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That sounds great Cody. I am in for dates. Will stay at Cedar with you all. I can bring Oil for fryer.

We are downsizing and will be selling a lifetime collection of fishing and flytying materials at a public auction on Oct 29. I've attached a link to the sale bill showing what will be sold. Over 100 rods and reels including around 30 flyrods ( Sage, Winston,Halo, Echo, Custom builds). There are also over 300 books on fishing, fly fishing and tying. Box after box of tying materials and several thousand flies and fly boxes. Bamboo, Glass, and Graphite flyrods. Also, a lot of woodworking tools. Come if you can. Saturday, October 29, 2022-David & Janet Potts, Mexico, MO – Henke Auction Service (henke-auction.com)

So I went out again to the Highland trout lake, but this time was after the first catch and keep weekend. You could tell the fish were getting smarter because fishing was tougher. I started where I left off fishing woolly's, but no luck. I still ended up with quite a few fish. The nymph of the day was a simple size 16 peacock herl nymph with a gold bead under a wool float. They only took it on the fall, didn't seem to want it on a finger retrieve. I realize some of you Ozarkians laugh at me and my pond fish, but that's what I got. I hope to be back on the rivers soon. Hope to see you there. Tight Lines

We all just laugh at ourselves. The pond fish are stocked from hatcheries, just like most of the stream trout (a few Blue Ribbon stream exceptions). Fish where you can, when you can. Fish where you want to, when you want to. There's always somewhere better to fish, in our minds. I fish some of the most unlikely and unlikable places you can imagine. Its all good.

I can probably make it Wednesday night to Friday morning, can bring a sleeping bag so I don't trash out a bed for the guys coming Friday night. If that works? Can also make different lodging arrangements if it does not. @WoundedOneand I plan on fishing Thursday, I will have to be heading north Friday by 11 am, will wave at DJ and crew on the highway.

Yep, usually a pile of eggs in or near nest. Black or brown about the size of a big raisen.

Not being comfortable with clear water or deep water my partner and I ran up long creek until we ran out of water. Caught a giant Saturday. Sunday caught lots of fish in first 2 hours but only 1 that kept. Poppers, squarebills, and slinnerbaits were our main baits.

I may be bring a few ppl. Blake probably will go. Darin. Duane. I probably will be down Thursday, maybe even Wednesday night. I’d imagine one of the houses will be open during the week. Looking forward to some wade fishing. Is the other house open that weekend too? Might need it.

Yeah what a dummy. The real way to connect with nature is on a 50000 acre man made impoundment fishing out of a $70,000 bass boat with more electronics than a best buy. I get that its fun to crap on people for their stupidity...but lets face it, we are all as dumb as that guy if you ask the right questions. Everyone likes to think they are in the "smart" half of the population. Him and his group probably make fun of hillbillies who bass fish for a living. In fact...now that we are entering fall, I cant tell you how many times respected professional fishermen say that fall fish "feed up for the winter". Any third grader can tell you cold blooded creatures don't do that. The temperature drops, their metabolism slows, and they eat less. What's crazy is the people that say that are "connected" with nature, albeit via a livescope.

Not my fight, but I didn't see any judgments. I seen him make a statement to how we humans tend to boast our own superiority. We tend to believe "my way is the right way" . In that fashion, I believe as long as you are living within your own means, and your family is sheltered and fed, buy whatever you desire.

I found it at Dick's in south STL.

You are an inspiration. Having said that, I'm soooo glad you're not closer. My wife would kill me, and it wouldn't be quick.

Why should others care? It's your time, and equipment. I've really opened options by info from people on here. I don't think anyone here would think less of you. Fish what you can, sure pictures and ideas.

Fish where you are and don't worry about what others think! I'll fish a ditch if there are fish in it... ok so I have fished a ditch 😅. Maybe quite a few actually 🙄.

May be time to change the channel? Decent buck has been helping me out pulling my tomato plants, one less chore as I prepare for gun season.

All those nests were full of deer eggs too, I imagine. I have weird non-nesting deer, they just lay down here or there for a nap and move on when the nap is over. Don't know how they ever hatch out those spotted fledglings with all that moving around. Maybe I just never found their nests because they are so high in the sycamores. Spots blend in with the tree's spots, I bet that's it.

