Gavin

I've been looking at that motor too...Truth is, nobody is sure if its really 25hp at the jet. Its made on the same block as the 30, so its probably at least 21hp at the foot (30x.7=21). They may have done something with the fuel system and cam though... It also weighs in at 186lbs....Dont know what your hull weighs, but I'd keep it as light as possible and move as much weight as you can forward for better performance. A friend runs a 1448 Blazer SS with a Merc two stroke 25/20 and it runs pretty well. Its slow & loud, but it planes and gets him where he wants to go. Truth is, its a brand new motor and nobody seems to have had a chance to compare them to the old 25/20 jets. There seems to be a lot of interest in that motor, so I dont think it will be long before we have some user feedback. Cheers.

No its Dick Cheney's fault I hear he fly fishes with a can of corn in his vest.

A couple guys I know have been there recently. The wild trout stretch of the LP has been fishing pretty well, Mill has been hit or miss.. MDC recently obtained some more public access on Mill (Dr. B's section between the FS campground and the White Church) but I havent seen a map of the new CA... Fish an Olive Mohair Leach in the trout sections or a glo ball cuz there rainbows.....If you strike out on trout, bring your smallmouth flies and hit the LP downstream of the trout water. Cheers.

I'm not a fan of Ross. I have a Cimmaron and a Gunnison. The Gunnison is OK, but the Cimmaron has a design flaw that has caused it to free spool on me on many occasions. The problem is that it only has one little spring loaded pin to attach the spool to the drag system on the reel frame and sometimes that little pin gets stuck in its hole and wont engage with the drag. It usually happens if you get your reel wet in freazing weather and it also happens if you get a little grit in your reel. The Gunnison has the same problem but it has two pins to engage the drag, so the free spool problem happens rarely.. I do a lot of cold weather canoeing & fishing and my reels get wet and dirty in the bottom of my canoe...It might be just fine if your only going to fish when its nice out and keep your reels clean and dry but its not a good reel for me. I want a reel that performs like an AK-47..works all the time, dirt, cold, etc. not an M-16. I can say the same about Shimano Spinning reels. They work fine for the first couple months, then they start to bind when they get wet. I wont buy another Shimano spinning reel either. This year I switched to Daiwa spinning reels, hope they perform a lot better than the Shimano's. Cheers.

FWIW, we were just having some fun with Sam. Personally, I think very highly of Sam. He's a great guy. I've met him on the river several times and correspond with him via email on a pretty regular basis. I'd recommend his services to anyone who wanted to learn how to fish the Upper Current. If there is any "secret big fish fly" on the Upper Current its called hard work. There are lots of big brown trout on that creek but you really need to know the river and work at it to catch them. -Float & Fish the river often -Learn were the big fish live -Pick your spot and get there first(or fish at night) -Fish Alone -Sneak up to your spot -Tie on something that will interest a big brown trout -Make your first cast count Cheers

Dunno, sounds like some kind of abnormality or an injury. Maybe it got hit with a sucker gig and survived? Take any pics?

Bare minimum, I want a reel with enough drag to prevent it from overspooling if I hook a big powerful fish (more likely a car moving 25mph on my backcast). We are very fortunate to have a lot of choices. When I first started fly fishing almost everybody fished with a Plueger Medalist and those who could afford better fished an Orvis or a Hardy. The few fly reels available with good drag systems were incredibly expensive. These day's you can choose from a ton of quality disc drag reels and the prices are pretty reasonable. Most of the $100 fly reels sold today are a lot better than the most expensive stuff you could buy 25 years ago. Accourdingly, I cant really see a reason not to use a modern disc drag fly reel. Cheers.

There are a lot of good reals out there these days, and some I'd never buy again. From my experience, I'd give the following reviews. Ross Reels, POS reels, I'll never buy another one. Tibor Reels-Fantastic Saltwater reel with a great cork drag, not good in cold weather due to the cork drag. Galvan OB Series- Great reels, been usuing them for at least 5-6 years of use and never a problem with light saltwater use or in sub zero conditions. My favorite reels anything other than heavy duty Saltwater use. Teton Reels-Great reels, great drag, had one for 7-8years w/o a problem, but got rid of it because I didnt really like its tinny sounding clicker. I have some others, but I dont use them often because they fall into the "collectable" category. Cheers.

Hank, we started at the railroad tressel and floated down about 6-7 to the first slab. Flow was similar to the Current up in Montauk state park. Fast, but just on the margins of easy floating. A 4" drop in the water level would have made for a lot of dragging. Havent floated that section in two year and I was a little disappointed. Looks like someone did a little gravel mining between my last trip and this one. Dont think I've ever done Wenkel to Peters, if I'm fishing down that low on the BB I usually put in at a friends place and float down to Rieker or wade fish around Guth's Mill.

