Don

Several Turkey Day birthdays, awesome! Happy birthday guys. Don

I heard on the news this evening that some doofus intentionally dumped 50,000 gallons of sewage in the White River in Arkansas. Does anyone know of any details about this? Don

Fished RR because of it has been so crowded on Taney on weekends. Fished from 1:30 till the horn blew at 4:00. Fished from the road to the wading area. caught five off a gray ostrich scud. When it broke off, I tried several other scuds and zebra midges resulting in a few strikes but nothing to the net. Then tried a prototype crackleback with green sparkle braid body and grizzly hackle - nothing. Then tried olive mohair leech and caught one. Then caught five on black rabbit tail leech with black disco yarn body. Then caught four more on gold rabbit tail leech with brown barred schlappen hackled body. Last fish was 16 inches and fat. My friend Kevin had arrived earlier and caught twice as many fish than I did, mostly on a variety of scuds. I noticed that all the big trees were cut down in the fly zone camping area. Those spots had limited shade and those trees were big and beautiful. Does anybody know the reason they were cut down? Don

I was there from about 11:30 until water came on about 4:00. Very crowded. As I arrived, I watched a guy hook and land about a nine pounder. Nice fish. I fished between chutes 1 and 2. I only landed three and caught those on a cheese colored egg pattern. Don

This is one of the best ideas I've seen on this forum. Count me in. I'll send some kind of supplies, as of now I'm not sure what. When is the mailing deadline? Don

I received my midges Thursday. They look great and I'm excited to start tying a few. Troutbum, your time and effort as swapmeister are appreciated. Thanks.....Don

Good looking vest Jerod. I prefer the chest pack. I was told that I would eventually outgrow it and I did. I now use the Fishpond Open Range Vest Pack for all the same reasons John mentioned. It has more storage that it looks like it would have. Several of my friends also bought Fishpond vest packs within the last year and relly like them as well. Fishing in 95-100 degree weather last summer had me leave my vest pack on the bank at times. I would have also left my shirt if I wouldn't look so barbaric. A friend of mine made me a really neat lanyard. I plan to use it in extreme hot weather even though I might feel a little insecure if I couldnt't carry all my gear around. Don

Phil, I did see a yellow hat, but the post you made was after I shut off and started loading the van. I started on the bank below all the fishermen in Chute 2. I stayed on the bank for awhile as not to spook potential trophy. I first tied an experimental homemage brownie bug of some sorts. It had a gold rabbit strip tail. However, the body was wrapped with brown barred schlappen instead of standard wooly size hackle. It was on a lead wrapped hook and looked big and buggy. I missed several strikes while sight fishing and landed none because they were either short striking or I'm just too old and slow. I then looked up toward the dam and thought maybe that some big browns wanted to be elusive from crowded areas. There were about ten people around chute 1 and nobody on the opposite side. I spent some time on the south bank throwing egg patterns around structure. Caught four bows 12-14 inches. They seemed sluggish and did not have alot of fight in them. Low D.O. I guess? I also caught my first sucker on a flyrod. Fought hard and was about two pounds. I tried stripping a big black fly with a rabbit strip tail and disco yarn body, again big and buggy looking. Got tagged once but no fish. Finally it was time for nymphing. I tied on a size 16 ginger G-Bug and fished from the south side as I worked my way down the river. When I got to the area above chute 2 where the shallow water drops into deeper water, I hooked the biggest trout I've ever hooked. Got her about ten feet in front of me and she finally lurched hard and came loose. I reasonably estimate 26 inches and maybe ten pounds. I noticed that my sinker came off during the fight so opened my sinker box and spilled most of my number 6's because my hands were shaking so badly from the adrenaline. It was not easy getting a sinker on my tippet at the time. Nobody was in the pool from chute 2 to rebar. Looks good to me. Lots of people down at rebar. I started stripping size 14 PMD crackleback. Several strikes and a breakoff but finally landed a stocker about 5:20. I have not had a chance to night fish this year and this was good as any. Horn blew at 5:30. I went back to the lot and waited, hoping for only one unit to run for an hour. I rerigged with a bigger outfit and went down chute 2 about 6:35. I was the only vehicle on the parking lot and saw nobody. By then, they were running two generators. I fished the seams with a white mylar zonker, no luck. Full moon, running water, not my best odds so I went home. Terry, I hope your knee gets better.

