Gavin

He must be on sabbatical.

Flipping in a pond? Surrender your man card;>)!.

Nice find! Fish the heck out of it.

Have you ever thought about tossing those big swimbaits that they use for bass California..8" Huddlestons and the like...Might be worth a shot if the regs allow it.

This should explain it... http://mdc.mo.gov/newsroom/mdc-fish-hatchery-uses-diverse-trout-species-control-parasites

Trout usually like a faster retrieve...Brown trout usually like it ripped with very short pauses. They seem to shy away from a jerkbait if the pause is too long. If they are inactive and you can position your cast right, a long upstream cast a slower retrieve with small twitches every couple of seconds. Browns are pig dog ambush predators and they eat the front hook 95% of the time. Rainbows are curious, and they like to chase, but they seem to be passive mid-water grazers for the most part. No pauses to keep em chasing. They usually take the tail hook most of the time, especially on the bigger baits. Have not tried a wart on them, but I dont see why it wouldnt work. Moved some warts and blade baits to my trout kit this winter. Figure they might work well in some of the deeper spots were its hard to get a bass sized 1/8oz hair jig to the bottom in a timely manner...A couple spots on the Eleven Point & NFoW come to mind.

Glad you got it on the water. Can you stand in it yet?

Very nice!

Nice tie! I'm sure it works...have you ever tried Angel Hair in a dubbing loop instead of Estaz? It cuts your material cost, and you can blend your own colors.

I'm sure that they will eat a Wart....Steelhead & Salmon anglers use them alot, but they like colors that you would not choose for bass...Depends on the species though..You cannot find a lure too big for a brown trout, but they like drab or natural colors. Rainbows seem to prefer smaller flash and flouresence. By small...I mean less than 3" long.

Good for you. Took the kids out for a hike and drew a blank yesterday, but they are up.

It's a mess right now, and there is more rain in the forecast. Looks like its gonna be awhile before the smallmouth fishing gets good.

Think there are a few park angler jackwagons that get off on filling limits of 15" plus browns....15" is still a so what fish on the river, but the 4 brown limit in the park puts a hurt on the population of big fish. It was a horrible oversight by MDC. What's so hard about measuring a fish and identifying a rainbow or a brown..My 5 year old knows the difference. Park regs should match the regulations on the water below when it comes to brown trout.

Not the jaw breaker...but still a lousy picture...Its hard to get a good fish shot when you are alone. It works a heck of alot better if you have a friend along to take the picture.

Had plans but not this weekend..its up 20' were I wanted to go on Saturday...

Its 5.4' at Montauk...5.8 at Akers...it will be a couple days before its fishable..The NFoW and Jack's havent got much of a bump yet.

Bass-2 casters, 2 spinners, and a fly rod. Trout-2 fly rods and 2 spinners.

Sounds like you hit the spring influx.....Good for you!

21" April 17, 2012...I should go fishing tomorrow.

Chance's fish was impressive! Get a bunch down and someone will get a big one. Glad yall had a great time!

Wish I could give a report on that SK2 spin seat...gonna have to wait awhile..Feels good in my hand, gotta fish it still..I love that ACS for short casting rods with suspedinding jerkbaits and walking topwaters were my hand is tight to the reel all the time. Have to try that Minima seat on next years candy droppers. If you want a short boo fly setup for CO....I'm long on those. Shoot me a PM.

Looks like a standard Fuji Mitch...Gimme a holler anytime you want to wrap one. You probably have most of the tools...the most important one is a digital caliper to measure parts. The rest can be done with some simple hand tools, but a jig to wrap, and a turning motor is a plus. HL ist good to compare notes. Let me know how that cranking rod works. Havent found one I really like yet. A couple pics of some builds in progress. Top one is the spinner with the Fuji SK2, next is the caster with the Fuji ACS..bottom two are for my daughters, standard Fuji casting seats and undersized grips for little hands. The little jig is an old fly reel seat with a screw through it...It works great for lining up tip tops and guides. Next is several rods that I made 8-9 years ago, and some works in process that are going nowhere for the time being.

I'd rather stick needles in my eyes...unless I was the first one there....

Havent fished it in a long time. Took my wife down there when we were dating 7-8 years ago...and she hated the place. 2nd to last trip...was with my Dad right before he passed. We went down to Sand Spring the day before winter C&R opened at Bennett. Ozark Fly Fishers Outing, was on the board back then so I thought I'd give it a go...Great float that first day! Probably 60-70 trout and a couple bonus bass between the two of us..Nobody out...lots of eagles.. Dad got best fish with an 18" brown...Fished the park the next day. Guess we caught 5-10 each in the first hour our two till Dad slipped and got wet. We retreated to our hotel room for a bit. Dad dried his waders, and I tied some flies...Dad suggested that we put the boat in again. We were glad that we did! Saturday came, and he woke me up early to run the shuttle before breakfast. Its probably not as miserable as Meramec Springs....but that is no claim to fame.

Saw some small reds yesterday...Thinking game on next week.