Flysmallie

Well where ever they came from they seem to be doing quite well right where they are. There did look to be a pretty big gang of them hanging in the area. And they had been eating well and had plenty of energy. The first one she hooked I thought it was a smallmouth and went to get my camera while she fought the fish. Turn around ready to take a picture of her and a nice little smallmouth and she is standing there holding a trout. It was a good thing I hadn't been drinking.

Cool, you got a pass to fish. You better make that up to the wife. Nice fish!! But as usual you are wrong again. Pat is a maniac.

lots of flies made with foam are designed to sink. You just have to use a little weight to get it down. Not an issue. Foam flies like the Gartside Gurgler and Crease fly were actually designed to be used subsurface, and they work really well for that if you know how to do it.

So if you caught some rainbow trout in the James River, where would you think they came from? My daughter caught 4 from one location on Sunday. All of them put up a great fight and had lots of energy.

Chief send me a hundred dollars and I will go by there and pick you out something real nice.

This has gotta be a trick question but I know you can kill them all with fire.

James River, Flat Creek, Swan Creek, Beaver Creek. All close and a good place to chase some warm water critters.

I agree with techo.

I Have no idea but these Empire jerks need their butt kicked.

We did pretty good up there Friday night. We started in the dirty water around Bolivar landing and then moved out to some cleaner water on the main lake. Did not catch a fish in the dirty water. Caught a lot of fish in shallow water right next to deep water. Didn't get many bites in the deep water. All the fish seemed to be in 2 to 3 foot of water. This is pretty typical of the bass in Pomme de Terre. Did not catch any big fish, but had probably 10 keepers.

I hate you guys.

Good to hear from you Dano. You have been missed. I guess I'll have to start being nicer now.

The only problem that you will have with fiberglass resin is that it cures to a hard rigid repair. It will not flex like a quality epoxy resin.

And it's a good answer. Not just for trout either. There are a lot of places to wade around this area. Some are better than others and some are really hard to find. But the main thing to remember is that you have to get away from the regular access points and into some water that doesn't see a lot of pressure. There are some good places out there in every direction.

Same as with catch & release. It's your decision and you should have the right to choose no matter what anyone tells you. I buy a trout stamp so I can fish the catch and release seasons in the trout parks. If I didn't need it there or for my few trips to Taney I would probably not buy one. Opinions are just that, an opinion. As long as no one is doing anything illegal, we shouldn't act like a bunch of assholes just because we don't agree. And Eric, please don't take this personal. My comments stem from a lot of posts that have been showing up lately. Why can't we just tell someone that we disagree with their position and politely move on.

Now Eric is that anyway to treat poor old Tony? He told congress that he only made six million dollars last year. That's darn near poverty isn't it?

Oh yeah, we will pay for it. No different than the banking bail out that we are paying for. That's the way it works. I just returned from the gulf and it really is sad to see it in this state. Saw 3 BP stations close to where we stayed that had changed to Shell stations by the end of the week. I stopped at one early one morning to get a cup of coffee and as I drove back by it about 2 hours later it was a Shell station.

Gary, I'm sorry you have had a lousy turnout. I have tried every month, but it just ain't going to happen on a Thursday for me. I think in the beginning of this deal you asked what night would be best to hold the meetings. I don't think anyone agreed with Thursday but I think that's when the room was available. You also might look at having one down closer to Chief's neck of the woods. I know he would be there. I would hold off through the summer and try again in the fall. But again you have to set the meetings up when people are able to attend. Smallmouth are very important to me, but my family is always going to come first, so that rules out Tuesday, Thursday and Friday for sure.

Had a buddy drown that was a Navy pilot. Always figured he was a pretty good swimmer.

I think we need to quit worrying about placing the blame within our own government. BP is on the hook for the clean-up. That's all we need to be concerned about there. So let's quit worrying about whether it was Obama's fault, Bush's fault, Cheney's fault or even George Washington's fault. Because in the end it doesn't make one bit of difference. The well still blew up, it's still leaking oil and finding someone to blame is never going to change that. What we need to be concerned about is what we are going to do for the people that are affected by this oil people. The commercial fisherman, the fishing guides and all the people that depend on the gulf to bring in tourism. These people are hurting right now. It didn't take our country long to bail-out the banking or auto industries. And we shouldn't be waiting on BP to do the right thing and pay these people. It is getting better, but there are still a lot of people in that area that are struggling. Let's focus on getting the oil stopped and then completing the clean-up. It will take years to get all this behind us. The people of the Gulf Coast that I have talked to recently don't really care whose fault it is, they just want it stopped and for the fishing to open back up so the tourism dollars come back. I am leaving with the family in the morning to spend a week on the Gulf. I gave the kids an option a while back just saying that if we went there would be a good chance that they couldn't swim in the ocean. They didn't care, they just want to go. Gulf Shores, AL has almost turned into a second home for them.

Gee whiz would you quit encouraging him? His head is going to swell and we just got it back down from the last time. Eric, you know I see your side, and agree with it mostly. I don't think total catch and release is the answer though. Still think a slot is the way to go. But still if we don't do anything to enforce the current regulations then we can't expect much from any new regulations.

I agree but I still don't believe that there are that many people taking smallmouth legally. Not as many as those that are taking them illegally anyways. And what happens when the guy that has taken a home some limits from a stream that he lives near. Is going to be happy about the regulations, no. Will he start taking fish illegally because of the new regs, he might. I will always think that a slot limit is the best solution. But without increased enforcement, nothing will help. Think about it this way, I know it's hard because you live two hours from anything. Let's say you grew up on a river and have always fished there. You take a few fish home from time to time. Now the government comes in and tells you that you can no longer do it because a group of uppity fisherman felt it was in their best interest to make the fish catch and release. Yes, some are going to agree with your program. But most will not.

You must be catching some different goggle-eye than me. Most of them are hard fighters, especially on a 3wt. And dude, you gotta change that avatar. You look all weird and cold and it's starting to freak me out!!

So you have figured out the problem genius. Now how do you fix it? The guys that fish illegally are not going anywhere. They will continue to do what they have always done. How do increased regulations stop this?

You are correct. Now if I just had a boat with a 40 or less on it.