Greg

Michael showed me the William and Joseph line this week too Terry. I thought it looked like really nice stuff but I'm a dedicated Simms guy..... Their stuff hasn't let me down yet although it is a bit on the expensive side. Greg

I think part of the fun of this board is the bantering back and forth (what you call bickering) with different viewpoints. As long as no one makes it personal where is the harm? And no one is forcing anyone to waste his/her time by getting involved. Greg

I think probably almost everyone on this board over the age of 40 knows someone that kept every fish they caught (or did that themselves) back several decades ago. I certainly kept a lot of big fish back in the 60's and 70's. But I wouldn't even think about doing that today. I'm not against keeping a few fish for the frying pan. But I just don't think that routinely keeping bigger bass, bows, or browns routinely is the responsible thing to do even if it is legal. I can distinctly remember one day of fishing on the Finley River back in the late 70's. I had so many big bass (both small and largemouth) and several big channel cats that I literally could not lift the stringer and had to separate them into 2 stringers. I kept every fish. It was legal to keep all of those fish but when I think about it today it kind of turns my stomach. But that was the mentality back then. Regarding the MDC - I think everyone knows they are a far from perfect organization. But I think they do a great job with the resources they have. I read their publication every month and I have not noticed an anti hunting agenda. I think they are just trying to present all viewpoints. As someone pointed out they are a "conservationist" organization first and foremost. Greg

My experience has been exactly the opposite. Almost no dropped calls, good coverage, and good customer service. And it has been the same for pretty much everyone I know in the Springfield area. Greg

Pastor and ekl-stl Beautiful fish all 3. Not just big but beautiful colors. I've caught some nice fish in that C&R area myself. Nothing nearly as large as that brown though. Congrats to you both. Greg

Phil I appreciate the pics and report as well. Fishing in this type of high water on Taney or anywhere else is just not my cup of tea. So I'm landlocked for a while. LOL. Greg

Pat - I have Alltel and I don't get a signal at Montauk either. But that's about the only place I've been either in or out of MO that I haven't had coverage. Greg

Thom If Alltel is available in your area you might check them out. I've shopped around quite a bit in my area (SW MO) and their pricing was the best in this area. They have been really reliable too. Very few dropped calls and good coverage. My phone was free (with my last contract) and it is just a standard phone - Sanyo flip phone. Greg

Wow. Not anyone's fault but that stinks for guys like me that prefer to wade. I had planned a trip in April but I think I'll put that off. Do you have any idea if the Norfork will be generating heavily as well John? thanks, Greg

I took several nice fish recently on the Y2K so I'm definitely adding it to my "keeper" patterns. I tied mine just like Jeremy showed above. Are there other good colors or color combinations? Thanks, Greg

My family and I just got back from spending the week in Branson. We had a nice time but I would have liked to get in some more fishing. The flooding/water level is just incredible. I had never seen the floodgates open before. I hope it returns to normal soon. It looks all but unfishable at least for wading right now. I did get in one day of fishing. Fished Mon afternoon into the evening. It was very good even with 2 generators running. I had good success on a Y2K above (not in the outlet) outlet #1. Several fish in the 18 to 20" range. Here's a pic of one with some of the most beautiful colors I've seen. http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee50/gl...h08TaneyBow.jpg Greg

I think he is just kidding. Greg

That's one of the prettiest bows I've ever seen. Greg

Montauk is my favorite park as well. Partially because it is generally not as crowded as the other parks. But also because of the incredible variety of the trout fishing. In the park you can fish the regular part of the stream, stillwater - the lakes up by the hatchery, or the little catch and release area. All are awesome. And then you've also got the river outside the parks. I try to hit all of these areas on a trip to Montauk. Greg

