snagged in outlet 3

I made the report of it in Taney in the spring and I stick by my guns. I know what it is and I saw some in the KOA hole. I knew after posting that I should have taken a piece as proof. Phil told the MDC and they reported that there was no didymo found in Taney. That is neither here nor there. I was at Bull Shoals Dam this past weekend and that stuff has covered everything that is below the low water mark. Makes the whole river look awful. Nice to see you at the Conclave Phil. Snagged.

Oct.5. Drove down from St. Louis and reached McClellans around 1PM. (Rumor is that McC's is closing Jan.1, real shame) High sun, beautiful weather and believe it not had the whole area below Otter Creek between me and one other guy (awesome). Started with terestrials and caught 5 cutthroats in ten minutes. Reached the Big Hole and nymph fished till water came on at 4Pm. Caught fish almost at will with the biggest around 17 inches. The fish were full of fight with many jumpers. Oct. 6. Played tag with the dam guys. Drove to Bull Shoals at 5:30 AM only to have them turn the water on at 6. Drove all the way to McC's and fished there all day till water came on. Not as good as Thursday and the water never really fell all the way out. Not sure what is going on with that but it was like that on both rivers Friday and Saturday. Caught enough fish to stay happy. Oct. 7. Bull Shoals Dam off at 3:15 AM so I drove thinking they wouldn't turn it on for a while, Wrong!!! Pulled in the lot and promptly at 6 they blew the horn. Couldn't believe it. Drove all the way back to McC's and fished the upper shoal (alone, can't believe that). Started slow till the sun hit the water then it was game on. Caught fish on dries till the sun got high around 11AM so I left. Went to BSD after calling the line and finding out they only turned it on for an hour and a half. Off at 3:15AM, on at 6AM and off again at 8:30 AM. That makes perfect sense. Water never dropped all the way out and the fishing was tough, caught only five small fish all afternoon. Conclave. Met Phil and John Berry and stopped there everyday in between fishing. My dad who is 80 doesn't fish anymore but loves the Conclave so I would drop by to check on him and drive him where he needed to go. My dad has always taken me fly fishing since I was a kid and he took me everywhere in the country with some famous fly fishing guys. He's a past national president of FFF and still serves on the national board I beleive. I'm 45 now so I had to be patient with him and remember he's getting old and a little slow. It's always nice to see some of the guys we used to go with and reminisce about old times. Snagged.

Hi Jim. Great report. Sounds like you caught more fish than most lately. I agree with all your theories. The one I think that has the biggest effect is the lack of rain for the past 3 years. We really need some this fall and winter. I follow reports from a forum on the White and Norkork (www.flyfishingarkansas.com) and they are making the same observations there as you are on Taney. Lots of suckers on the upper Norfork and with the current Overlook Estates debacle a study was done that showed a dramatic decrease in scud populations as compared to just last year. Sowbugs have all but disappeared in the White River drainage over the past 7 years or so. Overall poor water quality in the whole system. It's sad but I think it will get worse before it gets better. A big increase in rain would help a lot as would more environmental control of runoff and tighter restrictions on future developement. Take a look at John Wilson's Fly Fishing Arkansas website. Click on the forum and see what's happening on the Norfork and White from just one careless developer. Snagged.

Bumpin it up. Anybody going? I'll be there Thursday mid-day to Sunday. I'm going with my pop who is 80 and doesn't fish anymore but loves the conclave and the chance to see all his old buddies. That means I'm solo as far as fishing so if anyone wants to hook up let me know. Phil, I'll stop by your booth to see what's up. Snagged.

Michael You didn't bore me. I like your points, very well made. I'm gonna stop in your shop hext time through Springfield. Will you be at the Clave? I could stop in and see you there. I'll have to try one of the Rio's next. I like the idea of higher floatability and the sealed loop. I'm using the GPX now. Which Rio line is closest to the weight forward GPX? I like to streamer fish followed by long distance dry fly fishing. I'll nymph to catch fish if I have to or want to cocentrate on a specific fish. I use a 5 weight 9.5 foot Sage for most of my White River drainage fishing. I only got to the parks if I have to with the family. Snag.

