SteveP

Hope you did well this morning. Make sure when you set that hook on a carp you really drive it home hard as they have a very tough mouth. Sounds like you have at least the right idea so keep at it and let us know how it goes. Steve

Try going to an all white or maybe an all chart. clouser I've found that with the bigheads and silvers you really need to make the fly seen and if given the chance make them work for it a little. I'll bet dollars to dimes the huge wake was either a big catfish, bigmouth buffalo, or maybe a gar the size of your boat. Atleast you have the right attitude and you're keeping at it. Best of luck to you and I hope you get a monster soon, though it took me three years to break the 20lb mark it was a good day when I finally did. Oh yeah might try an all orange clouser too I've had a lot of luck with that over the years. Steve

Glad you like that Brian. That format has been a brain child of mine for several years now I just haven't had the time. effort, or chance to do anything with it, now that I finally can I've had to turn it over to the wife because I want to participate in it sooooo bad!! If you like it maybe you could come fish it??? Hope to see lots of guys from all the forums I'm on there. Steve

Mocarp not to try and step on your toes but I spent the better part of two years in a row working with a grad student helping him develop a thesis on the fact that though these asians are filter feeders they still make a huge impact on the prey fish population due to the fact that they eat things out of curiosity and yes after fishing for them nonstop for two full summers and throwing to specific fish that were seen cruising in still back waters and having flies run down like that fish was a craized maniac I can't buy the fact that they don't and or wont eat a fly like any other rough fish species. I'm not saying that these fish are eating bait fish as a main source of food intake but they will strike them rather violently just to see what happens. That aside I would like to say that yes nymphs and such work really well but my favorite is a small (10 nymph size or so) craw pattern works really well and I like to stay away from flashy flies but color changes are always needed so don't be afriad to tie some really weird looking craws just don't use the flashabou. Steve

Personally I like small craw patterns (size 10 nymph hooks and the like) I really like stuff that is very neutral and not too flashy if at all. Browns, rusty red, and olive are my favorite three colors. Just take a good sample of the stuff roaming around on the bottom of the local lake you plan to chase them in and tie imitations to resemble that. Take your time and seek them slowly they are the golden bones of the mud flats!!! Steve

