Ham

You are very loyal to that bait.

Straight Outta Compton

If I have to go to a spey rod, I'll just use spinning gear.

How was the boat traffic? I didi a short trip to Norfork this weekend and the boat traffic was pretty intense.

The hook on the fly felt tacky sharp. I considered going barbless to get an easier set. THe fly was a Betts popper with a number 6 hook. I need more practice. Or at least I want more practice. Extra slack could have been a big part of the problem. I did all my fishing from the yak with a constant flow pushing me towards my fly. I fish better standing up with a solid surface under my feet.

I actually went to a bigger fly to try to get some attention from the smallies. Panfish still pulled the bigger fly under, but I didn't hook them very often. I actually saw the smallies eat the flly, I'd set and get a head shake or two and then see the fly pop out of their mouth. Sucked.

I floated Erbie to Pruitt with my wife on Saturday. We used Buffalo River Canoes to shuttle our vehicle. I missed Bobber, but Carson did a great job with the crowd that was there. The road in to Erbie seems endless, but it was only 5 dusty miles. We had lots of company on the river, but it was all friendly folks out enjoying the river. I decided to try a flyrod only trip hoping to take advantage of the cicada hatch. I caught 33, but there was very little size to them. Blue bird skies didn't help a lot. I missed a fair number of smallie strikes. Why? the fishing from Ozark to the Pruitt takeout was nearly worthless. That is the second time I have all but zeroed on that stretch.no real interest in fishing that again. I had a great trip with my wife and the fishing I did was just a bonus. I only tried popping bugs. Streamers may have been the ticket. Low water but minimal dragging.

I do just what you do. I don't really have to deal with spectators much. Not many where I fish and I'm not much of a show either.

Just kidding around. It's a cool fish and all. I wish I'd caught it. Hey, did you know it's Friday?

Definitely looks like a Bruce to me. Or maybe George.

I hate it when that happens.

No wonder the cicadas are fading out, SIO3 is shooting them all with a pellet gun.

If we could only train the otters to leave the smallies alone and have them feed on Silver carp instead.

Ahhhhh poop... Not places I fish very often.

I was thinking "bring on the Silver carp", but zombies works for me too.

Hey LARRY !!!!!

I have recently acguired a new (to me) boat. I hope to find a workable ramp relatively soon.

I hope you catch a 1000 Andy.

YES. Night and day difference. Does it matter to the fish? That I can't prove. The bait with travel much further back and forth and leave a strike zone slower for sure though.

Oh there's no need to argue over anything Al. It's just fishing and everyone is free to do what works for them. I'm pretty comfortable with what I'm doing, but I do keep my mind open to other ideas. I may have been misunderstood though. I fish light(er) line on spinning and the great majority of the time that meeans soft plastics and jigs. I do throw some real small or light hard baits on spinning, but not often really. I'm using a short straight handled 6 footer for my bait caster. I don't really consider 12 or 14 pound line heavy, but I do breathe a little easier when a nice smallie manages to get my line wrapped around some wood. I feel like I have a much better chance of not losing my bait than I would with 8 lb line. I won't throw a walk the dog type bait without a split ring or snap.

I use 12 or 14 lb Silver Thread. It's a pretty decent co-poly that is inexpensive in bulk. I change my line pretty often. "I do fish fairly light line on spinning gear, but I see no advantage to 8 lb on bait casters. Lots of good lines out there.

Thanks for posting Taxi.

This rod is sold.

This rod is sold. I'll delete this thread as soon as I figure out how to do so.

MOre water from BSL , but I'd guess a lot less water from the Buffalo and Crooked Creek. Worse flooding upstream, but ovwer all a lot less water downstream than in 2008.