Troutnut69

Yesterdays nice weather had me thinking about shallow mud bottomed coves and carp cruising around in search of a meal. I didn't expect to see anything honestly , but I surprised myself and had shots at 5 different fish. As you can tell from the post title , it didn't go so well for me. Still enjoyed the challenge and spending a few hours at the lake with my best buddy. TR with a few pics on the Blog....Jeff http://highplainsflyfisher.blogspot.com/

It was quite a little get together. I agree Larry , the best thing was being able to put faces to names and meet a bunch of great people. Seems every time I venture South to that river I make some new friends , whether local or out of state visitors like myself.

Thanks Guys!

I'm putting in my vote for Fly Fishing Film of the Year!! I only gave you a sub-par score on the choice of beer. Man that water looks sweet...I need to get back down , and soon!

I love Rich's Hog Snare. Easy fly to tie and the action they have in the water with that triple articulation , man they're super sexy!!

Thanks guys , I do appreciate the positive comments. I know I take terrible photos and my writing won't ever get me published , but really it's all for fun so that doesn't bother me when I post up a trip. I started the whole thing for myself anyway and then came to realize that others with the same passion enjoyed it as well. Ham - Your point is absolutely true. The White has such a "big fish" reputation (and well deserved) that anything under 24" doesn't even raise an eye anymore , and it takes a 30" or above to be considered a "big fish". For me , anything over twenty inches is a quality fish on that river , not big , but quality. You're right when you say that we've become spoiled , but I don't let it go to my head , I still enjoy catching 6" wild bows out of our wild trout streams about as much as a quality brown from the White.

Joe - I guess I'm glad that you "somewhat liked it". I wouldn't have thought too much about your comment if I hadn't first read your post on videos. I'm not trying to win the next writers guild award so I'm not really that concerned about your opinion. I've got lots of folks who enjoy reading my posts and even if they didn't , I couldn't give two hoots. Seems to me like maybe you've been sitting around posting on message boards too much and not out fishing as much as some of us...don't be a hater.

Got out for opening weekend with a great group of guys , rented a house on the water and floated all weekend chucking streamers. Nothing huge , but we got a few over twenty to the net. Full TR on the blog: http://highplainsflyfisher.blogspot.com/

Thanks for the comments guys. Wrench - you can't even imagine the sad eyes I get when he sees me loading up the truck and not taking him. We're due for a trip though , even if it's just a short one to a local lake.

Got out last week (before the weather got real nice!) for a day float with a new fishing buddy. It was his first time on the river and he was impressed with the water itself and the fishing I think. I did tell him to never visit the same body of water between memorial Day and Labor Day or it would totally change all of his opinions about the place! We caught good numbers of "Truckers" as usual , with a few browns and a holdover bow or two thrown in. It was a beautiful winter day and to top it off we never saw another person on the river all day long. Full TR on the Blog....Jeff http://highplainsflyfisher.blogspot.com/

Wrench - If I had my own driftboat he'd be sitting right up there with me but until then he only gets to go on wading trips! Nighthawk - really enjoyed meeting and fishing with your son , hope to do it again sometime.

I was hoping you could make it when Chris called you Justin , been awhile since I've seen you. We did have a great weekend despite the fishing results , but that was partly on us as well. I'm sure we could have nymphed and picked up considerably more action but we decided to stick it out with the streamers. It's that thought of the next cast and what it might bring that makes streamer fishing so enjoyable for some of us. Nice new place Justin , the takeout with new concrete ramp was sweet! Hope to catch you next time.....

