Kansas City Urban Trout Fishing Report

A few weeks back I posted about the Urban Trout Stocking Program that the Missouri Department of Conservation is responsible for every year around the state.  I was lucky enough to do a little fishing recently and thought I might share my experiences in an effort to help you have some success and avoid a few mistakes that I made.

On this particular day last week, I got to fish at Plover Lake and James A. Reed in Lee's Summit, Missouri, Lake Chaumiere in Kansas City, Missouri, and Fountain Bluff Sports Complex in Liberty, Missouri.  I started off around sunrise at Plover Lake.  I started off throwing a small jig under a float and a Super Duper on a spinning rod around the handicap access point near the parking lot and along the dam.  I worked my way along the north shore all the way around to the culvert in the northeast corner.  Over the years, this is where I have had the most luck.  I pick up the occasional fish off the dam and around the handicap access but the vast majority of the fish I catch come around that culvert.  You can't see it unless you are standing on top of it and you know you are getting close if you can see a small slough behind you.  I landed two trout around there and both came on a john deere under a float.  I saw some fish as well around the largest point on the southwest shore but couldn't hook them.

With the hopes that the fishing might be better elsewhere, I headed off to Lake Chaumiere around 10:00.  I should have stayed at Plover.  I didn't catch a single trout at Chaumiere but I did manage to land two hybrid bluegill and a bluegill that all pushed 4-5 inches.  I did get to watch two guys catch three trout between them after chumming an area with a can of corn.  I also watch a Russian guy catch a 1-2 pound channel cat.  I can honestly say, I have never seen anyone catch a channel cat in a small body of water like that...in December.  Thanks global warming!  You're the best!

Since I there weren't any prospects and I had a hall pass from my wife to fish until dark, I headed up to Fountain Bluff in a last ditch effort to put a few more fish on the board.  I can honestly say that this was some of the most fun I have ever had without landing a single fish.  When I arrived, I saw that the water looked like glass and fish were rising fairly consistently.  I couldn't tell what they were feeding on so I put on a Griffith's gnat and tried to cast to where they seemed to be rising the most.  I hooked one fish after about 15 casts and missed another about 10 casts later.  I thought I was really onto something but that quickly fizzled.  I didn't get another sniff on the gnat so I switched to a crackleback.  I like these flies because I can easily see them, but the fish did not share my appreciation.  I cast to a lot of fish until the sun went down and never got another bite.  I don't know if they had been pressured, if they could see me, if I had to heavy of tippet, a fly that was too large, or if my casting sucked.  Regardless, I would have liked to land a few more but it was nice to spend some time on the water and be outdoors.

With that being said, on the drive home, I could not help but think about what I could have done different that might have put some more or bigger fish on the board.  I thought I would include those thoughts at this point for you to mull over in case you decide to give these transplanted and persnickety little fellas a shot.  Good luck and I hope these overthought ramblings help your efforts and help me by getting it off my chest. 

1. I wish I would have maybe thrown some crayfish imitations.  Maybe fish were sitting lazily on the bottom and wanted something large and slow as a meal.

2. I wish I would have fished a streamer deeper in the water column.  I spent most of the day fishing the upper third of the water and should have given some different depths a chance.

3. I should have tried some nymphs a shot.  I stuck to jigs under a float and two dry flies too much because they have worked in the past.

4. I wish I would have thrown everything but the kitchen sink at these dudes.  I have a bad habit of not straying too far from what has worked in the past and I wish I would have been more versatile.

Rod Wars: The Fishing Awakens

A few weeks ago I published a post that included Star Wars related fly patterns and some of them were inspired by characters in the new movie that opens everywhere today.  I thought I was done posting about Star Wars connections to fly fishing, but then I read an article at espn.com.

It created fictional lineups for different sports that included characters from the movies.  It also gave a short description about why they would fit the role and how they would fulfill the role.  For example, it said that Chewbacca would make an excellent center on a basketball team because of his size and aggressiveness.  This got me thinking about another Star Wars themed post.  Here's the aritcle: http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/14335028/picking-star-wars-character-all-star-teams-baseball-basketball-cricket-hockey-football-soccer 

It made me start to wonder about what type of fisherman characters from the movies would make.  Here's my thoughts but feel free to share your comments below.

