Annual TOSFly Trip

It's almost here.  The annual TOSFly fishing trip.  As you can tell, it has been quite some time since we last posted to this blog.  In fact, from what I can tell, it has been about 3 years.  But today is a new day.  We are at the dawning of a new era, and it starts on June 25, 2014, when our group meets on the Little Red River in Arkansas.  Stay tuned for updates from that trip!

I did some scouting last weekend, and the fishing was good.  My father-in-law and I caught a couple dozen rainbows a piece, and the browns were active too!  But, Arkansas has experienced a TON of rain over the past week, which will affect the flow substantially in early June.  Nonetheless, with any luck, the poor weather conditions will be out of here by the time our trip rolls around.  Here's a little snippet of what the river had to offer last weekend before the rain moved through.  Let's hope it only gets better as the weeks pass!

Until next time, cast to The Other Side!!!

- Seth

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Little Red Winter Trip

Last weekend, as many of you know, the TOSFly crew packed up their gear and took off for the Little Red River outside of Heber Springs, Arkansas. The crew included J-Ferg, Brett Ferguson (AKA B-Ferg), Chud, The Prez, Dean Rose (AKA Deano AKA the Prez's Pops-In-Law), and Deano's friend Bill Ray (AKA Wild Bill). We had an absolute blast fishing and just kicking it at the cabin. We spent hours at night discussing technique and strategy. The TOSFly crew sends out a special thanks to Deano for generously allowing us to crash at his amazing place. Here's a pic of good old Deano for you:

Deano with a nice brown caught at Cow Shoals

For those of you who have not visited the Little Red, you need to put this place on your fly-fishing bucket list. When they are not generating, the river becomes very small and shallow at most wadable fly-fishing shoals. We had to change our nymphing techniques for very shallow, fast-moving runs as well as semi-deep, stagnant water. The name of the game during the winter months on most trout fly fisheries is slow and small. Everything gets smaller in the winter, and this should include your leader, tippet, and flies. Most trout become lethargic during the cold winter months, and their feeding habits change. We caught the tail end of what seemed to be a late season brown trout spawn. Although there were no visible redds, a couple of the browns caught were depositing eggs as we netted them.

We spent most of the weekend nymphing with small (size 18-22) red asses and midges. The key to success for us was not using ANY split shot. The water was shallow and slow enough to forego the use of weight. The absence of split truly helped the fly get a more natural drift into the feeding lanes. We tried pulling streamers in some of the deeper pools, but we only seemed to land small stocker rainbows. Much of our pulling came up empty handed.

The Little Red is an extraordinary fishery. You can truly see the difference in stocked brown trout and naturally reproduced browns. All the fish that we caught over the weekend were full of life and put up a hard fight. If you want to land a trophy brown trout, the Little Red is hands down the place to go! Now, enjoy a little photo foursome for your viewing pleasure:

Until next time,

Cast to The Other Side!

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Eleven Point River Review

TOSfly crew, I have just returned from a four-day float on Missouri's Eleven Point River located in the Irish Wilderness of the Mark Twain National Forest.  I must give thanks to Tom Sr., Jim, and Tom Jr. for allowing me to join them on their annual winter trip.  I must all also thank the Lord for the safe keeping and the beautiful blessing of seeing majestic Bald Eagles giving our campsite a fly-by everyday.  Tom provided all of the great camp food and gear that made the camping trip extremely comfortable in the midst of freezing temperatures.  Jim provided the boat ferry as well as the great history of the area that we were fishing.  Thanks to both gents for the fellowship that was shared over coffee and bacon-wrapped chicken.  I would love to share every detail about the trip but word counts will not allow.  Therefore I will hit the highlights.  We caught fish.  Lots of fish.  The two types that were caught in abundance were beautiful, golden bellied rainbows and red-eyed goggle eye.  The river, according to Jim and Tom, was a lot lower than usual therefore producing a lot of different runs/shoals throughout our 6-mile stretch.

We caught the great majority of our fish stripping boogers (olive/brown/black) across the shoals and through the deep holes at the end of the shoals.  The rainbows averaged around 13'' with a few fellas around the 17-18'' range.  The colors on these fish amazing.  They had this golden belly with orange tips on the fins.  I had to take a double look to make sure we were not catching some rogue cutties.  The goggle eye were caught where a warm creek flowed into the Eleven Point.  The fish were hanging out at the bottom of the river and were enticed by our olive boogers.  They were fun fish to reel in.

Throughout the trip we battled harsh conditions.  Wind began to pick up as a cold front was pushing through.  The night before this front we made about a mile hike up river to fish a certain shoal that proved successful in the past for the natives.  All four of us (Jesse, Thomas, John, Myself) caught a lot of rainbows. The fish seemed to be gorging themselves before the cold front hit.  It was a great couple of hours stripping some boogers. It is always fun to feel the tug.

