thegundog.com

Hey Britts and Birds... Your picture is too small to tell who you are, and I don't recognize your handwriting, so give me a hint as to who you are. I am also looking for the recipe for the rusty midge tied by the River run folks. Dog Runner

I had a similar reaction on another site several years ago when I talked about a fly that I modified after learning from Tim to tie one of Tims favorite flys at RR. I told people that I could catch trout any time I went to Bennet and they immediatly assumed I was either shuffling or using a leather leach or a San Juan worm. My question is are SJworms legal at Bennett? how bout the leather/chamois leach? I was told they were not legal and yet I saw some for sale at the fly shop so I didnt know if you had to use them in the river only and not Bennett. Does anyone know if they are legal?? dog runner

Jeremy, I got your last critique on my first attempt at a shad pattern. After buying a lot of material at the fly shop I noticed that there was not a lot of difference in the material that I had bought earlier. I will send you a picture of my second attempt at a shad pattern. Let me know what you think. thanks. Dog runner.

Quick question.. I was down there last weekend on a trip with my former best friend which turned out to be a little bit of a disaster due to an alleged boat reservation miscommunication...But that is a another story. While I was down there, I stopped off at a "local" fly shop and spent an outrageous amount of money on fly tying material. One thing that I didnt get was Arctic fox for the shad pattern. Now, since I am a pro dog trainer, and foxes are related to dogs,..could I borrow some hair from one of our white dogs, or does it have to be Arctic Fox??? If so, why? Dog runner

Wow! this is THE recipe that I was HOPING someone would send me... but I see how it is now.

Jeremy, I emailed you a picture of my version of a Shad that has been run through the mill ...so to speak. Can you give me your critique on my attempt? \ Dog runner

Cuba huh?... well I didn't know they had trout fishing there but I quess you could flyfish for something instead. New Zealand... now that sounds like the goal to have. What kind of work are you involved in, if I might ask, that sends you to so many places, or are they vacation sites? And as you said, (and all it takes is a medical condition of one kind or another ,to make you realize just how short life on this earth is)" live the dream.

Hey Skip, Where in the world... have you fished? I'm jealous. DogRunner

OK I will send you a picture, and then you can decide if it is worthy of posting since I am not exactly sure how to post pictures yet. Just remember that this is the first attempt at this, so try not to laugh. I accept honest criticism well. Clint is a good and patient guide.On my last trip after a day and a half on the river he took time to stop by the Brass Door and have a drink with us.(Of course mine was non-alcoholic ) I will be attending a HOAFF get together on the first of March. It appears that there will be about 20 people attending. I will be the guest of one of my best friends and Pres. of HOAFF; Mark Borserine. His wife says that since I used his Gordon setter LADY BELLE- AKA "Tribal name":(Puppy Who Runs Like The Wind), for my avatar, I "will be presented much gifts" .... Mark has been very generous to me through out our dog training relationship, but actually that is not why I treat his dogs so special. He has helped me out in our Scouting events tremendously when I know it was a real hassle for him. Yes I have fished Taneycomo for years; mostly in the winter as a way to keep from climbing the walls while waiting for Spring. We actually have taken many trips with the Scouts who were taking leadership training, and made our trips "working weekends". I am sure that many of them are now avid fishermen because of our trips. By the way, I am still waiting on someone to volunteer THE hot fly and recipe for below the dam for early February ... please! Seriously though I am sure that when I get there that I will be shown what is working and I am sure that I will spend lots of money at the shop buying materials, but it's more of a good will test now that I am hooked on this board. Dog Runner

Jeremy, Quick question on your shad pattern... Is the foam on the fly there to keep it afloat , or to make the body appear more full? I noticed that there are lead wraps on the hook which I assume was for weight , or was it as a counterbalance for the foam ? I will be fishing on the White river the first weekend of march . Last year we used Clint Wilkinson as our guide and he showed us a shad pattern that he used . The water was running very fast but there was no Shad kill at that time. After seeing this thread on the forum , I decided maybe I should try to tie a few for myself . Since it was a spur of the moment decision to tie some flies , and never even considered tying anything than my normal flies, obviously I did not have the recommended material to use . I went to my second home, also known as Wal-Mart and hit the fabric department and came up with quite a few possibilities that could be used as substitutes in tying this fly.Before I'd tie anymore let me know if this fly should float on its side to simulate a dead fish , or should it float belly down to simulate a weakened shad. I would put a picture of my first attempt at a Shad pattern using the material that I got from Wal-Mart but I wouldn't want anybody to laugh at me . I will say this however, the material that I used , which is actually sheer ribbon with silver on each edge looks strikingly like Shad SKIN, even down to the tiny scales . Since it is basically sheer and therefore see through, the red gill material is easily seen through the body of the Shad . If you would like I could take a picture of it, and send it to you for judgment and your honest opinion as to whether it would work or not . DogRunner

And speaking of BBQ sauce, now that you all know me, I would like to request a little help. Keeping in mind that I am a BSA Fly Fishing merit badge instructor, and also keeping in mind that I will be down to visit you all the first weekend in February, would anybody like to divulge "THE" GO TO fly and how to fish it? I have looked around and get various opinions from different sources, but if I were to bring a group of Scouts that had fishing experience, and I wanted them to get totally hooked on FLY fishing,(by catching a lot of fish) what would be THE fly for the mid Jan to late Feb season? I have a few recipes, but would sure like to have some of the favorites of the pros that live there, to tie whilst I am waiting on this next trip. Could someone please help so that I don't have to keep digging into various sites for info that may or may not help. I understand secret weapons, and guard them closely, so if you want to email me directly, my address is gundog@starband.net Dogrunner

