Tightline

Its good to see our senior resident guide is coming out of hibernation,I was begining to wonder about you Bill. Good Report!!

Went to the Pothole saturday and tried to catch some crappie up between the rocks and the dam.Caught 1 bass,no crappie.Fished jigs under a float.Seen another flyfisher there and I don't know if he done any good or not. Drove around to the Powersite side and fished off the gravel bar for Trout.I tied on a light green #10 wooley bugger(that I tied) and caught 12,only had 2 come off,that bigger hook made alot of difference in my hook ups,and they seem to like the bugger about as good as the jig I used last week,and the size was better this week with several 14 inchers and 1 16in. The fish were all healthy looking,so they must have plenty to eat. It was fun,and a nice alternative when you can't catch walleyes or crappie.

Bravo,Scheetz.

Forsythian, .Vonreed it wouldn't bother me,it sure doesn't hurt the fishing.Do what you gotta do!

LASGTA88,I am very partial to jigs for spinning.I throw white,olive,black and sculpin with white being my favoite.Throw 1/32 or 1/16 on 2 lb test and retreive them every possible way you can till you find what they want,usually a pumping or rise and fall motion will draw strikes.Just experiment a little trout are a funny fish. Hope I helped, Good Luck!

Yes I was.

Just had to get out of the house this afternoon so I took a drive down to Forsyth to see how the water looked.Of course I threw my flyrod in just in case. Got down there about 2:30 and noticed silver flashing in the choppy water on the River Run side.Tied on a 1/100 ou bluish grey jig,stripped it med to slow.Had a terrible time trying to hook them,lots of hits,5 0r 6 came off,but did manage to bring 7 in all the way.Left at 4:30 thanking myself for bringing my fly rod. No big ones,all about 12 inchs.But these Trout were strong and would hit that jig so hard you'd wonder how in the world you missed it.A couple of the Bows looked distinctly different from the others.They were shorter but thicker and the colors were different.I have always heard there were wild ones below the dam,these may have been a couple.I wish I had brought my camera. These fish were very spooky,so long cast were needed. There weren't any fishermen within 100 yds of me,and no others flyfishing,a nice change of pace from Taney.

Thanks guys,the hen hackle that I bought at BPS in olive and black has much smaller feathers than the white package,and you can probably tell that I had to trim the white hackle to get it down to the right size.I guess a guy should look at the package before he buys it. I evidently have been tying them backwards with the butt of the feather tied in first,and I never even thought about a shiney side. Its nice to have people around that know what they are doing. Thanks again..............TL.

This may be a dumb question and its probably very simple.I need to know how to make my hackle lay down more toward the hook end.The straight hackle like mine the white one seems to make them ride higher in the water.I want them more like the orange one that I bought. I have finnally got all set up for this fly tying and I really enjoy it so far,but I haven't tied anything very difficult yet.Any help will be greatly appreciated. TL.

Very good article,and so true.Sometimes I find it hard to reply to a post without looking like I'm trying to be a know it all.But other times I find it real easy to make myself look ignorant.There are alot of us on here who have years of experience but at the same time are not experts (or Pros). I think that egos and testosterone drive alot of what is written,ands its alot easier to show that big ego on a forum than it is in person.I have tried to learn constraint in the last year and not just jump in and say some off hand remarks that I'll regret later.I think if you got every one of us together,you'd find out we are mostly just regular ole Joe's who like to fish. I'm glad we have the internet even with its flaws.I like reading the reports and the opinions on various subjects,even if I don't always agree.

Buckd,I am no expert on Walleye,but traditionally,Jan,Feb,and March are the best for a big one if the water is flowing good from Powersite.They seem to come in waves in Jan and Feb,they will catch them good for several days and then nothing.So any kind of good report from Powersite I would head that way! March is a little more consistant in my opinion,they will be heading up the feeder creeks to spawn.Last year was a strange year.One of the local Walleye fishers who has boasted catching as many as 400 Wally keepers in a year caught 11 last year,and he is the best I know. Hopefully this year will be good! Good Luck.

Polock.I also am impressed,a picture of a big Walleye is worth MORE than a thousand words. I would bet those minnows were big creek chubs,right? Good job.

I'm with you Seth,keep the little ones and throw back those big ones,especially the sows. GF its good to see you on here,its been awhile hasn't it.

Kido, a warm up of any kind in the winter has to help fishing.How much?Won't know till you get out and try em.I think Crappie react the best to a few warm days in the winter.I have caught them just off the banks around cover with just a plain ole jig and a bobber 2-3 foot above. I expect alot of fishermen will be out this weekend.. Good Luck!

Very good report FF, keep'em coming.

I had always heard that big Stripers will die shortly after the incredible fight they put up.After catching one last spring at Beaver I know that it is true.Mine was dead right after boating it,and it was only half the size of those two.Those are some bruisers.

Scheetz thats a pretty Brown,sounds like you had fun,good report.

Very well stated PHW. Fishing is fishing,doesn't matter who you are,how you do it,where you are at,or what you are fishing for.

Trav,most of the Trout guys are really biting their lips right now.And its just because we try to keep this forum as civil as possible.The fact is you were being very arrogant.You couldn't even apologize with out being arrogant. Now with that being said,I have been a so called (Big Bass) fisherman for the last 30 years,and decided to give this fly fishing for Trout on upper Taney a try this year.I have been humbled many times by the expertise of some of these fly guys.I'm not use to standing right beside a guy and having them literally kick my hind end fishing.Point is,grab you a fly rod and head up to the Trophy area,and just see how easy it is to catch those cheese Trout. The lower end of Taney is not a big secret,I was chasing Bass and Trout around the lower end way back in the 60s.The 3 biggest coves just up from Powersite have some huge Bass in them.There was older man that lived in a little cottage at Edgewater beach resort that had one wall just covered with big Bass and Trout mounts.Any time we had a big rain you would see him at the back of one those coves catching the fire out of them. Trav PM me sometime and we'll go fishing!!

Wow,nothing like tootn your own horn! Theres gonna be a Trout tournment out of Lillys I think the 12th of January for anyone to enter.This would be a good opportunity to show just how easy it is to catch these aquarium Trout.I'll bet the winners wont be using bare hooks!!

Here are some pics.The Western Cottonmouth is the one thats almost black,(a MDC photo).The lighter colored with the distinct bands is the Northern Water Snake,I took its picture this summer down on Bull Creek. I think Jd is right,older water snakes and younger cottonmouths look alot more like each other.

Its just simple,Missouri just can't beat Oklahoma,it doesn't matter how good a team Mizzou has had,they have always had trouble with Okies!!

Nice pics Ecce. Man I'd like to have some feathers off of one them rascals.

I never thought I would ever try fly fishing,but I did,and now I am hooked.The fasination,well its kinda like using a long bow instead of a compound,or the compound bow instead of a gun.To me it is more complex,more challenging. I have yet to match my spin fishing total for Trout on Taney,but I am gaining on it.What is fasinating to me about fishing with flys is that you might tear them up with Wooley Buggers one weekend and go back the next weekend and not get a bite on them.You have to be ready and willing to change until you find out what they want,and how they want it. Another thing I find amazing is the different levels of sportsmanship.Some will only fish outlets,some will not go near an outlet,some only fish fast water,some only dead water,some never cast their rods,some,all they do is cast and unfortunatly some only fish at their feet. What ever floats your boat, I guess. TL

Not sure zander, about Anglers and Archery,I always stop on my way home,usually noon or after.