XP 590

I just got my latest issue of Flyfisherman Mag and there was a great article about Kyle from Longboat Outfitters and Brian Wise floating the Northfork of the White. Really makes me want try that river. I haven't been there since I was a little kid and that was just for a float trip. Great to see some local streams and local guys get some national exposure.

Nice video. MAN that makes me want to be on the water, even in the cold of winter.

May just need to sharpen your hook a little! I got a hook sharpener recently and I think it does make a difference. I love throwing woolies in that whole area, definitely my go-to fly on the Niangua. I've read that the fish are often coming at woolies from the rear, they may bat at the tail or try to inhale it from that end. If I miss too many, I'll sometimes pinch off a little of the tail. Another technique I read about, and tried with some success, is to drop the rod tip down after a missed hit and let all the tension off the wooly, the fish will often take a 2nd grab at it. Nothing like that kind of tight line fishing where they yank the line out of your hand. Thanks for the report.

Time. Patience. A very forgiving wife. A schedule of 12 Step meetings to deal your your new impending addiction, because you will be hooked. ** Not sure where you are, but if you're near certain areas, there is a pretty good winter trout program in alot of the city lakes. Check out your local area, that is a good way to get started, often without driving too far.

If you hear banjos, run for it!

Turkey Creek is unfishable. It's full of old refrigerators and other assorted hazardous waste. The woods and surrounding areas make "Deliverance" look like a family movie! I'm pretty sure I stumbled upon an abandoned meth lab the last time I was scouting around there. I recommend staying away at all costs. No fish. Nothing to see there, move along!

Tanycomo turns over? (is there an emoticon for sarcasm?)

Thanks for all the input and information. That is why I asked for "perspective". I'd like to think I'm smart enough to know that I don't know everything.

Has anyone EVER seen the officers at Bennett Springs actually in the stream? Actually checking licenses? Actually looking for fishing violations? Actually writing citations? I've been fishing there for 30 years and never have. But heaven forbid if you happen to have expired tags on your car. (Yes, I'm guilty as charged and not making excuses for it, I'm also sympathetic to public servants like that, they have a pretty thankless job). So here's the deal: After fishing below the hatchery spillway for a few hours on Sunday, I returned to my car and was approached by an officer, with another one in the truck, who said he had been watching my vehicle for "several hours" to ticket me for having expired tags. He appeared somewhat flustered at my flagrant disregard for the law and seemed to be taking it personally that I dare drive through his park with expired tags. He was polite and decided to give me a warning, which I was grateful for, and again, I was guilty, but we were both amazed by the tone of the whole encounter. As he pulled away, at least a half dozen fellow fishermen commented that they couldn't believe what they saw. They all echoed the same feelings I had, basically couldn't believe the officer was hassling me for expired tags with all the other unnoticed/unobserved/un looked for violations in the park. Done ranting now, off to the DMV for new tags. Just wanted to throw it out there for your observations and perspective.

I have fished the hole right at Tan Vat- the first access- at night with both wooly's and soft hackles. There are two good spots to get in and cross so you can fish into the main hole. For any night fishing, you should know the area very well during the daytime and I felt pretty comfortable at Tan Vat. I didn't venture up or down stream, pretty much stayed right there at that hole, but caught a ton of fish. I've fished Parker's Ford-the third access- several times during the day and it also has a nice riffle hole right at the access that could be night fished, but you'd really want to explore it during the daytime first. Good luck.

That's going to be a busy weekend. It's time for the MOBSDAA to start showing up. (Missouri Browns Snagged Dragged Ashore Association) I wish that guy's website with the "Shufflers Hall of Shame" was still around.

****** Jam of the Month Club? Ahh Clark, that's the gift that keeps giving year round!

Just prior to the bears and mountain lions. They always come out after you are waist deep in the water. Beavers and muskrats have come so accustomed to humans, that they actually tried to gnaw a hole in Vanven's waders one night, while he was wearing them. ****** Almost makes you glad you asked, doesn't it? I'm looking forward to meeting Leonard, the night guide. He's speaking at the Mid Mo TU meeting in Columbia next Thursday. Meeting's at D'Rowe's @7:00 for anyone who's interested.

Don't you sell anything else?? The Woolybugger is the ONE fly I can actually tie. Site looks good.

Gotta love night fishing. My first trip to Taney was about 8 yrs ago with guide Kent Campell and he asked us if we wanted to go back after dinner and srip some woolies. With my experience at that time pretty much limited to "triple cheese" glo-balls under a bobber in the parks, I was up for anything- I didn't even know what a woolybugger was. ** We went back about 9:00 pm and lucked out with no water running and slaughtered them, one of my funnest fishing experiences ever. It started to rain and got heavier and heavier. Kent practically had to fight us to get us out of the water. I felt like the Bishop in Caddyshack that didn't want to come off the golf course in the thunderstorm. We only fished for about two hours but landed a ton of fish. Needless to say the woolybugger has become one of my favorite lures.

