drew03cmc

All pending sale or sold, thanks!

Lamar is in Yellowstone, if I am thinking correctly.

Enjoy boys. I wish I could join you, but I will have to watch the site for reports.

How were the miles of stream sampled? Was it done like the SMB White Paper was done on some less popular waters? Drive to a bridge, not like what you see and mark it negatively because of cursory appearances? Did someone physically sample EVERY mile of water to make this a truthful report free of prejudice?

Shoal can fish good following a cold front and some rain, right? You all will have a darn good time and I will be stuck at home following a week of work, I hope.

Man, I believe that if I only have ONE of something, it will catch fish and I will inevitably lose it, and catch nothing else the rest of the day. My favorite warm water flies are woolly worms, buggers, gold ribbed hare's ears and leadwing coachman wet flies. I fish them all the same basic way. Cast them towards structure, let them sink a couple seconds and use short, 2-6" strips back to me. The line will twitch, go taut or go super limp when a fish hits. Enjoy the fishing, and don't overlook warmwater creeks either.

Click pawl reels are ideal! Thanks Dan!

Thanks Dan. I figured you might have something along these lines.

Thanks

Wayne, not to nitpick, but stripers are not native to anywhere west of the Atlantic Coast. Strippers, however, are native to every city in America and I thank them for that. Stripers are a relatively slow growing species whereas the wiper is a fast growing eating machine that thrives in moving and still waters. I say stock the wipers and if they make the fishery better, keep stocking them. Kansas has PLENTY of wiper and would probably trade some for some silver bullets...

Good luck with the sale. Wish I could take it off your hands.

Mitch, it may shock you, but I am younger than both Cricket and Eric. I like them both and love their posts, even if Eric and I may seem like a dog and a cat at times. I, too, would have to place my guess on Phil's allegiances to be center-right or so, but on a fishing site, what the hell difference does it make? Threads get closed when people get personal, and it does not matter which side makes comments.

The issue with cheaper reels is the weight. They are often too heavy to balance modern graphite rods, IMO at least.

Where and when did Twain say this? I cannot find it anywhere. I believe that to be a Mitch adaptation until shown otherwise.

I will raise a Fat Tire for him. Cherish those memories.

Mitch, you realize that Cricket might actually be correct on this matter? I know that is hard to believe, but he might be onto something.

I assume you have a 5wt TFO now, is that correct? If you are getting a new rod, go down two weights or up two weights. No sense in doubling up until you have the bases covered. You can do a lot with a combination of a 3, 5 and 7/8. The 3, I would go with 8'6" 3wt Professional and the 7/8, I would probably go with either the BVK or Professional. The reason I would get the 8'6" rod is because with the extra length you can high stick scuds during the day for bows and browns at Taney as well as hit the local ponds and lakes for bluegill with dries or nymphs. The 5 would be ideal for throwing #4-8 buggers and larger flies as well as when the wind whips up and your 3 is fighting it too much. The 7/8 is a great bass bug rod, saltwater flats rod and as a night fishing rod for Taney and the White. Whatever you pick, you cannot go wrong with TFO (I know this is the inverse of my TFO comments a couple years ago, so sue me) as they stand behind their products. For reels, go with a Lamson product and never worry about it. The Konic is a nice, cost-effective product with the Lamson drag system and you can get one to balance both of your new rods.

I may do that. My preference is to fish small waters though, but I am not against taking you up on this offer. That is my feeling on landing fish as well!

I am aware how unique the fishery is. I am aware how rare the fish are. You don't need to educate me on this matter. Nets contain foreign materials and do remove slime from the fish. I can land any fish by keeping it in the water and popping my barbless hook out that way, so a net is one more piece of equipment I do not worry myself with. I don't fish waters with 20 pound trout, so I am not worried about not being able to land the fish.

Someone takes pictures of nice, wild fish and the high and mighty of the forum decide to rip someone because he took pictures of fish on the ground. This guy may never come back because of this, and who knows, he may have more knowledge on that creek than most people. I am sorry, but this kind of thing irks me. If I catch a wild trout that I think you all would enjoy seeing, I am not above laying a fish on wet gravel or grass to snap a quick picture. I, for one, do not carry a net because they are a hindrance.

Eric, we all know your mouth runs off with you, but your intentions are good...

I would love this area to have wolves again! That would be great, along with the elk and cougars.

We could continue to build dams and ruin perfectly good natural streams as well, but I guess you are aware that nuclear plants are statistically safer than coal powered plants, hydroelectric dams and other forms of energy, right? If you knew that, you would also know that our country does not have a nuclear plant newer than the 70s, so anything built recently would have the appropriate safety measures in place to handle something of that nature. Hating nuclear power has been sensationalized recently due to the catastrophe in Japan, which, without the tsunami, the plant would still be operational. I guess that has been taken into account too, right? Now, what is the likelihood of a tsunami in Missouri?

Wow, there is some bigotry going on here. I guess African Americans and females shouldn't fly fish...Seems to be a bit elitist, which is the most common complaint that I hear about fly fishing. I am all for more people learning to fly fish and passing the sport on to their kids and their grandkids.

I would have to use 8x to get it through the eye of the hook, but I know I couldn't see the hook, much less follow the fly on the water.