Don

Good to hear of your success Snagged. Captain, I hope you get a chance to go this fall. I would have walked or driven to a better spot but I sprained my ankle at Roaring River 2 weeks ago and I'm not getting around too well. My 14 year old daughter retrieved the birds for me. I am a little bit hillbilly and I have a cold one at the right place at the right time. However, I'm very strict about mixing alcohol with firearms and I do not drink when my kids are around. My daughter shot twice but missed. I'll post my sausage recipe in the recipes section. Good hunting.....Don PS It wasn't a cooler I was sittin on. It was an old broken toilet I yanked out of the house last year. I lift the lid up and put ice in the bowl to keep those beers cold. Padded lid and backrest for good huntin.

Great news Captain, Congratulations and blessings to you and your family. Don

I got five from my driveway Saturday. It was the first time I've shot dove. I placed a MOJO dove in the field next to the house while my daughter laughed at me. She stopped laughing when it started bringing in birds. Every time I went outside to check my smoked sausage on the smoker, I'd get a shot or two at the birds. They were marinated and grilled the next day. The first dove I've eaten in 20 years, good stuff. Don

Sounds like an excellent Labor Day trip and the first of many for you and your grandson. Don

I used to not count fish, but I had several good days when I could not answer correctly to how many fish i caught. Now I count. The most I've caught was 50 because I left early and went home. Many other times on a good bite day, I stop and experiment instead of seeing how many I can get to the net. I was once told by an experienced flyfisherman that 80 was a bad day, 100 was a good day, and 120 plus was a great day. From my understanding there are many guys who have these results but they are not forum people. This aspect keeps me humble and keeps the learning curve in perspective. This guy fishes sunup to sundown all the time. I fished with him only once on Norfork for sunup to sundown. He called his friends that night and told them things were really tough and he caught 50 fish. I laughed so hard because I watched him have a great day while I caught 8 fish. By the way, the quantity of fish does not make the trip, it's just a measuring stick. My two most memorable days I caught 9 fish and 22 fish. Don

Rolan, Thanks for the great photos. It made my sloppy ant look like it was really something. Good looking flies all the way around. Don

Thanks Dano. I've been researching the web via search engine articles. In one article I found 5mg/l was listed as a necessary O2 level for raising trout. Also, Arkansas Game and Fish conducted a study on the White years ago and listed at least 6mg/l as a recommended goal, especially during spawning season for browns. Thanks Don

What are the optimum as well as dangerous oxygen levels for tailwaters? Thanks, Don

It was the second time I fished Montauk. Fished the spring area from 2-8 PM. Caught 20 fish on an ugly zebra midge, griffith's gnat, PMD crackleback, orange shellback, and sculpin-olive colored leech. Had many other long distance catch and releases and I missed quite a few strikes as well, especially while stripping the leech. Fish were biting good and it was another excellent day on the river. Don

I've logged alot of hours and caught alot of fish on my TFO purchased May 2005. The best rod for their price range. Don

I tie the ugly zebra midge as follows: Size 18 curved scud hook Black tungsten bead size 5/64 Light olive 1X 300 UNI-Stretch thread for the body Size small green wire for rib Rusty brown waxed thread for throat I coat all my midges with Sally Hanson's Hard as Nails for durability. Good at Taney, great at state parks. Good Fishing.....Don

John, I only had tape on the business card. Thanks anyway, no big deal. I have another excuse to tie now. Great looking flies, don't you think? I'm particularly interested in the larger ones since I usually fish size 18-22. I'll try to give feedback on this thread as I fish these guys. Good fishing.....Don

John, Got all flies except size 20 olive soft hackle. No worry, I'll tie one from posted recipe. I brilliantly used a breakable plastic box and guess what? Anyhoo, all flies are impressive and I don't know where to start. My thanks to you for your time and effort to serve as the honorable first swapmiester for OAF's first historical flyswap. Thanks everybody.....Don

Steve, The pearl and primrose midge that Phil sent in the swap works really well at RR. I use it in the fly only area and I make sure there is some decent drift because it doesn't fare well in slow water. I fish it about 18 to 24 in below the indicator. Don

