Randall

if you really want to do a book on montauk, you might try learning all the parks and writing a book on all of them. it would be a lot bigger, and in my opinion, it would sell better because it would not be as limited, and would be of interest to those who want to hit up more than one park. maybe talk about the winter catch and release, proper manners, the hatcheries and museums, and list lodging and local restaraunts around the areas too. it would be great for the less experienced crowd wanting to learn to trout fish or plan a fun weekend or several day trip.

i agree with kickn, its too limited... and trout parks are not considered difficult to fish.

don't worry. to me, the pressure of tying for others is what the swaps are about. because you want your best work going out, you put a little more care into the patterns, and become a better tyer for it. i'm a novice tyer by all means, so don't worry about being the only one... this is my first swap too. just do your best and its fine.

hey thanks for going above and beyond jj. hope everything goes okay for ya zach.

hey thanks a lot. i just found the post. if all goes as planned, i'll be out there the tuesday after next. i'll post a detailed report if i do well, a short one if i strike out. either way, it'll be fun.

gray works best for me, in size 16, and in higher water, a 14. tie it on a curved hook like the tmc 2487 to get the right shape. there should be instructions in the fly recipes deal on here.

i'll have mine in the mail in the morning.

sounds like a helluva time. pheasants are a blast. by european hunt, are you talking about standing in a spot while guys scare up birds that fly toward you? or are you talking about a continental hunt where a guy in a pit throws a bird up in the air and guys in a cirlce around him shoot at birds coming toward them? i've never done the european style because i haven't found a place that does it. plenty of places have the continental hunts though.

I was on spring break last week, so i went to branson and mountain home. i pulled in to taney as the sun was coming up on tuesday. i fished all morning at rebar, catching what i thought were decent numbers, 5-7 fish or so an hour when the water was off, none when it was on. i ran into jeremy hunt in the early afternoon at the boat ramp and he showed me a couple tricks to catch midging fish. wednesday was just as good, but i had to work a little harder for hookups. thursday, i fished in the morning before heading to arkansas with jeremy and his dad. same deal, fish were there, but they were picky. any drag and you can kiss a strike goodbye. sunday was beyond words. the smallest fish of the day went 12" with several in the 18" category.

well, i finally wetted a line in arkansas. i camped out at the white river bull shoals dam park with jeremy hunt and his dad. we got down early thursday evening, fished friday, and went to the sowbug saturday. friday, the fishing was nothing less than spectacular. jeremy took us in his boat and put us on tons of fish. in about 2 1/2 hours, the three of us landed over 150 browns and rainbows. i'm proud to say that i landed the biggest (though definitely not the most), a brown over 20". we had more doubles than singles, and even had 6 or 7 triples. i barely had a drift go without a strike. saturday at the sowbug, i sat down with most of the tiers, but i kept going back to two... one was mike that did some amazing stuff with deer hair, and the other was just behind him tying up some really nice salmon flies. after the show, i fished the river at the campground and did well midging until i broke my secret bug on a rock. its official now, i'm hooked on arkansas. i wanna go back as soon as i get a chance and catch a cutt and a brookie.

nahh, that ain't harsh enough. we want him to suffer. i think you helped make our point though. if they make examples of the people they do catch, it'll discourage all but the most brazen of poachers. post the picture, description of the crime, and the penalty in the local paper and also on where you buy tags at the park and where you park at the c.a.'s... it'll discourage would-be poachers.

and remove fishing privileges for a while too.

very nice. thanks.

good stuff. thanks a lot. if you couldn't tell, i really really want to get into whites and hybrids on the flyrod

i think that's right. it wasn't an aloe lotion though. it was specifically for itches like poison ivy and mosquito bites. i might have to break down and actually ask what it was because i can't find it.

i don't have a boat. oh well. thanks anyway.

i was led to believe that by adding a dropper that it added a second point of hook and was therefore illegal under the mo. definition of a fly. guess i was wrong. it just doesn't seem logical to me that there may only be one point of hook for a lure to be defined as a fly, but a second hook may be tied- permanently attached- to the first hook as a dropper. because the second fly is permanently attached to the first, according to the law, the two should be considered one lure. i'm not saying that droppers should be illegal, i don't like the mo. definition of a fly at all, i think it is ridiculous. i'm a big fan of droppers, and fish them everywhere but zone 1 at bennett.

i want to hit up some white bass water when i come down tuesday, is this my best bet, and how do i get to the water there?

in the fly-only section of bennett, no. the legal definition of a fly includes "on a single point of hook". a dropper would be considered illegal because it adds a second point of hook to your rig. in the artificial areas, its legal. a dropper is legal at meramec everywhere, and i believe at motauk too. i don't know about roaring river.

fish follow streamers and lures without striking all the time. you're probably not doing anything wrong, but when you see a fish following, try to keep about the same pattern, then as the fish gets closer, strip fast in a quick darting motion... whatever you do, don't slow it down. i may be waaaaay off, but i think it triggers the predator instinct. the scared action works for me when i fish the mickey finn, daces, and other minnow looking patterns.

dunno what that is, but i'm fine with it. guess i gotta pull your fly out of my box then huh?

i'd suggest taneycomo first, Ar second- IF you are from mo. if you come from kansas, its a tossup. out of state tags are about the same price in both states. branson has plenty of places to stay for cheap and camping at the table rock dam park.

when it warms up i'll be going for crappies for the first time ever on the fly rod. probly bring the u-l as backup. i just bought an 8-weight outfit for whites and hybrids (first time too). first chance i'm going to thomas hill, then some of the truman tributaries in the next few months.

awesome. so i could i get across on a pontoon or a float tube then?

a little off subject, but is there anywhere i can find a map of wadable water at thomas hill lake... specifically the warm water discharge from the plant?