Terry Beeson

You can blame my parents for mine... May 19th... OK... Calendar marked.

Nah... she didn't "get me".... She just likes Leonard's stipping better than mine... I mean.. hey... she want's Leonard to give Ducky stripping lessons... not me...

NO NO NO NO no... You can't slink and sneak... You have to get that "Martin Landau" makeup kit from Mission Impossible and make yourself look like JW... Maybe you should hire a guy to follow you around with a TV camera...

OK... I'm trying to get in my head why the apple core-er base is "not tall enough." Not that I doubt you, but just wondering. You could fashion one out of quick-crete.

We should have done it by the TU calenar and had it on February 31st... You guys come up with a date and I'll either be there or won't...

Sounds like a great 45 minutes... Yeah, the guy at the dam watches for me, too...

May 26 is bad for me..... OK... just kiddin'.... I'm good for any date right now... Tell ya what... Leonard, Mr Ducky, and I will do a seminar on stripping.... THAT'll bring 'em in....

T M I !!! T M I !!! This thread is deteriorating FAST!! Ducky... I hope in between you are actually learning something related to fly fishing... Then again, I also hope Mrs Ducky is benefitting too....

Hey... as long as we share all those dollar bills with them, they don't seem to want to know how we got them....

"We live in Aurora" I feel your pain... Where can we go Crappie fishing Where the Crappie are - in the water when should we When they are biting and what should we use Bait and tackle... OK.... OK... OK... You know me... I couldn't resist.... OK... as to where, the arm of TR from Galena to Cape Fair, I've heard, holds some good Crappie and might be a good time to start stalking them up there. I've caught Crappie 12 months out of the year, but most do better about the time the Jonquils bloom. They move into more shallow spawning areas about that time. Fish structure... LOTS of structure. There are a lot of guys who sink Christmas trees, bamboo, and anything they can put together that will make structure. It will draw the Crappie in like crazy if there are any in the area. If you can find some "buddy" who would help you find some of this or just luck out on your own.... For "bait" you can use minnows or jigs. Maribou or tube jigs work great. Lots of guys use long poles (the BnM poles are great) to drop down a jig into structure. I have a friend back home who uses a fly rod with a spinning reel and does great. You CAN fly fish for them as well. Small flashy colorful flies with lots of weight to get them down... Sinking line if they are deep. Also, small spinners and plugs will take crappie. Go to crappie.com and get on their forum. There are guys all around TR on their that can help you. I can't do anything about you living in Aurora....

I'm good for it. This time I might even get to pheesh!! Just gotta work with the calendar... Lots of stuff going on....

Well, there's also the indian chief uniform... but it's hard to find a loin cloth that will drape down below my knees... Hey David... You need to try a Gulley Worm concocted by John Gulley down around Norfork tailwaters. Click here to view the Gulley Worm on Orvis' website.... As for the false casting, yes, that sometimes has to happen. Just another reason to practice your false cast... Undulate... "to move with a sinuous or wavelike motion; display a smooth rising-and-falling or side-to-side alternation of movement. To bend with successive curves in alternate directions." MAYbe 25 years ago... Of course nowdays, if you get all these extra pounds started moving, undulating just happens... It's a physics experiment...

Hey dude... I found your pickup!!

You should be able to make the drive in 2 hours or less. I've made it in just over 2 from Nixa, but that's a stretch. Ramps at Quarry and the confluence. No ramp at the handicap access... walk in only.