Name: Darth Vader
Technique: Dynamite
Description:
Darth Vader is the guy that takes you fishing to his "secret spot" just to terrify you with half sticks of dynamite after you are a mile from the boat ramp.  He tosses the dynamite, you cringe at the site of floating stunned fish, and a game warden should be showing up any time now.  The remainder of the morning is spent with him running the trolling motor and you skimming the top of the water with a large net while catching 10 people's limits.  You're feeling guilty, terrified, and you swear you heard him laugh at one point.

Name: Yoda
Technique: Dry Fly Fisherman
Description:
Yoda has lived for over 900 years and has seen it all and fished it all.  He's caught Taimen in Mongolia, tiger fish in Africa, and butterfly peacock in the Amazon.  However, he has reached a point in his life where he only enjoys seeing a fish rise to a dry fly and has forsaken all other methods.  He throws a bamboo fly rod that he has had for 200 years.  He's also abandoned trout all together and fishes strictly for carp.  Why do you think it lives in the swamps of Dagobah?

Name: Kylo Ren
Technique: Poacher
Description:
He uses a seine net fish up by the dozens, throws them on the bank and watches them die.  That's all.

Lando Calrissian
Technique: A nightcrawler on a hook and a Zebco 202
Description:
While Lando doesn't catch a lot of fish, he does catch SOME.  His method is tried and true and no one can really argue with his strategy.  However, it should be noted, fishing is not what gets him on the water.  He knows every...single...person on the lake by the end of the day, gets invited to a dozen fish fries on a slow day and is not immune to picking up the occasional lady from time to time.  Sure there's a fish or two in the live well, but he lets them go at the end of the day and watches the sun set while sitting on his double-decker dock while bumping Wu-Tang Clan.

Han Solo
Technique: Whatever latest trend was featured in Bassmaster Magazine
Description:
Han is "that guy".  He drives a Nitro Z9 boat with red flake paint with black and gold trim.  He throws Alabama rigs, shaky head worms, chatterbaits, and square billed crankbaits in a sexy shad pattern.  He also throws anything else he has seen Kevin Van Dam throw in the last 5 years.  He makes wakes in "no wake zones", hates skiers, and has a paint job on his truck that matches his boat.  If you're looking to sponsor an aspiring "bass pro" he's always looking for sponsors.

Luke Skywalker
Technique: Fly Fishing- not quite advanced but not quite a novice
Description:
Luke wants to catch every fish in the lake twice and is willing to throw any type of pattern with any type of technique.  He has a belly boat, a jon boat, Simms waders, and a sweet new Loop rod that he got for Christmas last year.  He can fish anything from huge streamers to small caddis flies but has even considered learning how to swing a steel head fly or drift a midge should the opportunity present itself.

Chewbacca
Technique: Hand Fishing
Description:
Have you ever seen grizzly bears grab salmon out of mid air with their mouths?  That's what Chewie does, but he has reached a level of sophistication that allows him to use his hands.  He even grabs fish with his pinky out.  He also eats everything he catches because he is always thinking with his stomach.

Jabba The Hut
Technique: Fish Market Proprietor
Description:
Alright, he's less of a proprietor, and more of a consumer.  He underpays fishermen for their catches and eats all the potential profits.  Did you see what he did to that frog-like thin in Return of the Jedi?  Think what he could do to a salmon, striped bass, or octopus.  His burps smell bad too.

Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious
Technique: Electroshock
Description:
He zaps the water and laughs at the floundering (pun intended) fish.  You saw what he did to Luke!  Where do you think he practiced using force lightning?

Christmas Ornament Project

I work with a group of eighth graders once a week that are interested in learning how to fly fish and tie flies.  They are an amazing group of young adults and I am so glad that I have a chance to work with such enthusiastic people that are incredibly interested to learn about a sport that I love with all of my heart.  After a lot of debate and brainstorming, I finally found a Christmas present I could give them that would not break the bank (there are about 20 of them) and would be a meaningful and lasting gift.  While I cannot remember where I originally saw this idea a few years ago, I certainly cannot claim it as my own creative idea.  I am simply taking an idea and showing how I executed it...and quite possibly in am imperfect way.  As always, if you have any ideas, suggestions, or comments, please feel free to share in the comment section shown below.  Here's the step-by-step process that I used to put a size six wooly bugger in a Christmas tree ornament.

