Randall

#1 White River, Ar. I would highly recommend the White. I always catch numbers and at least one big brown on every trip down there. This is a good river for both beginners and advanced anglers. #2 Current River, Mo. This river changes a little it seems like with every rain, so there's always something new. Until I fished the White this was easily my number 1. #3 Truman Dam Tailwater, Mo. (not trout, but its always fun) Way too many memories from undergrad to leave it off the list. Hybrids, whites, crappie, and walleye make for an exciting day or night. #4 Upper Meramec River, Mo. My home river. Growing up in Cuba, I spent a lot of time on this river, though generally in a canoe or tube. Fishing for me is either hot or cold. I generally just buck up and make the drive to the Current. #5 Blue Springs Creek, Mo. Smallest piece of water I ever fished and probably the toughest I've fished. The fish are small, but you have to earn them more than on other streams. The brush is tight to the stream and I don't think I've ever cast with my boots in the water. The fish are all streambred though and that for me is worth a lot. Here in a few years when I can start going different places that might change, but until then, these are my favorites.

Ha... it worked this time... don't know what the problem was, but it let me attach a picture. This is that brown that was hurt. Sam Potter pulled in about 2 casts after I caught it and he told me it looked like a heron strike.

I have to echo Gavin and Thom. At least spend half a day with a guide and pick his brain. It'll shorten the learning curve for your wife and provide insight that you wouldn't be able to get without spending a lot of time on that river. When you go to Montana, definitely hire a guide. They know the river and depending on where you go, fishing from a drift boat is a great experience.

The holiday weekend was a great excuse to see the family and do some fishing. When I showed up, I was really happy to see that the water was only up a little and just a bit milky from all the rain. Every river I drove over was high and muddy, so it was definitely nice to see that the water was about perfect for what I was doing. The bright bluebird sky didn't help much though, but it was a great day to be out. Overall, the fish were stingy, but with a little coaxing they'd smash a streamer. I fished Tan Vat from 7-8, hooking 3 fish and losing them all. There were several people fishing down from there, so I just drove down to Baptist to see how that was. I started out fishing a type 3 sink tip with a 3.9 ips sinking leader and just wasn't getting down in the fast, deep water. I did land a 14" brown on my first cast that had a hole in his back about the size of a quarter. He hit and fought hard, so I think he'll probably be okay. I switched over to a 7.0 ips leader and it made a ton of difference. I fished down, catching a few here and there, including one 16" brown that I saw bolt out of a deep bend and dive straight down on my fly. I'll tell you right now that there is nothing more exciting than seeing a fish hammer a streamer. It was about 11 when we started seeing canoe traffic. I decided to leave at about noon to spend the rest of the day with the family. As I was walking back up, people were everywhere. I would've liked to fish longer, but I don't get to see my nieces and nephews much. I tried to attach the picture of that injured fish but it won't let me upload it.

Nice fish. I'm going to be there tomorrow morning, hopefully with a buddy. I plan on burning streamers using the Galloup jerk-strip... maybe stick one of those big boys i've seen down there. Just hope the water isn't too high and dirty.

I'm gonna try to make it down. I have an excuse to be in Springfield that week, so I'm gonna try to do some scheduling to make it work. I'll give you a holler a few days before and let you know what I'm planning.

Oooh, I like that Jeremy. Looks fairly easy too. Only real questions are what mono did you use to tie the second hook on, and what hooks? I may have a box with some of those in it next time I'm down.

Forgot the spoonie... After I released mine, my buddy brought this guy to hand

Fantastic, thank you. I know about losing lures on those rocks. I bet I've got $20 at least from the last several years of lead down there. After I caught that walleye last spring I've had a little bit of a fetish for them. As for spoonbill, after the 40# + fish we caught last year, I'd be perfectly happy never hooking one of those again unless I was trying. It must've took us a half hour each to bring those in when we managed to double up. I brought mine to hand on 8# and my buddy on 12# braid. Here's the pic of the walleye I caught, about to release it into my buddy's dad's lake, and the big hybrid I caught a few hours later when the sun was just starting to rise... both while my buddy was being a little girl sleeping in the truck. See that red spot on the walleye's head, yeah, it tore my hand to shreds when I was trying to get a pic.

Does anyone know anything about Smithville Lake or the Truman tailrace? I pulled a 23" out of the tailrace last spring, but that was while hybrid fishing. As far as actually fishing for them, I don't even know where to start.

