David Bolin

The zebra midge has been a hot fly on all the Ozark tailwaters. I tie a little different midge that is very effective and very easy to tie. It's just a hook, bead and thread. I posted the pattern on my blog recently under "Taneycomo Trip". Scroll down to the fourth post if you're interested. db Blog Link

Midging has been very good in the shallow water between fall creek and the KOA for two days in a row(#20 brown/olive on 200R with nickel bead head). Fished yesterday afternoon and several hours today. Caught a bunch and missed a bunch trying to steer the boat. Will be back out there in the morning. You guys have a great fishery up here! db

You guys are worrying me. I'm headed your way early Thursday morning. Going to put the boat in a slip at Lilly's. Was planning to fish the area between Fall creek and the KOA this weekend. Is that what you're referring to as the lower restricted area? I've always had good luck there on low water. Never fished it on high water. db

I'll holler when I'm in the area again. Sounds like three would be a good number to fish with...one to spot fish, one to spot snakes and one to carry the fly rod. db

Tim, Apparently I blew it last weekend. I assumed the fishing would be more difficult after the rain. The water was clear but still high. I figured I didn't stand a chance, so I just took pictures. I'll have a rod in my hand no matter what next time...and I'm going to drop by your shop on the way. We should be in Branson later this summer for family activities. That always includes fishing. The link to the Crane photo album is on the lower left corner of my blog. www.searcysowbug.blogspot.com db

Perfect! I'll stop by Backcountry tomorrow morning for a few flies (I assume that's the fly shop Terry is referring to). Looks like the weather will be overcast with the possibility of a shower. Nymph weather I suppose. I assume this is a 6x or 7x high sticking...no indicator...sight fishing thing. I'll ask more questions at the shop in the morning. Thanks! db

I'm going to be in Springfield this weekend. Was planning to fish Taney, but it looks like they'll be generating all weekend. I'm considering spending Saturday exploring Crane creek. One of my coworkers from Springfield said they got a lot of rain West of Springfield this week. Can anyone tell me if the creek is blown out? db

Yep...if you see an Arkansas hillbilly waiving a grass stick around, that's me. I'll have a pine squirrel tied on with some 30lb tippet. That squid doesn't have a chance. db

Leonard, I'm headed up your way Friday afternoon. Are you going to be on the river Friday or Saturday night? Looks like they're running a lot of water. How does that figure into the night fishing scenario? db

Terry, Maybe we could take F2F in by the golf course at BSD about the first week of July. That probably accelerated your therapy by at least a month. Oh...and for the record...you didn't tell me you were recovering from knee surgery until we started back up the hill! db

I'm out of the state the week of March 25th through both weekends. I'll make time for it most any other week. But don't pass on that week because of me. db

I would be interested in participating in a grass roots water quality improvement effort. However, I'm not particularly interested in a strategy that depends almost entirely on lawyers and law suits. That may be necessary at some point, but maintaining a man made trout fishery probably isn't going to be sufficient grounds for a suit. Everyone that has a vested interest in a clean water system from Fayetteville to the Mississippi will have to be on board to accelerate improvements with legal action (e.g. cities water systems, boat dealers, lake resorts, river resorts, etc...). Our fishery is a small player in the big picture. But there's got to be something we can do to move water quality up the priority list at the state capitol. I'm way over my head on this particular subject. But I've read multiple times on John's board and again in this thread that no sedimentation studies have ever been done on the lakes. Maybe that's the place to start. How could a group organized by Davy and others get a study done? Take a look at this link: http://www.epa.gov/owow/lakes/kezar.html Maybe that would be a place to start. db

Hey y'all. Greetings from Searcy Arkansas. I'm just a trout bum. Not a guide and don't sell anything. I've got a rough blog out there to share river and workshop adventures with friends. http://searcysowbug.blogspot.com Glad to be here! db