brittsnbirds

ffm- Just found the numbers Eric gave me, 9631 as of Friday night. Includes children tags. What is the standard color of an RS2? I had a couple different colors. Also need to find some Cree saddle and neck hackle, any ideas? Pat

Was it not a fantastic weekend down there. I was there from Thursday morning till last night. I would have to say that the fishing was very inconsistent for me but I tend to be a purist. I had to change flies frequently and/or move a lot. My cousin did well on a peach colored mini jig. It was just about the most consistent lure for him. I caught a few on a black beetle, crackleback (top and sub surface), san juan worm, Y2K, RS2 (20) and a little olive rabbit leach with legs (deep). I caught more small fish this trip than I have all my others this summer. Rumor on the river was they are culling out the runts? Still makes it fun. I noticed that the human hatch was up quite a bit. Spoke with Eric at the store. He said as of Saturday night they were down approximately 9,000 tags compared to last year. Pat

FFM- "You can put a big guy in the water with one size too small blue swim trucks to just scare the fish out of the water." More like BIG guy handing out lot's of flies....... Very gracious your brother is!! Whatever you do give him a good 10 yards, when he sets the hook, he doesn't mess around. I think his words were "I want the fish to know it!" Good thing he uses a short 3 wt. Ed, like FFM said the Rs2 kill them but you have to be on the indicator. If there is the slightest movement you have to nail them. Sometimes you can barely detect a strike. You also have to be down on the bottom sometimes bouncing it. Takes a lot of adjusting of your weight and indicator depth. Sometimes you have to change back and forth until you get the right presentation. Pat

Where you been NoLuck? Thought you took off for Montana with the job thing? I'm hoping to get down this month sometime. Dixie is having withdrawls. I've got a pretty heavy schedule this month with football games, homecoming and my off--duty gig (got to make money to spend money). Unlike you! Like you said, the ground water is probably full like it was this summer. Any little bit of moisture will increase the flow. I can handle a little high water but the increase in flow and dingy water bums me out. However I guess we can resort to gut fishin! If I do go I will let you and PC know, usually have a bunk end available in the PopUp. It's not the nicest unit but it's dry, comfortable and the beer is alsways cold. Pat

Ed- Check out Weavers site http://www.missouritrout.com/weavers/index.htm. They usually have a good report. If I am using "thread type jigs" (also called mini jig) here are some that I would not be without. 1. John Deere green 2. Black and yellow 3. White Floss 4. Beige Floss 5. Peacock 6. Hot pink Last but not least "bedspread" (Gaston's original). If I am introducing someone to this craft I usually outfit them with these and some glo balls. That's all you need. You will catch fish with any and maybe all of these. It just depends how many times you change your lure or move. The trout do get accustomed to your lure. Pat

PC- I think you will know the pattern. Just like earlier in the season, remember when the water was in the parking lots I've had enough of the high water stuff down there. I will hold out until some things settle down. Waste of gas for me pulling my pop up down. Pat

Leonard- Well if the old saying is correct "it rolls downhill" then hang on. We have had some sort of rain up here south of KCMO for the last couple days. This AM it is a toad strangler. They are calling for flood warnings in our low water areas. Pat

So bojac, what were your findings?

bum- Where are you getting your 100spbl's? Are they available in the 100's? Pat

Tiemco 2499 spbl, trying to find the teimco 100 in the spbl also. Hopefully 100 pack. Pat

That is a lot prettier than the one I tie!! Pat

ffm- With that extra thread weave your brother a new pair of trunks!!!