Step 1- tie up a mess of flies that you intend to suspend from the inside of the ornament.

Step 2- you will need some fishing line, a wire hook or fishing hook, a clear ornament, and a fly to go in the ornament.

 Step 3- disassemble the ornament and attach the fishing hook or wire hook through the wire tension piece.

Step 4- here's the tricky part.  Thread some fishing line (I chose 2 pound line because I wanted it to be nearly invisible) and thread it up through the inside of the housing unit.  Come back down through the outside of the unit with your tag.  From here, I used an improved clinch knot to cinch the line tight against itself.

Step 5- I found placing the fly in the vice again gave me an extra set of hands.  I took the fishing line, threaded it though the eye of the hook and secured it by using two overhand knots.  This allowed me to adjust the length of the line first, and secure it tightly second.

Step 6- reassemble the wire tension piece, hook, and housing.

I made about 20 of these over the course of about 2 hours and I definitely got better and faster the more I made.

If you decide to give this project a shot, I would love to see your final product.  These were pretty small flies and ornaments but if I run across some larger ones, I think some bigger flies would look cool as well.  Also, my wife keeps telling me that I should try and sell these, so if you or anyone you know is interested in ordering some of these ornaments, shoot me an email at showmeflyguy@gmail.com.  We can talk sizes, flies, colors, prices, shipping, etc.

Trophies

This is not a mount of mine, I just found it online.

I'll admit it, I am a trophy hunter.  I am at the point in my fishing life that I want to catch big fish.  Don't get me wrong, I still go out and catch a mess of bluegill on a fly from time to time, but I am finding myself chasing larger, smarter, and more formidable opponents.  I throw bigger flies, try to catch bigger fish, and appreciate the fewer but larger fish as a result.  I think this is a normal phase in the life of a fisherman.  They say at first you want to catch a lot of fish, and then you move into the desire to catch bigger fish.  Then you either cross over to the phase of catching fish the way YOU like to fish or you just begin to enjoy the experience more than the fish you catch.  Like I said, I am solidly in phase two.  I don't say that to brag or anything, it's just where I am.  It's not a good or bad thing, it's just the way it is.  I think we spend different amounts of time in each phase and can go back and forth between phases, but usually we tend to move in a linear way.

If you too prize large fish, hunt deer with larger antlers, or turkeys with longer beards then you might be interested in this survey that Field & Stream conducted.  I wish it would have included more than 200 surveys, but it probably still gives a pretty good window into how hunters and fishermen approach their sports as a whole.  As always, feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this post about your thoughts or feelings on the matter of trophies.  Just remember, there's no right or wrong, just different opinions.

Link:  Name Your Prize: Readers Opine About Mounts and More in Our Trophy Survey | Field & Stream

Practical Jokes

My buddies and I hunted pretty hard during the first weekend of deer season.  We even hunted Sunday evening, which we rarely do, in a last ditch effort to put one more buck in the back of a truck.  Alas, it wasn't meant to be, and we all returned home weary from the weekend which is always strange to me how sitting on your rear in the woods and purposefully NOT moving around or making any noise can wear you out, but I digress.  We all arrived at our respective homes, unloaded, and prepared for a transition to the "real world" the following day.  The next day came and went with the occasional email or text that said, "I sure miss hunting" or "It sure would be nice to be back in the woods today".  But we all made it through the day and started to settle back into our respective routines and daily grinds.  Part of my daily routine is picking up my youngest son from daycare on my way home.  I got out of my truck, gathered his diaper bag and bottles, and was headed around the back of my truck to the passenger side with him in my arms when I looked at what I thought was the bumper of my truck.  For a moment, I thought I was at the wrong vehicle (in my defense, it was a long day and I was still thinking more about deer hunting than parking spots) because there was a bumper sticker on this particular truck.  I did not have a bumper sticker so I looked up to see where my truck was only to find out that this WAS my truck...with a newly procured addition.  You can imagine my shock when I saw the sticker pictured above that now adorned my pickup.

