Greg

I second Terry's thoughts on this subject. No problems at all with the smaller slot fish. When I see someone keep a fish over 20" I do get a "twinge" too (good word Terry). But as long as it's legal to each his own. I don't like fish (to eat) at all - so for me to keep trout would be pointless anyway. Greg

Sounds like a great day. I was out yesterday afternoon/evening (Sun) and was also surprised by the crowds. It did thin out a lot by the end of the day. I did catch quite a few silver bullets. But my son and I each caught an approx 18" bow as well. Greg

Olive, black, brown, and white wooly buggers and mohair leeches. Zebra midges in various colors and sizes too. Greg

I didn't remember the travel forum ever being there. Probably because as you say it got little traffic. I'll use the regions for info as you suggest. I didn't mean to imply that you ever planned to move the forum. All I meant to suggest was that if you did (for whatever reason) it wouldn't be the end of the world. Thanks for all you do with the forum, Greg

Just thought I'd throw out a kudo to BCO (Michael Kyle) and Simms. My Simms L2 waders started leaking just a bit on both of the heel areas this spring. They are 4 going on 5 years old. I took them in to Michael and asked him what he thought. He suggested we send them in to Simms. He took care of it all for me. Sent them in, contacted Simms, etc. I got them back yesterday. For $20 bucks (total $27 with shipping) - Simms put on new neoprene booties and fixed several pinholes in the body I didn't even know about. What a deal. They should be good for several more years. Not bad for a $200 pair of waders. So kudos to Michael for such exceptional customer service. And for knowing what he was doing by suggesting them in the first place. This is the very reason why fly shops are superior to big box stores. And kudos to Simms as well. Greg

Phil one other comment about your original question. I don't have any areas/waters I would like added. But I would like somewhere to go for travel suggestions - specifically fly fishing. Maybe a forum on this in the fly fishing section? Personally as my kids are nearly grown I have more of an inclination (and somewhat more $$) to travel out west, Canada, Alaska, etc. I know the members here would be a good source of info. Greg

Wow. What a discussion. I'm glad I didn't read this thread until today. I probably would have posted a comment and just added to the confusion!! I will say one thing though - I don't think it would be the end of the world (or the OAF world anyway) - if at some point Phil made the decision to move OAF to another url. There is another forum I participate in sometimes that the owner made that decision. He made that decision so he could expand and update the forum as well as make it load faster (the old site loaded pretty slowly even with a high speed connection). All of the members had to re-register. Was it inconvenient? - yes. But the forum stayed intact and everything else stayed the same. Trav - it's nice to have you back on the forum regularly. It just wasn't the same without you. Just my belated .02 Greg

It was good visiting with you today Michael and thanks for the fly recipe for the 56er. Greg

The family and I were in Branson this weekend. On Sun they were running water on Taney so....... We packed up and headed to the White today. Fished the Wildkat Shoals area for the 1st time. Very nice area. Not many people out today. We were there 4 or 5 hours and I probably picked up 25 or 30 on a variety of flies. All rainbows. Nothing big but some decent 14/15" fish. Unfortunately it was VERY windy. So my wife and son were having a tough time casting. They managed a few too though. Stopped at the Mountain River Fly shop on the way. Chatted with Steve Dally for a bit before heading to the river. Michael - if you see this - were you on the White today by chance? I saw a BCO truck in the parking lot at Wildkat shoals. If so how did you do? Greg

Terry and John - thanks to you both. Greg

Good point. I wouldn't expect it to sink right out of the box either. Your 2 experiences make me wonder if SA's quality control is slipping? If anyone ever comes out with a fly line that the tip truly does not sink (even after repeated use) - I'll be the first in line to buy it. Greg

Wow a double. That's great. I actually got a slam on my first trip to the norfork several years ago. I think that was luck as I've never repeated it since. I'm glad to hear the norfork is fishing well again. Greg

Question for John or any other expert: I've always wondered what the max # of generators is that you can effectively fish Rim shoals? Doing the ferry option. Also do you need to call ahead to arrange the ferry at Rim? Thanks Greg

Unfortunately I think all fly line tips sink after a time. Even the one's advertised as having a super high floating tip from SA, Rio, and Cortland. Greg

