King Ming

Mr. Butts, Allow me to reintroduce myself to you, my name is Kenny King. I first met you at Backcountry back in April, and you seemed to be a fairly humorous individual and freely shared some of your information with those in the shop at that time. I guess you are not as humorous when posting or sharing information on the forum, bad assumption on my part. But after dealing with a bunch of irritated, hardheaded bovines, you may understand why the tone of my post is the way it was. Here is my report of what/how I was doing in the Aldrich/Stockton Lake area. I had 23 pregnant heifers that started calving February 3. As of Friday, I have moved all of my cow calf pairs to my property near Greenfield, where I am able to keep a closer eye on them. Unfortunatley or Luckily, I only lost 3 calves. The last one I lost to coyotes, so I left it in the field and used as a decoy to have an enjoyable coyote shoot Saturday morning. Bagged 1 male and 2 female coyotes with good hides and no sign of any mainge on them. As far as water conditions, I have observed that Stockton has risen about 3 feet, since about the first of February. I did call Jim Friday and asked him if he knew if anyone was having any success above Aldrich. He told me he had heard of a couple of guys fishing up there but did not know how they were doing. I told him of several vehicles I had seen in the areas where people access. Of the nine vehicles, there were only two he was familiar with a black Chevy 3/4 ton pickup and a silver Ford Ranger. I keep track of unfamilar vehicles in the areas I have my cattle, because it helps local authorities in case of a cattle theft or suspicious activity in the area. If yould would like a list of the vehicles in that area let me know, and I will be happy to share them with you. As far as being friends with Jim Murphy, Yes, he is a very good friend of mine. I met Jim in the Fall of 1987 at Southwest Baptist University, and I can tell you a lot about him in the 20 years I have known him, some quite funny. He has taught me a lot about fly fishing, fly tying, and catfishing for which I greatly appreciate. I am familiar with the area tackle shops, most of their information is not very accurate or helpful and because of such I do not do business with them unless I absolutely have to. The shops I have gotten some good information from have been Fin and Feather (for black bass and crappie), Backcountry ( for trout and springtime white bass) and Trantham's (for crappie and catfish), which I believe has closed down. Yes, I did read Dutch's reports. I do not have a boat, so I am restricted to wading only and where I saw Dutch fishing, or atleast assume it was him, I cannot wade to. Unfortunately, I observed your vehicle, or what was believed to be your vehicle, in an area I had cattle in and made note of it. I did not see you on the water personally, for which I appoligize, I should not have ever made such an assumption. I did make the post to you assuming you had information on the fishing in that particular area, for which I should have sent you a personal message or email instead of broadcasting it out on the forum for all to see, which appears that you did not want to happen. Next time, I will park along the road, hike down to the water and make visual and verbal contact with you. King Ming

Has anyone been fishing the Little Sac River arm of Stockton Lake? Bill Butts, I have been working in Stockton since the first of February and have noticed you and a couple of others have been up in the Aldrich area the last couple of weeks. Has the fishing there been that good? Please share your fishing information so that others can have some fishing fun as well, do not keep this hot fishing information to yourself :ph34r: . King Ming

jim and I fished together on Sunday, Sept. 3, from 7:00 am til 7:00 pm, with a break from 3 til 6 for the unschedualed power generation. We went intintially to see the antics of the holiday anglers, as well as do a little fishing and scouting. There where numerous good laughs to be had from our observations. There was one angler, who was shuffling so much that a Ditch Witch could not do a better job, yet still could not catch a fish, and after about 15 minutes, got mad and left the water cussing. Another angler was using a Mepps bucktail spinner, about 6" in length with a 12" Titanium leader. Asked the individual, "why are you using a bite leader?" His reply was "I am using this here Titanium leader, because trout have teeth that can cut through any type of line." After seeing the condition of his line coming from his Zebco 33, I could understand why, and could almost bet a carp could gum its way through this anglers' line. Now, the fishing was quite good, though the fish were a little spooky and line shy from all the wading anglers and things being thrown at them. Unfortunatley, jim and I had to switch from 5X to 6X at about 10 am. Sowbugs, glo-balls and San Juan worms were the productive flies for us during the day. Caught a good mix of browns and rainbows, while fishing between the Big Hole and the #1 outlet. Wanted to venture down towards the Rocking Chair hole, but we had enough entertainment where we were and did not want to deal with the even larger crowd at that area. Can't wait til my next daytime weekend angling adventure with jim. King Ming