Oh great FFM- Do you use the Coats & Clark sewing thread as listed in the Yong Special recipe? Can I get away with regular embroidery thread? Pat

PC- There was a guy fishing up from me with an ant pattern, hitting a few. Below Holland just above first handicapped access. He was putting it on the far bank. Very pretty cast around the trees. Pat

PC & RC, Thanks for the excellent report. The boss was down there last weekend as well but he did not fare as well as you. Looks like I need to tie up some size 20 PMD's. I'm heading down maybe Wednesday afternoon, I have some training that I have to get in before EOY. PC do you have a pic of the midges that you used? Also what size? Pat

PC- I know there is a Sage out there that I love, used it once at Cabela's but the $$$ was way out of my league. I don't think you can go wrong with the LST. What weight did you get? Trying to figure out an extended weekend to get down there to get my fix since Idaho didn't pan out. My biggest problem is the heat, I can't take Dixie with me. Usually when I leave her in the truck in her kennel I have 2 12v fans blowing on her with the side and back windows propped open. I dare not chance it when the temp's are in the 90's. Maybe the boss will agree to watch her this one time. Pat

Hey PC good to see your still at it! From the sounds of your report it appears things are back to normal. Not like what we had earlier in the season!! Pat

The boss, dixie and I took off for Idaho on the 17th to visit our son. 2 1/2 days later we made it. All the streams looked fishy and I was very excited to get to it. Stopped by 2 local outfitters, they both had different rivers. I tried both of their suggestions. Bottom line, if you want to catch big fish you have to go to some big rivers that require a boat. All of the upper rivers that they suggested were low and most of the large fish have moved into the larger rivers. They did recommend hitting the Yellowstone and St. Joe but I was working on a limited supply of funds. After trying several streams that had some deep holes I only caught one 18" Cutthroat that the locals call a trophy (catch and release only on the cutt's). The rest were ruthless little dinks. They fight like nobody's business but are just little fellers. I did hit a stream (Moyie) that had rainbows in it. They also were small but eager to bite. As someone told me in a PM, "once you catch the first fish on unfamiliar waters, the rest are bonus"! I'm eager to get back to my homewaters and catch some fish consistently. Heading out tomorrow. Maybe next time I come up I will try it earlier in the season.

flyfshn- If your pulling a trailer, I wouldn't get down there too much before 12. Check-out is 2pm. Last time I was down I arrived on Thursday morning early thinking I would get a spot. No luck, everyone that was scheduled to leave was fishing. I drove around in a circle for a while and noticed several tags indicating that some people were leaving. I picked the best site for me and approached some campers (that finally woke up) about them leaving. They agreed to let me put a cooler and chair on their site until they left. All you have to do is put a "significant" piece of equipment on the site to reserve it. Worked out however you never know down there if a place will be available. Pat

I am headed up to visit my son in Sandpoint, Idaho next week. Does anyone here have any suggestions for fly fishing up in the North Central area of Idaho? I'm taking my 3, 4, and 5 wt rods with all my tying gear. Anyone that has been there, I would appreciate your suggestions as I can get a jump on my tying. Thanks Pat

PC- The boss and I are thinking about a impromtu trip to BSSP. Thinking about 20th thru 24th or 25th. The dog is jonesin for a trip. At least that is what I told the war dept. FYI Pat & Dixie

Don- From what I read, you know your stuff. I concur!! There's nothing better than hot off the smoker pork butt. Pat

Don- The best thing is the excuse. "Honey, the daughter and I need some quality time together.......". It use to work for me, now the son is in Idaho and his buddy is in helicopter flight school with the Army. I guess I need to adopt a new one!! Pat

Don- Are you using "trimmed" briskit? One ole timer taught me the attitude with brisket and beef ribs is low and slow. He told me to never get it over 250 degrees and to bake it tender after the smoke. He encouraged me to use my smoker but I have cheated after introducing the smoke. One other technique you can use is to wrap your briskit after you have introduced your smoke in HEAVY gauge saran wrap. I've done this on my ribs and briskits. The key is to put enough wrap in many directions so that it will be just like a oven bag. Then drop your temp no higher than 225 and let it bake. If everything goes right the "bag" will swell just like a blister. When you cut it open all the moisture and juices will be there and your brisket or ribs will be very moist. If you are not in favor of using the saran wrap you can use foil but it is harder to seal. Sometimes I put the ribs on direct heat after pulling them out of the bag to put a crust on them. Good stuff! Pat

Looks good to me. Except for the big boulders up in zone 1 that I trip over every year. Pat