et84

Stopped by this afternoon and talked with Jim, one of the owners. Really nice guy, seems excited to be here. The store is really taking shape, lots of nice rods, reels, and tons of tying stuff.

Good point, Gavin. Thanks. I'll try some different line configurations out if I can. I'm kinda leaning towards the Loomis for now, but I have heard awesome things about TFO's warranty. I've never had to use a rod's warranty before, but the first rod I get with a crappy one will break immediately, I'm sure. Anyone here have experience with either company's warranties?

This is why I'd like to cast them first. Right now I don't have anything over a 5wt, so I feel like an 8wt might be overkill. I don't fish larger rivers or lakes, but I do throw big meat. I can push a #2 dahlberg diver 30-35 feet with my 5wt., but it's exhausting after an hour or so.

Thanks STL. I really like the Rio Clouser line, I have it on a Sage DS 5wt- huge difference from Rio Gold. I was considering trying the Sharkskin magnum taper if I went with the Loomis, since it comes with $100 line credit. Otherwise I'll stick with the Clouser- I see it's not on Rio's site anymore though. Discontinued maybe?

I'm trying to put together a 7wt. combo for smallmouth. I have it narrowed down to 2 rods- TFO Clouser and the G. Loomis Shorestalker. The Shorestalker is $80 more, but I would get $100 in line credit with it, so it would really be $20 cheaper. I have heard nothing but good things about the TFO, can't find much on the Loomis. I'll be throwing BIG flies with these guys- #2-1/0 hair bugs, #1 poppers, #2-#1 buggers and clousers, with heavy weight. I'd like to plan a trip to Feathercraft for some casting, but it might not be in the cards (grad school at the end of the semester is crazy). Thanks in advance for the opinions.

Sounds good! I'll be in the black F-150 with the green Future Beach (real similar looking to Old Town). Have a safe drive there!

I haven't decided whether I am going to take the boat- leaning towards yes.

Getting pretty keed up for the bust next weekend. For those who don't know about it, it's a non-tournament fishing "festival" at Pinecrest Campgrounds just outside of Montauk Park. $60 gets you 2 nights (Fri/ Sat) at the campground, park admission Fri Sat Sun and 3 meals a day. Proceeds benefit cancer-related programs like Reel Recovery. Anyone else going? If so, what flies are you tying/ bringing up for the trip? Hope to see a good turnout, should be a great time. Here's a link to the event page on Reel Recovery Missouri's website: http://reelrecoverymo.org/events.html

Fantastic. I'm looking into a 9' 7wt., might have to go with TFO. Thanks for the post.

Yep, I remember catching so many fish under an indicator we started stripping line just to change things up. Those Rockbridge fish are UNREAL- talk about an ego boost!!! Great to hear from ya!

Great info, thanks Brian. I won't be using mine nearly as much as you did yours, I'm sure. Thanks! I was at the Rockbridge 2011 retreat, literally changed my life. It's great to encounter someone else who has benefited from the organization, online or otherwise. I hope you're staying healthy! I don't think I'll do a rack for this beast, she's ready to tow (whenever I can get the money for a trailer, that is).

I rarely visit the carp forum, but I saw this topic and had to get in on it. My friends and I are huge sushi fans, but we spend all our money on fishing stuff, so we usually just make it at home and have a "sushi party." A couple weeks ago, we headed out and caught about 30 5"-6" craws and yep, you guessed it! I created what I am now calling the "Bayou Roll." It has crawfish tail & claw meat (boiled of course), shrimp, celery, red pepper, garlic butter, and a topping of Louisiana hot sauce. It was hands down the most popular roll at our last get-together, even beat out the deep fried ones. One of my close freinds who normally won't eat any of our river caught meals said it was one of the best rolls she ever had. Try it! You'd be amazed at what you can create for a fraction of the price of a sushi bar! Here are a few pics of the process, start to finish: And yes folks, the craws were boiled alive, but they weren't still snapping their pincers while we were eating them, so don't sweat it too much.

