Plastic_worm

A brief stop in the Ozarks on my 14 day, 5 state fly road trip. Trip started in SELA chasing redfish (part 1). Part 2 here: http://looknfishy.blogspot.com/2016/07/timing-fly-roadtrip-part-2-ozarks.html

Awesome! During my last smallie trip I caught several that were recently caught and released. They had tearing/healing hook marks around the mouth. A great sign that some are enjoying the resource and also allowing others the same opportunity. Very encouraging, keep it up!

Deal! Next time for sure.

I do this kind of trip all the time and pack a bunch of fishing gear. You can certainly pack a bunch of gear in a kayak. The trade off is kayak performance. More weight will impact the kayaks performance. Which might not be a big deal on slow water. Another consideration is unloading and loading all that gear everyday or portaging. Going solo means doing all the work alone!! That's why I pack light. I do bring a chair to sit in. It's nice to have after sitting in a kayak seat all day. A cot or hammock to sleep in. A tarp/rope for rain protection. I usually bring a small pot to cook or boil water in for coffee or water purification if needed. Small burner and propane. 1 headlamp and a small backpacker lantern. Something to make fire. Water. Clothing depends on the weather. I usually bring day and night changes and a new set of close to the body wear for daily change. I can get everything in 2 dry bags. 1 goes in the hull of my kayak. The 2nd on the back. Food/water/propane/burner and everything else go inside the hull of my kayak. If I feel like "living it up" I'll pack a small soft side cooler. When the ice/food are gone it folds up and goes in the hull. No extra weight but a few cold beverages for a day or 2!! Food: dehydrated meals, small cans of spam, beans/corn/veggies (they make them in plastic now), trail mix, granola bars etc. Anything that doesn't need a can opener and can be crushed to save space. The good thing is everyday the weight gets less b/c you're eating all your food. Video of a recent 2 night solo kayaking trip. You can get an idea of my gear and how I pack it. Just got back from a 14 day roadtrip where I lived from my truck and kayak the entire time...some from my kayak on islands or gravel bars. All but 1 night were solo. Video is under general forum "Roadtrip!"

Here's the video from my 14 day fly roadtrip. Southeast Louisiana to Wisconsin and every state in between... https://www.facebook.com/looknfishy/

3 days kayak camping in the Ozarks. Here are the highlights. Leaving in a few days for 2-4 week road trip...good times.

The water I'm fishing is pretty clear. Muddy water would be a different challenge. Most of the time I'm using small dry's/poppers you'd use for bream. Lately, I've been experimenting with nymphs wrapped in foam that rest on the surface a few seconds before sinking slowly...they've been working really well. Something about that slow fall that does it. Conversely, anything moving across the bottom (traditional carp/hybrid flies scare the he!! out of them).

Yep sun protection all the way. When you talk to someone that's had skin cancer, they'll tell you to cover your skin. Hence the long sleeves and pants. AND it does great keeping bugs out of my nose and mouth.

Something about how these guys pull that keeps me up at night.

Thx, I try not to write I went fishing, caught fish and had fun catching fish stories. Thx for reading!

Each situation would be different but in general, some of these could get sloppy on a 5wt. I typically use a 6wt and switch between sink-tip and floating based on situation (flow/depth/size of streamer/weighted or unweighted/etc). I usually have 2 set ups. A 5wt with floating for my surface stuff. And 6wt with 200 or 250g sink-tip for throwing streamers. Leader/tippet...on surface 6-7ft. Streamers I go 3-4ft of flouro 10-12lb. If I had to choose one. I'd go 6wt with an extra spool so I could change from floating to sink when needed.

Seeing that would have resulted in a change of clothes!

Me and a buddy brought our kayaks up for 2 days. Heard the fishing was slow with the clear water and lower flows but we still had a great time and caught some nice fish. Camped at Sunburst and like others have said Justin and Amy are exceptional hosts. Had a copperhead crawl under my seat the 2nd night (relocated unharmed). Didn't see it until I got up to move from the smoke...seeing it recoil got the blood pumping. Full write up on my blog http://looknfishy.blogspot.com/2016/04/weekend-shenanigans.htm Short video of our trip.

Latest edit covering last few weeks and about 4k miles driven. Got several trips planned, including a 2 week or maybe 3 week road trip in June. https://www.facebook.com/looknfishy/

Just got back from a week in the FL Keys with JK media house. Had a great trip and caught my first shark on the fly from a kayak (5ft lemon). Can't wait to see the video that JK mediahouse releases but here are a few pics I got. It put me in my backing in a few seconds. I tried to apply pressure with my hand and still have the burns on my palm...it was pretty insane! https://www.facebook.com/looknfishy http://looknfishy.blogspot.com/

Sorry would have responded sooner but I've been in the FL Keys. I've been using small bream poppers and small bugger type nymphs. I typically use the popper as an indicator and drop the nymph off the back.

Thx everyone. The pole I've been using is an extendable painters pole. Attaching the gopro with handle bar mount. Added a pool noodle to keep it from shaking when I put it in my rod holders.

Went a different direction with this one.

Latest blog post...FishingHot Springs Boat Show with OOOFly fishing in the Keys in March and more...http://looknfishy.blogspot.com/2016/03/ ... ttery.html

Yep that was last week. But like Ham said he wasn't getting in the water...so I snapped a quick pic and kept fishing!