Chartered Waters Guide Service

Disclaimer: I've been sitting on this post for a few days now because I wanted to give it my proper attention.  Sorry it is a little less than prompt.

Last Sunday my girlfriend Wendy, her mom (Sharon), her stepdad (Mark), and I had the pleasure of fishing with Brett Rader of Chartered Waters Guide Service.  Before I can sing Brett's praises, of which there are many, let me give you a little background info.  Sharon and Mark are new to fly fishing.  I have taken them out a handful of times to catch bass, bluegill, and crappie.  They have come a long way but had never fished on moving water or for trout.  Wendy is more advanced than them and has fished for trout along with the other species that I mentioned however, but she had never fished Lake Taneycomo.  I have fly fished on Taneycomo many times but had never gone out with Brett.  I've known about him for years and always wanted to fish with him so this opportunity was a big deal to me. 

We started fishing at 8 AM and the water was off.  We navigated upstream of Fall Creek into the Trophy Area and Brett immediately found fish to target.  He gave us all a jig and float setup to use and we were catching fish within minutes.  What really impressed me early on was Brett's instruction on how to roll cast with Mark and Sharon.  We were on a pontoon with four people fly fishing so roll casts were important to avoid a plethora of problems. 

Brett also taught us a pretty sweet little trick to use when fishing with an indicator in still water.  He suggested that we count to 10 or 12 after a cast and then slowly lift the rod tip up to retrieve our fly approximately one foot.  This surprised me because I was under the impression that this might make the fly appear less natural in its presentation.  Brett's response was very insightful.  He said that raising the rod tip caused the fly to also rise in the water and then fall thus making it appear more lively and MORE natural.  He also said that it could get the attention of fish that had lost interest and trigger a reactionary strike.  Furthermore, while he wouldn't recommend this technique when dead drifting, he utilizes it quite a bit on still water.  I caught multiple fish with this technique and will use it in the future in similar situations.  The rest of the morning was spent in the trophy area where the bite was consistent and often fast-paced. 

Around noon, the water turned on and Brett suggested that we go downstream to check out some creeks.  This was a lot of fun because I had never ventured up any creeks that feed into Lake Taneycomo.  It was another learning experience that I wouldn't have had without Brett.  I don't want to go into more detail because I don't want to give away any of Brett's spots and want to be as respectful as possible. 

After lunch, we headed back upstream and all the way to the wire near the dam that boats and fishermen are not allowed to go beyond.  This is where Brett blew my mind.  Without going into great deal (again, this could be a trade secret of his that I don't want to give away) he handed us fly rods that were set up for deep drifting.  I had never seen a rig like this before but it proved really effective.  If there is swift current and deep water, Brett knows how to keep a fly rod in your hand and keep you on the fish.  I still can't believe how he set the rods up nor how many fish we caught using the method.  If you hire him, you too will probably be amazed. 

While we are on the subject of hiring Brett, I endorse his services 100%.  He is a great instructor for folks that are new to fly fishing but still has a lot to share with those more advanced as well.  He is also incredibly patient.  All four of us had a few hiccups while we were with Brett and he was always understanding and kind.  He also knows how to keep you on fish all day long.  Lake Taneycomo can be a little tricky at times in terms of knowing how to navigate a boat, dealing with current changes, and understanding changes in depth due to fluctuating water levels.  I had never heard a bad thing about Brett Rader prior to going out with him and I don't have a bad thing to say about the man after going out with him.  If you are looking for a fly fishing guide on Lake Taneycomo, you cannot go wrong with Brett Rader!

Link: https://www.charteredwaters.com/

Brett giving Mark some casting instruction.

I always dig the fog on Taneycomo!  It just makes the place look even more mysterious!

Mother and daughter with a double.

Husband and wife with a double.

Mark with a beauty.

Sharon with a beauty...

...and a flopper.

I'll never get tired of catching Taneycomo trout!

Mother and daughter with another double.

A wild looking fish for a wild looking guy.  I really need to shave!

That's a smile by the way.

Wendy's biggest trout at the time!

