Paola Cat

I'll be down on the 12th. Burgundy Chevy Colorado with KS Plates. PC

Brit .. I hear ya on the gas deal. It's getting expensive to do day trips. Did you check out Zone 3? It appears to be pretty much ignored during C&R and I found the fish pretty receptive. Those fish up around the island in Zone 1 and in Zone 2 are just getting hammered. I caught several fish that had been caught before and even caught one that had a zebra midge and a tiny dry fly already embedded in its mouth. I'll try to get down there this weekend. Might fish Zone 3 again and then maybe try the river. PC

Dano ... I agree, that's a good one too. PC

RC ... How'd that RS3 work out for you? PC

Hey Tim ... It appears that the C&R area is holding some good fish. Have you seen more good fish holding there than the rest of the park? Anybody seen that giant brown that was holding down there (you posted the picture of somebody that caught him this summer)? I fished that guy hard for 3 days and couldn't get him to hit anything. PC

Uni knot to uni knot splice. Been using it for years. Works good for me. Currently using furled leaders with loops. Don't have to mess with the knots in my advanced age and poor eyesight. Tie the tippet directly to the small end leader loop. PC

RC: For my egg patterns I use Glo Bug yarn and tie in sizes 10-16. My best colors are: peachy king, white, cerise, and deep dark red. See www.globugs.net for more information and tying instructions. I fish the egg patterns under a strike indicator and weighted with split shot to keep them as close to the bottom as possible. Fish them upstream quartering or directly upstream (like nymphing). Egg patterns work effectively for me in areas of current and "shallower" water. This is also a good pattern to target specific fish with while sight fishing. I've been using 5X tippet for most of the C&R. PC

JobyKSU .... Thanks for the info. I've got another Appalachian in a 5 weight and might just make do with it for the close-in-precision. I'll definitely check out the Launch. PC

OK ... I'm trying to keep my composure while writing this post. Last night I was prepping some gear for a trip to BBSP for some C&R. I've been using an older Ovris Superfine and thought it might be a good time to rig up something else for a change. I was rigging up an older Sage 4 weight custom rod (made for me by a now deceased gentleman) in the living room .... and then I was going to go out and lawn cast it for a few minutes. I didn't notice the wife's cat was in the room. Anyway, the cat grabbed the furled leader and took off. Snapped the tip off the rod. After a few deep breaths and a moment of silence, I then rigged up a 3 weight Lamiglass Appalachian. I went out into the yard and cast it for a few minutes. On the way back into the house, I missed the first step onto the front deck and fell. Snapped the rod in 2 places. No alcohol was involved in either of these incidents! Out of sure pity and I guess in a true moment of weakness, the wife has given me the go ahead to replace the rods (I'll also get the Sage repaired). My dilemma is, I haven't purchased a rod in about 3 years. Been eyeballing the Sage Launch, TFO TiCr, and St. Croix Avid. I'm looking for any feedback on these. Thanks PC

Made the 3 hour drive to BSSP for some C&R this morning. Fished for 5 hours. Fished all 3 Zones. Big crowds for the C&R ... it had the look and feel of a Saturday in mid April. Nice day but a little windy. Fishing was good. Started in the Zone 2 riffles and caught about a dozen on a peach egg pattern. It got way too crowded for me .... so I moved down to Zone 3. I hadn't fished Zone 3 in a long time. Started about half way down and walked down to the river. Caught a bunch of good sized fish with great coloration on peach and red egg patterns. (note to self .... fish Zone 3 more often during the C&R). Drove up to Zone 1 and fished the island area. Did pretty well on white egg patterns, red copper johns, and red glass bead midges. No giants today ... didn't even see any. PC

Fished for 4 hours today. It was frigid early this morning but warmed up OK. The fishing was good. Didn't bring any big browns to net ... though I did see some giants ... they were real spooky today. Fished in both Zone 1 and Zone 2. Caught several rainbows in Zone 2 that would push 18-19". Best patterns: peach egg pattern, olive mohair leech, and red mohair leech. Also took a few fish on a partridge/green SH. PC

Sounds like a "fireline" tippet to me. I'm assuming that it's very visible in the water and that you'd want to some fluoro to it. Very interesting. PC

Tim ... how's the ice situation down there? I'm up here in Paola, KS and it's getting bad. PC

Nice ......... That fast water area in Zone 2 consistently produces good fish and sometimes I think is overlooked. 22-23 inchers are awesome anytime. Olive PMS .... hmmmmmmm. Have to take the boss on a cruise and can't get down there until the weekend of the 28th. Really looking forward to it. PC

There's substantial midge hatches at the trout parks also. Year round. Sometimes even better in the winter. I was at BSSP last weekend and the dry fly action was good at times. Anything light colored in a #22 worked. I used cream midges. PC

Britt - I use both gold and silver beads .... don't really see much difference in the trout parks. I do like the tungsten beads but it's all about current when making this choice. I like them on zebra midges and brassies in higher current areas. I can eliminate the ever bothersome split shot with the tungstens.

