Steve Smith

RRV is right on for Roaring River tomorrow. I dropped down at lunch time, and every pool is absolutely loaded with fish. It looks like our past opening day for the 2005-06 C&R season where they just emptied the entire hatchery into the river to start the park construction. Most of the fish I saw were stockers, but there are a few horses in there too.

Like Steve, I nail knot red 20# Amnesia to the fly line and loop for a loop to loop leader connection. It is very close to the diameter of the fly line, and stays flexible even when the guides are freezing up. I think too it slides in and out of the tip eye better than anything I have tried in the past. The red line also makes a good indicator. I grease it good when dry fly fishing to help it float.

Dan was right on his directions. The fly only C&R trophy zone starts just below the cleaning station. There was a sign posted, but I don't remember seeing it when I fished that section. The trophy area ends at the highway F bridge and the catch and keep fly only zone starts there all the way to the old dam. That was me Don with the all ginger woolies at Tims. I only had two and lost them pretty quickly so I had to make a run. I was fishing them sloooow under an indicator just drifting with what current was available. That was a first for me with an indicator, and the fish just liked it worked that way. Normally, I wouldn't use an indicator with a woolie, but too lazy to take it off when I switched from a San Juan pattern. First cast I just tossed out about five feet and the indicaator disappeared. Strange, but fun.

I'd like to hear any comments too. I purchased 3wt on sale at Cabelas marked way down, and couldn't resist not buying. I figured they were either overstocked or the line was worthless. I haven't had time to load and try it.

Soaking in Milk or buttermilk draws the blood out too.

If they were in the fly only zone, they'd have a chance. In Zone one, they probably won't last past the first hour of opening day. There will be so many treble hooks, somebody will snag them I know there has been a lot said about shuffling on Taneycomo. In Roaring River, the digusting act is snagging with a crankbait in Zone 1, and as far as I know, it is perfectly legal. What they do is stalk the banks looking for a good fish that is holding in a feeding pattern. When they find one, they throw a crankbait over the fishes back and just when the lure gets to the fish, they jerk to drive the hooks down into the fishes back. Real sport, huh? Maybe the water will be so silted that technique doesn't work. It would be even better if MDC neted those big breeders and put them back in the breeding pond.

I dropped down to Roaring River for lunch today and it looks like the construction on the upper hatchery end will be ready for opening day. It looks like they have completed the walkway around the dam and gates, dug out the pond, and dammed it to make the first falls on the river. There will be little flow on the river until the pond and handicap areas finish filling. I just hope the water clears up, and the flow improves. I believe it is going to be a really good improvement to the park. If you know any wheelchair bound trout fishers, they need to take advantage of this addition to the park

A couple of weeks ago, I managed to catch a horse and land him just outside of one of those culverts. A lot of people have tried to catch the ole boys that hang out at the bridge, but I noticed as soon as one was hooked or spooked, they would rush inside the culvert. The one I hooked would always be in front of the end culvert waiting for food to wash through. Well, the hole didn’t have anyone fishing it for some time and I could see his nose rise occasionally in his favorite spot, so I walked a wide circle around him so not to spook. Lord knows I’m not the best fly caster, but I laid the perfect cast with the fly line behind him, and the tippet curved left to land a golden hackled crackerback right in front of his nose. He took the fly, and immediately turned into open water instead of inside the pipe. He even spun a couple of times on my 7X tippet and didn’t break it. It was one of those hookups where everything could have gone wrong, should have gone wrong, and didn’t happen. Ryan had to make a perfect presentation to get one of those big trout to take. Luck wasn’t with him, but the memory will be.

Dan; those culverts are a bear. I don't know how many fish I have lost for just that reason. I know people who purposely fish the culverts, but they use furled leaders and very, very heavy tippets. At least Ryan had a few moments to remember.

That is definitely a size twelve. I normally tie my own, but ran out and had to pick some up at Tim's Fly Shop. Normally, we would sight fish with them, but with the silted water, we were using indicators. It waas good meeting you too, and wish I could have stayed longer. Unfortunately, I promised to wife I'd be back around three. We'll meet up again for sure.

If you wait until after lunch to fish, the crowd will thin greatly in Roaring River park. All the tourist have either froze or gave up. If you're looking for a lunker, fish Zone 1

Fayetnam? That's hilarious. I think Bentonville and Rogers Arkansas are just the suburbs of Juarez Mexico now.

Back to the subject, Cabela's will not bring much competition to Bass Pro IMHO. I often travel to Dundee Michigan for business which has a fairly new Cabelas store. I think Cabela's has a somewhat better selection than BPS, but not on price. Their pretty high $... especially on flyfishing goods. As far as a community paying Cabelas to locate, traditionally Cabelas builds in small towns like Dundee, MI. Then all the motels and restruarants build around them since the big box draws the tourist and crowds, which means tax dollars coming in the pot. Dundee had maybe two places to eat and no motels. They now have three new motels, and a bunch of franchise eateries all within walking distance of the Cabelas store.

Phil; The Missouri Trout Hunter's web page has directions and a rough map of Capps creek. It is a beautiful place for the family and worth a trip. Pack your lunch as they have a really nice park there. http://www.missouritrouthunter.com/CappsCreek.htm

My journal shows the white bass really didn't peak on the James River until March 31st, with the best days April 7th, 8th, and 9th. I had a keeper walleye on the 7th, a channel cat, and lots of whites and crappies. If wading, go to the Galena city park, but expect LOTS of people. Better by boat to put in at the Hwy 76 bridge in Cafe Fair [bridgeport]. Motor up to the Galena park, and drift your way out. Watch your depth really close as it gets darn shallow in Galena. Work the banks with blue back - white belly or green back - white belly streamers. I'm sure as the time nears, there will be tons of reports on this site. Good Luck Looks like Sam and I posted at the same time. Sam's right on his stuff. I could get you there, but can't remeber the road names.

