Ham

Falcon has an saltwater Inshore Rod that is a 6'9" rod "Topwater Special" That I really like for lake fishing. This is listed as a "L" rod, but keep in mind it is a "L" saltwater rod. Baits up to 1/2 oz. Chunks a bait a long way. Rod loads well and throws ez. Shorter straight grip so walking the dog is a breeze. I use my Browning Medallion 6' medium rods for shorter casts where more accuracy is needed. This rod aslo has a short straigh grip. Loads and throws ez. Both of the rods are medium fast in speed. Don't believe the hype that faster is always better. Medium fast rods are great for hardbaits with multiple hook points.

That's amazing. You're the only guy that fishes tubes that hasn't gut hooked a smallie. Yet.

I wonder how a swimbait slow rolled in those locations would work.

Some of the guides on the East coast smallie rivers won't use tubes after the water warms up because of deep hooking issues. IF you fish a tube drifting a tube in current with controlled slack, you will deep hook smallies. If you're cool with killing a half dozen smallies a trip, by all means throw 2 inch tubes in the summertime.

You hear wrong.

The first three I mentioned all feed into Bull Shoals Lake. BSL has PLENTY of big carp in it. I am NOT a carp expert, but I caught one this spring in BSL that was so large I can't even guess at it's weight. The Swan runs in to BSL near Forsythe. Find Taney county in MO and look around. Look for the Beaver at Bradleyville, MO. The Bryand is east of HWY 5. Look south and east of Ava, MO. I visited England in 1981 and 1982. I saw guys fishing and tried to visit with them. They were without exception a-holes. People tend to be a bit more friendly here. Ham

It's not just the lakes, but also the creeks that feed into the lake. Carp love to set up shop at some of the big boat docks. The docks sell a little bit of food to throw to the carp. Unfortunately, most docks forbid you fishing near them. I see carp in almost all the creek I fish. They will on rare occasion take artificial lures. I'm sure you have the catching worked out though. Beaver Creek, Bryant Creek, Swan Creek, and Crooked Creek all have good numbers of carp in them. Get yourself a yak and be a pioneer. Teach us how to catch the big carp than swim in these creeks.

No other fish I have experienced reacts more to a jerk bait than a Brown trout. You could use jerk baits to test for the presence of Brown trout in a body of water because if theater has Brown trout, they will show themselves when you throw a jerk bait. Allegedly, this extended period of high water has the Brown trout growing at an extremely high rate. Jeff Williams would have the best guess at the age of these fish. I haven't met Mr Williams yet, but if you have Phil maybe you could call him.

Nice huh?

Yes it can. I'm still mortified by that little adventure.

Wayne, the dam at dawt is under water allowing an unknown amount of stripers, white, hybreds to move upstream to the cooler water. SWAG, hardbaits would work. I'd fish something that would appeal to whites, LMB, smallies, and spots. Any true stripers that piled on would just be a bonus. Pointer 78 or a Super Spook Jr wouldn't be bad choices.

A Coosa is definitely on my mind for the replacement boat when my Tarpon finally dies of old age. Justin at Sunburst told me there is quite a waiting list for the Coosa right now. Justin has a couple of boats on order to use as part of the rental fleet. I plan on renting one of them when he gets his in for an all day demo. Lots of neat features built into the Coosa for sure. I like the replacable section in the area that you could expect a possible wear thru on the rear keel.

sure they can.

I'm 6'5"/200 LBS in a Tarpon 120. I don't normally have any knee issues, but I have minimal problems getyting in and ot of the yak all day. I think a Sit on Top would be nicer to you than a SINK. I'm kayak biased. I'm sure the canoe fans will feel like canoes are the better option.

The number of spotted bass caught was significantly below one percent. We each caught one over the three day trip. Maybe it was weather related, but I have caught much larger fish in years past than we did this trip with the exception of a fine River Redhorse (maybe) that VA caught inside the mouth on a Hula grub. I guessing that t was 4 pounds or so. It really pulled its butt off. CA was unimpressed and swung it back to me to take the hook out for him. He hogs the choupique too! Next time I fish the King's it will be higher or lower in the river and earlier or later in the year. Translated = I won't be fishing Rockhouse to trigger gap during the traditional fishing months.

Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner. I've seen (and felt) the Hellgramite, but that was my first time seeing the adult stage. That be a mouthful for most trout.

