Brian Wise

Teals?? Brian

Sorry for the late reply. Honestly the fall "run" on the NFOW isn't an ungodly amount of fish coming up the river to spawn. I would call it more "find good spawing water and stay there" than anything else. I can't honestly say that we catch bigger fish during this time either. If you think about it the "runs" we have around this region are most renowned on the tailwaters where there are several hundreds of thousands of fish and they can only "run" so far (then they swim into a dam ) Now on free flowing waters....totally different story, there is good spawing water every few hundred feet (pretty much) and NO overcrowding. I would rather fish the NFOW in the Fall as anytime though, it is just constistantly solid fishing. Brian

Joe, I agree with Gavin. There are smallies from Blair to Dawt but if you are targeting smallies I would float Bryant Creek. Smallies and Kentucky are the most predominant fish in there. Brian

I've got the 9' 5wt TiCrx, nice rod, and one of the fastest rods I have ever casted (which I like ) Haven't had any issues with breaking and like Steve said ....'nuff said. Brian

North Fork of the White River Water levels are continuing to hold fairly well on the river. Currently the river is running 302 CFS (as of 8-12-2006) but with rain coming to the area during key times of this summer the river is very stable. Golden Stones are still doing really well. Honestly this golden stonefly bite has been years in the making. We have been seeing the goldens (naturals)numbers rising for several years, and it just took good water at a good time to get the bite really rolling.....and it hasn't stopped since. Usually fishing this time of year means ultra light leaders and tippet, and to a point it still does for fishing in the middle of the day, but we are still using 4X leaders and 5X tippet to the dropper if nymphing. If nymphing the best droppers are still Copper Johns (red and green), Pheasant Tails, Hare's Ears, and of course Prince Nymphs. Coming soon the Outlook for Fall Fishing on the North Fork of the White river...... Brian Wise Head Guide River of Life Farm www.riveroflifefarm.com

That's exactly right!! I'm doing a little better now making them look good. One thing I was doing was using too big of thread...stupid mistake . Bad thing is I'm running into the flies twisting pretty bad because of those upright wings. I have ended up splitting the fibers while on the water and yes, they still fish just as good without that pretty littl bend in them. I'd still like to tie with Davy though..... Are you tying any hair wings? Brian

Rockbridge does have a C&R fishing permit. C&R fishing is only permitted below the bridge and the fee is $75 for a day of C&R fishing. As far as Sportsman like, a place like Rockbridge or Springvalley Trout Rance (just west of Rockbridge) can be a great place for older people to actually "get out there" usually trout farms are well groomed and fairly easy wading making them perfect for out older generation to be able to wet a line. Having said that, I think $75 for a day of C&R fishing is a little steep. I live about 20 minutes from Rockbridge and I've never fished it, I'm 15 minutes from the North Fork of the White, 30 Minutes from the White, and 40 Minutes from Norfork. If I didn't live so close to crazy good water and a trout farm was in my backyard....I'd fish it every once in a while. Brian

What do you think about Picasa Roland? I really like it for quick "easy fixes" but I'm still real new at this stuff. Brian

Tippet7, If you just got a D100 for $500 I am super jealous!! Where did you get it?? Gavin, I have a Nikon D50 and absolutely love it. I'll post some shots of Hodgson Mill I took with it... I have the kit lens(18-55mm) and a 70-300mm, the 300mm is where it's at! Great camera Brian

Hey guys, Fished Monday (24th) so Southern Living Magazine's photographer could get some photos for the article. AND I finally broke my curse of not catching a lot of fish for camera's. We fished the falls for about an hour (enough time for him to shoot something like 40 rolls of film)and landed a few, nothing big, on old school wet flies. I took my wife and she absolutely got hammered right before we quit fishing....really nice fish judging by the boil but couldn't get a hook in him. Anyway, the we fly bite is doing really well. Wets are a good way to stay out of the moss. Golden and Black stones are still picking up fish along with micro-mays, copper johns, red fox squirrel nymphs, princes, and hare's ears. Again, fish early to stay away from the crowds and go back right before dark. Brian

RIGHT ON!!! Nice fish Catman, like BrianK said that is a nice fish anywhere. There are some really nice fish in there.....I'd go as far as to say line class records. Brian