Here's a little more info for anyone interested regarding deletionpedia: "Deletionpedia is an archive of about 63,416 pages which have been deleted from the English-language Wikipedia. Deletionpedia is not a wiki: you cannot edit the pages uploaded here. An automated bot uploads pages as they are deleted from Wikipedia." AND "Articles preserved by Deletionpedia have been deleted from Wikipedia for a variety of reasons, from "being uninteresting", to (allegedly) "manipulation by political and business interests".[5] Since the site is read-only, it seeks no donations, suggesting instead that supporters donate to mySociety or to the Wikimedia Foundation.[6]" So I would suspect the wiki article on Mr. Dablemont was deleted after 3 days for one of the 2 reasons stated above. Maybe it wasn't accurate - but if not I think it would have been corrected? Maybe the MDC did it because they don't like Mr. Dablemont??? (LOL-just kidding). Even though I've said I think the MDC does a good job overall doesn't mean they are above criticism. People like Larry Dablemont that are highly critical of the MDC can obviously serve a purpose if they can back up their criticism with facts and not just innuendo. Thom - I had to smile when I read your comments about having a BS degree. I agree wholehearteddly. I've managed people for years. Both with and without a degree and can honestly say it makes no difference in the person's intelligence or competence at their job. Greg

I've never heard of that either and I also wondered why it was deleted. Some run down wikipedia and I know the info there isn't always 100% accurate - but in general things I've looked up in wikipedia have been very accurate. Greg

Al - you said that very eloquently and pretty much echo my sentiments about the MDC. MDC is government and as such it's just not ever going to be run like a business or 100% efficiently. But what's the alternative? I don't think there is one. I think we are lucky to have MDC as it stands. Larry Dabblemont - I used to read his columns and always wondered what happened to him. I googled him and found this article: http://deletionpedia.dbatley.com/w/index.p..._2008_at_15:53) Interesting stuff. He's sure led a colorful life. That's all I'm going to say about that. Greg

I've found both Rio and SA lines to be equally good. The Rio seem a little more durable and the SA lines a little more supple to me (IMHO). I also like SA's lower priced lines. Greg

Thanks for the heads up. Greg

Are you going by yourself? If so be careful. The first few times I tried it at night - it kind of spooked me. I knew Taney really well but it's a whole different world at night. I recommend going with someone at night especially the first few times. I went with Michael Kyle (BCO owner) a couple of years ago and after he kind of showed me the ropes it made a world of difference. I've felt much more comfortable and caught more fish when I've been out at night since then. I like mohair leeches and wooly buggers the best at night. I agree that purple is a good color. Greg

I really like those thingamabobbers too Brian. First strike indicator I've ever used that I liked. I have yet to wear one out. Nice report. Greg

Terry my FIL, son, and I did a deep sea charter out of Cancun about 10 years ago. It was a pretty good time. We both cast and trolled for whatever we could catch. And we mostly caught Barracuda. I don't remember the boat name but they did a pretty good job but the language barrier was a little bit of a problem - their English was spotty and our Spanish was non existent. My son still talks about catching the barracudas and also about the first mate who could open bottles (soda and beer) with his eye! At the time (he was 6 or 7) both frightened him but now it's an exciting memory. I've not done it but I've read there is great bonefishing just a short drive or bus ride from Cancun. Ascension Bay maybe? My wife loves Mexico. Next time we go we plan to try to spend a day or 2 there. A word of caution though - have you read about the current violence in Mexico? In relation to their war on drugs and the druglords. I know it is concentrated along the border but I think they are putting out warnings about the entire country. Hopefully it will calm down before your trip. Greg

Tough fishing this past Sun with 4 generators cranking all day. Fished about 2 and a half hours. Landed 6. One brown. The brown wasn't really big - maybe 14" - but boy was he toothy!! Caught 3 of the 6 on an egg pattern and the rest on a zebra midge. Did run into a conservation agent who said the fishing had been tough all weekend. This is the 2nd time in the last couple of months I've run into an agent. Sometimes years go by and I don't see one. Maybe they are trying to establish more of a presence on the upper lake? Greg

Good luck on the Coyotes. I've read several times that they are one of the few species that has actually flourished alongside of mankind in North America. I've read that attempts to exterminate them are pretty much always met with failure. They are one hardy and wiley (pun intended) species. I kind of like otters. But I agree they need to be controlled. I've seen them on 2 of my favorite fishing areas - the Current and Taney.

I live a lot closer than you do flyfishn - but the corps and their generation schedules frustrate the heck out of me too. Sometimes regardless of how you look at it their generation schedules just don't make sense. But they don't ask any of us do they? I know the drought several years back wasn't really a good thing overall - but it sure was good for wading the tailwaters around here (Taney, White, and Norfork). During that time frame you could plan a trip most any day and feel pretty secure that you could wade and fish. Greg