New Species of Trout Being Added to Little Red River

This is a fascinating read because of the volunteers, science, and past successes of such an idea!  If you didn't know already, Arkansas has streams that contain brown, rainbow, and cutthroat trout and the Little Red River will soon be joining those ranks.  I was fortunate to catch my only cutthroat trout of my life (pictured below) on the White River not far from Cotter, Arkansas a few years ago.  It was a memorable and unique experience that I wouldn't have had without the efforts of Arkansas Game and Fish.  I've often wondered if Missouri would ever try to stock cutthroat or brook trout in any streams.  That would make things a little more interesting for sure.  

Link: https://www.ozarksfirst.com/local-news/new-species-of-trout-being-added-to-little-red-river/

First Fish Certificate from the Missouri Department of Conservation

If you look at pictures on social media and listen to how people seem to be spending their free time lately, it would suggest that more people are social distancing in the outdoors.  More so, many people are getting into fishing for the first time.  Whether someone is an adult or a child, the Missouri Department of Conservation has a certificate that you can create online to recognize the accomplishment of catching a fish for the first time.  My youngest son's certificate is located above and a screenshot of the certificate creator along with a link to make your own are located below.  If you or anyone that you know would appreciate the recognition of a first fish certificate, take a couple minutes to create one!  It's simple, quick, and free.

Link: https://huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/fishing/trophies-certificates/first-fish-certificate

Back to Normal Tomorrow

Sorry I have been absent for the past two days everyone. I’ve been fishing on Lake Taneycomo and will have all kinds of info, pictures, and stories tomorrow!

Decent Action at Guy B. Park with the Boys

My boys and I were able to hit Guy B Park last night and found the bass in the shallows.  The were hitting small flies and the takes were aggressive!  It was a lot of fun on a four weight fly rod and the boys had a blast!  Also, most of the vegetation has died off (not sure why) but it made fishing A LOT easier than it has been since the start of the season.  If you're looking for a good place to take a small boat and catch a few fish on a fly, I highly suggest this place.  It is located just north of Platte City off of I-29 and has a very secluded feeling.  It's pretty amazing how quickly you can feel like you're in the middle of nowhere but only about 30 minutes away from Kansas City limits.  

Missouri Area Lakes Fishing Reports And Stories- A Facebook Group

Recently, I was offer ed the role of administrator for a Facebook group.  It is called Missouri Area Lakes Fishing Reports and Stories.  At the time of posting, it has 776 members.  I'm trying to get more people to join as well as get more people to share stories, pictures, and reports.  I figure that we can all learn from one another, read some interesting stories, and see some incredible catches along the way.  So far, more and more people are sharing and I am getting quite a few requests to join the group each day.  You'll see that many of the posts lately are from me but I'm trying to change that.  If this sounds like something that you would be interested in, please join our group today!

Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/423639214442887/

Sometimes the Fish Win

I had a little free time last night and I decided to head to Watkins Mill State Park to wet a fly line.  I was excited to go because it had been closed since the quarantine started.  I was excited to catch some of the nice bass, bluegill, and redear that live in the lake and maybe even hook into a wiper or two.  The wipers that MDC stocked in there a few years ago should be getting pretty big by now and I caught a few babies out of there a couple of years ago.  However, like the old adage goes, sometimes the best part of a fishing trip is the excitement leading up to the trip.  

When I arrived, I was happy to see that the park was open.  The state parks website said that parks were being closed from time to time in order to minimize crowds.  This is was the best part of the trip.

I pulled up to the boat ramp to watch a young man and young lady back their boat down the ramp.  They didn't have much equipment so it didn't look like it would take long.  I was wrong.  It took about 20 minutes.  I started to get a little frustrated but then I reminded myself that I was a newbie once too and probably did the same thing to other folks.  I eventually put my boat in the water and noticed it was a little windier than I expected it to be.  I figured out that the wind was out of the north.  This was a little surprising and concerning because my Grandpa used to always say "Wind out of the west, fishing is the best.  Wind out of the south, it blows the hook in their mouth.  Wind out of the east, fishing is the least.  Wind out of the north, don't go forth."  After mulling over my options, I decided to head north and let the wind drift me along the east bank.  I have caught quite a few fish along that bank before so I tried to muster up some optimism.  

