Russell Doughty

Try a prince nymph below a Pat's rubber legs for nymphing the nfow. Also try a nitro caddis if you can find them.

Fished for a few hours with a couple of friends Sunday with pretty good results. I ended up with 22, all on a size 18 copper dun midge tied on a 14 2499spbl Tiemco. Less than half of the fish I caught the last trip, but it was a bluebird day so I didn't expect as good of results. Seems like the better the weather, the worse the fishing.

Nick, there is a fly fishing club in Joplin called MAKO. See if you can hook up with them for some advice.

Not much camping on the nfow as mentioned above, but several options for rooms and cabins. Rolf and Sunburst to name a few. Google River of Life Farm.

Nick, DO NOT TAKE UP FLY FISHING. Take up something like cocaine, crack or meth that doesn't cost a lot of money and that you can give up any time you like. Seriously, you will find the greatest bunch of people in the fly fishing fraternity you ever met. Read all you can and watch you tube and dvd's about the sport, but most importantly find a good fly fisher to take you out and show you the ropes. A day on the water with a mentor can teach you what would take you months or years to learn on your own. Buy his or her gas and lunch on your trips to make it worth their while. Hang out in fly shops, too. Plateau in Springfield across from Incredible Pizza is one of the best, as is Tim's Fly Shop at Roaring River in Cassville. Let us know how you are progressing.

The Harvester midge has caught tons of fish for me, not only on the Norfork, but the White, Taneycomo, Roaring River and Bennett Spring. Gunmetal tungsten bead, rusty brown thread body with a black rib.

A friend and I fished the park yesterday and we just slayed 'em. I caught 50-60 and he, new to the sport, caught about 25. We got them on a rusty dun midge tied short on a size 14 2499spbl Tiemco hook. Only got 1 brown each. By the time we quit we were about froze to death.

Just wondering if the Sunday storms affected the stream. We got flooded out here in Springfield.

Caught 20 below the stone bridge on egg pattern and Harvester midge. 1 brown and the rest rainbows. Love that riffle.

Thanks, Britts.

Thinking of driving up from Nixa this morning. Anyone know about water level and clarity, fish activity, patterns, etc. Thanks!

The river is currently running at 1600 cubic feet per second. You may have trouble getting under some of the lower bridges at that level, but the flow would be very conducive to drifting. It should still be pretty high by next week as we are scheduled for more rain through Sunday. A friend and I fished it about 10 days ago and did poorly, but we were wading. Call Justin at Sunburst for more info.

A buddy and I fished it Tuesday and caught 90 fish between us on harvester midges. I never caught so many quality fish as I did that day, even caught 2 bluegil. The water is a chalky green, but that didn't matter.

I understand that mono has a shelf life but fluoro doesn't. Also it would be better if the line weren't eposed to daylight. Maybe someone on here could describe some type of strength test you could give your line. I would think that line sits on a shelf for a long time in a store. I have known some leader manufacturers to put an expiration date on their spools but that's probably just a way to get you to throw away perfectly good line and replace it.

I used to night fish for them all the time. Same tackle and tactics as daytime. Pink and purple Clouser. Hooked a 6 lb flathead catfish in the tail one time doing that. Best fish fight I ever had.

15 lb carp caught on Swan creek on my fly rod while white bass fishing.

Dain, while a friend and I were gearing up to fish Crane, we encountered some students from MSU in Springfield who were catching cottonmouths for research. They had one in a bag and let us take a look at him. They told us when they want a cottonmouth they come to Crane, so the snakes are there, but more in fields around the creek rather than in the water.After all their diet is mice. The only other snake I've ever seen there was a harmless water snake. My buddy thinks they could bite through waders, but I don't think so.

Brian, don't know about any flood damage to the lodge, but you may be interested in this; my son is a guide on the river and some time ago he guided Missouri governor Jay Nixon on the springs, before Myron took them over. Nixon is a good fly fisherman and caught 5 trout totaling 100 inches. He also gave Rusty an original 56er tied by his uncle, Tom Nixon, who invented the pattern. Rusty says he is a very nice guy.

My son is a drift boat guide on the NFOW. You can find him at the troutdoorsman on Google.

There are 2 fly fishing clubs in Springfield. Missouri Trout Fishermens Association meets this Thursday at 6 pm at the nature center. Southwest Missouri Fly Fishers meets 2nd Thursday of the month at the same place at 6 pm. You should check them out. Years of experience in both clubs.

Renzetti cam traveler.

What fly were you using?

If you're going to fish Taney, I would suggest you learn to tie the Taneycomo sculpin. It's my go to daytime fly.

I would be happy to take you to one of my favorite rivers in trade for your rig. I am retired so can go most anytime. Tuesday or Thursday are best for me. Email me at emaepax5@gmail.com. Russ

When I was a traveling salesman, (never mind the jokes), I would drop by Spences office and take him out to lunch and pick his brain about places, flies , and tactics to catch trout. He was alway willing to share his vast knowledge. He could be bought for the price of a nice meal :). Russ Doughty