Aaron J Scott

Sorry, red fox squirrel, ala Whitlock. But I had tied it with a lemon-barred tail and a partridge hackle at the head.

Went up to the ol' homewaters for a few hours in the afternoon yesterday. Caught a couple rainbows at Barclay and another below the bridge before heading back to Springfield. All of the hookups were on a RFPS-colored nymph. It's been quite a while since I've been up to the river, but that's the lowest I've seen it in some time. I'm sure the storms that went through this morning did it and all the other rivers and streams around here some good.

I just called the Nature Center to reserve my seat and the lady I spoke to says the response has been "crazy." Hope to see a lot of you there! Because this is a free event put on by Recycled Fish, please consider donating to support this event.

With 10 days until the 24 Hour Fish-A-Thon, I wanted to give you guys an update. Team Longboat has raised over $800, but we still need help closing in on our $1,200 goal for Recycled Fish. If any of you can spare a few bucks, it'll go towards a great cause. The easiest way to donate is on our official team page. You can also find more details about the issues facing the North Fork that we're drawing attention to with our 24 hour trip. http://www.TeamLongboat.com Thanks for your support, everyone. See you on the river in just 10 days!

Thanks, Justin. I'm putting together a media contact list and will be sending some press releases out soon. Some good exposure would be great, especially for Recycled Fish. It's a relatively "young" organization and could really benefit from the attention.

Hey all your Forkers out there. Brian Wise and Kyle Kosovich--two of your resident experts of the NFOW here on the board--have joined in with me as Team Longboat. We've entered Recycled Fish's 24 Hour Fish-A-Thon in an effort to raise money and awareness for the organization as well as shed some light on the issues facing the NFOW and other Ozarks streams. We'll be floating the blue-ribbon section from 6:00 pm, Sept. 10, to 6:00 pm, Sept. 11. Our goal is to raise $50 for each hour that we're on the water, so if you can spare $5 or $10 or even more, we'd really appreciate your support. If you go to http://www.recycledfish.org/our-programs/fish-a-thon-2010/team-longboat.htm,'>http://www.recycledfish.org/our-programs/fish-a-thon-2010/team-longboat.htm, you'll find our team page (with a couple photos of some big nasty browns) with a link to make a donation via PayPal. It goes to a great cause, and it's even tax deductible. Whether your able to pitch in a few bucks or not, I hope you'll learn a little more about Recycled Fish and even take their Sportsmen's Stewardship Pledge. http://www.recycledfish.org Thanks a lot, guys! I wanted to drop that personal note. Below is some of the general information that I've been sending out to my friends. If you have any questions, please send me an email at aaron@aaronjscott.com. ========== On Sept. 10, I am participating in Recycled Fish's 24 Hour Fish-A-Thon. At 6:00 pm, I'll set off with Team Longboat--my friends Kyle Kosovich, Brian Wise and I--on the beautiful North Fork of the White River in southern Missouri, and we won't stop fishing until 6:00 pm the next day. It's a huge challenge, but we're doing this to help raise money and awareness for Recycled Fish and draw attention to issues facing the North Fork--a river that needs clean water to sustain the wild rainbow trout, monster brown trout, lunker smallmouth bass and endangered Ozark Hellbender salamanders that reside in the river. We're also preserving the heritage of the Ozarks by floating in a traditional wooden White River johnboat, hand-built by Kyle for his Longboat Outfitters guiding service. If you have a moment, please visit the official page for Team Longboat to learn more about those issues. You'll also find a link to make a tax-deductible donation via PayPal, as well as an address for Recycled Fish where you can send a check on our behalf. http://www.recycledfish.org/our-programs/fish-a-thon-2010/team-longboat.htm Recycled Fish hopes to raise $20,000 with the 24 Hour Fish-A-Thon, and Team Longboat's goal is a $1,200 contribution for our time on the water. That breaks down to $50 an hour that we want to raise through hour sponsorships, per-fish pledges and other donations. If you are able, a $25 donation will go a long way to reaching our goal. Your support gives us the encouragement we need to last all the way through that 24th hour. Thank you so much for your support. You contribution supports Recycled Fish in our efforts to teach people across North America about how we can take better care of our lakes, streams and seas through everyday living. --Aaron J Scott About Recycled Fish Recycled Fish is the national nonprofit of anglers living a lifestyle of stewardship on and off the water. The motto for this 501©3 organization is “Our Lifestyle Runs Downstream,” meaning the things we do and the choices we make affect the environment and the other creatures that inhabit it – especially fish! We want to ensure that we not only maintain but also improve both the fish and the fishing for years to come. Your donation will help Recycled Fish spread this message to anglers across the country. Interested in becoming involved? Go to http://www.RecycledFish.org to learn more and take the Sportsman’s Stewardship Pledge. About Team Longboat KYLE KOSOVICH: Kyle is the owner of Longboat Outfitters. His guide service is the one of the most unique you’ll find, recreating the classic Ozarks float-fishing adventure. Kyle will take you down the NFOW in a traditional White River johnboat that he built by hand, teach you about the river and cook you an unforgettable meal. To book a trip with Kyle, visit http://www.longboatoutfitters.com. BRIAN WISE: Brian is the head guide at the beautiful River of Life Farm on the NFOW. His blog, http://www.flyfishingtheozarks.com, is the home of “Fishadelic Foto Friday” as well as great info and advice on fishing in the Ozarks. He is also the host of Feather-Craft’s Fly Tying Contest. Check out his video demonstrations of new tying materials and submit your own unique patterns at http://www.flytyingcontest.com. To book a trip with Brian, visit http://www.riveroflifefarm.com. AARON SCOTT: Aaron is a freelance photographer, graphic designer and Recycled Fish volunteer. He helps ensure thriving fish populations by not catching very many. While he has a lot to learn about fishing, he knows his stuff behind the camera. Check out his portfolio at http://www.aaronjscott.com, including his work on “Songs from the Tackle Box,” a collection of great fishing tunes released by Patriot Records to benefit Recycled Fish. Thank you for your support of Team Longboat and Recycled Fish!