Thanks man. Looking forward to seeing you again

So, what's the over/under on too much to spend on a fishing rig? Who gets to decide whether my Ranger is extravagant or if another guy's $1,500 kayak is too much? After all, lots of guys spend $2,500 and more on yaks. Or are you just taking a shot at bass fishermen who enjoy the comforts of a nice boat?

I like my deer kept warm too....with gravy.

My guess is yes on Cedar Gables.

Colorado We only had a bit over 1 day left and 2 proposed targets. On the way to our main target was an opportunity that we couldn't pass up. The problem is....this hike is highly popular and right on the interstate. Those were minor problems for a couple big guys coming from the Ozarks. The real problem is the elevation and elevation gain in the first mile. We were rushed....we hiked way too fast and stopped at the first sign of water. If we would have tried to press on much more we would have really fought darkness. We got it done though. These are as close to the real deal as I think you can get(genetically and in the right drainage). In fact, Colorado says they are now naturally reproducing in this stream. Unfortunately due to their limited range, they currently do not count for the Western Native Trout Challenge. Deep in ski country is a series of alpine lakes said to have Colorado Cutthroat. Again a very popular hike, so we started at daylight. It was cold and we weren't really prepared considering this leg was more of a whim. We saw a bunch of goats way up high....and before long we were getting close to the same elevation. @Prifish snagged a fish in a plunge pool under this waterfall. A small CO Cutt....close but didn't feel right. So we went to the first lake. Shallow, only saw 1 fish. The wind started to howl. Did I mention cold? Maybe we should go up higher to next lake....so we did. Very pretty but is there fish? Of Course. These count for our Western Native Challenge. Purely based on vibrant colors I might have 2 taxidermy bills from this trip. @Prifish caught a textbook looking CO Cutthroat. I caught a couple more and back down we went. A lot of driving but we managed to get it all done. All in probably one of our better trips.....good size, pretty fish, nice views. 10/10 would do it again....maybe.

2021 was a great year of fishing for me. I caught my first Blue Ribbon Area trout after a few attempts and then I couldn't stop. Also, in these creeks/rivers I caught many (some good size) creek chubs/shiners. I went to all the trout parks this year and managed to catch a trout on a dry fly at each of them and also caught a 15" trout on a dry fly at Taneycomo's trophy area on Christmas day. I finally caught a wild trout at Crane Creek (on a lure-going to try the fly rod again). Crane makes it 6 area completed...one more for silver and two more for gold. It's been fun even on the days I didn't catch any trout. The biggest wild trout was from Blue Springs Creek at 13". I also was excited to finally make a decent dry fly and catch a trout on one. 52 trout caught from 6 Blue Ribbon Areas (1 was a brown at the Current River) which gets me Bronze for the MO Trout Slam Current River: 1 brown & 3 rainbows (4 hooked and lost) (dry fly challenge completed) Blue Springs Creek: 15 rainbows (a few hooked and lost) (dry fly challenge completed) (wet fly challenge completed) Little Piney Creek: 8 rainbows (a few hooked a lost) (dry fly challenge completed) Mill Creek: 21 rainbows (a couple hooked and lost) (dry fly challenge completed) (homemade dry fly challenged completed) Spring Creek: 3 rainbows Crane Creek: 1 rainbow (two hooked and lost) I also made a quick fast paced video summary of me catching fish. 2 minutes plus in time. As far as fresh water goes I caught my first striped bass, my first cat fish, and my first smallmouth bass. I caught a few 9" bluegills which were fun on a fly rod, and a good size sucker at a trout park. I can't wait to fish the other blue ribbon areas and to catch a trout on a dry fly in all the blue ribbon areas 4 of the 6 completed on dry fly challenge....5 to go). Here's to enjoying the outdoors and to 2022.

My goodness how far are we removed from our surroundings. Watching an early morning talk show this morning, one of the cohost said he had seen deer in his back yard and was so worried with this cold spell coming on he had purchased straw to make them beds to stay warm. He was asking how to construct deer nests so they would stay warm in 20 degree weather. The entire staff was really worried about the wild animals. This idiot was as serious as a heart attack. He was ready for it to get back to 80 so they would stay warm. I think the simple answer is you can’t cure stupid.