You are off base to basically call someone a lier when you have no proof. rls1936 Blow all you want, You are the one making accusations of some being liars, rls1936. Also, jim intentionally carries a counter to keep track of his fish count, just because of people like yourself. The thing that I am pointing out is that there are some individuals, who talk up their fishing ability, post on the forum and cannot keep or post accurate catch counts. I see, talk, and fish with some of these individuals on a regular basis, proof enough for me. The biggest problem I see is that some can't get over the fact that jim was able to go out and have a great day, by catching 51 fish, when by several it was considered a poor/slow day. jim should brag about his fish numbers, as well as his tying ability, and though he doesn't, I will for him. And if you can't handle it and get a case of RED RUMP, rls1936, then TOUGH and thanks for the good laugh! Now, I see why jim does not like putting posts on the Taneycomo part of the forum. That is too bad, jim has always been willing to share helpful info on fly fishing and tying to just about anyone. King Ming

jim It is good to see you put up a post on one of your Taneycomo adventures. 51 fish in 6 hours? Come on, give me a break! Oh, but wait a minute, you carry a counter and keep track of how many fish you catch during your time on the water, unlike some, who just make up a number. An honest count from an honest person. King Ming

Hey Jim, Why don't you talk about the stillwater fishing techniques that you do down at Taneycomo, from a boat as well as wading? I would like to learn more about how you catch so many fish at Taneycomo on size 12 & 14 midges, size 10 & 12 scuds, wet flies and small streamers. Surely after the write up in the paper, Michael can do the night fishing program on his own. But then, after Michael gets to talking there may not be enough time left for you. Come on Jim, don't be such a PURIST and share some information with us. King Ming

What are the directions to Lilley's Landing Resort? I know where it is on the lake but have not been there by car. I am sure there are others who would like to know as well. Thanks. King Ming

There is no particular pattern that I want to see, but I am sure there are a number of patterns that individuals new to warm water fishing and tying would like to see. If it would be okay with Phil and yourself, maybe we could get Jim to do a couple of patterns for the Forum? At one time, he said he was interested but did not want to offend anyone or create a conflict of interest. King Ming

It is good to see such a decent topic on the forum, and the best part is, that it is not about stupid, slimy trout. And that is good, because it just leaves that many more uncrowded places to fish for these Bronze Beauties. So with that said, here is a list of some of my favorite flies for the true Brown of the Ozarks: Foamy Frog Slippen Slider Rubbery West Hell Crawfish Hairy Mary Mohairy Worm Haystack Whitlock's Eel Worm Streamer Whitlock's Sheep Shad Chick-A-Bou Crawfish Rag Sculpin Hey Jim, I hope you don't mind me listing a couple of your patterns here and like the names I call them by. Also, I heard that Rainy's is going to be producing a couple of your flies. When are they going to be available? King Ming

jim, Thanks for this info. I have been fishing Fellows for many years and was wondering if anyone else was fly fishing out there as well. A couple of questions I have are: What weight rod or rods are you using? and what type or types of line, as well as leader make up? I do not know what your schedual will be next week, but if you would like to go one morning, let me know. King Ming

How about some Warm Water Patterns? There are other fish to tie flies for other than trout. Here are some suggested species to see some productive patterns for: * Muskie, Chain & Grass Pickerel, Walleye * Smallmouth, Largemouth, & Spotted Bass * Crappie, Bluegill, Redear Sunfish, Goggle Eye & such * White Bass, Hybrids, & Stripers * Carp, Catfish, & Suckers

Will there be any fly patterns on the forum for warm water species?

