Dave Cook

My guess is the April inflow had to displace all the cold water at the bottom of the reservoir. That is why Taneycomo is “enjoying” such high water temperatures. The up-side to this will be a higher growth rate for the trout in Taneycomo this year. The down-side is if they ever stop releasing water during warm weather during daylight hours, I would expect the water temperatures soar upward at least as far up-lake as Lilley’s. So it looks like the low 50's will be as cold as it will get this year. It may take a whole winter to get the water temperatures back down to the 45-49 range in Table Rock at the intake levels.

Congratuations Rick.

100% behind you Chief. If I see someone who appears to be ignorant of the regs, I will let them know what they are doing wrong. Once they keep fishing after they ignore the regs (this person knew it), then as in this case by his own actions, he earned the ticket.

I have a different opinion. How much we can pump would matter, even without more refineries in the US. If the oil reserves worldwide were to increase, the problem with speculators driving up the price of crude would addressed. The speculators, the the supply vs demand market, is what keeps driving the price up. The amount of oil reserves a country has, any country, affects it's national security. I would feel a lot safer knowing this country could import less oil.

The lower end of zone 2 looks like it is labeled as zone 3 which allows bait. Could we have a clarification?

Suzy Hole is in zone 3 (bait water) just downstream of the Whistle Bridge. There is a little bend in the river to start the hole. It has a concrete sidewalk for handicap access. It's a great smallmouth hole during the winter catch and release season. (Zone 2) Bluff hole is the bluff upstream (about 50 yards) of the lower hatchery outlet.

The park ranger has no enforcement powers for the fishing. Park on his grass and that's another story. Your best bet for questions about a lure are the people at the hatchery. They are not conservation agents (the final authority) but they are always there and the conservation agents are seldom there. At least as far as you know. Also, the tackle shops around know all the rules. Your spoon is perfectly legal in zone 2. The stretch from the hatchery outlet to the whistle bridge is a great place to fish that kind of lure.

Hey CC hate to be a wet blanket but spoons are illegal in zone 3. Flies and lures are prohibited. It's the only place I know where it is illegal to fly fish. The regulations for Bennett can be found at - http://mdc4.mdc.mo.gov/Documents/12001.pdf Trout Lure Definitions Fly an artificial lure constructed on a single point hook, using any material except soft plastic bait and natural and scented baits as defined below, that is tied, glued or otherwise permanently attached. Artificial Lure a lure constructed of any material excluding soft plastic bait and natural and scented bait as defined below. Soft Plastic Bait synthetic eggs, synthetic worms, synthetic grubs and soft plastic lures. Natural and Scented Baits a natural fish food such as bait fish, crayfish, frogs permitted as bait, grubs, insects, larvae, worms, salmon eggs, cheese, corn and other food substances not containing any ingredient to stupefy, injure or kill fish. This does not include flies or artificial lures. It does include dough bait, putty or paste-type bait, any substance designed to attract fish by taste or smell and any fly, lure or bait containing or used with

Just been doing too many interviews to get back to you Don. I'll be at Charlie Reading's Fly Fishing Showcase (near Bennett Spring) tying flies this Saturday if anyone needs an autograph. Charlie will be handling the t-shirt sales.

I vote for definition #1. Knowing Leonard, it's black and the size of a small bear. Ahhh, fishing the Big Hole after midnight. I get misty eyed thinking about it.

I prefer the Samburg area. There is the Samburg Motel http://www.bunchofducks.com/bod_folder/lodging_rates.htm. More centrally located to Reelfoot is Blue Bank Motel and marina. It's close to some fine catfish eating. I just looked at the Blue Bank website. Good information there. Jigs on a nine foot fly rod or crappie pole work great there for crappie and bream.

Happy birthday Roland.

From the Springfield weather station Radar Precip Est From 08:50 AM CDT Tue Mar 18 2008 to 10:51 AM CDT Wed Mar 19 2008

Look back to the Oct 4 report from Jeremy. That's my expectation every night. And if my biggest fish is 14 inches, I still had a good night.

I've bought a lot of stuff from this ebay seller. He has great combined shipping costs and gets it out fast. I've thought about the glow in the dark beads but I already have the glow in the dark powder paint. I take a size 6 jig hook and wrap a little copper wire where your lead ball usually sits and then I heat it and dip into the paint until I build it up to the size I like. Then you can tie a jig fly without a lot of weight but with a larger hook and a wade of glow in the dark in front. White bunny and glow in the dark painted jigs make a pretty good night-time fly.

I never thought about where to buy the 3#. After looking online at Cabelas and Bass Pro, I don't see it listed. I do most my fishing at Bennett Spring and Weaver's Tackle and other places there carry it in bulk. I just walk in with my spare spools and they get filled. So I would say check with your local (White River) fly and tackle shops. They should be more inclined to carry it. The best knot for tying on a jig is the palomar. Here's a website that shows how to tie most knots. http://www.animatedknots.com/palomar/index...imatedknots.com Instead of trying to pass a doubled line thru the eye of a hook, pass the end of your line thru the eye of the hook (a long ways)and then double back with a big loop and pass the end back thru the eye of the hook to give you the doubled line thru the hook. Then you are ready to complete the knot.

Fly fishing at Bennett Spring and Missouri is defined by the lure (fly) not the rod. Until they changed the definitions a few years ago, you could fish a fly with rubber legs as a legal bait/lure in zone 3. I would hit those riffles in zone 3 back then. Now, if you are in zone 3 and you stick a live worm on your fly, they would consider that not to comply with the "bait" regulations. So now I just keep some soft plastics around in case I get the urge fish zone 3. Of course the exception to all of this is during the catch and release season your can fly fish zone 3.

Green Maxima mono in 2,3,4# is great for jigs. If you think the 4# is a little heavy try the 3#. I've tried P-line, Vanish & Maxima Fluoro (and liked them) but I keep coming back to the green Maxima mono.

It's pretty obvious to me that the gravel in question is from erosion from outlet #1. The question is why is it eroding so badly lately. My theory is those folks who like to build a “chute” out into the lake took all the stabilizing rocks from the banks higher up in the outlet. With no rocks or vegetation there, it was just a mater of time. With the majority of the outlet fishing being from that one side, the boot traffic finally broke down the cohesion that was there. And I really like the theory someone mentioned that outlet #3 being shut down during construction may have increased the flow out of outlet #1 to create the tipping point of the collapse of the gravel bar.

The best fly shop prices I've seen for Tiemco hooks are Phils at Taneycomo and Readings at Bennett.

Love it the way it is. When I'm away from home, I can use a public computer and sign in as a guest and keep up with the OAF. I don't sign into anything on a public or shared computer.

Black & Yellow 1/16 oz jigs work great or an 1/80 olive jig under a cork.

Michael, I was on the point around 11pm last night and then I think I ran into you at the parking lot at quiting time. Thanks for the flies and tips. Went down to the point and did very well with them. No big ones just good fishing.

I like what Brownieman said.

Guess your are the only one with a pheasant this year. Seems like most everybody else is taking shots at one another. I just have the tail with a few rump feathers given to me, so I don't quite understand, do you mean you can't find feathers on your bird that you like? For softness, I could never find anything I liked better than partridge. I tried one of those small bags with loose feathers. After trying those, I decided I would be tying many more soft hackles, so I caved in on one of my trips to Bennett and bought a whole skin at Fort Bennett, nice price.