Dan Sweeney

Shoot. I have been making bows and bowhunting the past few months and am just getting back into fishing mode for the spring. Sorry to hear of his passing. I bumped into him on the Creek a couple of times and he was very generous. Hope he finds fine fishing.

Oh yeah, and next door to The Rail is The Iron Horse. It's a coffee shop, and you may get some odd looks from the yuppie crowd, but their sandwiches are top notch. The Zeus is pretty hearty and has some punch and tasts fine.

Has Wesners in Downtown Rogers made the cut yet? That is a darn good place. Also, if you can catch him (sometimes her) during a weekday lunch, the Maggie's Hot Dog cart that sets up near the Frisco railroad car is pretty neat. If you are after breakfast on the way out early in the morning, Daylight Donuts has good donuts and better ham/cheese/sausage things. And the coffee is tolerable if not great. Jiffy Kwik has the best store bought BLT around, and the other deli sandwiches are really good too. I often lunch at that station. It seriously breaks the "Don't eat at a place with fuel pumps" rule. If you are way down the lake, The Bus Stop in Garfield is excellent, and while you're out there if you really want to kill some time and cash on a weekend evening, Across the Creek is an absurdly good seafood fiasco.

Uh, hello? Monte Ne Inn. You don't even have to order there.

Normally, you would be about right. But it's been so warm so long so early this spring that the bream are about a month to six weeks ahead. I've been catching them in my pond for a month and in the lakes and streams for two weeks (excepting during flood stage, which doesn't count). Caught a lot in pre-spawn territory the past couple days. Don't let them get away!!

I spent maybe half an hour up at the Mill last night. It was really up and rolling. Just about knock you over to get knee deep, and that wouldn't get you very far. It was high, fast, and dirty. I flipped a clouser a few times to say I'd been fishing and then went home. Gonna keep an eye on the level and try it again later.

Well if you get a better heads up on the generation, be sure to let us know! Welcome here!

About all I fish are hair's ear, pheasant tails, parachute Adams, Wulffs, and Royal Coachmans (the Coachman often as a wet fly). I suspect you can't go too far wrong with those anywhere. Maybe throw in a couple off buggers and a couple more non-Adams drys.

I am thinking of going to try it tomorrow. Looks like there will be some generation all day, but might still manage alright. We'll see.

I've gotten in some good days so far, but that's largely because I am derilect in all the normal, grown up responsibilities. I'm not above dropping what should be done in order to go fishing instead. Probably ought to work on that, but likely never will.

I betcha it'll be brimmed out here soon. Our pond has risn over 5 feet since last night. Drove by Monte Ne early this afternoon and saw the mud blowing in the back of the cove by the road. Should be able to fish some flooded brush soon.

Allegator gar are really catching on as a fish worth protecting (finally), so you might better check up on regulations regarding "keeper size", limits, permits, etc. Seems like it changes every year right now. The other gar species are more common and less particular, though still FANTASTIC fun to tie into. Probably easier to get ahold of too. They CAN be caught on a hook, although it's tough to do. You're looking at some pretty heavy duty leaders and heavy gauge hook and still gonna be hit or miss on your hookup percentages cause their mouth is pretty bony. It can happen though, as plenty of river fishermen will tell you. Quite a few longnose get caught by accident.

Used to be some fine bluegill and redear in there. Haven't been much the past few years, but now that I am back home I plan to get over that way more regularly and check it out. It's a very pleasant lake, even with the use fee. The lady at the office is really nice.

Ouch! Poor dog. Hope he recoveres well. Otherwise, that sounds like a fine trip. Pretty fish.

1) I'd go with it's the interstates causing the trouble. And... 2) ...bison go pretty much where ever the heck they want. Ever notice the difference in facilities between ranches and slaughterhouses that deal with bison versus those that deal with domesticated cattle?

Hmm... Would you be willing to sell just the motor, or is it only a package deal?

Clauser minnow maybe? Seems like they'd be prime movers for crappie. But, you sure can't go wrong with wooly buggers either.

If you used nothing but a size 8 or 10 topwater popper and a size 6 to 10 wooly bugger you'd probably be fine most of the time, at least on the streams and rivers where I fish for smallmouth. Always a great time. Of course, there are times when other things work better too, but those will usually do pretty well. I think it's good to have some helgremite and crawdad flies and a few streamers too.

Fredrick, Doesn't that stink??? I HATE to see that kind of mess. I'd like to hold someone's head under water untill bubbles quit coming up. I went out for a couple hours this evening. Same story regarding the moderatly high/muddy/COLD water. All the recent snowmelt is still in there and it's up and flowing pretty well and cold cold cold. I waded and cast a bead head fly a bit but didn't expect much. It was pretty though, and I was far enough up/back that there was no one else out. There might be later in the year, but it won't ever be too busy. I'm looking forward to it!

If you try to fly fish for the first time for three days in mid March in running water, you're likely to spend three days looking retarded and digging hooks out of your everything, and not catching many fish. If you want to start learning how to fly fish, try and get a bit of the basics down ahead of time if you can. There should be a fly shop or two around College Station to help with that. If not, a medium light to ultralight spinning rod works somewhere between just fine and much better, depending on whom you ask. (I much prefer fly fishing, but I have and occasionally use several spinning rigs.) Either way, you should have a good time, but I wouldn't pick up a bundle'o fly gear the night before and expect to avoid frustration the next day. Just food for thought.

Small waters bodies warm more quickly than large water bodies, so little creeks and headwaters are a good place to begin. At a minimum, it's a good time out in the woods and fields prospecting. And you might come upon some early feeders. Go with it! I plan to soon.

So ready. I've cleaned, lubed, sewn, patched, tied, organized, fixed and generally puttered as much as I am allowed to following back surgery. Gonna have to have a hand on boat trailer wheel bearings since that'll involve more than I'm supposed to lift for a few weeks, but I am so ready for some crappie and bluegill. Bass too. Looking forward to it. Glad somebody is looking ahead!

*drool drool drool* I just sent that Kevin Stubbs fellow an inquiry. Snow days such as this are dangerous times. This is when the money gets spent.

http://www.freewebs.com/fountainheadflyfish/ Here's a guy from over on the Fiberglass Fly Rodders who does great furled leaders (true furl). I've used a few of his. Love em.