Quick Stop at Guy B Park

While I was dropping off a sign at a house up north, I decided to make a quick stop out at that Guy B. Park, just north of Platte City. This was on Friday, 3-15-13, when it was such a nice day got up to 80 degrees. When I got there, one fisherman was on shore and one was on a boat. The water was pretty clear and didn't look too bad, so I tried a little shore fishing up by the dock. Didn't have any luck so I went over to the dam. I was also closer to the guy in the boat and I saw him land 4 fish in about 20 minutes. I was about ready to give up and blame the time of year or the lack of being in a boat when I caught 1 Largemounth, about 14 inches (see picture). So I was quite content with such beautiful weather and decided to call it a day.

Terry

 

Bennett Spring Trout Opener 3-01-2013

Ron and I had an enjoyable but pretty cold Trout Season opener this year at Bennett Spring. They had gotten quite a bit of rain recently and a little bit of snow, which helped drought conditions as well as helped the stream levels. It was 24 degrees on Friday, the opener, and 27 the next day, along with some wind and light snow. That was probably why the opening fisherman count was way down at 1,338 as opposed to the expected 2,300. This was one of the 2 or 3 coldest openers that I've attended. We took pictures at the opening whistle, which was at 6:30 and sounded by local Don Brown who has apparently seen 56 previous openers. There was also some changes in the park by the dam this year, as they opened a new wheelchair ramp and new pier. Later on the opening day when it thinned out, we fished some and probably caught around 16 rainbow trout. The next morning we got out at 7:30 and it was very cold. I got skunked this time, although Ron caught a trout. Most of the Liberty gang made it down as usual, and even managed to canoe the river one day. I'm also working on a short video.
A few pictures are included below and the rest are here:

http://s1189.photobucket.com/albums/z438/flyfishkc/Bennett%203-01-2013/?albumview=slideshow

And a short and crude video:

http://youtu.be/B0U-VpktnOE

Terry

Starting to fish

 

 Don Brown getting ready to sound the Whistle at 6:30

 Ready, Set, Go!

 

Part of the Liberty Gang 

New Wheelchair ramp below dam

Traditional biscuits and gravy breakfast 

 Terry & Ron

 

Trout Stocking Kill Creek Lake

I enjoyed seeing the first ever Rainbow Trout stocking at the Kill Creek Lake Park on Wednesday, Feb 20th, 2013. This is a Johnson County lake that has been added to the existing stocking lakes of Heritage Park and Shawnee Mission Park. They did all three parks the same day, and just barely beat the snow storm. I brought along my grandson Carson, who is 2 1/2, who really seemed to enjoy it too. The weather was colder than predicted, at around 23 degrees, so we both got cold pretty fast. They decided to tag 8 fish, so they could be caught later for prizes. The lake was closed to fishing until Saturday, so the fish could get a little acclamated. As the truck was a little late, Carson really enjoyed a playground area in the park that was just his size. See pictures and video below.

Terry

 

Carson getting ready

 

Carson saw the truck coming while playing

 

The truck has arrived!

 

 

Getting 8 fish out to tag

 

Marking fish with plastic tag

 

Releasing the main bunch

 

 

Fly Fishing North Fork & Rockbridge 2-2013

Dan, Chris and I had a great trip down to Rockbridge and the North Fork River. Dan and I fished Rockbridge the first day before Chris got there. It was pretty cold in the early morning at 8 degrees, which kept freezing up the rod eyelets as well as the reels; didn’t take long to warm up though and be fairly decent. It was catch and release fishing all day long and we caught a lot of nice sized rainbow trout. We used a variety of flies, but best seemed to be Woollys and midges.  We only saw one other fisherman all day long, and it was a beautiful setting. Later we all three had a very nice meal at the Rockbridge restaurant.  The second day was all day on the North Fork in boats with guides. We did some nymphing without too much luck but did a little better with streamers. We used very large streamers and double flies with names like Voodoo Squatch, Ice Pick, and Sex Dungeon, mostly stripping and using sink / sink tip lines. Due to the conditions and being able to stand up in the saddle slings, we had pretty good visibility and saw quite a few chasers throughout the day. We each caught around 4 – 6 fish, mostly brown trout. The largest was Dan’s 21 inch brown after lunch. And we had a great, hot shore lunch cooked up by the guides. This is the life! We went from Blair Bridge to James Bridge. What a great time. The last day we fished a little more at Rockbridge and brought some home for some good eating. On the unique side of things, Chris brought his Tenkara rod and fished a little with that (and let us try it too). That’s a whole nother story.

For all the pictures, click here

Terry

Healing Waters for Wounded Vets

I think this is a worthy cause for some of our recent wounded veterans. Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc. is dedicated to the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled active military service personnel and veterans through fly fishing and fly tying education and outings.

The Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing program provides basic fly fishing, fly casting, fly tying and rod building classes, along with clinics participants ranging from beginners who have never fished before, to those with prior fly fishing and tying experience who are adapting their skills to their new abilities. All fly fishing and tying equipment is provided to the participants at no cost. Fishing trips, both one day and multiple days, are also provided free of charge to participants.

Check out their web site for more information as well as the option to donate. Thanks. Terry

http://www.projecthealingwaters.org/

Fall Color Photos

Here are my top 8 picks of the Fall Color Photo contest.

Terry

Winter Fly Fishing Outing Dec 2012

Dan and I had a great time down at the Winter Outing of the Heart of America Fly Fishers held anually at Bennett Spring State Park. We stayed at Sand Spring Resort as usual and fished the park Saturday and Sunday, and then with the awesome 70 degree weather, we canoed the Niangua on Monday. We were on the River from Fort Niangua to Sand Spring. The club outing had their usual stream-side lunch up by the spring on Saturday (chili, hot dogs, etc) and then the banquet that evening up at Ollies. The fishing in the park seemed a little slower than usual to us but we caught quite a few trout, and of course it's catch & release in the winter time. Best flies seemed to be midges along woolleys and some nymphs. The weather was so great that we only needed a light long sleeve shirt from morning to night (not bad for December!). They were also doing construction in the park below the dam to improve access and provide for wheelchair fishing. In the river, we caught a couple of rainbow trout but mostly smallmouth bass. Best fly here was definitely the black woolley. What a great time to be all by ourselves on the river. Here are a few pictures from the trip, or for the complete album, click on this link:

Click here for the complete album

Terry

HOAFF Club Lunch 

 Whistle Bridge

 Rainbow Trout in Park

 Park Bridge and Dam

 Starting Canoe trip at Fort Niangua

 Beautiful Niangua River bluffs

Nice Smallmouth Bass by Dan