jdmidwest

Here is a pic of 3 eagles on the Kenai River I took a few weeks ago. The pair was feeding on salmon carcasses and the other kept making flybys.

MO boat laws are different. I have been told that if you scrap a boat out, you need to notify the Dept. of Revenue so they can retire the registration numbers. I was surprised at the cost of registering a boat, motor, and trailer this summer myself. The first lady at the license office told me the costs were going to be $180 to register a setup that cost me $700. Of course, first time at the license office, I did not have all the needed paperwork. Second trip, I ended up spending around $90, only after presenting enough papers to choke a horse, my birth certificate, proof of insurance, tax papers for the last 10 years, insurance agents personal address and home phone number, what I had for lunch and a receipt for what I paid for it, my high school girlfriends phone number and bust size, a resume, a reason for wanting to buy a 40 year old jon boat and trailer (notarized and witnessed by 30 people of differing denominations), bill of sales, old titles, and a promise that I would never do this again till the next time. And, after all of that, they made me feel like they were going above and beyond to issue me the needed permits to float my boat. Did I mention that I would rather have bamboo shoots shoved up between my fingernails than to visit the local license office?

I posted the pics and the report under a new topic on Exotic Places. Pics and everything. Alaska trip, Palmer to Kenai

This has been going on for a couple of years now. They released a list of properties nation wide to be sold off. Most were isolated properties that were not connected to any larger parks or forests. I believe the courts or the governor put a halt to it and it stirred up quit a ruckus. I have not heard from it in a while. I thought the issue had probably been tied up in court.

Yellow and black work well too! It is a simple pattern to tye and the foam is available in most towns that have a Wally World or a Craft store.

Here is a link to the Take Back the MDC Website that gives another side of the political BS at the MDC. I can see why there have been some grumblings on here about the workings of the department. Interesting read, it seems to affect all that fish or hunt in the state of MO. TAKE BACK THE MDC

FAOL has lots of good info on there, but here, there are alot of more open minds. The Admins on FAOL seem to be a bunch of old farts. I don't use their forum much. I will post alot on here. Ask and ye shall receive...

I stated that the DT line loads the rod better on shorter casts, and because of the gradual taper, it is a smoother action. It does not load the rod faster and I did not mean to imply that. WF lines in distances under 20 feet cast like crap and do not make a nice loop unless the rod is tippy like you said. DT line is better on small streams and for delicate presentations. And the rod's flex has alot to do with the line it is able to cast. I tend to stick with the upper mid range of rods as far as action goes. I don't like the tip flex actions, too much work.

Double taper line is a better bet for shorter casts. It loads the rod better and makes for better roll casts. It loads easier for the shorter range of casting strokes. And it has the advantage of being turned around and used from the other end. Weight forward is designed for longer casts, the taper is in the front and the line shoots for distance. If you are going to be casting 40 yards or fishing salt water, the WF would be the way to go. I don't think roll casting will come into play here. Like rods, lines are specialized for the needs of certain types of fishing situations and casters. Trial and error is the best way. Some rods cast better with a line size heavier in come cases. You will have to fish several different lines to get the best one for the rod. Avoid cheaper lines as they almost always disappoint.

I think that is why that it is spelled SKINZ. Not to be confused with the poor little critter that the Eskimos beat to death to make a pair of boots.

C&R in a park without stocking would be worthless, why fish a stream with no fish? The last trip to Montauk, the Fly only area was loaded with fish on Sunday morning and by Tuesday afternoon was picked pretty clean. I like to fish, but I like to catch more.. They stock 2.5 fish per estimated tag to be sold. Most everyone who purchases a tag will keep at least one limit of 4 per day at Montauk and Bennett in my experiences, you see everyone carrying a stringer of fish. They will change clothes, hats, fish different areas to catch additional limits thru the day. If you have ever fished the parks in the middle of the week, you know how low the fish numbers can get. If it were C&R, MDC would have to start feeding the fish during the week also like they do during the normal winter C&R season. The streams in the parks do not have enough food sources to feed the amt of fish in the stream. If $3 is too much money, each park has sections of trout waters below them that offer better fishing, better fish, better scenery, and less crowds. Best of all, its free fishing, you only need a fishing license to fish it. You only need a trout stamp if you want to retain trout on these waters. Arkansas charges whether you catch and release or keep on most of their streams, the same as they charge if you retain fish. The only places I retain fish is in the put-and-take areas like the trout parks and in Ark. I only keep the rainbows. My family enjoys trout and I like fresh trout while camping. But, I only retain what I am going to eat fresh, frozen trout looses flavor too fast. By the way, the coffee at Bennett is supplied by the concessionaire that owns the store, not the MDC. I think there is a can for donations there also.

