 
  11. Like
    MattS reacted to ness in what kind of trout is this?   
    I checked with Hank Patterson. Definitely a cuttyrainbrown.
  12. Like
    MattS reacted to jdmidwest in Cancer Survivor Giving Thanks!   
    First of all, thanks for all the thoughts and prayers from this group during my cancer issue.
    On Oct. 30, I was diagnosed with cancer of the tongue, stage 2 with a tumor about the size of a marble at the time of surgery on Nov. 23.  Everything went well, they replaced about half of my free mobile tongue with a portion of my forearm and excised the cancer part along with my lymph nodes.  I spent 9 hours in surgery, 7 days in the hospital, 2 1/2 weeks with a feeding tube and trach in my neck and nose.  Results came back on Dec.9, no cancer was found outside the area of the tongue they cut out.  Cancer free, no further chemo or radiation treatment.  One little hiccup on week 4, the neck incision developed an infection that put me back in for 2 days of hospital observation.
    I have been back at work now almost 2 weeks.  Customers and friends do not notice any difference in my speech.  All that know what I have been thru are amazed to see me back to normal only 6 weeks after going into surgery.  The arm has recovered most of its usage and mobility.  I can talk, eat, swallow, and do everything normally with my new tongue.  Life is almost normal again other than a few surgical scars.  The new part of my tongue has hair growing on it, just like it did when it was on my arm, an interesting little conversation starter.  I dropped about 20 lbs while on the feeding tube and actually feel better.  I am now at my normal weight that I should be.
    I have spent the last few weeks thanking all that helped me along the way.  Of course the surgeon and staff in St. Louis have been receiving my praises since I woke up after surgery.  I have went back to the dentist and staff that found it.  I have contacted the ER doc that first saw me later that afternoon, he was really concerned as he was the first one to officially say, "its cancer". 
    What really amazes me is how many people were pulling for me.  I don't do Facebook or other social media.  This forum is my only outlet to the digital world other than my face to face connections in real life.  My life has been spent dealing with the public for the last 30 years in some form or another.  I keep getting stories about how it has gotten out on family and friends Facebook pages and how complete strangers were praying for my health.  People telling me how they had me in their prayer group at church.  It is getting to be pretty overwhelming to fathom the support I had going thru all of this.  All of the stories coming in from friends and family telling me about others that have contacted them asking about my progress.
    I thank the Lord for being able to talk, eat, swallow, and function as almost nothing happened.   I am above all thankful that I am now cancer free and pray that I will stay that way.  And again, I thank all that have supported me along this part of my journey thru life.
  13. Like
    MattS reacted to Gavin in Fishing below Maramec Springs Park   
    True story about Pete's Dad. One of the founding members of Ozark Fly Fishers in St. Louis . Miss his spirit! 
  14. Like
    MattS got a reaction from Mitch f in Fishing below Maramec Springs Park   
    I hate to sound like an idiot, but really?
  15. Like
    MattS reacted to BilletHead in The BilletHead's most excellent adventure 2015   
    This last fishing post we will title "Fishing with a Legend" HA!
       After checking in the Ponderosa campground for a three night stay they gave Mrs. BilletHead a Welcome to Cody guide.

    We got showers and proceeded to do laundry.
    While the laundry started going we were shooting the breeze as she thumbed through the pages. Pretty soon she found the North Fork Anglers page from Tim's shop.

    Then she started stuttering and could hardly get the words out of her mouth. What are you trying to say? Look, look she said and in the lower right hand corner I was with Tim in a trip in the past,

        Oh boy I am going to catch some crap for this I thought. So I wondered if I should be receiving for this or have a book signing? We than laughed and the Mrs. got a handful of the booklets.
    You know in a previous post I talked of the kid at the Sweetwater fly shop in Livingston referring to Tim Wade as a legend. There will be some mileage with this quote and we got him good. Met him at the fly shop Wednesday morning after taking Sadie to dog jail as I refer to it. The Bed and Biscuit. When we dropped her off she looked at us like what the hell? She only gets kenneled once a year if we get to make this trip for two nights. Of course Pat cried when we drove off. So walking into the shop we asked where the legend was. We got funny looks and he popped out of his office.  I told him we were going to fish with the legend today and tomorrow and he was it. Told him the story and he popped back he was going to be fishing with the dynamic duo. Touché I thought. Mrs. BilletHead supplied lunch bot both days. Smoked duck with jalapeno cream cheese and smoked chilies and cream cheese. Both peppers from our garden and duck from our skies. We were going to do a different meal for day two but he liked day one so much it was like can we have this tomorrow too? So we gathered our gear and threw it in the back of Tim's rig and headed off. We fished a river/creek or whatever you call it. We have been there before on our own and with Tim in the past so we know it pretty well. I will not tell you the place out of respect for him and his business. All of this is on public ground and can be found pretty easy with some research. Hint I will show a few pictures. From the two days. Tim carries a rod too and we all fish leap frogging up the creek sharing netting jobs etc. Some places the bank is steep and the valley choked with willows. It was easy to loose track of each other. Bear spray was carried. To find each other you looked for rod tips or listened for who thought was in the lead for " Hey Bear, hey Bear" letting them know we were coming either for them to get out of the way or set their tables for a snack of fishermen, women.


















       It was a free for all and I want you to know Mrs. BilletHead spent most of the time in the lead picking her spots and doing it by herself. I could not have been a more proud husband. I hope if I am taken out of this short life early she keeps this going. Inn a quiet moment I asked Tim how she rated with all the women he has fished with. He responded she is on top of the list, I once took out two lesbians from California who were pretty good fishing but Pat has them beat he said. I thought hummmm I have never had the wife compared with lesbians but this will work . He then said on that day at casting for recovery all though years back when I got to take her out I knew she would be doing this. What a complement. On the way out on a steep climb I got this,

    She really hates the rear in shots and at the top,

     Look at that red face.  
      So after two great days fishing with a friend we said our goodbyes and headed to the campground for our last night . Did I mention there was a dairy queen next to the campground? Well there was and we treated ourselves. Next morning fueled up the truck for the long ride home and then drove around looking at the residents in Cody while waiting to get Sadie at the kennel. I am telling you these look both ways before crossing the road,




      Got to the Bed and Biscuit and while paying for the stay I looked into the hall to see Sadie laying next to the stall fence in her "Suite" She still had that what the hell look on her face. I tapped on the glass door, she seen me and came alive. When the lady retrieved her I though she would break down the gate to get to us. Then it was homeward bound and we relived the trip all the way home. One more post will follow with some thoughts. Thank you for letting us share our most excellent adventure,
    BilletHead
     
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