CLoyd

Good report. Hopefully they get the generation pattern back on track soon, it's put a damper on my night fishing.

That is pretty cool! I haven’t caught a muskie either. I’ve caught northern. Actually not too far from where they were in the video.

That's good looking! I'll bet it will be lighter and easier to cast too.

PS, I didn’t name the fly. It’s a pattern that’s been around for a while. Anyways I think it fishes very similar to a jerkbait but am still testing it out. Here’s what they look like. I tied several different colors:

I spent a little time last Spring working bigger streamers off the bank from my boat when they were running water trying to emulate jerk bait fishing. I found a #4 or #2 Butt Monkey did a pretty good job. They are around 4" long. I was fishing them with 250 grain sinking line and a short leader made of 12 inches of 20 pound Maxima and 18 inches of 12 pound. The sinking line worked well with 2 units running. It quickly got the fly down right where it needed to be. I took me a while to learn to cast it though. A sink tip wouldn't have got it there. I'm not sure anything would get it down there if they were running 4 units.

You've got time! It's still early. I think in a few weeks we'll start to see some good fish.

I was out both Friday and Saturday night again this weekend. Both nights were clear with a full moon, which can make things a challenge. I fished with Leonard Friday night, which is fortunate because he had a few tricks up his sleeve to catch some finicky moon addled trout. I covered everywhere from outlet 1 to below the rebar hole over the course of both nights. I saw quite a few other anglers on the water as well. Both nights began with a strong bite early on catching fish on pretty much every cast, until the moon got up over the trees. From then on they would get hot for a few short minutes at a time and then you would have to change colors, or wait until they came back around to the color you had on. The PMS and the Hibernator both caught fish. Olive and red were the best two colors. My old standard black/purple was a dud. No browns, all fat healthy rainbows between 15”-20”. I heard of a nice brown getting caught early Friday night down by the boat ramp, but don’t know how big it was. I talked to a few other people and didn’t find anyone else that had caught any brown trout.

I’ll bet that was Leonard!

Extra spools are very useful. I have the Lamson Remix 3-pack and have all three spools filled. I'll probably pick up a Liquid at some point, the Liquid and the Remix use the same spools.

Congrats on the new rod! I've heard good things about the Sage Foundation. Also, the Lamson Liquid 3-pack is one of the best deals out there.

Yeah it was a fun one! While doable, I wouldn't necessarily recommend a rod that light for night fishing. No browns yet, at least for me. I talked to some other fisherman out there and didn't find anyone that was catching any. It's a little early though. A dead drift seems to work best. I'll usually give it a few quick short strips every 6 seconds or so, mostly to manage slack and help feel bites. I think one of the more challenging aspects of night fishing is you can't see your line, so it's more difficult to manage a belly in it when dead drifting and get a good hook set. The strip set is key. I usually cast slightly downstream rather than directly across to help minimize the belly and immediately take in line to make sure there's no slack. You also get bites when the line is directly downstream from you and you're stripping it back, sometimes right at your feet.

I fished Friday and Saturday night this weekend and covered most of the area from outlet 1 down to outlet 3. The bite was pretty good both nights and I was catching fish pretty much the whole time. This surprised me a little bit because the moon was out. Leonard joined me Saturday night and we both had quite a few fish. Most fish were rainbows in the 16-18 inch range, occasionally up to 20 inches. My biggest fish of the weekend was 20 inches, ironically caught on Leonard’s new 4-weight that I was test casting while he was putting on his waders. As others have reported, the fish seem very healthy and have some meat on their bones. I also caught several white bass and Leonard had a nice Kentucky. I used a Hibernator both nights. Color didn’t seem to matter. I used black most of the time. Leonard was using red. I tried olive at one point. They were all working. Here are some typical fish caught both nights. The first one measured 17 inches. By the way, I use a full sized landing net with a deep basket so I can handle bigger fish easier by myself and keep them in the water. I try not to over handle fish. It does make for some underwhelming photos though.

