Gavin

Cant blame a young fellow for keeping...Most get over it...Saw some 50 year old doofus on Facebook this week.."Guide" on a Missouri river who claimed that he was gonna toss a 20.25" smallmouth in the skillet..Dont know if he was just stirring up stink or not....The guy definetly knows how to fish...but he seems to be a doofus to the bone.

LOL..Funniest thing I've read here in awhile.

Mid April is a fantastic time to float and enjoy the scenery..Mother nature coming to life, dogwoods in bloom, but the fishing is usually inconsistant. Mid May through mid September is prime time if fishing is a priority. Have fun.

In progress...two patterns...Hope yall have at least a 7wt for one of them....Should be able to chuck the other with a 5wt easy...Need to round up a few possibles to complete.

It would be a total experiment Mitch....got a blank you like, but want it with a caster and shorter...can be done.....shorten it up..or add length under the grip..it gets unpredictable when you start getting into the tapered section of the blank. Taper IS everything..A deflection test helps...(Hang a weight off the end and match the curve).But it tells you nothing about recovery rate (How fast the rod unloads back to straight).Fun stuff, but not inexpensive. You will go through 1-2 Ok's, till you get what you want....

S'more great one's!

Yep...one of those was built on a cut down 6' spinning blank...The amount you can cut varies depending on the taper of the blank...Most have a straight untapered section under the grip...put the top of the grip were the taper starts, and cut off the back..You wont know how much you can take off until you get the blank in hand.

Short casters are tough to find...I made 2 5' casters last year...not quite happy with either. Was planning at least one more for this season...Probably one of the 5'6" model, maybe a 6' too. http://www.northforkcomposites.com/catalog/bass

We will never know...Both are awesome catches, good for both of you.... but a different side is shown in the pics...Impossible to compare the spot patterns.

Some very nice fish gents!...Wonder if any of them were the same fish.

I've only caught one smallie over 20" in Missouri. Caught her on a float last April while ticking bottom with a 3/8oz swim jig, 21" with a 14" girth. My best on the fly measured 19". I've caught lots of 15-17" fish over the years...but any smallmouth over 18" is usually my fish of the year.

Olive over white never works ;>)..Nice! Should work anywhere..but sharpen that hook.

Lots of crappie on the Bourbuese...

8lbs 10oz... http://dalehollowhorizon.com/nows-the-time-to-catch-the-trophy-of-a-lifetime/

Think you will be fine...but bring a chainsaw and a come along just in case.

Thats funny!

There all the same bug....top one is the lavae...bottom two are adults....sounds like the perfect bite for a fly rodder.

The drift boat guys would love to see McKee Bridge come down on the North Fork, but they dont want Dawt taken out...The stripers get in occassionally but not that often... A friends family owns a mill dam on the Bourbuese. It kept the spotted bass at bay for a couple years but its just a barrier now. Think they would like to take it out...but that might cost alot of money.. Nature will take it out eventually..Low water slabs are a pain too...but the high bridge replacements are just as bad...Seems that MODOT never plans an easy way to the water when they replace a low bridge with a high one....one more potential access lost.

I'd take Thunderstruck over the Jack..Good lead riff...cant wait to see it go to fish vids.

Might be a stonefly...little black ones hatch this time of year...Any of these look familiar? http://www.troutnut.com/hatch/963/Stonefly-Capniidae-Snowflies

Ha!....got a kick out of that.

16 it is....guess I need to get cracking on that...Thinking two patterns....8 & 8....

Glad to hear the CGB finally got a membership... I think the survey results are possitive....Seems that most of the people surveyed would be in favor of some regulation changes. The success rates seem to be jacked up....not much of a counter but 10 is a slow day.... .Think the MDC folks are in the process of doing some harvest rate calculations with the in-process tag studies, plus the radio tracking & tag studies have revealed a large home range for some...Think we might see some changes...but it will take a couple of years.

Awesome! Jerbait, craw, or sculpin?

Sounds like a nice mess of crappie, thanks for the report...Think your mystery man was cruising the parks looking for Mr. Right Now. Backed in, fruit on the dash, rainbow displayed...Nothing to be concerned about.