I wish I could have made it yesterday, but my Granddaughter had chicken pox Christmas Eve so we rescheduled our family Christmas to Sunday. I did fish part of Friday and Saturday, and it was pretty tough. Construction continues to silt the water on the upper end. There have been a lot of people fishing ever since Christmas due to the nice weather, and the fish were really spooky in the still waters. I noticed the trout would scatter if they saw a leader or a human both days. The fly only zone continues to be great simply because the fish haven’t seen the pressure the upper end has since opening. The dry fly fishing that has been great in the early morning hours has turned sour the past two weekends too. Friday morning I had one attack a Crackleback on the first cast, then not another take. Nymphs, San Juans, and woolies continue to be good.

I have used Blue Sky leaders for years, and think they are the best. The second best is the furled leaders from Feather Craft in St Louis with a tippet ring. The Blue Sky leaders turn over better than any others I’ve tried. All furl leaders twist to some extent especially if put under tension [as in hung up or snagged]. Before I tie on a new tippet, I dry cast the line without tippet or fly. This takes any twist out of the leader so it is relaxed again. Normally I fish a furled leader unless the fish get leader shy, then I switch to a mono leader… usually Frog Hair. In my opinion, furled is great for dry fly fishing because you can grease it up so it floats like a cork.

I had to work today, but managed a little time at lunch to see what the fishing was like on Roaring River. The park has a crowd today for the C&R season with a number of people fishing. I imagine tomorrow [saturday] will have even more fishing than today unless it rains. Sunday should thin the crowd out a little [maybe]. The construction was at full blast as they dig to add a handicap walkway around the spring spillway at the hatchery. Water is really silted from the hatchery downstream, clearing a little as you near the trophy area. Everyone I talked to said the bite was slow this morning, and I never saw a fish caught during lunch. Drys started off good early, and then nymphing picked up under indicators through noon. When I left, several were swticing to San Juan worm patterns. If I hear more, I’ll pass it on.

Folks; I am going to have to bow out on the 8th. My Granddaughter woke up Christmas Eve with a solid case of chicken pox, so we pushed our family Christmas to next weekend. I’m sure there will be others coming up that we can participate. If I can make a suggestion for the tourney to those who participate. I would keep it from the trophy area upstream to the hatchery. That stretch will most likely yield better fish than the fly area. You’ll catch more fish in the lower fly end, but the quality won’t be a good. Enjoy.

I was introduced to Frog Hair fluorocarbon this spring and like it. Although, I have gotten in the habit of running fluro through my fingertips regardless of brand. I don't know if it is a quirk of the manufacturing or I have bad luck in picking my tippet spools. I will occassionally find a "bump" in the line almost like a wind knot. Some of them are visual and some not. I don't know if that bump hurts anything, but I don't take the chance. The other thing is I really have to be careful when I cinch down the knot. Without lubrication, the tippet looks like a pig's tail. That may be true on any floro brand. As far as strength, I have seen some 12# plus fish landed on 6X FH. Keep us informed on the Vanish.

My personal email. The only thing I can figure is my firewall stripped it. I may have it set too tight.

Hey Phil; last week I got the December journal in my inbox, but when I opened it... nothing was there. Did you recall or do I need to check my firewall?

I tried to stay out of this one, but just can't stand it. Interpretation of MDC law is hard enough to sort through without throwing ethics in the batch. Just prior to C&R opening, the local paper in Cassville had a MDC article that clearly stated the fish could not be removed from the water. When they posted the rules in the park, the wording was changed to “released immediately”. I can’t speak for the other three trout parks, but Roaring River has one to three agents circling the park almost constantly. Some of them have been in uniform and some not. As I believe RRV mentioned, reasonable effort to abide by the law is acceptable and expected. If you hold a fish just long enough to quickly snap a picture… that is considered reasonable as immediate release. If you carry a fish away from the bank you’ll probably have at least one agent in your face. There are way too many that drag their fish on the bank, let the fish struggle there while they retrieve their dollar fly; and then kick the fish back into the water. Unethical… yes; but the violation is at the digression of the agent.

Midwest Flyfishing magazine is the only one I buy. Covers Arkansas to Michigan. http://www.mwfly.com/contents.html

Those are nice pictures RRV. I think the holidays and ice cold temperatures kept the usual weekend crowd at bay. We had a pattern that held up all three days of last weekend’s C&R. Dark hackled crackerback patterns [especially 12’s & 10’s] during the first hour or so of the mornings. As soon as the sky brightened up, we went with a bead head nymph patterns under a foam indicator. Color, pattern, or style didn’t seem to matter to the fish. My partner even had good success drifting an EHC with a sinker under foam, catching several fish until the fly fell apart. Dark woolies and marabou leech patterns were good too. A lot of fish were caught along with many good ones during the three days. I think the biggest fish was caught by a young lady that’s a regular in our weekend group. Fairly new to fly fishing, she landed a good 12 pound rainbow if not bigger on a wooly. One of us was bound to catch a really big fish during the three days, and we’re all glad it was her that did it. All pictures we took were on throw-away cameras so they’ll be coming soon.