That optimism took a hit when I saw how much algae and aquatic vegetation there was and it was everywhere.  It was in coves, along the entire bank, and even floating in the main body of the lake.  I thought that fish were going to be shallow and this meant that getting to them was going to be nearly impossible.  I tried fishing the edges of the weed/algae lines with only the bass pictured above to show for my efforts.  I decided to hit the southern end of lake along the dam with the hopes that the fish would be feeding there and the rocks would keep the cover to a minimum.  I also saw a drain pipe and heard water flowing through it and hoped that maybe some wipers would be in the area.  To make a long story longer, I didn't catch anything.

When I decided to write this post today, a few things came to mind.  The first was that in the world of social media that we live in, all we see are highlight reels of people's lives.  Everybody is holding big fish with beautiful scenery as a backdrop and huge smiles on their faces.  Sometimes I need to remind myself that's not reality.  The second thing I wanted to note was that I was pretty disappointed with myself.  I didn't adjust to the conditions the way that I should have and just tried the same methods that continued to not work.  I was stubborn and paid the price.  

The final thing that I am taking away from this is that sometimes the fish win.  I can make excuses all day long but in the end, I think every fisher gets skunked from time to time.  I've even been out with guides when they are having a bad day (and still had to pay full price but that's a post for another day).  All we can do on days like these are identify potential mistakes, learn from them, and try to be smarter next time.  I recently finished watching "The Last Dance" documentary about the 97-98 Chicago Bulls and if I learned anything from that story, I have learned to let failure motivate you.  In the long run, maybe I needed this because I have a couple of fishing trips planned for this weekend and let's just say last night added a little fuel to my fire!  I'll keep you posted on how the next trips go so let's end this with...to be continued.

Short Current River Video

This is a pretty cool little video that might make you want to run to your favorite stream or explore a new one.  My buddy Jon does some pretty good work!  I've never fished the Current before but I have heard A LOT about the browns that live there.  It is definitely the next Missouri stream/river that I want to fish!

NotMissingLink YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcd1bh-jgJ3HzXcWq1qSqgA

Washtub Project

I learned how to fish on my grandparents' farm in northwest Missouri.  My grandma taught me how to catch catfish by sinking worms to the bottom of farm ponds...and then waiting.  She would always catch more fish than me because she had the patience of a saint and I had the attention span of a gnat.  She would always let me reel them in after she hooked them and then we would bring our fish back to the house for my grandpa to clean.  We ALWAYS put them in this washtub until my grandpa got around to cleaning them and those memories are etched into my mind.  The washtub became a source of wonder and pride.  I remember another occasion where my grandpa sewed all of the holes of a fishing net closed so we could catch tadpoles.  We put them in the washtub and over the course of a week, I watched tadpoles develop into frogs.

At some point, it wound up in my hands after my grandparents passed away.  It has been used to house various items but never given the proper respect that I thought it deserved.  With social distancing becoming what it has, I finally had a little time to devote to making the old washtub a distinguished and still-useful feature.  The geometry was a little difficult to figure with all of the curves and angles and it is FAR from perfect, but that's usually how my projects turn out.  I'm happy with it and glad that it will be prominently displayed an purposefully used.

I decided I wanted to hang the washtub on the wall to display it.

It seemed to me that shelves seemed appropriate to place inside the washtub so it could house more items.

Holy cow it came out level and square!

Time for stain...and bare feet.  Oops!

Almost done.

The tacklebox on the right actually belonged to my grandparents as well.  The sand in the jar came from a creek bed on their property.  The tacklebox on the left belongs to my son.

Fly Tying Tutorial: Robin Phillips' Golden Nugget

If you are needing a fly tying project for the weekend, this would be a fun one to take on!  I think I would probably stick to natural baitfish colors like olive, and white but that's just me.  I think and olive tail with flashy olive dubbing on top and white dubbing underneath would make for a pretty cool combination.

Flymen Fishing Company YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaIeIyLD1-KP2wBn1EPeGdg

Slow Mo Scuds

If you fly fish for trout pretty much anywhere in Missouri, you probably know about scuds and that trout eat them like they're candy.  What you might not know is that scuds are actually freshwater shrimp-like creatures that can usually be found under rocks.  What I personally had no idea about was what they look like in their natural environment when they are free of predation.  This is a really good insight into what scuds look like and how they behave because to better understand trout, we need to understand their food sources.  Fly tyers, here's what you are trying to imitate!

