troutchaser

I've been doing that a lot lately. I'm a new volunteer with Project Healing Waters, which works with injured and disabled veterans. One of the suggestions given to us at the last meeting was to learn to cast with our off hand to get a grasp (hahaha - getit?) on the challenges these vets will likely face. It's tricky, huh? The only thing that I've found to get things to work right is to go back to the absolute basics. Even then, it feels weird. So whadja do to yerself?

My grandpa used to say there's no such thing as a free puppy. That goes for boats, too. This summer, I was given a jon boat. It's 11' long, leaky, no paint, etc. The fellow that gave this boat to me lives in Arkansas and said he never had a title for it, and he's owned it for a couple of decades. I would really like to put a motor on it, but to do that I would need a title for the boat. I can't apply for a lost title, since I never had one in the first place. Right now, it looks like I won't be able to put an outboard on it, but I was hoping someone would know of a way around this issue so I can put one on legally. Any ideas?

I can't help noticing that ol' Doty looks a little skeered. I think all that night fishin' is creepin' him out.

I consider myself to be a fellow with a normal circadian rythm. I like sleeping at night. I also like catching big trout. What's the likelihood of catching the big ones at, say, 5pm-10pm or 4am-6am?

Seems to me we're getting worked up over nothing. Leonard has his own methods and style of fly fishing. So do you. So do I. Big deal. I've found this forum to be informative and helpful, for the most part. I highly recommend getting back to basics and start posting some doggone fishing reports. Tell us where you fished, what you used and how you fished it, then tell us if it worked or not. I like to read about fishing trips, methods, effective flies, etc. Save the drama for ya mama.

You can pitch a tent at Cooper Creek (I did it earlier this year), but it really isn't worth it. The sites they will put you on have zero grassy areas, no fire rings, and the gravel is lumpy. I'm not bashing Cooper Creek - the people are friendly and their fishing dock is great, but it simply isn't designed for tents. I'd stick to the State Park.

Tan works really well, but I've had good luck with light olive and yellow, too.

Holy Predawn Pictorial of Pescatorial Profundity, Purveyor of PMS's! Holy Tenebrous Tintype of a Tubby Trout, Tenacious Trawler! Holy Faint-lighted Fat Fishy Photo, Fly Fishin' Freak! (Nice Fishy, Leonard)

At 21, you can afford to be a little risky with your 403(. The typical formula for investing in retirement is 10% of your gross income annually, invested with your age as the percentage of the money invested in a safer fund. For you, this means 21% of your money should be in a money market or domestic blue chip fund (your investment paperwork will outline this for you), and the rest in an aggressive growth fund. I'm 36, so I have 36% in a blue chip fund and the rest in a global growth fund. It's a good formula to start with, and you can always adjust it as you go. That's just my advice. It's free, and you get what you pay for, you know.

Not to worry. Few of us are subtle.

Uh-oh. Looks like somebody just found a new addiction. Branson Realtor...Wilma, is that you?

I saw Sodie this weekend and he showed me how to furl mono leaders without a jig. It's fast and easy and cheap - just the way I like 'em! If you read the article in American Angler, you'll know what I mean when I say I saw the infamous "exploding leader wallet". I plan to make my own with regular and camo mono to see if there's a difference. I'll let you know the results as soon as possible.

I just got back from a vacation trip to Idaho, so I thought I'd post a fishing report. No pics, though, I broke my camera . I fished several sections of the Henry's Fork from Last Chance to Ashton. The Last Chance area is beautiful country, but it runs shallow and warm, which put the fish off. We moved to a section in the high water area above the lake, but it was difficult to fish. The water wasn't necessarily fast, but the bottom was silty and we sank shin-deep in it. That sort of slogging will wear a fellow out. A brief storm moved in on us here and my brother said it would be a light rain, since they rarely get Ozark's style "drench you in seconds" storms. After a very intense fifteen minutes of extremely hard rain, hail and a spectacular lightning and thunder show, we emerged from the river muddy, soaked, and humbled. So it was off with the waders again and into the truck to find the next spot. After a brief stop at Henry's Fork Anglers and some words of advice from Mike and Chris Lawson, we went to a section where the Warm River flows into the Henry's Fork. This is gorgeous country. We worked our way around that area up to the bridge at Ashton and caught 'bows on #16 Copper Johns and Yellow Stimulators. This is a trip worth taking, folks. The wildlife, the people and the fishing make it all worthwhile. Here are some tips from what I learned on this trip: -Wild trout are jumpy and skittish. You have to move slow and sight fish whenever possible. -If you can't sight fish the area, use structure to your advantage. Put your fly where you know there are fish. Look for seams between the slow and fast moving water. Trout love to hang out behind big rocks where the water is slow. -Tossing a stimulator or a hopper pattern under overhanging brush will usually produce fish. The brush holds food and provides cover, so the trout are more confident. -The breeze blows steadily all the time, it seems, so consider moving up a line weight. Your arm might get tired, but you'll be able to cast regardless of the wind direction. I bought a 6WF Floating Rio Grande line for my 5 Wt. Scott V2. Perfect setup for this area. Thanks to Michael at BackCountry Outfitters for recommending (and carrying) the line. -Next time, we're going to rent a drift boat. It's only $100/day for just the boat, and you can cover more water and stop to fish with less time wasted getting in and out of a vehicle, finding the right roads, etc. -Best of all, look around you at the scenery and the wildlife once in a while. Wild trout live in some of the most beautiful places on earth.

This time of year is perfect for #12 stimulators in yellow and pale green. I usually stick with 5x tippet. No real reason, but if it isn't broke, don't fix it, I always say.

I'd buy it. I'm especially fond of prints showing familiar objects from a different perspective or view. I would love to hang something like that in my office. Have you considered painting the same thing for a Rainbow and a Brook trout? It would make a really cool set. I'd DEFINITELY buy a whole set.