Snagged, best post so far. LOL that coffee came out of my nose and I wasn't even drinking coffee at the time. Don

Thanks Phil, I've been debating whether to go today or not. Your report has inspired me to fling a few flies at those big brownies. I'll be there in an hour or so....Don

When I was out at the San Juan, I spent some time visiting a semi retired fly shop owner. He discussed the San Juan Shuffle. He stated that even if you were standing perfectly still in the river, a game warden will write you a ticket if he felt that you were casting at fish you can see at a short distance directly downstream. He also mentioned that the best the best way to minimize shuffling is to shut up. I asked what he meant and he stated someone yelled at somebody shuffling and it drew attention to others, indicating that there's a way they can finally catch some fish. Also, he stated to stop writing about it(like I'm doing now)because people who read articles in papers, forums, etc, realize that it is a way that they can improve their catch rate. Don

Terry, Speaking of dynomite, my former employer used to have small bass tournaments. One year, the union steward drew the personnel director as his partner for the annual tourney at Table Rock. Fishing was very slow that day, so later in the afternoon, they motored back into an isolated cove. The steward grabbed a flare from his box and told the HR director they were gonna win this thing one way or another. Of course panic set in for the administrator as the steward lit the flair, chucked it out in the cove and put his hands over his ears. He described the HR director as getting ready to jump out of the boat.....but wait, I better not..... no, I better jump.....no i better not...... I've heard the guys tell this one a thousantd times.

Yep. Seining also works real well at Taney. I usually bring my gig for stragglers that try to get away.

I find the shuffling/snagging combo method to be very effective if my big treble hooks are sharpened well enough. I can usually come up with at least a dozen 16" fish on my stringer.

I tied up a few innovative leech patterns earlier this week with bunny strip tails and disco yarn bodies. I hope I get to try them out this week. Don

Hey Jeff, Awesome brown you caught last week.

Interesting and informational about MO Prop 2. http://www.moroundtable.org/

12/15/2006. Don

I am extremely interested in catching a huge stiper or hybrid on a flyrod. My small trout outfits probably won't hold a 30 plus pound striper. I've read everything on this forum about stripers and just to imagine bringing in one of those monsters gets me excited. Please keep all existing topics on the forum. I'll just have to gear up one day and make that move. Waiting patiently.....Don

I spiked my Chota's with screws. They are starting to wear down and will need replaced soon. I can get away with regular felt soles at Taney, but I travel to many other waters and have been extremely glad that my soles were spiked. It also comes in handy if you have to walk up or down a muddy or icy path. Caveat emptor, you will void the warranty on the boot if wou spike a pair that is not predrilled for screws. Mine were not predrilled, but they hold up just fine. The same model is now made with predrilled holes. Don

Adult stem cell, yes; embryonic stem cell, no. From a conservative Independent, no on amendment 2. Don

Da Burds! They rule the roost. I've only waited for 24 years. I'm glad they won it at home. Smiling ear to ear.....Don

I used to use my coffee grinder to blend my dubbing. Now I use my dubbing blender to grind my coffee.

Started after generation shut off about 9:30 am. Picked up 8 with egg pattern on the bottom in shallow water. Caught 2 more on tan and black scuds. Two 20 plus inch fish broke me off at the strike. I had several other long distance catch and releases as well. Fished my new 9' 6wt Temple Fork. I finally bought a bigger rod. Casts a mile but I prefer my smaller 4 and 5 wts. Tough day out there and windy conditions made it tough for sight fishing. It wasn''t nearly as crowded as I expected it to be. Left at 5 pm to watch the world series. Don

No Jinx, I bleed red and blue. I hear Detroit is nice this time of year. Hats off to the Mets, a decent team this year.