Bob A

Brittsnbirds, Sure sounds like the pattern I tie. What I like most, its so darned easy. As far as color, I really don't think that makes much difference and feel the silloutte (sp) has more to do with it than anything else. At times, I also will clip a little off the tail portion and do find it can make for better hook ups. Thanks for your input. Bob A (Springfield)

Greg, Dave, Reguy Wish I could post some pics but have never done so and don't know how to start. But, email me at RobertA314@aol.com with your mailing address and I'll drop one in the mail to you. By looking at it and taking it apart, you'll see just how easy this is to tie. Regards, Bob A (Springfield)

Rcguy, The maribou leech (for lack of a better term) is really a no-brainer but is one great producer for me. It is tied with Waspi Grizzly Marabou Olive (MG089) on a #14 nymph/streamer TMC 5263. Simply put, the marabou is just palmered from the bend of the hook to the hook eye. I always tie mine unweighted but just a personal choice. There is a small "twist" to how it is palmered that is hard to explain. If you tie your own flies, you may just want to play around with it....or I can send you one to go by. Let me know. I fish it on a floating line and found it works just as well at Taney as it does at Bennett and I have never had a day when it didn't produce for me. Regards, Bob A Springfield

Fished Bennett today. Starting at 12:00 conditions were perfect--overcast sky, good drift, breezy (sometimes gusty, temp about 64 deg. Best of all, only saw two other anglers in Zone 1 between the lst handicap ramp and the darn. Couldn't get any better. Between noon and 1:30, wife and I landed at least 20 fish each, with one nice brown about 15 inches. All caught on size #14, green/olive marabou leech pattern, unweighted. For every fish landed,probably missed or lost 3 or 4 others. But all good things must end. About 1:00, wind laid down and the clouds blew away, and the good fishing came to an end with bright sun and no breeze. Still a great 2 hours with the place almost to ourselves. Bob A Springfield

A lot of things don't make sense in this senseless murder of a young child. All we can do is hope and pray that the person or persons responsible will be caught and that whoever is responsible burns in hell. As a retired Army CID agent,my personalfeelings are that this case will be solved and rather quickly. Then all that remains is to hang the SOB and/or his accomplices. Bob A Springfield, MO

As much as I hate to admit it, nothing surprises me in terms of poaching, illegal fishing, etc, at Taney. I've been fishing there for over five years, severl times a week, year round and not once have I even seen an enforcement agent on the water. Not knocking the agents because they only have so much resources and are spread pretty thin. But that's just the way it is.And even if those scum-bagger were ticketed or arrested, the odds are, they'd never show up in court or pay a fine. Bob A Springfield, MO

Welcome, Dave...good to have you aboard. Bob A Springfield,MO

Doug, for your first time flyfishing, you did great! But be careful because once hooked, it's highly addictive......even worse than smoking! So, a great way to start out and catch alot more. Bob A Springfield, MO

Hi Donna, and welcome to the forum. My wife and I also fish Taneycomo regularly, at the Rocking Chair area of the trophy zone. If you are like us, you'll have a lot of good days ahead of you fishing with your husband. Bob A Springfield, MO

As for small puncture holes/cuts, Timsfly's advice was right on target. It's always worked for me on my Simms. Just wet a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol around the suspected area of the leak, then look for the dark spot. I use Aqua Seal and works great. However, if the leak is in the seams, you may want to contact Simms as trying to repair the seams yourself may void the warranty. Bob A Springfield, MO

There was a time when you could pick up excellent bargains on fly rods at the BPS catalogue outlet store here in Springfield, often at 50% off retail price, as well as other fly fishing items such as wading boots,etc. This resulted in problems for the retail fly fishing section in the main store and hurting the retail sales. I was told by informed sources that BPS is now selling those items (and other items) to EBay dealers so as not to hurt the retail store. In fact, I haven't seen a fly rod for sale at the Outlet store in ages, so there must be some truth to this. In all liklihood, the rods you mentioned for sale on Ebay were purchased by the Ebay dealer direct from BPS. Bob A Springfield, MO

Can't think of anyone more deserving of this award then Stan and Carolyn Parker. Wife and I have been well aquainted with them "on the water" for several years now and have always been impressed by their professionalism, their helpfulness, and the manner in which they conduct themselve not only with clients but also on a more personal basis. Along this line, we all know of at least one or more less than professional acting "guides" on Taneycomo and in my opinion, those one or more should tag along behind the Parkers when they have clients out and take some lessons from them. They might just learn something about what professionalism really means! Bob A Springfield

