Randall

good stuff... i'm goin to the current. thanks for the report.

how high was the water? was it fishable?

i caught this and several others at my mom's pond on an egg pattern with a sink tip line... as soon as the egg got to the bottom, they smacked it. into the backing twice.

i went down yesterday and man was it great. river was up a little and gin clear. there was a huge trico hatch and a small caddis hatch that i got to fish in the morning... caught a 19" thick rainbow on a #22 trico spinner that is right now my largest ever on a dry. every rainbow i caught was over 12" with one measuring 19 and one measuring 18. the browns i caught were small except for one in the 14" range. i saw some monster browns but they saw me first so i was done before i started in that regard. i waded from tan vat to baptist, and fished about every inch of that and just hammered the rainbows and baby browns. if you like fishing dries, from what i gathered fishing and talking yesterday, tricos in 22-28 are gonna be coming off until the end of summer and the caddis are small, an 18 elk hair did it for me. i'll try to post some pics but i'm on a public computer and they kinda frown on that kind of stuff sometimes.

i agree. she is a super sweet lady.

Just got the flies and the box after a short battle with the mailroom. Very nice everybody. Thanks JJ for putting in the extra effort to make the boxes and hosting the swap.

i had janet vahle for chemistry and trigonometry when i was in high school.

Wow was last week a blast. I went camping and fishing with Jeremy Hunt for 4-1/2 days. We fished Taney Monday and Tuesday in 4 units. It was a tough bite but Jeremy put us on the fish and we both caught plenty. Wednesday, we went down to Arkansas and camped at the Bull Shoals - White River campground until Friday. We fished the dam, Wildcat, Rim, and the Norfork dam. Bull Shoals dam was very inconsistent with the flows coming out, but we caught some really healthy fish in the 16-18" range. Rim was productive, but the fish weren't quite as big as at the dam. Norfork also was inconsistent and we only fished there for an hour or so. Since we were fishing from his boat, we skeeted out when the water started to drop. Jeremy managed to put us on the brookies and I caught my first one ever... if you would be so kind as to post the pic I sure would appreciate it. After catching that fish, I would've been content to put the rod down and call it a day... but why settle with one when you can catch more? We fished Wildcat Friday morning before I had to head back. Bait fishermen anchored up in all the spots we were trying to drift, so we explored a little and found some real good fishing all to ourselves. All in all, it was a great trip. I gotta sing a few praises now, becuase Jeremy really has worked with me a lot on my game. Last week was mostly on reading water, but he's worked with me on casting, tying, and fly selection quite a bit too. I've yet to meet somebody as knowledgeable that is willing to share what he knows. Thanks man.

i tried that with a pheasant skin about a year ago with some less than desirable results. it must've taken me a week to get the smell out of the room. i guess i'll have to see it done before i'm willing to try it again.

better pack a lunch... you'll probably get hungry.

for sure... i'll probly call you thursday or friday when i get the trip planned out a little bit. you're gonna get me all excited with that talk about whites... lets just hope they're still up. later

there was an article on starling for soft hackles in fly rod and reel or flyfisherman a couple months ago... i can't find the article, but if i remember correctly, the author made it sound like starling was the original feather for the soft hackle(?). i might just have to get a starling cape to try it out.

JJ, i hate to be that guy, but my address will be changing saturday. if the bugs are not in the mail yet, let me know and i'll pm you with the address i'll be at. thanks.

third lake where we bust the crappies at right? glad to hear at least somebody enjoyed the storm... i know it made my day a lot longer, a lot muddier, and a lot harder. and get an avatar... use that pic with the trout or the one with the hybrids.

its okay, i understand... its because i won't give you a kiss. seriously tho, i'm just givin you trouble. i thought that video of me got erased when you wiped that card before we went to roark... speaking of which, that video i took had to have been horrible... i was experiencing some operator error with your camera there. i'll be down next week bro. gonna spend a few days in branson, then i'm gonna try to hit up somewhere in ark.

you know... that looks a lot like a fish that was living in rickett's lake in fayette. bout time you registered on here.

yeah, keep the video of him... i see how it is. lol.

when is that event? i would love to learn to flyfish for smallies.

i made it sound like i knew both of them... not so much i never met sharon, but i've heard that was my loss. if you ever read chuck's book on missouri smallmouth... when he was researching it, he ran into my dad who showed him around lost creek in warren county. he sent us some rubber legged buggers he ties and a very nice thank-you note for it. i wouldn't mind running into him on the water, though i wouldn't recognize him and he wouldn't have any idea who i am.

it is a great book. as far as i know chuck is still around. if you ever get the chance to meet him, he's one of the nicest people you will meet.

$2.79 here in fayette. columbia was the same yesterday. my marketing professor told us that the reason gas prices rise with the temperature is that "summer grade" is refined twice and "winter grade" is refined once. it has something to do with vaporization that occurs while fueling.

i have two battenkill mid arbors... i don't know of any way to make it not click. i think they're pretty quiet. i'm playing with my 8-weight right now and when the arbor is off, it doesn't make any noise when i rotate the spindle. i really wouldn't recommend trying to eliminate the noise. if you have your owners manual, it diagrams the assembly of the reel, so you could disassemble it and try to figure out which part creates the sound if you want to. look at the bright side of the clicking, there's no sweeter sound than that of a fish taking line. besides, compared to other reels, its not loud at all.

healthy lookin fish... very nice. sew up a piece of leather or buckskin or neopreme that fits snugly over your whole thumb if you have a habit of lipping trout... much less painful that way.

okay, its sacreligious, but bps does free tying lessons in st. charles, they may do the same elsewhere. that said, i advocate and do avoid buying from white river fly shop like the plague because i'd rather support proshops. its the proshops where you'll find those that are truly passionate about the sport and want to see it grow, not to mention the help is on a whole different level. if you're ever in the branson area, the class at lilley's landing on tuesday nights is wonderful and free. i plan my trips so that i will be able to go. For anything past the most basic tying skills, and all your other fly fishing and tying needs, get it from a proshop rather than a chain outfitter.

hey, don't be afraid... tell us what you really think. i do agree with you. spawning fish should be released unharmed quickly, along with other conservative behaviors, but some people just don't care. if it makes you feel better, i'm only 22 and i try to preserve the outdoors. so do most of my buddies. we take the approach of making fun of those that abuse our resources to their faces. dunno how effective it is, but its nice to see a person hang his head when we call him on being a jackass.