Link to Phil Lilley's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIgMZDVIVeWj22d0y2RNvQA

Swim Tails

No, your eyes are not deceiving you and yes, that is a swim tail that you can put on the back of a fly!  I hadn't seen this until about a week ago and it looks fascinating.  It appears that more and more products are being developed to get fly fisherman closer to imitating what soft plastics can do.  That's pretty amazing and it is an interesting time to be a fly fisherman.  Innovations are happening regularly and we get products like this which could be real game changers for some of us.  OR...it's a flash in the pan that nobody ever uses.  I'll let you be the judge!

Here's a link if you're interested in purchasing said product or at least learning a little bit more.

Link: https://rusuperfly.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=347

Hunting with Mason, My Oldest- Part 2

After the hunt, Mason and I dubbed the little guy "Young and Dumb".  Now that we all know him by name, here comes Young and Dumb walking right in to our decoys.  He blows right past the toms and walks right into range without hesitation or regard for life.  I drew down on him and had him dead to rights for a long time but wasn't sure if I should pull the trigger.  I told Mason that he was young, and would be bigger next year.  Mason replied, "Shoot him dad!  Shoot him!"  I was still hesitant because I would have passed on him if I were alone.  I thought and thought until I realized that this kid needed to see where food comes from and see what hunting is really like.  I have always said that there is nothing wrong with meat hunting, I just prefer to trophy hunt but that switch got flipped real quick.

About that time, Young and Dumb started to figure out that something wasn't quite right and was about to head back to his buddies.  I told Mason to count down from three, and even then I was having second thoughts.  

"3".  

I thought, "I don't know, he's kind of young."  

"2".

"He'll be bigger next year." I said.

"1"

"Oh what the heck."

Bang!

Young and Dumb was down like a sack of taters and he wasn't going to get up.  The look on Mason's face was, well, like mine!  Priceless!  He said "I can't believe you got him!"  I was a little surprised myself because it has been a couple of years since I pulled the trigger on a hunt, but there we were, with a bird on the ground and a whole lot of smiles and high fives.  

We took a bunch of pictures and relived the moment a dozen times or so but one thing never left my mind: I just shared a successful hunt with my oldest son.  This was ten years in the making guys!  I had dreamed about this moment from the day he was born and here we were.  If you have never shared a moment like this with you child, not only is it as good as what you expect, it is even better!  I would venture to say that it was even better than he could have expected too!

Also, on an aside, we ate the bird the next evening.  I grilled some of it after tenderizing it and marinating it in olive oil and salt and pepper.  That's a recipe and a darn good one from my buddy Pat!  I pan friend the rest of it and it was AMAZING!  We shared it with some neighbors as well and I think Mason learned a valuable lesson about where food actually comes from, especially meat.

Hunting with Mason, My Oldest- Part 1

Mason is ten years old and prefers an Xbox to a tackle box for now.  He would rather stay inside and whines when I make him go do things that he doesn't want to do.  Don't get me wrong, he is a thoughtful and polite young man and I love him with all my heart.  I also know him sometimes better than he knows himself.  What I mean is that I know when I force him to go shed hunting or fishing, I know he is going to end up having fun.  On one particular day, he complained the ENTIRE way to the woods about having to go shed hunting on such a cold day.  But then, I had to literally pull him away from a tree at the end of the day because he said he wanted me to leave him there and that he could live in the woods on his own.

When he looked less than enthused about going to our family farm and getting up at 4 AM to hunt turkeys the next morning, I wasn't surprised.  What softened the blow was when I told him that his little brother would not be coming along.  I had a feeling that might tip the scales in my favor.  

So we got to the farm on a Friday night, made sure the dirt road we had to drive down the next morning was in good shape, and hit the sack early.  To my surprise, the young man woke up without a complaint and got dressed pretty quickly.  That morning found us in a pop-up blind in some creek bottoms with three decoys in front of us at 5:15 AM.  I usually go with two hen decoys but I ran across a third and thought I would hedge our bet a little bit more with an extra hen.