My friend and I decided to swing through Roaring river on our way back from the Little Red River. We fished 6:000-8:00PM Sunday. We caught a total of 25 fish. I cought one on a little tan and yellow dry fly and another on a little white dry fly. I do not know what these flies are called. The rest were taken on PP and ugly midges. Don

Caught 5 Saturday morning at JFK. 2 were good looking brookies. If you noticed the generation chart, a small amount of water ran Saturday and was unusual based on pattern lately. All fish were caught on a variety of scuds. I had to leave early and when I returned Sat. afternoon, water was running. Water shut off before dark so I fished another hour at JFK. I caught another 5 fish on scuds. One was a 14 in. brown and another was a nice cutbow. I missed the elusive cutthroat and did not get my slam. Fished Sunday morning and caught 4, one was a brookie taken with a grey sowbug. All others on scuds. The bite got really tough after the fog lifted in the morning. My friend also caught 14 fish that weekend. As usual, he had no luck with a particular fly that he tied and has used several times. He calls it the welfare fly because it took alot of money to make and it never works. We left camp at noon and fished Roaring River on the way back home. Don

I'll be ready to pursue the mighty salmo gairdneri this weekend.

Thanks for the feedback everybody, I'm intrigued by catching trout in all types of environments. That's why I take many various trips every other weekend. The next time I'm on my way home from either the White or Norfork, I'm tempted to stop by Rockbridge and see if I can work out a half day deal for catch and release. Don

I've heard several fisherman state that they love to fish at Rockbridge and pay a fee for catch and release. I mentioned to one that it came across to me that it was an oversized hatchery and I wondered if they felt like it was sporting or if it was shooting fish in a barrel. They replied that they had a hatchery and they stocked the river and generally Taney does essentially the same thing. I've never been there and I wonder if any of you readers have and what you thought of it. Thanks.....Don

John, I appreciate the feedback. I'll keep those items in mind this weekend. Thank You.....Don

My condolences are sent to you. Your family is in my thoughts and prayers. Sincerely.....Don

I've tried several types of indicators but keep in mind I'm a beginner. I use what Dano uses and I use the smallest size possible. I use the color white as much as possible until visibility becomes difficult because of riffles, foam, glare, etc. I use the toothpick method because they are easily adjustable. I've heard others say that the rubberband method Dano uses is their favorite but I haven't tried it beacuse I can be resistant to changing the way I do things at times. I used to not like toothpick indicators but my tangles decreased as I learned to trim the right amount of excess toothpick. A friend of mine is interested in yarn indicators but he is unsure what is the best knot to use while fastening the yarn without compromising tippet integrity and keeping the yarn fully adjustable. Any pointers from the experienced? Thanks.....Don

Down at Taney this evening, I brought in 4 trout. Each time I wanted to grab the net off my back, but each time I apprehensively reached down and slid my fingers down the last foot of line, grabbed the fly, and unhooked each trout immediately without breaking off for a change. Lucky me for now. By the way, I'm neither pro or con about barbless or not barbless hooks, nets or no nets; mortality of trout lies in the hands of the beholder and how respectfully and efficiently they handle them. I'm just trying to learn how to not to use a net in order to eiliminate another step in the procedure. Still kind of a lesbian in a man's body trying to get a life , Good Fishing.....Don

I fished Little Red last May and last October and things were totally different each time. I'll be fishing Sat and Sun Aug 12 and 13. Has anyone fished lately that could at least point me in the right direction on what's working at this time? I'll be fishing the Dam Area, Cow Shoals, and Swinging Bridge/Winkley Shoals areas. I'll give a report on OAF when I return. Thanks.....Don

Memories indeed. My first trip to RR was in 1975 with my friend Greg when I was 13 years old. I hooked a lunker, Approx 7lbs? in the fly zone. I was using a small white fly, dont remember what, and all the fishermen that were downstream reeled in their lines when they saw it jump. I then remember the trout swam to the bank downstream and a fisherman tried to net it for me. He scooped it up and the fish was lying across both bars of the net. It flopped off and got away. From then on, trout fishing became something exciting. There weren't as many camp sites then and you never had to make reservations. I went camping and fishing with three guys in my high school class on the last day of school, when we were old enough to drive in 1978. The tag I posted was from the time I went on vacation immediately after I graduated high school in 1980. By the way, Greg and I went flyfishing ar RR last weekend for the first time since high school. Don