Zack Hoyt

Avery nice looking 22lb brown was caught at Beaver a few days ago. Guy was fishing for walleye with a pinner bait. Here is a link to the pics. http://flyfishingarkansasandmissouri.yuku.com/topic/6388?page=-1

Great pictures. I am awful partial to using a drift boat to fish and aneuver as well.

Was the gut full of corn?

Alot of good folks here Rick. Welcome from Nw Ark.

Bump for anyone who might be in the area this weekend.

From a guides point of view......it all depends on the client. For 95% of the trips, I will not fish. I will cast and show techniques. If I hook a fish, the rod goes back to the client. As Al said, as a guide, I am there to position the boat, tie on flies, undo wind knots, give a hand landing a fish, snap pictures, instruct on techniques, etc, etc. I am not being paid to fish, bottom line. That all being said, I have had very few clients who haven't told me to feel free to fish any time during the trip. I still don't feel overly comfortable fishing, but I have at the tail end of a trip. If I hired a guide and he was fishing more than me, I would cancel the trip right then. There are far too many guides out there to let one spoil the day. Guiding is a business based alot on return and recommended clientele.

Adam, you gusy were great to fish with. I am glad we got into some fish and you guys had a good time. Smallmouth are a blast and you dont have to wear any waders. Looking forward to hearing about the succesful, upcoming, reports.

Tailwaters fished well yesterday. Spit rain off and on all day, but that sure didnt hurt the fishing. Great midge hatch coming off most of the morning and later in the afternoon. Lots of surface activity. Out best flies were simple beadhead zebra midges in sz 18-20. Indicator depth dependent on the water. There was no wind, so we have a few fish hitting the indicators. Fishing slowed around noon. The fish seemed to be holding tight to the structure. Quite a few very healthy rainbows and two very nice looking browns. Worked a little bit on presentation and placement, but these two had the casting down. Shallower runs had the fish pretty spooky, but a well placed fly would get some interest.

If you dont mind, which section did you hit? I am thinking about taking the drift boat up there this weekend for some rowing practice and to hook a few bronzies.

We gotta work on your cigar choices..... Great looking smallie. I am jonesen real hard to sneak away this weekend to chase some. Which RP blends do you like? I am a bit of a cigar junkie.

Welcome from NW Arkansas. There are a few fellow smallmouth junkies. I much rpefer chasing SM with a fly rod, but if the water is tough, I am sure not beyond breaking out the spin gear and some plastics.

Schedule of Events: Friday and Saturday will have many opportunities to see fly tying demonstrations and ask questions about tying methods or how to fish a fly. Speakers will be presenting programs on warm water fly fishing and local fisheries. There will be a Tying Contest open to all tiers. Each tier will get the same bag of materials and 20 minutes to make a fly. Raffles, silent auctions, and live auctions will be available each day to support the event. Fly casting lessons and demonstrations will also be avilable. Thursday: 6:00 pm Spaghetti Potluck Dinner at the Shorb campsite, location Diamondhead Resort, Hwy 10, Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Rain or shine, a room will be available in case of rain. Please bring food items for the potluck. Plan to come by, eat, and say hello to old friends and make new ones. Friday: 9:00 am Open to Public, Raffles/One & Two Day Silent Auctions begin 11:00 am Larry Clark presentation: Fly Fishing for Smallmouth Bass 12:00 pm Lunch Served - Indian Tacos; Tickets Available at Sales Table 1:00 pm Terry & Roxanne Wilson presentation: More & Larger Bluegills 2:00 pm Ken Richards presentation: Fly Fishing From A Drift Boat 3:00 pm Live Auction 3:20 pm Raffle ends 3:45 pm One day Silent Auction ends 5:30 pm Tiers Dinner - Smoked Brisket, Tickets Available for the public at the Sales Table Saturday: 9:00 am Open to Public 9:00 am Tony Bulera presentation: Fly Fishing in Chile 10:00 am Toby Vaughan presentation: Fishing Wet Flies 11:00 am Terry & Roxanne Wilson presentation: Smallmouth Bass: A Practical Guide 12:00 pm Lunch Served - Indian Tacos/Smoked Brisket. Tickets Available at Sales Table 1:00 pm Tying Contest 1:30 pm Emily Whitlock presentation: Knotless Connections 2:30 pm Dave Whitlock presentation: Hopper Fishing 3:30 pm Live Auction 3:40 pm Silent Auctions End 3:50 pm Raffles End

