Motor City

I wonder if the Game and Fish would put up some web cams at these ramps to entertain us...

It was a lesson in self control and biting my tongue since his wife and kids were there also. I am glad we were the only people down there on the ramp at the time!

Short story for once: went fishing with a buddy and put in at Houseman. I was in charge of getting the boat off the trailer. Here is a tip, make sure the darn plug is in BEFORE you launch the boat. Not my boat, but should I have checked it? I will now! I wont even let the bruised rib I sustained from the ordeal hold me back! I might be fat enough that tying my shoes is a chore, but I will bend over to check to make sure the boat is ready to go the next time.

Maybe the guy did not understand English or quite possibly was just hard of hearing. Or something. I fished up there on Friday, and was down in zone 2 all day. I always fish with a buddy of mine, and if we stand next to one another to check out the other guys setup or whatever that is cool. If one of us is retying or changing flies and the other gets into the spot, no big deal. But to have some guy basically act like he owns the space you are in is not cool. It sucks that people are like this and have no manners. That seems to be a problem anymore and apparently can apply to any situation. Maybe a beadhead wolly bugger to the forehead from 40 feet would get his attention!! Oh wait, one of you would have to move 35 feet to make the 40 foot distance possible! On a different note, I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said the following "For a town this small, there sure are a lot of butt&@*^s!", but it really said, well you get the point. Maybe he is from that town!

I guess being single has afforded me the opportunity to buy a bunch of gear over the years. I have owned an inexpensive BPS setup, an Orvis Clearwater, built a Winston and broke it, a couple of Scott G series rods (older versions), I now own a Sage zero weight, Temple Fork 2 wt, a 6' cane rod (3 wt), and my main workhorse a Powell TiMax 9' 5 wt and a 9wt that I built myself. You can get into any sort of mental state that you want to thinking the more expensive the rod or even reel, the better they are and the more fish you will catch. In my opinion, the G series were the best rods I ever owned and I kick myself for selling them, and they can be pricy to pick up. Sage of course makes great rods, and I fished a friends Sage Launch 9' 5 wt. It was awesome and light, and cast like a dream. And it did not set back his girlfriend too much in the checkbook when she bought it for him. My advice is to try different rods out if at all possible and shop around for what you like. I have found numerous deals on an ever popular auction site and as a matter of fact it is where I have bought every rod except the Orvis. Do your homework and you will find something to fit your needs. Would I pay 600 bucks for a fly rod? Not only no, but hell no!! Do I run the risk of breaking a rod and not having a warranty if I buy it used, sure I do. Most times people never fill out the warranty card and they pass them along at the time of sale. I hope some of this helps!

Guys, I want to thank you for looking at this a bit. I could not get the link for the sign to come up however. It really is a great place to fish and I will continue to do so for a long time. I might even skip work Monday to fish since Beaver is running a bunch of water.

As some famous redneck on television said, "Here's your sign!!". Not trying to beat a dead horse, but this is the sign he said had the hours on it. This is hard to read, but nothing like that is posted. I did get there early enough to hear the horn and waited until 4:03 my time to hear it again! The fishing was awesome yesterday also. Prince nymph #18 was the most popular fly of the day. Between the three of us that were fishing, we caught between 30 and 40 fish. It was a good day.

I am headed up in the morning to fish again, and I will take a camera and snap a photo of said sign and post it here. I am packing a lunch this time and wont be leaving at 3:15 like I did before. I want to actually hear the horn or whistle or whatever it is. I am also going to read the regs. from end to end.

You sell this boat yet?

Anyone care to discuss the regulations at Roaring River? I know better, and I forgot to look at the winter hours and almost came home with a 150 dollar ticket. Has anyone seen any signs showing the park hours down there? I know, I know, read the rules and regulations. I did everything but check the park times. BUT, I did not see it posted where we parked and I read three signs looking for it, and I got hungry and went to town at 3:30, came back at 4:15 and proceeded to fish. Figure it out from there. But, no ticket. Mr. Ranger kept telling me it was posted on the three signs I told him I read, and instead of arguing and getting him riled up, I conceded and did not get a ticket. Just looking for comments here, I screwed up and I am looking for others to bare their faults!

Fished the upper section of Crane in December during the warm spell. My buddy and I spent the day there. Found some nice fish in a few deep holes, however it was sunny and they were very spooked. He was hanging over the water and I am sure the fish knew we were there, even though I told him to chill out and back off. Funny part is he hates snakes, and I was wondering when we would see one. He found the first cottonmouth on a stump on the waters edge and nearly had a stroke. He said he was finished and going home. I told him to relax, these snakes would hardly move as they were trying to warm up. 5 minutes later one swims into the water right out from under his feet as he was trying to drift a fly into these fish. It was comical to see him freak out again! Anyhow, saw some fish. Nice ones in the water in the upper stretch. Could not get a sniff, but did get some looks, and one strike. Couldn't fill the order. Went to the lower water by the dairy farm later in the day. That water looks so fishy, but nothing. I have my suspicions about that stretch.I think it gets worn butt out myself.

I fished Lobo Access on Friday the 3rd. I walked in down at the bottom of the shoals and found the water was down (3 pm), and started to work the water. They were taking small flies off of the surface here and there, but I found a size 16 'lightning bug' was the fly. I caught 15 fish in less than an hour, with two being pretty impressive (compared to Beaver Tailwater fish). Like the moron I can be, I started missing a bunch of strikes. What I found was that my hook had broken, and I was not checking it as frequently as I should, so I bet 6 more fish could have been hooked. Lesson learned. I turned to walk out and got tangled up in some nasty braided fishing line of some sort. I could not break it off or cut it with my wimpy butt nippers. So I followed it to the source on the bank and found a brand new Shakespeare rod and reel. Apparently someone left it there and never went back for it. It was covered in moss and sticks, so I figured it was my duty to get the line out of the water, and make sure the rod had a good home. I took it home and cleaned the sand out of the reel and cleaned the rod. Good as new. If you lost this rod, please know it is in good hands and if you can identify it, I will return to you....NOT. Anyhow, lightning bug, check hook, catch fish.

