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Skeeter ZX190

Fishing Buddy
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Everything posted by Skeeter ZX190

  1. Here's a picture of Belt Creek in the Sluice Boxes. This is a little over a half mile hike from the parking lot on a fairly level trail.
  2. If you've never been to Montana, then I would highly suggest it. The beauty is unbelievable. One of the unique aspects of Montana is their Constitution. If you can legally get into the water, then you can traverse up and down the stream as long as you stay within the high water mark. So if there is a road crossing the stream, you can access the stream there since it is right-of-way. Even though the property that the stream travels thru is private, as long as you stay in the stream, you're good to go. My favorite stream to fish is Belt Creek which is about 30 miles southeast of Great Falls. There is the Sluice Boxes State Park which provides plenty of public land, but anywhere from Armington Junction to Neihart, has some good fishing. The stream itself is probably comparable in size to the Current River. Very wadable. There is a good trail system in the Sluice Boxes and if you park at the main gate, it's an easy walk. If you happen to go up there, make sure you check out the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center in Great Falls. It's an outstanding museum. The Missouri River runs through Great Falls and it's famous for the fishing, especially south of Great Falls, but it's just too big for me. I know there are also streams in the Highwoods which is also southeast of Great Falls but I never got up there. But the scenery in western Montana is something to behold. They call it the Big Sky Country and it really is. I don't know how it's possible, because it's the same sky as here, but it's just bigger.
  3. Here is the size 12 in rust. My formula is: Wood duck flank feathers for the tail. Rubbing is small copper wire. The body is rust colored antron yarn made by Hairline. I put some flashback on and ice dub in peacock black for the thorax. Tungsten bead in copper. I'm euro nymphing so I tie on a dropper tag above my anchor fly (the size 12 rust nymph) and that's where I put on the blue wing olive nymph. Sometimes I put on a ruby midge.
  4. I'll try to take a close up picture of them.
  5. Went to Baptist Camp and headed downstream so I could work my way back. Kind of a tough day for me. I caught 6 total, 4 browns and 2 rainbows. Hit a lot of good looking water but bites were few and far between. The rainbows came on a size 20 blue wing olive nymph while the browns came on size 12 rust colored nymph. One of the browns was 15 1/2 while another one was my personal best for Missouri, a 19 incher. It put up quite a battle. I thought several times it was going to wrap me up in a downed tree.
  6. I have Korkers Devils Canyon boots. They have the BOA system and I love them. They have the removable soles so you can have felt (where it's allowed) rubber, or studs. I only use them 20 to 30 times a year. I've heard that the BOA system can fail, or the removable soles can come off, but I've had no problems.
  7. That fish is probably thinking "you got me this time. Next time I break your rod"!
  8. Spent a couple of hours on the Current between Baptist Camp and the Parker Access. Ended up catching 8 on the euro. 4 rainbows and 4 browns. Biggest brown was 16 1/2 (prettiest brown I think I've ever seen) and the biggest rainbow was 15. Most of the fish came on a Pat's rubber legs. I got all of my bites in the fastest water. Weather was beautiful but a bit windy. Water is low and VERY clear.
  9. I didn't spot one in the pictures, but are you selling a rotary vise?
  10. I don't claim to know much about fly fishing but this hopper pattern worked well with a dropper on my recent trip to the Black Hills. It's called a Top Shelf Hopper.
  11. I use an Umpqua U106 hook. It has an extra long shank and a bend in it. From the top of the antenna to the tip of the tails, I'm right at an inch and a half with the size 10 hook.
  12. I go smaller. Size 10 and 12. Black coffee chenille and copper brown sexi-floss legs. I use a 3/16th tungsten bead with some .020 lead wire raps.
  13. Hiked in from the parking area just outside of the gate since they have the campground closed. I started euro nymphing at the beginning of the year and talked my wife into giving it a shot. She's never fly fished so this was entirely new to her. She ended up catching 2 and lost another one. They all came on a Pat's rubber legs (thanks Gavin, you had recommended a pat's to me a couple of years ago). Water is low and very clear. We didn't fish very long but it was a great time.
