Phil Lilley

It's the Naked GoPro. I didn't get any of the straps. I had some industrial velcrow and stuck it on my coat - tried a couple of places for effect. The clear case has the wide, almost "fish-eye" view to it. It's almost too much. Might try just the camera with so case next time. Haven't tried it underwater yet. It needs some work. Not crazy about it yet.

Just testing out the camera... not sure exactly what I'm going to do with it. It's stuck on my chest behind the reel here. Not very good to see anything out at a distance, at least in detail. Did catch fish today. This isn't like a flip where I can download directly to youtube- takes time to edit, render and load. I shot more video but haven't had time to work it all up. May not either as it isn't the best. <object width="500" height="405"><param name="movie" value=" name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="500" height="405"></embed></object>

Babler knows all about fur trading... you should PM him. He doesn't view the whole board.

It's cold. It's snowing tonight. Water is off... finally. Three thoughts tonight as I watch the white stuff pile up outside my window. So far this winter shows signs of being a cold one with few warm breaks in the temperature. We've always had days at least up in the 40's in years past but not so far this winter. And nothing in the foreseeable forecast. I personally haven't adjusted to the cold yet. My fishing buddy Vince suggested it's because of the fat I've lost in the last 3 months. I've been watching what I eat and working out. This revelation makes me think about adding that fat back to keep me warm! Guess we better get used to ice in the guides. Snowing!? I commented to Marsha, as we crept up the hill on the strip this evening, avoiding the 8 car pileup at Roark Valley Road, that this snow was much better than the ice we've had the last 3 winters. Still slick but nothing sticking on the trees. Water is off!! We've been waiting for this for many months. So far what we've noticed is the bug population is huge and our trout are fat and strong. Scuds, sow bugs and lots and lots of midge hatches. I talked to Duane on New Years day about him seeing gobs of midges on Table Rock while duck hunting. I say gobs because he said they were hatching to fast that they were sticking together on the surface creating clumps of bugs. The only place I've seen that is on the San Juan River. I would love to see that on Taneycomo. Now I can't speak to how the fishing has been since the change in generation yet. I fished a little on the first up below the dam but too little to get a feel for what will happen in the days to come. I can guess... it's really going to be good! The trout are there. It's the first of January when we see some of the best fishing of the year here on Taney. Our rainbows haven't seen much pressure the last couple of months and have had a chance to rest and grow. Water quality is in great shape. Everything looks fantastic for this winter's season.

I have an uncle in town from Houston that I don't see much and it's too cold for him to fish so I won't be going in the am for sure. Catch some for me. Take pics!

I think that's pretty typical of most forums... hi-jacking is pretty much a given.

Great time today at the Pavilion below the dam. Cold, but not as windy as the last 2 years. Quite a few old faces and some new ones. Sure appreciate all those who brought the nice eats... Don's pepper poppers, Duane's brats, Gray's meat balls and much more. Water was off. Jeremy said he caught fish on a big ugly early. They were midging- yes sir. When I went down to the water, there were waves of bugs swarming the surface and the rainbows were very active. Good number of waders fishing. Lots in the rebar run. I caught a few rainbows on various soft hackles and midges but I didn't tear them up like others did. Don caught quite a few on a midge. The Doty's did well on scuds and eggs. I'll let everyone do their own reporting... you don't need my help! It was fun... and there's alot of weekend left.

It's been off since yesterday 11 am. Still off.

Brian - where were you??

Wesley Delport is a Naturalist in Springfield. I wholeheartedly recommend anyone making an appointment and seeing him. He doesn't charge that much and will tell you exactly what you need to do to be healthy. I saw him last week and was amazed how much I learned. I knew this before but he reinforced this - cancer cannot live in an non-acid environment. Buy some alkaline strips and see where your body is at and then make adjustments in what you eat and what you take as far as supplements. If you get cancer, go to dramatic measures to become acid free. Delport's wife had no chance to live with liver cancer several years ago and lived on supplements and carrot juice and recovered 100%. Talking to a friend yesterday - a person has to make a heart change and decide at some point that we have to change our way of living and do the things to make us healthy and stay that way. It's hard but better than the alternative... being sick and dying. http://www.getwellnaturally.net

by Don Mulnik ~~ It was last summer when I discovered the Woolly Bugger while fishing in Lake Taneycomo. It was one of those days when nothing seemed to work well in the trophy area below the dam. So, a friend of mine said "try this" as the sun started to heat up the rocks below the dam. I tied on the odd looking creature in a brown color on a #8 hook and let it fly. The rest is history, I have been hooked on the woolly bugger since. Since that summer encounter with the woolly it has produced consistently right thorough Fall and into the Winter and onto my trips thus far in the Spring. What is it about this thing that consistently produces results? Well, it seems to be everything and nothing at the same time to the waiting trout. It is both a simple attractor and imitator of aquatic life all at the same time. It can imitate the Sculpin, the Crayfish, and larger insects and minnows in the food chain. Joel Vance has a feature article in the April 99' issue of the Missouri Conservationist about the Woolly Bugger. In it he tells us that this fly gets no respect but has been around since the days of Izaak Walton. He further states that "Woolly buggers are woolly worms with chrome fenders", meaning they are usually tied with a little flash in the tail or body. And, I agree with his conclusions that this fly is "Dynamite" in Missouri waters. Having had almost a years experience with this fly let me tell you how I fish it in Taneycomo. Just like the Soft Hackle I cast this fly across current or at a quarter downstream. I use a five weight rod with a tapered leader of 7 feet and at least a 4 foot section of 5x tippet. After casting cross current I let the fly sink while watching the line, many times strikes occur while the fly sinks. After the line takes a natural bow I begin slowly stripping the line and watch for the strike. Sometimes they will hit on the strip in the swing other times they will hit when the line is almost straight downstream from you. At times you have to vary the retrieve, so experiment. To trout it must seem a big meal compared to our usual offerings below the dam and I especially like it when things get a little windy and there's a healthy chop on the water. The woolly has done well for me since last summer catching trout of all sizes, from the dinks that come from our Federal hatchery to the nicer fish put in by the DOC and on to the brutes that have been around awhile. My favorite woolly color is a dark olive, on a size 10 hook, with a 2x long shank. I tie mine with several strands of flash in the tail and a little along the body. I also weight them with 15-20 turns of medium lead on the hook. I have also had success with black, brown, and light olive. And, while I have made them in various sizes from 12 to 6. It seems that the size 10 produce the best for me. So, next time when you have the need to try something different get out the woolly buggers with "Chrome fenders" and hang on. They are easy to tie, available at local fly shops, and releasing fish is a breeze thanks to the long shank. View full article

