mizzouflyfisher

I posted the last reply without reading all of the posts. Just wanted to know if those of you using nets and advocating barbless hooks are using nets with nylon mesh or rubber mesh. Surely you must be using rubber mesh because the nylon mesh strips all of the protective "slime" from the fish. Doesn't matter how quickly you land them and release them with the help of your barbless hooks and C&R nets if you strip the fish of all of its "slime". Just a thought. Mizzouflyfisher

I find that nets cause more trouble than save time. I use a 2 fly setup 90% of the time, maybe more like 99% of the time at Taney. The only time I use a net is when I'm in a boat. The second fly used to always get caught in the net. I also rarely use barbless hooks. I rarely hook fish deep so that's not a concern and don't think I'd really notice a difference in ease of fish release between barbed and barbless. Maybe someone can convince me otherwise, I'm always receptive to facts. Mizzouflyfisher

I would like to take part in a swap sometime in the near future. I wanted to jump on this one, but my travels made that impossible. As soon as this one's over, and people are ready to tie some more I'm game. Mizzouflyfisher

I used to fish Bennett Springs at least 20 days a year. I now fish it less than 6. The hatchery has had some serious problems the last few years and still hasn't quite recovered. I hear the situation is fixed, but results are slow coming. Means there aren't as many fish and size is horrible. Montauk is definitely the way to go. Plus the trophy water below Montauk is 10x better than the trophy water below Bennett. Mizzouflyfisher

I highly recommend all fishpond products. I use the smaller pack, and typically carry 3 c&f boxes in it and a medium sized foam box. It gets the weight off of your back and is much more comfortable than a vest. Plus, I like carrying as little as possible (when I'm in Yellowstone on the Soda Butte, I throw on my sandals, put two boxes in my shirt pockets and I'm ready to go). I also love the wader bag and reel case. They also stand behind their products. Both my dad and I had the same zipper go bad on our packs. Fishpond sent a letter of apology and immediately replaced the entire pack. If you can't tell, I love fishpond. They are really pricey, especially on an unemployed college students budget, but they are well made and very functional. Mizzfouflyfisher

Just got back today from a week long trip up the Parks highway north of Anchorage. Caught good rainbows up to about 22", several dozen humpies, chums, hooked several kings, and caught about a dozen pike in a lake that was about a 3 mile hike. Fought one king for over an hour and more than 1 mile before breaking it off. Yes, it was hooked in the mouth. I broke it because I was a long way from the car by myself and it was past 10:30 pm. No sense getting eaten by a bear for a 50 pound king Rainbows are heating up as spawning is picking up. As of right now, there are only a few kings spawning. Leaving tomorrow for the lower Kenai peninsula, don't know where I'm fishing, just am. Mizzouflyfisher

Just got back from a 2.5 day trip. Fished the Russian River (didn't really want to yet, but rain blew out most of the places I wanted to fish) for most of the time, hiked up a mountain to catch some grayling the rest of the time. Managed to catch around 2 dozen rainbows on the Russian. They were really tough to move for the most part. Had to pick out each fish and cast repeatedly. Biggest was around 22", lost 2 in the 26" range, almost all on big nymphs or zonkers. Saw 5 bear and 3 moose. Will keep you guys posted on the next adventure. Mizzouflyfisher

I made it to Alaska. It's 8:30 pm here now, and I'm going to try to fish Campbell Creek in a little bit. Tomorrow I'm heading out for a 3/4/5 day trip, who knows. I'll post some reports when I get back. Wish me luck. Mizzouflyfisher

I've made 8 or so trips now. We stay at Monument Bay Lodge in Canada. It's on an island about a 45 minute boat ride from the ramp. 95% of the time we cast for pike and muskies. numbers keep getting better every year, especially the pike population. The gill netting was cut way back several years ago and there is a slot limit on pike, can't keep anything between 27.5" and 35.5", not that I keep pike anyway. Plus nobody keeps any muskie. This is all despite the fact that boat traffic keeps getting thicker every year. As long as you can miss the rocks everywhere, you're going to catch some fish. We lost a lower unit last year, and there were already 4 lost at the camp this year. Keeps the boat rides interesting I guess. Mizzouflyfisher

Just got back from a week on LOTW. I love trout fishing, but nothing compares to a 40+" fish breaking the water as it follows your lure that is roughly a 2 ounce zara spook. Caught lots of pike up to 37", a few walleye on spinnerbaits for dinner, couple dozen smallmouth up to 18.5" and several muskie up to 42.5". Big fish for the group was a 48" muskie. Great fishing despite the less than ideal conditions. I'll post some pictures some time after I get back from Alaska. Mizzouflyfisher

I'm not sure what stuff I used, as most of it's packed away right now. The stuff I used was kind of crinkly. I straightened out the strands by pulling them. Makes for a real small bodied fly. But they do work. I've done best with white between 2 black, white between 2 olive and solid brown. Mizzouflyfisher

I'm trying to tie some woolhead sculpins. I don't know how to tie the woolhead. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Mizzouflyfisher

