Russell Doughty

Caught 6 this morning including this pretty 19" bow. Quit at 9am, but the bite slowed down when the sun came up. Sculpin.

Just got back from a quail hunt at Ozark Wings near Caulfield, Mo. My son, Rusty, I, and two other guys got 19 quail altogether. It sure was fun to walk in on tight holding birds pointed in front of Rusty's two brittanies. Only a few of the birds didn't fly. They were all really fat, too. Got a lot of points and some fine retreives. Cant wait to go again. They also have pheasants and chukar.

I use charcoal rabbit strips.

Try some midges about 15 to 18" below an indicator in the riffles. I have had good luck with a harvester midge and also a copper dun; copper bead, rusty dun thread body and copper rib, both tied on a #14 2499 spbl Tiemco hook.

Sorry, Taneycomo sculpin.

Brown, just Google Taneycomo for a pic of the fly as well as complete tying instrutions.

Fished the lake for a few hours today and got 5 over 17". 2 19" rainbows including this beauty.

The leeches are size 10 with a tungsten bead head fished in slow 15-18" strips.

Some friends and I fished the lake late Friday night. The numbers weren't there but the quality certainly was. I got 2 18" rainbows and this fine 22" male brown. All the fish came on various colors of leeches.

The girth was 13.5". Calculator said it weighed 4.7 lbs. but it looked bigger than that.

Fished Taney for a couple hours this morning. Quit at 10 fish including a 23" rainbow. All fish were caught on a sculpin. Tried a few colors of midges, but none worked, so went back to the sculpin. Got a strike on nearly every cast.

Between 1 and 2.

After running at least 30 mw forever, the swpa shut the water off at TR yesterday. Of course I went down there. I got on the water about 8 15 and fished for 3 hours. I threw a sculpin first and they were all over it. I got a ton of strikes (almost every cast), but only caught 11. I took a short break and sat on the bank to watch a friend fish midges with some success. When I returned to the water I threw a variety of midges but only caught fish on a Harvester. A strong downstream wind came up and shut the action down. I ended up with 18 fish altogether. Sure was good to get out. Several fish were 17" or better. Caught 3 bass on the sculpin. They were sluggish in the cold water.

If I were going to use an indicator on Crane, I would use a white one, looks like a bubble on the surface, not yellow or orange.

Oh yeah, my son limited out this morning in the same field we hunted this afternoon, so he didn't hunt with us just scanned the skies. Of course I taught him everything he knows.

About all I can say about trap shooting is it's a hell of a lot of fun. It sure didn't make my grandson and I better dove shots. At least he got his first dove and I got my first one of the season. But we had a ball. He couldn't sleep on the way home because he was too excited. He wants to go again.

In the past, I have had luck there Czech nymphing that stream. With a 10 foot rod, no less. Google it for information on how to do it.

The way to Spence's heart was through his stomach and when I would work the Columbia area, I would stop by his office and take him out to lunch. Then I would proceed to pick his brain about where and how to catch Missouri's trout. He was always willing to share his considerable knowledge. He will be missed.

Every power line around here (Nixa, Mo.) has doves on it. My grandson and I went for another dove tune up at Ozark Shooters on Saturday and got some excellent instruction from Ed. We are going to join my son on opening day at West Plains, Mo. It will be my grandson's first hunt.

Can anyone explain why the swpa is running tr at least 35mw all the time? If they wanted to lower tr, they could run a couple units for a couple days then shut it off.

Fished the lake for a few hours this morning. Got 14. Had six between 15 and 19 inches and had a lot bigger one break me off, midges, olive wooly and the most on a sculpin.

Can someone recommend a good gunsmith in the Springfield/Nixa area who won't rob me? Thanks, Russ

Get there a hour after dark and fish till you can't stand up anymore, or until it gets light, which ever comes first. Be sure to fish some mini mohair leeches; dark color on a dark night, bright color under a bright moon. Cast them down and across and retrieve them with a slow 15" pull. Phil has the dubbing in his shop and can prolly show you how to tie them. He may even have some of the leeches in stock.

Autographs can be arranged.

MOpanfisher, he is a video game nut like his dad and big brother. He told me one time that he learned the M-1 Garrand was the u.s. infantry rifle in WWII. Kind of gave me a new respect for video games.