BilletHead

If that Bird Watcher guy is going I won't be far behind! hahahahahaha I went one time for stripers. A buddy and I got a guide on Beaver. That was about 25 years ago. Got one about six pounds and a couple of smaller ones. In your neck of the woods Scott. The whole trip was a joke with the guide. Supposed to be a all day trip. The guy was on the radio all morning talking to his buddies. About noon he says I need bait bad so we need to end his trip at noon. I thought I drove all this way to catch some stripers and he does this? Oh well live and learn. Scott will they be busting top that time of the year? BilletHead

Dadakota, I am not Dutch but I posted the site. Go to 3-Day Reservoir Forecast (RAW Data) Remember this is a guess to what they will do. There (Corp) guess but never trust what they weather say because weather changes there minds just like it does ours, BilletHead This is really simple to read just look at it. Top line is the day it is updated and the three days following. Find the lake you want. First reading is normal power pool (MMP). Then read to the right. The day it is updated it gives current lake level then current outflow. Then day one guess lake level and guess outflow. Then to day two and three. Keep in mind the minimum flow without flood gates and generation in 40 cubic feet so anything other than the 40 is flood gates. This is a copy and paste of the site but it is a bit different from the site which is easier to read. KANSAS CITY DISTRICT LAKE FORECAST (EC-HC) 08-04-2013 DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3 MPP Elev Outfl Elev Outfl Elev Outfl Elev Outfl Gavins Pt. 21000 20000 20000 20000 Kanopolis 1463.0 1465.00 68 1465.70 99 1465.92 108 1465.95 110 Wilson 1516.0 1511.76 15 1511.75 15 1511.74 15 1511.73 15 Harlan Co 1945.7 1933.12 0 1933.16 0 1933.20 0 1933.24 0 Milford 1144.4 1145.86 25 1146.97 3000 1147.18 3000 1147.05 3000 Tuttle Creek 1075.0 1077.18 1500 1077.40 1500 1077.46 1500 1077.47 1500 Perry 891.5 892.54 25 892.55 25 892.55 25 892.54 25 Clinton 875.5 872.88 21 872.87 21 872.86 21 872.85 21 Smithville 864.2 864.06 8 864.04 8 864.02 8 864.00 8 Longview 891.0 888.68 8 888.66 8 888.63 8 888.60 8 Blue Springs 802.0 802.10 4 802.10 4 802.09 3 802.08 3 Melvern 1036.0 1033.12 20 1033.13 20 1033.13 20 1033.12 20 Pomona 974.0 973.21 15 973.22 15 973.22 15 973.21 15 Hillsdale 917.0 916.12 8 916.11 8 916.09 8 916.07 8 Stockton 867.0 871.31 340 871.57 2040 871.55 2040 871.49 2040 Pomme D Terr 839.0 841.04 100 841.85 2000 841.69 2000 841.39 2000 Harry Truman 706.0 706.69 250 707.14 10000 707.16 10000 707.14 10000 Rathbun 904.0 909.44 1200 909.23 1200 909.02 1200 908.81 1200 Long Branch 791.0 790.60 50 790.55 50 790.50 50 790.45 50

Predicting Monday according to a corp site. http://www.nwk.usace.army.mil/Locations/WaterManagement.aspx BUT it all depends on water downstream. There is a bunch of water coming down Cedar creek and the Osage drainage. BilletHead

Well there you go, thanks Ronnie. I will look into that, BilletHead

Man I love it out there, we have tread the same paths and water I would venture to say. Great report bud! BilletHead

Gavin,Yes that is the one I remember you speaking of. Thanks for posting it again. Pretty neat. Like the block head popper too. I finished up another couple of carved bodies yesterday. Got two more in progress today. Doing this has kind of got under my skin like I am possessed by the balsa beast. I thank you all for your comments and helpfulness on this topic. Jason I remember you making the balsa wiggle bodies. Neat, look cool too. I just started doing the foam cylinder wiggle minnow. That is another topic in its self. I made some, painted and epoxied. Caught fish on them also. Made a cutter out of an old aluminum arrow shaft to cut foam. Biggest I had left was a 2216. Does anyone have any bigger than that laying around? I would be interested in a section if you have. I am an antique and go back to the aluminum shafts and progressed to cedar, douglas fir and pine shafting. Now that my shoulder is going south I may have to resort to a compound and carbons. BilletHead

Still running the gates some, very little though. 340 cubic feet a minute. Normal off flow is 40 cubic feet. I was told the generation would be down a year and a half. That was around march or so. Last time I was over there the turbine blade is up on top of the dam, BilletHead