Mallard, I think your gummy minnow might not technically be a fly, (but you cold whip some thread on it to make it one, LOL)but even if its not it would probably fall into the artificial lure category. Most of the stuff stuff your fishing retail shops define as "soft plastic baits" are made of a very soft, non-durable plastic, and its usually impregnated with flavor and scent. Not so with the gummy, its made of a very durable, semi soft plastic, and its not impregnated with flavor or scent. Cheers.

Sounds like a good trip. Floated the Huzzah up above Eagle Hurst yesterday. Its usuallly a drag & float, but it was at a realy nice water level yesterday. The water wasnt mid-summer air clear, but we could see bottom in all but a few of the deeper spots. Most of the fish were in the riffs, and we didnt any active beds. Not a great day for numbers or big fish but we caught enough to keep it interesting. Fun day.

Its not really that ambiguous...Can you legally fish a curly tail grub, plastic worm, tube, or fluke in blue ribbon trout areas? I'm sure they would be VERY effective, but they arent legal. Can you fish a fly with some silicone legs? No Problem. Gummy Minnow? probably, because its not made of rubber worm material (Plastisol). Cheers.

My bets on an olive woolhead sculpin or white, or copper zonker..Attention WFT, the fish are on, bring plenty of big cranbaits!

My dad said they did really well on crappie on Sunday.

If your in a canoe, I'd float from Pulltite to Round Spring. The smallie fishing is better below Round Spring, but youll have a lot of jet boats to contend with. Cheers.

Bennett is what it is. Spot a good fish and use something that looks like guts or a pellet. A ginger mohair leach or cream thread jig is a good gut pattern. Deer hair spun around a hook and trimmed to shape and hit with a brown marker makes a good floating pellet, and dark brown yarn around a hook makes a good sunken pellet. Cheers.

Just bought one yesterday...We didnt have the $1,500 for a HiDef with a Hard Drive so we opted for a Sony DVD308 Handycam. We havent had a chance to play with it much, but it looks like its going to be a fun toy. Sony does make and underwater housing for it ($250-300) but I'll have to wait awhile before picking one up. Cheers.

Kayaks are a lot of fun but I'd also check out solo canoes. After I sold my Old Town Pack Solo canoe several years ago, I was seriously considering a kayak. The two that I was torn between were the Widerness System Pungo 120 sit in kayak, and the Wilderness System Tarpon 120 sit on top. While I was debating, I came across a good deal on a used Wenonah Vagabond Solo Canoe and bought that instead. My solo isnt quite as stable and its a little slower than most kayaks, but I like it because its a lot lighter, and it hauls a lot more gear. I'd take a solo canoe or kayak over a pontoon for most flat water fishing, but if your on a big fast river I'd probably go with a good pontoon boat. Good luck with your purchase. Cheers.

Excellent info Al...In regard to spots on the BB. I havent caught a spot or a hybrid above Wenkel Ford yet but I've caught several spots and some hybrids above Noser Mill. Made a few trips to the stretch between 185 and Rieker last year and the ratio was about 60/40 spots to smallmouth. Its almost all spotted bass below Guth's Mill.

Thats a nice load of shrooms...Got a small mess of them before the freeze, but I'm hoping to find more when it warms up a bit. How do you keep em? Whenever I find more than I can eat in a couple days, I dry them, vacuum seal them in little baggies and toss em in the freezer.

The USFS campground at Greer costs a couple bucks, but you can camp free at the USFS campground at nearby McCormack lake, they dont have any facilities though... You can wade up by the bridge at Greer or take the trail down to graveyard hollow, but its best to have a canoe. Brian can arrange that for you. Greer to Turner would be my pick for a day float. There is free camping at Patrick Bridge on the NFOW, also at Hammond Camp by the CC bridge, but I usually stay at Sunburst ranch. Camping is less than $10 a day, they have hot showers, and Justin can hook you up with a canoe & shuttle. Kelly to Sunburst is a good day float. In Arky, check out Quarry Park Campground on the Norfork Tailwater, not sure where you can camp at Taney but someone else can probably recommend a spot. Cheers.

Brian, if your shopping for fishing yaks...The Tarpon 120 is a great sit on top (SOT) fishing yak and the Pungo 120 is a really nice sit in kayak(SINK). I was torn between the two a couple years ago but I ran across a great deal on a used Wenonah Vagabond solo canoe and bought that instead. On a trip through the Alpine Shop last week I noticed that Ocean Kayak also has one that looks a lot like the Tarpon..Havent paddled it but it looked good. Cheers.

M-LP & Mill Creek T-Current W-11pt R-NFOW F-Mountain Home,AR St-Taney Sn-Go Home

Yuck! Wouldnt those look better in the garage? Ya can still see them when there hanging under the stairs!

A 6,7,8, or 9wt should work...heres a pic of my favorite pond greenie fly. The small one 2.5" works pretty well on a 6wt, the big one 3.5" takes an 8 or 9wt. Cheers. http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?act...ost&id=2691