It sure did rain here in NW Ark. yesterday. Nice and steady up until 5 in the afternoon. I figured I would sneak out, and have the river below Beaver all to myself. At first I did, and I was thouroghly enjoying the rain and solitude. I even caught a few fish. By the time my hat got wet enough to soak through, I looked up and saw two other couples out fishing. I guess they all had the same idea I did- get out and enjoy the river and have all the water to themselves!! Seems they were smarter than I, they all had their hoods up, while mine was down and my back got soaked. Anyhow, it seems all enjoyed the change of pace in the weather.

I wonder if a barbless fly box would have worked!! I appreciate the comment back to me, I was searching the phone book for a therapist to help me and considering a new past time!!

I FISHED THE TROPHY AREA TODAY, AND THERE WASNT A SPECK OF WIND. SORT OF UNUSUAL UP THERE BUT SO BE IT. MY QUESTION IS THIS: THE WATER WAS FLAT AS GLASS AND THE FISH WERE MIDGING PRETTY MUCH ALL DAY. WE FOUND A FEW INSECTS THEY WERE FEEDING ON, AND CAME VERY CLOSE TO MATCHING IT WITH OUR FLIES. I THINK WE HOOKED TWO AND HAD A FEW MISSES IN THERE ALSO. WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO FISH A SMALL SIZE 18-26 FLY IN THAT TYPE OF SITUATION? WE HAD LONG LEADERS AND LET THE FLY DRIFT IN CLOSE BEFORE STRIPPING IT BACK IN WITH SHORT QUICK PULLS. I DID NOTICE MY TIPPET WAS NOT BREAKING THE SURFACE OF THE WATER, BUT MAYBE THE LAST FOOT OR SO HAD AND THE FLY WAS JUST BELOW THE FILM. WHAT AM I MISSING HERE? JUST A TOUGH DAY OR SOMETHING ELSE TO TRY.

I was over at the Little Red in December. I stopped in the fly shop and inquired about Cow Shoals. He said people were getting into fist fights when one guy would leave the river and come back to find someone in 'His' spot. Funny thing about it, with 50 or 60 cars parked over there, maybe one was from Arkansas. I ended up going to the dam and fishing. I was really depressed by the end of the day. I couldnt find anyone to fight me, and I lucked into a mess-o brookies. They were the only thing that would fight me. Lets see here, I had the river to myself, and I caught some nice fish. I wasnt shoulder to shoulder with some 'out of stater', trying to catch a fish 653 other people had thrown flies at that day. Maybe the game and fish should get themselves a sign like they had in the movie 'Caddyshack', and put Lou down there to enforce the crowd. I wonder if the crowds have left, and if Cow Shoals is going to be the same.

I dont know if those were my flies or not, I cant remember that far back anymore, but enjoy them all the same. I have to agree with everything you pointed out, and definately, leave the 9 footer home. I bet the only place you could even think about handling a 9 foot rod with any room to spare would be the parking lot. I have fished Crane Creek four times over the years, and only caught trout once. It is always a fun to go and hike around and look for fish, but finding any can be difficult. I have fished both ends of the creek on both management properties. The northern one is where I was lucky enough to get into some fish with a buddy of mine. We caught 19 or 20 fish- all on a size 18 Prince Nymph. We used 7 1/2 foot 3 wt rods. No need for anything more. Not to mention one of us was on one side of the creek trying to help the other put the fly in the right spot by 'spotting but not being spotted', while the guy fishing was either casting from his knees or belly. So, no, leave your 300 dollar waders at the house. You will barely need to 'wade' at Crane. I have been itching to go back, but I am afraid with the lack of rain, the place will be dried up. I dont want to put any more pressure on the fish in that respect. Not that I am some awesome angler!! You should have seen me fighting my leader on Sunday. It looked like a slinky. I was either too cold or too lazy to change it out. 2 foot of leader, 9 foot of tippet. Oddly enough, I did catch a few fish. Odd or amazing, I am not sure. Cold or lazy, yes.

This is a pretty good map coming off of the Mo dept of conservation site. I stopped in there last weekend, and checked it out. Saw some empty corn cans in the water above the bridge, did not see any fish. I did see a few rising down below the bridge, but did not see what they were. I am waiting on a new 3wt rod to fish Capps with and will post after I get back. http://mdc.mo.gov/documents/area_brochures/9725map.pdf

I got turned onto this site by Steve over yonder at the Dam Store today, and I thought I would drop some info in here. I was fishing this afternoon below the top of the 'Catch and Release area' and was watching these two guys bait fishing. So was the game warden. I saw him put down his binocs and make his way down to these two guys. Long story short from across the river, he wrote a ticket for 205 bucks, letting a few things go so the guy still had cigarette money. I heard him say he could have written it for somewhere in the 600 dollar range; I was sort of eavesdropping at this point, so I am not sure of the exact 'could have been total'. Then the game warden checked everyone else below the sign in the "Catch and Release" area and wrote another guy a ticket. Needless to say the fishing pressure soon eased up tremendously. He asked me how I was doing and I told him just fine. I guess since I was across the river on the logs, he figured I was nothing he needed to worry about. I made sure I changed a fly and mashed the barb down while he was watching me. I guess my point is this: Today I was griping about what I thought would be a lack of enforcement with the new regulations. I was W-R-O-N-G!!! As usual, my informative session has turned into a babble. The gane warden did escort the one guy up and out of there for one reason or another.