WOW! They just let YouTube through the filters here at work. Big, big mistake. Great vid, I agree it's so much cooler to see the takes, not just the fight. Nice casting under the branches. Gotta get down there while they're still looking up.

The first "rip across my legs" and I would try to talk politely to the guy. (I said "try"!) The second rip and his line would get hung up in my clippers.

Most surprising about Charlie is that he actually DOES know exactly where everything is in that store! Funniest Charlie story: A guy bought some barbless tungsten bh midges and came back to return them because all the fish were getting off. Charlie asked him what his normal average catch is at Bennett. The guy said he's happy with 6 or 7 fish. Then Charlie asked him how many he had already caught on these barbless midges, and the guy said over 15, in just a few hours.....but then continued to complain about how all the fish were getting off! Charlie refunded his money with a smile. The guy is probably still scratching his head trying to figure out that line of questioning. *** Agreed, Charlie can seem a little intimidating, but if you get past that, he's a wealth of info. Also agree about Ft Bennett, I've just started tying and can't believe all the stuff they stock, sometimes you just have to dust it off a little. For me, Weaver's has lost that warm and fuzzy touch. We had a camper there since I was a little kid and we loved Jerry and Brenda. Can't beat the park store for convenience. I used to think they were way overpriced but they don't seem to be so much anymore.

WOW! Mother Nature keeps hitting the refresh button. I know, MAN dammed up the river etc, etc, but that's for another thread. Big changes, thanks a bunch for the photos. I guess it keeps Taney from getting boring since you have to keep re-figuring it out. Heading down tomorrow for two days, looks like we'll be boat-wading.

Brett Rader with Chartered Waters makes incredible trout replicas, he's a real artist. You can contact him through Charteredwaters.com and see if he will do bass as well.

Beautiful. That stream was on my list for last spring but haven't hit it yet. Guess I'll put it on my fall list. Was the water up much with all this recent weather?

We hit the access just below Bennett last Friday and had a great day. The water was up a foot or two and we were hoping to float to NRO, but we changed our mind on overnight camping Thursday with the thunderstorms. With the faster water, we put on heavy 7ft sinking tips (thanks Charlie) and big heavy woolybuggers and leeches. We mainly fished swinging them across the current and were hooking up immediately. ** Now for the miracle part: I had tucked my Winston/Ross combo under my arm to put on some sunscreen then I must have gone brain dead because the next thing I saw was the tip of my rod about 15ft downstream and going under fast. The river was way too fast and deep to give chase but I tried to haul butt downstream as fast as I could. I made it downstream about 100 yrds to the gravel boat ramp and pretty much gave up. My buddy was slowly coming downstream keeping his eyes peeled but no luck. He decided to work his way down to the concrete boat ramp as he had gotten himself stuck on the far side by the water, and was going to have to work down a little further to get across. I walked up to get the car and pick him up down at the boat ramp. As I drove by the gravel ramp opening in the trees, I saw him standing just below that area, no where near the boat ramp, and he was waving at me. I just though he was catching so many fish he didn't want to quit yet, so I got out of the car to see what was up. When I asked him if he was still catching fish, he said "Yeah, I caugt a skinny 9 footer"! I about $h#+ my pants when he reached down and pulled up my rod. Apparently the woolybugger had hooked on a rock and peeled a bunch of line off the reel becuase I had to trace the line about 60ft upstream to unhook the woolybugger. Since I still had my waders on I jumped right back in the river and kept on fishing. I figured we landed 12-15 each. Not a bad day for Friday the 13th.

Nice looking fish. I've never figured out how to throw that 6 point palsa fly on my fly rod , but I've seen lots of fish caught on them. I don't know you Cricket but it appears we often inhabit the same waters, I'll give you a holler when I see that hat....assuming the lucky fishing hat never changes! I did want to share my own experiences with fly fishing though, as I'm a 100% flyfisher, but try hard not to be a fly snob. I fish dry flies, nymphs and streamers in this area alot, and with the current in the Niangua, believe me, they all know they are hooked and they fight like crazy with that "get this thing outta my face" additude. I think the river fish get stronger than the park fish. With that, and the strong current, there's no 2 lb tippet fishing either. I'm normally fishing 4-5X-which is plenty strong for me to have a good fight, and release a strong, healthy, revived fish. Just wanted to share this info with you, maybe we're not as different as you might think...........you SICKO!

Sorry, no pay for access trout park around here. We did have "winter" trout in a city park but they will be long gone by August. You might be thinking of Troutdale near Lake Ozarks, but it's been closed to fishing for a while. It's a trout farm now. * The other suggestions are all good. If you're looking for the sure thing, Bennett Springs is a good shot. With the new highways, you can go from doorstep to fishing in two hours. The Niangua outside Bennet can be pretty good too, depending on when it was stocked and the canoe traffic, during the busy season it's insane with canoes. My personal favorite would be the Blue Ribbon section of the Current, just outside Montauk State park. Depending on traffic, it's about 2.5 hours from Columbia. There are forum posts for all these places on here.