Jeremy and Phil, How about some Warm Water Patterns? There are other fish to tie flies for other than trout. Here are some suggested species to see some productive patterns for: * Muskie, Chain & Grass Pickerel, Walleye * Smallmouth, Largemouth, & Spotted Bass * Crappie, Bluegill, Redear Sunfish, Goggle Eye & such * White Bass, Hybrids, & Stripers * Carp, Catfish, & Suckers

Hey jim over at Backcountry, great job pointing out the Missouri State Statues concerning "Destruction of the Streambed" and "Angler Harrassment." It is really disappointing that the Prosectutuing Attorney and Associate Circuit Court Judge dismiss these cases on Stream Destruction. Laws and Definitions are written in BLACK and WHITE, but everyones interpretation is a different shade of gray. Some of you need to look up these Laws and definitions to see just exactly what they cover and what is not, before you even consider committing on this subject. Unfortunately, There have been a few responses to this forum since jim's entry, to which some of you are reading between the lines or just not paying attention, and do not even have a clue as what these Laws cover. In fact, why don't you just come out of the closet and admit that you are a shuffler, rather than beat around the bush. As well as, stop trying to find a new way to beat the system. Stream, river and creek bed by definition are the same, " the channel in which a river flows or has flowed." Daming a river, stream or creek bed forms a lake or pond. Lake Taneycomo, which was formed by the construction of Power Site Dam, is still the White River. Unless, the river bed was removed and tossed aside, do not recall that happening. Shuffling in Table Rock and other area lakes, hmmmm, that is a good one. What was the intended purpose of these shufflers? Did they loose a piece of fishing equipment and where trying to find it? Where they trying to locate a dock anchor, broken cable or underwater bracing? Kids swimming in the water? Or possibly a couple enjoying themselves in the water? Maybe this act that you witnessed should be brought to the attention of the local authorities and Corps of Engineers. Insect sampling can be done by only those who have been issued permits or authorized to do so. If you do not have the proper authorization, you are not allowed to remove insect life from the water. Partake in the Missouri Stream Team, Take the nescessary classes to do such activities legally. I was at Taneycomo this Sunday, Feb 26, and seen only two people intentionally shuffling out of the about 150 fishing. That is 1.5% of the fisherman shuffling that I observed during my 5 hours on the water. These numbers are just so detrimental to our once famed fishery. Are there other issues that we really need to focus on, that are more important to harming our fishery? HMMM, that is a good question? These next two items are good places to start, as well as a couple of others. Here was one thing that was brought up and should be taken into consideration, WATER QUALITY. The water quality really went downhill with the area land development in the late 70's and 80's. Now with all the new construction, a lot of these older homes, resorts and such on the Lake have been changed from septic to community/city sewer systems. There are probably a few out there that still need to be converted. I remember days fishing Taneycomo from a boat and floating by houses and smelling the raw sewage leaking from their septic systems. As well as, the floating stuff going down the river. Now with this Branson Landing construction being done, who knows what will happen to the Lake Taneycomo fishery. More than likely no consideration was given to it, because too many people were more interested in how much money they were going to make. The Power of the almighty Dollar. Another issue that was mentioned and needs to be addressed is the boats coming above the boat ramp. Also, these boaters give no consideration to the wading anglers or their safety. I think that boats should not be allowed above the boat ramp, whether generating or not. They cannot safely navigate up the river without getting close to wading anglers and jeopardizing their safety as well as their passengers in the boat. If a guide has to take their clients above the boat ramp in a boat, can't be much of a guide if they are willing to jeopardize someone elses saftey. The biggest advantage a boat offers is giving one access to water not accessable to wading anglers, why not use it to your fullest advantage. Lake Taneycomo is a 23 mile coldwater fishery and I cannot believe you can't catch fish from a boat other than above the boat ramp in the middle of a bunch of wading anglers. Maybe some of you need to learn or refine your techniques on catching fish from a boat, below the boat ramp. jim, up at Backcountry, fishes from a boat quite a bit in Taneycomo, you may want to get with him and find out what he does to catch fish. In reference to chumming. I asked Chris Vitello about chumming or baiting an area for catfish. He stated chumming/baiting for catfish is illegal in Missouri. I would not think there is an exemption for trout. Lets put our focus on more important issues at hand on Taneycomo. Here are a few to start with: Water Quality, boating safety, baitfishing in the trophy area, keeping of slot sized fish to name a few, snagging of fish and not to mention several others. Regards, King Ming