Well folks after a year of working and planning we are finally going to make our one fly a reality. I know I haven't been to very active for a minute and I appologize for that I have been really busy for the last 4-5 months, but now I'm ready to get back into the swing of things so here we go. Hope to see plenty of you guys at the tourney and if you have any other questions, call e-mail or PM me any time you need to. Happy Holler Tying Group Warm Water One Fly Tournament We would like to thank you all for taking an interest in this tournament, it will be held on Saturday, September the 27th at the Pony Express Conservation Area. Our entry fee will be a modest fifteen dollars and all proceeds are going to be donated to the Savannah United Methodist Youth Group for a mission trip in the summer of 2009. We have a very interesting fishing opportunity here with many species of fish available from muskie, to bass, carp, crappie, and bluegill; we also have a scoring bracket for all species of fish found in this body of water. I would also like to thank all the great folks who have been so generous as to donate prizes for the tournament like the custom built fly rod and case that will be given away for first place. Registration The registration fee will be fifteen dollars the day of the tournament Registration time will be from 5:00am until 6:45am All participants must be registered by 6:45 the morning of the tournament and will need to be present at the 6:45 safety meeting. Each participant will be given an area map and list of area rules and regulations during the tournament, as well as your score sheets for the morning session. You must present a valid Missouri fishing license to register for the tournament unless you are legally exempt. Flies Flies for this tournament will be defined as any natural or synthetic material that is tied, glued, or otherwise permanently attached to a single hook, excluding soft plastics and/or scented material or bait of any kind. Each participant will be allowed two flies for the morning session and then will be allowed to switch flies for the afternoon but will still only be allowed two. Flies for each session must be of the same size, weight, shape and color. At no point may a participant be allowed to add anything to a fly, though you may remove whatever you feel is necessary as long as no major modifications to weight of the fly is made. Fishing Fishing will be allowed on all waters open to fishing on the Pony Express Conservation Area that are open to fishing and will be conducted under state and area regulations. All fish scored must be released back to the water as harm free as possible as soon as possible. Fishing will begin the morning of the tournament immediately following the safety meeting. There will be a mandatory break at 12:00pm to check in for the afternoon session. Fishing for the afternoon session will be from 3:00pm until dark. After the afternoon session is completed we will have a short awards ceremony and a short closing for all that want to attend. There will be a fun mini tournament during the lunch break that will have no effect on the main tournament; it is just something we wanted to do for a good time. Boats Boats, kayaks, canoes, and belly boats will be allowed for the tournament under state and area regulations. There are 16 boats at the main lake that are available for rent through the conservation department the day of the tournament for five dollars a day on a first come first serve basis. Scoring Only fish that are released will be allowed to be scored. Scoring will be done on an honor basis following the official length point values. Bass-------------------------15” to 19” ----------------- 10 points ---------------- 20”+---------------------------- 15 points Crappie--------------------- 9” to 11”------------------- 5 points ---------------- 12”+----------------------------- 10 points Panfish -----------------7” to 9” --------------------- 5 points ----------------10”+----------------------------- 10 points(bluegill, perch) Catfish ---------------- 16” to 23”-------------------10 points ---------------24”+----------------------------- 15 points(channel, flathead, blue) Rough fish ---------------16” to 23” ------------------10 points ----------------24”+----------------------------- 15 points(carp, buffalo) Muskie -------------------36” to 39” ------------------30 points ----------------40”+----------------------------- 50 points Please remember to bring a tape measure of some kind to get an accurate length of your fish as well as a camera to take lots of pictures of your fish. Thanks again for your interest in our tournament and we look forward to seeing you there. If you have any other questions about the tournament please feel free to call or e-mail us and we will do our best to answer them for you. Megan Pflugradt (tournament director) E-mail------- fishinggirlmp@yahoo.com Phone------ (816) – 676 – 8197 Steve Pflugradt (assistant director) E-mail------- scubas1981@yahoo.com Phone------ (816) – 676 – 8197 The MacGyver Tournament This mini tournament will test the skills, patients and wits of the most seasoned of fly tiers and fishers. In this mini tournament you will not only have to tie at least two flies to fish with. You will also be allowed to tie flies to be judged for style and creativity. Each participant will be allowed. 1tying vice Assortment of tools (your choice) Assortment of thread (your choice) Assortment of hooks (your choice) 1 bottle glue, epoxy, or head cement 1 fly rod 1fly reel 1fly line 1 leader 1 spool tippet You will be given a selection of materials to tie flies with that are not your typical fly tying materials. You will be given two hours to tie flies to fish with, and to be judged for style and creativity, as well as catch and score as many fish as possible. All materials will be provided for you and you are not allowed to bring or add any outside materials to your flies. Fish caught will be scored as ½ point per ½ inch rounding down to the nearest half inch, unless the fish is 4 inches or less in which you will be given 1 point for that particular fish. Five bonus points will be given for creativity in tying and another five bonus points will be given to for style in tying. Flies tied for creativity and style must be tied separately from those tied to fish with, a minimum of two flies must be tied to fish with. No other flies are required unless you would like to tie them to be judged for the bonus points or feel you may need them to fish with. The “MacGyver Panel” will perform all judging and scoring. This should be a fun and interesting test of your skills and ability to improvise so strap on your thinking caps and get ready to think outside the box with what is provided inside the box! If you would like to participate in the MacGyver tournament please e-mail Megan prior to the tournament so that we will have enough material boxes ready. Thanks and we hope you are as excited about this mini tournament as we are. Megan Pflugradtfishinggirlmp@yahoo.com Steve

I've been eyeballing a couple of Meiser blanks and think that will be my next personal rod. I have a ton of rods and will most likely hav to try and sneek this one in under the radar... if you know what I mean (wifey and all). I have built a good handfull of the batsons for customers and had one that I used for myslef but had a kid at Bennett talk me out of it last summer. I don't know about the spey blanks and all but I have been kinda curious and all so I'll keep an eye out. Steve

