Gavin

Casting discussions make my head hurt. Lefty has developed a good method to get folks to cast quickly, but the cast he teaches (open style, moving your elbow back & forth between stops) tends to rip my shoulder apart. I really prefer the Mel Krieger style of casting where your elbow doesnt move as much, and you drift to get free power instead of pushing like Lefty . It doesnt tear my shoulder apart, and I get more distance with a lot less effort. As for distance....Not everybody needs to cast fordistance to catch a fish but developing the ablility to do it cant hurt your game. Cheers.

I've fished it a few times. I've never fished the headwaters that flow into Ft. Wood but I hear its pretty water. Unfortunately those same folks, said that it was virtually devoid of decent sized smallmouth. The 3-4 miles of trout water from Roubidoux Spring to the Gasconade has a few trout & smallmouth in it but its an urban area, and it gets hit pretty hard after the stocking truck leaves. The lower reach is worth a stop if you want to add it too your list, but I wouldnt make a weekend out of it. Cheers.

Most folks dont "get" the North Fork of the White. Its a really long drive from any major population center and there is better fishing to be had along the way from any of them. Folks may go there on occasion but most seem to gravitate toward the easier fishing that you find on the tailwaters, at the trout parks, and on smaller wadeable waters like the blue ribbon stretch on the Current. Fine with me...I like the N. Fork a lot. The fishing is challenging, but its about the only place in Missouri that you can catch a big rainbow trout and be certain that its a wild fish. Some really nice browns down there too. Cheers.

Bill, I dont have my map handy, but I think its only 2-3 river miles between Dawt and the 60 bridge. There are a couple longer floats available on the lower Bryant. Its probably 7miles from Hodson Mill to Warren Bridge, about the same between Warren and MDC's Florence Cook Access, and about 3-4 from Florence Cook to 60. Cheers.

I think one of the previous Missouri State Records was caught on a Shad Assassin, a bait very similar to a sluggo. I think the Zoom Fluke is a better bait than a sluggo though. Might try dead sticking, or slow twitchin flukes or senkos on some power pro. Fishing at night or during low light wouldnt hurt either. Cheers.

Occasionally I find a spot where I can sight fish to em. Mohair leaches that match the bottom color seem to do the trick. Cast way ahead, let it sink, then give it a twitch when a carp approaches. Spooky critters. This years challenge will be targeting longnose gar on the fly rod. Cheers.

Bill, I'm a member of Ozark Fly Fishers in St. Louis. I've only met Shawn a couple times, but he and Bink gave a really good presentaion. Will have to get down to Norfork or Beaver and do some striper fishing soon. Gavin

I've also heard reports about stripers being caught on flies at Dawt Mill. Not sure about folks gigging stripers to save trout though. Its about a 20' tall mill dam, so the river & lake pool would really have to rise to allow stripers to enter the trout water above Dawt Mill. FWIW, there were two fellows who spoke to our ff club about stripers on Lake Norfork a few years a go. One was named Bink, and the other was a fellow named Shawn Taylor who owns a B&B on the N. Fork of the White. I believe that Shawn does a bit of fly rodding for stripers on the N. Fork of the White and Lake Norfork. He might be able to answer some of your questions. Brian Wise, may too. Cheers.

Caught a small one (bought 12") a couple weeks ago in the trout stretch of the Current, but they dont seem to be very numerous. There seems to be a healthy population of good sized pickeral on the Eleven Point, we usually get a couple on every trip and we arent usually fishing for them. I've also heard that you can find them on the St. Francis, the Spring (flowing through Hardy, AR), and on the White. Cheers.

If your only going to have one canoe, I'd go with a royalex tandem canoe in the 15'-17' range. (You can always paddle it solo). If your primary use will be river canoeing, get one without a keel. No experience with the Mohawks, but the Old Town Camper, Penobscot, and Tripper's are all fine Royalex boats. If those are too expensive, I'd look at the Old Town Discovery's. The Disco's arent made of royalex so they are a lot heavier, but they are good all around workhorse canoes. Cheers.

"Traver on Fishing" is a great read, I'm sure that you will enjoy it. Cheers.

If your going to replace the grip you will need to strip the guides off to ensure a good fit between the blank, first cork ring, and winding check (if you use one). If you have access to a suitable wood or metal lathe, I'd recommend making your own grip out of cork rings instead of using a preformed grip. You usually get much better results Cheers.

What did you use to attach the reel seat? If its 5 minute epoxy or hot melt glue it should let go with some heat. Might try to boil it off if you want to save the reel seat, but you may need to use the propane torch. After you pop the seat off, it may be possible to re-glue the grip, but if not, chunk the cork grip off the blank with the aid of a pair of vice grips. Cheers.