Nice report, Man I love that country. Been out there fishing 8 years straight in early August. Missing this year though. Did you visit North Fork Anglers in Cody? We have been friends with Tim the owner and have fished the last five years with him when out there. Met him back here in Missouri when he was my wife's River Helper during casting for recovery. Billethead

Ronnie a belt sander? I got to get with the program, I'm using sandpaper to finish off after carving. As far as the superglue I have the body sanded before applying then just a sand with 320 and paint. Have not seen it is hard to sand yet. Jason, I think painting different colors is overkill as I think fish look up and see a dark form when floating. Just like Ronnie said. As a fisherman we like a cool colors. Just a plain white or black popper catches. Thanks for the comments fellows, I am having a good time doing this for grins and giggles. Then catching fish reinforces the feeling. It also gives me one more element of doing it yourself, BilletHead

Thanks for the tips Wrench. I need to try the silicone legs. Ness thanks. I am kind of getting a bit In a color funk this morning trying to figure out how to paint the three balsa ones, BilletHead

First I have a question. Is there a rule of thumb for head to tail ratio when tying poppers? I know when doing flies tail is X amount long compared to hook shank length. Just what looks good? I know some I have tied look a bit goofy and the back end gets knifed off. Now some things that might help others who want to carve your own I have learned. Others might already know this but I did not until trial and error. #1 Even though I am hand carving the balsa I have been using the dremel for cupping the face. The first few I made and the store bought heads I made were flat faced but I liked the sound of cupped ones. I use a pointy carving bit to rough out the face and then change to the round ball gritty grinder to finish off. Here is a photo of three bodies that have been made. Face and side profile. A couple of 2/0 and a 4 size. #2 Cup the face and then glue in the hook before carving. Hook gives you something to hold on to when slicing off wood. Also when slotting your wood block just use an exacto or single sided razor blade. Lots of super glue and the balsa is soft enough the hook will widen the wood when you force it in. Carve to shape and this brings us to, #3 Super glue is your friend. Yes kind of expensive but you can get a big bottle at Grizzly tools reasonably priced. I use the maxi cure. After you carve and sand your body to shape coat your balsa with the glue. It will soak in and harden, besides making the balsa strong it seals the wood for painting. Sand once more before painting. You will understand after painting one before and after using the glue. #4 obvious but try to keep your epoxy out of your hook eye. What a pain in the rear to clear it afterwards. I know. #5 I like marabou for the pencil popper tails. When wet just laying in the water the marabou just quivers looking so real. Another obvious choice I know but I was just wading and had a popper just floating a foot in front of me as I was checking it out a bass attacked it and I got wet on its tail turn. More photos, a couple of my carved bodies. One tied and one not. A couple of factory flat faced bodies. Froggy and a golden shiner. Finally one that caught this morning, A final question for Gavin if you read this. I have slept since I remember this topic from somewhere but did you do a fly rod balsa prop bait? Post about it or is my vivid imagination making this up? BilletHead

Nice reports everyone and Ness, Cherry type tomatoes out the wazoo Pat has hauled more than a gallon to her work place, Bigger ones pretty good crop in spite of the fungus. Need to change dirt in some containers. Should I be spray for the fungus when plants are young to keep ahead? Some photos of maters, Black Krim and Brandywine. So many peppers too. Jalapenos, cubanells , bananas, yummy snacking, yum-yum bells and for the first time tobasco peppers. I thought what the heck a novelty if nothing else. Some pepper pictures, I have canned peppers before but to do it right to store on the shelf they have to be processed. I hate mushy peppers, they are good but mushy. This year I pickled them for refrigerator storage. Good for six months or more in the ice box plus they should stay crispy. A mix of jalapenos, bananas and tobascos. A half gallon jar. Still have another week to pickle. I am a bit excited, I find myself going out to the garden to graze more than once everyday. Some of the sweet peppers don't even get to the house. Eaten on the spot! BilletHead PS Thank you lord for todays rain

Nice flick Wise man! Fishingwrench Pat and I have met April. She is quite a nice gal, BilletHead

I doubt that very much Ronnie and thanks to all. Mic, don't sell them just tie them up and throw them to fish.PM me your address. Caught this morning on the black pencil one until the wind switched to the East. I have never seen a pond shut down like this one did today. BilletHead

Three shades of yellow, hummmmmm Got to get more paint:)

Thanks guys, Lancer the only time I am using spray now is when I want to two tone/scale/blending effect. Other than that just a brush base coat of white, other colors and then the dots. Dots made with pin heads, needles with ends filed smooth to size desired. Not my original idea. There is another fellow who does this really neat with the dots. His work is unreal. You could use spray for the base coat desired but once you smooth on the epoxy any brush marks, divots etc. disappear. As for paint I am using acrylic craft stuff you can get at walmart. Hobby lobby has more color choices. Let your imagination run wild. BilletHead