I'll be there about 10 am. Water was off this afternoon. May be off some tomorrow too.

Five years ago today was my first really good day of striper fishing on Lake Norfork. Had caught some earlier but on this day five years ago I caught six nice stripers across from Bidwell point, each one larger than the one before. The sixth striper was a pretty good one. So today I went to the same spot but didn't really mark anything that promising so I went to Float Creek and put out shiners. Quickly caught a couple of small stripers and had numerous tugs on the shiners, but after awhile my back balloon starting moving away so I set the hook and starting pulling. Wasn't a fast fish but when it got close to the boat it took off at a steady pace. I kept pulling on that fish for awhile realizing that this was no small fish, it was a horse, but I finally got it to the boat and it was no small job getting it into the boat. It weighed over 41 pounds but unfortunately it was one of those stripers with whiskers, so after taking a picture, I dumped it back into the lake. That Blue Cat was the second largest fish I have ever caught. I did catch another striper after that. What a difference in how they fight. The striper runs and pulls like mad, the catfish just pulls slowly and steadily. You never know what you might hook into out there and that is the secret, being out there. 12-31 1 of 7 stripers caught today Depth; 60 ft; TEMP; 48 Place; Hudson point Bait; 3/4 oz white with green back binks spoon Time; 9:30 to 11o clock Did not mark alot of fish, but when you did some one got a strike! Happy New Years Bink

Here's a link to the Sow Bug Site including the schedule of events. http://www.northarka.../SBSeminar.html Attached it the December issue of the North Arkansas FFF Newsletter. nafff-12-09_newsletter.pdf

Here's a link to the Sow Bug Site including the schedule of events. http://www.northarkansasflyfisher.org/SBSeminar.html Attached it the December issue of the North Arkansas FFF Newsletter. nafff-12-09_newsletter.pdf

I've used the old cell phone call trick several times and it's worked more times than not.

Boated up to Big Hole about 3 pm today. Hardly no one on the lake. No one above Fall Creek except some guys wading along the edges. No wind at all. Very dark, cloud cover, misty rain. I had my spin and fly rod but hadn't done any good jig fishing in a while so the fly rod didn't get used. Started with a 1/8th oz scuplin/ginger jig. Didn't want to boat above Big Hole... they weren't running enough water to mess with it. Started drifting and catching rainbows. They were hitting it on the drop, not real hard but hard enough to get a good hookset. Drifted all the way to Fall Creek - took 90 minutes. 40 rainbows boated. 11 were under 12 inches. Hooked 30 other trout that pulled out before landing them. Caught 4 below Fall Creek. 19 rainbows came above Lookout, 4 were under 12 inches. Largest- about 15 inches. Had several big-bellied rainbows like they'd been eating shad but I seriously doubt it. All but a few were very healthy and thick. A couple were skinny. 2 dark males. Most of the <12 inchers were very colorful with white tipped fins. And so were a few of the other rainbows. I wanted to take some pics but it was dark and the fish were biting too well. They quit when I hit Fall Creek- I tried for another 30 minutes there and down at Short Creek but to no avail. Temp was about 40. Nice not to freeze your fingers!

Fishing goals - still have alot of rivers and streams in the Ozarks I haven't fished. Hope to add new ones and write about them.

Foot in mouth... Donna is a gal. She's a veteran member and well respected on the Table Rock Forum.

No quick ones... I had it for 18 months once. Forced me to go to a Chiropractor for the first time. He worked on it 3 times a week, then twice a week for about 6 weeks total. It hurt - he basically would find the pressure point (the place where it was the most sore) and push as hard as he could. It would break up the tendentious and let the blood in to heal it. It worked. Never stopped going to the Chiropractor... haven't had any issues since (6 years). Have a friend do the same thing - save some money. But be sure to sit on the opposite hand cause if you don't, you'll smack your friend when he pushes... it hurts that much. But after it's done, it does feel much better.

I am. New member. Just got the newsletter. Have asked permission to attach it here on the forum. Waiting for a response.

Talked to Buster... he hasn't talked to the guy he got the initial report from in a week. But he said they haven't changed the water flow pattern so fishing should not have changed - still should be good. Babler and I are going to try to get down there next week. Try.

Love those crappies!! Lots of guys here do too so you're in good company! Welcome.

Man, those fish are pretty!