fishinwrench

LMAO. good stuff, Joe I admitted early in this debate that I had never stepped in or even seen a didymo bloom, so my input is nothing more than me venting. I'm just going by what I notice, such as.... almost 10 years ago everyone was up in arms because a didymo bloom hit the White below BS, we went down there afterwards expecting to see this terrible snot everywhere, and didn't notice anything close to what the guys on Wilsons forum were describing. And although its been 3 years since I was last down there I still have friends that go routinely and they always come home talking about how awesome it was, complete with pics of big browns ect. So to me it is like a story of a haunted house, I've heard a thousand ghost stories but still haven't heard of a single person being HURT or killed by a ghost..... So I am skeptical as to why everyone is scared of them. Same deal...Guy comes back from Arkansas and says OMG the didymo is just awful, what a shame the White is gonna die, and oh by the way check out the big browns we caught ripping streamers !

Check out the background scenery of that pic though, Brian. Looks beautiful! Didymo may just be the best condo repellant ever ! But yeah, that's the anti-felt poster everyone has seen, pic obviously taken after a long dry period. We get similar sporadic blooms of algae from time to time on the tribs of LO, Truman and Pomme. Usually in the early Spring before we get a good rain, and afterwards it is gone for the rest of the year. Seriously though, Id like to see a current pic of that same spot, I bet it all washed away in the next high water event. Nobody is gonna fish in that slow shallow frogwater (where algae grows) anyway.

Ya gotta give OB credit, he has addressed a lot of slanted questions intellectually and still hasn't called anyone a flippin idiot... and that's better than I coulda done. Your points are all good, OB. I think for myself personally, a ban on felt will be a tough pill to swallow because I don't like someone telling me what to do when I know that I am causing no harm, and in essence care more about the streams than the ones making the rules do.

Which waterway is it that is so ate up with didymo that nobody wants to fish there anymore? And what waterway once had a good fishery, but no longer does, because of didymo? Can't seem to get an answer to that one. Is that because the answer is "nowhere" ? Trying not to come across like a smartass, just can't get behind this whole thing that has never happened and probably wont.

Well then I have a better suggestion: let's ban the interstate transport of felt soled boots. Does that suit everyone? If not then let's go to work banning other items of safety gear...ya know, seat belts, helmets...crap like that. Im sure an argument could be made that they too have their inherant bad sides. Im sure that eye surgeons would go along with a ban of wearing sunglasses while weedeating and fly fishing. The more I think about this felt ban the more rediculis it seems to me. If your are gonna wade on rock snot we want you to do it with rubber soled boots on....gimme a break! Don't mean to sound selfish, but if Im sitting home too sore to fish or work because I got hurt fishing without proper gear, Im not gonna get much comfort from the fact that I helped make sure that everyone else didn't have to see some didymo while they are out fishing.

And where has didymo decimated a fishery? I asked that earlier in this thread and nobody referenced a didymo disaster zone. Sure it looks nasty.... so do condo's, blue pipes and concrete walkways. But where has the introduction of rock snot turned a kick butt fishery into anything less. At least with felt, if we DO get the snot we will still be able to wade through it to catch the fish THAT ARE STILL THERE without busting our asses.

The choice to make our own choices is kind of a big one for ME. Some people choose to do most or all of their fishing within their respective region and now have to pay a price (monetarily and in their safety) or be inconvenienced because of guys that choose to travel all over and fish a different river every week. They are obviously the ones with all the expendable cash..... so just trust them to buy boots that wont spread the deseases they contract by dipping their feet all over the world, and leave the poor homeboys alone. Truck stop prostitutes carry protection...why can't fishermen be trusted to do the same, without government intervention? Pretty soon you wont be able to crawl into bed with your wife without a condom on. How's THAT for a Saturday morning analogy? From another angle.... I gotta wonder if neoprene water shoes like all the party floater chicks wear are going to be regulated upon as well? My G/F is gonna be lifted if she has to give up her favorite shoes. That gal takes her shoes pretty serious, lemme tell ya!

The White contracted didymo quite awhile back, yet it is still a destination fishery. What about the cases in NZ, has the fishery been severely effected, or is there still good fishing there? It just seems to me that they are really milking the research and decision making time to the point that if it is a serious threat it will be far too late before any ban is put into place. What do I know though, since I have only read about and/or seen pictures of dymo...and have never knowingly stood in it or touched it personally. Who here has done the Didy'? Show of hands...

This baloney has been going on for 10+ years, if they are convinced that this is a serious issue then why all the foot dragging? Either ban it, or dont..... but hurry up and make a decision for crying out loud!

Yeah, they move around too much duriing this time of the year to chase them on foot.

