ckjacks

We use Berkley Crappie Nibblets a lot. They are about pea size and pretty soft. We put them on our jigs and they have a great scent and leave a trail as the bait dissolves. They have made the difference between a good day and a bad day more than once. But its hard to get the to stay on your hook cause they are soft and small. Heres the trick to getting them to stay on your hook----Take the lid off the jar for a couple days. This will dry them out and make them harder. They still leave that little trail with about the same amount of scent. Anyone else use these? Whats your trick?

I just have to say how great the weather was today. The wind was blowing really hard, but I'll take it over the last couple weeks weather we've had. This weather makes me want to start looking for the white bass run. I hope the weather stays like this for awhile.

Rockbridge came to mind when I began reading this topic. I have gone the last couple of years over labor day weekend with a friend, his dad, and some buddies. At first it seemed a little stupid to pay to fish when Taneycomo sits down there waiting to be fished. But, I soon learned what it was about. Its a great place to take someone that has never fished or a place to teach someone to fly fish, or to take a family with younger kids that have short attention spans. My group had some guys that have never fished and I wouldn't have thought twice about taking them to taney because they would be ready to go just as soon as I was getting warmed up. I think that some Pay to Play places are good for the guy who only has a couple of days a year. You do have to pay for these places, but its per fish or lb and I think it would be about the same as a trout stamp and a fishing license. Now, as for 20,000k memberships to fishing clubs Thats just crazy to me, but if you have the money more power to you. I do think that those bird hunting places where they "take the bird out and stuff it in a bush and then you come behind and shoot it" are stupid. A friend has one close to his house. We went out one day and there was a chuckar on his hood. I went up and caught it. Yeah, it was pretty tame. I have hunted both wild and those private places. Wild birds are so much better. I don't think there is any sport to some of those places.

Sorry, I didnt get out to Beaver Friday. I went to Keystone in Oklahoma instead. But, I have plans to go to Beaver this coming weekend so I'll try again.

Yeah, the stripers will start to warm up around that time. Don't forget about Beaver Tailwaters. The trout are always there and fishing is good, hopefully they won't be running water.

I'll testify to that. I saw a guy catch a 10# large mouth a few years back while bow fishing. There are some carp in Taney that look like Soviet Nuclear Subs.

Sorry to stick my nose in here at the end.... What about the Rapala Count Down? Does anyone use it? Also, where do you guys use them? I'm taking it that in the winter/early spring you cast them on the points. How deep we typically talking here? Haven't really used this technique, but it sounds like I should be.

I really like olive. I had a lot of luck with it last year and so did my buddys. Personally I think you only need 3 colors: Gray, Olive, and Tan. If you have those three your good.

Those flies look great. I personally like the standard black and white one. charliesflybox.com has some great patterns for midges you might try as well. I like to use Ultra Hair for my zebra midges. It is more durable than thread and has a great look to it. I think that 18 is the max size that our midges get around here. I could be wrong. I think you don't get that big of midges till you get out west. Thats not to say that a size 16 won't catch fish, I'm just saying you might not be mimicking the midge exactly.

Yeah, I agree. I am not saying they need to post there honey holes. But, there are enough fish in Beaver to go around (at least for the number of people fishing in Feb and early March). I will be fishing in some club tournaments, but will be glad to share what I caught them on and what part of the lake.

I fished from 2pm to whistle. I did ok for only fishing for a couple of hours. Trout were definitely feeding. Started off with a jujubee and had no takers. I saw some taking midges off the surface so I greased up a midgster. Got one on the first cast. It was a decent fish and fought well. Slowed down a bit as it got colder and the sun started to go down. The wind also started to pick up about three. I switched to a brown wooly with little success. I finished off the day with a rojo midge. Had several strikes, but couldn't get the hook set. It was about time for the whistle when I had a nice one hit. I set the hook, but then my tippet broke right at the leader. So if anyone catches one tomorrow with a rojo in its mouth send the fly my way.

Good video.

Cold. I'm going Friday. I'll let you know when I get back.

Yeah, that truck would probably handle a smaller aluminum boat, but nothing much bigger. I too would say that your problem would probably be in the tranny before the engine. You don't necessarily have to have 4wd, but it sure makes it easier on those steep boat ramps. We pull our 24' party barge with a 1500 silverado 2wd and never have had a problem with getting out of the water, but we make sure that the ramp is ok and not covered with silt or moss before we put in.

You can do this a couple of ways in my opinion. 1. Use your SLR and then get a nice scanner. Just get a name brand one that has a good resolution. Randall's right you should save them as jpegs because they are the best for this kind of stuff. Also if you want photoshop go to there website (adobe.com) and you can get a 30 day demo of photoshop pro for free. Then, later you can get a basic version for well under $100, the pro is over $500 I think. But, you should only need the basic stuff to resize things. Also, you can use photobucket.com to resize images if you would like to go that route. 2. Buy a digital camera. If you are going to be constantly updating and changing this would be the best route. It would also be the fastest route. Digital cameras have come along way over the last couple years as far as price goes. You can get a great camera for under $400 (We just got a Sony DSC H2 for less than $300, 6mp and 12x zoom) You could look to see if there is a digital SLR that would work with your lenses. Digital SLR's start at about $500 without lenses.

I voted Stockton. I have spent many nights out on the Party Barge with my grandfather over brush piles fishing for crappie, white bass, walleye, and the occasional drum(my uncle caught a 8lber and proclaimed it a record small mouth, we still give him a hard time about those smallmouth drum). Although I do fish Taney and Beaver a lot, Stockton still gets most of my traffic and is my favorite place to go. It might not be as easy to fish as some lakes and the water might not be as nice, but I think its one of the best crappie, walleye, and smallmouth lakes around.

The U of Arkansas recently formed a Bass tourney team. We have a local public access station that allows us to use all their equipment for free. However, you do have to take a class that costs $25 through them. We are looking for people in the area that would be willing to take the class and possibly film a few of our meetings and tourneys(2-4 this semester). The class teaches you everything you need to know and would be a great opportunity for anyone that is looking for some experience in filming or production. We would like to get this all set up within the next month so we can hopefully send someone to the Arkansas Tech Invitational at the end of march. We need about 9 people. If you are interested just send me a pm. Thanks.

Brookie

I think that it is an RV park. Don't know the name though.

Yep, thats it. And if you tie that is a great site to help you through it.

I just got back from RR. I started off the day with an R & R, then switched to a scud, then an egg pattern. All with no takers. I noticed the fish starting to take something just below the surface. So I quickly switched to a chartreuse jujubee. Bingo Bango! About noon the guy in the pool up from me caught a 8-10lber. He didnt have a net so I asked him if he wanted me to net it. I could fit about a third of him in the net. He caught his on a small (maybe size 8) olive wooly bugger. I would just say be prepared for anything as far as flies go. I had a great day with those midge patterns. But, obviously wooly buggers were working well too. I fished with a foot of 6x tippet below my strike indicator and with no weight. Worked well for me. Seemed to work well in both swift and slow water, but I caught the bigger ones in fast water. Good luck!

Love this fly, but don't know how to make the hunchback. Is it just a reg scud with some material layered on it? Or is it a special hook? If anyone can help thanks.

I made my first trip to Roaring River this morning. Wow, what a beautiful and first class operation. Had a few takers, but 16 is a little too cold for me to stay long. Did anyone go today? Thinking about going again tomorrow and wondering what the hot flies are.

When should I start throwing egg flies, is it too early in the year?