This trip was amazing.  There was turquoise water with shadows of eagles over top, mixed with the emerald flashing of bows feeding underneath.  It was a great trip indeed.  New faces became friends over campfire fellowship and stories of the days fish.  Not to mention the roasted mallows that accompanied our stomachs after filet mignon.  Thanks Tom and Jim for the opportunity.  Im a lucky man. Check out the slide show below!

Until next time, cast to The Other Side

Blessed waters,

Chad

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Little Red BIG BROWNS!!!

Well TOSFly readers, over the past couple of weeks, a few members of the TOSFly team have been spending a lot of time on the Little Red River. And the result? ... BIG BROWNS. That's right, this little river has been producing some big fish. And the primary reason is the spawn.

For a while before Christmas, it seemed the browns were finished spawning. However, the week before the celebration of our Savior's birth, I received word from an associate that the browns had started again, and big fish were being caught all throughout the river! This was good news for me considering I was headed to the river the next weekend. The anticipation almost killed me ... literally. I think if I tied one more fly or talked about fishing any more, my wife would have taken my life.

Anyway, after being on the river the past few days, it is true. All of it. The browns are spawning, and big fish are being caught. My father-in-law and I have torn up the browns at Cow Shoals off of a variety of flies including red asses, white woolies, scuds, and sowbugs. However, the hot fly of the week has been the Holy Grail. I have spent the past several nights tying these flies, and I am very thankful that I did because the fish loved it!

Today started off great. On the very first cast, I caught a nice rainbow while drifting nothing other than the Holy Grail. However, the fishing slowed, and I decided to move upriver to a nice deep pool. I started by stripping a wooly bugger, and BAM!!! I had a nice brown trout measuring about 16 inches. I took a pic and let her go. Second cast ... strip ... strip ... BAM!!! Another 17 inch brown (I did measurements on my rod) with a nice kype. It was obvious this guy was spawning. I laid him beside my rod and took a picture. I fished the white wooly for a while longer, but I think they started to figure me out.

I switched to a scud and caught several fish. Dean, my father-in-law, caught a nice brown with a purple haze scud. Check it out:

Then, I switched to the Holy Grail. This fly was HOT all week long! They absolutely KILLED it! I must have tied a dozen of them, and the fish tore up 3! I caught one on the first cast with the new fly ... a nice brown in the 13" range. Then, I cast a little deeper to an area where the fish were rising and the river bottom seemed to change depths. A few seconds after the fly hit the water, my indicator went under fast. I set the hook, and I thought I was hung up. I wasn't; my line was moving, and this momma fish was fighting. After about 10 minutes of battle, I netted her. Check her out!

I wasn't able to snap any pictures besides this one. She was spewing eggs, and I knew I needed to get her back in the water. As a result, I was not able to measure her. However, if the big guy mentioned earlier was 17", she was pushing 21". She was definitely a full hand's width longer than him. She was an absolutely beautiful fish. I released her almost immediately, and back to the redds she went.

Overall, we have had a blast!

Check back soon for TOSFly's trip to the Little Red coming in mid January!

Until then ... cast to The Other Side!

Seth

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Little Red River Review

Last weekend, the Prez (Seth) and Chud (Chad) went on a two-day outing to the Little Red River. Our host for the weekend was Mr. Dean Rose (Seth's Father-in-law). We arrived at the cabin around 4:00 p.m. and immediately put all of our gear on to head to the river. Both of us were pumped to get on the river considering it had been a few weeks since out last casts. Chad rigged up a 5-weight with a huge black ugly with red dumbbell eyes. His first cast yielded hopes of a promising evening as a huge flash below the water began to take chase of my fly. For the next hour Chud kept throwing that fly in the hopes that a big piggers would want to munch. Nothing doing.... The Prez, on the other hand, decided to rip some face with his own streamer (a white wooly). The big brownies came out to party with Seth. He caught two nice brownies within the 1.5 hours we were out there. Needless to say, this was a promising beginning to our fishing trip indeed.

Friday night consisted of us three gents sitting around a dinner table that was littered with fly-tying material, courtesy of Mr. Dean Rose. The conversation flowed and the fireplace stayed warm for many hours that night. Experiences of past trips were shared as well as the techniques we would use for Saturday's outing. We had a great night to say the least.

We got up early Saturday to the smell of coffee and freshly baked cinnamon rolls, also courtesy of our host Mr. Rose. It was a brisk morning; it probably did not get above 25 degrees throughout the day. We fished some very shallow runs that did not get above the knees, which made for a difficult time nymphing. Chad gave a few casts but realized that throwing a streamer seemed more plausible. As a result, he transitioned to an olive bead head wooly that he had tied the night before. Second cast ... strip ... strip ... boom. Beautiful bow. The next couple of hours were exciting because the fish seemed to just attack the various streamers that he threw at them. Chad ended up catching some good bows with a couple of nice brownies occasionally thrown into the mix. It was a good morning of fishing.

Later in the day, Mr. Rose made his way to a rock point where he had success with some dry flies and some woolies of his own. It seemed like everytime he started stripping a wooly, a fish would strike! Seth had a slow Saturday, catching only two fish through the shoals. Nonetheless, we all had a blast. Overall it was a good day on the Little Red. Chad's trip was cut short as he had to head back into Fay-town for Sunday church. It is always hard to leave the river; after all, the river is our Saturday sanctuary.