I have a fairly large lot of rod building supplies for sale. Pictures pretty much show it all. If questions, PM me. Some nice flyrod handles and reel seats and a lot of guide sets. $150 shipped

I would like to see that armadillo trap. Been killing one every day at the farm this fall. They are really out hunting for food. Finally saw a young one. Until last weekend, all I have seen were about the same size. Was thinking they just split into two new ones when they reproduce.

Bassins recent post regarding White River boat ramps prompted me to think about all the TR ramps at low water levels. I determined (with the help from OAF) which ramps were available during high water levels but now I am thinking about low water levels. I searched OAF but did not find a discussion. So the question is - Does the concrete ramp typically drop off such that a trailer can get stuck or damaged? If so, do you have some general guidance (lake level) or some specific info for some ramps? Thanks Bobby

Linguine with clam sauce.

Thanks, Wrench. I'm saving some.

No I don't have any Aggitators (since I retired )

Thanks... I meant it in jest. I haven't had anyone be mean on this forum reference this topic. It is a great place to try out new flies, because I can tie, fish, and tie all in one day.

This is true. I have fished with him😅

I had been planning 2 trips out west this year. I knew plans for AZ/NM were solid but my second options was less set in stone. If the opportunity arose I would go. The wife let me loose Thursday morning pre-daylight and I raced to pickup @Prifish for our 13 hour drive. The weather in Northwest Nebraska looked good so we were off to try our luck at the Nebraska Trout Slam. There is a location in far Northwestern Nebraska in which one could reasonably catch all four required species(Rainbow, Brown, Brook, and Cutthroat). Rainbows are scattered/stocked all over the state. Browns fairly common. Cutthroats are stocked in very limited numbers. Brooks are supposedly the difficult species as they have a very narrow limited range and are not stocked with any significance. I had a very good plan going in but there really isn't a lot of information out on the internet where we were headed. Right before we left I emailed the Nebraska Game and Fish and got bad news. Cutthroat are only stocked every other year and this was the off year so we were looking for a highly limited number of hold overs. He made some suggestions and basically said good luck. When we left, the forecast said sunny highs in the mid-high 50's and lows in the low 40's. We had intended to camp but arrived to drizzle/rain and roughly 36 degrees. We made the decision to skip camping and found a hotel about 20 miles away. Day 1 In this area there is multiple ponds, many mixed stockings(coldwater/warmwater species) I had detailed out several ponds that offered multiple opportunities. When I say ponds many of these are small much less than 1 acre and many down to .25 acre size. The first pond we fished was said to contain Rainbows and Brooks. We fished it and only caught stocked rainbows. No signs of Brooks. While we were both 25% complete after about 5 minutes, I didn't get a warm fuzzy feeling. The rainbows were small and obviously stocked. Off to pond 2, rumored to have Rainbows, a 1 time stocking of Cutties, and Tiger trout. Again we blanked on anything but Rainbows. Here is pond 2. And one of the many rainbows..... This is all in a state park.....easy access as you can see. You drive right up to them. While the park area is relatively remote, I assume these ponds are easy pick-ins for people visiting. I did have a backup plan a little bit more off the beaten path so we headed out to a small stream that required a bit more work. Rumor has it this stream has brooks and browns and there is another set of ponds much more off the beaten path. The creek itself is really a nightmare jungle. Small water and really, really brushy. You can't see the creek in this photo since is goes through a whistle here but it gives you an idea what we are fishing on either side of the path. We suit up and immediately start scaring fish. There is a bunch of them too but they are spooky and hard to sneak in the thick brush. Within the first couple hours I had nothing to show for it but losing about 5 elk hair caddis. I left @Prifish and headed to check out the ponds. 2 people together is just too tough to work that kind of water.

I got myself, @BigHandsRob and @BrandonSTL confirmed. Waiting to hear on Cuz @fmcbrandon, Ray Ray, and Geno.

Most I see are on hillsides in the woods nestled in the leaves with their back to the wind.

There are a lot of things that matter way more than the money you spend when it comes to pursuing your natural life.

