Busy

With the new year in full swing, I have found myself very busy and neglecting my blog. I wonder if I heap too much on my plate. The old eyes are bigger than the stomach syndrome.

This year Just Fishin’ Guides will be seeking a resurgence with the addition of two guides and two drift boats. Kevin, Zack and myself will all have drift boats to take on the rivers. Well at least Kevin’s is in transit – somewhere !  ; ) We will be able to handle bigger groups and more clients on different rivers plus we are expanding our guiding area. We hope to expand into more streams in Missouri for trout and smallmouth. We will be working with more local fly shops to bring you the best in drift boat trips.

Our website will be going through a major overhaul. Look for that soon. I’m sure you will enjoy it.

Reel Recovery (www.reelrecovery.org) is going strong in Arkansas and we will have two retreats in 2010. We will be back at Cedarwood Lodge in October. October 19-21 to be exact. We will also have a spring retreat sometime in April. The details are being finalized now. We will be needing more participants, volunteers and of course donations. Speaking of donations, I will be rowing the Arkansas River from Tulsa, OK to the Mississippi River beginning on March 27th. This journey of over 400 miles is to raise money and awareness for Reel Recovery. since I doubled the distance this year from the float last year, I am not sure what I am going to do for an encore. Right now 800 miles seems like a very long way if I am going to double the distance each year.

We are also getting together a Reel Recovery Day/One Fly Contest at the Beaver Dam Store this year. Zack Hoyt is the main person in charge along with Bryce Cadion from the store. We hope to have a really big turnout and a great, fun day. And of course raise money for Reel Recovery.

We are speaking with any and every group we can about Reel Recovery and Just Fishin’ Guides so if you have a group that would like to hear the story, give us a holler.

I am also involved with Southern Council FFF Conclave in Mtn. Home in October. I have volunteered to be the vendor chair for 2010 and am looking to pack the hall with interesting vendors. So if you have a business and would like to be involved again give me a yell.

We have not been fishing as much as we would like. This winter has been colder than normal and just this week we had 5-10 inches of snow and ice blanket the area. For you guys up north this would not be a problem, but here in the south we have one snow plow for the entire state and they don’t know how to use it. Also salt is something you put on food not on roads to melt stuff.  I am ready to get out and rack up some fishing/rowing time. I am pretty much jonesing some water time.

Beaver TW 12-29-09

Went to fish for trout at the Beaver tailwaters on a cold dreary day. It was 31 degrees and snow still on the ground when I hit the water at about 11 am. The water was still falling out from power generation. The trout were really rising to emerging midges. Fished the area downstream of the bathhouse and only got one hit and no fish in a couple of hours.

When the water fully dropped out I headed back up to the boat ramp near the dam. The fish were still midging and went through a bunch of combinations trying to get the perfect setup. It probably would have helped if I had brought all of my fly boxes. My luck I picked the wrong two to put in my vest. Fished a bunch of different flies and at various depths.

My last combination was a black/silver zebra midge at about 18 inches deep. Soon got a solid, but gentle bite and I had a fish on! As I was bringing it in, I noticed the color was different and the fish was staying down unlike most of the rainbows. Got it to me and it was not a trout —- it was a Longear Sunfish!!

Sunfish and cold fisherman

I had noticed Ryan Riley fishing downstream of me and brought the fish over to him. He had his camera with him, I only had my camera phone, and he snapped a few shots. Who would have expected a sunfish in a trout stream, the last of December on a freezing day? But the fish turned out to be the biggest Longear I have ever caught.

Big Sunny

After that fish I had enough of fishing in the cold and headed for the house and warmth.

Part Deux

The Start at Fort Smith Arkansas

Worked on the mapping of the big float for Reel Recovery yesterday and found that I miscalculated the distance. The float I have planned is only 308 miles. Now I will have to do it in two parts since I have already committed to a start date of March 27th. I’ll do the lower float then come back and float the upper part later. Probably float from Tulsa to Fort Smith later on. That float is just under 140 miles. Should be a piece of cake except for Robert S. Kerr Lake. It is a big flat, wide open beast that the wind blows constantly.

Don’t know if I want to start in Tulsa, OK on the Arkansas or come down the McClellan-Kerr navigation route. It would be pretty cool to start from Riverside Park and have the people line the river sending me off. But the river in Tulsa is usually about 6 inches deep. As they say… Too muddy to drink – Too deep to plow!!!

Guess I have a little time to decide.

Now I just have to decide where I am going to take out on the Arkansas. Certainly don’t want to end up going down the Mississippi River in a 14 foot row boat!

capps creek 12-14-09

Kevin and I went to Capps Creek in Missouri with the hopes of finding a new spot to fish and pick up a few trout. We started off OK, but missed the turn-off and it took some extra time to get there. The weather was cloudy, but in the 50’s and we dressed accordingly. The weatherman had said a cold front was supposed to arrive late afternoon. As we got in the water a gentleman was getting out and said the fishing was very good. The wind was blowingpretty good so I could not use my Sage #000 weight like I wanted, so I used my #3 weight. Since niether of us had fished Capps we had no idea what type of fly to use. I tied on a #14 black tube body midge and kevin made the remark on how predictable I was. Needless to say I caught a brown within 10 minutes of hitting the water. It was not colored up like the browns in the White are now, but it was a pretty fish of about 10 inches. Overall Kevin and I caught a couple dozen fish, with two Browns thrown in.

Capps Creek Brown Trout

It  only took two times to get it as I missed the first strike. later on while drifting through a deep hole I picked up a Rainbow of about 14 inches and very fat. There were a bunch of fish rising all around and we could not see what they were taking. Later in a shallower run we saw a small mayfly on the water that was the color of a light Cahill but December is the wrong time for those guys to be out.