Many thoughts went through my head, like "Does my truck really have a sticker on it calling me a girl?  Who the heck did this?  How long has this thing been on my truck?  Who the heck did this?  Is this thing going to come off easily?  Who the heck did this?"

I found out who did it and we shared a good laugh.  He had actually planned this out for a few years and finally found his window to see it through.  You have to admire that dedication and follow through!  The sticker came off easily and didn't cause any permanent damage so that softened the blow to my ego.

I am in the process of constructing a retaliation and during my brainstorming sessions, I started to wonder about others' stories.  I am sure that there are some good stories out there that you guys have so let's hear them.  Feel free to leave a story in the comments section below.  I bet there are some doozies out there so don't keep them to yourselves.

Greatest Fictional Fisherman...Ever?

During some Christmas shopping at Target the other day, I ran across a section of action figures in a toy aisle that appeared to be on sale.  Upon further inspection, a lot of them were figures from movies from the 80's.  There were Back to the Future figures, A-Team figures, and some figures that had a large shark on them.  That's right, Hooper and Sheriff Brody had been immortalized in 3.75 inch action figures.  While this seemed pretty cool at the time, my mind, effortlessly and almost instinctively began to build hope.  If these two fine characters from Jaws had been given the honor of being made into toys, was there a possibility that the real star of the movie had also been given his proper and due celebration.  Could it be that one of my favorite movie characters of all time might lie just behind a few lesser characters from now "vintage" movies?  I searched frantically, and behind the fifth figurine, hung the object of my hopes and desires.  There, in perfect packaging, standing watch over the other lesser men, was an Adonis.  With spear gun nearby, green jacket tailored to his lean physique, and a mustache that would make Tom Selek jealous, was the embodiment of machismo and old school grit.  It took about as long to buy him up as it does for me to set the hook on a fish...so yeah, it took a while.  The good captain now helps to decorate my fly tying bench along with other assorted nick knacks I have picked up over the years.

If you think about it, there aren't that many fishing movies.  There's The Old Man and the Sea, A River Runs Through It, Jaws, and The Perfect Storm, but after that, well...let's just say there is a sharp decline in cinematic masterpieces.  I am posing a question for you in today's post; who is your favorite fisherman from a film?  Feel free to venture beyond the movies listed above and get as obscure as you like.  You can post in the comments section at the bottom of the page and we can see if there is a common thread or just a variety of answers.

For what it is worth, my vote goes to Captain Quint and it is difficult to narrow down the plethora of reasons to just a few.  To start with though, he's just a tough old bird.  He survived the sinking of the USS Indianapolis and dedicated his life to avenging the loss of his shipmates and friends.  But somehow I think he knew that the beast that granted him clemency once would not be so forgiving again after he backhanded karma with a pair of leather gloves.  Second, he was incredibly versatile on the water when in the pursuit of his quarry.  It's a heck of a guy that can go after a shark on "light" tackle, hit it with a spear gun, track barrels all over the coast of New England, and tie the beast off to the stern of his boat.  The final component of this highly intellectual thesis is his seemingly unending wit.  Charming he was not, but this guy had a comeback for every time his methods were questioned.  Granted, he ended up going as crazy as cat in a room full of rocking chairs but he didn't take any guff off of anybody and I like that in a movie tough guy.  Brody wanted to steer the boat, and Quin put back to chumming.  Hooper told him to slow the boat down, and he mashed on the throttle even more.  He said he would never put on a life jacket ever again, and by God, another piece of buoyant material never graced his shoulders that's for sure.

Was he flawed?  Sure he was but aren't we all?  Hasn't there been a time when you were fishing in horrible weather, or at a ridiculous hour, or driven a hundred miles to catch a species of fish you don't have close to home?  Couldn't these things be considered crazy by the nonfishing type?  Am I playing the question game?  Am I?  Anyway, that's what makes Quint easy to relate to.  I once spent a ridiculous amount of time in my early 20's in the pursuit of my first six pound bass.  So much so that I probably allowed it to become an unhealthy obsession that dominated my thoughts for hours a day and my dreams at night.  (And yes, I did catch my six pounder as a result).  He never gave up, sank his life savings into a shack and boat, and spent his time catching fish and boiling shark jaws.  Crazy or awesome?  I say awesome.

