Hello Everyone

Do we have any warm water fishermen in the bunch? If so, I would love to compare notes.

Have a great week.

Roger

We have a lot of warm water fly fishers that range from bass to bream. The club has a one fly bream every spring that is a lot of fun. We don't have a lot of people that check the forum very often. I had my computer in for repairs and just got it back or I would have answered sooner so if there is anything you would like to know about warm water fishing let me know and I will try and help you out.

Bob

Thank you Bob.

You replied within three hours so there is no apology necessary. It would be great to chat with you about what, when ard where.

Roger

What type of warm water do you do, bass, bream, crappie? How long have you been fly fishing, are you from Arkansas, in other words give me some sort of bio. I have been fly fishing since I was a kid I have always had a fascination for the fly rod and fly fishing, I am a FFF CCI, and like to play with a spay rod. This has been a bad spring for Arkansas with all the flooding and then turning hot so soon. I have not been trout fishing since April in New Mexico so I have been limited to warm water fishing which is my first love I grew up in the Arkansas delta wading around in the sloughs an bayous.

Bob

Thank you Bob

Here goes again. I was getting ready to hit send and deleted the whole post the first time so maybe I will have better luck this go around.

I am fifty seven and started fly fishing while in high school, around Stuttgart, where I grew up. My equipment consisted of a hand-me-down, three piece Heddon rod, with a Shakespeare automatic reel. My line came from Gibson's (pre-Wal Mart) and my leader was ten pound mono. I always fished a popping bug followed by a Bream Killer for bream and a larger popper for bass. Tens of thousand fish were landed using that outfit. My fishing was done on river lakes and irrigation reservoirs around Stuttgart where I grew up. I stopped fishing during my later years of college.

I started fishing again three or four years ago and picked up a fly rod again a couple of years ago. My equipment has been vastly upgraded. I can still cast a fly but there is a whole lot of room room for improvement. I have a variety of rods; however, if you measure things by how much fun I had in my youth, it would be hard to beat that old steel Heddon.

My goal is to become a better fly caster and learn to fish some of the areas in central Arkansas, specifically, Lake Conway and Little Maumelle Creek. I still know how to fish reservoirs and river lakes but I plan on expanding my fishing locations to anywhere fish bite. I am light years behind on fly selection and fishing techniques in the above mentioned types of habitat.

You may think I am full blown nuts on this one but I am trying to figure out how to catch channel catfish on a fly. There is a fifty acre reservoir on my family rice farm, just north of Stuttgart. It has great Bream, bass, and crappie fishing. It is also over populated with channel catfish. We trying to thin them down. The size we take out average a little over six pounds. I have caught them while targeting bream and bass on a fly. Something usually breaks when you lay into a big one with a three or five weight rod, due to all the wood in the pond. They are fun to catch, very good to eat, and most need to come out. It is common to catch one hundred pounds plus, using bass tackle, during an afternoon.

I fish from a canoe or Jon boat. I have never done much wading other than when duck hunting.

My primary interest is bream and bass; however, I plan on doing some trout fishing.

I am open to any and all suggestions.

Thank you again and have a Happy Forth of July.

Roger

Thired time worked!!!!

I have tried three times to make a reply and it keeps saying I am not logged in. I am going to type it in word so I can copy and paste so if it does not work I won't have to type it over again.

I grew up in the same type environment as you just a little more north at McCrory. I use the automatic reel back in high school it was a lot easer to scull with one hand and cast with the other and not have all that line laying in the boat. I use to fish Lake Conway a lot but sold my 14' flat bottom rig this last year and now use a one man inflatable pontoon boat. I do most of my warm water fishing around Lonoke and Des Arc but if you want to come up and try Lake Conway let me know and I will try and make it. I live in Jacksonville and it is not that far to Stuttgart and I would be willing to make it down and do some fishing with you. The best catfish fly is a bunny leach that I tie with bead chain eyes and that is all the weight so it will not sink fast and I can make a slow retrieve. Our club had our one fly bream tournament in Stuttgart at Knoll Lake but it was cold and windy that day and it was not a good day fishing plus I broke the tip of my rod. Our conservation officer lives in Stuttgart and he is the one that got us permission to use Knoll Lake his name is Jan Wolf but is a transplant from up north somewhere.

Bob

Thank you very much Bob.

I have a 16' flatbottom and am ready to put it back to use. Let's cook up something fun during the meeting Monday.

Roger