jude

Beautiful work, Timothy.

I don't think it will be fishable on Saturday, and with the forecast, next Saturday may be iffy. I'd say push it out two weeks and keep your fingers crossed.

Jim...we just figure it all out at breakfast: drop the boats off at Baumann and run a couple of vehicles to the take out.

If we don't get hit with too much rain in the next week, I think it will be in pretty good shape for a float. (Probably not good for wading, though.)

I hate to say it, but I am going to have to bow out this time gents. Gonna be in Memphis drinking beer and listening to live music.

The sun behind Terry Dodge is brilliant in many of his fish pictures.

County guys replace signs, we eat pizza. Brilliant!

czech

My 2 cents,

a moderate fast 9 ft. 6 wt rod will allow you cast most flies under most conditions. Many of today's 6 wt. rods might perform better up lined with 7 wt. WF fly line so in fact you're using a 7 wt rod anyway. The heavier 7 wt. rod is overkill (sadly) for the majority of smallies that I catch.

 

 

That's pretty much what I was going to say, but being lazy, I figured I'd wait until someone else posted it. It worked! What he said ^

Have you tried it yet?

I'll be there.

A pet octopus? That's cool as hell.

Yes…some people give fish WAY too much credit if you ask me. That's just how Rapala, Senko, etc. like it.

My daughters got me a drone. They know I'm mentally about 12 years old.

Make sure to give us a review. I thought it looked pretty impressive.

I'm sure the permits have conditions which they must abide by, and I would imagine quality of the water being discharged would be one of them. I find it hard to believe the crap they're discharging is allowed under their permits. Do you have copies of the permits?

Nice video Terry! I'd say you're being too mild when you say "stainings". Just call it what it is: pollution. Next time it happens, let us know immediately and everyone on this board should call that EPA number that day (without letting on that it is an organized event.) If they get dozens of reports on one day, they'll have to prioritize it. Keep up the good work Terry.

Norm: I didn't do squat. This is all Terry.

I love that sound! It's amazing how loud they are. Often I'll hear them and think they're nearby, then barely be able to spot them way up there.

I know I had to duct tape Bart's boot this summer due to a busted BOA. I've beat the hell out of a pair of Simms for the last three years and they've just about had it. I'm happy with how they performed.

Jim, with such a big size, I'd keep an eye on the "bargain barn" section at Cabela's. It seems they usually have really big or really small stuff on clearance.

Yep. Thanks for your efforts, rich. You've always gone above and beyond.

On Sunday it was in good shape. A little higher than normal, but still clear.

I'm out. I have my wife's class reunion to attend. Hurray.

I can't imagine too big of a negative affect on a river the size of the Kish. But I can imagine a family of otters could clean out a small farm pond pretty efficiently. Yes, they're cute, and yes Norm…they seemed to be concentrating on my chin. I think they were actually disappointed in my beard, comparing it to the guy they heard about on the Kank.

Do you guys think the otters would ever try to go after a lure? Have you ever heard or read about it?

I'll bet they would. When I first saw them I had quite a bit of line out in the hole where they were. I just froze up at first, then figured I better get my Jude Bug reeled in before they got to it. They were pretty fearless. I wish I had a better camera at times like this. I watched them, and they watched me for a good ten minutes.

Topwater fishing sucked today, but I saw my first Kishwaukee otter today. Actually there were three of them really checking me out.

Terry, you are a man of many talents. That was funny.

Theory-The turtles might stir groceries up from the bottom.

Gregg

That would make sense if they were hanging out downstream, like I've seen them do with carp. But these guys' heads were about centered on the turtle. I guess if a turtle crawling upstream kicked up a crayfish, it would escape upstream. Maybe the smallies were poised to beat the turtle to the morsels. Hmmm.

I think the moral of the story is you need to find a 20" soft shell turtle and put your fly in front of the smallie hovering over the top of it!!!

 

-Forrest

Now that's thinking outside the box.

Went into town for my weekend cup of coffee and, as is S.O.P., walked out onto the railroad bridge to fish-watch. I was watching an 8" smallmouth hover over a rock that was about 6" in diameter. He seemed very defensive of his rock. Some smaller fish would get close and he'd shoo them away and come back to hover over his rock. Then the rock came up for air. Turns out it was a soft-shelled turtle. I'd seen smallies hang out downstream of turtles and carp to feed on goodies that drift down, but this guy was right on the turtle. If it had been a sucker, I would have been sure that he was sucking on the turtle. But smallies aren't built for that.

I watched for quite some time and then crossed to the other side of the river. Sure enough, there was a 12" smallie hovering around a 12" soft-shell. Same thing. Very aggressive towards any fish that got near him. The turtle would move a foot or two, and the smallie would follow. He wasn't hanging downstream, but was right on top of the turtle. Not sure what I was watching, but it was interesting. Any theories?