Ozarks Chillbilly

Yeah man! Fishing dries and nymphs is fun and all, but for me streamers is where it's at. I might be on the 1st. Basically just down on the weekends fishing like an owl in the night haha. Might find ya down there sometime! Update on the fly: the fins and this different wool I used I like the profile a lot better. Just need to use a bigger zonker and I think the ingredients are complete:

Going to start a new thread here. Maybe there is a thread similar to this already, but ive noticed some of the pictures have started to expire. Here's a fresh start. I'll kick it off with a wool head sculpin I tied up. Not necessarily 'pretty, but it should push some water and hopefully catch some fish. Might add some fins to the next one. Other than a few lead wraps there is no other weight to the fly. Probably going to tie up some black and white ones too to try out at night this weekend. Share on!

About to order some bucktail, hooks, and eyes for some clousers. I have white and chartreuse bucktail already. Have tan, red, and light pink in the shopping cart. Tiemco TMC811S in size 4. How does this sound? Main concern is the hook size.

GEEZ that's one of the biggest spoonies I've ever seen! Pretty neat you got him in on 10lb.

Early this summer I was fishing Roaring River w/ my cousin. Managed to snag a crayfish on my ruby midge (splitshots slid down my tippet onto the fly itself). Later that day my cousin caught a sculpin on a trout magnet edit: The crayfish was revived and released... lol

That looks gruesome (in a very good way)! Is that some sort of psuedo-hair for the head and then some black marabou for body? Looks like a great meal for some hungry fish.

If you're going to fish them without a sinking leader I would definitely throw on some lead wire on. As far as the tail, I was recommended by someone to actually use dry fly hackle as it does stay stiff. Maybe, like you said, some flank fibers would be good too! Definitely worth messing around with as either way it'll catch a fish.... eventually. I tried making a fly tying video the other day and actually used this fly. If you want to check out the materials in more detail just skim through the vid here: Disclaimer: I could only find really repetitive music (copyright issues) and I totally botched the body hackle up when I brought the wire through Was a a bit nervous for no reason haha

Going to hit this thread with a bump because 1. Fly tying is great 2. Just finished a little group of Tiger Tails Pic of fish caught on said Tiger Tails

For anybody still wondering.. Using sinking tip leader with tiger tails is really fun. Depending on where you're fishing and if the conditions are right you could get strikes on every cast. The tiger tail is essentially a crackleback with a cool looking tail. Really fun to tie up, too. Throw some bead-chain eyes for a really buggy look and experiment with different hackle colors! Good luck

I saw some gnarly looking eyes staring at me up by outlet #1 the other night. Shined my headlamp in that direction cause you always gotta check your 6 and there he/she/it was. Looked right at me and then disappeared. Almost as frightening as that time I felt a tentacle wrap around my le...... Spooky.

Caught a good old Motorfish! Haha good stuff. Love keeping up to these vids on YT and the random days where a fish might be caught! Keep up the vids, it amazes me how consistent with the uploads you guys are. Looks CHILLY too! Before we know it this season will be upon us again. I'm kind of excited for it in a way. Odd question, but do you guys recommend any certain type/brand of winter wear for being out on the water in the freezing cold? Don't want temperature to stop from great fishing. Thanks ps. sorry to bring up a year-old topic

You have caught some GNARLY fish! Congrats and thanks for sharing. That one Rainbow look like it just came out of QB Alex Smith's hands. Big ol' football.

This is awesome. I honestly did not know Musky were available in the area. Surely in select small lakes? Would love to know where y'all try and target them!

I see you repping that Cobalt! Great brand, weird to see that Malibu boats bought them. Surely that won't change much in the manufacturing process and might make them even better. Then again... More money more problems

Haha, I feel ya there. I just like using certain streamer hooks over another usually based on the gap between the hook and the shank. Some patterns with more materials and that try to get after a specific swimming pattern/profile are better constructed on hooks with different structures. It's by no means 'necessary' and probably doesn't really matter, like you said. But to each their own; at least it makes some fly tyers feel better or more confident in their creation... this being the case for me.

Lame picture but here is the previous fly in the mouth of a hungry fish.

They're super fun! If you're into tying flies I like seeing what they're biting on and making adjustments on certain patterns for what I hope is increased success. Check out Charlie Craven's Double Gonga, really versatile pattern with tons of flow. I opt out of the rubber legs (I can't wrap my head around the reason besides the vibration effect...fish don't have legs) and throw on a wool head for some water displacement. So far, I've only used up to size 4 hooks for my articulated flies but I'll probably up the size a little later on in the winter. I'm pretty new at this though so take my words with a grain of salt haha Here is one of my variants on the Double Gonga I like to call the "Jailbird Gonga ". It also has a UV Ice Dub body in pearl which really shimmers in the dark for a cool effect. Good luck out there, see ya on the water!

Holy smokes. I might be able to get that things head into my net if I ever came across a fish like that. I wouldn't know what to do w/ myself!

Thanks for your input! While I haven't started my official 'research yet; I have also found lots of information about the release of accumulated materials whether they be from the construction on the dam or from natural silts. I will have to explore this phenomena in more detail as it will surely make its way into my paper. It's interesting factor because this alone could make it unethical or result in one stop forward, two steps back within the mission to restore the downstream environment.

That sounds exhilarating! I'll probably pack a bunch of flouro in different tests and a few leaders to tie them on to. Hard to judge without being in the field.. or the surf in this case! I appreciate all the info. Looking forward to this trip already!

Looks like I need to bulk up my bucktail supply. As far as leader goes, I figure most saltwater fish are less sensitive to the size. How would a 9ft 12lb leader do w/ 10ish lb tippet? For general surf fishing purposes. Although if I were, somehow, to hook up a monster that thing would snap like a twig probably.

Interesting. I've been wanting to try out some topwater mouse patterns out just not sure if it's the right time/environmment. I guess it never hurts to try. pretty much every time I'm able to get down on the water (pretty much only weekends) at night they shut off all gens at around 9. Does anybody know if it's been any different during the weekdays?

Hmmm... maybe I should try a clouser minnow? Haha, not sure how I didn't think of it. Legendary pattern, I need to tie some up. As for the ladyfish i'm not sure if they're located where I will be fishing. Particularly the inter-coastal on the gulf-side of Florida, south of Tampa and all that jazz. Would love to hook up on a redfish, but that's more crab patterns and stuff.

That sounds super fun. My knowledge of salt flies is quite limited though. I know that people use 'surf candies' when fishing the beaches. What do you recommend pattern wise for starters?

I am about to write a research paper on the topic of dam removal and the environmental and recreational effects of such activity. Anyone that has been near Taneycomo or other tailwaters knows that dams not only provide hydroelectric power but also wonderful recreational opportunities. My topic of dam removals more-so is aimed at smaller scaled projects and more specifically ones affecting migratory species such as Pacific salmon and other anadromous species. Dams (large or small) that have been removed which previously blocked the natural passage of these fish not only reintroduces that opportunity but also reestablishes a wide array of environmental rehabilitation. I know it's a long shot but I'm just curious if anybody has experience/viewpoints/comments on this topic. Thanks!