After doing some research into low cost breathable waders, I purchased a pair of Toggs Canyon breathable stockingfoot waders from www.fishusa.com on a whim. I beleive they were $79.00. I've used them for the entire season and they've worked out great. I also purchased the guide pants. Couldn't be happier. No problems. Don't know anything about your choices. PC

RC ... Top trout park nymphs for me: #18 red BH copper john, #18 red BH brassie, the #18 red or olive BH zebra midge, and the #16/#18 BH tellico. I only know of one other guy that fishes the tellico but I started using it years ago on the Current River and always did well with it even in the parks. Most guys probably use PTs or hare's ears instead. I carry others but pretty much only use these. In shallower water with current I'll use a dual nymph rig varying the combinations of the flies above. Sometimes I'll use a small egg pattern (#16 or #18) in peach, red, or white in combination with those nymphs. Sometimes I'll combine a nymph with a san juan. I have also been known to thrown a small nymph dropper under an elk hair caddis. Nymphing works best for me in shallower water with current. Short casts work best upstream or quartering upstream. PC

In early 2007, I made a commitment to get out and fly fish. I had taken the past few years “off”. It’s unlikely that I’ll get out again this year (maybe sometime over the weekend of December 28th). I kept a journal for the year. Below is my summary for 2007. Caught only trout this year. OK, there were the few bluegill I caught by accident at MSP in August. Also, there were the occasional chub and sucker and maybe even a sculpin or two. No bass fishing in Mexico this year and no golf league. 2007 was the year of the “wet” patterns. Paola Cat’s 2007 Missouri Trout Fishing Statistics • Number of Days/Partial Days Trout Fishing: 25 • Daily MO Trout Park Tags Purchased: 21 • Places Fished: Niangua River (White Ribbon), Current River (Blue Ribbon), BSSP, RRSP, MSP • Total Hours Fished: 149 • Total Fish Caught: 829 • Mix: 798 Rainbows, 31 Browns • Largest Fish: 23” Brown (BSSP – Zone 2, riffles below bridge, red zebra midge), 22” Brown (Current River – Blue Ribbon, Tan Vat area, olive leech), 20.5” Rainbow (RRSP – C&R Area mid-way, olive crackleback) • Number of Fish Caught Over 18”: 7 • Smallest Fish: 5” Rainbow w/parr markings (MSP – fly only area) • Best Flies Overall: #12 olive crackleback, #14 peach egg pattern, #18 red zebra midge, #10 olive leech, #16 partridge/green soft hackle • Best Dries: #22 cream midge, #20 renegade, #12 olive crackleback fished dry • Best Nymphs/Midges: #18 red zebra midge, #18 red BH copper john • Best Standard Trout Park Fair: #14 peach egg pattern, #12 peach glo-ball, #18 white egg pattern • Best Days: In the middle of summer! 6/2 at RRSP (C&R area), 8/18/07 at MSP (fly only area)

RC .... The midge activity in Zone 1 was pretty significant. Anything light colored in a #20/#22 probably would have worked. I had planned on nymphing but I just couldn't just stand there and ignore the surface activity. I found a few cream midges in my vest and used those. Also, while I was nymphing I had several fish attempt to inhale my strike indicator. One time I switched to a #12 white humpy and took fish on (3) consecutive drifts.

The water is low and gin clear but 5X/6X is still OK. There's tons of fish in the spring branch. Sounds like you guys got some big fish action going on. I'm tempted to come down and give'em a go.

Tim ... Must have been a good dry fly day all over! Fished BSSP C&R today. Caught lots of fish on #22 cream midges. Also, fishing was good on peach egg patterns when the fish weren't rising.

Got on the water at about 8:30 this morning. It was frigid but warmed up later on. Fished for 5 hours. Fishing was good. Fished Zone 1 only. Hot flies: #22 cream midge, #18 red BH zebra midge, #18 red BH copper john, and #14 peach egg pattern. Too many fish to count. Caught (1) real nice kype jawed brown today ... estimated at 18-19". Took him between the start of the island and the first handicap pier. The water is low and gin clear.

RCguy ... Is the Bennett Springs Inn open year round? I too have stayed there before ... it works out pretty good.

Switched from Cortland lines to SA 3 years ago and never looked back. The Cortland offerings were adequate but the SA offerings are superior as far as I'm concerned. I have cast some of the Cortland rods in the past ... I thought they were a pretty good value. I have no experience with the reels ... is STH a Cortland company?