Jeff Tief

Hey thanks Laker on a nice trip we had to RRSP.Thought we had missed the boat after the mid-week report we got from Montauk but had a great time just lucky that i caught one more big fish than the Mrs.Maybe another trip this fall with us and Mrs.Laker?

Wife Susie and I fished late Wed. thru Fri. afternoon and caught some nice rainbows to go along with the regular stockers.Fished Thursday for 4 hours and caught 5 bows from 3 1/2 to 6# .Four came from zone 1 section and 1 in the c&r. Fished again Friday about 4 hours with the heat and saw several more big fish besides the ones we released but didn't fool any of them.Water was in excellent shape and we left before the weekend Holiday crowd.

Some good browns moved into the park in the last week or so.Got a text message from youngest that one of our friends had caught a 7 and 1/4 brown trout in the campground.

Doe Run has a smelter at Herculaneum that we would get 10-15 boxcars of lead a week from several years ago-but don't know what they are producing now.The plant at Glover ,Mo also had the big ingots-told they weighed a ton a piece . They haven't done much for years now

Nice photos on what sounds like a great day to be outdoors.Used to switch the Doe Run plant first at Glover then at Herculaneum.Had a friend give me one of the smaller ingots of lead,don't know how many jig heads we molded out ot that piece.Again thanks for the pic.

The last time at Montauk and the 2 kayakers paddling thru the campground area was a first for me in over 45 years fishing the state parks.

Al,I recall some good trips to Maramac when we were younger especially the one where Uncle Nip drove and had everyone pretty well car sick by the time we got there. BBt try them all and see which ones you favor, as stated it is often too crowded but it does offer some degree of a safe environment if you have a family and don't have the extra time or cash to get away on a fancier trip.We took the youngest kids off and on for years and always had a great time whether we caught a few,a bunch, or none.

Wow you allmight have missed our calling.Watch some shows on TV that aren't as entertaining and you didn't have any commercials!

BBT,took a friend to BSS his first time to fish it back in1986.He had grown up fishing Maramac Springs as we all had simply because it was the closest to home.We arrived,bought tags and while I was putting waders on suggested he walk over to the bridge in zone 2 to look for fish.Within seconds he was hustling to get to the water to throw at what he described as a 7-8# rainbow.No luck on it so I suggested looking upstream for fish and he took off again to fish for another big fish-not the same fish this one was a little smaller.Again no luck so I suggested checking above the dam on the highway side and I would check by the hatchery side.I didn't find anything but again he had spotted a big fish.When I got to him he was trying to light a cigarette and was shaking so bad he was haing trouble getting it lit. As the day progressed we fished zone 1 starting at the dam and fishing to the spring hole.It wasn't dredged out back then and we worked our way upstream sight fishing for big rainbows.We counted 27 big fish in zone 1 alone and probably missed seeing some fish.I did catch a big rainbow at the guage hole that weighed 11 1/2 #.We fished later thru zone 2 and he had a shot at a fish at the rock hole bigger than the fish I caught.That was the kind of fishing BSS had in the early days for us and guys who fished it long before we did talk of the same fishery.Still hope that someday with all the improvements it can return to it's old glory days.If not may have to invest in a 2wt.

Wished I had one of our salmon rods-and heavy tippet might have been able to hook the kayak and see if I could get them in.Waiting on a name plate for Brett's bench then we will plan something.Been over 2 years trying to get this accomplished.

Harv,we fished again the last 3 days with some rain mixed in the last 2 days.Caught a lot of fish but most were small.Had read in one of the Conservation fishing reports that the stockers were going to be small due to some high water events.Had flash flood warnings out but the stream was still in great shape when we left.Saw several browns in the campground but not near the numbers from previous years.The lads who keep the keeper browns out of the river are hurting a great fishery.Did get to talk to Idylwild and Ten-Pointer a couple times- don't know if they saw the 2 kayakers paddling thru the campground section.Explained to them that type of action could get them in trouble they claimed innocent of the fact.

Anybody fish the White River around Hesperia,Mi?We fished it several years ago in October and had a great time.Not as much water as some of the other streams but had a lot of fish and not a lot of people.