Joby, I am a rod builder of sorts and have been building on the Dorber blanks for a while now and have been really impressed with them for the cost, not to menion the customer support is great I have had noissues and the tiny "problems" I have had were taken care of with a short phone call and a converstation with a gentlman named Steve (good name for such a nice guy ) Couple question I have though... Do you like that Meiser blank??? I have been thinking of grabbing a couple to give a try but the price point is a bit of a draw back for me. Also have you cast one of the batson switch blanks??? I had one in hand but it didn't have a reel or line so I was left to the "wiggle" test and was fairly impressed with it. Steve

Joby, I am a rod builder of sorts and have been building on the Dorber blanks for a while now and have been really impressed with them for the cost, not to menion the customer support is great I have had noissues and the tiny "problems" I have had were taken care of with a short phone call and a converstation with a gentlman named Steve (good name for such a nice guy ) Couple question I have though... Do you like that Meiser blank??? I have been thinking of grabbing a couple to give a try but the price point is a bit of a draw back for me. Also have you cast one of the batson switch blanks??? I had one in hand but it didn't have a reel or line so I was left to the "wiggle" test and was fairly impressed with it. Steve

Looks like a good canidate for some C&D in high water but other than that i doubt you're going to false cast that thing a whole bunch Steve

10-4 and thanks I think I know a couple places where there are sme submerges concrete pieces that stick out just a little down near rockawayso I'll give that a try I was really hoping to try it on Table Rock tough... guess nobody wants to let go of their secret freezer filler spots. Thanks a bunch Trav and I'll let you know how it comes out. Steve

They do that this time of year as well??? I would really like to have a couple ion the cooler to take home. I can't stand to eat trout (dang trash fish!!!) but would near kill for some goggles right about now, and would love to get into some. Could you reccomend a couple good and fairly easy to find public access places to get to them next week??? Steve

I amcomming down to Taney next Wednesday thru Saturday and would really like to take a day out (hopefuly while they are generating) to try and find some of the monster goggle eyes that I'm told inhadit a number of the creeks that feed into Table Rock. My question being... is there anyone on here that would be willing to show an ole' country boy a couple spots to fish??? I'll be slinging flies with either my 3 or 4wt. and have a belly boat I can bring if need be. I would love to hook up with someone down that way as I like nothing better than to catch those goggles on a fly. Also might like to know what your favorite patterns are other than buggers and small crayfish, as that is what I normallly use on the Niangua. If nobody knows where we can get into any of the goggles I would be happy enough with some crappy as well... just looking for some form of escape from the trout since I am tipically a warm water guy and all the water I have up this way is too hard to get a fly through. Steve

Ditto on the www.taneycomotrout.com and check out his forum also it has some really good patterns on it and all are well described and photographed in step-by-step format. The link to his board directly is http://p068.ezboard.com/btrouttalk check it out. Steve

I'll most definately be there... about what time will most be showing up??? I'll have a small grill, and could bring 2 if need be just let me know. Not 100% what I will be bringing, was thinking about Black Eyed Peas and Ham. Steve

Ok so I'm most definately going to be there and doing some hard core fishing (getting all hopped up on the mountain dew and going at them trout like a spider monkey)!!! Who else and are you ready or what... I only have about 60 more hours I need to spend at the vise tying before I head that way!!! Can't wait to meet you all, and oh yeah who is bringing what for eats, so I don't bring a duplicate??? Steve

Talked to a fisheries biologist friend of mine today and I posed this question to him. H First off I thought he was oing to come out of his chair and jupm up and down, he said he wrote a senior thesis on this in college (umpteen million years ago) and the teacher told him his train of thought was totally off and inconlclusive. But he said that it does have to do with the shorter day... now the water temps do have a major factor in there but the "critical light dark period" is what truly triggers the spawn and causes females to "cycle" but is does not have that effect on the males very offten. So yea it does happen but as far as an actual "spawn" no it doesn't really happen. Steve

I voted for the tourist eating squid!!! Steve

I know your a major partof this forum existing and all but you might watch the 4 letter "w" words... that gave me the creeps to hear on a forum like this. Steve

I live in Saint Joseph just north of KC and we have been without power for almost 24hrsand counting now had to cut tons of trees to get out to come to work and now figuring where the wife and kids are going to take a bath/shower that has hot water. Have good fireplace so we've moved all the matreses to the living room and are burn it strong and playing lots and lots of go fish!!!! Had a good stew for dinner (cook in the fireplce in the dutch oven) and are actually having a good time with it all. Hope all those in OK are doing well and making it easy enough. Steve

