Don

Good to hear from you Rick. Jeff sure caught a sweet one didn't he. I haven't been out much lately. Work at the office and chores around the farm have kept me at bay. However, I do have a trip planned for the Little Red in May. I hope you get out soon and haul in a few on the flyrod.

Wanting to learn. Just bought a few Hohner Blues Harps last month. Keys of A, C, D, and G. Good instrument to relax to. Makes me really appreciate those who play guitar and harp at the same time.

Just ordered 2 of his DVD's. Will watch them in tribute next week.

Welcome aboard bud! Awesome pics. Glad you had a trip like you did last weekend.

That's what happens when I do a belly flop!

Looks like a rattle-headed copper moccasin to me. Very tasty.

First one I ever missed. Got a cold and did not want to give it to anyone else . Hope to see you all next year if not sooner.

I'll be there I'll bring Jalapeno Popper dip and Tostitos Scoops.

I used to know a few chords about 25-30 years ago then sold all of my gear. I don't have alot of time to fish much anymore so I have been compiling gear and finally practiced once this week. Woo Hoo! I am teaching myself from the internet. I recently picked up an Ovation 12 string CC electric acoustic, a Fender Catalina 6 string acoustic, an Ultrasound 210 acoustic amp, a Peavy Delta Blues 212 amp, an Audix OM2 mic,and a Sennheiser 835 mic. Eventally a good electric guitar and a powered speaker PA system will come around. Wish me luck.

Nice fish Michael. Glad to see you guys got on them. Good report.

So you spit on a red car??? Just how big of a boy are you?

I signed the petition based on the economic strain that could result. Times are hard for many people right now and I predict that things are going to get much worse. People need to keep jobs while they can. The government is making cuts with a broad sword instead of researching and eliminating alot of useless spending. I'm afraid some budget cuts will result in more harm than good. Trout may fall by the way without hatcheries. Privatizing hatcheries would be cumbersome and risky for investors in our economy. Yeah, reluctantly I would resort to more warm water fishing if such a shutdown would occur.

Wow Woodman! You have skills. Beautiful canoe, thanks for sharing.

I heard midge fishing was good on Beaver Lake tailwaters so I planned to go. However, a buddy of mine, Mike Utt, called the friday before and said he was heading to Taneycomo that weekend to fish from Saturday until Monday. I put my initial plan aside because I would rather catch up on good times with friends and make a few trout lips sore at the same time. I explained that I couldn't make it until Monday and he replied that he would be there. About 8:30 AM, Monday morning, I arrived at Anglers and Archery, Taneycomo's oldest fly shop, to get a few supplies. I called Mike and he gave me directions to Point Royale, where he was staying. He stated he caught about twenty fish Saturday on small yellow jigs so I brought a few along. I was there in minutes to meet Mike and his neighbors from the St. Louis area, John Tippel and his son Jacob. We made our intros and suited up. We hit the lake with cool weather, overcast skies, and a few intermittent light showers. We fished and visited from 9 until noon. What a great bunch of guys to fish with. Mike was knocking them out on those jigs and I picked up a couple. I noticed a few fish surfacing so I tied on a harvester midge, one I particularly like to use in the early spring. I claimed five stocker-sized bows on the midge. One obvious notation that I have experienced on the midge, I never had a strike while raindrops were hitting the water. We said our goodbyes around noon and the gang took off on their long drive back home. I had a few hours left on my agenda and decided too see what was going on up by the dam. I waded in between chutes 1 and 2. I looked up river and down river and estimated there were about twenty fishermen on the water. The weather must have kept alot of folks at home. I tied on a brown and copper zebra midge and started drifting midstream. There were not alot of rods bent over on the lake, things seemed kind of slow. As I glanced towards the shore, I noticed a pod of nice-sized trout porpoising in shallow water. I think they were having relations. I thought to myself, they usually don't bite much at those times, but what the heck. I flung the midge slightly upstream ,and bam, fist cast yielded a 16-inch male rainbow. 15-20 casts later proved unsuccessful but I noticed some of those fish were nice-sized. I tied on a grey and wine G-bug, and again, bam, on the first cast. This time I hauled in a nice 18-inch rainbow. No strikes on the fly after then. Next up was a small grey scud. First cast, hooked up, then broke me off as I watched my white indicator swim up river slightly under the surface. A little later, I hung up my freshly-tied-on grey scud right in the middle of the fishes' "spot." I hated to invade their space but I waded up close enough to free my fly from the rock on the stream bed. As I looked down, I noticed my white indicator floating nearby. I retreived it and my first grey scud was hanging on the line below. The fish had returned to visit his friends and dislodged the fly after he came back. Next up, was a weighted tan sowbug that I like to fish on the Little Red River. Again, first cast, bam! The fight was on! I had to play it a little longer than the other fish and finally netted my first 20-incher of the season. About 15 minutes later the pod of fish disappeared into depths unknown. I worked midstream for a few minutes with no takers. I traveled down to the big water below chute 2 and picked up a stocker bow on the yellow jig then called it quits. Another great day on the water.

Great fish bum. Good to see you are still getting after them.

I have made a committment to go on Monday. About time. Hope to follow with a good report.

Happy Birthday young man.

Most of you don't know it but when a trout in your net is opening and closing its mouth, it is actually screaming at the top of its lungs, but only other trout can hear it.

Vibrate mode in my wader pouch in case of emergency or to talk to fishing partners that are too far away from me. It can be used without talking loudly.

Great report and pics. Thanks for sharing.

I left a vest down there once and a good samaratin found it and took it to the hatchery office. It might be a good hub for lost and found.

It was nice to meet you folks as well as seeing a few others again. The cold apparently thinned out the herd this year. Fishing was slow for me, only picked up three bows. There were some great cooks in the crowd. I had a great time. What a great bunch of people to start off the new year.

I haven't missed one yet so I guess I'll be there. Forecast is cold, dress accordingly.

I remember that Virgil Ward was fond of a crawdad colored beetle spin. He would demonstrate it in his aquarium. I followed his que and did pretty well with it as a youngster.

Nice fish Buzz. Thanks for sharing. A friend of mine told me he had his best day on Capps and caught quite a few on the 20th.