Gavin

Thats its a really nice fish...I'd give him 17-18", but its hard to tell without something for reference...Looks like its been in the creek long enough to grow its fins back....but you never know......Anything is possible in a stocked fishery. Cheers.

I'm 43, and my dad taught me to fish on the Mineral Fork, Huzzah, and Courtois. Its been at least 35 years, and I still fish those streams....Started floating at 7-8 and we'd float the Meramec, and the Black...Still float the Meramec often, but I havent been on the Black in a long time. Dad introduced me to trout at 9-10...We fished Meramec Springs till we discovered Montauk, the Current River, N. Fork of the White, and the Arkansas Tailwaters...I still have a love affair for the Current, and NFoW...but I dont do trout parks or the Ozark Tailwaters anymore. Cheers.

There arent many fish over 18" on the wild trout creeks...think I've only caught 5-6 fish over 18" out Mill, the LP, and Crane since moved back to Missouri in 1992. They all went back BTW. There are no guarantee on the river, but It's pretty rare when I dont catch one over 18" if I fish the Current or 11pt for a couple days in a row. I havent fished Taney or Arkansas in a long time, but when I did alot of it, it was rare not to catch several over 18" in a days fishing. I've fished all over the country, and thats great by any standard. Accourdingly, I see no reason to try to "improve" our trout fishing, or to place further limits an anglers options. It might feel good to do so...but I doubt if it will improve the fishing much. Trout are overregulated for the most part.. Franky, If you want to do something that will provide a tangible benefit to our fisheries...Work on changing some smallmouth regulations...There is plenty of room for improvement in that area. Cheers.

Looks like a nice ride....congrats!

I oppose no kill, single hook, and barbless.......cuz its just silly.

Thanks for the advice...I bought the stuff to make em, after you showed me your originals at an SMA Alliance Rodeo a long time ago...Finally found the stuff to make them while cleaning out the basement a couple weeks ago... The trailers I put on are made from ultrasuede micro fiber..I'm sure a piece of plastic would be better, but I use ultra suede instead of plastic on waters were plastic isnt legal. Need to buy a yard of it to cut some curly tails. Thought about tearing apart a B-2 buzzer frame to make a twin spin...but I like them too much. Cheers.

Think you need a little bloody fish porn brownie....bonus points if you can name the years...spots, angler...etc.

Al, are you refering to UV Brighteners in the Chartruese Dye? Many died materials contain them, and there is some debate about how fish see them. Materials dyed with Picric Acid are in vogue with some fly tyers, aparrently because of the way they think that fish view the UV specrum. Dont know if it makes a difference or not...I just use what I like. Anyway, I got busy at the bench last night and made a few twin spins out of some skirtless buzz bait and spinner heads...What do you think?

Bass & Trout definetly do see in color...Their eyes contain both rod cells for low light vision and cone cells for color perception...I dont think their color vision is as good as ours though. Cheers.

The 32 on the right side of Bred Man's pic is one of the old mustad gold plated blind eye size 32 fly hooks...They have been out of production for a long time, and they are very hard to find these days. I think the 32 on the other side is a TMC...still very tiny but a lot bigger than the old mustad which has no hook eye. I have a pack of TMC 32's, and I've tied on them ocassionally. Cant remeber landing a fish on one though. I tie and fish 22-28's though....great for when you spot fish rising to tric's, olives, midges, or something you just cant see in the film. Cheers.

Dunno Eric...life is too short to worry about what Joe Bloe is doing....If some casual angler is pooching one of my spots...I really dont care...I hope the catch some fish....cuz if they are catching...I'm pretty sure that I'll catch plenty down the way. Cheers.

http://mdc.mo.gov/fish/watershed/salt/biotic/350bct09.htm They are there, and they have been there awhile...doesnt look like they are common though.

Those are really nice nets. Great work!

I'd definitely go with polylink or royalex over aluminum...As for the Charles River....looks like a pretty nice boat, but its only 15'8" long in the poly link version...Might go with something a bit longer like the Discovery 169 for hauling 3 people and replace the seats with something better than the plastic fantastics it comes with. Price is about the same, not a big deal to paddle one solo, and they last forever. Cheers.

