Longs for Cutts

Thanks for the replies. I was hoping the Supreme could maybe be a do-all boat. I was thinking slap a trolling motor on the front and use it in lakes as well as rivers. Looks like the answer is no... For the curious, the first boat in the slideshow is my current front-runner for river fishing: http://www.stealthcraftboats.com/. I am probably going to eventually need to get some sort of traditional mod-V or deep-V for lakes. On top of my drift boat, raft, river boat, GAH! Fun is expensive even when it's your job.

Checking in with my old stomping grounds from out here in wintery Montana. I'm in the process of getting my captain's license and will start operating power boat trips, primarily on the Missouri River below Hauser Dam (look on Youtube for "land of giants missouri" to see why). To reach this piece of water, you launch on Upper Holter Lake and motor up to the dam in a jet boat, then drift down under oar power. Not too unlike fishing Taney. I will also use the boat a couple of other places, probably the lower Yellowstone and Bighorn Rivers and also Lewis and Hebgen Lakes in/near Yellowstone. I am looking hard at the Supremes, but I'm wondering how well they can handle wind. We routinely have days with 20-30mph wind and whitecaps. The lakes are entirely secondary to the rivers, but I need a boat that can at least get across the lakes no matter the wind without making things miserable/dangerous for my clients. Anyone care to weigh in on whether the Supremes (L48 or L60) will work for this? For comparison, most guys out here are running 16-17 foot semi-vee jon boats set up with oars and a jet for the purposes I've described.

Thanks for the replies. I'm staying in Montana. There's a lake in the eastern part of the state where I can head for a few days to get my warmwater fix (maybe including a few pike), and I've wound up booking a couple early trips on some of our local private lakes (basically farm ponds with giant trout instead of bluegill and bass). Given the conditions, it's a better bet for me to make a few hundred bucks than burn it on gas. In regards to the water conditions out here: we had a low snowpack and it's started melting in a hurry the past few weeks, but things will be fine everywhere except maybe California (which got NO snow this winter) until at least early August and again after September 10. Late August will be a crapshoot depending on how hot and dry the summer is where you're planning to go. Last year we had fairly similar snowpack numbers and the melt started around the same time, and we had no closures of note here in the SW Montana and Yellowstone areas, though the lower Yellowstone didn't fish well on afternoons in August (the upper was fine) and we had some fires. No way to predict how that'll play out until we see if we get the extended runs of 90+ daytime highs with no humidity in July and August like we had last year. If anyone's curious, I'm head guide here: www.parksflyshop.com

Former Missouri resident here. I was planning a trip back starting late this week and ending around the 22nd to fish and see family, with fly fishing for smallies in the eastern Ozark streams paramount, focused on the upper St. Francis, Castor, and Black. The flows on those streams went completely berserk a couple days ago. I have "tentatively" cancelled my trip, but things now seem to be mellowing out. My question is simple: should I make the drive and spend the money, or will there still be so little fly fishing that it won't be worth it? I tied up a ton of bass flies and hate to let them languish another year, but I also don't want to drop probably $600 just for the gas if the fishing is going to stink. I can't postpone the trip as my guiding season starts about a week after I planned to get back here to Montana.

Thanks for the replies. Still worried most about the standard spring gullywashers...

It looks like I'll be fishing in the Ozarks for the first time since 2004 this May. When I was a kid, I fished almost exclusively for trout, but this time I want to catch bass since I can't get them out here in Montana, at least not many places. I've heard that various Clousers and some crayfish patterns are must haves. Anyone care to share some specific patterns? I expect to fish the Castor, Meramec, Big Piney, and Bryant Creek. I'm hoping it doesn't decide to rain 6" the day before I get there...