I decided to try to fish all the blue ribbon areas of Missouri in baby steps. I think Blue Springs Creek was the hardest out of the 4 areas I've been to so far. The first success in Blue Ribbon area was outside of Montauk Park at Tan Vat access where I caught a 10" brown on a griffiths knat. That was my first brown and first blue ribbon success. On to the next Blue Ribbon area.....After many attempts at Blue Springs Creek I finally caught my Blue Ribbon Area wild rainbow trout. I was about to quit fishing and on my way back I was casting down stream with a dry fly mosquito. It was 7pm or later in mid September. I caught two little wild trout. I'm more confident in fishing this creek now. The next day I went to Little Piney Creek at Lane Spring Blue Ribbon Area access. I hooked a trout on a crackle back and it jumped out of the air and got away. The lures failed me as well and the trout were very good at getting off the hook this day it seemed. I had my dog with me so I called it a day and decided to try again another day. The next trip there I caught 3 wild rainbow (all on a small spinning lure), and others got off the hook as well. I was determined to catch a trout on my fly rod using a dry fly so I went back the next day and fished it again in the same area, and caught a wild trout on a soft hackle in a riffle near a big log, and as well as 4 other trout on a spinning lure. Some fish managed to get off the hook...it's always the big ones. This creek was action packed compared to my previous visits/attempts. Way more pleasing than trout parks! I made a two minute video summary of this trip and got a few pics. Now it's off to the 4th Blue Ribbon Area attempt...then the 5th...so I can get the Bronze Blue Ribbon Area Trout Slam pin, and to enjoy what Missouri has to offer. Cheers! Catch ya in the stream.

Harsh! But with that ring of the hard truth that I'm a fan of.

We've certainly all got our own bits of crazy. And we can all say this about something or other:

A deer den should be approximately 5' high by 4' wide and 10-12' deep, with rushes instead of straw on the floor. And a SOLAR powered heater in case it really gets cold.

Jump shooting ducks from a tandem canoe is a vague memory from the years back east, late '70s maybe. Bill and I took turns in the bow seat.

I had my motor serviced a while back and mentioned the boat was listing to port. They couldn’t get to it that day but set up a latter appointment. I dropped it off and went to Tennessee. On the way back home I got a call from a guy at R and D. He said that he had taken it to the lake twice and made some adjustments. During this process someone decided that it looked like some glass work was needed. Upon further inspection they found some bubbles in the gel coat. They agreed to take care of it under warranty at the factory. I never expected that. I was told that left unfixed it could result in several thousand dollars to fix later. This is a 6 year old boat. The down side is I have been on a good crappie bite and am going to be boat less for a month or two.

That would be fun. Before I got my first PRod I did a bunch of work, and spent way too much money, on a Crossman pumper that I was building specifically for canoe floats. I never did get the power or accuracy to the level I was wanting though. It's good for bullfrogs at 10-20 yards..... that's about it. 🙄

I did a solo cast & blast on the upper Current during spring turkey season this year. Didn’t even hear a Turkey but the trout fishing was great. Plan to do it again next year. I see lots of turkey in the winter down there, but I gotta figure out their spring haunts.

Do we think we will have enough people for cedar gables? If so I will get it reserved.

If you decide to go out of Eagle Rock, fish the channel drop off directly across from the ramp near the rock bluff across from the ramp. Imagine a flat soup bowl that sits with the ramp at one edge. The other end of the bowl shallows out and then at the edge drops off to the channel. This time of year, the fish sit on that drop off from 25-30 feet of water to 60 feet channel. From the ramp, around the corner to the right (upstream) you will find a little cut near where the channel crosses to the side of the ramp. Near that cut has given up several nice bass for me. Just another option.

From the Holiday Island ramp, a good one at all water levels, a kayaker has several good options. One is Leatherwood Creek itself. The ramp sits at the mouth of that creek. The cove with the marina and the creek arm have given up many good bass to me. In addition, Haddock Creek, about 300 yards out of the mouth of Leatherwood, down lake and on the right, has also produced good fish. Assuming the deep jig pattern, of which I have read lately, holds true, I would fish the points at the very mouth of Leatherwood and Haddock Creek. Bear in mind, that far up lake, 30 to 40 feet is often the channel depth and you will find the fish on the deep edge of the drop off. The good news is the the lake that far upstream is skinny and well protected. Good luck.