I wanted to let you all know that a project I recently completed is on shelves now. Songs From the Tackle Box is a compilation of fishing songs from Patriot Records. It's a lot of country and bluegrass, but it's a nice variety – and it's all pretty good. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each album goes to benefit Recycled Fish, an organization promoting environmental stewardship as it relates to fishing. I took care of the photography and design for the album packaging. I think it turned out looking really nice. I hope you guys check it out! Hope all is well up in the Ozarks. I'm deep down in the Ouachitas now and still learning all the waters. —Aaron J Scott http://www.aaronjscott.com

Way to bring the bokeh. Nice photo!

Thanks for the tips. I'll pack in the gear and give it a go.

My dad and I are backpacking in the Irish Wilderness next weekend and I was wondering if I should pack in my fly rod. We'll be camping at either Barn Hollow or White's Creek, most likely, and I was wondering about the water at that point. It's been a long time since I've been on the Eleven Point and I don't remember it well. Do you think it'd be worthwhile to carry in fly gear? I always like getting some fishing in, but I don't want to mess with it if I can't reasonably wade.

Did COE get that fourth generator back online, thus enabling them to close the floodgates? The current generation chart is showing 220 MWH.

I had a couple assignments down in Branson today and wound with some time to kill between the two, so I went down to the dam to check out the water. As you could expect, there were a handful of people working the outlets and a few boats drifting down from the wire. I grabbed my camera and clambered up to the wire and took that, then over the dam and shot a few more from the south side. Beautiful day in the Ozarks, especially if you have a boat! And an artsy B&W shot for good measure:

Ha. Point taken. You know, smallies kinda have stripes ...

Yeah, I wasn't surprised. I went and scoped it out a few weeks ago. Nothing very trouty. I did, however, see an armadillo (which looked even funnier when it cut through the creek) and a mink. I had never seen a mink out and about before.

The moon photo is excellent. Good on you.

FWIW, my DeLorme Missouri rec atlas has the Paris Springs access on Turnback as having a "fair" population of trout.

I really like that second sunrise shot. I need to toss my camera in the car sometime. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow. I'm helping move my grandma across town in Lebanon to Christian HC South, so if I'm not too beat after lugging furniture in the morning, I'm going to go over to Barclay or 64 for the afternoon. Holler at me if you see a blue Prius in the lot.

There's a good chance I'll go up to the Nianger tomorrow (unless the water is off at Taney), so I can report back after that. It looks to be above normal and, if there is no heavy precip between now and Monday, it should be around 5 feet. I usually go by the gauge above Lake Niangua/Tunnel Dam, and I'd consider "normal" to be around 4.5 feet or so.

I fished RMNP a few years ago. I hired a guy from Estes Angler to show me around. We hiked a little ways up the Lawn Lake trail and high-sticked it in Roaring River for half the day and I was just filthy with native greenback cutthroats (see attached). After lunch, we headed south an hit Glacier Creek for some dry-dropper action and caught a few brookies. My guide from Estes was a great guy (we still keep in touch) and I'd recommend him again, but he's over near Steamboat now, guiding on the Yampa and Frying Pan. I had never fished outside of the Ozarks prior to that, so I hired him to show me the ropes. If you've fished mountain streams or lakes and know how to approach them, I bet you'd be fine without a guide. If it's new territory, you might enjoy, in the very least, a half-day with a guide to learn a new stream.

It's hard to tell for sure from my desk here in Springfield ...

Hey CS, I was the guy down on the gravel bar with his girlfriend on Saturday. I only fished for about an hour and didn't get any hookups. Had some good looks from a brown scud. You know what that crawdad pattern is called that your buddy was using? I've been looking for a simple crawdad pattern to tie and like the chamois claw idea.

I plan on going down to Barclay tomorrow. Last time I was there was back before Christmas. Looks like the river's back down to about where it was then. Should be a good day to fish. Holler at me if you see a blue Prius with trouty stickers in the lot.

Thanks for your help, Don. Hopefully it won't get too much colder come mid-February when they have the Special Olympics Polar Bear Plunge. That's what the article is about. Has the Business Journal talked to you in the past? Seems like I remember making calls to someone who went by the title "Captain," which is an unfortunate rarity in our publication!

Anyone have a guess as to the current surface water temperature at TRL? Particularly around Indian Point, which I assume would be considered the main channel. Has much of TRL frozen over? I haven't been down for several weeks to see. I heard from my parents that LOZ had frozen pretty well in some parts. FYI, we're referencing it in a story for the Business Journal this week. Thanks, guys!

You are correct. All bows, and most all of them were pretty beat up. Had a few with some nice color, but for the most part they had rubbed-raw tails and pec fins. I had high hopes that the fish I lost off the double bunny was a brown because of the way it hit the fly and shook its head as it broke the water, but obviously didn't get a good look. Maybe some day. I'd love to land a brownie on the Nianger.