Awww, I thought you'd never ask. As you can tell, I'm still a bit excited about the new truck- shined 'er up and took a few pics this morning. And so I don't to hijack my own thread, I'll revisit the topic at hand. The rod mount shipped today so I probably won't have it til next week. I'll re-post after a few trips and let everyone know how it holds up.

Thanks for the reply, Brian. Care to elaborate? Did the cups become un-stuck while driving, or did the device itself break?

Morning, all. I didn't want to double-post, so here's a link to the product review page- I thought folks reading in the fly-fishing section would be interested in these kinds of apparatuses, since that is really what they are intended for.

Did a few searches and couldn't find a topic discussing these yet- http://rodmounts.com/sumo-suction/ So I just bought an '03 F150 supercab, 6'6" bed. Although quite the upgrade from my totaled-out '99 Explorer, I quickly discovered that it was a pain to transport rigged fly rods (or any rods if the bed is full). Tried laying my 8' 5wt diagonally across the bed, and it would fit, but just barely, made me nervous. Thought about going in through the back glass- no go. The rod would bow down and get scraped up where it touches the bottom of my back glass window. Soooo, I just ended up breaking down and re-assembling every time I changed locations. Not a huge deal, but I wanted a less time-intensive way to get from A to B. After looking online, I decided to buy a car top rod carrier. Out of all the brands, I like the Sumo racks by Rodmounts the best, because as far as I know they are the only fully adjustable rack. I really wanted to go with the magnet mounts vs. the suction cup mounts, but I read good and bad things about both. I went outside armed with a refrigerator magnet and I discovered it would stick to my roof, but not my hood. Consequently, I ordered the suction cup version yesterday, hopefully be able to try it out this weekend. FWIW, the truck has a 3" front end lift and 33" BFG A/T's, kinda worried about overhanging branches catching the rod tips. Here's a link to a promo video I found on YouTube- Anyway... does anyone else use the Sumo racks, or a different brand in the same style, suction or magnet? Obviously they are used for short distance transport at low speeds, but for those of you that use these kinds of setups, how far/ fast do you go? Anyone use them with conventional tackle vs. fly rods? Thanks in advance for any replies. Eric

My river smallie setup is an 8' 5wt Sage DS, Lamson Guru 2 w/ Rio Coldwater Clouser line (WF5), and I LOVE it. I mainly throw clousers and deer hair bugs with it. The bigger/ heavier weighted flies can be difficult to turn over sometimes with a 5wt, but the areas I fish don't require more than a 40' cast (at the MOST). In fact, I caught a 16"er last weekend tossing a firetiger colored deer hair popper I tied on a size 1 Mustad 3366. I'm sure I could throw it farther with a 7wt, I just don't need to. Good luck on the search!!

This is my problem with senkos too. I wrap mine with duck tape (just a thin little strip) where the hook penetrates through. I usually rig wacky, but I don't know why you couldn't use this trick weightless.

Eric, if I'm gonna use flukes, I prefer the 4"ers as well....... and yes, I twitch it like a crackhead.

I don't have one I can sell, but I go with refurbished wheel chair batteries for my troller. They usually run around $20. Don't know what's available around Arnold, but Interstate batteries in Springfield usually has 'em. (They come with warranties, which is nice.)

I too have noticed the slow goggle-eye bite this year, but I haven't targeted them specifically yet. If you can got over to Pro Bass, pick up some green/ orange Uncle Buck's craws, I usually do well with them. A buddy of mine swears by the tiny brush hogs on a 1/8 oz jighead (not to be confused with baby brush hogs- the tinys are only about 2" long).

Been chasing them on the fly this year (clousers/ zonkers), but last summer my go-to was a pumpkin color baby brush hog T-rigged on a 3/0 with a 1/8 oz. sinker.

I had a saint named Roy for 9 years, he was small at ~165 lbs. Best dog I have had to date, got him from a no-kill shelter in Bolivar.

IMO, Backcountry is the best in Springfield. I have ordered from Caddis Fly Shop (thecaddisfly.com). They have a huge selection, no sales tax, and free shipping if you spend $25. I think shipping is only $2.50 if you have to pay for it. Bps sucks for tying- minimal selection, and what they do have is more expensive than anyplace else.

Hilarious.