Yes, it really is a nice place but beware, it is my understanding that catch and realse is pretty "pricy"...maybe in the range of $70.00 per rod. Then if you want to keep any, they clean them for you and again, it's real pricy. You may want to call them and get the details on this. Could turn into a pretty expensive trip. Bob A Springfield, MO

I think you can pretty well assume that # is down, probably some sort of malfunction. Talked to several others and this has happened before. It should be up and running within the next day or two. Bob A

Hi Capt E and welcome to the board. Nice to see that your Mrs. is also able to enjoy with you as more and more, seeing more ladies with fly rods. I fisn the trophy area exclusively at Taney (avoiding the outlet areas like the plague) and my wife is the best fishing buddy a guy could ask for, not to mention, she is pretty darned good!! Hope we get a chance to meet you one of these days when they aren't generating. Bob A, Springfield

Thanks for turning in the violator. Wish we could see more of that. Getting ticketed may not break this slime ball violator from sucking eggs but it might slow him down some. Regards Bob A ( Springfield)

Good question re: dry flies. I do fish Taney quite a bit and although drys are not used by most anglers, there is never a time hardly when I won't toss one out when the fishing is otherwise pretty slow on nympys, midges, etc. I think one reason why drys are not fished that often is that it's pretty hard to fish a dry fly with a bobber (aka: strike indicator). Another reason being that it is simply the "conventional wisdom" that dry flies don't work well on Taney. At the same time, I've taken a lot of nice trout on a dry when the conditions are right (drift, flow, etc) when nothing else seemed to be working. I don't worry about trying to "match a hatch", but rather, look at it as trout will often take anything that looks good. I do know a nice Elk Hair Caddis or a Griffith Gnat has saved my day more than once. Bob A (Springfield)

Hi Trout Fanatic and welcome to the forum. Think you'll enjoy it. Don't feel bad about missing opening day at Bennett! Stocked over 7,000 for opening day and sold well over 1,500 tags BUT the word for the day was COLD with winds 20-35 mph, cloudy and overcast and all considered, I didnt see a whole lot of fish caught. I just stopped by to watch the antics and was really surprised at how few anglers were actually on the water. So, save your gas and come when its a little warmer. Regards, Bob A (Springfield)

Thanks, Phil. Appreciate your input. Bob A

Interesting topic and yes, if I had the bucks, I'd probably go for it depending on what I got for my bucks. But if I had to stand shoulder to shoulder like is often the case in our trout parks, then no way. To me, the angler who pays to play is buying quality time on the water. And quality does come with a price tag. Bob A (Springfield)

Recently heard some good things about Bull Creek but simply not familiar. Can anyone give me some info on fishing Bull Creek? Such as public access for wading, ease of wading and suggested fly patterns. Would appreciate any comments. Thanks, Bob A (Springfield)

Hi CN....There could be a very slight chance you might get some fishing in but don't count on it. Seems like they are continually running 4 generators and that can blow you away! Also, high temps may only be in the mid-30s to low-40s. Sooo, you take your chances. Maybe next time. Bob A (Springfield)

I always go barbless and no exceptions, no matter what size fly. And I can honestly say I lose very few fish as a result, as I fish with a fairly tight line. Mostly, for my own safety but also easier to release the fish and not lose flies in my net. Bob A (Springfield)

Interesting thread going here. I fish the Rocking Chair area exclusively but for some time, have simply gone elsewhere than Taney. My experience is that the quality of fishing in the Rocking Chair has gone downhill significantly over the last couple of years. Along this line, I don't think it has much to do with fishing pressure because typically, I don't see the number of anglers there like I used to. Yesterday, 12/13/06 I fished the Rocking Chair for about 3 hours and picked up 20 small rainbows, nothing over 12 inches and (12/14/06) almostt all appeared to be federal hatchery fish dumped in. Today, I fished the same area and picked up only 7 rainbows, again, mostly the Federal stockers. On both days, the conditions should have been excellent. Good drift, nice breeze/wind, etc. I also talked with several guides who admitted, begrudginly, that they also were having the same results. My question is, whre are all the local hatchery trout? And why so many "dinks." Anybody else seeing the same pattern in the Rocking Chair area? If so, any ideas as to why? Regards, Bob A (Springfield)

Sounds like it could be a nice get together. Soooo, weather permitting (can't handle the bitter cold), wife and I will probably be down as late arrivals. Let's see how the weather holds. Bob A Springfield