Zack Hoyt

The Old Patagonia Express by Paul Theroux I like Theroux's travel books. This on he takes trains from Boston to Ole Patagonia. He is definately from Boston, and his overtly snobby statements come off odd. Great book overall. I am a train fan. Production Fly Tying by AK Best For obvious reasons. This is a great book for brushing up and taking time out of tying your favorite flies. The World Without Us by Alan Weisman I grabbed this book when it was new. Now there is a tv show and such out of it. Very interesting look on how what we have built, would return to nature.

I have a Rio Bass line in an 8wt WF Floating. Used maybe a half dozen times. Was hoping to get more lake time.....but didnt. It is on a reel, but I ahve the original box and packaging. http://www.rioproducts.com/product.php?recKey=34 $30 shipped to your door.

WE have about a half inch of ice on the ground. Not much in the trees, lines, etc. Snowing like a mad man. Roads are in rough shape. Over passes have been graveled.....but nothing else. Pushed two cars off the road and pulled one out on the way to work.

Will definitely have to make it up to one of these. My tying is atrocious.

Ice seems to have quite here in Pea Ridge....snowing now.

Ken Richards will be solo rowing over 400 miles of the Arkansas River beginning in Fort Smith at Noon on March 27, 2010. He will be using a 14 ½ foot Hyde drift boat. He will row to the Mississippi River and from there shuttle back to Tulsa, OK and row from Tulsa to Fort Smith. This journey should take about three weeks. Ken will be stopping at cities such as Russellville, Little Rock and Pine Bluff along the river and holding media events to talk about Reel Recovery. In 2009 Ken and Kevin Calhoun rowed 200 miles on the Buffalo River and the King’s River. Ken is a Stage 4 throat and tongue squamous cell carcinoma survivor who was diagnosed in June 2005. He attended a Reel Recovery retreat in 2007, but had to go to Indiana. After that experience he had to bring Reel Recovery to Arkansas. He is now the Mid-South coordinator for Reel Recovery encompassing Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Last year the first retreat was held in October at Cedarwood Lodge on the White River near Flippin, AR. Fifteen men from six states attended the retreat and over 25 volunteers helped with the event. This year we are holding two retreats in Arkansas and hope to impact close to 30 men. The retreats will be in April and October. Last year we raised $10,000 and this year we need to raise $30,000 to put on the two retreats and help national with expanding the retreats to reach other men not serviced by an existing retreat. Donations and scholarships are needed. Volunteers are always welcome and we definitely need participants. Reel Recovery is a non-profit organization that provides fly fishing retreats for men with life threatening cancer. It was founded in 2003 by three friends after one was diagnosed with brain cancer. Fly fishing helped relieve some of the stresses with dealing with cancer. These 2 ½ day retreats are free to the men that attend. Since the beginning there have been over 80 retreats and over 900 men have attended. Participants, volunteers and donations are needed for the retreats that are all over the United States. Participant and volunteer along with donation forms can be found online at www.reelrecovery.org.

Can't wait!!!!!!

9' 3wt Sage ZAxis - $450 This was built by a good friend of mine. It is a gorgeous rod. Higher end hardware and reel seat. It is a great casting rod....just ready for the next new toy. Excellent condition. Here is a link to his website: http://magicwandflyrods.com/ Sage 2050 Reel - $125 It has the Sage Performance 3wt line on it. Also has a reel case. Excellent condition. I will attempt to get pictures up this evening.

Beaver Dam has been generating almost around the clock. Wade fishing is not possible. High water techniques are recommended. San juan worms, soft hackles, and midges deep under an indicator are catching fish. Weighted flies or adding split shot is necessary to get you into the feeding zones. Sink tip lines with streamer flies such as Zonkers, Bead head wollie boogers, and Arkansas Bead heads will give you a different presentation and cause those holding fish to feed. Pound the banks and the channels. Look for structures(root wads, rocks, etc) and fish in ront and behind these. Fish will use these to keep from struggling against the current. Also boat safety is priority number one. Keep PFD's close at hand and always be weary of whats down stream.