Kyle, did you seriously ask that question? I mean really, you just asked that question? I bet you've never even seen those birds, let alone shot one. Ha ha. To add a little to your inquiry, definitely keep turkey wing and tail feathers; don't bother with deer, for the price and the amount you'll use, its not worth it. I use a fair bit of turkey feathers for hare's ears and a few other patterns. I didn't realize you tied there buddy. Next time I'm home I'll give you a holler, we'll whip some stuff up and I'll bring my rotary and see how you like it. If you have any specific questions, give me a call or text and I'll see if I can answer them. There are definitely some advantages to having a rotary, but they're not essential. They make it easier to wrap some materials and you can easily get a 360* view of the fly as you go to name a few. More important than the rotary feature is a solid pair of jaws and clamping mechanism. The jaws should lock firmly and smoothly. The hook should bend before it slips in a good vice. Try some of the more high end vises, then compare some of the less outrageously priced ones. After using a Dyna King, Renzetti, or Regal, you'll gain an appreciation for that feature. If you can't find a rotary in your range that has comparable jaws and clamping characteristics as the high end ones, go with a fixed, or save up for the one you like. Generally speaking, you won't find a good rotary in the bargain bin, they're in the couple hundred range. Personally, the Dyna King Barracuda is my favorite. When I can afford it, I'm gonna buy one. If you're interested, the Sowbug is coming up in Arkansas, if I go, you're more than welcome to make the trip with me. There'll be plenty of fantastic fishing and the whole event is centered mainly around tying, so there's plenty to learn. Give me a shout if you think you might want to go. If nothing else, we'll hit Truman this year and try to get one of those pig hybrids like I caught with Laden. Maybe be lucky enough to get another big walleye too.

Don't overlook the generic producers like wooly buggers, prince nymphs, scuds, and copper johns either.

Don't get much better than that.

Making that area catch and release would be awesome. It may cause some tension between fly-fishermen and bait-fishermen though. I've had more than one bait guy get mouthy with me down there as it is, and creating a fly-only catch-and-release area -especially there- might make those guys more territorial if you try to fish the rest of the stream. I wonder if a petition along with some statistics on the mortality rate for catch and release fly fishing would start the process. I wouldn't count on the area where the spring comes out, but under that waterfall and below the powerhouse down to the bridge is feasible.

that sounds downright unpleasant right there.

just checked westover out, and i can't say i'm impressed with their shooting operation, but the stream looks pretty nice and i wouldn't mind fishing it. $50 for a day of fishing is just real hard for me to justify right now.

didn't you tell me Wisdom was the one who planned that trip... i think i'd give him a little trouble about that if I was you.

that very well could be legitimate. there was a drowning in the lamine river on the 4th and he still hasn't turned up, water patrol said they expected him to be hung up on debris on the bottom and that he'd probably not be found, or that pieces of him would break off and float downstream as he decomposed. granted the lamine isn't quite the osage, but it could be a similar situation.

I'm going to law school in '08, and I'm looking for a job in either law enforcement or law until then. If anyone knows of anything open, I'd appreciate hearing about it. Thanks

thats more or less what i meant. fishing to me is about the chase more than anything else.

and i thought the point of fishing was to get the fish to eat a pretty hook... guess i'm just gonna have to break out the #baseball treble and make the hook eat them. seriously though, i can't stand that unsportsmanlike crap. just my opinion, but isn't the point of fishing the possibility of failure? why fish if success is guaranteed... where's the fun? also, somebody correct me if i'm wrong but isn't the strike the exciting part? if you really stop to think about it, catch and release fishing is a retarded game... you trick a fish into eating a pretty hook, then pull it in so that you can get your pretty hook back, let the frightened fish swim away then try to make it happen again. the fight may be fun, but its the take that should be rewarding if you really think about it. my opinion... take it how you like.

brownieman, i fish catch and release exclusively with the exception of an occasional string of crappie for a fish fry. the fish in that pic are crappie and largemouth taken out of a privately owned lake. the owner- who was our advisor in college- asked myself and my two buddies there to catch some fish for their freezer. thanks ted and al for the advice. hopefully the rain i'm getting right now won't change our plans. the plan we made up was to put in above the park and float down to scotts ford, fishing the morning hatch for trout then switching to smallies after that ends. i imagine it'll be an all day ordeal- sunup to sundown. i've been cranking out clousers and i have a few crawfish and sculpin patterns too. we may just blow through the trout water and start fishing again downstream of suicide... not real sure yet.

thom, the current is below montauk park. i fish at tan vat usually, wading upstream to the rock garden and downstream to and past baptist. the areas are fished fairly heavily, but i have no problem walking to get away from crowds. cardiac is on the meramec, and it is called cardiac for a reason. mhall, mdc just stocked a bunch of small browns. there are plenty of big fish in there, but you gotta catch a bunch of the little guys first seems like. terry, i put everything in my box in front of those fish. i even gave them nice long breaks by leaving the area and coming back later. of course, i couldn't buy a strike after the hatch ended that day.

the current is still fishing wonderfully. i fished the morning trico hatch and busted the fish on a size 26... which was still about 2x the size of the natural. i took a neat pic comparing the two, but i'm still on a public computer and i can't load them up after the hatch, fishing got tough. caught one rainbow about 16" and quite a few little guys. took one of my smallest fish ever on a hopper... still had parr marks- again a neat pic. saw a few pigs but i just don't know how to catch those monster browns in smooth skinny water.

on tuesday, my buddy kyle and i are heading down to fish the meramec for smallies after the morning hatch ends. neither of us has ever targeted smallies on this river or with a flyrod. neither of us is very experienced chasing smallmouth either. i would appreciate any advice on where smallmouth start and any general tips for locating and fooling them. thanks in advance -randall