Flysmallie

Yeah those OT molded seats suck. I replaced one a couple of weeks ago with just a 1x12. I did not use any type of spaces, just all the way to the top. I was worried about stability but found that was not an issue. It is the perfect size for my sit backer and I'm now able to sit in a more comfortable position without my knees in my chest.

Gilbert. This was about 8 years ago. That's one of the reasons we all have our own canoes and run our own shuttles. A couple of weeks ago we tried to get one vehicle shuttled from Round Spring to Two Rivers on the Current. Our vehicle, our gas, approx. 15 miles........$45.

Catching them on a flyrod is a blast. I love my little 3wt for that. Looks like you had a great time. They were still protecting the nests a couple of weeks ago on the Current. It does seem like they are spawning a little later this year or maybe it's just another cycle.

Yeah, that's what he is saying. I know because I have paid the same from the same outfitter. One year we floated from Tyler to Maumee and had to pay it both ways.

Kind of confusing but both spots are called the same. Cox is the access right at the old Y bridge. How were the folks at James River Outfitters. Haven't used them in awhile but they were always great people.

You guys have issues. Has to be hemostat for me. I can't stand not being able to get a fly out quickly and easily. Beer would be a close second and I guess I would choose Michael Kyle third.

Very nice Clay. Really like those eagle shots.

Hey Amp, did you ever get a chance to compile the data?

I've seen the ISS pass over before. Not much more than a really bright star that is moving really fast. Definitely not going to light up the ground.

Man I'm not a fan of the 7X stuff. It seems like every time I use it I end up loosing a lot of flies. I really hate that because I know that there is a fish swimming around with my hardware in its mouth. I guess all the years of bass fishing created some problems for me!! Thanks for the report. I haven't been to RR since the end of C&R season. Time to get back down and see if anything wants to eat a big streamer.

Gavin, I'm not the biggest fan either but I rarely fish it like a dead minnow. I like casting into junk and twitching it like a jerkbait. But that is still slow and patient fishing. Something I'm not a big fan of.

Congratulations Michael.

I'll have to try rigging them wacky again. I almost always rig them weightless texas style so that I can throw them up in the brush. Don't forget about the old pink floating worms either. These are a killer on Stockton.

I like raisins

My buddy has a plastic welder I think. He repairs small auto damage and bumpers and knows what he's doing. I will check with him and see if he would be interested if you are around Springfield. The problem you have with fiberglass and epoxy is that your are using a rigid repair material on a flexible substrate. Plus since the substrate is petroleum based its basically oozing oils and mold release agents. It's like trying to stick a bandaid on my greasy forehead (yeah i know....it's gross). It will never stick unless you get it good and clean. If you really want it to hold up you might look at some of the kevlar strips that protect the ends of a canoe. Those are really tough.

Kerr access is a good spot. I've waded at least a mile downstream of there and a good half mile upstream. Getting away from the access will produce some fish. I've also done well wading around Galena.

Holy cow Ralph. We haven't heard from you in forever. Good to see your still down there piercing some lips.

Don't know if the bead in the middle would work. Yes it would be great to really pinpoint the weight but it would interfer with the foam coming together right at the hook shank. I like the idea of adding weight in the back. That would give it some better movement. I gotta get some pictures posted of the ones I like so far. Time to setup the fly studio again but I'm not looking forward to that. My bench is a total disaster. Let's just say I'm not that organized. Was out there earlier trying to figure out what happened. I didn't help it out either, now there's a couple empty Bud Light cans

