Smallie Seeker

That’s exactly the issue. She’s accustomed to bass and can put a hurting on the crappie but there’s a big curve between 4lb line crappie jigging and 2lb line trout jigging. Zebra midge bite 5 ft deep with a float was hot Sunday morning so I handed her the fly rod. First bite she reacted exactly like a crappie and whip snap! Rerigged, cast and she immediately got hit. Whipped it again and I thought she broke off. She set the rod down and the line started moving. That’s how she landed her first flyrod trout.😂

Shes still a bit of a trout/light line novice and hasn't begun to adjust the drag on the fly yet. It wasn't the reel. The area we were wading also had a lot of structure to get hung up on.

Yes I will for sure be doing this!

@JestersHK I may have talked to him or his buddy Leonard at the dam parking lot Saturday night. Fella said he was tearing them up on the same pattern CLoyd mentioned in his nighttime report. I'm coming down for a week in October.

Almost got the Guru but I couldn't pass up the 2 spools and better value. Looking at sink tip lines for one of the spares.

Took my lady friend Ashley down to the lake this weekend to fish and try out my new 7wt. Did good in the mornings on scuds and zebra midges on 7x like Phil has recommend. Once the water started flowing we were getting fish every drift from the cable to rebar on brown jigs/orange head. Threw some big stuff on the new rod at night but no hits. Small and light was the ticket during the day. Ash lost a real nice fish on a black jig while wading in the evening near the dam. She’s not a fan of 2 lb line. Cant wait to come back in the fall!

Been at Taney and haven’t had time to update. Friday midday after my dentist appointment with a half numb face I got to cast a bunch of 7wt rods and one sure did speak to me. It was the Sage Ignitor. It definitely blew everything else away, and it’s a $900 rod. But for 3x more than most other rods, it wasn’t 3x the performance. Side by side with a Sage Foundation that I could cast almost as far and almost as accurate, I couldn’t justify the cost. The Foundation got paired with a Lamson Liquid reel which comes with 2 extra spools that will come in handy, and some SA wf line that’s listed for bass that Craig at Hargrove’s recommended. Spent the weekend at Taney and got some time in with it casting while wading and drifting from the boat, and I’m a happy camper. Nothing landed on it yet, and as expected my Imperial 5wt saw all the action.

I’m heading down to Taney tomorrow for a Fri-Sun trip. Got a dentist appointment At 9am Fri. Told the boss it was a bigger job than just a cleaning so I could take the whole day off, which bought me time to stop by T Hargrove’s on the way down. Most likely going to leave there with whatever 7wt speaks to me. First thing I’m doing is tying on a glazed donut for practice. If I can flip that thing over surely I can chuck a meat fly! 😀

Very helpful thanks!

Anybody gotten their hands on a G. Loomis Asquith yet? Can it really be worth the $1100 price of admission?

What did you settle on if you don't mind me asking?

Yes meant BVK. Until I upgrade to technique specific rods, the Imperal is too good of a do-all everyday use rod to let go of. Trying to lift and swing a f/s line sounds like quite a chore.

Been chasing trout with a 5wt St. Croix Imperial for about 4 years now. Been a great learning experience and I'm ready to pick up my next fly rod. I want something specifically for chucking bigger streamers and articulated flies for browns and bass. I'm going to try and get my hands on and cast as many rods as I can, and the TFO BFK looks nice but I'm at a loss as to where I should start. 7wt? 8wt? 7wt rod lined up with 8wt line? Full sinking line or sinking tip?

Yes, and yes. Will do!

@BilletHead yes we hunt together on occasion, but he’s been busy with work this year and hasn’t gotten out too much.