What I have failed to leave out up until this point is that Mason has been deer hunting a few times.  He has hunted with me a couple of times at my uncle's farm in Stockton, Missouri.  While we have seen deer, I've never pulled the trigger on one.  I also meant to take him on his first squirrel hunt last winter but the weather was lousy when I wanted to take him the weekend before the season ended.  To summarize, the kids has been told about hunting but never heard the bang of a gun or seen an animal harvested.

So there we are in the blind with 7-8 birds gobbling all around us and me as giddy as a kid.  And there my kid is, dozing off and not particularly interested in the hunt.  I was a little disappointed that he wasn't excited but the idea of maybe pulling the trigger on a bird took the edge off that emotion.  Mason's heart rate DID increase when I squeezed his knee and told him that we had two gobblers coming in.  He perked up, eyes wide, and peeked through the opening in the blind.  

The two toms came into view, I knew that they were smart.  They didn't come running in to the set up but instead peaked cautiously from around some trees.  They figured out pretty quick that something was amiss.  They would sneak in and out of view but I knew they weren't going to commit.  We also saw a hen in the cut corn field and a hen with them as well and that pretty much sealed the deal in my opinion, but then another variable factored into the equation.  They had a jake with them!

Bunny Minnow

If you follow this blog, you know I love rabbit strips!  When you couple the action they produce with the colors they come in and include the fact that they are really easy to tie with, well you can see why I love using this material.  They can be a little dull and drab sometimes though.  I've always wanted to include some flash with this material and my attempts have never really met expectations.  This video includes an amazing method of blending rabbit strips with Hareline's UV Polar Chenille.  I'm practically falling over myself to tie this baby!

Link to Tiko Savage YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWW8EsYotyQqSDcrkl1g_Xw

Fishing with Cody, My Youngest

Special moments sometimes come out of nowhere.  Sure, sometimes you can see them coming like a wedding or a birthday party, but then there are other times.  You never see them coming and maybe it is the unexpectedness that helps to magnify the moments.  I had one of these moments last Friday, but first I had to deliver some bad news to a little boy.

Cody is my youngest son.  He's full of energy, laughs a lot, and seems to live with one singular goal: to have fun.  He also loves his big brother.  He imitates him and looks up to him like a little brother does.  He also looks at my girlfriend's son Collin in a similar way.  He wants to be a big boy and play video games like Mason.  He wants to make three pointers in the driveway with Collin.  His drive to feel older, to have fun, and be included was what made it hard to tell him that he would not be joining his older brother and I for a turkey hunt that weekend.  He protested some but overall, he took it pretty well.

To me, relationships are like bank accounts.  You don't ever want to take more out of the account than what you put in.  I try to always have a positive balance and keep my withdraws to a minimum.  Out of sympathy and fairness, I felt like I needed to deposit something back into that account with Cody so I asked him if he wanted to go fishing, just the two of us.  Slightly to my surprise, he said yes...quickly...and with enthusiasm.  I think in that little five year old brain of his, he saw a chance to get something his brother wasn't getting.  As a result, I think he had a little more eagerness on this outing than he usually does.

So we get to the HOA pond just down the street and the fish are active.  The bite was a little slow at first but the vigor of the fish made me optimistic about our chances to catch a few.  We only brought a fly rod and a few flies because I wanted the little guy to be introduced to fly fishing and its (occasional) simplicity.  I kneeled down on the ground with him in front of me and I helped him with hand placement and motion of casting and retrieving.  It was a pretty good little system and before you knew it, we were hooking fish.  From there, he could reel them in on his own.  Here's where I could say that he was a chip off the old block but let's be honest, it's not that hard to reel in a fish.  We ended up catching a few different species (see below) and one hybrid bluegill that went close to a pound (13 ounces unofficial).  But that wasn't the special moment.

The special moment was the fire that I saw in my son.  He reeled in fish with giggles and smiles.  He talked trash to the fish while he was fighting them.  He posed for pictures and enjoyed watching them swim away.  And as the sun started to set and darkness made fishing more difficult, he didn't want to leave. He begged me to stay.  He pleaded for one more fish.  He acted like, well, me.  I don't mean that in a self-inflated ego way, I mean that in a "I have a fever and the only cure is more fishing" kind of way.  THAT was a special moment and THAT was not expected.  Nobody knows what the future holds for this little guy, but I bet he will lip a few more fish in his day!