netboy

I heard Jeremy was well stocked with cicada flies. Maybe not so much now. 😀 I went back this morning armed with a couple of freshly tied cicadas and had a good morning. I landed 9 and missed a few others. Smallest fish was around 16". The little guys apparently are not interested in the big bugs. Here's a few of the better ones...

I went to Norfork this morning and had good day. Ended with 18, some on caddis dries, some on eggs and a few on a green butt soft hackle. I talked with a friend, and he caught a 20" brown and a couple 18-19" rainbows on a cicada fly, so that seems to be starting over here. He said he also lost a much bigger brown on the cicada. He gave me one of his cicada flies and I tied a couple this afternoon so I will give them a try tomorrow. I did hear some cicadas in the trees and netted a couple on the river. Also spooked some nice trout holding close to shoreline, apparently waiting on the big bugs. Here is one of the better rainbows from this morning on a soft hackle, lousy pic as the lens was fogged.

Well, you killed it while you were there. That was some of the best fishing I have seen. Looks like some of the peak Caddis/Sulphur action we have here on the White. Well done....

That is some incredible fishing. Congrats

That is a fat one. Gates aren't open down here at Bull, but lots of generation. I haven't heard of any shad up at the dam, but some caddis are still coming up. Got this brown this morning on an elk hair.

I use the smallest WAPSI cylinders and then color them with a green Sharpie. I also burn the end which gives it a nice looking tail.

I If you want to stuff it, then gut and gill it and then cut straight down the lateral line to the bone and then cut along the backbone on both sides of the fish. It makes a pocket where you put your stuffing in and then bake it. Here's what it looks like.

One of my favorite fish to eat. Butterfly it and stuff it with shrimp stuffing then bake it.

Trip was great. Lots of interesting sights as well as great food and wines. Here is a pic of the ship we were on and a visit to Pont Du Gard, an ancient Roman aqueduct near Avignon....

I waded at Roundhouse Shoals this morning and had a fun trip. The caddis hatch has started and I am seeing more bugs every day starting around 9 once the sun warms things up. I ended the morning with around 20, all rainbows and 1 lone cutthroat. All were caught on top on a green foam body elk hair caddis. I fished the dam C&R area yesterday and saw very few caddis up there. It will probably be another week before they get going up there. I did get this nice rainbow....

I have a standing dermatologist appointment every 6 months as I have had many basal cell cancers, a couple of squamous cells and one melanoma removed. With that said, if you are established with a specialist or any doctor for that matter, you will not have to wait 2 1/2 months for an appointment when you all of a sudden have a problem.

No. I don't wanna know... but I will walk it all off in a few days of wading when I get back. As my good fishing buddy always says... live life like you mean it.

Went to the Dam this morning as the SWPA forecast showed minimum flow for the entire day. Surprisingly, there was nobody there, no waders in sight and no boats. I didn't see any caddis today. It was cloudy, foggy and cool so that is usually not good for hatches. Cracklebacks and eggs worked best. Ended the morning with a dozen or so with a couple nice ones in the mix. Here's a couple of the better ones, got the rainbow on an egg and the tiger on a crackleback. This was my last fishing trip for a couple of weeks as we are traveling tomorrow to Nice, France and then a river cruise up the Rhone River to Lyon and then on to Paris. Looking forward to some great food and wines. Will check back in with you guys when we return.

Tilapia is a member of the cichlid family and they were "imported" to the south Texas rivers that we used to fish. The cichlids and tilapias were fun to catch as they ate dry flies and were about as good whole fried as a big sun perch.

Wild caught tilapia is great eating. The stuff you buy in the store...I wouldn't serve to the feral cat in yard.

I keep a few trout every now and then, especially when we have guests coming. I look for the ones that have a bit of orange on the bottom as they are the ones that have been in river feeding on scuds and snails. The meat will be orange colored and they taste like salmon to us. They are great filleted and sauteed and then finished with toasted almonds, butter, lemon and white wine. They also are great brined and smoked. They taste like smoked salmon that you pay $25/lb for.

Looks like that one has been eating good in the neighborhood.

I made the long trip to Roundhouse Shoals this morning (about 4 minutes from the house) and had minimum flow conditions. As usual, lots of stocker rainbows and small cutthroats. I saw a few caddis coming up and caught a couple on an elkhair caddis dry fly, but I think we are still a couple weeks away from the major hatch. Caught most of the fish on the egg/midge combo and then tied on a tiger tail and got this nice rainbow.

I went to the dam C&R area this afternoon after the water went down. Had a good day with around a dozen nice size rainbows. I didn't see any caddis today. Strange that they are starting on the Norfork, but not over here yet. Here are a couple of the better rainbows. One on an egg and the other on a tiger tail. Also wanted to mention that the Sowbug Roundup was great. I went yesterday and the crowd was the biggest I have ever seen there. As always it was well organized and the seminars were great.

Aldie's sounds like a great store. Wish we had one over here in the sticks. We have Wally World, Harp's and Sunfest.

There were probably 6 or 7 other waders. Most of them stayed close to the access, so nobody where I was.

Made a trip to Ackerman access this morning and fishing was pretty good. Started out with the usual egg/ruby midge combo and caught some on that and then I started seeing a bit of surface activity. Switched over to a tandem soft hackle setup and that is what they wanted. Ended the morning with a couple dozen rainbows, 2 browns and 1 small cutthroat. Here's a few pics...

It was definitely faster than a wheel, but slower than a tiller.

I had a stick steer bass boat back in the 70's and it was great for running thru the standing timber during the early days of Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend. I imagine they would be great on a jet boat.

Looks like the tigers are growing up. The first release was in 2019. This would have been the official record, but they decided to weigh it and release it. Good for them. Facebook