ness

Dang -- it is a brown. I thought I saw parr marks in the leetle pic and quit thinking.

There there's a baby rainbow, Nick. I know what you mean about the indicator causing its own set of problems. But -- the benefits can often outweigh the problems. If you're in fairly fast water and find the indicator dragging, make a series of little mends as needed to keep the indicator moving with the current. Try to be gentle with them, and keep in mind your doing this for the fly, so visualize what effect you're having on it. If you throw in a mend and it jerks the indicator -- well, you've also just disrupted the fly's drift below. Sounds like you were fishing in one of the Parks? As for not getting them landed -- don't let there be any slack in the line, but also don't pull too hard. You know, just right First off, keep the slack out of the line while your fly is drifting. As the fly moves past you'll want to lower your rod tip to give it the extra line it needs to continue downstream without dragging. If you can flick your rod tip to feed some line out, all the better. If you get a strike, lift, but don't jerk, to set the hook. Immediately get any slack out of the line. I usually do that by stripping in, rather than cranking. It's quicker and let's me assess what I've got on the end before I commit to the reel and the drag.

Yeah, I like the bread and butter too. Here's an easy recipe for those: 1 large pickling cucumber, cleaned and cut into 1/2-inch slices 1 medium onion, thinly sliced 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup cider vinegar 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds 1/4 teaspoon celery seed 1/4 teaspoon turmeric Combine all ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 7-8 minutes. Transfer pickles and onions into container. Fill jar with brine. Leave a 1/2-inch space.

Actually? The recipe I posted is a cold pack-type pickle. You ought to try it -- much simpler, crispy and fresh tasting. Ready in a week too.

Pickling cukes are smaller with a thinner skin and smaller seeds. But, any cukes will work -- just get them when they're smaller.

I've been having pretty good luck with most stuff this year. Peppers and maters looking very good. Picked a couple banana peppers yesterday, and there are some Anaheims about ready. Maters any day now. Beans have been so-so. Pole better than bush, but neither great. Cukes are coming on -- gonna be making pickles later. Just pickled a few beets, but they're done. Succession planted some more beans and carrots last weekend. Everything got a good watering today -- looks like a hot week ahead.

Here's a recipe for refrigerator pickles that I really like. They taste a lot like Claussen dills: 12 4-inch pickling cucumbers cut into quarters 6 teaspoons minced garlic 1-1/2 teaspoons mustard seed 1 tablespoon dill seed 6 cups water 2 cups cider vinegar 1/2 cup kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon allspice 5 pint jars Add cucumbers to clean jars. Bring remaining ingredients to a boil and then let cool slightly. Strain liquid and divide spices equally among the jars. Pour on hot liquid, wipe jar rims and seal. Leave on counter for three days then refrigerate for 1 week before opening. They'll keep for several months in the fridge -- and they do need to be in the fridge since they're not heat processed.

Kernoodles lives! I think it's private though. If you beleive the signs. http://goo.gl/maps/kTjM

Kernoodles . Only a select few folks will know where that one is. Not much going on around there from what I can tell. I work about a mile from there.

Don't know much about the MO side lakes, but I occasionally canoe Shawnee Mission, Kill Creek on the KS side. Need to try out Lenexa. There are some strip pits with public access south of KC. I don't see too many kayaks or canoes on any of them. I will occasionally see some folks on the Kaw when I drive over it.

Thanks Gavin. Makes sense.

Yeah -- that's what I was getting at: deep water, more leader. Didn't think you'd scrunch your indicator right up to the fly line. Makes sense now. Now, 20-foot leaders, big stonefly nymphs and some weight: somebody's gonna get hurt.

And if you're fishing in 10-1/2 feet of water, you add leader/tippet or slide that indicator to the line?

Looks like an Umpqua logo on that one. Might try there.

Brian -- I'm having trouble understanding the first paragraph there. So, you've got 11 feet of leader and tippet, and a long cast of 30 feet. Where's the indicator in relation to the end of the line? Personally, I struggle with casting heavy nymphs on long leaders for deep water -- like you need to do on the NFOW. And, then there's the busting my arse part, but that's off topic. Should I size up from my 3-weight?

It's kinda hard to give a single explanation of how to nymph. Water depth, current speed and direction, fish species, your skill all come into play. I'd agree that not using an indicator would be ideal, but a lot of folks (like ness) can't see the dang line in most conditions. So, I like to stack the odds in my favor with an indicator. Typically, you want to get the fly down quickly to the bottom but have enough buoyancy in the indicator that it just floats in the surface. That means you need the balance between fly, weight and indicator to be just right. Since stream depth and current can change within a few feet, it's nice to have indicators that are easy to adjust up and down. Cast the rig well above the suspected lie for the fish, and mend upstream to slow the sunken fly to the speed of the water at the bottom (which is traveling slower due to friction with the stream bed). The fly should settle into the right spot and bump along. If it sinks down directly on a line with the current, it's probably a snag -- but give a gentle hook set anyway. You'll get a feel for how it's riding, and let the snags go after a while. Anything else (sideways, slight sink, whatever), set the hook. Move the drift up, down and side to side to cover the area, then move on.

....but, hatches aren't really all that important when fishing in MO (which I assume you're talking about). There aren't a lot of the by-the-calendar hatches that people gear up for and fish every year. You'll hear about the Meramac whitefly hatch, the winter caddis hatch on the Current, etc. But if you're like a lot of folks, you go when you can go, and you'll do best with a range of flies tailored to the water or the species of trout that are in it.

I wish I had kept all my papers from college. I wrote one in about 1981 about how the fuel required to farm the fields about offset the ethanol that could be created from the crop. Of course, I was a big consumer of ethanol in those days, and didn't want the added demand to drive up the price. Dollar pitcher night didn't come around often enough as it was.

You're forgetting the water required to float the logs downstream, quench the thirst of the workers poling those bad boys, make the wood pulp, work the steam presses and fuel the Stanleys that deliver them.

Well, look around a little you'll see multiple lists of quail predators. Basically it's anything with a mouth. You don't have to stomp on eggs, and you don't have to know how to fly either. Hell, I said a lot more than turkeys and squirrels anyway -- don't ignore all that good stuff. It's about habitat, food, nesting areas AND predators. Yeah, I guess this dry weather will help the hatch. But my dang yard is all brown

Welcome to the forum daboone. Zero threat is kinda hard to prove, wouldn't you say? I'm aware that there's no proof that turkey eat quail chicks -- it's a tired old argument. Regardless, I was replying to statements made about predators in another post. I do think about anything that stumbles onto a nest of quail chicks or eggs is a potential predator. Eggs is tasty! The rise in deer and turkey populations is connected to the decline in quail, and it's because of habitat. Brushy edges have given way to more forested areas, and that favors turkey and deer to the detriment of quail. And, as I said in another post -- fescue, insecticide and herbicide use all contribute as well. As does weather.

Here's mine, high school age, at Missouri Military Academy in Mexico. Happy Father's Day, dad. I miss you and think of you every day.

Purty!

Oh, the French dig that stuff. See: Pepe le Pew.

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