Weather may be an issue. The hill into RR is a bit steep and winding. I would check here with Tim on Friday to see how road conditions are. I fished a few times this year with snow on the ground. As long as you dress well, you will be in good shape. Drop me a pm if you plan on going. I may try to sneak up there for a few hours.

Stay in contact with the local outfitters or here. The Buffalo's Upper section IMO is the most scenic. If we get a good rain or our spring is wet, it could be floatable. The further you get downstream, the less gradient you get into. Also run into some long pools.

Not a single fish. I know smallies get slow in the winter......but we literally bounced a few of their noses and all they did was look irritated. Must not have been our day. Saw lots and lots of bairfish, which makes me feel good about this next season. I really like the Elk. It is only a few minutes away and access is pretty easy.

Adam, Tim;s the man with all the answers, but I will throw a few out there. We had really good luck on chamois San Juan Worms. Figure out about how deep they are in the water column and adjust your indicator accordingly.....or better yet just site cast to them. A cracklback skitted across the top of the water brought a few up in the shallower sections. Watch for midge hatches.....a spinner pattern works well when they are taking flies just below the surface. The normal wolie bugger or other sculpin imitation is good for larger fish. Don't discount the egg fly's as well.....Tim mentoned yellow was a good performer. The last few times I have been up there, the other anglers were scarce. Don't spend too much time at one hole and get a good feel for the park this round. You can always come back to holes later on in the day or on another trip.

Ken, Kevin and myself got out and hit the Elk. Weather was killer, but the water was still pretty cold. Kevin jumped in the drift boat with me and Ken rowed his and snapped pictures. Not another soal on the water. Got to see quite a bit of wildlife and a few bald eagles. I love the remoteness of this river. Even when its close to a road, you still feel away from it all. There is a strainer about 200yds downstream rom Hogh Heaven we had to haul the boats through, but it wasnt bad. No issues the rest fo the trip.

I have the Redington CPX and absolutely love them. Have been using them over a year with no complaints. Have put them through the hoops as well. Just a thought. http://www.redington.com/prod.php?k=62166&p=RDT5-WD005&u=WD005

We don't want ya then!!!!! Just kidding. Welcome to the forum

Bill, I am speaking way over my head, so take it with a grain of salt. It is my understanding they are probably going to be running two generators most of the day until Beaver is dropped. I am hoping they correspond a little from the top to help DO, but I dont know. I will see if I can get some further info.

Posting this for a friend...... I lost a Sage 9ft 5wt Z-axis and Sage 2550 reel at the Bathouse access at the Beaver Tailwaters today around 10:00am. If anyone finds them or knows anyone that has...please contact me through the board or at tre@mikel-brock.com. Bryce at the Beaver Dam Store knows how to get in touch with me as well. $100.00 gift certificate to your favorite restaurant for any information that leads to it's recovery. Thanks.

