Greg

I remember reading about it last year and thinking that I would like to participate but I didn't hear a thing this year either? You would think whoever is putting it on would use resources (like this site) to promote it? Phil has never seemed to mind in the past and it's free. Greg

I was thinking about coming down to Montauk this weekend (Sun). Does anyone know what the stream looks like? Is it still really high? Thanks, Greg

Thanks. I'll check it out this week. Hope it went smoothly. Greg

I'm with Brian - my first flies didn't look nearly that good. They were pretty pitiful actually. You must have a real aptitude for tying. Greg

Well our trip to Mountain Home to the White river didn't materialize. We had something come up on Sunday and so we decided not to go. Maybe in the next few weeks. We did make it to Taney on Monday. I fished my wife shopped in Branson. Pretty decent day. It rained a few times but not for long. I started up by the dam just below outlet #2 - I was surprised at the # of fisherman there on a weekday. Caught a few fish and then walked quite a ways down river. Caught maybe 20 or 25 trout in the 5 hours I fished. A few small browns and the rest rainbows. Several decent rainbows in the 15 to 17" range. Greg

What a sad story. It's just really heart breaking when a nice rod is broken. I have a custom made rod that's one of my favorites too. It would be really hard to replace - the blank is no longer made and the guy that made it is either deceased or no longer builds rods. I hope you can get your custom made rod fixed. To your question - I've cast a Sage Launch. I love the action. Very nice rod. I just can't get past the strange (to me) color though. But that's minor. I don't care for the TFO Ticr. Too fast for my tastes. I don't own a TFO but if I did I would get the Pro or Finesse. The St. Croix Avid would be my pick of those 3. In fact the custom made rod I mentioned above is built on an older Avid blank. I've cast the newer Avids and like them too. I would be interested to know how your repair of your custom rod goes. Greg

JS - I feel your pain. We have tons of squirrels in our yard. In the past 2 years they have: 1. Chewed up the propane outtake pipe on my gas bbq grill x 2. 2. Chewed up multiple cushions on our outdoor furniture. 3. Gotten into the engine compartment of my 19 year old son's car several times and chewed on the piston wires. This was the most costly one. So we are not a big fan of that particular somewhat cute but very destructive outdoor varmit in this house. And I have left my waders out to dry overnight a few times - but after hearing your experience - I never will again!! Greg

Thanks for the report John. My wife Tina and I are coming down this Sun and Mon for some fishing. I've been down a couple of times this year but only got to fish the Norfork (not the white) due to heavy generation. So I'm hoping the low water holds for a few more days. I've never fished wildcat shoals at all. So I'd like to give that a try. I'm going to try to hit wildcat, rim, and up by the dam. My wife may or may not fish with me depending on the weather. She just can't take the cold. I can't wait. Greg

A #26 dry fly? Wow!! I've only tied and used flies down to #22. And I could hardly see those. Generally #20 is about as small as I can go both dry flies and nymphs. Greg

Brian I just got the new cabela's catalog and spotted some of the new g. loomis models. The eastfork really caught my eye. Really nice looking rod. Have you seen or cast one? Greg

Snow fly - I've never fished zone 3. I'll have to give it a shot next time down. That's the bait fishing zone during the catch and keep season isn't it? There's some interesting water there if I remember right. Brittsnbirds I had to laugh at your post about forgetting your vest - not at you - but at myself because I did the same thing a couple of years ago on a trip to Bennett. Fortunately I had a few flies stuck in my hat and did OK until I lost all my tippet. Either of you ever fish dries at Bennett? I really had a lot of fun fishing them Sunday. Greg

No I don't think that was me. I drive an older Dodge Intrepid. And I parked up at the other end by the bathrooms up at the spring. How was you day of fishing? Greg

I posted a Bennett fishing report on my blog if anyone is interested. Thanks, Greg

Fished Bennett Spring today. I haven't fished with dry flies in a while so I had promised myself I'd spend at least an hour or 2 just fishing dries. It went pretty well. Caught 7 in an hour and a half using a #20 Griffins gnat. It was a lot of fun. It's kind of amazing how selective the trout park stocked trout can get over the winter catch and release season. The drift had to be just right with no drag whatsoever or they just wouldn't take. Those that say stocker trout are always easy at the parks or at Taney just don't know what they are talking about. Probably caught 10 or 12 total in 3 1/2 hours. When I switched to nymphs I caught several too. One was a pretty nice approx 17" male rainbow with a big kype. Saw several big browns but did not catch any. Beautiful day. Not too cold. I still like Taney the best but Bennett Spring is a nice change of pace. Some other fisherman but definitely not crowded. For some reason Bennett does seem more relaxing than Taney to me (at least in the winter). Tina (my wife) and I have several days off starting Jan 3. I think we are going to head to Mountain Home for a couple of days and fish the White. We're both in serious need of some R/R. Greg

