Randall

not quite snagging, but i watched a guy at the truman tailrace catch two spoonbill while fishing for hybrids on tuesday... one was about 50# the second was about 60# on 8lb test fireline. he hooked the first in the bill just in front of the mouth, and the second below the eye. of course they had to be released unharmed, but it was a sight to see. the second had two big cuts from a grab hook on the top of its head where somebody just missed it. too bad they don't allow snagging there b/c i saw three for sure get foul hooked from the bank by hybrid fishermen.

web, http://ozarkanglers.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=557 click there for a recipe complete with pictures. crawdads are more of a smallmouth fly, but will work for trout. i bet it would work better in rivers like the niangua, elk, meramec, etc.

you can use a fly rod, but no "fly"s or artificials if i remember correctly. i'm fairly sure it is strictly for bait, live bait, and soft plastics.

sounds good... after graduation, i'm free on mondays, tuesdays, and fridays.

panfish you say... better go get some crisco

for sure... maybe do a little catchin... knock myself out with a jig again... you know, the usual i think i'm good on those materials. i gotta do inventory as soon as i'm done with these papers i'm procrastinating on right now... 2 10 pagers with 10-15 minute powerpoint presentations attached.

jeremy hunt ties a crawfish pattern that i think is listed on here on the recipe page, if not, try http://taneycomotrout.com for the pattern... it looks real good.

oh... this is what i tied... not quite the same, and i didn't think it looked real effective.

i would imagine so, maybe a dubbed ball just behind the hackle and some ribbing. i'll play a little and see what i can come up with. i might even post a pic if they look like something i would eat if i was a fish.

i still say make it a vacation guide as well... list lodging, local restaraunts, and other attractions in the area that the families of the fisherpeople could go see. also talk about manners, the springs, trails, museums, and hatcheries in the parks. i still say if you're gonna do it, do it over all the parks.

i gotta agree with the excitement and effectiveness of the soft hackle. i absolutely love it when they hang just below the surface and you can see the wake from the fish following then BAM! to me, the only thing that compares to that excitement is watching a trout come from the bottom to smash a hopper. oh man i love fishing.

yeah, i like that feather on there, it gives it more of that fish look i think than just the bucktail. right now, it looks like i'll be coming down the week after may 12... but thats a ways off right now.

i recognize the peacock herl, but what kind of feather is that on the sides?

i do well on clousers... just about everything will hit one of those.

yelp yelp yelp yelp yelp GOBBLE GOBBLE BANG!

that is totally ridiculous. there is no reason to pay to use public ground, especially if they are already making money on the lake. if there is somebody i can write, i will. it seems to me that letters to our state senators and reps should do the trick, or at least let em know we don't like it.

The problem with that statement is that no law, or whatever else you would call it, can be written "exact". no matter how clear cut a law may seem, there are always going to be points of contention regarding the elements of a law. as far as water in missouri, i would imagine you can find a list of waterways that are considered navigable. if the water you want to fish is not on that list, only use the areas that are on public use lands. as a landowner that has a non-navigable waterway running through my property, i have had unpleasant run-ins with people in my creek. it is unreal how many people have caused us problems. on more than one occasion, my father and i have had to make it very clear that we were prepared to defend ourselves and our property. however, when people ask us politely, we (along with most landowners) usually grant permission to use our creek.

okay, i finally got my bugs in the mail this morning. you should have them in a few days.

is it bad that i have one of those?

i liked how gently she let the fish go... but how'd she get the hook out?

Well, it was windy, cold, miserable, and a great day. I got to Tan Vat at about 3:30, went straight for my favorite spot and immediately hooked up with a rainbow that was every bit of 18". Right when I got him close, he threw the hook, it went into a tree, and I didn't get it back. I think that hurt worse than the last time I got dumped... anyways... after that it was game on. I went back upstream to the riffles just downstream of the parking lot and slayed the rainbows. I caught 10-15 fish in that hole. I also saw a pig of a brown... the only one I saw all day. Upstream from the parking lot was an exercise in futility. It was too late to get to the good water and too tight to do anything but roll cast. I went back down to the riffles at the parking lot and caught a few more. I talked to some guys throwing princes, soft hackles, and pheasant tails that weren't doing too well. I haven't done well on those either for the most part. Aside from the morning hatches, I do really well on big, buggy, flashy nymphs with plenty of built in action dead drifted 16-18" under an indicator and yesterday was no different. Pictures: I only took one, but this has to be the absolute dumbest fish I have ever seen. I caught him twice... in three casts.

holy baller batman... congrats to him on his success. i'm going down tomorrow to try to fish around tan vat. i'll post a report when i get back.

i definitely went down and talked to him. found out he played football in high school with a couple good friends of mine. i just wasn't lucky today. i'll be back as soon as i can get down. i too will ask what a successful angler is doing, and return the favor when i am the lucky guy being asked.

well, i went down this afternoon with a buddy from college. he caught two hybrids about 2# a piece. i got skunked for the first time ever down there. the wind was absolutely brutal, but i was on the water so i was happy. they ran plenty of water, and there was a good bite but we managed to avoid the fishes. i talked to a guy from warsaw that was tearing up the whites and hybrids. funny thing is, he was throwing a slider just like we were, and retrieving it the same, but he was catching and we weren't. the fishing there is great right now, but i guess it takes a little more experience than i have fishing that kind of water. next time the wind isn't blowing, the fly rod is coming out.

i know my copy of tryon's book is well worn and has paid for itself many times over. more detail on each water would be okay i suppose, but it would take the fun out of exploring the rivers. the parks are a different beast though, and a guide that holds the readers hand- so to speak- through the fishing and other elements of the trip would be preferable.