On The Fly 6

Perhaps I need to just target the carp. Suggestions on good carp flies?

Eek. That sucks for that guy. We saw a lot of carp and a whole lot of gar! I guess it's spawning time for them?

I went out Monday and tried my luck with an acquaintance from high school. He contacted me via the Facebook and asked me if I could teach him how to fly fish. I accepted the challenge and met him in Gore around 7:30. He told me that he had been wanting to learn to fly fish for years but didn't really know anyone that was as obsessed with it as I was, so he hadn't really been (its a healthy obsession I think!) With all the construction going on, all the signs on the side of the road were taken down so I'm glad I didn't try giving him directions on where to go! I thought we would start easy and hit watts first. We arrived at the Watts area and there wasn't anyone else there. First time thats happened. We got our gear gathered up and made the hike down river to a pool I usually have luck in. I got my friend set up with a hair and copper about 2ft under an indicator and he picked his spot. As I was rigging up my own rod, he picked up a fish. I had to give instructions on how to fight the fish as he fought it. He got it in, released, and picked up another before I was finished getting setup! Soon after, I began picking up fish. After catching about 15, I decided to switch flies and try something different. I switched to the game changer midge and picked up a few more fish. All the while, my friend continued to catch or miss numerous fish. After catching a few on the game changer I switched to a red zebra and picked up a few more. Throughout the morning I'm guessing we caught 40-50 fish between the two of us. Around noon we decided to break for lunch. After lunch I took him to the gravel parking area near the dam. We both managed to pick up a few fish before the whistle blew above the kiddie pool. As we waded to shore I told him we could hit Marval and still get in about 45 mins of fishing. He was eager to keep catching fish so we made our way to Marval. Once we were on the river we hiked down stream and found a riffle full of fish. We stood about 10 feet apart and fished the riffle and picked up a fish nearly every drift. The water finally got to us so we decided to call it a day. I've earned a new fishing buddy. He's eager to go again soon and so am I! All together, I'd say we finished the day with nearly 70 fish between the two of us. We caught several little browns throughout the morning and managed a few bigger bows. I'll try and post a picture or two once I'm on a computer. Hope you guys get a chance to get out!

I was 13 when I started. I'd been invited by my friend and his dad to join them on the white river over spring break. When they said we would be fly fishing, I convinced my parents that I needed a "fly rod" for the trip, so we went to Walmart and bought me a 6' Shakespeare combo. Horrible horrible rod! I had no idea how to cast when we arrived and didn't catch a thing! The closest I got to catching a trout was allowing my line to drift as I waded ( in leaky waders that were too small) from one spot to another. Had it on for about 20 secs then nothing the rest of the time. ANYWAY, that was my first time. There was a long hiatus after that because other things seemed to occupy my time: school, soccer, puberty, work, pursuing and getting rejected by girls...the usual stuff. The summer after I graduated from high school was when I got back into it. Bought my first decent rod, a TFO 5wt for about $90 and haven't looked back. Fly fishing is literally my favorite thing to do. I've introduced it to my brother in law, my wife, my uncle, my dad, and numerous friends and coworkers. Sure, none of them are as obsessed with it as I am, but I loved being able to share something dear to me with others. Even when I'm standing in a river fishing, I'm thinking about the next time I'll be able to escape the realities of adulthood and get back on a river.

River was higher than I'd seen it in a long time. Fishing was slow. Managed one on a size 14 hare and copper and had numerous takes on zebra midges. Had to fish deep!

That sucks man, sorry to hear that. I haven't been down there in a while. Hope you get them back!

Sharks terrify the hell out of me so I definitely would've soiled myself. Twice probably. Sharks can detect feces in the water too though! I'll just stay in freshwater.

Two. My 5wt and my ultralight.

Arkansas went 4-8 and that made me grin from ear to ear! I wish Mizzou luck in the sec. I was sad to see them leave the big 12, but I could understand the reasoning behind it. I didn't care too much about Colorado or A&M, but Mizzou and Nebraska leaving sucks because it eliminated some great rivalries in football and bball.

Great post!

Well, got back home around 5pm today and I must say that my dad and I will most definitely be back to the river. The hospitality at Sunburst was fantastic and they were even willing to pick us up after we missed our take out spot ? The fishing was pretty good, I caught about 10 browns and 2 perch on Saturday....my dad caught two striped shiners....poor guy. All in all, it was a great weekend and we've already talked about bringing the rest of the family with us the next trip!

Awesome video!

I plan on having as many colors as I can in nymphs and jigs small enough to fish on my 5 wt.

What river was this in?

Awesome. Means I get to buy something besides 6x and 7x

Good. I'd rather first a size 6 anything than a size 20 anything :-)

Looks like its at 1500 cfs right now if I read the graph right. That pretty high?

Done and done! One day closer to being on the river! Getting excited!

What colors on the psycho princes?

Sounds like fun. Lets see how the river treats me this next weekend ?

Nice fish!

Negative. Tied some flies and changed some diapers. Watched a fishing show on tv though, so I'm gonna say that kinda counts!

Bet my fish finder could help too

So my fly rod won't do that? Then I don't wanna come!!

Nice. Guess ill bring my ultralight with me too.