As others have said, black is typically my most productive night time streamer color. Purple, Red, Brown, and Olive can be good as well. I would think jigs would work in those colors as well.

If you want to throw big articulated stuff with a sinking line or leader, I would recommend a 7 or 8 weight. I use a 6 weight for smaller streamers. I use an 8 weight for bigger stuff or if it's windy. The BVK has a good reputation. I have cast it and it has a lot of power. You'll want heavier line to load that particular rod well so lining up a size might not be a bad idea. Pay attention to the grain weight of whatever lines you are considering. 8 weight doesn't necessarily equal 8 weight. Anymore, there is a bit of a range for any particular "weight" line. Some rods respond better to heavier or lighter lines. The video below offers a good explanation of this and might help you out. It shows a fly shop testing a bunch of 7 weight rods with different weight lines. The BVK is in there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWuctYLEThU I'm using an 8 weight Echo Ion XL for bigger streamers paired with either the 8wt RIO Big Nasty Floating line or SA Sink 30 Cold 250 gr. Both of those lines are on the lighter end of the spectrum for 8 weight and work well for that rod. The BVK would be on the other end of the spectrum. My 2 cents . . .

It's just a different streamer pattern. It's called a zonker style fly, and is tied with pine squirrel or rabbit fur strips (zonkers). I really like the action of this type of material in the water and have been tying a lot of this style of fly over the last few years. The fur really breathes and moves a lot. It also holds a little more of it's bulk when you strip it. Marabou becomes needle thin. I think the hibernator is an excellent leech imitation. I tie most of mine unweighted so they are slow sinking and can be dead drifted, which is mostly what I do at night. Leonard really came up with a great pattern with the hibernator.

I got out for a couple hours last night after dark under the dam. The water was off early and it was a clear moonless night, but foggy. I caught several fish early on, but it slowed down for me quite a bit as the fog got heavier. I changed colors a few times and managed a couple more fish before I quit for the night, but it was slow going. I caught fish on a #8 hibernator in black/purple and brown. I would have liked to try a purple one, but managed to leave that fly box at home. Most fish were rainbows around 16” in length, no browns, and one white bass that measured 14”. Last year I caught white bass regularly until late summer. It looks like this year is following the same pattern. It always amazes me how big they get. They are almost always 14 or 15 inches. I don’t do much white bass fishing when they run on bull shoals, but I wonder how they compare in size.

Ice in the guides is a bugger. Fished one morning a couple years ago when it was 5 degrees. My fly line kept freezing and sticking in the guides while I was trying to get fish in. I would have to back into the bank to land the fish. Some people say to use Pam nonstick spray. Anyways, the frozen guides weren't as big of a problem as my frozen hands. I only made it an hour. I was catching fish too. Guess I've found my temperature limit.

As others have said, it just takes a very small pinch. I think techniques for applying it are going to vary. I spin it both ways between my fingers and work it down the thread so it's thin as possible and tight. No wax usually to save time. I just use regular thread in a color that matches the dubbing. Sometimes I'll use a thin piece of wire or monofilament for the ribs.

I've seen them above F highway float fishing some years. It always amazed me they could make it up that far. As others have said, lot's of bass and crappie on the lower end of Bull Creek. Good place to duck hunt too. I like the lower end of Taney, it's less crowded.

I like the soft hackle. Will definitely catch fish

Nice fish!

Good fishing with you too! We'll have to do it again. It was definitely a tough night. We sure tried hard though. Jester had some really good looking jerkbaits, and I pulled out every color my fly box could muster and we didn't come up with much. I guess that's just the way it goes sometimes.

I made it till 11:00 last night. I was a bit above Jester and there were several people between us, so I couldn’t get down to them. My tally was a 20 and 22 inch rainbow, three small browns, a small smallie, and half a dozen small rainbows. Black/purple, and red/purple were my colors.

Sure thing! I'm planning on being out there.

Nice little juvenile brown! I caught several of those last weekend. Once you find one you can usually catch several. They must school up. I'll be out tonight hoping for something big!