Yeah let's go sometime, I have family in town this week, but after that I'm pretty free.

Hoisin basted meatloaf tonight.

Day 2 We got hiked in shortly after daylight. This set of ponds are all side by side....we can easily talk loud and hear one another. All these ponds are small too, like the size of a normal yard. For example, here is the pond I broke the fish off in. It has a lot a vegetation even in the clear areas that really prevent you from working say a jig in it. In fact the more we considered it we were sure I broke off the same fish, back to back about 5 minutes apart. There's just almost no way this pond could support 2 or 3 fish that size. I hooked him under that tree both times. @Prifish plan was to essentially do the exact same thing but this time he was armed with a spinning rod, bigger line, and a jig. He dipped it in the exact same spot and sure enough. Just like that he has the bonus fish. This was a really nice fish and they haven't been stocked here in awhile(according to the stocking database). Logic tells me this is the same fish, however it didn't have either woolie I broke off in its mouth. We will never know at this point but if it is the same fish it makes for a cool story. I kept working the Cutt pond.....you can tell I was pressing and bummed out. Rubbing it in that he is stress free. Ultimately we never caught a single fish from that pond. There was probably 4-6 nice cutts constantly swimming around but they are wise. I knew the very first pond had some fish that weren't brooks. I couldn't get a good view but never saw the white fins. First cast with a jig and this joker hammered it. I still needed a brown so down to the river. @Prifish had found a pool that was easier to get to and work. Right away we checked off the brown and we were done. I would highly recommend this area. I wont publicly out it....but I have given enough information for anyone to do some research and arrive at a conclusion. I wont be driving 13 hours just to do this again but it would make a very nice middle point stop if driving to Wyoming. Originally we had planned if we finished early to try and do some hunting....maybe try to kick up some grouse, call for coyotes, or look for some prairie dogs. The more we talked we weren't sure we wanted to buy out of state hunting tags for maybe 1.5 days. Instead we formulated another plan and took off driving west first and then south. I'll give you a hint.

I added Spring Creek to my trout slam and caught three fish on a lure, all pretty good size too which is always great in these creeks. I'll have to go back and land a fish on my fly rod. I know lures work, and I like to catch fish while I learn the stream for the first time. The first fish caught was 12" and at the time it was the biggest I caught so far (during early October). Caught it near the parking lot access. Then caught two more in deep pockets/runs along the banks. This Spring Creek is the fifth successful stream for the trout slam. Mill Creek was the fourth (posted pics and vid of it on another topic on here). After I fished Mill Creek for the 2nd time and had success, I decided to stop at Blue Springs Creek around 6:16p-6:30p. I fished with a lure there right off the bridge before the conservation parking lots where there is a very deep pool with lots of water flow. Two fish were hooked and got off...it was pretty dark by the time I had bites. These fish have plenty of oxygen to jump out of the water and fight. I almost thought about giving up around 7pm and decided to keep trying for a big one (for a creek). I finally landed a 13" trout in this creek...I was stoked. If I caught this in a trout park it would be a keeper size. So cool to see these fish in creeks around Missouri. After getting 5 Blue Ribbon Areas accomplished I decided to try Barren Fork Creek again....and man is that place hard to fish. I started near the downstream access and didn't see one trout. I only caught shiners and a creek chub. I tried my flies and lures...nothing. I did my best to be stealthy. I then went upstream to where the springs are and when I first showed up to the upper access...I drove over a dried creek which doesn't make you feel good about fishing it. Here's my dog looking worried while studying the dried creek bed on the way to the deeper water. I then saw beautiful pools/runs, but still no trout spotted...the whole time not one trout. Please give advice on how to catch fish here and where to go what to do use, and when to fish it. I don't plan on getting the gold trout slam if I have to fish this creek again. Here are so cool photos that I at least got out of it. After I fished Barren Fork Creek with no success...I decided to hurry over to Current River Blue Ribbon Tan Vat Access....to remind myself what it's like catching trout. I landed one wild rainbow trout. And went home after trying an hour or so. So far I have 5 Blue Ribbon Areas...plan on going to Crane Creek and soon after Eleven Point or North Fork. Barren Fork can stick it where the sun don't shine. Cheers.