So let's hear it folks, who is your favorite cinematic fisherman.  Feel free to leave comments below and plead your case if you should feel so inclined.

Bucktail anyone?

I was fortunate enough to harvest a buck this year during rifle season here in Missouri.  He had 8 points, weighed 153 pounds at the processor, and appeared to be 3 and 1/2 years old.  While it isn't the biggest deer in the world, I got to share the hunt with one of my best friends and the meat went to a friend of mine that has been a huge influence on me both personally and professionally.

As an added bonus, I got some free fly tying materials.  For the past few years, I have been trying to preserve a few tails and even a couple of hides from some bucks that I have shot as well as my friends.  I got into this for three reasons.  Also, I hope I don't come off as high and mighty or some sort of egotistical, self righteous jerk.  If I come off that way, I apologize for missing the mark and in case I do sound like a self promoting loser any point, please don't quit reading without reading the last paragraph.

1. I had no idea how to skin a deer, tan a hide with the hair on, or preserve a tail when I first started.  It was something that I was interested in and learned a lot about using another part of a harvested animal.  I think this is a show of respect to the animal and just a good skill to possess.  I have a lot of respect for how Native Americans treated their harvested animals and it is an honor to be able to emulate that even on a much smaller scale.

2. I'm cheap.  It's true.  I don't have a lot of money and I feel guilty spending my family's income on expensive fly tying materials and fly rods.  If I can get some materials for almost no monetary cost, and a small cost in terms of time it takes to preserve the materials, I'm in.  It's cheap and easy to preserve something like a deer tail, and doesn't take that much time either.  Preserving an entire deer hide is more time consuming, but a lot more rewarding as a result.  They are both just plain fun too!

3. I'm kind of sentimental guy.  It means a lot to hunt deer that has been in my family since my great granddad owned it.  It means a lot to me to take a bare hook, attach some thread and feathers to the hook, and go out to catch my own dinner.  It means a great deal to me to harvest an animal (deer, squirrel, rabbit, or otherwise) that was a product of our family's farmland, and incorporate those materials into my fly tying.  I get a huge smile on my face when I catch a bass on a clouser minnow that I tied with bucktail from a deer that I shot.  Truth be told, I enjoy giving flies to my buddies and informing them about the fact that the deceiver or deer hair bug materials were home grown.

I write all of that, so that I can write this: if you are interested in finding out more about preserving a hide or a tail from a harvested animal, I would be happy to help.  Feel free to email me at showmeflyguy@gmail.com.  I would be happy to pass along any successes and/or failures I have experienced with some basic tanning and preserving.  It really is rewarding as well as fun, and for those that are sentimental like me, you won't regret giving this process a shot.

Echo Base

I recently bought an Echo Base.  No, I am not referring to the Rebel's stronghold on Hoth (also called Echo Base) which was featured in The Empire Strikes Back.



Instead, I purchased a new 9 foot, 6 weight fly rod, from a company named Echo.  If you are not familiar with their rods, you are not alone.  I didn't know much about them either until Matt up at Rainbow Fly Shop suggested I give an Echo a try.  It fit the characteristics that I was looking for in a fly rod at the time and it was in my price range.  I was looking for a tip-flex type of rod that was around $100 and tried out some other new rods as well as some used rods that came from higher end companies.  Don't get me wrong, Echo makes some high end rods that incorporate some fine craftsmanship that will appeal to a more affluent taste.  However, if you are familiar with this blog, thus making you familiar with me, then you know...that's not my style.  So I bought a base model that Echo offers, hence the term, Echo Base.

Now before I go any further, let me be perfectly clear that I am not getting paid for this post and I was not asked by any company or business to post about Echo fly rods.  I have some positive things to say about this particular model and wanted to get any misconceptions out of the way from the get go.

Now that we are clear, let me just say that I love this fly rod!  The first time I cast it, I was fishing a small jig under an indicator at Liberty Park Pond in Sedalia, Missouri.  I was curious how the rod would cast the duo of a heavy (at least in terms of fly standards) fly with an indicator along for the ride.  I was not disappointed.  It did not feel bulky or clunky in the least and my casts were long and effortless.  I'm not saying it felt like an Orvis Helios rod or a custom bamboo rod, but it sure felt smooth and powerful.  When I went to make some further casts, it seems like the line wanted to explode out of the end of the rod when I was shooting line to hit a distant target.