I've used a lot of lines over the years and I don't think $60 is too much to pay. I get a lot of use out of one fly line and if you only use it a couple times a year I would think it could last ten years or more. $6/year doesn't seem extreme. I'm currently using a Pale Olive SA GPX, 5 weight, weight forward, floating. This line casts like a bullet, is very abrasion resistant but is very stiff. It's not a great line for close-in fishing with short casts or when cold out. But it is great for streamer fishing and dry fly fishing with long casts. Not good for Bennett but I like it for Taney and The White River. The previous line I had was the Peach Cortland 444 in the same dimensions as above. Very supple, casts well close-in, but was not very abrasion resistant. This is a better line for Bennett but I went through one in one season because it was all scratched up. This is a better line in cold weather. You give up some features with either line but I like the abrasion resistance because I use the line longer and feel I'm getting more for the money. I like the pale olive color way better than the peach. The peach seems out of place when I'm wearing pale green everything but flipping a fly line that almost glows in the dark. I haven't tried Rio or the Wulff because my fly shop doesn't recommend them and I tend to stick with what they are using and pushing. Okay how about this. You buy a new $60 dollar line and your loop collapses while throwing a big streamer and the hook almost cuts the line in two!!!!!!!!! OUCH!!! New fly line please!! I hate that. Snag.

Terry. No I kind of tightened up. Scary it was. I think of it every time I go to Mcclellans. Snagged.

Hey Ollie thay have made it to the missouri River. Only a matter of time before they cross it. I'm sitting in a porta-john at Mcclellans in the dark about 4AM. I have the door open for ventilation and all of the sudden I hear something coming straight at me from the woods. I'm in a real bad perdicament as you can understand when finally my flashlight catches sight of the beast. It's two dillo's headed straight toward me while I kind of back up the back of the john. Right at the last minute they split a part and go right around either side of the john. Whew!!!!!! I had to put off my business for a while. Night fishing was good though!! Snagged.

Hey Phil and Russ. I'm thinking of coming down Thursday with my dad. He won't fish so I wasn't sure if I wanted to come down and fish alone the whole weekend. If you guys are going I'd like to have someone to fish with, at least some of the time. Snagged.

Sounds like a great time Phil. I'll have to go up and check our fields for some new arrivals. Snag.

Hey Kickn. I went out for the dove opener and the Sunday of that weekend you can look at my report under general discussion, "season opener". Snag.

I can't believe I'm reading this. You would think at this point that local business owners, local political leaders and just plain old fishermen would be out in force to draw attention to the problem and get it fixed pronto. I've seen housewives stage pickets and call the local TV news when their yard gets runoff from a builder next door putting up new houses. Are you telling me that this guy still hasn't fixed and repaired the Norfork problem and now has started this new project? This reflects badly on local and state leaders that apparently don't care or can't get anything done. SAD!!!!!!!! Snag.

The question is "Are guides worth the money?" Good guides are worth every penney and more. Bad ones are not worth it and not fun. I've paid for all kinds of guides, mostly saltwater. I don't have a boat in New Orleans, Florida, Newport RI or the Bahama's either. For me there is no other choice if you want to fish a new area, especially salt. I not only don't have a boat but I don't know tides or anything else about fishing in or around the ocean. A good guide will put you on fish and tell you the method's that have been working for them lately. A little history of the fishery and some neat things about the area are expected I think. They should know the fishery and the surrounding area. I floated the Colorado and the guide told us about an underground coal fire that was still burning after 20 years, a dinosaur dig and the best place to get Margarita's in town. He worked with my son on casting, mending and how to fish from a drift boat. What a wonderful day we had. My son only brought one fish to the net and broke off a big one but he had a great time. We don't have enough money to get a guide for more than one day but we always do it on every vacation. Every good guide has undestood that and told us area's we could access on our own and what flies and techniques to use. Really we only had two bad guides out of 25 or so. Check around with buddies and fly shops you deal with locally. They may know of guides in the area you are looking at. Have fun, catch a few fish and enjoy the outing, then everyone wins. Snag.

Hi Terry. It's right next door to the big store in Springfield, just south. What they do sell there is a great deal just depends on your timing. Snag.

Hey Leo did you get my eamil? Cool weather brought in the big boys on the Big Muddy. Snagged.

