Ham

http://www.baxterbulletin.com/story/news/local/2016/01/29/three-fisherman-rescued-after-boat-capsizes/79527910/

So laying them on the boat carpet is ok? Rocky shoreline is good too? Hero shot on a stringer is cool if you release them later? Did the article suggest a best practices way to hold the fish? I think I'll take less fish pics this year.

They are still running 22,000 CFS thru the dam and have floodgates open as well. They are also running 5500 CFS out of Norfork and have floodgates open there as well so the lower river is 40,000 or so CFS. Some guys are definitely fishing, but many myself included are trying to wait for them to close the floodgates at least before venturing out. 3 guys from Chicago pinned a rented boat against the bridge just above the confluence with the Norfork river the other day. They got real lucky that a homeowner spotted the mishap and called Norfork Fire Dept who quickly got them out of the water and warmed up. They really are lucky to be alive.

See what you started!

They are only a little less elusive than Bigfoot. I catch one every great now and again. I've never caught one approaching a size that a rational person would consider keeping.

Bull Shoals has a bunch of docks. You just have to run around a bunch to fish a bunch of them and they aren't all created equal. I got some favs.

Meh

That show sold a whole freaking bunch of spoons.

Very Nice!

I fished barbless all day. It "cost" me a few fish I guess, but it makes releasing them so much easier. It's got to be better for the fish. Its a lot better for me when I stick a barbless hook in me vs a barbed one.

That would be great kj. I still have some house keeping on my end to go thru. Griz says I might not need to replace it at all and he is much better at Humminbirds than I am. IF you find it, please PM me or something.

It shouldn't sit well with anyone, but I don't believe that is an accurate appraisal of the situation.

TR can be fantastic! I've had some really, really great fishing trips there. I choose not to deal with the longer drive and the higher volume of other boaters and fisherman. I'll behave though.

Hey Pete! I finally saw Outlet 3!

You know how to fish that bluff a lot better than first timer me. We did much better below the cable. I'd guess we caught somewhere in that 60 fish range for the boat. There were three of us fishing though which helps. I caught three or four on white, but did much better on Brown/Orange and Tri Olive. Might just be a confidence thing.

I sort of want to play with that by myself first. Trying to limit the noob embarrassing myself exposure. I also don't want my first fish to to a angry 18 inch Brown. i had a brief frustrating outing to Quarry Park (below the Norfork Dam) this afternoon. Floodgates are still open. Boat ramp parking lot has a band of water running across it. No noticeable flow from Dry Run Creek. Lots of yahoos with crap gear slinging every known jerk bait trying to catch walleye that washed over. I had hopes of doing the Tenkara thing for little bookies and cuts hanging at mouth of DRC. Muddy water made me leave it in the truck.

The GPS antenna on my front Humminbird unit has died an untimely death. I'd love to buy a used one someone has laying around. I have a 697, but I think is a fairly universal deal.

Please tell us who you're pinning your hopes on Spoondog? I'm not a Trump guy. I think he's a narcacist and a bully. That has bought charisma with his billions. He's tapped into frustrations, but I don't think he's electable and I don't think he could live up to the rhetoric. conservative minded folks need to understand that there is more of them than there is of us and if we don't run a candidate that at least some of the other folks will vote for we will get another 4-8 years of a jackass in the White House.

For the record, the last time a cold weather hat was accidentally kleptoed, Quill back was on the losing end and I had to mail it back to him for the good of the group. It wasn't me that had the cold bald head on that trip.

Authentic Mad Bomber with Rabbit Fur. Nanuck of the North doesn't like cold ears.

"Free college" and "free healthcare". Both are combinations of goods and services that cost real money to produce, but some feel that they are basic rights that they are entitled too. I would think that access to good healthcare and access to a good education are opportunities that state and federal governments should work to ensure, but someone is going to have to pay those costs. So it's really "free to me" and paid for by someone else. Can you image how lazy some students would be if college was free? 4 years to screw off, get drunk, and chase girls. A lot of people behave that way now. I'm in the middle of paying for my second child to go to college. I am VERY aware of the costs. I wish that the cost of college wasn't increasing much faster than other goods/services. Maybe the college professors and admistrators should take a big paycut. How about "free" textbooks? Or free digital versions of them?

It was my absolute pleasure to fish with Richard Button and BilletHead yesterday on Taneycomo. I swung by Lilley's Landing and got my trout stamp and a couple of OAF stickers. They have a really well stocked shop. i was sorely tempted to shop, but I had to meet the guys at the ramp. We launched at Cooper Creek. Very nice launch. It was pretty chilly 28 degrees or so. Billethead had gotten a tip or two from DuckyDoty so we headed up above Fall Creek and fished the deeper side of the river. Not surprisingly, I threw Zig Jigs. Richard and BilletHead started with fly rods. We all started with White jigs or flys, but I honestly think the bloom is off that rose. Judging by all the White Jigs I saw broken off in trees up and down the river, that was definitely the deal recently. It's always worth a try when they are generating, but we just did not catch that many on White. I broke off a White jig and switched to Tri Olive. I caught a fish almost immediately with it and stayed away from White most of the rest of the day. Brown/orange was also good for us. We caught a few, but curiosity got the best of me and I decided to run up close to the dam. We ran all the way to the cable. We spotted DD up river and watched one of his guys catch a nice fish on a fly drift rig on spinning. We started on a section of bank that Richard and BilletHead know well. We almost immediately started catching fish. Action was much better in that area. I know we could have put up huge numbers if the wind had been <10 mph. The wind was just a pain in the butt. It makes it tough to sling flys. It makes it tough to get a good drift and I really struggle to jig fish when the wind gets >10 mph. We were getting blown upstream against pretty decent generation. They had run about 7000 CFS and it dropped by dribs and drabs down to 5300 or so. Whenever I could get a good drift and the wind would slow just a tad, one of us would hook up. We also had a bunch of doubles, but we never got a triple. The fish were fat and happy. generation really helps those fish fatten up. Shad are a great food for the trout. I think the "extra" water helps the entire food chain. Billethead is a 99.44 % pure fly rod fisherman. He caught some on streamers and some beneath an indicator. Big San Juans, 1/32 oz Zig Jigs, and Y2K's all caught fish for him. He did sling a Zig Jig just for a minute to catch a couple of fish just to show me he could. I brought a couple of fly rods, but never strung one up. I did borrow Richard's fly rod for a few minutes and caught a small one and lost another drifting a 1/32 oz Zig. The wind soon irritated me too much to keep that up. Point made and back to Zig Jigs. Richard did better with jigs. He had a lot of fish hooked on the fly rod, but I'm not sure he got any to the boat with it. He had some real nice jig fish though. We all caught enough fish to keep us interested. The wind kept us cool, but the sunshine was good for the soul. I had such a good time with these two gentleman. The day flew by. Richard brought drinks and sandwiches. BilletHead brought some goose jerky that was as good as any jerky I've ever had. Makes me wish I hunted geese. You might think you know what goose tastes like, but if you haven't had it done right, you just don't know. i hope we can do it again soon. Here, there, or somewhere else ; I look forward to fishing with either or both of them again. BilletHead took a few pictures. Maybe he'll share.

I like biscuits.

Did I? My bad. Yep, I'll bend them down. I'll be by in the morning. Are you guys open before 0800?

I usually fish barbless. Barbless is required above where? Do you sell the trout stamps at your place Phil?