One more thing, is there a salmon fly hatch on NFOW? I some a giant bug. I got a pretty decent photo of it that I will try to upload to photobucket or some such soon. I did a forum search and didn't get any hits. I think I had an Eastern Collared Lizard run across the road in front of the truck on the way in Monday morning.

My wife and I assited with a float trip on the NFOW yesterday. We used Sunburst Ranch as our outfitter. I didn't make the arrangements, but our youth director was impressed with how easy Sunburst was to deal with. The boats were in good shape and properly equipped. I enjoyed meeting Justin and chatting with him for a minute or two. I enjoyed his two dogs as well. Friendly and fun to watch them scamper around. I got worried that one of them was going to get run over by one of our trailers so I snatched him up out of the way. The dog stayed calm, but did look at me like I was crazy when I put him back down. Sunburst has Jackson Kayaks. Justin says that h has some Coosa's on order. I plan on renting one when he gets them in. River looked great. A little color to the water, but that seems to be the deal with the heavily spring fed rivers. Good flow. Lot's of baitfish and crawfish. I sW decent numbers of gamefish as well.

Do some searching on the Internet for fish of Missouri. I'd guess you are seeing some variety of a sucker not a sauger. I wish the swan had Sauger. Maybe after comparing the photos, you can get a better fish ID.

Fished the King's from Rockhouse to the 62 bridge Monday thru Wednesday with Chef Cajunangler. We caught fish, but they were running very small and > 80 % ( that's right 8 out of 10) had been caught before. Catch and release works, but it also shows there is lots of fishing pressure. ALSO, I caught a spotted bass above Trigger Gap so it's only a matter of time before the spotted bass take over and the smallie fishing goes all to hell rendering the river worthless AND to make things worse I also saw an otter which is going to eat all the smallmouth the river has now. Recent high water had mopved a lot of gravel and made for easy firewood gathering. CA made some mighty good eats. We found good gravel bar accomidations both nights. His tent even survived the tough surprize thunderstorm we got Tuesday night. Thunderstorms are a lot more INTERESTING from a small tent in the middle of BFE. Water level was low but floatable for the most part. Lots of interesting strainers. I wonder if the outfitters are giving folks the heads up on those?Tough to know before you go since there are few gauges on this river. The shuttle was a bit of a bitch since the road into Rockhouse is crap. The put in and take out are over run by people looking for a swimming (or bathing) hole. Knuckleheads running their 4 wheel drive jeeps thru the take out area while we are trying to load out isn't great either. Arkansas or Berryville really needs to spend a little money on road repair at the HWY 62 access as well. You need W/O 4 wheel drive and high clearence on your vehicle or it's going to be a LONG hump from the river with your gear. Had fun, caught fish, saw more snakes than usual which was nice, but not looking to go back until later in the fall or next spring.

Reading comprehension isn't everyone's forte. When FLY FISHING warm water streams. I take three flyrods. I'm fishing, not JUST smallie fishing. I am PRIMARILY targeting panfish with the 4 wt, but end up taking some pretty decent bass with the 4 weight as well. I do use a little bit larger surface flies with the 5 weight sometimes. Not all of them are popping bugs. Some sneaky petes, gurglers, sliders , etc. On a recent trip report from the Buffalo, I mention specifically that I went with larger flies to get the attention of the smallmouth. I have an 8 weight that would throw BIG offerings easier, but since the rivers/creeks I am fishing do not usually require a lot of casting distance or fighting the wind too much, I typically leave it at home an fish with a lighter rod because I enjoy it more. IF I realy want to catch larger fish, I stick with spinning or baitcasting. I'm not a fly rod snob.

I don't catch a lot of LARGE smallies on a flyrod, but I really haven't struggled to catch smallies with a flyrod. I need to give you a holler and we can meet up on a creek between us. IF I'm fly fishing, I usuallyleave the other junk at home and bring 3 flyrods. The 4 wt will have a poppinb bug. The 5 wt will ave a streamer or a larger topwater fly. The 6 wt will have a sink tip with a craw or sculpin pattern. It just hasn't been hard.

I'm gonna ruffle some feathers, but I think a Super Spook Jr is a better bait than a Sammy 100 and a third the price. I do seriously have some Sammy 85's I'd love to sell on the cheap. Somebody PM me please.

The cycle is definitely waning at my place as well BUT I'd bet that fly works every year to som edegree.

Those are some GREAT looking Cicadas. Tell your friend to piss off if he asks to use one.