Zach Bearden

I was reading through this topic wondering why nobody had bothered to share some good fly tying sites or books either. YouTube is great, but there is so much more out there. I'm glad Leonard finally spoke up and shared some stuff. Here is my addition. http://flyguysoutfitting.com He is my coach on the youth team as well as a member of the Adult Team USA. Some of his flies are quite complicated but many are incredibly simple. (Pheasant Tail and Hare&Copper) Ignore the hooks that he uses as they are quite expensive and some can be rather hard to come across as they are from across the pond. Also, many of his bead heads are tied with a Tungsten. Don't worry about that. The best of luck to you!

Sexy net

How heavy is that net? lol If I wanted a "pretty" net I would go with either Brodin or Fishknat like Chance said.

Okay, so you'll need a 5wt. line then. There are two basic types of line that I can think of for general purpose trout fishing. Double Taper and Weight Forward. Weight forward is more of a casting line for if you need distance. If I were going to fish a streamer or a large dry I would use a line like this. Double taper is a level line. I would use this if I needed to make mends with an indicator rig or if I wanted to keep it close and not worry about distance. Also, when you wear out one end of this line you can just turn it around and it has the same taper and casts exactly the same as the other end

I <3 Rio and AirFlo. Both are grand companies. Others are of course going to have preferences. What weight is your rod?

Chance, you really are having some trouble with those guys aren't you? It's totally obvious what you have to do to catch them. First things first, get a 16wt rig and a huge fly. I'm talking like 10" long and moves like crazy in the water. Then, right before you start striper fishing for the day you have to stand on one leg on the bank hop like a jackrabbit, run to Gore and back like an armadillo, and do 36 spins all while singing Elton John's "Rocket Man". Then just cast out there and let the current do all the work. Oh, and a Di10 line

I'm not sure of your budget but a Z-Axis is pretty sweet. I know many people like the flights too. Haven't ever had any experience with one.

The fish are pretty scatter-brained right now. I went down after work and caught a few. Two of them about 2-3lbs. Caught bunches of shad. Thought that was pretty funny. Most of them are caught on Pheasant Tails. Starting to target them cause the trout are beginning to thin out. Doesn't seem to matter the size of tippet. Anyone else seeing this?

Hey thanks Zack! We all appreciate it!

So exactly why can't someone under 18 enter this? I turn 18 on Oct. 29 so I'll have 2 days to enter it but I don't guess I understand the reasoning.

Nice! It's a blast on the fly rod huh? We went out and fished later today and I only caught 2. lol One was a brown so I was pretty happy. Next time you come down you should hit me up and we'll go fishing together!

Hey guys! As many of you know I was on the team last year as well. We went to the Czech Republic last year and ended up getting 7th. We held strong for a bit early on in the competition then a few blanks added up quick and we got knocked down. This year we are traveling to Slovakia! We intend to be up on that podium with some extra weight in our bags on the flight home. I figured I would share some links with you all so you could watch how we do throughout the competition and just a little info on what it is. We also have a facebook page so you can "like" us on there! =] Worlds website. http://youthflyfishing2010.sk/ US Youth Team site. http://www.usyouthflyfishingteam.com/ and our Facebook page! http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1344375719#!/pages/US-Youth-Fly-Fishing-Team/64233367195?ref=ts Best Regards, Zach Bearden.

The water is indeed gin clear. Many fish were on top this morning. They're in Pods, if you find one rising there are probably another 20 around it. That soft hackle should be uber if swung in front of them. As for places to stay, there is Marval resort which is right there on the river. And Tenkiller state park which is up on the lake. Both have cabins and are an equal distance from the dam but if you don't want to drive to fish I'd go with Marval. Fishing's not too bad right there either.

I saw a few up at the dam tonight as the water was falling. Only caught one about 14" tonight. Was still good to hook up with one though haha

I do landscaping for a local resort and don't expect a tip. We keep the place looking good and all the critters at bay so you don't get bit.

Well, luckily they scheduled it to turn off a bit tomorrow!Looks as though we may get a weekend to fish with no high water. Although, a few days after work I have been going fishing and its doing good. Fishing close to the bank has proven quite successful. Generally been fishing on the bottom. Good luck!

On The Fly, a friend of mine tells me that at Marval they are catching plenty of trout off the J hook things they threw in there. Even with the water up he tells me they were getting them pretty consistently fishing small nymphs under an indicator and just dead drifting them. GoodFisher, you guys fishing for striper I guess? Tell me how you do! Best Regards, Zach Bearden.

The river is a put & take fishery. The only way this will end up a "World Class River" is if the regulations were changed completely to C&R or limited it to a very few amount of fish per day. In a fishery where it is catch and keep by many, even with different regulations we would need a good amount of game wardens here to check on people and everything they're doing. It is up to an individual in a fishery such as ours as to whether or not they want to keep the fish. Regardless of size. Best Regards, Zach Bearden.

Are you talking about making the entire leader out of braid? If you used a sinking line and made a loop at the end, then put the braid as your tippet that would be fine. But I don't believe it would have the diameter to turn anything over.

Most of my flies are tied with a gold bead for one simple reason. Stocked Fish. When I travel to PA. I will generally fish a copper bead or a black. Wild fish are much more wary of a gold bead than stockies. A wild fish will eat either one, as will a stocked. But, there is yet ANOTHER variable. Figure you are standing in line at a braums and are deciding on ice cream. You see both Chocolate chip and Chocolate Chip cookie dough. Both are the same size but the fact that the one has a little change sets you to get the cookie dough. What I'm saying here is that the cookie dough is the gold bead. It's a change that a fish hasn't ever seen so decides to try it. I hope this makes sense lol Something else to add, Confidence is a big ordeal in this subject.

Okay, this isn't really something I can explain through text but I'll give it a shot. Fishing without an indicator can be pretty rough sometimes. It takes plenty of practice and patience. You will miss a lot of fish when you first start out. In slower water I really like to grease the first 5 foot of my fly line, cast up stream with a single nymph, watch the tip and when it ticks set the hook. There are tons of ways to nymph without the bobber but I hate explaining things through text. Next time you come down tell me and maybe we can get together and I'll show you a few ways. Just send me a message.

On the road to go to the powerhouse there is a turn-off to the right. It goes down to a gravel parking lot right beside the river. There will be a congrigation there and if you ask someone will be able to direct you to who has the flies. And I believe it begins at 8. You can buy flies any time afterward.

Lilley, yes it is Dec. 19th. Its where each person buys a fly 5$ each and has to use that fly to count it in the competition. Nobody knows what fly it will be untill the competition starts. You are allowed to go anywhere on the river. Prizes (usually trophies) are awarded for Most Fish, Biggest Fish, and First Fish. This is all on the honors system. Anymore questions just ask.

The date has been changed to the 19th. I don't know what time. Figured somebody might want to know.

When we got our boots for Team USA before worlds we had to drive studs into the bottoms of them just so we could have some traction and not be falling all the time in our sessions. Of course we didn't go spend 20$ on 20 studs. We went to someones garage, bummed a grinder and about 120 studs! Oh, and a powerdrill. We ground down the sharp end of each and every one and drove em' straight into the bottoms. While they were still a bit slippery we had a bit more traction. Quick Fix.