I'm in Saint Joseph MO and we got a pounding last night... took a pretty good one through the day as well but now I'm sitting here at work (1 of about 5 people to show out of close to a 1000 on this shift) wishing I had stayed home but atleast here I have power and heat ooooh and a warm shower!!!! Gotta remember to catch one of those before I go home. Supposed to maybe get even worse before morning though with winds coming tomorrow morning as well. had to spend almost 2 hours with the chain saw just to clear the street so I could get here tonight. I hate to think it will all be back or worse when I get home again. Steve

Power is OUT here in St. Joe, only place with power is... WORK (go figure ) have trees and limbs down everywhere spent all morning digging out the neighbors (city slicks... I'll never understand) and the had to clear the street so we could get out to the road since the city was to busy scratching there *%%()^$&^$. So far no power and we've been out for about 20 hours or so now, looks like it may be a while longer yet though since the winds are picking back up and it's still raining ever so gently... It's been a bad day so far and I need a nap. Steve

Personally I'm a huge fan of the ole model 500 from Mossberg, I have used and owned several 500s and actually have a set of consecutive serial number model 500s that were purchased in the early eighties. and for the money you can usually find a model 500 in really shape used for about 150 or so. Just my .02 on the situation. Steve

Glad to hear I'm no the only one that is using the MDC and their willingness to offer time and space for free!!! I have had several guys say "Well why don't you start a chapter of TU or FFF" or something to that effect and my answer has always been that I don't want to affiliate this group with anything other than pure grass roots. I've just sen to many of those clubs turn out just as jd said, you spend more time electing officers and collecting dues than anything else, and people loose interest. That or they turn into a group that only those that are invited are truely "welcome" and I have seen this effect from both sidesadn it gives those organizations a bad rap, though I feel like i would never do that to anyone I don't want to be responsible for someting like that. The few of us that have been in this from the original planning stages have wanted to keep is all very laid back and open to anyone that has any sort of interest in tying flies, and or fly fishing. McManus maybe sometime we could all get together this summer for a little "club vs. club" showdown at James A. Reed for some gills or bass or something. Oh yeah I'm calling you out!!!! Thanks for all the insite and thought both of you. Steve

I have been thinking about starting a club/organization/group for seveal years now and finally with some poking and prodding from a few friends I got together and have the details ironed out. We are in Saint Joseph Middouri and will be meeting the 17th of December from about 6-9pm. The premis of this group is simply and open forum to discuss flies/tactis/ideas that have been on your mind, with a group of fellow flyfishers. As of right now there are no membership fees since the room is provided to us free of charge, but we are going to be ordering some pizza (hence the pies... you know pizza pies) at some point in the evening so if you would like to partake bring a five spot with you. This group will open to anyone with a desire to tie flies reguardless of experience level so women and those young folks out there as well as any one with how ever little or however much experience please do attend and ladies don't worry my wife will be there as well so you wont be alone. I have ask everyone that will be atteding to bring with them their vise as well as a few matterials and such to tie a hand full of flies if you do not have a vise I have some that have been made available to us and I have plenty of matterials and hooks as well. The meetings will be held at the Northwest Missouri Regional Conservation Department Office on the campus of Missouri Western State University in Saint Joseph. If you would like to attend or want more info please feel free to contact me through this website or you can call me (816)-676-8197. Again I am not wanting this to turn into some upturned nose kinda elitist club thing, as so many of the clubs and oganizatons I have been a part of in the past in this area have become, I'm just looking for a time and place we all can come together as people that fly fish and such to share our information. There has also been some talk already of a coupe of outings and kids fishing days that will be sponsored in part and with the help of the Missouri Conservation Department as well so keep your ears to the ground for more info to follow in the future. I know there are a good number of folks from the KC area on here and I'm hoping there are a few that are a bit closer to me that may be interested in attending. I have made up a good number of fliers and they can either be found at the office on the campus here in Saint Joeseph or I have left some with a couple of friends at the fly shop at Cabelas in KC so stop by there and talk to the guys and they should be able to help you out as well, or heck like I said just give me a ring and I'll get back to you if I happen to miss your call. Steve