sean c

I haven't seen any this year in three trips(10 days) Brian would know for sure. They are at least not hanging out in groups in the same areas they were the last time they were in the river.

I think I kicked a jack rabbit out of it the other day might be time to trim it up.

Got out with a few friends over the holiday weekend the weather was great the flows were perfect the river was empty and the fishing was excellent. Only saw one other boat all weekend(Seth and Andy if you guys are on here it was nice to meet you). Fished the lower river Saturday and the upper river Sunday and Monday. Hog molly: Best fish of the trip: Some other random shots: A Sunburst brown:

Drew I have only done Hammond down not sure about upstream of there. Done it in a driftboat twice fly fishing the fishing was okay not great but it is the prettiest stretch of the north fork that I have been on you float past blue and rainbow spring lots of cool bluffs no development. The downside is Hammond is the main put in for most of the canoes you will have to deal with floaters in season. From Hammond down to say Justin's would be a long day of fishing but it would be half smallmouth and half trout. The other option would be Hammond to Kelly ford if you only wanted to do the smallmouth.

Nice justin. Wrench that fly would definitely get eaten on the nfow.

I've seen him numerous times on the river if I remember correctly he just uses a trolling motor to get from shoal to shoal. Never seen him rowing. I also wanted to add that drifting certain areas vs being static is a huge advantage especially on a river like the north fork. Now if he could walk that jon down the river at the speed of the current he would really earn his tips.

That's interesting I have my drifter and a jon but it would be pretty cool to have one boat that could be run with a trolling motor, poled or rowed. Would you mind posting some pics of yours with the leg braces and rowing setup when you get it?

Trigg have you rowed the towee? How does it compare to a driftboat?

Like trigg I have the older model head hunter a buddy of mine just bought the head hunter 2 that I think they started making in 09? I like it a lot. If it wasn't for the low water bridges on the nfow where I mainly fish I would own a low side or the clacka eddy. Ro has some pretty cool new layouts but they are expensive and I have always wanted to row an adipose but again they aren't cheap. I bought my boat from mountain driftboats and they are good people very similar to buying a used boat from one of the manufacturers it is refurbished and usually has a new trailer and oars. Most of their used boats are a couple year old guide trade ins. Buy a refurbished used boat from on of the manufacturers or dealers is your best bang for the buck IMO like trigg said you will save a couple two or three grand and get a like new boat. The main thing is you will have to be patient to get what you want. It's hard to figure out exactly what you want if you haven't spent much time in a driftboat but they all basically get the job done. I wish I had gotten a galvanized trailer, walk around floor plan and something with better rod storage. Besides the cost of the boat you will likely spend some money on upgrades and to have it shipped to you I spent around 1k extra on mine I think 600 of that was shipping.

You are the man with deer hair Mike I still haven't used your popper from the smallmouth swap I'm afraid I will lose it.

I have these and I like them but I still prefer the wool fingerless gloves combined with hand warmers in my pocket. I wear the simms pair with the little nobby things in the palm.

I'm tying a ton of stuff for a friend who is heading to the amazon for a peacock bass trip in January I'm done with all the standard stuff and looking to add some fun flies just for the hell of it this fly looks like it would kill. I'm not sure how durable those "whiskers" will be but I'm guessing if push comes to shove he can always clip them off and still have a killer fly. Spinning shouldn't be a problem they will be using 40 lb tippet. Any trick to length of the whiskers? 25 lb mono okay?

Brian what's with the "whiskers" and how does that thing fish? I assume it stays on top with a floater and would kind of rise and dive on a sinker? Great vid nice job.

It's the boat I own and honestly for the ozark streams I think the skiff style boats are by far the best but like Paul said everyone thinks their boats are best type there are definitely pros and cons to all makes and models of driftboats. I also agree with Paul about the walk around layout and the counter balanced oars I don't have either and wish I had both.

You could anchor and fish solo out of a driftboat but honestly I've owned my driftboat for four years and never fished solo out of it I would rather be in a kayak/canoe if I was going solo. If you have good fishing buds they will learn how to row and carry their weight on the oars and its a great way to spend a day on the water with friends and a great way to fish.

I've done Hammond down in my driftboat at 750 cfs it was no problem at those flows but I doubt I would do it again at less than About 500.Haven't done twin bridges to Hammond I'm guessing its a much different river being above the springs.

Great stuff Rusty! I hope you told your clients not to expect that type of fishing every June. Thanks for posting a report.

I can't make or shape a craft fur brush/head to save my life so I just stick with spinning deer hair unfortunately I suck at that also.

I can certainly understand why Dawt would want to restrict access and I can also understand why the general public would be upset about it. I guess my question is what would it take to create safe passage around or through the dam and who's responsibility would it be(Dawt mill/MDC)?

Jeff floated from Hammond down on our last trip to the nfow it was one beautiful float but there was some traffic and we only managed a half dozen smallies but we are the definition of newbs when it comes to smallmouth on the fly. If you were to float from Hammond to Justin's it would be a 10+ hour day but its a good way to do a smallie/trout float. If I did it again I would go up to twin bridges and float to Hammond. If you want to hit the Elk on a weekday let me know I have been itching to get up there.

Lancer glad you got yours your diver was awesome to tie up eight of those must have been one hell of a project.

Great stuff Jeff I can't wait to get up there one day.

I got mine today. Wow nice job fellas great ties.

Still don't have mine FS. Mine are the hollow tied deceivers.

Jeff it was great meeting you nice to finally put a face to the cool blog. We need to get out and fish one of these days.