Brian Wise

Greg, Jim Rogers has a schedule but I don't have it, I just called and asked for the times of the things that pertained to me. You can call Bennett and they will let you know. Brian

Murdoc, There is going to be casting, tying, and some "seminars" on techniques, casting, and so on. There will also be a casting competition Saturday. Brian

Brian, The yarn is actually a certain kind of Polypro braided rope. I'm not sure the brand and I'll have to do some checking on that. I'll get back with you.... Brian

Unless something happens we are a GO for Saturday and I'm sure the Mrs. will take the new D50 and shoot one or 2 pics....I'll post some for you Phil, if you don't mind having 2 little rugrats in a couple pictures . Brian

Anyone attending this weekend? Right now I am kind of in limbo. My sister-in-law is about to have a baby and it will happen this week..... Am really going to try to make it to cast though. Brian

Brian, My usual set-up for the whole Nymphing rig is: Lead fly and dropper above the lead fly is either 1 or 2 split shot (depending on the water) Above that is the indicator (YARN, luckily I have been given some super cool yarn that will float with a bowling ball at the end of the line ) All on floating line. Most of the time Summer time brings lower water that is crystal clear that is the only reason for the length of the leader, so we don't happen to spook quite as many fish. We aren't trying to sink the whole 13'......just enough of that 13' to get the flies to the bottom. As far as messing with the drift, hopefully the only thing that is messing with the drift is the flies "ticking" bottom.....that's a good problem to have. Make sense? Brian

So they have this the weekend before Rogers' trout fishing showcase....busy couple weeks they'll have at Bennett. Wish I would have known a little quicker about the expo, I would have been there in a second! Brian

With warm weather soon upon us (or upon us now) tactics are going to have to change a little. The biggest change is fishing times, with high floating traffic during the weekends it is best to fish during the week. There may be a few boats on the river but not the numbers we see during the weekends. If fishing during the week is not possible get on the river EARLY, daylight or a little before is usually great and plan on getting off the river around 2:00, (depending on where you float or wade) and then heading back to the river around 4-5:00 p.m. Second tactic, although it's not really a change from the "regular" fishing tactics on the North Fork is fish deep! If you are nymphing and don't lose any flies during the day you just didn't fish deep enough. A 9' leader usually 5x will work just fine but all in all if I am nymphing I will have a dropper on making my whole set-up around 13' long....the water gets crystal clear during the summer and 13' is a minimum. Another good thing about Summer time is night fishing. Night fishing is honestly usually a "hero or zero" kind of fishing. 3X leaders with big nasty sculpin patters, Woolies, or anything that will push a little water, combined with a sink tip can be a deadly combo. Fish that are measured in pounds instead of inches are what you are looking for during night fishing. Fish the pools and tailouts below a riffle for the big boys. Finally during the hot summer days the bigger fish tend to hold in the shadows of over hanging trees which a lot of the time means less than 3 feet of water, perfect to do some great sight casting to those fish. Don't get me wrong, there is a reason they are holding there....it's cool. They may not be in the mood to take every fly thrown at them (are you usually in the mood to eat something when it's 100 degrees out ) but if you can pester them enough sometimes you can get a reaction out of them. I usually thrown crawfish patterns at the fish that hold in these spots. This is the time of year when the bigger fish are seen day after day holding in the same spot so they are fairly predictable. Have a good summer! Brian

NICE Fish!! You know how long it was?? Brian

Hey all, A good friend of mine floated the North Fork of the White from Blair bridge to Dawt. Just after getting in the river she found a dead brown and threw it in the cooler. She showed up at my door that evening and said you have to see this fish I caught. She pulled the 24" 7 pound 7 ounce brown out of her cooler and gave it to me. I'm having it mounted to put in the new lodge at River of Life Farm, will get some pictures after it is mounted. Brian

I can post some more pictures if that'll get you up here Dano!! Or this one.... Phil is going to kill me for all that space used Brian

After super high water (10,000 CFS) the river is on it's way back down. The good thing about flood stage water is it really cleans a river and stirs up food for a while for the fish to go CRAZY on. Water levels are still running around 1000 cfs which is a little tough wading in some places but good fishing. Fished Friday (May 19th) with a group from Feather Craft fly shop in St. Louis....slayed the fish. Between 5 of us we caught well over 60 fish, no huge size to any of them but a good average size of maybe 12-13" with several 16-17" fish thrown in the mix. A lot of different flies were working and will work for a while or until the water clears up again. Flash-Back Pheasant Tails were without a doubt the #1 fly, but everything from Czech Nymphs to Mohair leeches was catching fish. Fishing will be good for a while!!

