Flatbottom Boy

Thanks for the help guys, much appreciated. Wrench I don't think he was talking about the stuff inside the nose, but let me know how the snot works. I would try it on your buddies gear first.

Ok I need a little help. I bought a four piece 8wt St. Croix. This is my first four piece rod and I am no expert on any fly rod. Upon opening this up there is a little black case with a very hard piece of wax that is supposed to be for waxing up the male ends of the rod. After shrugging this step off a few times, today it caught up with me. I had to work pretty hard to get the rod taken down. My question is, how do you apply this wax? Heat it up with a lighter? Is there another option out there for this or any tricks? I would appreciate any advice if it's out there.

Made a trip out to the Glaize with the kayak yesterday. Man what a great day to be out on the water. Fished accross from the military resort drifting jigs over brush up against the high rock banks. A LOT of short fish but managed a limit just the same. They seemed to prefer the red tube jig with white tail, suspended from 8-15 ft in 20 FOW. Boaters where actually really good and courteous, slowing down and not swamping my yak. (much appreciated if you where one of them)

The only thing I know of that looks like a catfish is a....well a catfish. Do you have a better description other than big lips?

Are you referring to the SOT FS12? The FS10 I bought has a seat that not only drains well but is removable so you can put it on the beach and hang out by the fire or whatever. The FS12 did not have the good reviews that the 10 footer I purchased has. For the money I'm liking this boat...with all the "hobbies" I have my budget is shrinking rapidly.

Here is the kayak I bought this weekend. Again I'm pretty impressed and hopefully it was worth the money. This boat tracked very well even with a beginner in it like me I was able to shoot up river without any problems. It's set up for the fisherman well with two rod holders behind the seat and one in front of the seat. (I pulled that off for this trip) The storage behind the seat has indentations for a bucket or a milk crate. If you google this model and check out the modifications other have done to it, you will get a good laugh and some good ideas. A lot of guys are attaching the milk crate to the back with rod holders made out of PVC to allow for more rod storage. One guy even made a trolling motor mount and put his battery back there. (kinda thinking I woulda bought a square back canoe if I wanted a motor)

I bought the Ascend FS10 this weekend and for my first kayak I'm very impressed. It has some cool features that are set up for the fisherman. I got the camo color with the intent of slaying some ducks next winter. Question for the other kayakers out there.. Life jackets, I am using the same jacket I use in normal boats but this is not going to work in the kayak. It's too bulky and hot. I am looking at the auto inflating or manual inflating that bass pro shops sells. Can I get some help or suggestions from you all on what you use?

JD that sounds like close to the same one I made from that website. I ordered everything as he says on the webpage, minus the mp3 player. Right now I have no more than 25 bucks in the whole thing. I never thought about the conservation snow goose idea thanks for the heads up on that..now I just need a place to go put it in use for that. Are farmers pretty good about granting permission to hunt the snows, or are you guys hunting public ground?

Thanks Daryk.. I think I fixed it. I did that on my cell phone not sure what happend.

I wanted to share a home made e-caller that I just made for all you coyote and varmit hunters out there. No doubt some of you have already seen this but for those of you on a budget like me, this call paired with his calling sequences that are free to download works pretty well IMO. He also has some useful tips for varmit calling and hunting in general. Just scroll all the way down on the page to find the caller instructions. Hope this helps someone. http://www.varmintal.com/ahunt.htm

I have experience running what we called snares in Alaska, but I'm pretty sure they are the same thing you guys refer to as cable restraints. I am not familiar with the regulation for trapping here, so if your question falls into that realm I wont be any help.

Can you PM me the new price on the 8wt fly rod? Thanks

Tom, I have two daughters. I missed both of their births due to situations beyond my control with my current job. I cant vow to always be their for them, but I will never take for granted the time I do have. Enjoy your child, his innocence will bring a smile to your face on the worst of days. And for what its worth teach and pass on the outdoor tradition that we grew up with they will become better people because of it. I wish you the best with your son and thank you for your kind words.

