Arofishing

Awesome thread. I needed it. I'll write some of these tips down and take them with me to Sunburst in a couple weeks...

You have one of my favorite blogs on OAF. I normally dig your choice in beers, your preferred mode of fishing (fly rod), the commentary on Joe, and I find the places you visit really interesting, usually I want to plan a trip to the same place after reading. It was nice to read a trip report from a spot I just left recently. I could identify some of those places in the pictures, needless to say, you had more success than I did . Actually the only thing you do that I don't want to mimic is the carp fishing, but I still find that interesting to read about. Thanks.

Put more weight on, the foam is the home and all that stuff Maybe that's my problem too, the force is not with me... We'll be making reservations soon too.

Nice, I recognized all those spots. I think I fished all of them too, didn't catch anything though. I'll be back in 3 weeks to try again though.

Fun video, nice beat! Can't wait to get out to Crane for the first time at some point this fall. If you ever want someone to tag along and show the ropes, just let me know!

Well, given that I was in your shoes just a month ago I ought to reply. I went the piecemeal route because I wanted a little better vise than the one that came in the fly kits I had as options. Tools I use (either had or already acquired): vise, small scissors, bobbin, bead tweezers (haven't used yet), needle nose pliers. I just acquired my second set of hooks to tie different things, but I had only been tying flies for bass up to this point. Other things you'll need off the top of my head: cement and thinner, zap a gap, paint and/or markers. From there you'll get more into recipe specific things like chenile, beads, etc... If I come across some material in the store that looks interesting or I vaguely have an idea what I could do with it, I pick it up. Otherwise I echo the sentiments of those that say just pick up the materials a certain fly calls for.

Smyrna road would probably be a good start. There is a nice pool not far down stream from there. That 10 foot pool I was talking about, if I'm remembering correctly, is up stream from there, but quite a way. You could also fish the James/Finley confluence near Jamesville. That is actually closer to 13 if that is easier for you.

I use both. I had access to a lot of Prisma's since my wife and her friend are architects. As others have said, I don't think the difference between Prismas and Sharpies are appreciable for most of the uses we put them towards. I'd recommend starting the bulk of your color collection with Sharpies and getting a Prisma or two in frequently used colors so you can get an idea of whether or not you *need* them. They cost $5 a marker pretty much everywhere, unless you know some architects .

Touche on the gar = no bass. Never caught a decent bass or many bass in a hole where gar are prevalent. And gar may not be very attractive to us as sport fish, since they don't readily bite our lures like bass and other sport fish do, and when they do they frequently break our gear, but they serve important ecological functions. They deserve our respect, despite our lack of interest. If they didn't merit a place they wouldn't still be around.

I haven't fished that stretch myself. I've done the confluence down river from there a couple times and various places outside of Ozark numerous times. The river seems to get a bit tighter and smaller as it gets closer the confluence, but I have no idea if it's that way that far up stream (looks status quo according to Google maps). It's rare to find a pool over your head, especially given how dry things had been prior to this week, but they do exist (I know of one outside of Ozark 10+ feet deep). In any case, it's very wadeable. You shouldn't have any problem keeping water below your waders. Knowing nothing about that specific spot, I would expect most water to be ankle deep, the occasional pool getting up to your chest. You can catch lots of Goggle eye and sunfish. You can catch fewer but plenty of small mouth and the occasional large mouth bass. I almost always fish for small mouth and end up catching the other things in the process.

We'll give 'em a shot if they're still around on Oct. 12, 13, 14.

Well, it's not your dog's hair, because that's brown...

We briefly drove by and I didn't see any signs of life, but it was quick and I wasn't exactly looking that hard. So I wouldn't take that as an indication one way or the other. Have you called them? There's always the state park of course, though you'll want to reserve in advance.

Had a great time. Weather wasn't great, rained almost non-stop from about 4:30 AM until we left at 5 pm. But in my "group" I'd say fishing was excellent. My (experienced) partner caught 30 fish before I even brought one to hand, including a 20 inch brown and some rainbows in the 18 inch range. The drawing was at 5 and everyone won more than one prize. I'm sure the hosts would have liked more people to sign up and participate, but you've gotta start somewhere (I know too well from experience). I was really impressed with the shop at Reed's. A huge selection of bugs, tools, fly tying materials, just about everything really, knowledgeable people, and very competitive prices. We left early since it was a virtual guarantee there would be no respite from the rain and we were camping. I'll be back at some point.

When I was there you definitely could have paddled back up. The only problem I'd foresee is that the river wasn't that long. We walked the whole thing in less than two hours (and we're pretty patient anglers, staying at spots for quite a while). I was positively shocked to see the water just disappear. I don't know if it goes underground or what, but once you get to this little private bridge *poof*. A trickle out the other side. It made no sense to me.

That spot was my first experience fishing on an Ozark stream back in early June. I caught something huge on two spoons on two separate occasions that inevitably broke my 8lb test line. It was a rush. Whatever it was charged me once and brushed my leg. I think I may have screamed like a little girl and run towards shore, but I don't remember. My friend caught a similar sized large mouth there on that trip too.

Good read, glad fishing was a success.

That's fine. Should I come by Friday night or Saturday morning? I can make a stop Friday night if that would be best, I should find your place beforehand anyway.

I finally managed to find a camping buddy so I'm going. Just researching some camping sites now and some other things. I'll give you a call soon since its too late to mail in the form.

Here is a link to the site as well: http://www.reedscabins.com/fly_fishing_tournament.htm

I'd forgotten all about this, trying to talk my friend into going as we speak. I'll even skip the game just this once . What is the canoe/kayak situation? I saw that they're allowed, but do you guys or a place nearby rent and ferry for the day? I've also never fished the Current, do you expect most people will be using some type of vessel or just wading?

I used a jig for a day.

I was worried about depth, but didn't realize it was that bad. I wasn't expecting many people out there on a Friday morning, but also failed to realize folks might be off for the holidays. Oh well, hopefully we find some fish and some undisturbed holes. If not we'll have plenty of beer . When I spoke to the lady at Hootentown she intimated that we might be dragging in the beginning but that it shouldn't be bad after that. Hopefully that is the case.

I gotta get up there!

Yeah, let's attribute it to that . Good news on that front. My cousin in law decided not to bring his fishing gear so I'm letting him borrow my spinning gear. Exclusive fly fishing for me! Not gonna lie though, the weather is a concern. Always a concern trying to get down deep with fly gear. Oh well, the panfish are always game.