Wet wading a tailwater stream could be a little leg numbing even in 90 degree weather. Seal Skinz are breathable socks designed to be worn with shoes to keep your feet dry. If you go over the top of them, your feet will get wet. If you wet wade, use socks or neoprene booties. Best bet would be lighter goretex waders or hip boots in summer months. That water is still colder than most springs or creeks.

More pics of the trip. Rained 5 days out of 7. Low light pics were grainy. Alaska Part 2

The silvers were all pooled up in a clear water pool in slow water waiting to run up to spawn. Pink spanker flies and purple leeches. Spinning rods, we used size 4 super vibrex spinners in gold/orange, gold/blood red, and firetiger. They pretty well stacked up and moved as a group when you cast to them. First 20 minutes of the day caught them fired up then they shut down. They would spook when you cast a fly rod so we would switch off to spin gear. We fished another spot that was glacier milky but slow water. The strikes were pretty agressive there because they could not see us. I had one bull slam it twice and finally take it from about 10' off the bank. It is a blast to be charged by a 15 lb fish. I have read that this was the worst year for silvers since 1999.

I participated in a survey a few years back while fishing at Montauk. They had several ideas back then. The problem was more people using the parks and catching fish and they can only produce X amount of the fish with the current hatchery productions. They asked for several solutions. One was a catch and release only 1 or 2 days in the middle of the week when pressure was low. My response was, are you going to release any fish during these days? The response was no, so I responded with who would want to spend money to fish a park with no fish. Later, they reduced the daily limit to 4. The MDC relies on the daily permit for the upkeep of the fisheries. They are depending on your $3 to keep up production. They don't really care if you don't kill your limit, it works out to their benefit. It would be a hard sell to them. Why would you worry about shelling out the money to fish the park when every park has free fishable water below it. And MO has tons of other free streams that you can catch and release all of the year without even purchasing a trout stamp? In Ark., you have to purchase a stamp just to fish the trout waters.

Alaska trip 2007. Things went great this trip. We started out at the Portage River outside of Girdwood and spent the first 2 days fishing at our friends cabin. Come to find out, he purchased a 60 acre property where he built the cabin. All of the comforts of home, heat, generators, outhouse, gas stove and oven, 4 wheeler, jet boat, and an outhouse. All shuttled across the river on a 16' boat. First day fishing only produced 1 keeper silver in the group and it was on my pink spanker fly. The fish was filleted and grilled on the open fire. It was excellent. All of John's friends bugged out and left us on Sunday night. Monday was better, fresh fish and a brand new day without anyone else to stir up the fish. We caught fish all day at the fishing hole, a freshwater clear stream that run into the turbid glacier waters of the Portage. What a beautiful piece of property, swamp lands, open ponds and water, and a salmon breeding ground all in one. It is a waterfowlers dream land. Tuesday morning we drove to the Quartz Creek on the Kenai Pen. Thanks AK for the tip. Found an access from a highline above the campground and walked down to see the river. On the way back up to the car, we found fresh bear tracks in the road that were made between trips to the car. My radar went on high alert and I had a hard time concentrating on the fishing. The creek was loaded with spawning red salmon, and the dollies were there too. 5 hours of fishing produced about 50 fish in the 3-5 lb. range. They were fat pigs, full of eggs. we only covered about a half mile of stream. Of course, the magic bead was the lure, and on flowing streams of the Kenai drainage this year you could peg it 2" above the hook. All were caught in the corner of the mouth or the lips, and the barbs were pinched down so all were released clean with no mortality. Wednesday found us back at the cabin for the silvers. When we motored into our spot, we found a new surge of fresh fish. We hammered them till afternoon, took our limits, then headed back to town. I caught a male pink salmon, and Roger had the camera out to take a pic. A moose walked out behind me from John's property and made a different photo shoot. My first moose spotting in AK was complete. Dinner at the Double Musky and off to bed again. Thursday, back to the cabin and the silver hole. More fresh fish, hammered them again. Left out at noon to drive to Palmer for the Alaska State Fair. It was different, a very large event in AK, definitely worth the trip. Friday, hooked up with a new friend for a float on the Kenai River. We put in at the Russian River Ferry and floated to Jim's Landing. We saw bears, eagles, and several fish. The river was loaded with spawning reds, but the rainbows were not quite on yet. I had the best rainbow on, close to the 30" class, but lost him in the fight. The knot came undone. By the time we got to supper at the Silvertip Grill in Girdwood, news had travelled thru town that I had let the biggest rainbow in the Kenai break off. I downplayed it as just an ole spawned out red as I enjoyed a fine Alaska Amber draft at this fine eating establishment. Saturday, boo hoo, last day. Made up our minds and went back to the Quartz and hit some new sections further up. Same thing, nailed them and had a great day. Knocked off early, went to Hope for lunch, then back to the cabin to visit with John before we left out. This trip, the wildlife all came out for me. We had Belugas and Dall Sheep along the Inlet. Bears and Eagles on the Kenai. The moose on the Portage. I have 488 digital photos to edit and clean up. We toured the glacier and the bay at Seward. Hope was a good side trip. The berries and foliage was still in late summer mode. I am busy planning for next year, renting a RV this time to bypass the driving and will spend more time on the water. Here is a link to some of the photos so far, I will post more later. Alaska 2007 at photobucket com

