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I have fished the Big Thompson in Estes Park (and RMNP) and I loved it. Smaller fish, usually, but an incredibly helpful guide service at Kirk's Fly Shp in Estes Park. They have a weekly fishing report online, and their guides are great. Even when I didn't use a guide, they gave me all the info I needed to be successful on my own. Perhaps you can sneak me on the plane in your carry-on bag? I'd like to go.

present

I'm sorry, I didn't mean 'lighter' since if it was lighter it wouldn't sink as fast as something heavier. What I meant to ask was does tippet material sink quicker than leader material??

Bman, when you say long tippet, is that because tippet is lighter than leader and allows the fly to sink quicker? Is that the logic??

Water was cloudy and high, but not unfishable by any means. People were actually doing quite well around the island in the fast current. I actually caught about 4 or 5 in there and missed 6 or 7 more. Everyone I asked, including me, caught them on copper johns or prince nymphs

I fished at Meramec Springs today and saw a guy just lighting them up, so I asked him what he was using when he passed me. He showed me an egg pattern from which he dropped a green copper john. The fish were ripping up the copper john dropper. What I thought was most interesting was that he showed me that he was using a lot of weight, but the weights were below the copper john. He must have tied on some tippet to his dropper and just had weights on the tippet. I have never seen that before. I usually put a split shot or two above my top fly, and one or two between my top fly and my dropper. But I always get tangled after a few casts (lobs). I didn't see how exactly he had this rigged, but would it be unheard of to drop the weights off the bottom fly instead of putting weights between the two flies? Has anyone tried that? I'm a rookie, so forgive me if this is a dumb question. I spent literally half of my time with huge tangles today. I'm wondering if his system would reduce tangles, or if you guys have a system to reduce tangles. I look forward to your thoughts! Jim

I was thinking about spending a couple of hours at Meramac Springs Saturday doing some C&R. I know the river is very high, so would the spring area be flooded too? I didn't want to waste a drive....thanks!

I would definitely wear bright orange if I were fishing this weekend. I would also start fishing just below the park at the cable crossing and continue downstream to Tan Vat. Loads of fish to be had on glo-balls fished deep.

Drove down to Tan Vat Friday afternoon with my wife. We waded downstream and fished with pink egg patterns with white jig heads. We each had on a stonefly pattern above the egg. Caught 3 rainbows in 2 hours, all on the egg pattern. Saturday was much better. Fished from 7 am until 4 pm. My wife caught about 7 or 8 rainbows in between a 3 hour break on the lawn chair with a book. I caught about 20 throughout the day. All but 2 of mine came on that same egg pattern. The other ones came off of a rubber leg stonefly and a chili pepper that I dead drifted. Every deep hole was packed with hungry fish, it seemed. I also threw an October Caddis out there with a prince nymph dropped below. Nothing....not even a curious look. And nothing whatsoever on the larger stoneflies that I was fishing. I was definitely on the bottom too....

Fellas- I fish alot on the Current River and I am new to the site. I've trolled through the discussion board, and I cannot find these questions (maybe I missed it): 1. How can I tell what hatch is going on? Trico, Mayfly, Caddis, Stonefly, etc?? I try and capture the bugs, but they seem so small to me that I cannot tell even when I do get one. Is there an easy formula? 2. Let's say I figure out what is hatching, what are the go-to flies for each?? Thanks for your help! I'm really trying to learn this stuff because I enjoy it so much....

Thanks for the replies. I was definitely not using enough weight. I had only 1 split shot on each rig. I was thinking the weight of the egg pattern coupled with the one piece of split would make it sink fast enough. I was oobviously wrong. With so much weight, it's more like 'lobbing' than technical casting, right? I'm also not good enough to fish without an indicator yet. I feel as if I would miss too many fish. Also, below the first hole at Tan Vat (the one with the tree), there are long stretches of water (runs). Are there fish to be caught in that water that is only 3 feet or so? There's a lot of this water upstream from Baptist I notices.

Hey guys, I need help! I was skunked on Saturday for the very first time at Tan Vat and Baptist. I have been to Tan Vat numerous times, and it seems each time I get worse. My wife was also skunked for the first time. I know the water was up, but doesn't that make the fish less spooky? Anyway, here's what we used---she exclusively used a pink globall dropped below a red san juan worm. I rigged hers so she was fishing deep....nothing! I used a variety of things. Primrose and pearl midges, prince nymphs, globalls (pink), a large dry caddis that was given to me at Hargroves and I dropped a soft hackle off of that. I was also fishing deep with my nymphs. I'm at a loss. I want my wife to continue her interest in fly fishing, but when she gets skunked, it doesn't help. I'm open to any and all advice. Thanks! Jim

Thanks Gene. Are there any nice gravel bars along the way there? I have only walked down as far as where the creek enters on the left. Thanks again

Does anyone know of a way my wife and I can backcountry camp in Northern Arkansas that would allow us to fly fish for trout? Do any of the streams on the Ozark Trail contain populations of trout? Or is the White River our only option? Ideally we want to leave the car somewhere, hike into the woods, set up camp and fly fish. Thanks in advance for any and all advice. Jim

Does anyone know if you are allowed to park at Tan Vat and overnight camp between there and Baptist somewhere on the river? There is a 'no camping' sign at Tan Vat, but is that just for the parking lot area? Thanks for your help fellas. Jim

Hi guys/gals- I was looking for some advice on places to take my wife for hiking and trout fishing. I saw the previous posts on camping at the Current River, but I didn't get the answer I was looking for. 1. Can you park at Tan Vat and camp anywhere along the river between there and Baptist? 2. Where could I take my wife for some backcountry camping and troutfishing in Northern Arkansas. Ideally, we want to hike in, camp and fish in a remote stream. I'm doubting this is possibe since the White river is quite large, but I thought I'd see what you guys thought? Thanks for your help. Jim