Greg

You've gotten a lot of good advice. One other thing to maybe consider since you have a vice and all the tools is one of those "tie a fly kits". I steered a friend to those and they worked great for him. You get all the materials to make several flies of the same pattern. That way you are not buying stuff you don't need at first and you hone your skills through repitition. If you go that route starting out with a wooley bugger would be a great choice. Here's a link: http://www.tie-a-fly.com/shop.htm Greg

I hope you have a good day. But be careful. Taneycomo on on generator is kind of deceptive. The current is still pretty strong. I've never been swept downstream but I've had a few close calls. Greg

The upper lake is somewhat wadeable at 40 (or 1 unit). You still generally can't wade out too far or clear across though. And on 1 unit I always do best with heavily weighted flies and/or split shot. Greg

If you are not familar with the numbers 40 is roughly 1 unit. Greg

Crane is pretty well known to most all of the fly fisherman in this part of the country. I seriously doubt these posts are causing an increase in fishing pressure at all. Crane is also a VERY difficult little stream to fish. I don't see it ever becoming overrun by fly fisherman. Droughts in past years have caused Crane creek a lot more trouble than fishing pressure. I see nothing wrong with posting these reports at all. Nice report Chief. Greg

I fished a few hours Sunday late afternoon. Decent day even though again the corps predicted no generation but they were running water the 3 hours I was there. Caught some decent bows. BUT this is several trips in a row for me without catching or even seeing any browns. That is unusual as I usually catch at least one per trip on average. Has anyone else been catching any on the upper lake in the last couple of months? Kind of funny the last couple of trips I have caught several sunfish (pumkinseeds). I assume they are holdovers from the floodgates being opened. Greg

I had a BPS gift certificate my employees had given me for boss's day burning a hole in my pocket. Ended up getting a Lamson Konic 2.0 a few days ago. Took it out Sunday. Seems like an unbelievably good reel and a good deal. Very well constructed, good looking, and with the best and smoothest drag I've ever used. I think Lamson's conical drag lives up to the hype. I was a little nervous buying a cast reel but it sure looks like it's built for the long haul. So I've relegated my old Teton to backup status. Greg

I've been using thingamabobber's in the small and large sizes for the last several months. Best indicators I've used - and I've tried them all. The best thing to me is the durability. They just don't seem to wear out. Greg

Fished for a few hours this afternoon into the evening despite the cold. I had been watching the corps predictions for generation and was pleased to see that they were predicting 0 generation on Sun until 8 PM. I arrived about 2 PM. It was snowing fairly good and cold (about 35) but I was dressed for it. I barely wet my line at the rocking chair when they blew the horn and started one generator. RATS!! I stayed there for about an hour. Caught 3 decent rainbows. Then I headed up to the hatchery area. I fished from above outlet #1 down to #2 and back with one generator. Caught a few including a pretty good 18" bow. Around 4:15 they shut the generation down. From 4:30 to 5:30 it was game on. Probably caught 8 or 9 that period including a couple of more nice 18"ers. Early in the day with one generator I was using a heavily weighted scud. As it was getting dark and they shut the water off around 4:30 I switched to a mohair leech. I hadn't night fished in some time but Michael's (Kyle) excellent instructions came back to me. I was still catching at 5:30 when I broke off my fly. No light so I headed back. Nice day despite the generation and the cold. I get kind of a kick out of fishing when it is snowing. Stayed pretty warm except my hands. Very few fisherman out - saw maybe 7 or 8 total. All of the rainbows I caught looked REALLY good. Nice color and they all fought very well. Tight lines all. Greg

I guess I'm just not very observant. Despite fishing that area for years I've never seen what is described here? I don't doubt it but I've just never seen it. I'll continue to mind my own business and concentrate on the fishing. But if it becomes "in your face" (especially where my family is concerned) I would definitely consider some type of action. Everyone has their own line in the sand I guess. Greg

Congratulations. Sounds like a great day. I've only done it (slam) once. It was on the Norfork several years ago. I've always considered mine kind of a weak slam though. The brown that completed my slam was 8 or 9" long and pretty puny looking. Greg

My wife is pretty small too. She wears a size 5 or 6 shoe normally. She ended up buying Chota's lower priced model. The Chota Abrams. We got hers from River Run Outfitters by the Tablerock Dam near Branson, MO. They've been good boots the last 2 years. I had a hard time convincing my wife she needed to go up a full size or so for wading boots. Vanity? The first ones she bought - she got a size 5. Too tight once she got the waders and heavy socks on. This last pair is a 6.5 or 7 and is much better for her. Here's a couple of links: http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0023420830453a.shtml http://chotooutdoorgear.net/shop/product_i...p;products_id=7 I do notice that cabela's doesn't carry these in the smaller sizes. But they obviously make them that small because they are on the Chota website and you can order them directly from there. They are a very good boot at a good price. Greg

I know what you mean. My boating experiences on tailwaters have not been pleasant either. I've had a couple of scary situations happen to me too. More power to those that like fishing them from boats but I prefer wading. Greg

Since no one else has responded I'll bite. The high price of those multi tip lines has always put me off. And I did test cast one once and it didn't cast well. There was a kind of a hinge effect where the sections joined. Rio makes sinking leaders that do pretty much the same thing for much less $$. Greg

Phil - I'll check out the homepage from now on. Taxi thanks for the link. Greg

Personally I could care less about the punctuation. Good grief it's a fishing forum not an English class. But I do agree with you I wondered about what article taxi is talking about? signed Greg with 700+ posts (LOL)

Thanks for the report. It sure would be nice if they left the water off some this holiday weekend. I haven't fished Taney on low water since labor day when my wife and I had the whole day with the water off. Greg

Your next obsession will be fly tying if you are anything like me. I got into tying to "save money". HaHa. I don't think I've saved a thing and in fact I'm sure I spend more $$ on fly tying stuff than if I just bought the flies. I do enjoy tying though. Greg

My 2 best fly patterns are zebra midges and mohair leeches. Both at Taney and the parks. Zebras in various colors size 18 and 20. Mohairs in olive, black, and brown in sizes 10 and 12. Other good flies for me are: Scuds, Y2K, crackleback, griffiths gnat. Greg

River Run outfitters is another great fly fishing store on Taney. Great advise and up to date fishing reports. But I like Chuck's store too. I try to patronize both. Greg

With the guides being small like that (as you say probably designed for a silk line) - a modern fly line may or may not flow smoothly through them. If not you could either replace the guides or Cortland makes a synthetic silk line with a smaller diameter that would probably work well. Greg

I don't remember the specific people you mention associated with Springview - but I remember the springview shop itself well. It was quite a place. I also do remember warming myself in front of the fireplace at springview on many chilly days. Greg

Interesting topic. I wasn't sure of the year it (winter season) started at the parks. I do remember going several times one year back in the late 70's. I remember going to Bennett on a few fairly cold days and being one of only 3 or 4 anglers in the whole park. It's not like that now even on the coldest days. Greg

Bredman - sorry but I'm going to muddy the waters for you a bit. I have a definite preference for an 8.5 foot rod over a 9 ft. I'm not sure why but when I cast both I generally much prefer rods of that length. I use an 8.5 ft 5 wt for 90% of my trout fishing. TFO makes a fine fly rod. However if you care to spend just a bit more the Sage Launch (at about $200) is one of the finest fly rods I have ever cast (IMHO). Greg

Crowd wasn't bad. There were people there for sure but nothing like a weekend during the catch and keep season. A couple of times up in zone 1 I could just see a couple of other anglers. And I never felt crowded. Greg