This is kind of flysmallie inspired. I wanted to start making and tying poppers. By seeing Ronnie's work it got me kick started. Started by buying kits with hard foam bodies. Glued some up and started to paint. Used a combo of brush, stippling (various dot sizes) and spray paint from cans. This gave me the results I wanted and I am getting better as I go. Tried to use a clear spray paint finish with mixed results. It did water proof the paint but not too durable. if you had a bad back cast or shot the line too far and hit a rock on the river the popper would explode and loose a chunk of foam. Trial # 2 was with epoxy. I was a bit scared with this as the only epoxy I have ever used was 5 minute. It got hot and runny. Worked fine on my epoxy minnows setting quick and I did not mind turning the vice for a couple of minutes on them. I have a epoxy motor driven driver that I had never used so here we go with 2 ton 30 minute stuff. Ok I picked a popper, mixed up a small batch, took a small disposable paint brush and give it a coat. Hey this stuff is pretty thick! Put it on the drier and let it spin. Watched the puddle of unused epoxy on my mixing paper and when it started to set up I turned the drier off. Checked out my prize, very happy with the finish. Then I started tying, making more and painting. They fish good too! I will start off with a few untied bodies. Please have patience with my photo taking:) The one that looks like a clown Mrs. BilletHead painted. Don't laugh, she will catch fish with it. More that are tied and finished Some of these are kind of ragged because they have been munched on by bass. Ok now I have been messing around with balsa and doing it all, Various stages of the process with three stages. Ok here is Pat's favorite, And one of her bass from the other day The one I was using that morning and me with a fish, I hate to say it but Saturday morning she out fished me with the pink one but Sunday morning early I got even. Ok one more of the Mrs. Her first hybrid on the fly rod, on a popper to make icing on the cake I am not sure who had the biggest smile that day her or me, POPPERS ROCK! BilletHead

You are a funny man Scott! I thought of you too. Helping some of us, you know that and not the outdoing part:) I kind of need your e-mail so I can share some of the secret outdoing stuff . BilletHead

I can count at least one I know, That guy? I think his name is Bird Watcher. Thing is he backs up what he does. Blow by blow text messages, also there are photos attached. Seen him in action once too. This same guy does it with waterfowl, rubbing it in just to get under my skin. I try and try to get one up on him. No dice! hahahahaa Have learned things from his friendship though. That is worth the harassment Expect more from me buddy I just don't know when, BilletHead

Neat photos Al. We have also fished at the campground up there a ways. One time many moons ago in 1984 me, my cousin and a friend went up bow hunting with three flat land horses. Hauled them up there in a fifth wheel trailer behind a half ton truck. Broke an axle on the truck on the way back near Ogallala Nebraska. Fun times when you are young and not so smart. Back then you could get a sportsman tag for 325 bucks. Included bear, elk, deer, small game and fishing. We parked at the end of the mill creek road and rode in a long ways scouting. We camped on a mountain top. It is amazing I am still alive from that trip. This was before I started fly fishing but I remember riding next to a pond in the timber up there where you could see trout swimming around. I also remember my cousin leaving a wool Pendleton shirt my grandpa gave me, I outgrew it and gave it to my cousin. It was hanging on a tree branch up there somewhere. We ended up hunting behind dome mountain just East of the Carbella access. Up the Joe Brown trail. Boy I love that country. Will miss it and Wyoming this August. BilletHead

oh yea, The bear jams, wolf jams, bison jams. They will get you every time. We used to rubberneck gawking in the park every trip. Love the sights there but now we just keep moving along getting to where we want to be. That would be fishing somewhere with the fly rod There will be another day Greasy B. In the meantime we will have to enjoy Al's Reports. A couple Mill Creek photos BilletHead

Sounds good Chris. We may take you up on that. Also if you have that empty seat let me know. Thanks too for the text message. I have and even half way know how to throw a cast net

Mill Creek, neat place. Been there done that. Caught a bunch. Even did well way up at the camp ground where you would think the pressure would effect the catch rate. No trip this year to Wyoming/Montana for the BilletHeads because of a job change for the Mrs. Next August though we will make the Pilgrimage again, BilletHead

Nice Chris, I wondered if you were going this weekend and was getting ready to text you. They pinched the water down more where we had been going. It is done now for sure unless we can find them deep. Thanks for the report, might have to drive up to the big lake and watch you catch, BilletHead

Neat pictures chief. We have quite a few around here. Spring storms bring them out. We called them chimney crawdads as sometimes they build quite the mound of mud upright from there holes. When the storms hit we find them crossing rural roads seeking wetter pastures to make home. I catch them and pitch into our koi pond where the channel cat and perch tear them to pieces. Baby dads try to escape and the koi suck them up like candy, BilletHead