snagged in outlet 3

The Cardiac access on the Meramec is named because my dad had a heart attack walking up that hill. It was back when it first opened and the guys from Ozark Flyfishers named it that and it stuck. My dad had one of the first open heart by pass surgeries in the st Louis area and lived 34 more years after that. Then he had his first stroke in my truck in Houston Mo while heading to the Conclave in '07. I didn't know it at the time and I got him to Mountain Home and he took a nap and felt fine. He passed on two years later. He was the treasurer of the Federation of Fly Fishers for many years along with many posts in Ozark FF. He wasn't an original member OFF but very close. He just loved fly fishing and took me all over the country to pursue it. In his house you had to fly fish, bird hunt and play golf. It's the same here at my house today. Although we don't duck hunt like I did when I was a kid Pete

Hey Rick I'm heading to Arkansas for the Conclave in early October. They are honoring my dad who passed away in March of 09. I think it's some legends of fly fishing for Southern Council of the Federation of Flyfishers. I don't know all the details since they have been talking to my mom about it and she isn't sure either, She wants my brother and I down there with her to accept the award or whatever it is. Pete

Thanks Phil What will the level be in the trophy area? 696 is quite a bit below normal pool??? 2-3 weeks??? What's your take on this? Pete

Hi John "On the Norfork River, we have had some significant periods of wadable water. On lower water the hot flies have been small black zebra midges (size 20 and smaller) and Dan’s turkey tail emerger. On higher flows the best technique has been to drift brightly colored San Juan worms (red, hot fluorescent pink and cerise) and egg patterns (pink and orange)." Thanks for the report. I thought the Norfork was generating around the clock for quite some time, until yesterday? Is the graph wrong? Thanks, Pete

This might shed some light on the generation pattern. It's from Jeff Williams at AGnF. "Also, last Friday I received notification from the Corps of Engineers that they intend to maintain the current maximum generation levels for the next week even as DO levels are expected to drop into the 3.8 – 3.5 mg/l range. The Reservoir Control folks cited a reduced capacity to evacuate remaining flood waters as a result of the maximum generation restrictions. Although the lake elevations are well down from what they have been, I think they are trying stay ahead of any tropical storms that may come our way." You can read the whole post on Wilson's website under the low DO thread here: http://flyfishingarkansasandmissouri.yuku.com/topic/7369/From-Jeff-Williams-on-DO Pete

Sorry to cut in, but yes it is. I have some buddies staying there next week.

Craigslist

Super flukes are deadly on those bad boys. SIO3

Sorry Dennis. It was in the slot and not legal to keep. Otherwise it would've gone on the smoker. Pete

I was thinking about this at work when I wasn't doing anything today and I remember killing a 20" cutt at McCellans about 6 or 7 years ago. Right before they shut down. Neither fish was fought very long and I didn't give it a second thought about the release until it wouldn't swim out of my hands. I tried and tried until it died but it never got it together either. I don't know, just one of those things I guess. Both fish were caught in late summer or fall. Low DO?? There were a few dead fish below number 2 this weekend. But that is expected, given the number of "anglers" at that location. SIO3

Turn sideways to your inteneded line and WATCH your line. You'd be surprised at what you see. SIO3

Thanks Rick. I saw your buddy Mark Friday morning and Sunday morning. That fish just wouldn't come around. Pete

Fished the Tropht area Sat, Sun and Monday mornings. Slept in everyday and got on the water about 8:30 AM. It was crowded but I've seen worse. Friday was hot and sunny and I caught fish till I left around 1PM. Mostly grey scuds and the occasional surf and turf combo. I fished around rebar and the gauntlet mostly catching fish ti 14 inches. Saturday the weather changed and it was cloudy and cool. Boy was it nice. Got there around 8:30 again and looked forward to good fishing. The gen schedule said water on at 2 but they fired up at 11:30. It was a good one unit and I hung around all day till 4:30 fishing the edges from number one to past the third outlet. Same fies with the occasional bugger under the trees because it was easy to cast under the there. Caught some absolute pigs up to 19 inches. one in particular I couldn't get both hands around it, it was so fat. Had something bad happen. I killed a nice 17 inch fish. I haven't had that happen in years. She was hooked in the tongue and I really gave it no thought at first. I had to use hemos to get the fly out. When the fly was out she started bleeding profusely. I've hooked lots of trout in the tongue but they never bled like this one. I tried and tried to revive her but she just wouldn't come around. After a half hour or so she was dead. Bumbed me out really. She was belly up and that white belly just stood out so much against the stream. I bagged it for the day and left. Sunday the weather was awesome and when I showed up, some guys I know said fishing was slow. First cast and it was on again for me. I whacked em pretty good till 11 and left. I had moved down below rebar and fish were rolling in that hole feeding aggressively. I saw plenty of browns but never caught one and some of the rainbows were going through the spawning dance. I saw several big browns jumping out of the water and several male rainbows had milt coming out of the them when handled. SIO3

Sorry, sorry, I lost my head there. Too many beers when I wrote that. SIO3

Yeah I know Rick. I have family and I like to catch up on sleep while on vavation. I learned to pick around the edges years ago. Not all the fish are in rebar or the outlets. Pete

Nice report I'm headed back down Friday till Monday. I'll cover the day shift for you guys. Pete

Caught a 29 inch rainbow at McC's on a worm brown SJ. Litterally have caught thousands of trout on them. Especially high water boat fishing. Also have an old picture of a big cutthroat caught on one. I have the fly punched through the frame. Pete

Are you speaking from experience Fred? SOI3

Season hasn't even started yet Rick. I prefer AR if water levels allow some wading. Can't beat either one in my book though. We flushed several pigs out of rebar when fighting our first fish of the morning Thursday. I usually go down in Oct but my new job might not allow it this year. Thanksgiving through Feb looks real ggod though. Pete

We waited out the lightening and rain from about 6 AM till 7:30 or so in the pavilion. Water was off till 10:30. My brother and I had the "NEW" rebar chute to ourselves for a good two hours. It is now several chutes and deep holes interspersed down to a hole. Totally different water. We whacked em solidly on scuds the whole time. Lots of stockers with the occasional 15 incher. My brother went up to outlet one and reported the same success after leaving rebar. I spent the next hour below rebar and and it was spotty but it also got very hot. Friday we got on the water around 6AM and left at 11. We started below the first outlet and fished all the way to the big hole. I don't fish the outlets but my brother does. A brother could stand in either outlet and catch fish ad nauseum if one felt so inclined, it just not for me. We caught fish regularly but not ridiculous like rebar on Thursday. Swung buggers all the way down and poked around with dry flies on the way back up. Again it got hot quickly and we bugged out sround 11. They blew the horn around 10:30 but never turned on the water. It didn't matter since it was very hot. It was very busy Friday by the way. There is no structure from the first outlet to number two. It's a featurelist bottom but may good for spawning, who knows. SIO3

We were out in the boat Friday afternoon and had whites busting around us all day. We had then busting from Indian Point to the diving bluff. SIO3

Speedo and a wife beater for me in the summer. Don't ask about winter fishing. SIO3

I guess that puts an end to my Taney report for this weekend. SIO3

Nice!!! Good report. I'll probably stop by some time this week. Thanks again. Pete

Thanks for the in depth report. I'm headed down in the morning till Sunday. Are you associated with a resort? Pete