Steve, any time you can make it up. I got room and board covered either here or at the lake house. Just take a week off and head NorthWest. :-)
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Thanks, I appriciate it. We'll talk a bit later after the ribs and stuff heal up a bit more.

Of course, I'm also under restriction from the wife; NO more out of town fishing expeditions until further notice. Fortunately, I'm not a real good listener in some things :-)



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We re in great shape then Steve.....Rogers, Ar is considered a town. So we are set. Picked up a 9ft 8wt St Croix for Largemouth, Striper, and White bass. Would be good for off shore if I ever make it your way.
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Sounds great, except for the 15 hr drive :-)! We'll see how things go a little later in the year!

Maybe Uncle O will send me a big check :-)



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Well with the instbility of work and the economy being ****......I decided to take a risk. A close friend has a crappie guiding service and was wanting someone to do trout and river/stream work. So as of a few weeks ago, I am the moving water guide for JT Crappie Guiding. I fish every weekend anyway and figured why not. I can wrtie off most of the gear and am eyeballing a 16' Lowe v-hull. I called in a favor to a buddy and got on the pro staff for Sage, Redington, and Rio. I will be doing both fly and spincast fishing. Jason is sponsored by BnM Crappie Rods and YUM baits, so I have that end covered. The Pro staff for the fly fishing stuff really helps.....just gotta get to tying some extra flies. Have a look(I am the stud on the right).....

www.jtcrappieguidear.com

The information tells a little about what all is offered. REally looking forward to getting on the water.
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Sweet deal Rat!!!
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Nice!
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Just don't forget about us lowly little guys now that you're "big time" :-)

J/K...

Finally had a chance to look at this (they have started filtering/adding big brother devices at the office). Looks nice. Rates look really nice compared to what I have seen in N. Ga./N.C./Tenn.

I am hoping to hit a couple of little ponds out in the Osceola N.F. this weekend or next (a friend is going so that we can take the canoe. I still can't lift stuff) with my little 2/3 wt. rod looking for some Bluegill or maybe a small black bass. Water may still be a little cool, but I'm just ready to get out somewhere.

Catch'em Up Bud!



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If you guys get a chance, check out Trout Unlimited's On The Rise this week. It is on the White here in Arkansas......home of the world record 40lb brown trout. My buddy John Wilson is doing the guiding.
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I went out to the park today and practice cast for the first time since my accident. Felt pretty good.

My wife and daughter are talking about going to the beach looking for seashells tomorrow. I am good for about 5 minutes of that, so I think I'll take my rod and see what's in the surf.
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Beacuse of this picture of Kevin, I enrollrd my son and self into a class from a BPS guy. (coming up if a few weeks )
I just looked at it and thought "wow, that is something I can enjoy learning with my son":-) as it appears there are a few trout places in our area
Thanks Kevin!:-) Not to thread Jack from you guys
:-)
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Welcome to a life changing hobby. You will understand that very soon. Feel free to run any questions or thoughts by us. Also look for a local fly fishing club. Trout Unlimited has alot of clubs. You BPS guy should be able to help hook you up with some local waters and fishermen.
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I'm glad to hear my picture is changing lives :-)! As kayak_rat said feel free to ask questions here. I found casting to be the hardest thing to pick up, but once you get out on the water and spend some time doing it, it becomes second nature.
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x2! I haven't really cast for a several months, but was actually pretty proud of myself at the park. Had 3 hula hoops set up at various distances out ot about 90 ft. and was pretty accurate. Was especially pleased at my backhand cast (we use that down here quite a bit when the wind picks up).

We'll see tomorrow though out on the water, that's the real test!



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Well, the original plan was to do a little surf fishing today, but plans got changed. Instead my daughter joined me at the park for her first fly casting lesson. I let her use my 6' St. Croix 2/3 weight "small stream" rod loaded with a WF3F line. She did really well for her first try.

Before we left the park, I let her try my 9' 9wt Orvis "Matrix" (older heavy graphite) rod with a WF9 Intermediate Sink line. That was just a little too much for her, but it helped her understand why she needed to do somethings with the 3 wt.

She always enjoys fishing with me, but this was especially fun for me. When we left she was already asking me if we could do it again later in the week and when could we go to "papaw's place in the mountains) :-):-):-).

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Many years ago a friend told me he never wondered where his daughter would be on Friday nights, cause Saturday morning they were going fishing! He was right about that and other things. Thanks Perk! If things work out next weekend, I think a little "on water" time is called for.

BTW, ya gotta dig her amber tinted wrap-around fishing glasses! Daddy's Fishing Girl Indeed!!!
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Steve, I admire you. Too many fathers in this day find it hard to spend quality time with their kids. I have no kids, so just speaking from the sidelines. It is great to teach kids how to fish. Compared to setting in front of a TV....it is much healthier and more fun. I am looking forward to the pic of her first landed fish on a fly rod. TFO makes a killer Breast Cancer Awareness rod thats pink. I also was talking to my Sage rep about more womens oriented gear and he said that it is going to be a big push this year.
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I got out and did some river cleanup yesterday. The Elk River is known as a party river, but the MDC is trying to change that. The smallie fishing is awesome and the scenery is great. We had two canoes, two kayaks, and a flat bottom......filled them all. We were on the water for about 6hrs and only covered about 2 miles of water. I feel like we did alot of good, but there is alot of other water to be cleaned. Here are some pics from the take out. Of all the trash we got, some of the bigger were a washing machine, a window AC unit, a plastic 50gal drum, and tons of beer cans and sunglasses.

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It's amazing some of the stuff you can find in the most remote places.


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Anyone doing any fishing lately?
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I finally got out today for the first time in months, but I didn't grab my fly rod....I went musky fishing in the New River.
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