Greasy B

Exactly. When floating past wade fishermen I often ask my boat mates to not just stop fishing but to set their rods down. Wade fishers typically fish much less water much more intensely, while floating I often cover 6-8 miles so It's not that big of deal to wait until we are well past the the wading fishermen before picking the rods back up.

I was on a plane that aborted a landing due to an ambulance parked on the runway. What a ride. I think the average commercial plane can tolerate the maneuver far better than the passengers.

Welcome friend.

Rule #2: All other fishermen are the enemy.

Count me among those who avoid ONSR because of the traffic. With exception of the occasional off season float I travel to other rivers for peace and solitude. Who knows what boating technology will next allow recreational joy riding on shallow rivers. The term jet boat really should be replaced with high power boats, or maybe a broader term like high powered craft.

The guide trips I’ve taken have also had this feeling each other out period. Most of the time it started with conversation on the way to the river and after the first hour in the boat we typically have each other sized up. More times than not it was just a matter of relaxing and going fishing once we knew we each didn’t have to deal with an A hole.

What a year, so many good times with good friends. That April day with Mitch was some of the best fishing I ever had. Looking through pictures taken this year several other special days stand out. The first couple of fish were caught on one of those rare days on White River when the stocker rainbows seemed to disappear and the big browns came out to feed. Fishing in a cold March rain, the catching was incredible until the clouds broke, the sun came out and like flipping a switch the browns were replaced by pale silver dinks. The next four pictures were taken on a September day when Dan and I found pods of football shaped Smallies rising trout like on the upper Mississippi. Stalking and Sight fishing with blockhead poppers was phenomenal. The last picture was taken on 12/30/13. Ralph and I ran up Norfork on 6000 cfs, just as we got above McClellan's the water dropped out and we found ourselves stranded in paradise. We had a perfect day fly fishing two miles of the sweetest tailwater imaginable, a great way to end the year.

You da man!

My sisters yellow lab lost an eye a couple of years ago. Granted this is a goofy house dog but the dog never missed a beat, it's as though it never noticed the missing eye. One thing I learned is that dogs don't mope, complain or blame other for their misfortune.

That sums it up. Who would have thought that what our parents told us when they wanted us out of their hair would have turned into a way of life.

I think the reason youre not catching bigger rainbows is the same reason me and most other folks arent catching bigger rainbows, because arent any, well very few anyway. Sure you can catch the occasional nice fish when you weed through 50 or 60 stubby fin dinks but sadly those prized fish between 16-20 inches are a small minority and hard to come by. The two things I do are covering a lot of water, never casting or drifting the same water twice until I find nicer fish. And like Wrench said sight fish with a yarn bug or miracle fly. When the fish are on and the lighting is right you can pull your fly from a smaller fishes mouth and feed it to a bigger fish.

Last August while pounding an obscure Smallie river for naught the bro and I ran across the thickest swarms of huge gar imaginable. Out of boredom we tossed our hardware, dozens of 5 foot long fish snapped at our lures without getting stuck. One my goals for 2014 is to tie up some nylon rope flys a tangle with these big boys.

Thanks for the explanation.

You guy's are inspiring, thanks.

I have been on the fence for a long time about getting a CC permit. I could never see myself actual pulling a gun on a person but between these robots and the inevitable drones I think I might need to defend myself.

I think a river Jon is an excellent platform for a guided fly fishing, much like a drift boat. And just like a drift boat the rocker helps in the constant pivoting that is necessary to keep two fishermen is good position. Waves are the major issues. Fact is you would get slapped silly. If I could find a someone who was smart enough to know how to handle the oars but stupid enough to do it I would set my boat up for center rowing.

Even after all these years I still hold up every fish I catch and admire the wonder of such a beautiful creature coming from the mysterious underwater world. I don't know enough to be a geek but I do find the subject terribly interesting.

I'll miss the fun of species speculation when genetic testing of the fish we catch is cheap and readily available.

Good flows, low wind, fish with fins and color, can't beat that. Thanks for the update.

Cows, crows, road kill, not sure what all could be a sign but I do buy into the general theory about a wildlife activity.

Cool thread, a picture book of appearance variation. Are we looking at mostly Elk and Meramec River Basin fish?

Your boat scars are a badge of honor.

I like the groovy colors but I'm too lazy for DYI. I just bought one of those stiff wire glasses keepers from a fly shop, that should do for now. That day the glasses flew out of the boat we were taking a lunch break on a high gravel bar when we noticed some garbage floating in the river, naturally I started to rant about slobs throwing crap in the river. The crap was mine, I recovered a hat, shirt and a plastic coffee cup, the glasses went to the bottom. The wind was so strong that day we fished each pool by starting at the bottom and letting the wind blow us up.

I went through two pairs of polarized glasses this year. The first suffered from minor scratches that were irritating but tolerable until one more scratch that aligned perfectly with my line of sight made them unusable. The second pair I only owned for a couple of weeks when they were blown out of the boat on an incredibly windy day. No top dollar classes for me, $50.00 max.

Every year I try to fish a couple of new rivers, lately most have been relatively exotic destinations. There are quite a few rivers in the Ozarks that I haven’t floated; most are far enough from home that I can’t do them on a weekend yet not far enough or exotic enough to spend my limited vacation time to float. This next season I probably should try to check off the St Francis and the Black, a couple of close to home rivers that I have fished in the past but never devoted an overnighter to. Maybe revisit the Big and Bourb, two old friends that have drifted from my radar.