K Mart special...? Oh... that's right, how could I not know that?. Sort of like the Heinz 57 breed. Never cared much for Heinz 57... I'm more of a BBQ sauce person. Dog Runner

Yes, Show Springers are not cheap, but then neither are good field Springers. Show Springers are also generally longer haired and larger than the field dogs Are you going to get a male or female? Dog Runner

Soup hounds??? are those the ones that would rather stay home and eat hot soup instead of getting out in the cold and hunt??? Got some "pot lickers" here, is that the same thing?? Dogrunner

In response to Dano... waterways question... the fancy stuff that you see dogs performing on tv and at field trials must be taught. Many of your basic retrievers will go out in the water and bring things back as long as it's fun to them, but if they get bored, they usually just shake the water off their back and look at you like your stupid if you want them to fetch again. As I tell my customers"if you want your dog just to retreive a bird that it saw fall in the water, just about any good retriever will do. But if you want your dog to do a blind retrieve; where it has to go out 100 yards and then sit on a whistle, and then take a command to turn left or right... that stuff is not bred(genetics) into pups and has to be taught". If you have ever had one taught to that level though, they are worth their weight in gold, and can be very impressive to resort clients . LMW.... not sure what you were saying.... were you saying that you have one of three kids at home now, and your dog is fat because there is more food to eat??? What were you feeding your kids?? I come from a large family, so I think I can relate.... It seems that as my older brothers grew up and moved away, the younger kids still at home had more food to eat, and yep, we got a little heavier. As far as Springers go you need to watch them as well. Like many of the breeds that have been bred by indescriminate breeders; just to sell, and not for breed characteristics, Springers are starting to show even more of the "hyperness" that they are known for. Keep in mind that there are Show Springers,and Field Springers, each with different personality traits. If you are going to get a Springer pup, don't choose the one that comes bounding out to you and jumps up on you. Chances are it will be a dominant dog,... and hyper and dominant don't work well together. Dogrunner

Ahhh yes, we know about problem children. In fact that's why they call me a "dog whisperer". We have seen our fair share of dogs with classic ADD symptoms. Most puppies display some ADD, but that is fairly normal. Of course there are some dogs that only appear to have various types of disorders, when in fact they have just been spoiled to death by well meaning wives and kind hearted children, and being pack animals they quickly learn who they can dominate and who they can't. Personally, if I had to choose a house buddy, I would tend toward a miniature Beagle. Good personality, won't eat much, short hair, won't knock the wife's favorite lamp over with it's tail, and very huggable and lap sittable . I would probably pick a female over a male just to avoid the macho-ness that men dogs seem to display. Mind you it's OK for a MAN to be Macho as long as they stay away from the YMCA... As far as Labs go, and AKC records prove it, They would also be a good choice, just a little on the large size and this of course means large food and large residuals.

OOOOpps....Are Chaplains allowed to use the "CMA" word??? Sorry! I probably should have said "CMR" now that I think of it. I probably hang around the internet too much. My Mama would probably wash my fingers out with soap. Dogrunner

I will now continue my spanking on peoples choices for dog purchases...OK, since it's Phil, and I need to rent one of his pontoons in the next couple of weeks... I will resist the temptation. Actually English Setters, and of course GORDON SETTERS (For one of my best friends, Mark Borserine, Pres of HOAFF, who will also be accompanying me on that said pontoon boat,) are a great breed of dog. Of course just like many breeds or bloodlines of specific breeds, you need to do some research before you buy. IF you just want a buddy and a family pet, you just go for a good healthy specimen, but for a hunter, leg work(or in the world of internet, finger work) needs to be done. Again, I have a huge network of dog owners/ breeders to draw on; so with short notice I can usually produce a prime candidate. What we need is a persons price range,goals for the dog, sex, color and age you want the pup. I should probably CMA on that last sentance but let's live dangerously Dogrunner

LMW said "My wife is thinking that a Chocolate Lab is in our future some day in the next year or so." At this point I do not have pups, but can get them with just a little notice. Labs are great beasts to have as part of the family; so full steam ahead. Generally I do not promote Chocs, but since this will be a family pet, I say what ever the wife wants, get it. The Chocs, more so than yellows or blacks,at least the majority of them, seem to have a few discipline problems(among other things) at some point, as you will soon see, so I try to get "hunters" to go with a yellow or black. When I ask why a person that is having their dog trained "why did you choose a chocolate?", the reply is usually " The wife thought "they look so purdy" so thats what we got". I guess that happens a lot with new fisherman and buying those "purdy" lures and flys.

Greetings all! A little info on myself. Professional canine educator, Boy Scout Fly fishing merit badge instructor, Chaplain and all around good guy. I train dogs to support my fishing and Boy Scout habit. I just accidentally ran into this site, but will have it bookmarked from now on. Lake Taneycomo has been a Winter get away since the beginning of my marriage 30 years past. I hope to visit with some of you on one of my visits some day soon.