tangledup

These are all great ideas! I was fishing small nymphs at the time and didn’t switch to wooly buggers or anything. I will try them all! I didn’t think of this picture idea until after I left the creek but I’ll take pictures next week when I go back. I think this could be really interesting and maybe I can get some creative ideas for how to fish different situations.

I looked around a little for an existing thread that matched what I had in mind without success. That could very well be because my thread idea is horrible, but I'll pitch it anyway: Would there be any interest in a thread topic where newbie fly fisher (like myself) could post pictures of hard to fish lies and have the more experienced angers provide some virtual advice on how to fish it? An example of this would be a narrow, windy local stream that I enjoy fishing. There are several holes, both in bends and on straight runs, that have log piles and jams piled in them, with a slow and fast water seam running through them. I know there are fish there, I just haven't been able to fish them without getting tangled and losing a bunch of flies. For the moment we will set aside the fact that hooking a fish in this environment will lead to a whole other set of issues such as getting them out of that mess. If this has already been done please excuse me and direct me to the right thread.

Thanks! Eventually I want to get a 6 or 7 weight setup for bass fishing but I’m going to save up for a little bit to get a good one. Of course I’m also in the process of looking for a short 3wt for fishing the local brushy trout streams. My “want” list is just too long!

Can I use this tippet set up on a 5wt rod and line rig?

I managed to sneak away for a few hours yesterday and hit the area around the middle Wire Road access. 9 in total, although they were all small (including one almost microscopic trout) and most were caught between 6-7pm. I did see what I believe were larger fish in some of the deeper pools but didn’t have any luck getting them to bite. As usual, the fish I did catch were at the back of the bends, under the tree roots and driftwood. I can home 8 flies lighter because of that. But it was fun. Size 16 brassies with red wire and zug bugs worked well. I’m enjoying getting to know this fun little creek.

https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/missouri-department-of-conservation-temporarily-waive-fishing-permits/63-07686995-e2aa-4b1c-8535-ac531641fc14

My son and I took a short break from his schoolwork for a “field trip” to study botany and entomology. We also happened to bring our fly rods along. This was our first trip to Crane Creek to fish although we have gone hiking and mushroom hunting in the area before. It was a challenge! But also a blast. Especially for fairly new fly fishers like us. I’m not too proud to admit that we both spent a fair amount of time in the trees. But we did manage to snag a couple small rainbows when we were able to figure which direction the water was.The Creek level was almost perfect with the rain we’ve had. We had to leave a little before five but the trout were just starting to rise as we left. I definitely want to go back when I can stay longer and hopefully get in on some dry fly action. And for any of his teachers who may be reading this, we spent a fair amount of time flipping rocks and identifying the critters under them. Completely unrelated to that, I now have a couple of ideas for some new flies we are going to tie before going back.

Thanks for all the great responses! Most of my fishing experience on the Buffalo is smallmouth fishing on the lower end (which was awesome the last time I went) but I think I'm going to give a hike on the upper end a try. So my plan is a solo trip to the Buffalo in February with my route of either the Buffalo River Trail or Old River Trail being dependent on water conditions when I go. I'll have routes planned for both for a three day trip then watch the forecast and call an outfitter right before I go. Then in March my son and I will go to the Current for a second trip. I need to do a little more research but what I'm thinking for that trip is to camp at the park the first night then get up and hike and fish down the river as far as we can, camp the second night, then hike and fish our way back to the truck.

https://goo.gl/maps/bmwvJpzn3iBQ7BYFA Is this the bridge you're referring to?

Some really good ideas. Thanks for all the input! I'm going to start planning our first couple trips. I'll let you all know how it goes!

We’ve done this several times. It’s a favorite of both of ours and I’m sure we will do it once or twice this year, but what I’m really looking for is a backpacking trip to get that experience. I like the Buffalo River. I’ve floated that section several times. You’re right, the fishing isn’t nearly as good as it is farther down but it’s still one to keep in mind. Thanks for the feedback....keep it coming!

Howdy everybody! My son and I are pretty new to fly fishing (a little over a year into it) so neither of us have a ton of experience. We both love it though and I'm planning on taking him on a backpacking fly fishing trip out west within the next year or so. I would like to find somewhere within one or two hours of us (southwest Missouri) where I could take him for a couple short trial run trips. I was thinking 2-4 days in length where we packed up our backpacks and fly rods and spent a couple days hiking a river or stream and fish as we go. Something that will help us get our loadouts and gear fine tuned before we head out for the real thing. I have a decent amount of backpacking experience but my son has only been on one backpacking trip, although he has camped quite a bit. (He's 10 by the way. That's probably an important detail). I was thinking about possibly trying the Current River....having someone drop us off downstream and hiking to Montauk. I'm researching a couple other options as well such as the North Fork but I don't have much experience around either of these rivers. I posted this on another popular fly fishing forums with no response. I'm hoping to have some better luck here. Thanks!!