Now there are two disclaimers that I need to make here.  1. I am not a great caster.  I have some bad habits I still need to work through and have never had any formal casting instruction in my life.  2. The line I was using on this particular day was not of the highest quality and had some kinks in it.  I mention that, so I can state this...you might not like this rod as much as me so don't rush out an buy one on my account!  I am just saying that this rod fits my needs and casting style, and it might fit yours as well so it might be worth checking out Echo if you are in the market for a new rod.  Finally, it has a lifetime guarantee which is AWESOME because I am notoriously hard on my hunting and fishing equipment.

I paired my rod with a cheap click and pawl reel.  It's drag system has one setting and is low, which is just the way I like it.  A step above free spool is fine with me!  If I hook a big fish, I want to cup the reel and decide how much pressure to apply to a fish on the fly (pun, totally intended) so I don't sink a lot of money into reels.  In all honesty, I buy used reels or cheap reels off of amazon or walmart.com.  I could keep ranting on my disdain for expensive and high tech fly reels, but we will save that for another time.

New Fly on the Flies Page- The John Deere Mini Jig

This is one of my all time favorite flies.  There is a photo of materials and step by step pictures that are needed to complete this fly.  It is easy, simple, and highly effective.  If things get slow either on a lake, pond, or stream, this is my go- fly.  You can find all the details on the fly tying page located on the left side of the page.

Now get out there and get some materials for tying deer hair bugs!

To all of you fishermen that act like hunters a few days out of the year, I wish you the best of luck tomorrow on the opening of deer season if you live here in Missouri.  Be safe, be careful, and try to stay awake.

The Neutralizer

I was up at Rainbow Fly Shop the other day and Matt, the owner, showed me some new flies that just arrived and were about to hit the shelves.  They definitely caught my eye because I have never seen a fly constructed like this before.  While the color combinations make perfect sense, what got me thinking was the combination of buoyant foam and dumbbell eyes.  Matt said that the fly will float at first, sink slowly, and return near the surface when stripped if floating fly line is being used.

The fly is called the Neutralizer and I am excited to hit the water with them and see how they behave.  I wonder if there will be a difference in the action of the fly as it is fished more or if it will behave in a consistent manner.  I also wonder about how high it floats in the water and the sink rate that it has.  I'm not sure if it will be something that you fish it fast, slow, or can fish either way.  I'm concerned that if it is trying to do two things (float AND sink) then it might not do either very well.  However, maybe it will be incredibly versatile and able to accomplish two actions at once.   I will let you know what happens after I hit the water and make a few casts with this hybrid.  Come to think of it, I wonder what the hybrids are doing this time of year and if I could get them to hit one of these bad boys.

Great Trout Fishing Trip

So I got an email last weekend from my buddy Tom.  He is a good friend and reader of this blog, but more importantly he is an outstanding fly fisherman.  He told me that he had some luck catching rainbow trout at Liberty Park Pond in Sedalia, Missouri, and that got my attention..  It is stocked every year in early November with trout as part of the urban trout stocking program.  He said that he and his friend had caught quite a few trout that week and that was about all it took to get me packing.  Tom said he would be interested in tagging along as well and after a former student of mine agreed to join us, well we had a fishing trip panned that included three generations of fishermen.

While I don’t want to cheapen the trip to a statistic or brag about numbers, let’s just say we caught enough fish to keep us happy.  We caught them on worm imitating flies, jigs, and even dries.  I watched others catch them on woolies as well as nymphs.  While I wouldn’t consider any of the fish particularly large or memorable, there were lots of them.  Most people I talked to informed me that around 1,300 trout had been stocked within the last week.  Thankfully, those fish aren’t going anywhere since it is catch and release until Feb. 1.  I love that the Missouri Department of Conservation provides this opportunity to anglers and I would really like to see a couple of lakes around the Kansas City area follow suit for the simple fact that it keeps lakes from getting fished out too quickly.  Anyway, it is a great opportunity that anglers should take advantage of especially as most warm water species fishing starts to slow.