I'm sorry, I should have stated that I was wanting to go next summer right after July 4th. Is that a good time to go out there? I'm really interested in places to stay that are near good fishing and the sites in the park. I mean there are a lot of streams and rivers and I really don't know where to start. I wanted to wade fish and I like big water and dry flies. Gotta see the main sites in the park but don't really care if I fish in the park. I've heard there is an 11 mile stretch of the Yellowstone (I think) that is C and R cutthroat water where they are pretty decent size. Above the lake or something. Also a river outside the west side of the park, Gallatin maybe? Anyway you get the idea, I don't know where to start. Al least if somebody could tell me where not to waste my time that would be a good start. Snagged.

That's a good one Gone! We have got to get together and fish. Hey MTM. Hope the fires subside for everybody's sake. Where are you located? I have been wanting to take my wife and daughter out to Yellowstone and the surrounding area but it's a little intimidatng since I really don't know anyone who has been out there. Can you offer any help? Thanks in advance. Snagged

Sorry Gone, they're gone already. We keep an eye on the field every week and hopefully we'll get another chance if some new birds move in. Next week on the teal I believe. We had 2 groups of 4 birds buzz the field Friday morning. I don't duck hunt anymore but it's great to see them anyway. You know we really had a good time. One of the guys that went with me emailed yesterday to see if I had been up to the field yet to check it out. He's pumped to do it again. I told him it's only been 2 days and to give it time. He said he can't wait two weeks. I'm trying to get down to Bennett for the gathering but things aren't coming together like I had wished. With this nice weather I'd really like to fish. Every year a big group of us camp at Quarry Park in late October. I'm staying Wednesday to Sunday that week and I can't wait. I'd like to get away a weekend before then. Snagged.

Hi Christiana. These reports a pretty detailed. http://www.wildernesstrail.com/ Snagged.

Come on Guys. I'm still waiting for an offer to go bass fishing in somebodies boat. Throw a brother a bone. Snagged.

We had a great hunt. 3 of us started Friday morning at 6:30. I shot the first dove at 7:15 and we were limited out at 9:30. It was cool and overcast. The birds just kept coming in. We would have been done earlier but we didn't have a dog and spent a lot of time looking for cripples. We didn't expect it to be that good since the cool weather moved in and a lot of birds moved out just before the season opened. We marinated them in Italian dressing, wrapped them in a piece of bacon and had a feast. Two of us went back Sunday morning and only got 10 birds in 2 hours. Hoping to see more move in from up north in the next couple weeks. I'll report in when we go again. It's nice to get out and enjoy a sport close to home without driving 3 or 4 hours. It's a big traditon around here. When I took the truck in for service today the guys that work there were asking how I did and they were eating some birds they shot. They had the grill going out back. Sometimes it's better late in the season when the big migrations start and we get new birds. Snagged

Hey Hunter. Pretty nice of you to share, can only come back to you 10 fold. I've bass fished Taney for years even though I live in St. Louis. Every mid summer family trip would find me bass fishing Taney. Bull creek is awesome and I'll share another with you. This is the first of your 10 fold return. There is a slough behind the marina at Rockaway that sometimes is absolutely filled with bass. I would like to take you up on your offer to "show ya". I don't have a boat but I know some spots down there that produce fish. Does the offer include a day on the water? If so I'd like to come down and fish with you. Hey can't hurt to ask. Snagged

I may be 3 and half hours from Taney and 4 from Mountain Home but by golly I live right in the heart of the Missippi fly way. Tomorrow is the dove opener! Cut sunflowers, cool temps and good buddies. Can't beat it. Been up to the field a few times in the past 2 weeks and it seems that the hundreds of birds we had early may have left town with this cool weather. Doesn't matter it'll be a great day anyway. Snagged.

I love it, he said he was cold. Ahhhhhh fall! Snagged.

Hey Gone. Maybe I'll see you at the get together at Bennett. Yes Ho-Humm allows wading access. I only go in the fall and winter and they charge $3 to park. In the summer it's a zoo, don't bother. We'll get hooked up. For me trout season starts in October. I like to fish Taney in the winter time. Now if we can just keep gas prices down. Snagged.