Nighthawk

Spent the day on the river Saturday with a fishing pal and caught 15 Czech nymphing. Saw two otters and almost hit 2 bald eagles on the way to the river. Most of the trout were small rainbows promising a good season next year.

Whether you catch fish or not spey casting is just so much fun.

Westbranchfly, my rod is a 12'6" generic graphite I built myself, floating line, 8 wt. Okuma Integrity. I swing a 56er, and use a circle spey cast.

Brent hang out in Plateau fly shop in Springfield. You'll pick up a lot of tips.

Been on several hunts this year with my son and sometimes his son and their Brittany. Some great, some good, some fair. Notice I didn't say any bad ones cause there are no bad hunts when one is with loved ones and a bird dog. On one hunt we got up 3 coveys and got some great dog work and a couple of birds. Almost all have been on quail management areas in south central Missouri. If you have to shoot a lot of quail to have a good time, find another sport.

I use a spey on the NFOW above the falls. I built that rod just for that piece of water. It's fun to cast and excellent for swinging flies.

Rent the Chalet at ROLF. No frillls and sleeps plenty.

I was down there on the 2nd to last day of the regular season. They were hitting a 16 and 24 parachute Adams.

Guides leave trucks there all the time.

What kind of knot is that?

I have always avoided Taney when they are running 1 unit. This has opened my eyes. Thanks. Russ

I have not had what I consider a good day on the White since they started the minimum flow. Anybody had the same experience?

Bassattack, go by Plateau fly shop in Springfield. Those guys know a lot about Musky fishing.

I'm very proud of the way you are raising my grandsons, son. Dad

I attended the event with 3 of my vets and sat with Father Gary that morning at breakfast. He was very interested in how I became a fly fisherman and listened intently. He was a great guy and a good friend to Project Healing Waters. He will be sorely missed and now will be listening to those other great fishermen who followed our Lord Jesus. God bless you, Phil, and your family for all you do for our veterans.

Marty, one of the best trip reports I have ever read on here. I enjoyed every description. Reminded me of my recent Montana trip; same kind of scenery. Great pictures, too. Russ

Fished the area around Bozeman from the 15th of July through the 19th on a Project Healing Waters trip. We went from the airport to a deli for lunch and then to some private ponds so our host could assess our capabilities and judge which guides to put us with. I probably caught 20 rainbows. On the 16th I fished Willow Creek, a private stream with a great guy named Dave Bowen. I caught a bunch of fish on a double nymph rig and then found a beaver pond with the dam blown out and a big moving flat of water above it. Dave handed me the dry fly rod and I proceeded to hammer the fish on dries. On the last cast of the day I hooked TWO 15" brown trout ON THE SAME CAST!! When Dave got them in I told him I was done for the day. It was only 1 p.m. but I was totally satisfied. We hiked back to the truck and I was spent by the time we got there. We spent the rest of the day touring the area including where the Madison and Jefferson join to form the Missouri, where Lewis and Clark went through. The day was capped off with a big steak dinner. On the 17th we fished O'Dells spring Creek, a beautiful, private, Montana spring meadow creek where only dry flies are allowed. This was fishing I dreamed about for years. We would spot a rising trout, cast to him, hook and land him. All the fish were brown trout. The fishing was followed by a Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation BBQ, where I won the veterans drawing and another door prize. My fishing buddies all wanted me to buy them a lottery ticket. Dick Rote was my guide that day. On the 18th I fished the Madison River at three dollar bridge with guide Jim Jones. The action was very slow and I missed 2 rainbows and caught a whitefish. We then jumped over to the Gallatin above Yellowstone Park where I had some rises but broke off one trout and missed several others. On the way over to the Gallatin, we stopped at the site of the famous earthquake of 1959 and visited the earthquake center. Saturday the 19th we fished another private pond and caught a couple more rainbows before heading to the airport. Our host, Bob Frey, could not have been more generous or accommodating. He put us up in his home and his wonderful wife, Pat, cooked breakfast every morning and cooked 2 dinners for us. It was a dream come true for us 4 vets and we became close friends. It was a trip I will never forget and my thanks go out to Project Healing Waters for sending me. The guides took such good care of us, they wouldn't let us tie on a fly, rig a leader, carry our rod, or land a fish. Every expense was taken care of: I spent a total of $4.26 on a hot dog on the way out and that was all. If you are curious about them, go to projecthealingwaters.org to find out more.

I caught the same 5 lb rainbow 3 times in one day at Montauk's c & r stream, on the same fly.

Jeff, I remember fishing with you at Montauk on the c & r stream. I learned a lot about sight fishing from you.

I tie my own with a shorter tail to eliminate short strikes but that is indeed the same fly. I use 7/32 eyes on mine so they sink quickly and stay on the bottom. I fish it with a floating line and regular nylon leader about 9 feet long tapered to 4x flourocarbon.

Gary, throw the sculpin on a long leader, 4x, and let it sink to the bottom, then skip it back with short strips. 2 skips, 1 skip, 3 skips, with a slight pause in between. Watch where your line enters the water at your rod tip and set the hook at the slightest twitch. Russ

A fishing buddy and I fished the upper lake Thursday and caught a bunch of fish on Taneycomo sculpin flies. I got 2 over 18" a 17" and a lot of fish in the 14-15" range. I've not seen that overall size in a long time. We befriended a father and 2 sons from Illinois and gave them some flies and coached them into catching several large trout. They had never trout fished or fly fished before. Perfect day!

Last Thursday I went to the park with my son, The Troutdoorsman, and his 2 boys. We got there after 3 p.m. and started in the c& r stream where we caught dozens of fish. We grilled supper at the playground/pavilion while 4 groundhogs ate grass in the field. After supper we headed for the springs and Rusty and I fished while the boys played in the water near the shore. We caught more fish, mainly on dries and emergers during a sparse caddis hatch. All in all it was a terrific trip. There's nothing better than family time together.

The Davy knot has not worked well for me on tippets bigger than 4x so I don't use it anymore. The Pitzen is the only knot I use tippet to fly unless the fly is too light to spin around the knot, then a plain old clinch or improved clinch.

The Grey Ghost always catches trout for me at night on Taney. I went through a phase where I only used classic streamers; Black Ghost, Black nosed dace, Mickey Finn, Colonel bates. etc. Then I used only old English wet flies, 3 on a leader. Caught the crap out of trout on all of them.