Nortrad

Great report and like the diagram. I was thinking the same concept, super gluing the pieces around the shank. Lucky guy, Kelly Galloup streamers...

Cool idea. Ah yes, the research, took some home in a sandwich bag for further study. I wonder what they look like from the fish's POV? Thanks.

Thanks Gavin. Two sets of rubber legs, hmmm. I'll have to find a solution to the wing color or substitute material. I really love how they tie on and cut. The material doesn't fray and sticks if glued. I'll stick with the stinger I think, they floated the best, righting themselves quickly. There's another hook style that may work also. I tied one Chubby Chernobyl style and it did not do well. I wish Card's Cicada had the recipe posted somewhere. Is there any foam thicker than 2mm at local craft stores? Any ideas on wings? Also, I took your advice on the nymph leader with the 6' of Seaguar fluoro, works much better.

Did well with this as an indicator, only catching two 'bows on them. Had two fish swirl around it, had another hit/miss. I think that was the #4 stinger. Had 'eye opener' when I fished at Parker after lunch, nice hole above the creek entry, a bow came out of the water and chomped my indicator. I set, and just pulled it out of his mouth, thought I could maybe get him with one of my two nymphs! So I rigged the cicada with a dropper of my design that proved very effective. My comments as designer of these flies, pro/con: they float low as they should, serve well as indicator, western hopper-style; Cons: the amber wing color washed off from the water, my Prisma amber marker didn't hold to the thin, packing foam, it also absorbs water, affecting the float; I had to squish the water, though not much, out of them. And, the nicer, glass bead eyes fell off, apparently the Zap a Gap didn't bond the glass to the foam? The stinger hook flies floated better than the TMC 5263, probably the down hook serving a a keel. So, they have a lot of potential, got a lot of props from guys I ran into down at Parker's. It was cool fishing a 'western' rig. Post a report tonight after I load my pics. Had my best three 'bows ever

Thanks! The ones in front are on a #4 Gamakatsu stinger (hopefully to discourage the dinks), the others on TMC 5263, #6, #8. The bead eyes on the two are some glass ones I had here at the house. The other eyes are red orange craft foam 'critters' from my daughter's arts and crafts shelf, punched out with a leather punch on smallest setting. They all float pretty well, though the glass eye ones are a bit heavier. Hopefully I'll see some top feeding of these. Probably going to use one of these for my indicator and drop something off the back.

Nice, looks like 20 lbs.? 15 at least. You must have slept well that night after the fight.

Here's some bugs that emerged from my vise this week. Hopefully a big brown or 'bow will commit.

Double or triple surgeon's knot? How big is the leader above your tippet? I have started tying triple surgeons for my tippet and it seems to be stronger than the double. Excellent report and it's great to hear the fish are rising. May have to bring some earplugs with me when I come down. Hopefully will get some cicada action.

Tomorrow or Monday might be even better, warmer temps will bring a lot more cicadas out.

Guess I'm out of the loop, just read it on this blog. What a great innovative tier. Sounds like he may have had a debilitating disease? He will be missed. http://blog.hookflyfishing.com/2011/05/rip-shane-stalcup-1961-2011.html

I've used the Charlie Craven method with the air can and freezer bag with good results, just remember to puncture the bag 2-3 times with your scissors, or it will explode a small cloud of dubbing onto your shirt and lap...

Wonder if the the stretch below Baptist is cleaned up? Those students I ran into last weekend had some trouble heading into the horse shoe. It didn't look good downstream from there. The river's going to be at a higher flow than a normal for a Memorial Day weekend. I predict some dumped canoes and, hopefully, no major incidents. There's some bad structure for negotiating after you've been dumped.

Welcome, you'ved fished a truly great river, challenging and rewarding.

Excellent fish! Someday, someday, I will get to fish this river again...

Wow, sorry about the rods. "Meat and Potatoes" is a great name for a streamer. Should have thrown some last Sunday, should have, would have, could have...

Once again, you are the man Al. What did your fishining bud get the fish on? Trade secret?

There's only been two times that I've fished and been successful when the fish were top or surface feeding, both in upper Tan Vat. Once when they were sipping midges, and once when they were keying on caddis. I'm envious of the guys who got some cicada action. Hopefully I'll get back when they are keying on those big bugs. Tied up some foam flies that should work.

Hey Gavin, Jim, one of the organizers gave me the pitch for the bash that weekend. Met him in the parking lot at Tan Vat. Sounds like a good time for a good cause.

I shouldn't complain, 2 decent 'bows landed, one in AM in upper Tan Vat, the other in the PM below Baptist, the others were smaller, including a dinky planter brown. Lotsa snag-ups, changing rigs, etc. Explored downstream from Baptist, new holes, some filled in with gravel. Had some luck at the horse shoe and above there. Saw two big tom turkeys with long beards on the pavement heading down into Baptist. Ran into a snapping turtle on the trail and took some pics of him. Encountered a group of Mizzou students who had crashed their canoe into a boulder above the horse shoe at Baptist. It was wrapped into a U-shaped piece of fiberglass! They were all fine, no injuries. They had already set up camp on the gravel bar. They had two other canoes that were fine. I told them that a storm was probably coming and they said they knew about it. I contacted the sheriff's office to give them a head's up when I got back home last night. No pics, forgot the digital, just a disposable for the few I took. The fish must have filled their bellies with cicadas on Sat. Saw no surface feeders, heard some in the trees in the afternoon. Al, you guys must have worked them too hard on Sat. Ran into hard showers when getting back to Springfield.

You are welcome. A lot of guys have really helped me be successful on the Current. I'm logging off to hit the road for Sunday fishing. Hopefully I can post a good report tonight.

True that, lotsa weight, water haul it back up stream and mend, mend, mend...

Depends on the water level. I'd go deep, bigger nymphs, buggers. Tonight's rain should be it, possible rain tomorrow. So, hopefully the river will not go too high. I'm heading down Sunday. Check the earlier report from this week for possible flies. I use tandems, various combos. If it's up, I'm throwing streamers for part of the time.

Wow! What an excellent report and pictures of the changes from Baptist downstream on your blog. Who knows what the stretch down to Parker looks like. Thanks for sharing, and hope the rain doesn't make it rise up too much. What a changed river. Very nice brown!

I hope I'm lucky enough to be on the river when there's some feeding going on, tied up some reasonable foam patterns that should work.

Whoa, ease up on us Chance! You guys have mastered this creek, considering the skittish nature of the wild trout. They will only get more wary as it drops. Excellent report!