Paola Cat

Anybody floated this stretch recently? Conditions .... normal? SMB action? PC

Pat ... you might want to try www.blueribbonflies.com or www.kaufmannsstreamborn.com. PC

Thanks drew .... I might just swing by there. PC

Slumpbusters and Wooly Buggers. Maybe a few poppers and crawdads. If you go during the week, the aluminum hatch won't be bad. How long of a float are you looking to do? I like fishing above the park .... skinnier water. For a short trip you could do Fort Niangua to Sand Spring. For a longer trip you could do Moon Valley to Riverfront or Sand Spring. That strectch has SMBs, KYs, trout, gogglemeisters, and brim. I think Riverfront and Sand Spring might haul. Sink tip, full sink, floating line .... they all work. Post a report when you get back. PC

Austin, Super effort at Crane in such a short time .... very well done indeed. I need to get down there. See any attack snakes? PC

Go CATS!

I think Feather-Craft sells them. Has anyone called FC? Is it really a metal ring ... I can't tell from the picture. PC

Not sure what it is patterning .... awful small for a gut blob. I think most likely it looks like a scud, caddis pupa, or midge larva. I use red also. #18-#20 not weighted but that might be good idea .... make the split shot even smaller.

Dove nailed it. I was looking for something similar but simpler than the G-Bug and came across these. The ones I'm currently fishing I actually purchased from Big Y. I fish them like a nymph. I use #18s. Weigh'em down with a single split shot about a foot above the fly. Used 6X tippet. Use a small strike indicator 4 feet up. Cast upstream, bounce'em along the bottom. They work real good in skinnier water. Haven't tried tieing any yet ... looks pretty simple though. Now that I've figured out they work pretty well, I'll try to replicate maybe in a #16. I've got a suspicion that the #16 would be a little more durable and a little more visible to those of us that can't see. RC .... the fishing was good .... the weather was great.

Troy ... It really was nice weather. The park is the park ... pretty much know what to expect. It was nice to get down to the river ... hadn't done that in a while. Going to have to do a float or something.

Spent some time fishing the river this morning right at the Bennett Springs CA. Fished right at the canoe launch for about an hour. Was hoping to catch some SMBs. Used a #8 olive slumpbuster and couldn't keep the trout off of it. Caught 6 trout and missed just as many. No bass. Hooked into something giant on the slumpbuster ... never got it close enough to identify it ... after 10 minutes it eventually it snapped the 4X tippet. It boiled a couple of times and was big. I've caught browns up to 9 lbs. in that general location over the years. Oh Well ... the one that got away. No aluminum hatch on the Monday morning and the weather was fantastic. PC

The wife and I got to the park around noon on Sunday. Fished with nothing but dries on Sunday. There was just enough action to keep it interesting. No hatches ... just a few sippers. Took fish on assorted cracklebacks and PEDs. Took fish in both Zones 1 and 2. Started at the siren on Monday fishing the Zone 2 riffles. Caught fish on every cast for an hour ... used the white marabou midge. Went back to the BSP Inn for breakfast and then headed to the river. See Niangua river report for that one. The human hatch was surprisingly large ... but there was absolutely fantastic weather. PC

Pat/Jeff ... Thanks for the info. Yep ... we've always got the standard patterns to turn to if the dry action slows. I sure do like to catch them on top though. PC

Jeff, Which Zone (area) did you get the most ant action in? I'm thinking about heading down on the 24th. PC

PHW ... nicely put and right on. In a related issue, I do see performance differences between different brands of fluorocarbon. Maybe that's just a personal preference? For example .... using 6X fluoro tippet .... some seem to have a larger diameter. Also, some seem to break much easier than others. I don't think that they are all created equal. Anybody else experience this? PC

After performing exhaustive web research on Hound Dog. I've located nothing. PC

Pat ... I'm thinking that the smashed up Cheezits and Hound Dog dog food might be the ticket .... LOL. I'll try to post some pics. If not, I used the standard cream midge pattern in a #20 for the dry pattern. The marabou midge pattern I used can be found at www.bigyflyco.com. I used white ones in a #18. I fished these like nymphs under an indicator and weighted them with a split shot to keep them down. PC

Made it down to the park on Saturday. Got there early and started in Zone 2 and stayed there the entire time. Fished below the stone arch bridge down to the bluff hole. The key on this day was to keep switching up the presentation. The action was pretty good on a red copper john early. Then switched to olive soft hackles, olive cracklebacks, cream midges, and white marabou midges. The action varied from fast to slow and everything in between. Changed to a different brand of 6X tippet today (I ran out of the fluorocarbon tippet I normally use) and snapped a few off ... especially on the soft hackles and cracklebacks. I needed to slow down a bit on the TV hookset with this tippet .... man some of those takes were bone jarring. Probably didn't help it any with the fast action rod I was using. Did take a few just before I left on a 6' 3 weight .... that was fun. Overall the weather was great (just a little shower), the human hatch wasn't too bad, the fishing was good, met up with RCGUY and Troy and his son, and had a good time. I wish I could have stayed for the evening dry action but had to head back to Paola. Anyway, I was able to take a few on top on a cream midge near the bluff hole mid morning. The water was decent .... just a little more current than the previous Sunday. PC

I own a Sage Launch and a TFO Professional amongst a host of other rods. Both have their places. I recently purchased a Cabelas LST ... I think it's a good option if you're looking for something inexpensive and fast. Also, they're currently on sale at $75 off. You can get into one for $100-$105. PC

Hey Jerry ... Lookin' forward to getting back down .... maybe we can work something out. It was good to take most of the fish on the surface or just sub-surface. Things are looking up (literally). PC Mike

Dove ... the human hatch was horrible until 10:00 AM (all the parking was full ... looked like opening day .... there had to 50 people standing in line for tags at the store at 5:45 AM)... then it thinned out as the weekenders packed it in and headed back to town. Pat ... I am pleased to officially declare that the water is "normal", clear, wadable, and full of fish. The usual flavors seemed to work. Soft hackles, cracklebacks, and some dries. I did throw the john deere for a while at mid-day and did OK on it. By the way ... I broke down and bought a LST the other day .... couldn't pass up those clearance deals ... paired it up with some Rio Grand. Anyway, I used it on Sunday .... sweet on the SHs, CBs, and dries. I had no problem flinging them into the fray and the control was suprisingly good. Mike

I've been eyeing that vest for a long time and almost pulled the trigger a couple of times .... I've got an older guide vest also. But these days, I'm using a small chest pack and a lanyard.

The wife and I made it down to BSSP for a few hours today. I did the wet wading thing because it was crazy hot. Caught approx. 20. Started the morning in the Zone 2 riffles. Used olive cracklebacks and swung some olive soft hackles. Moved to Zone 1 in the afternoon and had pretty consistent action on the john deere mini jig around the island. Moved up to gauge house and took 4 on top on a #18 white wulff.

Fished Litltle Pigeon River for about 15 hours during the week of 7/7 while I was on family vacation. Went down the little river road outside of the Sugarlands entraance to the SMNP. Brought to hand 7 wild rainbows ranging from 4-9". Caught a couple on a stimmie and BH tellico dropper ..... but the bigger fish were caught on an olive crackleback. Caught numbers of various assorted chubs, suckers, shiners ..... etc. There was enough action to make it OK. Had a good time but the trout fishing was tough. PC

I think it's about 50 river miles .... Charity to Bennett. I've actually caught a very small trout (5") with par markings just above Charity (making my way upstream) about 10 years ago.