If you're wanting better odds on getting into some Smallmouth you'll do better above (upstream from) lake Niangua. The stretch from tunnel to LO is kinda sluggish/swampy after the first couple of miles, you'll want a trolling motor or small outboard on the jon to complete the float, or you'll paddle your arms off getting to HHT. The stretch of the Niangua below Prosperine is some beautiful.water and the fishing is outstanding. The reason it remains so is mostly because it is NOT shuttle friendly, accesses are on opposite sides of the river and the distance between them is pretty long by water...and long as hell by land.

Nice ! I see some stuff there that would slaughter the whites and hybrids. If you get close to L.O. in late September gimme a shout.

The more casts you make, the more strikes you detect, more hooksets, more knots you tie, more flies you go through and have to tie...... it all makes you better at this sport. And that is the real goal....To be good at it. And once you become good you wanna be better. And the more you do it the better you become. Practice makes perfect, its a golden rule. When it comes to WORK though, it would be cool if I could quit as soon as the bills are covered.

Try a #18 brown hackle peacock (soft hackle). If you look at them closely in good light those tiny black caddis really aren't all that BLACK.

I never thought I'd have use or need for a 9 until I ended up with one via a trade deal, but now I find myself reaching for it all the time. I don't throw anything bigger with it than my 7 can handle, but with the 9 I can cast further and with less false casting. It doesn't wear me out one bit. I pretty much let my tippet size determine which rod weight to use.... if Im using 10-12# tippet I use the 9wt.

That frog has date on the flats already. Soon, right?

Those are nice fish guys, and were fairly common for me and a couple other guys I fished with during the 2001-04 seasons. We had a muddler pattern and stripping rhythm that they just couldn't resist. After that something either happened to the fish...or to me, because I havent been able to find them or get them to bite like that (or any other way) since. The really odd thing is that MDC claims to be stocking thousands more per year these days then they did back then. Either they are full of $#!t, or my catch rate soars when they stock fewer fish.

I know...its like every rod needs its own boat. I'm sick with it, and the meetings just make it worse.

Hey, you mind yer manners, this ain't Appleby's.

I'd say to just pick whatever motel/lodge looks homey'est to you that is between the glaize bridge and the state park entrance. Prices and accomodations will likely be similar....and its close to some good food.

No problem, give a shout anytime...I wanna look at that boat anyway 372-3304

Hey, if you sell the motor I might be interested in the boat. Bill Babler might have a good 20 or 25 also...if he hasn't sold it already. Sorry about your stolen outboard Cragrat, happens alot because they are an easy target and can be parted out and sold on Ebay fast. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but in all my years I have never seen a stolen outboard get recovered by the law....I really don't think they even waste their time trying.

When you catch ONE it's likely that you've located a whole school. If you do any research about them everything you will read about white bass leads you to think that they are perpetual wanderers...constantly following schools of baitfish, and I'm sure that's accurate unless you are on a body of water like this one where shad are so thick that they are everywhere. Our whites tend to haunt certain areas, taking on more of an ambush approach and hammering the random schools of shad as they pass through. What I look for are areas where the whites can herd a school of bait into a corner, cuz that's where the real fast and furious action goes on. All they need is two "edges"... the surface of the water being one "edge". Anytime you can find whites using the surface as an edge to herd their food you are in business with a flyrod and a floating or intermediate line. I'm not only referring to obvious surface busting type feeding, most of the time that this goes on you'll never see a fish actually break the surface. The way you locate them is by covering an area quickly stripping a subsurface fly a foot or two under the surface and watching behind the fly for flashes. Once you see a flash start experimenting with different retrieves and maybe different flys until you find what it takes to make them go ahead and eat it. They'll chase and flash at just about anything that gets their attention, but they'll only strike what they intend to eat. No I mostly fish the larger flats on the lake but the location pattern is basically the same as tailwater fishing....the only difference is that a dam is not acting as one of the "edges", I have to loosely define the word EDGE, because I still haven't learned to recognize them all. Current seams are the obvious edge in a river, but lake edges can be kinda subtle ... and surprising. For example: Last Fall I located a spot on a large flat that consisted of nothing more than a shadow of a ridgeline and a big laydown tree, almost every day from 4:30 until dark the whites would gorge on every school of shad that passed between that shadow-line and the laydown, and that went on clear up until they dropped the lake to almost 657.0 and the water temp got down into the low 50's Don't give up on the bucketmouths though....they help fill the gaps when the whites/hybrids can't be figured out If you really want to get an education on flyfishing for temperate bass google up the articles and podcasts featuring Bill Butts, he is on top of it like nobody else I know.

Yeah but I bet he'll have to be carried out. LOL

Probably the RIGHT THING to do is treat everyone that interferes with your fishing the same as you would a stone cold hottie in waders. Y'all talk all this s#!t, but if April Vokey walked behind you you'd give her all the time and space she could possibly want. And I doubt she'd walk behind you unnoticed either.