Thanks for the info guys. The trip is finalized-July 13-Aug. 10. I will also have access to a vehicle for most of the trip, so transportation is not an issue. I do have a couple more questions though. Where can I find some pike that are fairly easily accessible? I'm trying to find some pike lakes that don't require a fly in and can be fished from shore. Also, where is my best shot at silvers. I realize that I am leaving a little early for the majority of the silver runs (Can't help it). I think I should be able to find some fish though. Any hints at early season silvers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again guys, Mizzouflyfisher

Phil- I was wondering if you had any specific fly recommendations. It's looking like this trip is going to come together, so now I need to start tying. I've still got a couple thousand flies left over from the last trip (my dad and I tied for a group of 6), but any specific patterns would be helpful. Thanks, Mizzouflyfisher

That's a somewhat impossible question. I will say the combo I use most often is size 16, black thread, copper wire, copper tungsten bead. I usually use zebra midges as weight in a 2 fly rig, so fish caught on them are usually bonus fish. here's a list of all of the colors i use black, olive & green(there's a difference), red, burgundy, yellow, brown, white I also use about 10 different colors of wire. Mizzouflyfisher

Those things can be a real pain. I got into tying really small stuff for a while, but ended up deciding it wasn't worth the hassle. I was missing too many fish. IF you are tying small stuff, try to use the TMC 2488. It's got a wide gap and it's available in a ton of sizes. It still amazes me that a decent fish will move over a foot to take a size 26 fly. Seems like a waste of energy.

Thanks again Phil- I'm very intrigued. Is most of the crowd down by the road? I have no problem hiking a couple of miles. You wouldn't happen to know how much camping cost? I know I can find out, but figured I'd ask while I was on the forum. I'll have to stop by the shop to get some in depth information some time. Mizzouflyfisher

Phil- What month were you in Alaska? Also, can you hike up the Russian river pretty far? I couldn't tell from the map I was looking at. I saw where the lake was and the marker above which you couldn't fish. Also, I would assume that most of those campgrounds require reservations due to the number of people. Is that correct? Thanks, Mizzouflyfisher

Thanks for the info. I was in Alaska 2 years ago for a 2 week float trip on the Kanektok. Don't have near that kind of cash. I'm hoping to have access to a car for part of the time. The guy I'm staying with is a travelling nurse and has an 8 day on, 6 day off rotation. He has an apt. in Anchorage somewhere. My hope was to travel around with my hosts for part of the time, but be able to get around cheaply (bus, train) for a week or so at a time to camp along certain rivers. That 30 inch rainbow eluded me last trip, but I think I may have seen it. So, I have some areas that I want to fish. Do you have any recommendations on rivers that would be good to camp along for possibly a week? Thanks for all the information. Mizzouflyfisher

This summer I have the opportunity to go to Alaska for around a month. I can fly and stay for free, but I need some way to get around. I'll have an apt. in Anchorage and am looking for inexpensive ways to get away and camp various places for several days at a time. I definitely can't rent a car. Has anybody had experience with bus or rail services in Alaska? If so, good, bad, where did you go, etc. Any information would be appreciated. Mizzouflyfisher

I'm going down to Norfork in a couple of weeks. what amount of generation should I expect. I noticed they have been running off and on. Also, what patterns are producing right now? Thanks for the help. Mizzouflyfisher

Fished Sat. My dad and I caught probably 20 bass and took home 14 crappie. Size on the crappie was good, only threw back 2. We fished the gravois arm and caught fish anywhere between 2-8 ft. Almost all were around brush piles. Most came on minnows, but a few were on roadrunners. Would have caught more on roadrunners if I had more than 1 with me. Almost all the bass came on carolina rigs on points between 8-12 feet. Used lizards, centipedes and baby brush hogs. The wind was a pain when crappie fishing, but those windy points are hard to beat for bass. Mizzouflyfisher

I'd be grateful spending a night learning how to effectively nightfish. The first couple of times I went out, I used my fly rod excusively, but I found the rapalas to be more effective. I would like to learn some techniques and effective flies. Next time I come down, I will be sure to try and hook up with you. Mizzouflyfisher

Just saw your question 10pointer. I caught the brown in the park, up in the catch and release area. I caught three browns that day, 2 were on back to back casts, the 21" and an 18". I also saw one that would have probably gone 23/24. It blew up on a zonker, literally slashed at the surface as soon as the zonker hit the water. Montauk has a higher number of browns than Bennet, but I have caught a couple dozen at Bennett over the years. Both parks are stocking larger numbers of browns. Also, the only place I've kept a trout over the past 5 years is taneycomo. It's a pain in the butt dragging trout around and the girlfriend hates fish. I'm hoping the girlfriend might want to go down there tomorrow. If not, I may have to ditch her. Mizzouflyfisher

Leonard- It seems like you catch a lot more fish nightfishing than I do. I've gone a few times, but I usually only seem to catch a few on flies, but I do well on rapalas. How fast do you generally fish and how deep. I think I might fish too deep and too fast, but I'm not sure. Thanks. Mizzouflyfisher