DaddyO

Well, The stars aligned perfectly for me this weekend. I was able to get out and fish all day on Saturday. I caught 20 fish the first hour I was there, all on the Hair and Copper #14. I moved down river behind the island and picked up another 15 and LD released another 10 or so and broke off about half again over a 2 and a half hour time period. I decided to take a break and go get some lunch. My Dad and Brother hooked up with me after lunch and we decided to go back and fish the big water above the island. There was lots of activity up there and I wound up picking up another 30 or 40 fish or more. Most of the fish were caught on the Hair and Copper #14, however, a #16 Black and Copper Zebra midge caught it's share of fish also. Here is the 20th fish of the day that I caught. She was a fatty.

How long are you planning on staying? If you are staying 3 or more days, try this.... Go to Mountain Home, AR and camp at Quarry Park on the Norfork river. It's a little over an hour south of Taney. Fish the Norfork, White and Taney. If you have any kids under the age of 16, take them to Dry Run creek for some awesome fishing.

I've been watching the lake levels and generation schedule and I am very optimistic that the COE will cooperate and give us periods of No Generation this weekend. It also looks like we have a warming trend and possible a little chop on the water. If I can get the rest of the stars in my life to align, I'm going fishing on Saturday. I suspect a lot of other people are thinking the same thing. Which means it will probably be busy. Oh well, maybe I'll run into a few of you guys down there. I'll be driving the blue Ford Sportrac. Tight Lines!

Welcome, Straw Hat. We look forward to your posts.

Terry, I'll send 3 of my schminnows. PM me and let me know where to send them.

Welcome from Owasso.

I would say that the Upper Illinois has it's moments. I've had 40+ fish per person days and I've had days that were a lot worse. I haven't spent much time fishing for Carp, although I understand that people like to do that. If so, the Upper is a good choice for that. It is better to fish it during the week to avoid the weekend hatch of canoes. However, I have had days where I have literaly caught fish between canoes. I haven't fished Spavinaw, yet, although a buddy of mine is trying to get me to go chase the bluegill with him. I may have to do that this year.

Can we assume that you go to the Lower Illinois river for trout? How about the Arkansas River for Striper, Hibrids and whites? Upper Illinois river for smallmouth.

Well, It was a two day tournament. The won some and lost some. It's their first year playing together and they are trying to get used to each other. It is also their coach's first year to coach. Right now, I have the whole team spending the night at my house. 10 13 year old girls. Talk about a lot of noise. I don't think they will ever go to sleep.

I didn't get on the river until about 1pm. It was hard to find a place to park. There were quite a few people there and the fish were being heavily pressured. There were lots of dead shad in the water, but the fish didn't want to see anything white. Although, I did catch a few on the BobWhite. The wind was blowing up river which didn't help my case since I was trying to cast between the limbs of downed trees. Needless to say, it was an expensive day for me. I fished for about 3 hours and only caught 4 fish, although a lot of that time was spent re-rigging. I moved up above the Kiddie Pool into the open water and started fishing size 16 Hair and Copper and Black and Copper Zebra midges. They seemed to like that. I wound up catching about 15 fish with the majority of them coming in the last hour on the water. Here are pictures of the best 2 fish that I caught.

My Daughter has Volleyball games until about noon. After that, I'm heading to the river to see if I can catch a few fish. I'll probably start at the Gravel Parking lot. Maybe I'll see a few of you down there. Tight Lines.

Well, you better tell me how to get another one. I'm afraid to fish with this one.

Thanks FlySmallie. I just got my famous DuckyDoty crawfish in the mail. It was definitely worth the wait. After examining this beauty, I very quickly determined that my Schminnow offering was a pale comparison to the craftsmanship that was involved in this fly. One of these days, when I grow up, I want to be able to tie flies like DuckyDoty. Excellent work, Duane! Again, thank you to everyone that participated. I can't wait to use these flies.

And we didn't have to worry about a wardrobe malfunction.

I already have family committments or I would meet you down there. Give us a report when you get back!

OK. Thanks. Duane, thanks for the offer on the upgrade, also, but it looks like you don't need too, now.

I received my flies in the mail today in the snow storm. Ha!! Warm Water flies in a snow storm. They all look great! Thank you to everyone that participated and Flysmallie for hosting the event. My only disappointment was that my set only consisted of 11 flies. I didn't receive one of Duane's famous crawfish flies. Dang it!!

Gregg, That takes talent. I didn't know that you made the other one. They are both beautiful works. Phil

Rick, That first link didn't work. The second one did. I could see my truck behind that camper across from you and Steve's Silver Land Rover on the end. Did you guys shoot that video and then come up to where we were?

A fingerling Rainbow Trout.

Ha! I was wondering if the waders would hold out. That can be a chilly experience. I think that I've got a small leak in the thigh of my waders that's going to have to have some attention. It sounds like your brother-in-law was really into the fish. Saturday, towards the end of the day, I used a white #10 wooly bugger with grizzly hackle and stripped it in small jerks. They seemed to really like that.

Chance, Sounds like you had a good time. What color and size were the soft hackles? I've been thinking about tying up a few for the Lower Illinois. However, the #10 white beadhead wooly bugger with grizzly hackle was the killer fly for me on Saturday.

OTF6, I can't wait to hear how you guys did.

Chance, Have fun. It should be a good day for you. Let us know how you did.

Chance and OTF6, Wish you could've been there today. The fishing was good but will probably be better Sunday. The weather was off and on with the last few daylight hours of the day being perfect. I caught about 30 fish, again. Here's a sample of what's out there waiting for you guys. I caught fish on the BobWhite, Hair and Copper, Olive Micro jig and Pink Chenille wrapped Bead Head fly. However, I had the most fun stripping a white #10 wooly bugger. They just tore it up!! It was a good day. Fished with my Dad, Brother, nephew and ran into Rick and Bryan down there too. I think Rick and Bryan only fished the crystal flash white wooly buggers and they just slayed them. (Rick, you need to post your video) Tight Lines!!