Got out for the first time this year and headed down to the White with a few friends. Our initial plans were to throw streamers all weekend but the non-existent water flows on the White altered our plans just a little. As it was we spent one day floating the Norfork and another floating the NFOW. Jeff and I stuck to our guns and hucked meat the entire time , although it obviously wasn't going to be the most productive method for the weekend. Fish were caught by everyone , just nothing of the quality we were hoping for. Still a great time out on the water with good friends. Full TR on the Blog....Jeff http://highplainsflyfisher.blogspot.com/

After a long dry spell I finally managed to sneak away this past week for a little fishing time. Didn't have much time for planning so we just headed for the closest coldwater fishery and called it good. Fishing was pretty good from my point of view , nothing of any size but plenty of willing players to keep you entertained throughout the day. I caught fish on almost everything I tried but ended up taking most fish on an olive bugger pattern , which is pretty standard fare for this river. Good times with good friends on another beautiful Ozark river...Life is Good! Full TR with pics on the blog...Jeff http://highplainsflyfisher.blogspot.com/

That is a good deal and I love Lamson reels...That being said I've got one of the Konic 4's , bought it for a 10 wt musky rod, that thing feels like you strapped a brick on your rod! the smaller ones are fine but the larger sizes are a little heavy for my liking.

I'd be careful posting online about shooting your neighbors livestock....and just remember , Karma can be a real bitch!

Got a call from a buddy last week wanting to get out and fish the Niangua so we made some plans and met up this last weekend for a day float. Didn't see another fisherman on the water all day and we all managed to catch a fair amount of fish. They weren't too picky , taking a swung bugger or a deep drifted nymph equally well. Nothing big and not a triple digit fish day by any means , but we got to enjoy a float down the river with good friends doing what we love. Full story with pics on the blog... http://highplainsfly...r.blogspot.com/

Should have been down two weekends ago...we were hoping for generation and good water flows and they had it shut down all weekend!! Just goes to show that no matter what they do they can't make us all happy at the same time.

Got the chance to get out and float the White and Norfork this past weekend and hang out with a great group of guys as well. We were really hoping for some streamer water but as is usually the case the SWPA had other ideas. We had some decent flow on the Fork one day and while we turned several decent fish we just couldn't seal the deal. With the streamer bite not happening for us we spent a lot of time fishing an indicator rig , and the action was non-stop for small rainbows. Every time we dropped anchor to fish a spot we were doubled up on fish almost immediately , fly choice didn't seem to make too much difference. We were successful with midges , caddis pupa , copper johns and wooly buggers. Like I said , the fish weren't picky! We didn't land any White River caliber fish like we went down hoping for , but it's still hard to beat hanging out with good friends on a couple of the best tailwaters in the country. Full TR with a few pics on the blog.....Jeff http://highplainsflyfisher.blogspot.com/

Jealous...extremely jealous!! Been wanting to do that again since this time last year , hope you stick several more of them toothy critters tomorrow. Good Luck!!

Keep me posted if you decide to go....I'd love to hear how you did.

Got the second and final post up for my Colorado adventure. This was my favorite part of the trip by far , hiking up into the mountains and chasing small wild cutties. Hope you enjoy.....Jeff http://highplainsflyfisher.blogspot.com/

Drew - did you end up making this trip?? Just now reading this and floating the river for muskie definitely pics my interest. I don't get every weekend off work but if you still wanted to make the trip maybe we could plan a float before winter sets in. I do know that this is prime time for musky , fall is when they put on the feedbag for winter and move shallower. Went to Pomme 3 times last fall and had one chase and no eats (fly fishing) and havn't been since , not by choice though , the guys I went with who had a boat just lost interest.

Thanks Brian....I've read stuff from all three of those guys and I can't imagine them being anything but just a great group of guys out fishing. Pretty cool that you got to meet them on the river and spend some time with them.

Been back from Colorado for a couple of days now and just getting around to posting the first part of the story on my blog. Had a great trip overall , a few too many folks on the Frying Pan but that's to be expected on one of the more famous tailwaters in the state. We did it all , from Green Drakes on the Pan to high-country cutties in the headwaters of another watershed. The only bad part of the trip was having to come home (and the ten hour drive across Kansas!). Got part 1 of the report and some pics on the blog , hope to post part 2 in the next couple of days as time allows. http://highplainsflyfisher.blogspot.com/