As far as I know, Orvis does not offer a furled leader. They have a braided leader which is a different material and construction than the furled leader. The braided material is a butt section, it has a mono terminal end. I make my own braided leaders from a material that I buy from Beartooth in Montana. It is not tapered like the Orvis ones but it gets the job done. It takes a shock that mono won't. It is more visible and I switch to mono in delicate presentation.

I'm back! Got back to the house at 3:30 this morning, grabbed a nap and had a half day of work. Cleaning up equip tonight and catching up. Pics and a full report will follow later this week. In Brief, this trip was better than last. We were on new water from the last time. The time of the year let me see more. We had a cabin on the Portage River for salmon fishing, not the 20 mile. We fished the Quartz Creek and had a ball with the Dollies. We floated a new section of the Kenai from the last time. We saw the Alaska State Fair. I caught dollies, rainbows, silvers, pinks, and reds. I saw bears, moose, belugas, dall sheep, and bald eagles. I learned about the berries and flowers of Alaska that I missed on the last trip. We saw some new sights and places. Nonstop for 7 great days of fishing. Best of all, 50 degree weather.................

Could be a meth induced retardation in that county! The smallies look malnourished, I have seen in in places where forage has disappeared. It could be stress related to the high temps lately also, they may have quit eating. The one fish looks like a redear to me, they could have been released by a local that fishes Council Bluffs which is loaded with them. Contact Mike the fisheries biologist at Cape Girardeau with this article for his imput. I have worked with him in the past on your fishery and he has a strong attachment to it. I have worried about Big River and the cattle pollution.

With 6 percent of the computer market share, jump right on the MAC. Inquire around where you live and see if anyone services or sells software for them. Support for them is few and far between. They are good for desktop publishing, but if you want to game, or about anything else, you have to use Windows PC.

Fired up and ready to leave. Packed to NW airlines standards with a few pounds to spare. Driving to TN after work tomorrow and catching the plane at Memphis on Sat. May drop by and look for Elvis while I go thru. Had to pick up a catfish pole, my buddy has lost his faith in the fly rod. Last time the spinning rods never came out. I don't plan on it this time unless we hit the open water of the ocean and need to fling a spoon. I am sure the fly fishing will be fine. The rivers are getting some rain and the forcast is for more next week. The salmon were needing some more water to start pushing up stream. The fish gods are working right for the streams I have planned. I will see all new waters this trip if everything goes as planned. The nice thing about our trip, no schedules, no reservations, no place to be. Touch down in Alaska, pick up a rental car, and go fishing. Just good friends having a good time in the best waters in the US. I will post if I hit a wireless connection, maybe even send a few pics. Otherwise, I will catch up in about 10 days or so.

Never will know?? What did the mechanics say was wrong with it?

Does any one have a pattern for the PMS fly? I assume it is blood red.....

I posted a while back about the same thing. Ed Story would have had the patent on the pattern if there was such a thing. Although, Feather-Craft has deviated from the original pattern over the years, you would only have to look at the current catalog/newsletter for the current materials necessary. The pattern from the original "MO. Trout Flies, How to Tye them and Fish Them" 1991 edition 2 is as follows: Size 12 dry fly hook Prewaxed 8/0 or 6/0 thread 2 strands peacock herl for back Spin Dubbed pale olive synthetic material Flyrite #41 Furnace hackle I have always thought the pattern resembles the Catalapa worm in coloration, a deadly bait if anyone has ever used them as live bait. Ed calls the pattern a Dry Wooly, but later on he refers to a method of skating them subsurface like a wet fly. I always grease them good and fish them dry. I use a yellow micro chenille for the body in lieu of the dubbing.

Thanks for the report, it helps on the decision on where to go. I was wanting to go north to the Montana Creek. I am interested in the Quartz and did a little research, we might give it a try. All tyed up and getting ready to go. Spent the weekend tying flies and picking up the last few items for the trip. Time to pack up the tying stuff for the trip. Any last minute patterns? You mentioned the Parks Highway streams, which ones did you fish? Last trip, we had 2 out of 7 days that had good sun. The rest was overcast and sprinkles. But you could fish in it. Only one afternoon at Skilak and a few hours at the Russian was a washout and I spent the afternoon in the tent reading and snoozing.