Brett loved going to Montauk when he got the time.Between girlfriends,work and finishing College that wasn't always an option.Have been trying to get a bench at Montauk in his name for almost 2 1/2 years and hopefully it should happen anytime now.Wrote a check this spring and have a site okayed by the powers that be so now it's just the wait.Think he liked eating at the Lodge as much as the flyfishing. Your quote really hit home thank you.

Some of our best fishing memories came from my youngest 2 children's reaction to our fly-fishing.The one that I truly cherish most of all was a facebook post our son Brett had made.Brett passed away 3 years ago September so that is probably what makes even more special.We had gone to Montauk and had a reaaly good day fishing.That night he posted what had a lot of credit card commercial sound to it "flyrod and reel $400 dollars, fishing license and trout stamp $20, flyfishing with my Dad at Montauk priceless." He remarked that he had more comments on that post than anything he had ever posted.

Great pictures ,thought I recognized the name Steve Frailey.Don't know him but have been in his shop Baldwin Bait and Tackle on several trips North to fish the Pere Marquette.Real nice shop and website if you are planning a rip to Michigan.

mark,you are correct and where is magnolia hollow.

Welcome and hope to see some pictures from your area not that were not that far away from you in Desloge.

Cabelas has had a Redington Pursuit 9' 8wt 4 pc. for 59.99 with a lifetime warranty.You would have to order it as they sold out all models in this line at the Hazelwood store.Years ago we fished the PereMarquette and the Muskegon and I took an old spinning rod ugly stick with a cardinal 6 spinning reel with 20# test and my old buddy Nick Knowles caught several fish on tackle the size you are talking about.

Christina will be in Susie and my prayers;

Wife Susie and i fished Wednesday,Thursday and a couple hours Friday with mixed reviews.Caught a fish pushing 4# on the first day above the old campground bridge and fished for a couple nice browns in the lower end of the park.Fished the river from the cable down to the cabins and saw 5-6 fish over 3#s.Had one on for a moment before the hook pulled out.Found lots of fish Thursday in the fly zone especially from Hudson's corner downstream.These fish were pretty tough as we caught fish but not as consistent as usual.Went to the bait zone and promptly stunk it up on a 18"-20" brown and rainbow;small nymph and slow reaction and not enough hook to hold the brown and just flat out missed the rainbow. Back to the river Thursday pm and again didn't stick any of the big fish.Had a pretty good rain late Thur-early Fri and fished the fly zone a hour or so before the high water came thru with assorted limbs,vegetation and such.The spring branch had turned we we left but the main river portion was still muddy when we left arounf 1230pm.

Oneshot,we will add her to our growing list of loved ones .

Howdy Russ! It has been a while,you are correct on the fly.Hope to see more of the old friends on the stream as Susie and I both have retired.

Buzz, we fish a lot in the size 20 range and as you stated it's a blast catching fish on such small flies.We fish it more in flat water or water that's not overly deep or broken as it is hard to locate it in those conditions.Wife, Susie caught a rainbow in the 10# range on this little emerger.Works great on browns too.

Use to fish a little with an old timer at BSSP years ago, then lost track of him for several years.Saw him again about 10 years ago at RRSP.We talked a little while we fished and then he wanted to trade a few flies.I used to tie some 1/100 oz. jigs with a little wild turkey marabou and he in turn offered a little "tan emerger" as trade.It was weighted with the smallest lead wire you could buy and used dark brown thread and a single strand of tan embroiderey thread as the body.I have caught a lot of nice fish over the years on those jigs like I traded him but that little emerger has accounted for several double digit fish in the years since our meeting.Have since not seen him in a long time;seems his name was Clint Shaw.Easy to tie and fishes really well on flourocarbon;wrap a lead base and secure the lead withe the dark brown thread.Tie a single strand of the emb.floss at the rear of the hook and wrap forward.Finish the fly with the dark thread as the head.

Haven"t fished it in years but as a kid would fish with my grandpa and brother.He was always trying to catch some of those big bluegills while older brother and I would sooner or later end up in the creek below the dam.It was real pretty there albeit a lot of snakes and at times girls our age sunbathing.Often hard to concentrate on fishing with all the distractions:first wife"s Uncle caught a small rainbow in the stream about 40 years ago. Figured it escaped from the spring branch.