Smallmouth Rendezvous April 30-May 1, 2010 Presented by: Northeastern Oklahoma Fly Fishing Club Native Women Flyfishers Calvary Assembly of God Church FREE ADMISSION 9:00 am to 4:00 pm daily NEW LOCATION: Calvary Assembly of God Church 1005 E. 1st Street (1st Street & Hwy. 62 By-Pass) Tahlequah, OK Featuring: Dave and Emily Whitlock, Terry and Roxanne Wilson, Ken Richards, Tony Bulera, Toby Vaughan, Larry Clark and more. Learn Fly Fishing Skills, See Fly Tying Demonstrations and Competitions. Fly casting lessons and demonstrations will also be available. http://www.okieflyfishers.org/

Great tie Brian. I admire anyone who can tie on an eyeless hook. I have a few of these in a frame in my office. Gorgeous and somewhat lost art form.

Moss and didy are getting bad on Beaver as well. Not lots of it through the water, but plenty on the rocks.

We have used Logoworks out of Rogers, Bentonville, and Fayetteville. They do very good work at a very good price. We shopped around and found they had better prices than most online. I have three decals on my car from them no with no fading or shrinkage. Edit: I guess I better ask what constitutes a boat decal? Just a normal sticker or is there a certain material? I would drop Logoworks a call either way.

We have ahd alot of luck up Richland. The warmer the day, the further up they seem to be. In the main channel, its kinda a crap shoot. We were about as far up as one can go on foot wading. The water is high enough they have the ability to school, which means they will travel over a bit of water. My best advice is when you hook up on one, take a minute to think about what were the circumstances surrounding. How deep, structure/no structure, shade/non, etc. They will kinda key in on certain areas per the time of day. There are alot of guys on here that have been chasing them longer than I have, so hopefully they will chime in. Another thing.....there was a TON of boat traffic.

Definately a great value in a rod. I have one of the Reel Recovery rods(same blank, diff logo) and love it. Very smooth to cast but still has the umph to get line a ways out there. Team it with a TFO Prism rod and you have a great setup.

Bump for the meeting next Monday. If you are in the NW Arkansas area we would love to have you come out and join us.

Water levels are at 13.40 feet. This is just over a foot higher than the low water bridge at Kelly's. This level is high for fly fishing, but spin fishing should be good later in the day. Water temperatures are hitting 63 degrees in the heat of the day. Smallmouth should be working on lures on the bottom. Soft plastics should be the rule.

Water temps are in the mid 60's late afternoon. The water level at St. Joe is 6.03 feet. This is high for fly fishing and spin fishing will be using heavier lures on the bottom.

Water level is at 4.21 feet and are very good for floating and fishing. It is a bit high for fly fishing in the middle stretches. Spinning gear should be used with soft plastics the ticket. Water temperatures are hitting the mid 60's late in the day so the best time should be late afternoon.

White bass are up in the river and spawning. Fish are most active late afternoon as the water temperatures warm up. Lots of smaller males are being caught earlier in the day and the bigger females and some Hybrids are getting active later in the day. Clouser Minnows are the best flies for fly fishermen. Best colors are blue over white and gray over white, but many other colors are working. Sunday fish were caught on 5 different color combos.

Lake level is 1124.27 ft. Most generation is taking place during the day. Some wade fishing is available really early morning and late afternoon into the early evening. Dead drifting nymphs is the most productive presentation. Pheasant Tails, scuds and sow bugs sizes 14 - 18 and zebra midges, size 18 - 20 in grey, olive and black.

Lake level is 555.85 ft. Generation is mostly around the clock with two units. Fishing from a boat is the most productive. Use high water nymphing tactics or try stripping streamers with a sink-tip or full sinking line. Fly selection: Pheasant Tails, Copper Johns, BH Caddis (olive and tan), Prince Nymph, San Juan Worm (red, worm brown, pink), scuds and sowbugs in sizes 12 - 16. Wooly Buggers, Zonkers, Butt Monkeys and Zoo Cougars; sizes 2 - 6; colors: olive, yellow, white and rusty brown.