Thank you both for your reply. That helped me out a bunch. My 4 year old loves to fish and I'm really wanting to get her on some crappies and get the year started right. If either one of you see a really ugly dude walking around the docks with a beautiful little 4 year old toting a princess fishing pole, introduce yourself so I can thank you in person. (the princess pole is mine, she has a G-Loomis ultra light) Take care gentlemen and tight lines.

I was wondering if anyone knows of places that we can access docks either by permission or pay for the day. I had to sell my boat last fall and was hoping to still get a chance to take my kids out there to catch a few crappies. I have heard rumors that there are lodges that will grant you access for a fee and was wondering if anyone had any more info on this or not. Any help would be appreciated, thanks in advace.

PM sent

Sent you a PM

Wrench I think you have a boat problem, didn't you just tell me you built two boats for fishing the whites? They have meetings for people like you

Sorry to hear about that, I hope the guy sinks hit boat with the anchor rope secured to his ankle. I am getting ready to sell my boat and it has a 4 stroke 25 horse suzuki on it, the motor is a 2003 electric start. Not really wanting to split it all up, but we can talk if that's something that interest you, if not...no skin off my back. Good luck!

Well thank you for all the info I will try to look for the "signs" a little closer next time I get out on the water. I'll hit you up next time I plan on getting up to the glaize and maybe we can link up for an evening..(I'll bring a notebook) It's getting harder to concentrate on the fishing the closer archery season gets but I'm sure I'll get out a couple more times and I really want to get out in between hunts. Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction.

Ok wrench, you got my attention for sure now. Pretty sure I've forgotten about the bucket mouths. I lived in TN a while back and we used to fish the big stripers and hybrids, I've never even tried to target those fish on a fly though. They gave me a run for my money on the heavy gear I was using. I've caught a few whites on accident trolling around on the Glaize but I havn't been able to locate any large numbers of them. Are you fishing a tailwater somewhere? What kind of presentation are you using? I'm not expecting you to share all your secrets, I expect to do some of the work...just never done this before.

Yeah Wrench sounds like a plan, I'm not good at tying flies just yet but I have the equipment and I'm sure I can youtube it. I move around so much it seems I can't find the time to even get the stuff set up let alone start tying. If a guy was wanting to purchase flies what would you recomend? I'm also in close proximity to the big piney, do you ever chase the smallies on the fly? I'm gonna give that a go too when I get the right flies to do so. I see some of the guys using weighted crawdad flies under indicators and such, but I know the top water bite can be good on the smallies at the right time too.

I thought that was crazy early for those guys, they must have been the family types...cause the party types were still up partying when I got there to fish. I was out on the Glaize, sorry I thought I had put that in my post. I have a small boat so I don't attempt the main lake part, I get swamped enough way back in the Glaize. I'm not a serious bass fisherman, I enjoy fishing too much to get mesmerized by just one fish but I give them a go from time to time. Early morning top water has to be my favorite way to target them though, love the explosion. I've been wanting to get my 7 wt flyrod out there and really play with them, been procrastinating on the flies though. Hope you do well with your dad...post some results, this forum is getting to be kinda slow since the spring. Take care.

Got out early, 3am, sunday. Caught 10 keeper crappies under the light in the 12 FOW range. They hit small white grubs and red/whit tube jigs. As the sun started coming up I worked the coves with a buzz bait and spook. Managed 3 keepers right off the bat, the fishing slowed pretty quick as the sun got higher. Caught several shorts on the spook, but most wanted the buzz. Skiers and jet skis out by 8am? Thought that was a little early. Started getting stupid around 9am so I was off the water, my little boat gets swamped pretty fast by the bigger boats. Overall it was good enough for me, got me outa the house. Tight lines all...

I can't speak for the stretch of river you are going to fish specifically, but I've been fishing the Piney the last few days near the Fort. This morning the topwater bite was on pretty good, several nice fish on buzz bait and a spook. Once the sun came up I switched to a 3 inch brown grub that was really working well, when it slowed down I switched it up to a big chompers tube bait (I think around 3" also), also brown. I have been trying to cast the rebel cranks but not really producing as well as the grubs and tube baits. Get out there early, I was out there at 5am this morning and by 7am the top water bite had slowed significantly. Good Luck, let us know how you did.