jdmidwest

Wearing felt on the upper Taney lets you sneak up on the fish. Since most of the water is less than knee deep, you will be doing alot of wading unless the generators come on.

We have winter stockers here in Jackson. Small olive woolies or nymphs have worked here. A different kind of fishing, kinda like Taneycomo in low water. Later on in the winter the fishin gets better. We have had a problem with construction sediment for the last year. Darker colors in the chocolate milk water. It helps to kill and hour or 2 after work during the week but its really not trout fishin to me....

Thats a Red Ear. Catch them every spring in Wappapello on flooded roadbeds and at Council Bluff in the rocks.

A Latex Caddis was a common pattern in the mid 90's. On a trip to Blue Springs in Crawford County, MO. in search of trophy wild trout on a cold winter day, we stopped in for gas near Bourbon. Whilst relieving myself of some coffee, I invested a few quarters in a new secret material. I passed the new secret along to my co-pilot for the day and he also invested a few quarters. As soon as I returned to the tying bench that night, I came up with the Trojanator. I was a manager of an Orvis Fly Shop at the time owned by a great gal named Barb. I placed a few dozen of the new creations into the fly bin for sale. Needless to say, with a little promotion, they sold like hotcakes. I never told Barb what the fly was made of, but alot of fellows carried around a little protection just for a conversation piece. That fly shop is long gone now. At fly tying classes and club meetings, I have always tied this pattern for some fun and technique demo. I hope you enjoy this fly and catch a few fish on it and remember what we are here for is to have some fun.........Don't forget, IT GLOWS!!!! HOW ABOUT THEM CARDS!!! trojanator.doc

I agree with Jim and Loo10, I think we should let out some of our "Patent Patterns". My patterns have never made me a fortune, but they catch fish. I will start a new thread on the fly recipe portion. Copy away and tye one on.. GO CARDS!!!!!

It had to be Eleven Point, my first trout and the best of times for the best of friendships. True home waters would be the St. Francis, Big River, Castor River, Whitewater River, Little Black, 10 Mile, Crooked Creek, Bear Creek, Cane Creek, Duck Creek, Stanley Creek, and the Saline Creek for warm water smallies, kentuckies, largemouth, goggle eye, pikers, panfish, carp, and gar. They are local and fished the most. A natural, bright, pink sided Rainbow from the 11 pt. is the most beautiful fish in Missouri. The only other place I have seen rainbows like that would be Montana Creek in Alaska.

http://www.charteredwaters.com

Mizzou, 4 piece rods tend to have a little faster, stiffer action than the same rod in a 2 piece rod. Orvis uses a rating for flex, and if you look at the same rod, the 4 pc has the higher flex rating. Probably due to the extra ferrules. For the most part I would stick to a 2 piece rod unless I fly with it alot. I flew a 10' and 2)8'6" 2 piece rods to Alaska in a bazooka tube along with spinning rods in 2000. Not even sure you can carry on a rod nowadays, I have not been on a far trip lately other than business. I had a fly tying kit in my carry on luggage with a couple of sink tip fly lines on the Alaska trip. I had a big stall at the xray machine, I had to pull it all out. Come to find out they thought the line was a fuse. Of course, this was all pre 9/11. Now when I fly, everything is checked but a PDA or a book and a jacket.

Kayak. Sit on top style for fishing. You sit up higher and can see better. You can also get in and out better. You don't have to chase fish around inside of it either. Wilderness system or Ocean Kayak make great ones. 12' to 14' range is perfect. Lots more durable than pontoons, easier to paddle. You can rig an anchor system on a kayak in still water. I have been using my 2 yaks for 3 years floating streams and accessing MDC ponds that you can't get a real boat too. Works great for duck hunting also.

If your old net still has a good wood handle and bow, go to a dollar store and buy a nylon black laundry bag for a buck. Cut the bottom out and weave into your existing bow. Makes a great catch and release net for next to nothing. Otherwise, throw the net away and shake the fish off at your ankles to let him go. Nets just get caught on sawbriars and pop you in the head anyway....

The point is kinda mute, the voter turnout on a non-presidential election is poor. We would be lucky if 1 voter shows up at the polls for every 2 campaign ads that have run in the last few months.... Get out and vote! And remember, "He called her a liar", well nobody has said she wasn't.

Jack's Fork is not the only place. The last few years, they have been riding the paths along the Upper Current river near Baptist Access. They have a new horse camp about a mile away that caters to riders. A standard practice of mine was to fish the river down about a mile and then hit a foot trail back to the parking lot. The foot trail is now a foot deep and full of green apples. It does cross the river in at least one place.

Riverrunner, the best way to choose a rod is to use it. Every rod maker claims the best of everything, but till it gets in my hands, the final decision will be made. Orvis has a 30 day trial period on their rods thru mail order and the best service and product in the business. The best way would be to go fishing on the river, whether it be Norfork, White, or Little Red and spend a little of your time at the local fly shops trying the rods. Or you can buy a TFO based on price and you can always sell it on Ebay if you don't like it.

Oh, Oh, I just have to say it. So the Liberals can have the vote now, vote often, again.......Like in St. Louis a few years back, remember that? No offense to anyone, just had to post to this one. Some soldier gave his life for that right today....

