Greg

I'm truly sorry to hear that Michael. You have been very kind to me and my family over the last few years. Hopefully I'll see you before you go. I'd like to keep in touch too. Montana will be awesome though. In a lot of ways I'd love to live there too. Greg

Jerod - since you won't be renting a boat I would highly advise you to keep your options open to fishing both the Norfork and the White. I primarily wade and that's what my family and I do. We like to stay somewhere around Mountain Home. From there you are within an easy drive of the 2 Norfork accesses, Rim Shoals, Wildkat, Cotter, etc.Then where we fish just depends on generation. A lot of times if they are generating on the White - they won't be at the Norfork. Both are great to fish. We were there 2 weekends ago and didn't get to fish the White due to the heavy generation but the Norfork was great. We didn't catch any brook but caught a # of cutthroat. Just a thought. Hope you have a great trip. Greg

Brian just curious if when you are catching trout on the 11 point - if you can easily distinguish between the the wild and stocked trout? Also I would assume a certain # of the stockers do spawn? And then their offspring would then be considered wild? Greg

All I know is I own a 5 wt TT line and it seems perfectly matched to any of several 5 wt rods I've used it on. Greg

My 3 most memorable: 1. A brown trout I caught several years ago just between outlet 2 and rebar (Taney). I had my wife and son with me. I hooked him on 6X tippet. He just wouldn't give up. He made several long, long runs. Plus at one point he just kind of sulked mid stream and I couldn't budge him for probably 10 minutes. My son was fairly new to fly fishing and was in awe. When I finally got him in he was "only" about 20" but with big shoulders, a pronounced kype with teeth, and was in full color (fall spawn). I thought the length of the fight might do him in. But he swam off strongly. Just a brute. I've caught numerous bigger trout but he was the best fighter. 2. Maybe 10 years ago while floating the gasonade with my family I caught a huge smallmouth on an UL spin rod. Length and girth said he was approx 5 pounds. Despite his size he jumped several times and once I thought I'd lost him in a snag. 3. 9 or 10 years ago fishing #2 outlet (Taney) during generation I caught a bow that was approx 9 and maybe 10 lbs. Biggest trout I've caught to date. Oddly she didn't fight that hard. Too fat. Still just her sheer size made getting her in pretty difficult on a fly rod along with the generators going. Also by the end I had a crowd watching and cheering me on. Several in the crowd were puzzled that I released her. None of these is close to the biggest fish I've caught in 40 years of angling. But these are the 3 I remember best. Greg

Just my opinion but I wouldn't overline that rod. I think the TT is a fine choice though. Greg

A lot of good answers here. My .02 is that I have a definite preference for 2 pc rods - until I try to travel via plane. Then the 4 pc is much superior. But I do think I can tell a difference in the casting and "feel" of a 2 pc vs a 4 pc - with the 2 pc being superior and smoother IMHO. This is admittedly a very small difference but it is there (for me anyway). Plus the weakest point of any rod no matter how technologically advanced is the ferrule. So with a 4 pc you have 3 weak points as opposed to one. Both types have their place. My everday rod for Taney is a 2 pc. But I definitely have a couple of 4 pc rods for long distance travel. Greg

I have never caught a striper or hybrid - so I can't give an answer there. But of the other gamefish I've caught here is my list: 1. Brown trout - for pure stamina and staying power (the few carp I've caught were at least equal though) 2. smallmouth bass - for ferocity 3. rainbow trout - showiness and leaping ability I was fishing last weekend in Ark on the Norfork. I caught quite a # of 3 different trout species (brown, rainbow, and cutthroat). I was struck by how different they all 3 fight on the end of a fly rod. The browns are my favorite. They are not showy. But they just don't give up. It's easy to see why they sometimes don't seem to recover if the angler isn't careful after being landed. They sometimes literally fight themselves to exhaustion. Greg

John thanks for the advice. I appreciate it. We'll look for those deeper runs you mentioned. I think I know just where you are talking about. My son is 14 and a half. He loves dry run creek. We plan on several more trips before his 16th. I would like for him to catch a really big one there in the next year. Regarding sight fishing - I've had pretty good luck sight fishing to bigger fish at Taneycomo over the years. But dry run creek is probably a different matter. Greg

John - any suggestions on fly patterns or techniques to get the bigger fish at dry run creek to bite? I was there last week with my son. We fished there for several hours. He caught a lot of fish (probably 25 in just a few hours) and had a good time. However towards the end he found a pocket with several huge fish. He drifted several patterns over those fish for over an hour but just couldn't get them to take. Thanks, Greg

I guess I'm alone here but I've tried them (once) and just didn't care for them. Mainly I just didn't see a big advantage over the knotless mono leaders. I get many months of use out of the cheap ones too. Greg

When are we going????? Congrats - great fish. Greg

BRBF - I knew you were most likely kidding and I was just kidding you back. And not to hijack the thread But regarding gear and $$- not always but a lot of the time you get what you pay for. For years I bought cheap waders and they always wore out in a year. Same with boots. My Simms stuff is 4 going on 5 years old and still going strong. So obviously at least for me even though it costs more initially my Simms waders and boots are more cost effective. Greg

Hey??!! I wear Simms stuff. I've been called a lot of things but not pompus (LOL). Greg

Go for it. But don't limit yourself to just jigs though. Jigs work great but sometimes they just won't hit a jig. With an UL spinning rod and a float/bobber - you can cast flies as well. Greg

No not really hard to find. Here's a map. See p. 16 http://www.agfc.com/!userfiles/pdfs/gu...s/2009Trout.pdf Good luck Greg

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Greg

The reports are fairly reliable but not infallible. I've driven all the way to Taneycomo (1 hour) and also all the way to the White (2hours) on a prediction of no running water for the day - only to have the water turned on as I'm putting my waders. Needless to say pretty frustrating. But that's the way it is with our tailwaters. It's a crapshoot for waders. Greg

Thanks. That's great. It'll give me something productive to do the next time I'm there. I'm going to pick some of the thread for the yong fly too. I'll bet it would be a great dropper off a heavier fly. Greg

That sounds like a good idea. That might keep it from slipping. Greg

Hey thanks FFM. You've got me curious though. What other materials do you buy at the crafts stores? My wife is always dragging me to one of those stores. Greg

Anybody know where you can obtain that thread used for the body? Greg

Maybe I do need more wraps. I've never tried that GSP thread. I'll give it a try. thanks, Greg

Anyone know any tips on how to make a Y2K fly more durable? I like the fly even though it doesn't really imitate anything in particular and sometimes it works when nothing else will. I can tie a pretty good looking Y2K - BUT mine start falling apart after just a few fish. The glo yarn starts fraying and/or the yarn starts sliding down away from the bead head towards the bend of the hook. Maybe that's just the nature of the fly. But maybe someone has a tip or 2 to make them more durable? thanks, Greg

No offense but anytime you see fish on a stringer I think it's a normal assumption that they were kept........ But obviously you didn't and more power to you. Greg