fishinwrench

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.

Well of course there is.... Rudder on the right, glide towards gravel bar on right... set paddle across thwart and throw right leg out... Step out with right foot just before canoe connects gravel... Left heel, which will now be caught in seat strap or edge of gunnel will bring canoe to a sudden stop... Riight foot will slide on a snot rock just enough to make you think you are going to fall....but you wont....So just ride it out and try to look cool. Shake left foot free Billy Jack style , fake a liimp for a few steps and say, "oh darn I got a cramp"...just in case anyone was looking. Life is good on the river!

I hate having to depend on 120 volts....but nothing makes the job of filleting a mess of fish go smoother than a good electric fillet knife. Most of my fish cleaning is White bass and those rib bones are tough as hell. In the absence of electricity I prefer the old standard wood handled Rapala's. Crappie, trout, and catfish are a breeze with the Rapala blade....but whites are another story.

I recognize that beard.... Uploaded with ImageShack.us Can't wait to hear that story.... I wouldn't wanna piss Barry off.

Yeah, from what I hear the catfishermen are catching more of them by drifting shad than the guys that are targeting them specifically. I'm not even gonna try until we start getting those first cool rains of early Fall.

Good lesson. Be prepared for that big piece of wood at or about mid-canoe/position 5 though Seems like there's always something there that wants to send you crashing thru the rest of the stretch like a pinball. I love to watch a truly skilled paddler handle a tricky spot. Occasionally I get into a bad groove where things are just happening too fast and the wrong stroke will get me into trouble. When I see that about to happen I scoot off the seat, knees on the hull and use my paddle at chest level to fight off the stuff I dont want to crash into, and leaning into the objects I can't fight off. I know that's not proper, could be dangerous and probably looks hillarious...but it has kept me from dumping quite a few times. Any tips on the best desperation move....when things start to go bad and you can't think quick enough? Because there are lots of spots where ferrying away from one widowmaker can cause you to broadside another one. Good thread!

Are you guys hearing any white/hybrid news up that way? I'm gearing up to attack the area around the buffalo's this Fall.

And THAT is what "rivers are for"...... moving $#!t far downstream.

There is that, one can only hope. I need to learn more about zebra mussels and their life cycle...because it appears to me that they aren't near as thick in this part of the lake this year. Last year they were on everything that came into my shop and every dock cable and swim ladder had mussels attached to them.......This year, not so much.

This lake back-waters more than it flows through. Go far enough upstream on the Glaize arm until you have noticable downstream water movement and you'll find purer water. The mass of the contamination is NOT coming from the tributarys. And where did you hear that the samples were fine now? If asked to I could produce a passable quality sample from any given area of the lake...... .I could also stir up the bottom a bit and produce one that most likely would be off the charts. As for the other corps lakes .... they are only testing in the public beach areas where there IS development and human impact. THIS LAKE HAS HUMAN IMPACT THROUGHOUT ITS ENTIRETY. So do the math.

Sandy Texas soil prolly filters alot better than broken bedrock.

I could appreciate it if it was truly being done as implied, and if steps taken to rectify it would be effective. The lake is lined with homes and businesses and medicine cabinets loaded with anti-depressants, hormone balancers, vitamins and narcotics. And each one has a septic system no further than 30 yards from the shoreline. Add lawn and home care chemicals to the mix as well (herbicides, pesticides and fertiilizer). I'm no scientist but I am willing to bet that the main source is oozing right out from under those concrete seawalls....But e en if it is, waddaya gonna do about it? Nothing, that's what. Because a choice was made back in the 1930's to boost the area economy by allowing a living breathing community to thrive along the banks.... and pollution of one form or another is unavoidable. Nothing short of buying everyone off...or somehow forcing them to leave, is going to noticably improve the water quality here. As time goes on the water color just gets more and more stained with suspended particles of.... whatever. Anyone that spent time here back when there were still places where you could pull up on the bank and have a shore lunch will certainly attest to the natural beauty and clean water that has been forsaken, and to sit here and try to blame some chicken farm in Kansas is just rediculis. Equally rediculis is to pretend, like Jack, that the water quality is just fine because the fishing is still good. The best that anyone can hope for is that it will not get TOO MUCH worse. Wrench out.