Phil, Have been guiding quite a bit but on the White....the North Fork of the White has had just a little too much water in it lately! Welcome Tiny....I'll get you back for that dig on the Stones, we are fishing this weekend right? HAHAHAH (insert evil laugh sound here!) Brian

Hey guys, Sorry for the hiatus. River levels are now running about 1290 cfs after the peak of over 9000 cfs Levels are about fishable but still high for wading in certain spots. Fishing will be good when the water comes down a couple more hundred cfs, the river will take on the "miracle" green color and the Stonefly bite will be back up a going strong. Will report on the fishing early next week. Brian

I'd be wearing a goofy grin too Greg NICE Fish Brian

Hey all, Thought I would let everyone know there will be a Collectibles Show at the Ramada Inn in Mountain Home Arkansas Saturday, June 17. They are planning on having Old Fishing stuff, arrowheads, civil war artifacts, and so on. Looks like it will be a pretty good show. If anyone wants a booth you can call June Rowlett @ (417)679-4577 or email her at rowlett52@yahoo.com. Brian

I have heard of "some" wild rainbows on the Current but I think this is a first in Missouri that I have ever heard of a wild brown. Don't they need colder water than the rainbows to spawn? The rainbows in the North Fork of the White haven't been touched since 1964, they still stock browns but I can't honestly say I have ever seen a wild brown in the river or a brown that small.....at least since they quit stocking fingerlings. Brian

Hey all, You know you can see still pictures all day and get a decent grasp of what you need to do....but there is nothing better than a free online video. Don Bastian ties a Black and Silver in this online video along with some other Wet Fly info....it's great. Don Bastian Video Brian

Catman, Stumphole is before you get to Bridges Creek. You were on the right track if you made it to Bridges Creek but you went a little too far. You have to turn right off of "smokey road." You can't see the boat ramp or anything like that from the main road. Brian

Catman, Along with the Bryant how did the fishing go at the Stumphole? I had heard that it is REALLY hit or miss at the Stumphole and the Rockhole....no water. This is about the lowest I have seen the stumphole in the 20 years I've lived around here(since I was 6 .) Floating the NFoW at night isn't bad, the hardest time to do it is when it's cloudy. On a clear night the moon and stars let off enough light to easily float the river. I haven't thrown anything but flies at night but most of the time it's a hero or zero kind of fishing. We caught 2 24" last year at night and several 20" on nasty sculpin patterns and zoo cougars. Brian

Hey all, With record setting temperatures early this week fishing was a little slow. Fishing deepin the deeper riffles was catching fish but it was work. With the cold front that came through early this week the temperatures dropped into the more desireable 70's along with a little cloud cover fishing picked up. Every riffle is producing fish, no big fish to report but some pretty decent numbers. The upper most Blue Ribbon is fishing very well from Rainbow Spring to River of Life Farm. Below "ROLF" to Blair is fishing good as well. Most fish are being caught on Golden Stones, Copper Johns, Princes, Soft Hackles, and bead head Cracklebacks. The fish are still holding deep but they aren't "glued" to the bottom like when the temps were in the 90's. A friend of mine recently floated the river and found a dead brown that went 24" and 7 pounds 7 ounces, hadn't been dead long....nice fish. Brian

Hey thanks Jim. The wets without that particular style of wing are doing good but man, I just can't get those uprights.....driving me crazy. Brian

Wondering if Jeremy would do any classics wets, I am having serious trouble with the upright wings. They are wanting to split instead of bend at the tie-in point. See how the wing "bends" at the tie in point.....yeah, mine don't do that. Any Help Appreciated! Brian

Are you coming the last weekend of the month? Let me guess staying at.....Sunburst. Let me know when you are going to be down and I'll try to stop by to chat a little. Brian

Thanks Gavin. By the way, have you done any night fishing with rogues or big rapala's? It is something I have always thought about doing but always throw flies when I'm on the river. Brian