Kyle

Hey, guys thanks for all of the tips. I will definately give them a try next time I am on the water. Kinda hoping it will warm a little again so I can hit Meramec. (I am kinda a fair weather fisherman) Kyle

My father got me a new Orvis Battenkill BBS3 for with christmas and had it equiped with sink tip line. I have never used sink tip and was looking for a little instruction. I have seen guys at Bennett tearing them up riping some sort of fly under the water and assume they had sink tip. So I guess my questions are: What flies are to be used with sink tip? What kind of water? fast/slow? What size leader/tippit and strength? Anyone that could answer these questions for me would be doing me a great favor. Thanks Kyle

Heard a rumor that the smallmouth migrate up in to the park in the winter for the warmer water. Anyone know anything about this? or have any pointers if it is true? Looking at going down this weekend or maybe tuesday. I got a "Orvis Battenkill III" for Christmas and dying to try it out. Also, got the extra spool with sink tip fly line and don't really know how to use it (for trout or smallies), so any advice there would be greatly appreciated. KYLE

Went down on Friday in the rain, but right about the time we got camp set up it all quit and after that we had a beautiful weekend. Saturday was probably the best day I have ever had at Montauk. Caught about 25 fish all on a fly rod. The seemed to be feeding in the fast deep water. Caught a good number on scuds but the majority came on egg patterns with a weight 5 inches above and bouncing on the bottom. Caught one beautiful fish that had great pink color and white tipped fins. She had been in the river a while and put up a great fight. Also on saturday I missed my shot at a lunker. He hit my #12 gray hares ear but I could not get the hook set. He would have easly gone 3 pounds. Then at the end of the day I realized why I really like fishing Montauk. At about 7:30 I was down at the very end of the park by the cable when the fog came in. I hooked up with a fish and it fought hard. In fifty yards to either side of me there were dee in the water feeding on aquatic vegitation. What an amazing feeling. Plus I had not seen another fishermen in about an hour. Sunday was not as good as Saturday, but still good. Probably caught 10-15 fish and kept 2 nice ones. All in all a great trip. Kyle

I fished it on Tuesday the 31 about a mile below Scott's Ford and all I could come up with was about a 12 inch largemouth and a 10 inch smallmouth. Both early in the morning on poppers. Fished for about 4 more hours with sinking flies and couldn't get them to bite. Just a few goggle eye after that. But still a good way to spend a Tuesday. Kyle

Don't know much about anything besides crappie, but here it goes. They have been deep and on the main channel. 30-60 foot of water and usually somewhere half way down. If you can find a sudden drop off where it goes from 20ish to 60ish they have been holed up there. As far as colors and baits, I prefer some sort of tube jig usually tipped with a minnow, and you know what the say, "if it ain't got chartruse then it ain't no use." Those are my suggestions for catching fish, but my suggestions for fishing (especially on Labor Day weekend) are fish real early or don't bother. If you have never been to the lake on a major weekend you will be blown away by the size of the waves and the amount of boats and for that matter stupid/ignorant people. I don't know what the water will be like then, but since they have had Truman dam running wide open and Bagnell the same way fishing has been real tough. I think there is too much food in the water. Good Luck and let us know how it goes. (There is not enough action in the LOZ forum as it is)

Nice fish!! But where is the Castor river?

Probably floating and both fly and spincast, but mostly fly. Since we would likely be floating we are looking more towards the upper so we don't have to deal with many jet boats. Also, is it a real slow river like the Meremac?

Didn't really know where to post this, but wanted to know if anyone had any information on fishing the Big River. From what I have read there is good smallmouth fishing and since it is the closest stream to home figured it might be worth a shot. Any help would be appreciated Kyle

Sorry guys I had forgotten about this post and thought there still might be some of you interestred in how we did. We got on the river at sunup and fished for smallies pretty hard down to the spring. I caught about 4 three of them under 10" and one that was 12" or so. He put up a good fight. We then fished the spring pretty hard and Randall caught about 4 or 5 trout and I broke off twice and lost a couple. From there on down he fished for trout and I was back and fourth (mostly smallies). Randall caught a few more trout from there through what I am guessing is Sucide hill(because of the fishermen we saw) and I caught 2-3 smallies and had the big one on for a fraction of a second. I did actually see him hit my crawdad crankbait though. Probably a 16-18 incher. The lase 2-3 miles of the float were hell. No fish, except a few google eye, and a lot of paddling. I had forgotten how slow it is there. On a side note I did catch probably 10 nice little google eye and did happen to see one smallmouth that I am certain would have gone 5+ pounds. So I know there are still at least a few good one out there. Thanks again for all the suggestions and help. Kyle P.S. I can vouch for Randall that those are all largemouths from a private lake, because he had told me the story long before the controvercy on this site.

Wasn't this weekend the annual "Gay float" out of NRO ? Bet that was interesting.

Had a float trip out of NRO campground on Saturday so I figured I could get some fishing in on Friday and Sunday. Friday was probably one of the best days I have had at Bennet in a long time. Didn't matter what I threw they hit it all, best was probably a white mini jig or a black marabou. Fished from about 10:30 untill about 3:15 and caught 30-35 fish all on the fly rod. Sunday, however, was probably one of the toughest days I have ever had there. Fished from about 10:00 to 1:00 and only caught 6. Doing all of the same thing and in the same spots. Even tried everything else and just couldn't talk them into biting, but that is how it goes. All in all a good weekend just to be outside.

I am looking to float the Big Piney, probably through Ft. Lenorard Wood, and want to catch some good smallmouths. I will likely bring the fly and spincast rods. Any suggestions on flies, lures, techniques, or general information would be appreicated. Is this a good section of the river to catch smallmouth, or is there a better section? Also, is this one of those rivers that has had the problem with fish kill by the otters?

JJ I hate to tell you, but I was actually crappie fishing. It hit on a white crappie jig with a pink head floated about 3 1/2 feet deep right after a heavy rain here. I fought him for about 30 to 35 minutes and he got into my backing once (didn't want to muscle him too much with 6 pound leader). I was just trying to hang on and let him get tired. By far the biggest fish I have ever caught on a fly rod and it was a blast. Terry I think it is a 6 weight fly rod, but I am not real sure. It is a Siflex rod from the 60-70's(?)that was my grandfathers. The weight class is worn off. Randall Thanks! and it was actually Sheilds lake.

About an 8 pounder I caught in a local pond on my flyrod.