Lilley, what is the rest of the story. Is someone else making a profit off of his patterns? Our is everyone he guides and uses his flies taking one for a pattern and tying more of them. I have always admired the guy that comes up with an original pattern or style of fly tying, but I have many, many pattern books that have flies with a persons name on them and the recipe for the fly listed along side of them. What is the recipe for? I was thinking about buying and fly and was wondering if it has anything in it that is bad for me? It is to make one just like it for yourself, so you can copy it exactly. And they are published by Umpqua, Orvis, and the Federation of Fly Fishers to name a few. Fame and fortune in this sport is recognition and the warm fuzzy feeling you get when you have passed your knowledge along to another. Haven't you felt sorry the the guy beating the water to a froth with a woolly bugger, and not catching anything during a hatch, and give him one of your hand tied flies that you are tearing them up on? You know he will save it, and try to copy it for later use. This grasshopper, is why we are called trout bums.........if we could make a living at it, it would be a job.

One should never buy a rod on price alone. What are you going to use it for? What size water and flies are you going to fish the most? Do you travel to places on a plane? Is there a dealer or a friend that has one so you can test cast it? The best advice would be to hook up with an experienced fly fisher or reputable fly shop and test cast a few different types of rods. I noticed that you did not specify a line weight or rod length, just price. In order of importance while fishing, the rod first, the line, then the reel. A poor rod or line will ruin the cast to the fish. The reel only comes into play if you hook up..........

Mark, if you are coming from STL try this place. Scenic Rivers Boats & Motors 7027 Stormy Ln Bonne Terre, MO 63628 (573) 358-7040. Should be on the way off 67 Hwy and is close enough to Black and Current rivers to offer a jet or 2. Also, pick up a trader paper when you get down south and see what is in it. We fish out of a modified Tracker 16' Panfish special with a 25hp Merc jet. The front stick steering is great for seeing the river in front of you while you are motoring. The shop in Doniphan modified the transom for the extra height. Good little boat to handle in tight spots, but the hull is thin, light gauge alum. and can't take much abuse on the rocks. A prop would be tough there, the advantage of a jet setup is that the drive is usually even with the bottom of the hull to skim the shoals. Ours will run in about 6" to 8" of water depending on the load. The way the riffles have flattened out over the past several years combined with the low flows, we still have limits of how far up you can run the boat.

Unfortunately, Montauk has dredged in the past when floods have silted up the holes. I have seen dredges above the waterfall in the past and warnings on opening day of deeper water in some of the holes that were dredged. In the past 5 years they have concentrated more on natural improvements like the big rocks in the campground area. This is to create natural scour holes and they seem to work some. Still, alot of the old deep holes have filled with gravel. This goes on outside of the park throughout the entire river. Low water is only part of the problems. In the 20 years I have fished the upper Current, most of the deeper holes have disappeared and the river has "flattened out" with gravel. What is really needed is better timber practices to control gravel and improve the watershed above the park and throughout the state.

No luck over the weekend? Did you go to Doniphan and check things out there? There should be some used boats for sale this time of year.

Did you let them go?? I saw very few rainbows right above or below Baptist, mainly browns. Nothing wrong with that, browns are more fun. There were mainly Rainbows around the cabins below the park, and several browns in the park too. Wish I had more time to fish the river, maybe now with gas on the downswing.

Spent the day on Current River above and below Baptist Access Saturday morning. Released a 22" and a 17" brown along with several smaller ones. Water is low and fish were shy. Alot of redds with mating pairs of brownies. Need to be careful where you walk to protect the beds. Not much hatching off, caught everything on beadheads. Fished the park Sunday after the crowds left out and caught several nice ones. One female shed her eggs when I handled her. I always remember the spawn being later in November. Seems early this year. Serious lack of Rainbows below the park....

$4000????? Maybe for the motor and jet, or something used this time of year. JD

Mark, I think it is Current River Marine, It is on the south side of town as you are leaving on 142. 573-996-7710 JD

If you are looking for a jet boat, try the shop in Doniphan. They know what they are doing and will set you up with a good rig. Or you can buy a kayak and fish out of that. I fish 11 pt both ways and wade in winter time. Depends on which end of the river I fish. Jet boats are noisy and a nuisance on the weekends, but since the 25 hp rule went into effect, it is better than the old days. I have seen water skiing below Whitten on the weekends before the 25 hp rule. That made for a big cluster f... The big boats tend to stay on the lower current river now. With the water flows of the past 5 years, most everything above Whitten has been off limits to even a jet. On a single day trip I tend to take the jet boat and motor up from Riverton to above Whitten and drift back. Can cover water faster if weather moves in. If I have more than 1 day, I take a float in the yak and wade fish the other day. Since the trophy area formed, the best fish are down below Turner in the deeper holes.

Montauk is more of a "remote" destination than many of the other areas mentioned. Most of the Park visitors come from areas like St. Louis that have great fly shops. You don't just stumble into Montauk and decide to fly fish and need a rod and reel. A successful fly shop needs a steady income to stay alive. Montuak would have to make its living March thru October unless the catch and release season is extended there like at Meramac. I hail from the Cape Girardeau area and we have nothing that resembles a fly shop. I shop mail order or drive to St. Louis for all of my supplies. At least the store at Montauk is carrying some of the basics to keep you going if you need something. As for the comment about no one at the Montauk store knowing anything about fly fishing, I hope they don't read this forum and get offended. Some of those guys fish it more than anyone else and know the insect cycles well. They just tire of getting asked what type of glo ball to use or what flavor of cheese are they hitting. Take a few minutes and ask the old guy what fly he suggests.