tjm

Some people use Magic Eraser or Soft Scrub, fine grit sandpaper or toothpaste, someone on another forum said that 409 cleaner worked for him. I wouldn't use Magic Eraser or sand paper, but that's just me. I've used Soft Scrub on a couple of old rods and it might be quickest way I've used. I didn't scrub very hard, just smeared it on and used a dripping wet cloth to wipe it off, then rinsed it well to remove residue. when mine are clean dry I put Minwax finishing wax on them, to help keep them clean.

Depending how kinky the the shank is- Klinkhammers, emergers, maybe a hopper, softhackle wets and perhaps a lot more For example this (stolen from the web) deerhair emerger is tied on a curved hook as are others ( I might tie the wing tilted forward on some flies) edit to add you can also tie many of your nymphs on the curved hooks caddis larvae pheasant tails or copper johns etc. although #10 might be big for some stuff Just pick a favorite pattern and try it out, if you don't like, run a razor through it and try something else

That's a pretty good way I think. Is it not working well?

The problem @ham described for BSL most likely applies to all the reservoirs. It's a factor I hadn't thought of. In the case of over harvest and taking during the spawn it would be better management to have seasons and limits. Most species should be protected during spawn, in my opinion, but I know that easy pickings appeal to a lot of people.

It seems crazy to me that they even need to stock a native fish, with all the risk that comes of a hatchery introducing fish carrying or transmitting diseases. Or mixing of DNA that compromises wild stock. Are the walleye unable to spawn in those lakes or is it just provide jobs for hatchery workers?

That is the way I feel about a lot of the "new and improved" things we have today. and why I don't use fluorocarbon. When I read or hear "braid" in reference to fish line my first thought always is "Dacron or Nylon?" Then I remember the "super braids" and that raises another question. It's almost the same thing as a person equating "monofilament" with nylon and saying "I never use mono", while he is using monofilament made of fluorocarbon. Public schools must not teach English as a language any more.

Shore enough, they are braided but then so are shoe laces and buggy whips.

Those are all gel spun polyethylene and made using either Spectra (Honeywell) or Dyneema (DSM )

Silk, polyester, nylon, Dacron, Spectra , Dyneema are all braids that were used in the 20th century, and as far as I know still are. When you say "nothing like the new braids" what braids are you talking about? are they made of one or more of these fibers?

Not very common in the Ozarks then. Or the USA, that didn't occur until after WW2 when Brown went to France and brought the reel back to the US. I would imagine braid was common on bait cast reels before spinning reels were common.

My thoughts were that guided anglers would be more apt to report (at guide's suggestion?) than self guided locals would be. Depending on the number of locals not reporting; the number of large trout taken and released could be far higher than the numbers show. many self guided anglers might not even be aware of your program. Others might be lazy like myself, or catch so many large trout that it is routine. It's definitely a good fishery and that indicates that MDC management isn't as bad as some people believe. Thanks a lot for the report and for the program that provides the data, Phil. Very interesting stuff.

There haven't been any secret spots to fish in my life time. Somebody always knows. Fishermen always talk. And every wildlife department in every state makes lists of all the secret spots and publishes those lists everywhere. There are places most of us can't fish because of access and those may seem secret, but you can bet the government has them on record.

@Mitch f, I didn't give that any thought, at the time, but that's all water from springs within probably 1-5 miles and we have not had any real cold spells so water is likely to be in the high 50s, about ground temperature. It was warm Thursday mid 50ish I think and my hands said the water was just cooler than the air. The creek stays cool enough that there are usually some holdovers through the summer in some spots. Never a lot though because the locals eat them after Mar 1 until Nov 1. I believe the bio told me it gets (or is supposed to get) five stockings per year. So far as I know there is no natural reproduction.

In that park one has to dodge the frisbee golfers more than anything else and of course in summer all the "swimmers". One of the things that make think maybe it hasn't been stocked this fall is the lack of other anglers. It's C&R through the winter months but zero enforcement honor system.

That will be up to my son, I just went along for the ride those past two years. I wasn't even sure if it would be an every year deal. I spent a lot of time in Clinton as kid, Mom's home town, but man it has changed.

I don't think so, maybe on this forum; but I don't take pictures often. Just happened that the water there was shallow enough to keep the fish still for a few seconds yet fully covered. I don't often make reports either, mostly because I don't take pictures. I'm at that stream almost every week and fish it fairly regular as we have grand kids in the neighborhood. It doesn't hold a lot of fish but it's easy access for an old fat guy.

Had a few windy minutes just before dusk. Caught one, and missed a couple, generic olive nymph, unweighted. Doesn't look to me like it's been stocked at all this fall/winter. I couldn't see many fish in the 1/2 mile walk before I rigged up. Trout had a lot of color that doesn't show in the image.

I've never seen one alive that I know of. Although one son in law used to chase them and I went with him a couple of times, we were there but they didn't come. People say that they run up streams out of Grand Lake that are within a hour's drive of me, but I've not been there on that day. My choice of hooks would likely be the classic #3366 that I use for general purpose hooks and have on hand in most sizes. I think it looks close enough to the suggested hooks that the bass might not notice (Neosho bass didn't) and they were cheap the day I bought them.

About what proportions of guided anglers to self-guided regulars fish that area? half and half or more guides than regulars?

@kjackson you asked a similar question a year or three ago and at that time someone suggested to you a number of flies in "hook sizes #6-#2 and 2"- 3.5" long". I remembered it because at the time I thought I might try some of them. old thread with pics

I asked that because if I had to keep the fish alive for weighing or measuring or if I had to go more than 100 yards out of my way, there is not one chance in a thousand that I'd report it. I might if it had a bounty on it, like the $25-$33 bounty per Brown Trout caught in AZ's Colorado River has or had. But even for $25, it's a maybe for me, it's just too easy to poke the hook out without having to handle the fish. I figure I can't be the only lazy guy that fishes.

Found that ^^ when looking up info on the yellow bass and USGS shows them as native to SE Mo. and up the Mo. River as well as along the Ms. River and a portion of the Ar. River. But in the White River Lakes they have to be called invasive.

how it's tied- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAjCzAZyEAE

I know that's what you said but I've never gotten a twisted leader when fishing one. As far as I can remember the only twisted leaders I've had came using too small of a tippet for the fly, but even using as light as 8# on #2 gurglers I don't recall any leader problems. The quill winged dries were always twisters for me on any light tippet, until I stopped putting wings on mine. You could try rounding the corners on the lip. Gartside's suggestion.