vanven

I am excited. One of the few Kansas City area shops has several of the rods and reels that I have been googling for the past month. I am going ot have to get in on a weekend and spend some time casting each to decide. I have narrowed it down to a few: Rods: TFO Pro series 7wt Sage Launch 7wt TFO TiCrX 7wt Reel: Sage 1580 I am not set on the reel. A lot of it depends on how balanced it feels on the rod. I do like the Sage a lot, it is good looking, and the large arbor is a big bonus. it is a new model and the reviews are hard to find so far though. I will post back with my n00bish results. -Jerod

I was thinking this would be a good trip to really get some dry fly fishing done and get away from nymphing for a few days. Sounds like it might be just that type of opportunity. -Jerod

I really appreciate the info Lilley. It is a bit overwhelming to try and plan a trip based on random web searches. -Jerod

I am pretty interested in both places as well. They are considerably closer to Kansas City than some of the other options. I dont mind the $50. Sometimes paying an extra $50 in gas to drive another couple hours, only to end up with 3 fish stings the ego. It is the type of place I would take a friend that is starting to show interest in fly fishing. Generally I am done early or sight fishing the bigger fish and I get to teach a bit. Hopefully I can get them hooked and then move them out to Taney for a weekend. Every year Windrush seems to peak my interest about this time of year when I am starting to plan fall trips to Taney for the browns. I start to get that itch, I check their site, and they are closed for 2 months.... -Jerod

I will be in the Florissant, CO. area for a week at the end of August with my wife and her family. It is about 30 minutes west of Colorado Springs. I am looking for some suggestions for day trips where i can get my waders and fly rod wet. My Google searches haven't been all that productive. It needs to be somewhat accessable and not extremely technical, the wife and dog will be with me. Any suggestions on equipment? Standard 5wt rod and light leaders? -Jerod Wow, my first double post. Sorry.... -Jerod

Post count 1, joined today, no info. *Belete* -Jerod

This is exactly what I was hoping for. Thanks. I think I like the idea of the 7 weight. I dont have many options for smallies in the Kansas City area but i can drag my float tube out and get into some nice largemouth. I do really like my Orvis TLS 5wt. but it feels significantly stiffer than my wife's TFO Pro. I cast both of them well but the TFO just feels better. It is easier for me to feel it load while casting. I expect that to change as i become a much better caster. I believe i read that Cabellas lets you cast their rods now. It might give me a chance to get a couple of the above mentioned rods in my hands without having to make a split second decision. I will at least save my pennies and see if Michael can have one ready to go for me when I drive through. I realize that asking about specifics in a message board when rod shopping doesnt help near as much as handling the rod in person, and casting the rod provides much more information than that little flipping action we all do when we handle a 9 foot rod under an 8 foot ceiling at the fly shop. If someone here says the Sages tend to have a faster tip while the TFO tends to be closer to a medium action rod, that is something i can quantify in my mind as I pick a new one out. I can cast them both and walk away saying ok now i know that I like faster rods. -Jerod

I notice your arms are kind of extended in that picture.... Just kidding, really nice fish. -Jerod

So far a little less discussion than I had hoped for -Jerod

Not a big fan of the thread, but that is a darn nice fish in anyone's book. Grats Jeremy. -Jerod

I have an Orvis TLS 9' 5wt rod and Orvis Battenkill mid arbor reel that I fish during the day. I am looking for another rod to bring out at night and during the fall when the odds of hooking into a big fish are a bit higher. My Orvis handles most situations great but there have been times at night when I could almost touch the tip on my nose it was bent over so far. I am looking for a 7 or 8 weight that has a bit more backbone for landing bigger fish and tossing bigger flies. This will likely be a rod/reel combo that wont get more than 10 nights a year use. I would like to keep the cost reasonable, say $300 for starters for the combo. Any suggestions? My wife has an 8'6" 5wt TFO that we both like a lot. I forget the model, but it is one of the women's rods with the cancer ribbon. That makes TFO is an option. I am also looking at some of the low end Sage rods like the Launch. Requirements: 4 piece for travel purposes. Less than $300 for rod and reel. 6 to 8 weight I would appreciate any feedback or suggestions. -Jerod

Nice brown Jeremy. I caught a 22 inch rainbow last year that did the same thing. I was night fishing and was really trying to keep my light turned off. I actually thought I had a stocker hooked and couldnt seem to get him into the net. I eventually turned my headlamp on and was shocked to see the size of him, then he bolted. First time ever I saw my backing. -Jerod

From now on I will just bring an extra coffee for you when I come down at night Duane. -Jerod

I got out on the water early saturday morning around 6am. I realize that isnt super early but when you just stopped night fishing a couple hours earlier it feel very early. The water was down and the parking lot between 1 and 2 was just starting to fill up. I fished the gauntlet below rebar down to the point and caught several fish. Most were caught on a small size 18 copper/dark brown zebra midge. I called it quits around 11 when it was starting to get warm and the fishing was slowing down. I got back out to the hatchery around 6pm expecting to see all 246 generators running. For once the engineer gods smiled upon me and the water had just started dropping from 2 generators. I waded over and had rebar all to myself. I had a few bites but didnt managed to get anything in. I waited til dark and tried fishing between outlet 2 and rebar. It was on from the second it got dark. I landed several nice thick rainbows in the 16 to 18 inch range. After a couple hours it slowed and I moved up just below outlet one. I spent the next 3 hours into fish. If I went 5 casts without a bite I would side a few yards downstream and would instantly hook up again. I ended the night at around 3 with cold feet and a tired arm. I managed to go all night with the same fly. My new favorite the Ace of Spades. I had the privilidge of catching Rick Osborn and Duane milling around the parking lot and had a great time chatting with both of them. I think I also saw Michael and Eric out there at one point. -Jerod