Sorry to hear that the Branson TU Chapter faded. If your starting up a club let me know if we can help. I serve on the board of the Ozark Fly Fishers in St. Louis and weve discuss TU/FFF stuff in the past. Ozark Fly Fishers www.ozarkflyfishers.org is an FFF affiliate with about 300 members. The our members pay the club $25 in annual membership dues, and then the club pays about $300 a year to be listed as FFF affiliate. Members are encouraged to join the FFF, FFF membership is not required to be a member of our club. I've heard that the TU club structure is different. TU national collects the dues then national disperses $4-5 bucks a head to the local club to support its activites. Accordingly, TU has a lot more clout at the national level, but it seams that FFF clubs have a lot more money to provide membership benefits at the local level (out of town speakers, educational programs, newsletter, outings, banquet, support for conservation activities, etc.) Just something to think about if you want to get the ball rolling. Cheers.

I've floated the 11pt a bit. Its a pretty good sized river and fairly easy to paddle. A raft should be fine below Greer Spring, but your gonna do some paddling in some of the long slow holes. The only tricky spots that I'd warn you about are the following (facing down stream). Between Greer & Turner: First Island below Greer: Its pretty twisty on the right and there is a lot of wood in the water. The left channel is a lot easier. Mary Decker Shoal: It looks like a line of big rocks sticking out of the water. Run it down the right channel Between Turner & Whitten: Big Sycamore Tree leaning in from the left bank near the half way mark. Set it up right or the current will push you into it. Its an absolutely beautiful river. Big bluffs, giant stands of river cane, etc. Well worth the trip. Cheers.

1-Conehead Wooly Bugger 2-Bucktail Streamer 3-Hornberg 4-Crease Fly 5-Ugly White Rubber Leg Thingy 6-Half Back Nymph 7-Crane Fly/Fish Gut Imitation 8-Quill Body Mayfly-Catskill Style (Red Quill or Mosquito) 9-BWO Emerger

Gone fishing's definitions are out of date. MDC revised them last year, and a current copy is available at the following: http://www.sos.mo.gov/adrules/csr/current/3csr/3c10-20.pdf There seems to be a lot of confusion among fly fishers about soft plastics. I tend to think of "soft plastics" as plastic worms, curly tail grubs, tubes, and all the other goofy molded creations that you can buy at Bass Pro or Wally World. I also think that the intent of MDC's regulation was to ban the use of those types of lures in the Blue Ribbon trout areas. That wormy looking lure isnt made of the same stuff that they make plastic worms out of so I'd think that its perfectly legal. Cheers.

Guess you could paddle/troll & drag your canoe upstream over the shoals, and possibly portage Mary Decker on the left, but its a lot easier to float from Greer to Turner. Its only 5.5 miles and it makes a great day trip. Cheers. Brian's shuttle rates are reasonable. Cheers.

You can leave a car & even camp at Parker. Its a popular summer-time party spot, but I've never had a problem down there. Cheers.

Talked to a Agent Nichols on the Upper Current last Thursday afternoon and he said there is a very high concentration of otters on the river and that trappers had been working the area. Couldnt tell by me though, camped out on the river for 4 days, saw some orange tags on the banks (possible trap locations?), but didnt notice anyone checking traps. Cheers.

The Granger sounds like its parts from two different rods, but it might be worth something depending on its length, model, and condition. Your best bet is to post some pictures and ask the folks over at the Classic Fly Rod Forum. Read the "Before you ask for an appraisal" post in the appraisal and identification section first. Cheers. http://pub180.ezboard.com/bclarksclassicflyrodforum

1.1 is about as low as it gets, I've floated it 1.1 a few times but be prepared to drag a lot. If you dont want to drag, start at Welch & go downstream. Cheers.

Norman Oklahoma? There was a dude in my squadron from there, his name was Joe Marshall and he got in around 83 or 84.. Spent the first two years going to school, then spent the rest of my tour at El Toro, were I did a Westpac on the USS Ranger with VMA-121 (A-6 Medium Bomber Squadron), and a tour in the first Gulf war with VMFA-314 (FA-18 Squadron). I've never been too the Military.com forums, but I'll have to check them out. Thanks.

Oooray Devil Dog! Guess by your tag line you spent some time in the Corps. Did a stretch from 86-92 myself. Dont know if its any help, but a friend Greg from Illinois was trying to sell one for a buddy of his awhile back. I dont know if its still for sale. His friend built it and it has a trailer. I dont remember what he was asking for it, but it was less than $1000 and that included the trailer. The boat is located in Lincoln, Illinois (2hrs from St. Louis). If you are interested you can contact Greg for pics and info at sparkleminnow@insightbb.com Cheers.

There are lots of good options on the Buffalo, Boxley to Ponca can provide a lot of thrills if there is enough water, Ponca to Kyles can be a makes a good day float or a short overnighter, Ponca to Pruitt makes a long overnighter, or an easy 3 day. I've never been below Pruitt, but I'm sure there is a lot of nice water in the 70 or so miles between Pruitt & Rush. Cheers.