Brian K. Shaffer

-- great fish.. no doubt -- but 30 inches with that girth just does not add up It would have been a skinny snakey fish.. and this fish is not LOOKS like a fat 26 inch bow with an even larger than 16 inch girth. A great rainbow...MANY have seen and a few caught that size of fish... me being one EDIT - 12:56am - After watching the video 5 or 6 times.. c'mon... not 30 inches.. not even close Brian

Did I read right that it was 30 inches ??? Looks a little shorter to me. Still a grand fish... do not get me wrong for one second. Looks like a fat steelie! cheers, Brian

that spoonbill is crazy big.. i'm guessing 70+ your avatar pic made me shake a little best fishes, Brian

sorry.. i did reread your post and saw catch and release. Brian

i say roaring river... good dry fly action and better tasting fish just my .02 Brian

MOD.. might want to move to this to the BUY SELL TRADE section. Could get better results there. Brian

To me its kinda like - does anyone use those stick pins that you insert at the end of your fly line ?? or those leader links .. tie a knot in the fly line and a knot in the leader and you can link the two together without really doing much work ??? those are gimmicks i have never used anything -- shy of a nail knot tool -- to tie knots hopefully my eyes allow me to keep tying knots for a long time best fishes, Brian

flysmallie.. your post made me shoot milk out of my nose... nice one. Phil - you back out there again tonight ? Brian

You're not nuts eric.. not at all. I have told many people.. I would rather fool 10 fish that were 10 inches than catch one 20 incher. Call me crazy. Go ahead. I will be the one with the bent rod in hand. Al - your insight is fantastic. Thanks for chiming in. best fishes, Brian

I fished near to Dave one day at Rim Shoals. He is such a gem of a guy. Way back when I called Emily and asked what a day with Dave cost.. was around $500. best fishes, Brian

man.. thats so cool.. videos really tell the whole story... being on the water - in the moment - nice double !! I really want want of these FLIP camers now. best fishes, Brian

Last update - email me if you have eye on seomthing. Prices are reasonable. Brian

I remember when I was told that Crane Creek is a " totally wild and unmolested strain of fish ". Then I saw a truck there... taking fish out. Unmolested huh ? I know they just do not want the heat on them from messing with Crane Mc Cloud rainbows.. but they did want some eggs to create a Mc Cloud strain 1/2 breed for Taneycomo. Upside is - we have a 'wilder' strain of hatchery trout with prettier colors. ( on a side note, the parr marks on a juvenile full blooded mc cloud trout are gorgous ) Greg - I would like to read that srticle... where did you see it ? best fishes, Brian

That's a good tip for us penny pinchers. I have liked all of the Simms boots... except one pair of spiked Guide boots I bought that failed miserably. Premature wear to the rear of the heel cup due a backing of neoprene. They did replace them at no charge though, with a newer better design. This Vibram sole idea is good for the environment... though not new. I had a pair of LLBean spiked 5/10 rubber soles in 1998 that were great .. until you walk into a conveinence store and its like walking on an ice rink. The spikes with the rubber sole is going to prove to many to be an accident waiting to happen. So a word of caution - if you have the spiked rubber Vibram or 5/10 sole, do not ever walk on anything other than river, dirt or concrete. (also, many guides wont let you in the boat) Just wait.. you'll see others later who remark the same. In the meantime - stock up on clearenced felts! Simms boots at 50% off is a steal! best fishes, Brian

Terry - sad to hear that story. I remember when a Gassville Arkansas PD patrolman was chasing a drunk driver several years ago and somehow crashed and was killed. I believe the guy in question got away. Terrible. I betcha this criminal will have to pay restitution for your damages to your shop. Not sure if they can go after his folks for the money or what... but that just chaps my butt to hear of good hard working folk getting robbed into like that. My parents had 2 pretty nice TCBY like ice cream and frozen yogurt shops in Houston, TX. Our stores got broken into so many times it wasnt even funny. At one point - I saw one store 4 down from ours being broken into while I was sitting in my car at 2:30am doing surveillance on our store. The 2 guys dressed in all black head to toe threw a huge rock into the window of a nail salon.. I drove off and called the cops right away. The guys were never caught. We got to where we started hiding any money in ice cream pans in the freezer and covering with a mocked up fake ice cream top. We still got broken into but they never did get any more money. We just inturn got lots of hassle putting the pieces back together. I do hope that your cleanup and rebuild wont cost too much. What a dumb criminal though... he deserved to be caught .. the planets had aligned and his time was over! cheers, Brian

I knew thats what he was referring to... c'mon Phil. That jig looks too good!!! Did you tie that one up or somebody else ? You got em up there at your shop ? I would even try that thing. The hook gape looked good and didnt look like it was that soft gold one I would always seem to straighten out. Great camera... I might pick one up for chute videos. cheers, Brian

ha ha ha a haha.. Mr Farris gets a nod for POST OF THE YEAR with that one. ba zing! Brian

8 more days of summer left. Then its official. We could turn this into a FALL pretty pics FEST. I know I get to see trees with color on them for the first time of the year - cause I am pretty terribly colorblind. The vivid yellows and reds on the leaves just blows my mind. cheers, Brian

I say NEVER. There is no such thing as a WILD stocked trout in my opinion. Find some elusive native fish in a stream and you will catch my drift. Brian

PC - what do you want on the little Bass Pro 6'3" 3 weight ? Let me know by email. Brian

Here's Rip with his big ole' fatty mcgee of a trout : And here's the story for those who havent read it before : Howard "Rip" Collins with his brown - LINK cheers, Brian

Dadgumit though.. I wished the crash into the rocks would have been a little more dramatic. But the guy who kept saying.. that thing is gonna blow up.. he made it a little better. I agree Terry, that could have been much much worse.. I kept waiting for the boat to veer off the straight line and into the filmers boat. sheesh.. Brian

R/R let that fish go the day they weighed it. It broke the Taney record by a mere one ounce. Brian

Well.. .. thanks! It was a fun time. Kind of a Taneycomo Q and A gone crazy. cheers, Brian

If you guys know the nail knot - you could do an Allbright knot, which is essentially a nail knot tied over a loop. Check it out here : take your pick from the video's below; http://www.google.com/search?q=albright+kn...;rlz=1I7GGLL_en cheers, Brian