  14. Might be going up to Buffalo or Sheridan Wyoming next week. Anybody ever fished up there and do you have any recommendations on certain areas or streams to target?
  15. Is that 2nd fish a white, hybrid, or striper? No broken lines and more of a torpedo shape makes it look more like a striper.
  16. Rik Hafer's book "From Northern California to the Ozarks of Missouri" does a pretty good job of dispelling the idea that Crane Creek still has the original strain of McCloud trout. He has stocking records that show trout were stocked in Crane Creek after shipments of California McClouds had stopped.
  17. With this extreme heat were having, do the blue ribbon streams reach a temperature that could stress the trout or do they have enough spring fed water to keep them in a comfortable position? I've never fished any of them in the summer but was curious since some states implement hoot owl restrictions in the heat of the summer.
  18. So I finished Rik Hafer's book "From Northern California to the Ozarks of Missouri" and in there he mentions that in the late 1800's that brown trout were stocked in Missouri streams but that those endeavors failed and it took some 70 years before the introduction of brown trout into Missouri streams was successful. It's my understanding that the only fishery to have brown trout naturally reproduce is Lake Taneycomo. It is also my understanding that in other streams like the Current River, the brown trout spawn, but the eggs don't survive. Can anybody point me in the direction of published information or studies that detail the history and reasons why brown trout don't naturally reproduce here in Missouri?
  19. I thought maybe you were employing the "Hank Patterson" school of photography! πŸ˜€ If you're not familiar with Hank Patterson, look him up on YouTube. Funny funny stuff!
  20. Would it be possible for the COE to get the normal level a lot closer to my house. $4.00 gas is killing me! 😁
  21. I wouldn't know where to start. Are the bass still holding out in deeper water where they were spawning before the lake rose, or are they going to be up in the trees and bushes? I have really enjoyed the challenge of trying this euro-nymphing. I've been to the Current River 5 times since the beginning of February. First time I caught 7 fish. The next trip 5 fish, then 15, then 30, and now this last trip it was 37. I really believe my bass and crappie fishing experience has helped with euro-nymphing. Distinguishing between the subtle differences of a bite or just bouncing along the bottom.
  22. I don't specifically remember seeing Spencer Turner's name but I'm sure it's in there. He is listed in the bibliography referring to several articles, one of which the author accessed on Ozark Anglers!
  23. I did really well, for me anyway. I caught 37. I would say half and half as far rainbows and browns. Nothing bigger than 14 inches. Quite a few in the 7 to 9 inch range. I think they stock it in the spring so I would say most of those smaller fish are from this year's stocking. I'm using a euro rod and I keep it simple. I usually go with two flies. The anchor fly is a size 12 with a tungsten beads and lead wraps. The other fly is usually a size 16 scud or nymph. Pink squirrel, pheasant tail, hare's ear, Pat's rubber legs, etc.
  24. Last Tuesday I went to the Current River. I started at Baptist Camp and headed downstream and then worked my way back to the parking lot. Got back to the parking lot around noon so I stopped to eat a bite before continuing my trek upstream. There was a gentleman there and we talked for quite awhile about the Current River and the other trout streams in Missouri. We talked about MDC's Trout Slam challenge and where we stood in trying to complete it. It was a very enjoyable conversation just talking about trout fishing. We said our goodbyes and I headed upstream. When I got back to my truck about 3:00 pm, there was a book on my windshield. Inside it was signed by the author, so I'm pretty sure I had been talking with the author earlier that day. The book is called "From Northern California to the Ozarks of Missouri, How Rainbow Trout Came to the Show Me State", written by Rik W. Hafer, and published in 2021. I'm halfway done reading it and it is fascinating. To think that trout in Missouri came to be because of an experiment trying to establish pacific salmon in not only Missouri, but many other states east of the Rockies. I was at the right place, at the right time to receive such a blessing. Fishing and a history lesson!
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