We floated the Current River this year for our annual float. This is our 8th year floating together and we have had 4 really good trips out of those 8. This year was not one of the good ones. In these 8 years we have floated 4 different rivers. The Current, Buffalo, Eleven Point and Gasconade. Each time we return to a river it is never as good as the first trip. The first problem is the fishing is never even close to what it was the first time. But we have also had many other problems. Massive thunderstorms on the Buffalo and a couple of overturned canoes on the Eleven Point and loosing a lot of gear on day one of a two day float. I guess the only real problem on the second trip to the Gasconade was the size of the fish. The first year we caught some nice fish. The second year we caught some really nice goggle eye but the smallmouth were almost no existent. Plus our campsite sucked. Yeah I know that was our fault. This year we were hoping to put this second year curse behind us. We floated from Round Spring to Two Rivers. The first time we floated the Current it was very busy but the fishing was great. Little did we know that this trip was really going to try to push us over the edge. Without getting too lengthy I will just give you a few of the highlights. First the fishing sucked. Could not find a fish anywhere. We ended up catching somewhere around 25 fish. That's four guys fishing two days. This didn't really bother us too much. The river was beautiful and was flowing nicely. We were very comfortable just letting the rods rest and floating lazily downstream. River traffic was very light. We maybe ran into 6 other groups of floaters the whole weekend and most were very quiet and courteous. The jet boats were way down but did pick up as we neared jerktail landing. A lone guy floating down river in a jet boat did hit one of our canoes. His boat was drifting downstream sideways and his motor was about to bang into the rocks. So he jumped to the drivers seat and started the motor to nudge it out away from the bank and didn't see the canoe right in front of him. I think maybe the canoe could have gave him a little difference but I think there was alcohol involved on both parts on this one. It could have been a bad deal but it worked out okay. If you ever need to take Imodium AD while at camp, your life officially sucks. Especially when it gets dark. But that's all I'm going to say about that. [*]On the way home we had a blowout on the trailer. This is the same trailer that we do not own a spare for. It's 9pm on a Sunday night in Mountain Grove, shouldn't be any problem finding a new tire and getting it mounted right?? Yeah, good luck. A couple of hours and $250 later we roll on. Just a little last minute message to us to never try to float the same stream twice. We are looking for options for next year but we can assure you that it won't be on the Current, Buffalo, Eleven Point or Gasconade. Here are some pics from the trip. This box of Krispy Kremes would come into play later when we were raided by a platoon of raccoons. It was actually quite entertaining. Toothpick and his trolling motor. My buddy Russ with his catch of the day. He is also the biggest redneck that I know. Shortt just enjoying the flow. He gets stuck about 5 minutes after this and gets really cranky. He's pretty much always in a bad mood but that's why we love him.

I have been fishing them this summer. I've looked at them in fly shops for years but never purchased one. Started tying them in the spring and I love them. They are a blast to fish, anything will hit one. I've been tying a lot of different sizes and have never had a problem with the hook gap. You need the edge of the foam to butt up right underneath the hook shank. Everything else should go up from there. Plus you don't want to just fold the foam over the hook shank. You are trying to create a cavity that will trap air. Some guys will use a hole punch to cut a circle of foam to fill the front of the cavity. This will seal the interior completely and make it float like a duck. I hardly ever do this. Most times I just leave that cavity open. It makes some great noise like this. Other times I will stick a glass rattle in the chamber for some different sounds. But the very best way that I have found is to coat that baby in epoxy. This is a cool way to make this fly. The majority of the time I use white foam and sharpies to color it. You can make any fishy pattern you want on the bait. Add some big eyes and coat it in epoxy. These will ride a little lower in the water but that's not a bad thing. You have to be careful not to get too much epoxy in the body cavity or it will start to sink. Are your catching that trout fanatic. I think with a little lead and some epoxy you can find just what you are looking for. You could always use a sinking line to pull it under the surface. Yeah I have a thing for crease flies. I'll try to post some picks later tonight. Now if I could just get that deer hair jitterbug to work.......

Dano, I can do anything. Well except catch fish.

Here is the screen shot of the section that Dano is talking about.

I usually float Kerr access to Galena. Not too familiar with the water between Hooten and Kerr. Nice water below Kerr though.

What kind of odds did the bookie give you on the PMS?

I will be floating the Current this weekend from Round Spring to Two Rivers chasing smallmouth. Watch for my report on Monday. It may be helpful and it may not. Just depends on how the fishing is this weekend amongst all the canoes and jet boats.