I've worked at St. John's Hospital in Springfield for the past 27 years. I'm an RN. Currently I'm the nurse manager of the 25 RNs in the radiology dept. It's a good job and I enjoy it a lot. But at times it's almost overwhelming. It seems like more and more is expected of the managers in health care every year. But I just work my 8 to 10 hours a day, prioritize, and do the best I can. I do have a great group of nurse's working for me and that really helps. thanks for asking, Greg

I've really struggled with this ever since I started fishing through the winter 3 or 4 years ago. I can stay fairly warm even in the coldest weather except my hands. I've tried fleece, tried wool, and tried neoprene. Nothing works great for me. But the best I've found so far are "glacier gloves". That company makes several types but the ones that work best for me are the ones that are fingerless (like 3/4 finger length) and are a combination of fleece on the back and neoprene on the palm. I used them the last couple of weeks and my hands stayed reasonably warm. They didn't cost much either. I think they were about $10 at Bass Pro. It's when the gloves get wet that I run into problems. There were a couple of really good tips from the other posters. I think a backup pair is a good idea. And I like John's idea of taking them off when you land a fish. I'm going to try both of those. Something I've done also is if I have to touch the fish to get them off the hook - I use a net rather than my bare hand. It seems to keep my hands a little drier. Good luck, Greg

Thanks for the report. Sounds like a good day. I'm thinking about heading up there tomorrow. Can't make up my mind between Bennett, Montauk, or Taney. Greg

Trav - you sure have a penchant for picking the controversial stuff. But I guess that keeps it entertaining. I voted for land development as the #1. So far it hasn't seemed to affect the fishery too much. But at some point I think it will. Greg

Dec 27, 2007 My family and I had a good Christmas. Hope everyone else did too. My kids got everything they wanted and more. I've been fishing at Taney the last couple of Sundays after not getting to fish for several weeks due to work being so hectic and the weather. The fishing has been pretty good. I had forgotten how fun winter fishing can be if the weather is not too cold. I can tolerate it if it is above freezing pretty well. I can't generally find someone to go with me in the winter (they think I'm crazy) but that's OK I enjoy the solitude too. 2 weekends ago I caught several nice fish in the 18" range 3 rainbows and a brown. And lots of fish in the 13 to 15" range. This past Sunday was good as well but nothing large at all. Going to try to post an entry every week or so and see how this goes. Greg

I saw a pair of osprey on the upper lake last year. Got to see one of them fish too. Whereas the seagull was comical - I agree the osprey are awesome. I saw one come away with a huge trout. I had never seen them in MO until last year. Greg

Trav Thanks for your last statements. No hard feelings here at all. I've got a relative that is an in your face kind of a guy too. Which is not always a bad thing. Just one point about the upper lake though. If you think it is always elbow to elbow fishing - then you haven't been up there that much. I fish it fairly regularly (once a week on avg) and if you know where and when to go it's just not that crowded except a few holes. I can almost always find a spot to myself and some fish that cooperate (usually). The crowds are why I refuse to fish rebar (and above) in the daytime except in the winter (or at night). Thanks for the tip regarding blue. Interesting. I'm already thinking of some ways to incorporate a little into a few favorite flies. Greg

Brian - I've got a mastery trout with dry tip that the welded loop cut on me too after just a few trips. I wonder if the dry tip makes them prone to that somehow? I exchanged it for an SA mastery trout without the dry tip and didn't have a repeat. I've been going back and forth between SA and Rio lines. But I think I've decided I like SA mastery lines the best. They seem more supple to me with less memory. But the Rio lines are pretty darned good too. But heck I've got a Bass Pro CV2 $19 line that I think is close to as good as the $60 lines. Greg

I haven't cast the Rio Gold or the SA sharkskin. But I do have one of SA's mastery lines with the dry tip. Yes it is the same as the old mastery (GPX, trout, or whatever) with a special coating at the tip. The dry tip does kind of work. It definitely makes the tip float longer. But the tip still does eventually start sinking. But I still like SA's mastery series lines better than anything I've used. I've read about the sharkskin. Sounds cool and I'd like to cast one. The price is I think $99 which is kind of steep though. Greg

I had an unusual fishing partner for some time on this past Sunday afternoon. A seagull. He was just upstream from me. I watched him for probably close to 20 minutes fishing for trout. He actually caught one 2 different times. But he couldn't lift them clear of the water. They were too big for him. He dropped both. It was kind of comical. Greg

Phil - I didn't mean to imply you were offended although I can see how my statement might have been interpreted that way. Sorry for that. PHW - That is funny!!!!! This thread has certainly been an interesting diversion from the normal hustle and bustle of the holiday season. I do wish everyone a happy holiday. Greg