Flysmallie

Hey some of us have jobs and have to work. With that said I will probably end up in the water somewhere.

I love those guys! Look like they just stepped out of a catalog. They are also a great source of slightly used equipment on ebay.

I have never fished Hickory so I haven't witnessed the problems, but I understand what you guys are wanting to do. My thought would be to start a Stream Team. I don't know much about these either but it could be used as a platform to put some extra pressure on the city to do the right thing. Scheduling a cleanup on the stream and posting it here would probably bring many volunteers. Through the stream team you could also conduct water quality samples that could also put more pressure on the city to do the right thing. As far as over harvesting, good luck. It seems the best way to cut down on this is through education. It appears the Smallmouth Alliance has had some success with their free the fighter signs at popular accesses. Something like that could be done to educate the public so they understand the problems of over harvesting. Of course then you have people that just don't care, I see them all the time.

Fly fishing for smallmouth?? Are you guys serious?? :lol: :lol: It is the only way to do it. Yes there may be more productive methods, but a nice smallmouth on conventional tackle is a wonderful fight. On a fly rod it's insanity. I absolutely love it. I haven't fished Crooked Creek. But Danoinark has promised me that we would hit it this year, of course that's what we said last year too!!! Nice to have you join us. Look forward to your posts.

Well I think I will stick with my vest. I have used waist packs and still do sometimes but I really like my vest. I'm one of those guys that doesn't mind paying extra for quality. Yes I have a Fishpond vest (and looking to buy another with a backpack attached) and Simms waders. One thing that has occurred to me after at least 35 years of fishing is that quality does cost more. Yeah you can get by with cheaper equipment but you can gain a lot with paying more for quality if you do it within reason. You can go overboard. And for all of you that think a vest is too heavy and uncomfortable and hot in the summer. Try a quality vest like a Fishpond and you will see that you can gain something by paying the extra money. My old vest had no padding and was always cutting into my neck. I hardly know that my current vest is on and I have everything right there. I have even tried to get in my car a few time forgetting that I was still wearing it. Of course that's when the net gets stuck in the door jamb and I end up laying in the parking lot looking like an idiot. Disclaimer: I look like an idiot when I'm fishing anyway. But I'm having a blast!

Very nice Terry.

That statement pretty much covers 90% of all public stream accesses. I have never had a problem at Stubblefield, but there is always a bunch of losers hanging out. The only spot that I have run into trouble on Flat Creek is at EE. Just like always i tried to ignore the idiot as much as possible. He was just too stupid to figure it out. Until I got in my truck and tried to run over him when he decided I wasn't leaving. That woke him up and scared the hell out of him :lol: The thing is these people are everywhere. You can't take your family to any access without the fear of a bunch trailer trash showing up and ruining the whole day. Drive down through Linden on the Finley some summer afternoon and you will see what I mean.

Try Photoshop elements 7. It is a fairly complicated program if you want to do everything that it does, but it's pretty easy to use too. You can download it and try for free for 30 days from their website. Doesn't cost anything to try.

Body Bathed and Combed Golden Retriever Body Hair Hey Kevin, is this the same dog that I still owe $20 to? I'll let you tell the story!!!

It's bad enough that I have to be included with him on the Perma Phart, but could you please never mention the line above..........ever :lol:

Hey, I had it stuck down in my waders. Just start heading towards Roaring River and you will see them. Last Friday when I took Tiffani we saw the first one just south of Aurora. We gave up counting them after we saw the seventh one and we still hadn't even passed Tim's shop yet. They are everywhere but you do need a long lens. I tried taking pics of one at 200mm and it just wouldn't cut it. I either have to get closer or drop the cash for a 600mm lens. I think I'll just try to get closer for now!

I know that Leonard caught some this fall during all of the high water and they were very tasty. Not sure if there is a real good population though.

Very nice Chief. I'm going to have to get over there one of these days and try the streams that you and buzz are always reporting on.

The married life is making him soft.

The only thing Michael has ever done for me is reduced my checking account!! My wife won't even allow me to stop by there anymore, I think she has a gps tracking device on my car. Seriously, she did convince my mother in law not to buy me a BCO gift certificate for Christmas this year. She told her that a $40 certificate would end up costing us $80. I told her taxes were expensive on that side of town. But don't worry Michael I'm thinking I need a new rod, a couple of new reels and new line to go with it all. Do you have layaway??? :lol:

Did you get my PM with the pics?

Red? I don't have any red ones yet. My wife is going to kill me if I buy anymore stuff. But I really like red.

Welcome to a great group of people.

I know what you are saying Tim. I wish they would always rise to a popper but the reality is that you will catch better and more smallmouth fishing it deep or along the bottom. But it sure is fun to catch them on top. And I sure waste a lot of time waiting on them to come up there and most of the time they never show. But I still spend a lot of time fishing poppers and even more time trying to turn them into a work of art. They sure are purty but you could just glue some foam to a hook and add a few legs and do just as good. oh well, I'll probably never quit!!!!

It was actually worse than what you think. I went to that weigh-in, not really my thing but my dad wanted to go so there I was. The boats are already there. I guess they use a copy of the boats that they fish in because the boats were backed up to the stage at least two hours before the weigh in started. Once they start all the "pros" come in carrying their fish in bags and dump them in the live wells. Once it's their turn they get the fish back out and put them back in a bag and carry them on stage. After they were weighed they were put in a holding tank. Who knows how long those fish were actually held out of the lake. Oh well, I went, I saw and I wasn't impressed.

So is it ok just to hike into it and look around?

Thanks for the great report Tim. Weight was probably the reason that I didn't do too well on Friday. I didn't use any except for some heavily weighted streamers. I guess I have to get more comfortable using weight when I'm down there. I hardly ever do when I'm fishing for trout, I don't know why I'm like that. I use weight a lot when smallmouth fishing. But I get too hung up on sight fishing with streamers while I'm down there too. Some days it's really great and you can catch all the fish you want, but other times you need to understand that it's not going to produce and move on to something else. Sometimes I'm pretty stubborn I guess.

A bunch of junk, but the longer I fish next to Leonard the better it gets!!! My trout box is pathetic. I really have to get better at this. My smallie box is a little better but it seems that i always end up carrying a lot of stuff I will never use. My tackle boxes that i carry in my canoe for conventional fishing are the same and the bass boat is also full of stuff that I will probably never use. Hell I hardly use the bass boat anymore. There I just made one of those New Years resolutions, downsize. I have to get rid of the junk I'm never going to throw and get the stuff I will use organized.

I'm sorry it went down, I really am, but that was hilarious.

Great video Phil. Thanks to everyone, I had a great time as always.