Stripping is an art form and to do it properly, you have to have those leather pants, cop uniform, or fireman's uniform with the velcro closures in the back... OH... and of course you have to have the right music! And JOCKEYS will NEVER do! You MUST have boxers with a thong under them... You know... the thong with the elephant's face on the front... You can find them at www.maleexoticdancers...... OK... OK.... OK.... On a more serious note... Stripping line is a matter of several factors. The fly, the fish, the current, and is a combination of speed, length, timing, and rod action. The FLY rod... Think about the fly at the end of your tippet and what you want it to do. Do you want it to dance across the bottom? Do you want it just to swim in a natural form? What's the current like? How do the fish react to the way you aare stipping now? Do they whistle, cheer, and wave dollar bills at you or do they just sit there and nurse their margaritas? What you are doing is what most of us do... Cast, get a little slack in the line from the stripping guide to the reel, and then start the strip. The line winds up at your feet or in the water in front of you if you are wading. Some guys use a stripping basket, but that's usually when you are casting LONG distance such as saltwater or spey casting. Now... the METHOD of stripping is what is important. Again... short quick strips, long slow strips, darts, short slow, pause, long quick... and in some cases you can "jig" a fly using the strip along with rod tip movement. Joe Humphrey has a strip method that keeps the fly moving slow constantly during the strip. Somehow he catches line with his index finger, pulls down by rotating his wrist, and at the end catches the next section of line with his pinky, pulls down rotating his wrist in the opposite way, and repeat... VERY effective strip and he does it super slow and can "kick it up a notch" if needed. But I can tell you, it takes lots of practice to get any good at it... I've tried... Lefty Kreh had an article in a fly fishing magazine recently talking about slow stripping and his trick was to start with your left hand at the rod and move your hand all the way back very slowly until your arm was stretched out behind you. This gave him a constant strip of about 4 feet depending on the length of your arm I guess. Many of us tend to stop our strip when our hand reaches our hip or side and Lefty's remark was to "keep stripping" until you reached a full strip potential. Makes sense to me... Now... think about sculpins. What happens when you "surprise" a sculpin. Does he "swim away" taking his time? Nope... He darts like a bottle rocket for a short distance. This is their natural response and can be VERY effective when fishing sculpins. You might want to try a fast/quick "dart" strip of a few feet... pause.. slow... dart... Then again, it all depends on what the fish want and how they want it... Just like any fishing... Personally, my wife likes a really fast strip followed by a mundane "that was great honey... you rock... goodnight..."

I would think Northern Alaska would be quite a driving distance from Kansas City... OH... OK... you mean Northern ARKANSAS (AR) I would sure consider Beaver tailwaters.

Maybe they need to define just what a "hand operated dip net or lift" is in contrast to a "cast net?" I guess I assumed (bad idea) your friend was using a cast net...

Beadhead? Dave Whitlock has a tip of roughing up the hook shank just a bit if you are using super glue or zap-a-gap. I use a fingernail sandpaper thingy to give the hook shank a bit of grit. PLUS it helps keep my nails looking good for the fish...

OUCH! Been there, done that, Ducky... and being an even BIGGER guy, I "feel your pain." But I tried to tell you nobody goes on opening day... it's too crowded! I enjoyed opening day from the comfort of my couch this year...

This from a guy who drive a FORD... The one I got came with a wire tie. I did attach it around the frame with the tie. If you watch the backs of most guides, you'll see they have the handle down... At least that's been MY observation and why I chose to do it that way... And it does make it easy to grab the handle to land the dink...

From the AGFC reg book: "During daylight hours, baitfish may be taken using: *seines no larger than 50 feet long and four feet wide with quarter-inch mesh; *traps or lifts no larger than six feet by six feet by three feet with half-inch mesh and with a throat size of two inches. *cast nets with one-inch (or smaller) mesh; *shad trawl nets with one-inch (or smaller) mesh; *glass, plastic or wire mesh minnow traps no larger than one gallon with a one and- a-half inch (or smaller) throat; *hand-operated dip nets or lifts with one inch (or smaller ) square bar mesh for use while sportfishing. This method may be used day or night. All other species of fish must be immediately released." Sorry, but it does say "daylight hours"....

Did I say "dink?" I meant my D-ring... Oh... and remember... "That things gotta HEMI!"

So.... We're waiting............... C'mon Mark............. Tell us........................ How many fish did they catch?

Springfield forecast says T-storms tomorrow and some rain Sunday... Other than than, nothing right through next week. Good chance if that holds, Sowbug will be a good fishing weekend. At least for those of us who prefer low water and no generation.

I attached one end of the magnet to my dink...