Greasy B

Great story Al, thanks for the Montana update.

How many seasons did it take for that fish to grow to that size? 10-12 years? Five minute in oil, ten minutes on a plate then gone.

Agra business busy bodies are at it again. Fact is they have already ruined much of what we use to call food. a good example is how they bred most of the fat and flavor out of pork and replaced It with salt water. As consumers we are chumps for letting them get away with corrupting our food supply.

I dont know enough about what temperature changes fish behavior to comment but that graph does show why mid/late afternoon is often the best time.

Yep, that's the kind of fish that makes a day a success.

Nope, I get my picture taken most every day because at this intersection you need to push your vehicle beyond the line to see oncoming traffic before making a right on red. I always come to full stop before and after the line, no ticket for that so far.

I read this just after I had my picture taken by a red light camera. The future is bleak if we are under constant surveillance.

If I am not aware of some web cam on some river and get caught taking a pee am I a sex offender?

Boat storage is a real problem in the burbs. We have 4 canoes on a rack in the back yard and a trailered boat in a driveway, though our subdivision prohibits boats in a driveway. The expense of storage takes that option off the table. I would love to get another river boat and a drift boat but without a pole barn or some generous person with a pole barn I don't see how I can do it. The only real option to have more boats is to relocate.

I like those.

No, not familiar with AFF boats but I have seen the ocasional oversized river boat on the White. There must be an awful lot of displacement to support 90hp jet. I would compare the amount of rocker relative to you previous river boat. The old shawnee boats had a very pronounced rocker, great for pivoting on a river but rough to maintain position on a lake with even a light breeze.

It's not fair to pull a fast one on fishermen. We are too optimistic to know better.

Mighty fine mess of fish!

We threw 14's. I simple green thread body, hurl thorax and hen hackle patten. I did throw a few other soft hackles and did just about as well. Success had more to do with locating feeding lanes than pattern.

Yes, the weekend before last was incredible for the brother and I. The blog was dead right about fish stacked up in current seams but if a person wasn't paying attention you could pass em up without realizing what was happening.

Buy a 50 length of 3/8 solid braid nylon chord. Cut it in half, tie one on the bow and the other on the stern of the canoe. Tie a couple of overhand knots toward the end of each to help grip. Use these ropes to line or walk the canoe through any tricky spots or blind corners. The ropes will last for years so take them with you for future trips.

Yes defiantly get a bait caster. Do it for all the good reasons you'll get here but do it especially for the ergonomic advantage. 40 years of throwing spinning rods has wreaked havoc on my hand and wrist. The bait caster will allow you to maintain a much more natural hand and wrist position. In the past couple of years I've gone from 80% spinning to 80% bait casting and have seen I huge improvement in comfort and endurance.

Caught and released, cool.

Hoglaw, I'm courious about your new boat. Will it be a custom river Jon?

Thank you Matt, I will join and support as I am able.

Yes, but this a little hard for us to figure out. All the problems the river has now were problems back in the 80's. I was wondering if it was my own selective memory about the downturn but I'm hearing others had the same experience. Mike, if you could have seen it back in the day. A Brown lurking under every log waiting for a fast stripped bugger. Foam lines that bulged with sippers and yes a White Fly emergence that would have the water boiling for a fleeting half hour every August evening just as last light faded to dark. I would take my vacations in the middle of October every year because the dry fly fishing was that good, often lasting all day long. In the spring time the catch rate would decrease but the browns were still in the river would have enough heft to really give you a tussle. I guess my expectations were easier met back then but I honestly had some real quality fishing.

Good grief, if that's true this is a catastrophe waiting to happen.

Is there room for experiments or does the "Red Ribbon” designation lock up trout management into a pre-described set of rules on trout stocking frequency, sizes and species? To most of us the thought of releasing a truck load Rainbows that would otherwise be bound for P&T and consequently the frying pan would be a great way to augment the fishery. To a fisheries manager working in a bureaucracy the very notion of violating protocol may be abhorrent. With a stream adored by so many and with so much unmet potential could fisheries managers get just a little flexibility from the bureaucracy? Did I just answer my own question by using the words flexibility and bureaucracy in the same sentence?

I gave up my electric knife about a year ago, too bulky, wasted too much. Right now I’m using a short bladed fillet. I don’t see myself using the electric unless I’m cleaning something larger than crappie or Bluegill so I’ll probably spring for a Forschner, thanks for the recommendation. When I’m cleaning I usually set myself a goal of one minute per fish though my typical pace is two or three times that. Seems to me efficient cleaning has more to do with ergonomics than knife type. If I can set up where I have everything within arm’s reach and I’m comfortable it makes a world of difference.