With the rain that moved through the area early this week (dropping over 3" in some spots) the river is pushing really good water. CFS ratings are at 644 cfs (as of 7-13-2006)which is great fishing water. With the higher water in the river it is fishing really well for this time of year. Good numbers are being caught in both sections of the river. Soft Hackles and Wet Flies are the go-to's right now along with Stoneflies, Hare's Ears, Copper Johns, and Micro-Mays. Don't forget about night fishing the North Fork, several 20-22"+ fish have been caught this summer under the cover of darkness and there will be many more. A good set-up for night fishing is a 9-9.5 ft 7 wt rod, sink tip line, 2x leader and tippett, and a big nasty fly at the end. I generally use a big Wooly Bugger in Black, Brown, or even White, a Zoo Cougar, or one of many other Sculpin patterns. Brian

Saw the whole video a couple weeks ago.....TOO SWEET! They had to have had way too much fun! Brian

Hey guys, Recently my wife and I went to St. Louis for a little "schooling" on our new D50 from Matt Tucker (www.ozarkchronicles.com.) here are a couple of the pictures..... Brian

KCFisher, My typical day on the water this time of year is on the water around daylight, fish until the boats hit you, take a siesta, fish that evening. I still say the only way to fish the NFoW is to float it. A good summer-time float is to put in at Kelley Ford early in the morning and float to ROLF, and then float from ROLF to Blair after the canoes slow down. Actually a good way to fish the river anyway....you beat the afternoon fishing "lull." Brian

Lamb Shoal is the first one above Kelley Ford and the first below the spring. The spring should start fishing really good anytime, as long as we don't keep having nights with temps in the 50's. Kelley Ford is at the end of County Road 368 and yes you can still get in there. You may have gone down Rainbow Springs farm road Catman. Brian

Just posted one for you KCfisher. Brian

It's that time of year again.... Fishing is good early in the morning and later in the evening. The early morning bite being the better of the two has been producing some good numbers of fish all over the river. Golden Stones, Cracklebacks, and Soft Hackles have been the best producers with Micro-Mays, Copper Johns, Princes, Hare's ears doing well too along with some old school wet flies. The evening bite has been good on Wooly Buggers, Cracklebacks, Stones, and Hare's Ears. The Trico hatches haven't gotten into full swing yet but it will be right around the corner. The best fly I have found for these hatches is a light colored Soft Hackle (size 16 or smaller), unfortunately we just don't get the risers to the Trico's like other rivers but trust me they are still eating them....just before they get to the surface. Brian

Kevin, The little creeks that run into Bull Shoals close to Theodosia do have some decent smallmouth fishing. The little North Fork has some nice smallies in it but no outfitters cover it and landowners frown upon getting to the good water. Your best bet is probably Bryant Creek if you want to do a float for smallies in Ozark County. Twin Bridges Canoe Rental does trips on the Bryant but they are quite a long way away from Theodosia, their phone numbers are (417)256-7507 and (417)256-2726 Brian

I've seen some craws that were pretty bright but they still had some dark spots. Yeah send a pic if you get the chance I'd like to see that.....wonder how it lived that long??? Brian

Heck of a deal!!

Sorry guys.... I was only able to attend for a few hours on Saturday. Jim seemed to think there was a mix up on dates for the Showcase, there were no reps, only 2 tyers and not a lot for the casting games. I did get a chance to see Jim teach brand new casters and must say he does a tremendous job teaching the cast (he better he's a Master CCI . ) The casting games went pretty well, something like a total of 10-12 casters, along with a couple youngsters. I forgot the guys name who won the accuracy but he TOTALLY killed all of us, doubling the second place casters score....in the WIND! I won the distance and the winners received a Jim Rogers Shooting Star rod, the same rod we casted for distance with. I had never casted one (or even heard of them) but they are pretty nice, nice and fast. It was a good time and I'll post some pictures as soon as I can. Brian

So with 3 tung. beads that fly equals to about $17.34. Who cares if it works right Brian. Brian

Hey all, Took a writer from Southern Living Magazine on the river today from Lamb Shoal to ROLF. Real nice gal, and she was a pretty good fly fisherman. Had some hook setting issues for the first hour but she had plenty of practice during that hour to "get it back." No landed fish until McKee bridge, little 'bows. The Casey riffle produced last second to finally get a couple pictures of a decent fish. A 16" 'bow took a flash-back Hare's Ear. Got some pictures, and she was stoked! Not sure when the article comes out but will let you all know as soon as I find out. Brian

What about Kentucky's Frenzel?? Did you catch any of them? Brian