The story of the necklace. It has magical, mystical powers. Seriously, it's kinda spooky. I used to have a deer lease in Linn county, MO with my buddy James. 5 years ago his daughter made him a necklace. Told him to wear it for good luck. Well he did, and proceeded to shoot his best buck. Told me it really is good luck! Yeah, yeah. Pretty cool. He then hung it up for 2 years as a neat keepsake. 2 years later, his wife asked him to take her out for her first hunt, and he decided to bring the necklace with him. Sat in a blind first morning and that evening. Saw does but no shot opportunity. But... she forgot to wear the necklace! Next morning she put it on, headed to the ground blind, and sure enough a bit after first shooting light a doe came through with a really nice buck in tow. She smoked him! Said her cup of coffee wasn't even cold yet. It was a bigger buck than James had ever taken, and her first deer, which they got mounted. The legend of the necklace grew. James said he needed to be careful with it and only use it on special occasions, or when the cards were down. Fast forward to the 2017 spring turkey season. James had hunted turkey for several years without tagging one. Thought he'd see if it worked on turkey too. Wore it and sure enough shot his first bird! Now it doesn’t have a 100% success rate, but it definitely had a better than 50% hall of fame average. Enter this years rifle season. He hunted a public spot in N. MO with his cousin. And he wore it opening day, and of course he shot a nice buck. Text his cousin who hadn't seen anything. Told his cousin to come and sit where he was, because he had seen a lot of movement that morning at that spot where he shot his buck. He gave the necklace to his cousin, who looked at and after knowing the stories about it, gladly put it on. You know where this is going.... His cousin shot an even bigger buck!!! At the same spot where James had shot one just 45 mins earlier, and on public land!!! Now this past weekend I took a veteran out for his first deer hunt Saturday morning on private land, on his birthday no less, but we didn't see a deer. James had hunted that morning on a public spot, saw does but no shots. He told me I should come up for the evening hunt. And when I got there, he said since I hadn't tagged a deer all year yet, I needed to wear the necklace... I had never worn the thing, but you don't look a gift horse in the mouth, so I put it on and headed in to hang my stand. Never sat down. Shot that buck at 25 yards 2 mins after I climbed up! That necklace is now responsible for over 800 inches of deer antler. Him, his wife, his cousin, and me all took bucks the first time wearing it. He forgot he had it on while driving home from N. MO and a buck ran into his car!

I was definitely blessed to be able to harvest this buck, especially on public ground. Now, someone needs to ask me about the necklace I'm wearing in the pics!

Hunted the 2 days before rifle season with the bow, then opening weekend at my family farm near Licking, MO. Trailcam pull had a really nice shooter buck for the property and so I passed a few does waiting on Mr. Big but he was a no show. Worked during the week. Went out to some public land north of I-70 Saturday evening and boy was that a good idea. Got my stand hung and climbed up around 2:40 pm. Was getting situated when I looked down and this really nice 11pt was making a scrape in the brush 25 yards from me. Waited about a minute or so for him to offer a shot, and the hand loaded .22 Nosler round did its job. Never got to sit down. Haven’t scored him yet but this will probably be my best buck. Incredible hunt!

First time drawing Weldon but have done Busch a few times. Same deer heard and yes I agree, most spookiest deer around. I've seen Busch bucks do things that still keep me up at night contemplating my own sanity!

I got drawn for the managed hunt at Weldon Spring late season. Gonna reschedule my vacation time for that hunt instead.

Not for the faint of heart. This is the shortened version.

Thanks for the info fellas. Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances, I've been forced to cancel the trip. I have been putting in a lot of miles on my mountain bike to get in shape for this trip. Well a loose rock trail I was riding on this past Monday gave out from under me and sent me sliding down a ravine. Fell 20 feet and landed on a rock outcrop. Broke 2 ribs, partially collapsed my left lung, and had a slight concussion. Don't remember the fall or anything till I was in the ambulance. Did get it all on my GoPro. It's weird having 15 mins of video of me disorientated, but still conscious and talking that I have no recollection of. I'm off to a good recovery and returned back to work today, earlier than expected. Luckily WY allows tag $ refunds for medical issues. There's always next year!

Awesome fish! Great job with the landing and release!

I'm headed to WY Sept. 29th till Oct. 7th to hunt unit 78. I have tags for antelope and an antlered deer. Hoping to tag my first Mule deer buck. Although main objective is to hunt, I want to spend some time fishing the N. Platte river. I'll be focusing on the section from the Colorado border north to Saratoga, and will be bringing a flyrod and a lightweight spinning rod. Looking for any pointers on best access points, guides to look up, flies/lures/jigs to bring, maps to purchase or any other general advice that would help. Thanks in advance for any info provided!

Saw a Pygmy while turkey hunting Table Rock this spring. Kinda nerve racking knowing I was sitting on the ground in the dark near one.