Phil, I think that the premise behind Al B's comments has something to do with how available that stage of the caddis is to the fish, and the ability to imitate that stage of the insect with a drifting fly.... Free swimming caddis larva, and those larva that carry their cases move around a bit so they are more available to fish....not so much for the net spinning larva because they usually live in crevices in and under rocks, probably not as available to the fish.... Those caddis larva that attach their cases to rocks are available (and sometimes you see fish scraping them off rocks) but youd have to glue your imitation to a rock to imitate them (not practical to imitate)...Same with a caddis larva in a pupal case. When they are pupating they are usually glued to a rock or a stick or something...available but not practical to imitate. Once they pupate, come out of the case to emerge into adults, you can imitate them with a drifting fly again. As for a Z midge....I think they can look like many things...caddis larva, scuds, midge pupa, or just something small and edible. A proven fish catcher, dont leave home without some in your box. Cheers.

Come to think of it...Al put some info on the Ozark Fly Fishers site. http://www.ozarkflyfishers.org/bugs/insects.html

I'm not a big fan of that program..think it sucks up around 50,000 trout or more a year. It is popular though...I hardly ever drive up to St. Chuck, but I almost always see people out fishing for trout at Tilles, or Jefferson Lake in Forest Park. Dont worry about those trout going to waste though. The 5 gallon bucket brigade usually fishes them out quickly..often before its legal to keep them. Cheers.

Go for it...Taney needs more fisherman, and the Current needs less ;>)! Might try some different minnow baits...Rapala's are great but they dont cast as well as a minnow baits with a good weight transfer system. Cheers.

Every river is different so youll need to educate yourself every time you go fishing....and be careful... However, here are some very general guidelines...100cfs...easilly wadeable, and you can probably canoe it if you dont mind some dragging.. 300cfs, easy floating in a canoe....still comfortable wading......Over 500cfs, wading can be an adventure...best to float and hop out at good looking spots.... But everything depends on the characteristics of that individual stream, what the water level was before the rain..Sharp spikes of over a foot or two usually mean stained or sometimes muddy water, but it depends on the river. Youll get a feel for it in no time. Plus there are lots of posts about water levels for different spots in the archives of the river forums. Cheers.

Thats the Current....Brown trout are fickle, they are usually on/or off and they are very sensitive to light and fishing pressure...Get there first or be there last, pick your spots carefully, use something that might interest a nice brown trout, make your first cast count, and dont waste time fishing all the water..Cherry pick and move. Peak feeding periods dont last that long. Cheers.

You really need to look at the bug and study up on them a bit.......Caddis usually look like little moths dancing on the bushes..Mayflies look like a pair of wings with long tails in the air or little sailboats on the suface... Stoneflies look kinda like caddis flies but they are more elongated. Clumsy fliers too........Trico's or BWO's...They are both little tiny mayflies, but the BWO's are usually a bit bigger. Just toss something little and mayfly like when you see them and youll usually do OK....Spiderwebs on the river bank often tell many tales. If your looking for a good reference....Swisher & Richard's wrote a book called Selective Trout, which has some great info on Mayflies. Caddisflies by Gary LaFontaine is the fisherman's bible on Caddis. Cheers.

Joe its worth a stop for an hour or two on the way to or from someplace else, or a high water spot...but I wouldnt call it a serious destination...The fish are small for one thing..a 12" fish is a really good one for that creek. Frankly, I'd rather float Cambell to BSC, better fishing and better scenery. Cheers.

Funny stories... I cant back a trailer up to save my life..and I dont care...cuz I'm a real Claude Dallas when it comes to backing stuff up...I've never displayed a talent for it... My wife does better than I do so she is in charge of backing up our trailer.... Its in better hands that way, and I'm not afraid to admit it. Tried backing a trailer again a couple months ago...with a rented truck and a U-haul trailer...did a bit of damage to the trailer and the walls on the front of our driveway. Guess I dont have the backing up stuff gene....I'd gladly pay someone $10 or so to get my rig in the driveway, down the ramp, into a non-pull through CG spot, etc. I've failed miserably at this backing up stuff and need some help......Please be kind to the backing challenged:>) Donate $10 and I'll start a fund to get me out of your way:>)!

My guess is that your trying to justify saving a bit of money, and not buying a Winston right now ;>)!

You might get it back if someone tries to register it. Good luck.