Ham

Yep those out of state SOB's really need to pay through the nose. Whatever. Most states would benefit more via sales taxes increases if they gave Out of State fishing licenses away. They run off a lot of sales tax dollars and potential guide clients by charging too much for fishing licenses. I don't mind paying to play, but why hit me for more money a year to make a handful of trips a year than an in state guy that fshes once a month? Who benefits more from the resource? Oh well, at least I don't try to come up there and kill a turkey. $175 bucks to try to kill an overgrown wild chicken. Geez.

Having hooked a approximately 10 lb Bluecat with a 6 wt flyrod using 3 X tippet, I can tell you that a 25 plus pound catfish would be all but impossible on trout gear. At some point, it might decide to go lay down on bottom and just wait you out. Without a lot of pull, nothing happens. My catfish buried up in a grassbed and could not be pulled loose with the tippet I was using. I broke off on 3 before I decided that I was not going to be successful. It would be fun to be sure. That first run when a big catfish figures out that it is hooked is amazing.

That's a fly designed to catch fishermen first and fish second. I'd much rather have flies that represent a lot of things well rather than one thing perfectly. It is a beautiful fly, but how does ikt look in the water and how does it move in the water?

Good Golly Ollie. You need a fishing partner just to take pictures of your fish. Great trip. I wish I could have been there.

I've been interested in this technique for quite awhile. It really doesn't get cold enough or rather stay cold enough for me to have a TR like situation occur. I have some questions regarding how weather relates to trying the susp jerkbait. Do ya'll prefer cloudy days over a bluebird day ? Do ya'll want some wind more than no wind? What weather conditions would make ya'll forget about even trying it if water temp and time of year were right?

FWIW, J.E. I appreciate your offer and hope to take you up on it sometime or another in 2007.

The unit I saw on TV has whats directly underneath you on the top half of the screen and on the bottom half it had the side scanning views. I agree that there would definitely be a learning curve with the side scanning technology and that it would take some time away from fishing. BUT I think that with a few passes through key areas, you would get a much better mental picture of whats down there. Hopefully that better understanding would translate to being able to determine the spot on the spot faster and make finding that needle in the haystack faster the next time you want to fish it. I think Lowrance is stil the name in freshwater depthfinders. I have a while before I will be making a change in my electronics. Right now, I fish water less than 10 foot deep the vast majority of the time. It is kind of overkill to buy an eight hundred dollar unit to fish that kind of water.

It'll do in a pinch and might last a few years with very limited use. Bass Pro has the three piece Micro Light spinning rods on sale right now for $29.99. The 6 footer in "L" is a perfectly acceptable for trout fishing. I've used that model rod four or five times now and I very happy with it for trout. Add an inexpensive spinning reel (Okuma, Shimano, ext) and you'll have a setup that cost three times as much, but it will fish better when new and remain in fishing condition for many years if you are careful with it.

I hate seeing dead trout on a stringer, but as long as the trout were taken by legal methods and are "legal" to keep then I have no right to look down on the angler. I don't keep smallies or spots(the Louisiana equivalent of a smallie). I'm never that hungry. I don't keep trout because I don't enjoy eating them. I do keep LMB when so moved. I keep some of the crappie I catch. I keep some of the catfish I catch. I believe in selective harvest and keeping what I need rather than all I am legally allowed to keep. There is a reason that many folks consider guys that fly fish for trout to be snobs.

Nice Fish.

You're probably any eight year old can probably be taught how to fly cast a lot easier than most adults. I'll insist though that when fished correctly Power Bait will outfish most people that are using a fly rod. If helping a child catch a few trout and get some enjoyment out of a PUT AND TAKE fishery requires that I use some Power Bait, then so be it. Who was it that said "Sin and sin boldly"? I don't think he was talking about Power Bait, but ...

I've tried mashing the barb down, but most of the time the Power Bait gets yanked off by sneaky fish. Hmmm I'll have to think about how to secure the Power Bait on a barbless hook. PowerBait may offend the purist, but it sure helps children catch some trout.

Thanks man! I'll certainly try to do that. I keep an annual out of state Arkansas license and I'm not afraid to drive. I'll be fishing the BASS Open on the Red River this June as a Co Angler. If you wanted to fish that tourny, I'd be glad to give you a Red River overview on a pre-fishing trip.

We raised $755,846 at this years auction. Thanks to all that were able to help. We got quite lucky and won a 52 inch plasma screen TV and a Wii and TV combo.

JE, Man I'd love to have you show me the ropes on that sonar. I'd be glad to buy the gas too, but I'm in Louisiana so I'll have to take a rain check. It is a very impressive looking piece of equipment to be sure. I appreciate you're giving a full disclosure on your business association with Hummingbird. In my mind, you can be on a pro staff and still be honest.

I made a mad dash up to Arkansas from the southern latitudes to nab some silly trout with my flyrod. Long story short, I had a blast. So I'm gonna start tying up a few of the "work everywhere not terribly difficult to tie" patterns now that I have realised that a lot of my issues with fly tying were because my age finally caught up with my eyesight and I just could not see what I was doing. OK my theory is that I want to have 3 of every size and every color that I am taking. I'm going to learn how to do the Zebra midge, but was taken aback by the half dozen variations of it. I figure three each of size 16 and 18 for each color. I guess I'll try to stop at 4 color variations. Well I'll have 24 zebra midges alone. Add in brassies, WB, Trout Crack, 6 colors of San Juan, other scuds and sowbugs. Dang it. I'm gonna need more foam flyboxes. so am I taking too many of each or does everyone end up having that many?

SKMO have you seen or read anything on the Hummingbird Side Scanner unit that's coming out soon. Ralph Mann's had an article in In-Fisherman on it and I watched a fishing show that was pimping it pretty hard. I have considered Lowrance to be the NAME in depthfinders, but that Hummingbird looked really nice.

I watched a show with a couple of guys drop shotting on TR using a Lowrance X17 unit. Having seen that show I understand better what SKMO was talking about. My drop shotting has not been the in the depths required at TR. Most of the time, I was very happy to find the brush pile with my electronics and maybe refer back to it to make sure I was in the right area. When I make the move North, I'll be in the market for a boat upgrade and much BETTER electronics.

I appreciate yall's interest. Huge click here icon

I don't care if people selectively harvest a few fish for eating. I think it would be a waste to kill a 9 pound bass from TR. The best way to grow 10 pounders is to turn loose your larger fish. I'm cool with a taking a pic or two, but when I see photos taken at a boat dock it makes me think the fish might have been killed. I generally try to release my fish where I caught them. I have been known to give a big fish a boat ride to certified scales and then another boat ride back "home". I've enjoyed reading a few of your fishing reports, but I have not been here since day one.

Did he keep that fish???

Read the thread that discusses threats to the Spring river. I will not be on the Spring river above Many Islands betwen 5-15 and 9-15 of any year ever again. I've never used my flyrod on the Spring. PM me if you wnat non flyrod tips for catching trout and smallies.

Be careful. I sure how you guys had a little advance warning. When I get up that way, I'll need to have some pre winter prep tieme to get ready for days w/o power and or no way to re-supply. Water, food, fuel, etc.

That's great news. Some tough times ahead, but I'd bet the famlies are overjoyed to have them back.

Nope nothing exotic. It is a Orvis Silver Label hand made by a friend. It is 7'6" 3 wt. He did a nice job on it. I'm using a 2 wt line and splurged and got a CFO 123 reel for it. Heck of a chub rod.