I also feel obliged to express how much fun I had as well as how much information I walked away from the seminar with. I had the priviledge of fishing with Stubby once the water dropped and although I didnt have much luck the information he shared was worth 10 times what I paid for the seminar. Most of it was learned from years of experience. I cant thank Michael and the others enough for their time and the knowledge they shared. -Jerod

Change of plans for me, the warden says I can go and the boss is in a good mood. Looks like I will be heading to Taney for the weekend. I knew vacuuming the house the other night was a good idea. I look forward to meeting everyone. -Jerod

This is a bit too short notice for me to addend. Do it again in a couple weeks and I will be all over it. I would also be willing to drag some of the other Kansas City night owls down with me. I want to hear Terry's seminar contributions: "The dangers of the Deadly Blue Heron" "Things that bump your legs at night" -Jerod

That's the joke behind it. They aren't. -Jerod

I see how it is guys. I ask for fishing partners and get crickets. Leonard gets all the love. I think I did have a duckydoty spotting while I was down there last week. I believe he carries the red light... -jerod

It could also be stated that the increase in the human population and the encroachment by weekend warriors into the woods could be just as much to blame. The average suburbanite may not give thought to animals they encounter in the woods, above hoping to see a squirrel or raccoon. I generally subscribe to the idea that it isnt a change in the animal, but a general dumbing down of the human population that is to blame. I am really scared of bears. I have spent quite a few hiking trips in bear and mountain lion country. I always prepare for both. Bells, loud talking, avoiding dense underbrush, pepper spray, care in preparing food and cleaning dishes, and treeing food. The only bear experience I have ever had was from a family at the campsite next to us leaving their car full of goodies and an opportunistic bear helping himself. We heard the commotion and something BIG bumped our pop up camper hard enough to rock it. Mountian lions I dont worry about so much for 2 reasons. First of all I wont ever see them coming and it will be over before I can deal with it. They arent sloppy like a bear. I have been absolutely terrorized by wildlife on camping trip before. Namely a well organized pack of ground squirrels that shredded a roll of toilet paper in my backpack and made off with all my trailmix. I have also woken up in the middle of the night to the hot breath of a coyote in my face while camping in Rocky Mountain National. We were also woken in the middle of hte night by something brushing up against the tent while camping in the Escalante area near Lake Powell. We found big cat/dog prints in the sand outside the tent. I will admit that I dont give much thought to wild animals while I am in the southern Missouri and northern Arkansas woods. When we were planning a trip to a Arkansas state park for a long weekend of hiking and primitive camping we actually had a ranger tell us something along the lines of "I wouldnt enter that park without a firearm". He wasnt referring to black panthers, mountain lions, or bears but a booming population of wild boar. Of course all of that is easy to say when I refuse to sleep in a tent without Mr HK under my pillow. -Jerod

I didnt really have the intent of stepping onto a soapbox and preaching fishing ethics. I have my own faults. I am sure someone would take exception to me peeing on the shore occasionally when noone else is around. There is a perfectly clean port-a-potty 50 yards away!!! I have been through 2 fall seasons around taney and seen the outlethumpers during the spawn. I may have to outlet shop for another fly fishing setup. Something that screams Walmart all over it. We have all seen the guys at the trout parks that still have the rod stickers and plastic stuff over the cork handles. I can mismatch everything and leave some of the stickers on it. When I get down to outlet two I can tie on a half ounce wolly and start swinging it around like a helicoptor. "Ain't this how you cast dis thing!?!?!" I could dress like a hillybilly.... I will get and old tacklebox and paint it bright red with the words WARNING and TNT on it. I can paint some sticks red and glue some waterproof fuses to it. I can light the fuses from my cigarette and start chucking them in the water near the outlet-humpers. That might work........ -Jerod

I spent most of wednesday through saturday at Taney. Fishing was really tough with the water so high. They were pretty muh running 2 generators nonstop and up to 4 at times. That left the outlets as the only really accessible areas. Due to the water levels there isnt a ton to report. I tried almost everything in my fly box at outlet 2. At some point those fish have to have seen almost every sow bug, midge, and scud pattern know to man. I had my best luck with a small size 18 zebra mide pattern in black and red. I landed 3 stocker rainbows and a beautiful 20" brown. I also landed fish on a small brown san juan worm and dark orange scud. I do have a question about fishing the outlets. I watched a person fish the outlet for a stretch of roughly 20 hours. I believe he took a couple 2 hour breaks at some point. Anyway he was fishing the outlet a lot. He was also fishing a dropper. I saw this person foul hook at least 50 fish in the 4 hours I was there and out of the 20+ he was there. At one point it became a running joke among the 4 other fisherman at the outlet. Am I one of the few that will walk away from 30 fish an hour because I feel guilty about snagging 90% of those fish? I caught myself swapping flies after foul hooking a couple in a row, just to try and avoid it happening. Later, -Jerod

I am still planning on heading that way in a couple hours. I will probably be down in the outlet area some time after 9pm. I drive a black F-150 that even Terry would gauk at -Jerod

I actually called and listened through the next couple of days. Looks like they are prdicting an almost constant 2 units. I may have to take up purse shopping at the outlet malls as a second hobby if the Taney gods continue to attempt to flood out every trip I try to make down there. I am stubborn, so I am still coming down for the rest of the week. -Jerod

I have two and one of them has a built in tape measure. I refuse to use it as it hurts my ego. Since I usually fish solo, by the time I get home all the fish were 18+ inches anyway -jerod