While fishing a run ahead of Kevin, I saw a one floating down to me and as I reached to pick it up a little creek minnow snatched it out of the water. Even though the minnow got the fly, I knew there had been trout getting them also. Needless to say, I did not have my dries or soft hackles with me.

The creek is a nice place to fish. It is really different from the tailwaters we normally fish. We will be back to fish Capps Creek especially if the tailwaters are cranking and as many of you know, I hate to fish Roaring River.

Capps Creek above Wallaby Road

As we were ending the day,we noticed the temperature had dropped and the wind had really picked up. Really did not notice it while fishing since we were down in the creek. When we got back to the truck, half frozen, the temperature was down to 34 degrees. The cold front had arrived. All though a little early.

Fishing reports december 7, 2009

Beaver tailwaters -

Water releases have slacked off some and the Table Rock Lake level has gone down so there is much more wading access. The fish have been staying near the bottom and hitting mostly nymphs. Sowbug/scud patterns, small mayfly nymphs such as pheasant tails and copper johns and bead head midge patterns have been working best. Small olive woolly buggers fished with a sink-tip line are picking up nice fish.

 

Norfork tailwaters -

Water releases have been high with 2 units running plus some release from the flood gates have grounded the wade fishermen. Boat fishing is the only option until the COE gets the lake level down.

 

Bull Shoals tailwaters -

High water releases, 20,000+ cfs, has made drift fishing from a boat the only option. Brightly colored nymphs, San Juan worms and egg patterns are working for those that want to watch an indicator. For fly fishermen that want to be more active, a larger streamer fished on a sinking or sink-tip line is working. Make sure you are casting to structure, as the trout will be holding to get away from the current.

 

Crooked Creek -

Spin fishing with soft plastics are still picking up fish. The weather change to cold has made the fish a little sluggish. Make sure you slow down your action on your lures.

 

King’s River -

The river has fallen to where floating is tough. Soft plastics are working with colors in the reddish or green tints. With the cold weather, slow down your retrieve.

 

the future of JFG

We, Kevin, Zack and myself, at Just Fishin’ Guides are in the midst of revamping our website and the services we offer. You can look forward to many new things coming up. We will be offering fly fishing casting classes, fly tying classes, a fly fishing school, drift boat rowing classes and outdoor photography classes. These will be either for a group or the individual. We are going to try to get to all the club meetings in the area and do presentations. We have many kinds and love to talk.

Our normal guiding will not change. We will still offer half, full, multiple day and overnight trips. We will be fishing for trout and smallmouth as before, but are thinking of expanding our territory more into Missouri. We will continue to focus mainly on fly fishing, but offer spin fishing trips. As always our trips are all inclusive except for your clothes and a fishing license. There is never an extra charge.

All of us at Just Fishin’ Guides look forward to seeing you in the future.   Drifter

Beaver tailwaters 11-29-09

Guided Bryant, Caleb and Will from Guthrie, OK on Beaver. The weather was pretty nice at the start of the day, but they had 1+ units running. Will and Caleb had not fished out of a boat and it was tough getting them used to the boat.

Bryant, Caleb and Will

It was misting slightly when we started but quit fairly quickly. By lunch a few blue patches showed up and it was quite pleasant. Bryant picked up a few rainbows along the way and Caleb and Will missed a few fish. They had a hard time figuring out if your indicator was underwater and going upstream meant a fish was on. The boys were a hoot and they liked my jokes. Will had hip waders on and stepped in water just a little too deep. I remember those days well when my brother, Dean and I were fishing the White River in the 60’s. After a lunch of deli sandwiches and homemade brownies the water dropped out and we rowed back up from Cane Break to the campground. A couple of fish were caught from there to the end of the special regs area. The front came through and the temperature started dropping, then the rain started. Bundled the boys up and finished the row to Bertand. Will was dragging his fly in the water as we made the final turn and a good rainbow got on his line.

Will. I. Am's Rainbow

He had his hands up in the sleeves of the rain jacket and it was a group effort to get it in. I think everyone touched the line during that struggle.

I hope they can all come back and fish with us again when the conditions are a little better. I really enjoyed their company.

November 28

Pretty much finished the work on the botton of the Hyde. Carol and I put it back on the trailer and got it ready for a guide trip tomorrow. The epoxy was just a little tacky in a few places. The sun did not shine all day like it was supposed to and the temperature din’t get as high.

We have a new logo at Just Fishin’ Guides. It has been used for a couple of months. It took about a week of intense e-mailing between Kevin, Zack, myself and Ryan Riley who did the art work. We are really liking it. We went with a Smallmouth Bass because we all LOVE to fish for them and most everyone else has a trout on theirs.

Our New Logo

We also have another logo that we also use. It is a plain oval with JFG in the center. We have stickers of both of them.

Sicker #2

Das Boot

Kevin helped me take the boat off the trailer and flip it upside-down yesterday. I needed to do some minor repairs on the bottom due to one too many rocks.  It turned out there was a pretty good gouge near to where i sit. Maybe I need to drop a pound or two. Or maybe not carry quite so much stuff in the rowers bench storage.

When I started I thought I had enough epoxy, but there were two tubes that had gone bad. So off to Lowe’s for more. No way I am going near Walmart today. Did a good coat on most of the stuff and will do a second coat tomorrow and finish the chines. Hopefully it will dry before the guide trip at Beaver tailwaters on Sunday.

New Blogs

Please take time to check out Zack’s (www.justfishinguides1.wordpress.com)

and Kevin’s (www.justfishinguides2.wordpress.com) new blogs.

We will all try to keep you up on the latest things going on in the JFG life and the waters we fish.