I see what you are saying but I'm not sure that's it. I said very similar things on this forum a couple of years ago. Then the next week while fishing Taney one evening I saw an agent bust a couple guys for keeping slot bows and undersize browns. The agent chatted with me and my wife and son for a while. Nice guy and it was unbelievable the amount of territory he was expected to cover. I just don't think there are enough of them not that the agents themselves are not diligent. I definitely agree that more of a MDC agent presence would help clean things up both in the parks and upper Taney. But I think they are just spread way too thin. It would be interesting to see the # of agents allotted per square mile in MO as opposed to some other states. Greg

Thom I agree Bennett is usually a bad experience on Saturdays. It's a lot different during C&R season, weekdays, and most Sundays though. Greg

I tried tying a few of these today and mine look pretty darned good (unlike my attempts at egg patterns). So thanks Jeremy. One question though. Is this fly pretty durable? Or does the egg yarn fray up after a few fish? thanks, Greg

Puffydisc If you want a nice rod with a great warranty at $120 then your options are a little limited. But one I know of is the TFO Series 1. I've cast the 8.5 ft 5 wt. Very nice feeling rod. With a lifetime warranty. It's $100 Lots of other nice rods in that price range from BPS(white river series) and Cabela's (traditional and 3 forks series) - but they have a 1 year warranty I think. I also know St. Croix has a couple of rods in that price range (the reign? and triumph) that have a 5 year warranty. Redington has their red fly series at about a hundred bucks. Not sure about the warranty though. Just some ideas. If you spend at least a hundred bucks in my opinion its hard to find a bad rod. But I would cast some at that price and see what you like. good luck, Greg

puffydisc If you let us know what you are wanting to spend it will give us "experts" (LOL) a much better idea of how to advise you. Greg

Nice report Thom. I've never used the Y2K fly. Greg

I'm pretty sure it is an article from a few years ago reprinted. But regardless it was interesting to read it again. Thanks for posting it. I'm also pretty sure the freshwater shrimp are not extinct. They just are not present in the same numbers as they were several decades ago. Regarding sizes I think that even though genetically rainbows have the potential to get as big as browns - in general they don't in MO for a variety of reasons including the way they are stocked, their natural wariness, etc. Just my opinions of course. Greg

I don't think you can go wrong with Simms. I'm into my 3rd year in Simms Lightweights with zero leaks or problems. That's the longest I've ever had a pair of waders last. I've always been curious about LL bean's waders though. Their gore tex waders seem like a great deal. Similiar to Simms top of the line but for less money. Greg

I'll echo what Terry said - lessons from someone that knows what they are doing are invaluable. I taught myself to cast a long time ago. And I got to where I could cast pretty well. But when my wife and son took the free lessons a few years ago at bass pro the instructor (who was very good) pointed out a lot of flaws in my casting. Things that I still remember and work on. One of the things was that I was gripping the rod too hard which caused me to have some pain very similar to what you are experiencing. Most any good fly shop will help you with casting. Also bass pro has regularly scheduled casting classes for free. Regarding indicators - I don't like the palsa ones just for the reason you mentioned - they tend to waterlog and don't float a beadhead nymph very well. I think the best indidcators (at least for me) are either the "football style" indicators with a slit down the middle or the little round or oblong ones with a hole in the middle that you secure with a toothpick. The fooball ones are easiest to reposition but the ones with the toothpick are more durable. I like both in the smaller sizes when using smaller flies. Larger sizes when you use larger flies and/or splitshot. Just about any good WF (weight forward) fly line will work well. I would stay with one from the major brands - Rio, SA, or Cortland. Keep at it. The more you cast and fish the easier it will get. Greg

That's a great answer Tim and I agree with everything you said. I'm nowhere near the expert you are but I have been fishing for trout in MO (including the parks) off and on for 30 some years. Most fish are caught right off the bat in the parks. But I feel there are more holdover fish than people realize. And those holdover fish do act more and more like wild trout as time goes on. On any given day at Bennett, RR, or Montauk I generally always catch a few that I feel have been in the river a while. Their coloration is more vivid and they fight harder. But regardless they are all a lot of fun on a fly rod or UL spinning rod. Greg

I saw a BPS flyer just a few days ago. That reel in green is a BPS exclusive. It looks pretty cool. Greg