Gavin

Ditto...I've fished a McStick, in my swimming pool for a bout 10 minutes to get a feel for it...and on the Current for 15 minutes on 4 separate occassions when other baits were working.......not a touch. Think I have an old glory and a blue bandit...soon to be heading to ebay.

Wow! Thanks for the eye candy!

I feel your pain

1.1 at Akers is dead low. Its floatable, but you'll drag every other riff....I like it alot better when its up around 1.75', especially in a loaded canoe. Plenty of water right now. Dont think youll have to worry about much. Cheers.

Stlfisher, whats the main musky forage in Lake 35 and how big are they? Blue Gill, Small Bass, Shad? Think I want to give it a go this year.

I have two of them, and I'd recommend them both......"The Yellowstone Fly Fishing Guide" by Craig Matthews, and "Fishing Yellowstone National Park" by Richard Parks...If your looking for some short backcountry hikes...Trout Lake is a half hour walk....The Yellowstone below Tower Falls is a short walk. Hellroaring Creek is a bit further. Soda Butte, the Lamar, and the Y. Stone in the Canyon are your best bets for a Y. Stone Cutt. Dont bother with the Y. Stone below the Lake (Buffalo Ford area)...It was great fishing 20 years ago, but not anymore(no fish). I dont really see a need to hire a guide in the park...but its worth the cost if you want to fish Upper or Lower Madison, or the Y. Stone outside the park. Cheers.

Hope they tasted better than your gloves;>)!

Not much rhyme or reason for it...Just a WAG but it might have something to do with spawning brown trout that run up in the winter....the ledge at the handicapped hole should keep most of them downstream. Frankly, I'd rather camp free on the river & fish the Blue Ribbon. Cheers.

I've been there a few times....What is your time frame? How are you getting there? And whats your agenda once you hit the park? Post it or shoot me a PM... The Grizz arent bad...I've seen a few while fishing within O'Blank range but never a problem.

No hard feelings Randall. Your the legal scholar...I'm not. The rules arent clear and I'm comfortable with that. Think I'll take my chances till I see a definite prohibition. You'd probably have to tick off an agent to get a ticket for it anyway.

The parks operate under a couple different sets of rules.. Missouri DNR runs the park, and they set the zones, and the rules for each zone. MDC's rules govern tackle definitions & limits, and there are some gray areas... There isnt anything specifically allowing the use of droppers in the winter, but the regs say.... "Flies only"....Words mean things...."Flies only" is plural statement so you should be able fish more than one. They should say "Single Fly Only" if they wanted to prohibit the use of more than one fly,but they dont. Havent seen anything about a 6" rule but that seems like a minor point...most folks fish droppers longer than that. Cheers.

2 boats gigging...300 fish in an hour & a half..That had to be non-stop gigging... I've never been, but what do most folks do when they gig? Do they use a couple of boats to herd fish into a big school and jab away, or do most select individual fish?

Dry fork creek dumps in between the Spring, and Cardiac Hill...it must cool the water considerably, because its always been tough fishing below Dry Fork in the winter time. Locals do a fair amount of gigging down there as well.

Montauk Lodge should be open on Sunday, but I'm not sure about Monday...There are thousands of trees down in the ONSR thanks to a violent wind storm last year, looks like a pile of pick up sticks in many places. Bring a saw and go get some of it. Shouldnt take long at all. Cheers.

On the river...6' Medium Light spinning with a fast tip. 2000 series reel...spooled with 6lb Suffix Performance Braid in yellow, and a 10' leader of flouro or green mono in the 8lb range attached with a triple surgeons knot. The only time I break off the lure or leader is when snagged. I use 8lb green mono if the temps are below freezing. Cheers.

You might find some inspiration here. Cheers. http://www.grandrivertroutfitters.com/photogallerymusky.html

If your doing the upper..250cfs on the Buck Hollow guage is a good float level if you want to do the Prongs...If your starting at Buck Hollow (17 bridge) 150-200cfs is good..I've floated Buck to Bay at 100cfs and falling before but I did lots of dragging. As for Hazards...There is a bridge culvert just below the Prongs, that could be interesting at high water, a couple ledges to run, and lots of submerged rocks to watch out for. Have fun.

Jerkbaits....Rapala's, Lucky Crafts, & Rogues in the 3.5"-5.25" range for the bigger fish..... San Potter reported some small olives coming off, didnt see any, but I'd expect em to be in the 22-26 range this time of year....If you get a warm NIGHT, or better yet...TWO NIGHTS were the day & night temps stay above freezing...expect some caddis activity on top.......emergers & dries....usually about a size 18 and gray/olivish this time of year. Otherwise, fish your usual suspects...buggers, brown & olive mohairs, eggs...etc. Have fun!

I enjoyed that Brian, thanks for sharing.

Epoxy is messy...and the fast cure stuff tends to yellow...I'd go with a slow cure epoxy...over an hour cure time and rotate them...or a dipped finish with a clear lacquer depending on what you used for the base coats. Cheers.

Good luck...took a road trip up to Pere Marquette for some eagle peeping on Sunday...lots of ice above Alton.. Flies look great BTW...

Giant Wrap, Tiny Guide...kinda remind me of the old flip ring guides that you see on ancient fly rods...Frankly, I dont like the way they look.. I guess they save on weight, but are they fragile?

A boga grip and some gloves would be in order while your trying to get it in a cradle..

Heck, the Mississippi is darn near frozen over above Alton...

Its certainly possible...I've seen pictures of guys landing 100+ lb tarpon from 12' kayaks in Florida. Did a guide trip for Muskie on the fly up in Ontario several years ago..Ken Collins from Grand River Troutfitters was our guide..the flies we used were big articulated monsters over a foot long..10wt, short section of heavy sinking line, and a steel leader..Keep 10-15' outside the rod tip, water load it on the back cast, & fling it, then strip like mad...Funny but the only musky we hooked was on a 3" long black sparkleminnow & 3x...that didnt last long.