What, pray tell, is a sculpin micro jig?

Part of my job is to place phone calls to businesses around the country (I'm in software) and I guarun-darn-tee you their ALL gone today!! 'cept me.

a gob of worms or Powerbait are always on. I recommend Powereggs, since they aren't as messy as regular Powerbait. The three colors I would definitely have on hand are white, bubblegum and orange. The white seems to bring them up most of the time, so one white and one bubblegum or one white and one orange will usually be successful.

Michael, will you be repeating this seminar later on? I can't make it tomorrow, but fo you do again some time, I would be there. By the way, any plans for a "Taneycomo in the Fall" seminar?

Catch another one and you'll have a great set of earrings.

Awright, you twisted my arm! I warned you! SOOOOOOOoooooooo. . . There we were, in a ground blind. For those of you who might not know about these, I'll describe it. It's like a 7 foot square canvas sleeping bag, camouflaged and waterproofed. It's really thick and heavy, but you can stay warm and hidden in it for a long time. So anyway, it's WAY cold. Like -25 degrees. We were drinking hot stuff to try to stay warm while we set out our 125 decoys in the middle of a 300 acre wheat field. LOTS of hot stuff. There are no trees to hide behind, should you decide to 'see a man about a horse'. Typically, you have to wiggle and roll out of the blind and relieve yourself while lying on your side. If you stand up, you risk alerting the geese, who can see you way before you see or hear them. So my brother rolls out and shakes the dew off the lillies and crawls back in while I blow on the goose call. I handed him the goose call and just as I was about to start wiggling out, I hear a really faint "honk." My brother puts a hand on my chest to tell me not to move. He starts making feeding sounds on the caller and we hear it again. "honk." OK, so I guess I won't be getting any relief soon. The geese were coming. We called to them for another 15 minutes before they came into sight - and boy, what a sight! There must have been 500 geese in the air! That's when I realized I was wet from my head all the way down my back! I guess I was really excited. The geese circled for another couple of minutes trying to decide if they were going to land. When they started to flare in, my brother whispers, "Now!" He sat up and started shooting. BAM! BAM! BAM! But not me. I was stuck. I tried to sit up, but my hat and my hair were stuck to the plastic bottom of the blind! I gave a mighty heave and up I came, shotgun to the shoulder, blasting big white birdies outta the sky. I was vaguely aware of some lingering pain on the back of my head, but more importantly, I still had to 'make water'. Once the rest of the geese disappeared and we stood up to gather our kill, I realized something very important. Yes, I had been frozen to the ground in a puddle of urine - BUT IT WASN'T MINE!! My brother was kind enough to do his business directly uphill from me. He still thinks that's funny.

Amen to Terry's above comments. The effect is quite the same when you lie in a ground blind in an Idaho November at 4:00am waiting for Snow Geese. While gore-tex has wicking abilities, a canvas ground blind does not. You see, the gore-tex will eventually allow the odoriferous emination to seep out, but the wind and water proofed blind will hold everything in a suspended state until your hunting buddy surrenders and opts to breathe -25 degree oxygen instead of 98.6 degree methane. I'd say that makes me a goose bum, but somehow that evokes a totally different image than that of a trout bum. Now, do you want to know how I froze my hair to the ground in this same ground blind?

Here are directions to, uh, Taneycomo. Directions to Lake Taneycomo From St. Louis Lake Taneycomo is 161 miles from the I-270 and I-44 interchange; the trip will take about 3 hours 15 minutes depending on traffic. Go west on I-44 for 148 miles to Exit 129; you are now in Lebanon. At the top of the off ramp, turn right onto Hwy. 5 /Hwy. 32. Stay straight on Hwy. 5 for 1.5 miles, until you reach the intersection of Hwy. 64 and Hwy. 5. Go straight on Hwy. 64 for 10.5 miles then turn left on Hwy. 64A. Travel for one mile until reaching the lake. From Kansas City Lake Taneycomo is 178 miles from Arrowhead Stadium; the trip will take about 4 hours 45 minutes depending on traffic. Drive east on I-70 for 68 miles to Exit 78A. Go south on U.S. Hwy. 65 for 90 miles to the intersection of U.S. Hwy. 65 and Hwy. 64 at the village of Louisburg. Turn left on Hwy. 64 and drive for 17 miles then turn right on Hwy. 64A. Travel for one mile until reaching the lake. From Jefferson City Lake Taneycomo is approximately 95 miles from Jefferson City and should take about 2 hours 15 minutes depending on traffic. Drive west on U.S. Hwy. 54 for 58 miles to the town of Camdenton. Turn left onto Hwy. 5 and go 25 miles to the town of Lebanon. Turn right on Hwy. 64 and drive 10.5 miles then turn left on Hwy. 64A. Travel for one mile until reaching the lake. From Springfield Lake Taneycomo is approximately 63 miles from Springfield and should take 1 hour 30 minutes depending on traffic. Drive east on I-44 for 51 miles to Exit 129; stay in the left turn lane on the exit ramp. You are now in Lebanon. Turn left onto Hwy. 32/Hwy. 5 and stay straight on Hwy. 5 for 1.5 miles, until you reach the intersection of Hwy. 64 and Hwy. 5. Go straight on Hwy. 64 for 10.5 miles then turn left onto Hwy. 64A. Travel for one mile until reaching the lake.

Tell everyone you meet: The fishing at Taneycomo stinks! You won't like it! The fishermen are mean! They throw rocks at you! There's a crack in the dam! You should go to Bennett Spring!

I'm in with strangercreek and Dano. You just can't beat the olive softhackle. I'd add #16 Griffith's Gnats. Late July is a good time for terrestrials, too. Foam ants are my favorites.