I apologize for the late response.......had to run down to Shreveport last minute. It sounds like you are doing pretty well. You have narrowed down spots you like and are learning to fish them. Also ten fish a day isn't bad at all. One thing you have to think about though.....is it more like ten a trip or ten a day? A trip can be anywhere from 30minutes to a few days. I say this to say, alot of the guys I talk to who have 20-30 fish days are on the water ALL day. Not just a 8am - noon or something similar. Obviously the longer you stay, the more fish you will catch. Also, I have a theory about killer fishing days following a good AGFC stocking.....but who knows.....lol. Having dry spells is not uncommon at Beaver. As I said, the fish are able to move around alot, so there is a good chance the spots you are comfortable fishing(and tend to revisit) are not feeding spots during this time frame. This is where the moving around and trying different flies/presentation comes in very handy. A scud should not be presented the same as a woolie bugger or the same as a nymph(they can be presented similiar, but its luck alot of times that this works). I have also had days where I caught one fish in 8hrs.....drives me nuts. I could watch them follow it, but for the life of me I coudlnt get a strike......so is the fun of fly fishing. You can insert the joke about it being called "fishing because if it were easy it would be called catching". Here is my recommendation of things to try. I am not saying you arent doing some already, but just a few thoughts: -Don't be afraid to adjust you line length between indicator and fly. Depth of water, water speed, and weight of fly all affect how the fly moves and whichsection of the water table they are in. -Look for changes in terrain. Alot of our trout will hangout near changes in river bottom. Going from pea sized gravel to bigger gravel, limestone slab to gravel, and shallow to deep all will provide a fish with a better chance of getting food. -Fish don't have eyelids. So fish the same concept as above, just in the areas where it goes from sunny to shade.....either beneath a tree or boulder. -Vary your areas. I know we get comfy with certain techniques, flies, areas....but we must adapt if there arent any fish there. The access down from the Bathouses and up from Parker holds some great fish. Keep going on past the bathouse turnoff to the turnaround. Walk down the path and cross the water. Fish either upstream or down. Be careful though, when the horn sounds, GET BACK ACROSS THE WATER. -Observe the fish. Figure out what they are doing. If they are nose down in the gravel and "rutting around" it's scud time. If they are just schooling, try to pick how deep they are. Don;t be afraid to twitch you line now and again to make the fly "dance". Just a few thoughts. Alot of it just comes with time. There are many guys out there fishing more than me. Don't be afraid to ask what their using......most will be more than happy to tell ya. On a guide trip, I would enjoy taking you out. I love to be able to teach. Taking off my guide hat though......in all honesty, a guide will take years off your learning curve. These guys are on the water way more often than most. Of course not all guides are what I consider "good teachers", but you can usually tell alot by asking questions and seeing how they respond. Hope this helps a little.

Beaver can be pretty technical fishng. You have to remember that Beaver, most of the year, is more like a bath tub than a running river. The fish have a long time to analyze a fly, and therefore can be a bit finicky about what they take. Also the amount of fishing pressure it receives can cause the fish to be pretty spooky. Without being to technical ad over analyzing everything, I will throw a few ideas out there. I see a ton of fly fisherman coming to a spot and wading out about 10 feet and start casting. While fish can be pretty dumb, they still have natural tendencies. You wouldnt tromp throught he forrest and expect a deer to come by. Getting a good look ath the water and being able to pick out where fish will most likely be is a never ending learning curve. Beaver being so deep lets the fish kinda cruise for food. Think about the minnows you see in the warm water streams. While in a running river, a fish may keep a good lie within a few feet, fish in Beaver can go up and down stream as they please looking for food. When the sky is very clear, it is very hard fishing. Swapping to smaller tippet and smaller flies is a must. Also presentation goes a long way. If a fly is moving in an odd manor, the fish is less likely to take it. Let me ask a few questons... Which areas at Beaver do you usually fish? Do you use an indicator? Are you strictly sight casting or do you blind cast into likely looking spots? Wade fish or from a boat primarily? Another thing to keep in mind......especially with the "schooling" aspect is you gotta move around. Try different spots, different approaches, etc. A twtich every once in a while on a drift does wonders. We guide on both the Lil Red and on Beaver. I am about 20 minutes from Beaver, so I tend to fish it alot by myself. If you ever see a champagne Subaru outback with a JFG sticker on it......thats me.

No problem at all. If you ever have any questions about presentation, flies, etc, please feel free to post or drop me a pm.

Not that I have seen or heard yet.

Interested as well. I have to go get a new tire for the drift boat trailer on Friday and may spend the morning fishing.

Some morning and evening generation has allowed for some wading between generation periods. During low water periods, fishing nymphs under indicators will provide the most consistent action. Scuds, sow bugs, phheasant tails, copper johns and zebra midges all in sizes 16 - 20. Also, try swinging soft hackles (sizes 16 - 20) or stripping streamers (sizes 8 - 12). Recent trips have observed trout sipping midges most of the day. Small dry flies or soft hackles (sizes 20 - 24) in grey or creamy tan were the most productive. Drifting with any kind of indicator seem to alert the fish and put them down. Draw down of Beaver Lake should begin next weekend. This will mean very high flows for the next few weeks.