esox niger

I noticed the fish had a pointy lower jaw....Lower Missouri River. I'm no expert but seems like a straight up striper with the solid lines and football shape...not very round though...

Nice fish! Im in your neck of the woods and sometimes fish under 141 and at simpson lake.

Hmm? I think the river level is about at where the sand meets the base of the wing dykes right now. Plenty of places where the dykes run parallel to the current but not many perpindicular. Oh well, I fish where I can...Heard some good surface ripping a couple nights ago off the ends of the dyke...not sure what that would be, probably catfish but I don't know... the adventures continue.

Hello to everyone, I just thought I would check in with the board and see if anyone fishes the lower Missouri River. This year is an exceptional opportunity for me to fly fish the lower missouri....I mainly catch Grass Carp,common carp and drum in the river but I have a thing for catfish, and i just can not seem to find them anywhere...I have a kayak and sometimes have access to some wingdykes...either way I am limited in mobility and ability to park over anything more than 20 ft and that usually makes me nervous. So I have some mobility but not much. Can anyone suggest what is going on with the catfish in the lower river this year and where and when to look for them. dusk and dawn obviously leaning toward dawn I would think. I had a couple little flatheads a week ago around 12pm around wingdikes and breaks and thats it. I can fish bottom in 20ft or surface down to 12ft fairly easily. Thanks -Chris

Nice fish! I got a fish like that a few years back with a caddis fly under an indicator in a flooded creek off the Lower Missrouri River. Thats him in my profile pic.

That bass blew my mind. Biggest I've ever seen in person.

I used to use gloves then I switched to lycra finer guard, now Im trying a waterski glove. I recomend trying it if you have abrassive conditions...big fish... worn out rod handle and/or old line. I have all four.

These might qualify as viable gentle rattle flies....These work out great for me but I don't have any idea of the sound they put out.... it must make some noise...right?

Thumbs up! Nice fish.

Just as viable

yes...or xl bead should be fine too. for some reason it just didn't want to ride up all the time.

Thanks man. Ps...The Schlopster needs more weight than large beadchain for hook point up...

The Schlapster Wet belly side Dry top side in order of the tie size 6 hook gold eyes crystal flash and rubber squirrel tail swiss straw, two tones one for top and one for bottom slappen wrapped/palmered various hackles note: all hackles backwrapped to point them in a backward direction accept final hackle more or less based on sean hudson's mud bugger (I like the schlapster better )

Right on, I haven't seen any hybrids or whites but it should be on soon. I wouldn't be surprised to be see 'em this week or at least within the next 2-3 weeks.

Temperates??? commons, one grass carp, a couple of drum, a bunch of bluegill, couple crapie and a few 2 inch largemouths is what Im claiming so far this year...things are going into full swing with the water gettin up and the temps. I will be busy for most of the month doing other stuff but it pays the bills, fishing will be severly limited :( how bout you Wayne? Hows the fishing? and the belly lint is doubtfull.

Here's a good hook point up weightless fly for shallow water spooky fish or other situations as well... Hook: Mustad s80-3906 (b?) or other Underbody: turkey feather of you choice Hackle: whiting bugger hackle or hackle of your choice Body: squirrel tail dubbing or other wing: Fox colored squirrel tail This pattern can be done with marabou, bucktail, turkey or other wings as well. In some cases it may help to put minimal lead wire on the back of the shank but for most cases no weight works just fine. Early testing was quite successful...3 casts to two fish, two fish landed! Heres the tying video if desired

Holy smokes Sixstring...Thats a flippin monster. I don't fish crappie but I get one every now and then....Its a tiny fish but I like the photo. Busch Wildlife #31 Dog days of 2011

Thats hardcore bro... I'm with you...rattles leave me cold. As i was pondering this though, i picked up some cut bead chain and was shaking it....little rattle going on...with all this stuff you'd pretty much need a swimming pool and hydrophone to figure out what sort of sound is coming off them...and fish are so so sensative anyway...I frown on rattles!...but I may contnue to experiment, why not.

I've been pondering the rattle fly the past couple of weeks and even years. I've tied up several types including the glass rattle, and the double bead rattle, but I dont think i've ever taken a fish on one, and i was never confident the rattle was working the way one would expect. (I haven't fished them much because i never really liked them) It seems to me the fly would need some exceptional action for the rattles to actualy work the way we all think they do, but do they? Any one have any feedback on rattle flies...do they work, do fish like them better, what conditions do you recomend them for, that sort of thing. I'm thinking down two paths to an "improved rattle"...I will come back with some images in the next day or so, but one is a clapper style the other is mono "spring loaded" will I be able to incorporate them the way i want, will they work? we will see. well here they are...probably not "improved". #2 the balls really dance about 8 inches down in a stream of water, not sure stripping a fly will actually make the balls slap. ( hahahaha Bevis Im gunna smack you!) I can see all the names that could come outa this one....

Interesting from both of you! I tied one up on a straight eye and bent it in my vise. the bend is not as sever as a down eye but I'm going to have to pay special attention to the ride.

I'll be honest...I was afraid to ask this question for fear of looking really stupid, until i read another post on another forum. Its often occured to me that with a bend down eye and a bead head....the fly will ride hook point up....it should even fall hook point up(maybe) so why are all of these bead head flies I see tied with wing case on the side that will ride down? take the prince nymph for example...I had always thought the white biots would ride on top of the fly...but with a bead head do they? Can anyone explain why things seem to be upside down? or is this just a case these flies being dead drifted more than swung or stripped. Thanks -C

I personaly wouldn't mind a few more of them around, but thats always a sensative issue when other peoples favorite fish are threatened by changes in the food chain. They are certainly fun to catch!

just in case you missed the photo of the juvy

from http://aqua.ucdavis....t/pdf/300FS.PDF note: I've run into schools of little bass but come to think of it they may be straight white bass. need to find some barried pictures to confirm (maybe not even then) Spawning Hybrid striped bass, unlike some other hybrids, is fertile. It is oviparous (egg-laying) like the parental species and produces eggs and sperm in the spring when temperatures are 15 to 20° C. Some males mature at the age of 1 year (approximately 250 mm long and 500 grams), and all are mature at 2 years of age. A few females are mature at 2 years of age, but all are mature at 3 years. Females produce an average of 160,000 eggs per pound of body weight and spawn once a year. Males may spawn many times over the spawning season. Natural spawning of hybrids has been verified in a few instances. They may participate in spawning runs with striped bass or possibly white bass. There are also confirmed cases of reproduction in reservoirs that contain only hybrid striped bass. Hybrid striped bass produce sperm and eggs during the spring when water temperature is between 55 to 70° F. Temperatures of 65° to 68° F are ideal for spawning hybrids and the parental species. Spawning occurs from mid-March through May depending on location. Spawning season in any one location usually lasts 4 to 5 weeks. Hybrids have been observed participating in spawning acts in areas that contain clear shallow rocky shoals that are 1 to 3 feet The Black ops strikes again!!!!

to my understanding the Missississippi river and Missouri rivers have reproducing populations of these fish...I don't have the genetic line off hand but there are some crosses of these fish which reproduce on their own or back with white bass...and are able to reproduce. I will have to dig on that one but I'm pretty sure Iv'e read or been told that. let me look around ...and I will post back.