Russell Doughty

Fishing buddy and I went wade fishing below the dam Wednesday when they shut the water off. I caught 54 and he caught 35, all on a Harvester midge, size 20. It was just crazy.

Wade fishing

Buddy and I fished the lake Tuesday, first day water was off. I caught 45 and he caught over 30. Believe it or not but I think I got a strike on every cast. We fished from 11:00 to 2:30. Probably would have caught 100 if we had fished all day. All the fish came on a Harvester midge.

This is the worst possible news for us wade fishermen!

Is anyone else having trouble getting swpa.gov to open?

Does anyone know who originated the Harvester Midge? How long has it been around?

These are my son's pups. He's right about the parents being good bird dogs. As good as I've ever seen. 5 females and 2 males. Look at that point and the other ones backing it.

Sight fishing or indicator?

It's not open yet. Who knows when.

Pat's rubberleggs and prince nymphs under a Thingamabobber.

My fishing buddy and I fished the lake for a couple hours this morning. The water was off and was very slow and clear. I started out with a sculpin but only got a couple strikes, no fish. I switched to a Harvester midge 18" under an indicator and began to catch fish. My buddy started out with an sculpin, caught a few fish, switched to a Harvester, then back to the sculpin. He couldn't catch any fish on the midge, and I couldn't catch any on the sculpin. We ended up with 14 between us in just over 2 hours. Still the fishing seemed slow. I had to wait till the breeze ruffled the water to get hits on the midge.I missed as many strikes as I caught. Sure was fun to get out on the water with a good friend and start the year off right with a few trout.

Son, Rusty, and I went for the morning on Saturday on some private land open to the public. We got up a big covey and I dropped a bird out of that flush, no point, though. Maggie, the French Brittany, pointed the downed bird and I retreived it. She pointed a single which survived two shots from me and we finished walking the rest of the tree line with another single point without a shot. We crossed the tree line and worked down the other side where we thought the rest of the singles went. We got 2 more solid points on singles and Rusty shot at both, dropping one. Maggie did a great retreive on the one he shot. All in all a really good hunt considering it was public access land. Since most of the conservation quail areas close on 12-20 the places to hunt public land are fewer this time of year. We saw a small herd of 3 deer, a flock of turkeys and a ton of red tailed hawks, which is Rusty's and my spirit animal.

My son just returned from a business/hunting trip to Az. He and 3 other hunters hunted Gambel quail around Phoenix with his Brittany, George. Gambels didn't hold for a point so they formed up a line and drove through the cover. When the running birds came to a steep wash, they flushed. My son and one other hunter were out of position but the two that were got some fabulous shooting. Quail are so plentiful out there you don't have to have a plug in your gun. The hunters estimated there were around 200 birds that flushed! George got some good retreives on dead birds.

My son, Rusty, had a great hunt this morning; 3 coveys found , 3 quail and three woodcock in the bag. His Brittany, George, gave him two points on quail and one on woodcock. His other brittany, Maggie, has been busting wild quail and Rusty thinks it's because she has been hunted on pen raised birds which will hold tighter.

My son and grandson and I went on a youth quail hunt on Saturday. We parked the car at first light and heard several coveys whistling. At sunup we headed out but the grass was too high and thick to walk through, (couldn't see the 2 Brittanies). We moved spots and got up a woodcock and a big covey of quail but got no shots, even though we did get up a couple of singles with points by Maggie, his female. The temperature was really too warm and it was too breezy for good scenting. My grandson carried his own shotgun most of the time with only a few breaks from my son and me. It was the first time he has gone afield with a real gun.

I got into them on the South Platte one time and caught a bunch on an orange scud, including a six pound rainbow. I walked and waded from Cheeseman dam down to the bottom of the Gill trail. I was never so tired in my life. I flagged a car down to bum a ride back to the dam and the guy put two girls out of his car to have room for me in there. I presume he picked them back up on the way back.

Netboy, care to share patterns and tactics?

I notice a lot of jig fishing posts on here lately. Are any of you guys fly fishing the river since the minimum flow went into effect? I know I'm not.

Not sure how I feel about them. Would take some getting used to. Very interesting, though.

How about a closeup of those threadless wraps, please?

Never, ever, ever go night fishing at Taneycomo by yourself. I did one night and fell in and almost drowned. Never again!

The short answer is they don't consider the needs of fishermen on the White or Norfork rivers, or Lake Taneycomo. They did the same thing on Taney this summer. Their only concerns are flood control and selling power.

Dave, I fish a copper dun midge at Bennett. Size 14 2499 spbl, tied short. Copper bead, rusty dun thread body and copper rib. Deadly.

One time night fishing Taneycomo by myself I turned to leave from fishing and got a dose of vertigo and fell on my back in 3 feet of water. When I got turned over, I couldn't get my feet under me and almost drowned. I was finally able to claw my way out of the water and make it back to my vehicle. Have never been night fishing by myself again.

Up by the dam.