          

Sunday was a different story all together for Seth. After having a slow Saturday, he experienced a Sunday full of success at Cow Shoals. Mr. Rose and Seth began their day around 8:00. After fishing through the shoals for about an hour, the two of them doubled up by stripping some white woolies through the shallows; Seth on a bow, and Mr. Rose on a brownie. Soon after they came upon a deeper pool where fish were constantly rising to the surface. Over the next few hours, Seth caught between 12-15 nice sized fish. Most were caught on a scud tied with golden ice dubbing. This fly seemed almost irresistible to the browns. Seth caught a few more on dry flies by throwing a BWO near a fallen tree.

Overall, it was an awesome weekend complete with great food, conversation and fishing. We enjoyed our time with Mr. Dean Rose, and we enjoyed our time on the Little Red River. This is an awesome fishery that every TOSFly reader should consider.

Until next time, cast to The Other Side!

Blessed Waters,

Chud & The Prez

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Little Red Trip Review - Teaser

Chad and Dean lit up the waters around Swinging Bridge on Saturday, while Seth blasted the browns on Friday night and Sunday morning. The full review of this trip will be posted soon, but in the meantime, how about a little teaser photo (or photos)?

Until next time ... cast to The Other Side! Check back soon!

- Seth

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Late Fall White River Trip

Well TOSFly readers, several weeks ago the TOSFly team had the opportunity to take our annual late fall fishing trip. This year, we went to the White River. It was a great trip complete with time around the fire, great stories of monster fish, and of course a lot fish catching. For evidence of that, just see below:

So, as you can see, there was no problem catching fish. As far as I can remember, we hooked up with brookies, brownies, and rainbows (and that's just what I remember). There may have been more!

We had the opportunity to take an experienced angler along with us: Carter McLeod. Carter is a close friend of the TOSFly team, and it was a great experience to have him along with us. Between Carter and Justin, who you all know from our regular gear reviews, we had our very own Simms catalog right there on the water. Just check out that picture to the right. Those guys had everything Simms has made in the past 2 years: pullovers, waders, hats, boots, gravel guards, gloves, toilet paper ... Well, maybe not that last one, but you get the point.

It was truly a great trip. I'll walk you through the details. We all arrived at different times on Friday evening. Justin, Carter, and I arrived last since we couldn't get away from the office before around 5:00. As soon as we got there, it was time to build a fire and spend some time just kicking it. As you can imagine, this lasted well into the night, but we all finally got to bed.

Day 1 of Fishing

We started our Saturday morning early, very early, which is something you have to do on the White. If we wanted to get into Rim Shoals before the rest of the crowd, we had to act early. It wasn't an easy task navigating that boat in extremely shallow in the pitch black of night, but we finally made our way to the hole and began fishing as the light of the morning crested the horizon.

Immediately after getting out of the boat, it seemed Luke, Chad, and Carter were hooking up after only a couple of casts. They were both throwing streamers and using a quick strip to entice the big boys. The rest of us wandered into the shoals to see if any fish were waiting in the shallows. Sure enough, it wasn't long before we were all hooking up and bringing in fish.

The fog was thick and the fish were hitting hard. After several hours of fishing, we finally decided around 11:30 to head back to the cabin, not because we weren't catching fish, but because we were getting worn out. Not to mention we were having some problems with wader leakage. After a couple of hours fishing, it was obvious that Luke was having some problems staying in the extremely cold water with a huge hole in his waders. In order to warm him up, we attempted to start a creekside fire. This idea did not work as well as we expected. Before long we were in the boat on our way back. A good lunch break would do us all some good.

After arriving at camp, we prepared some dogs and sandwiches and took a little break. After the great morning we had, I think we all deserved it. After a couple of hours, we prepared to head out again. This time, we were going to have to go without Luke. The cold water had gotten to him, and he was coming down with a cold. Because Luke is a worship minister here in Fayetteville, AR, he decided it would be best if he stayed behind and rested. He needed his voice to lead worship the next morning. We didn't blame him, but we sure did miss him. The afternoon was a blast!

Saturday afternoon was also full of fish-catching fun. We took to boat upriver just a little bit, and parked near what looked like a hot spot. There were varying depths around this area making it perfect for both streamer fishing as well as nymphing. We began again. It wasn't long before the team was hooking up with fish again. The fly of the afternoon? A white shad pattern tied by our very own Chad Lee. He stripped this thing in with varying speeds, and the rainbows loved it. Everyone was catching fish out of the same run!

After fishing for several more hours, the water started to rise, and we decided to head back. We got to camp, showered, and planned for the night. Luke and Chad had to head back to lead worship on Sunday morning; Zack and I decided to drive into Mountain Home to watch the Razorbacks battle Mississippi State, while Justin and Carter decided to try their luck at night fishing (and what luck they had).

On the night fishing trip, Carter was stripping in a big ugly black beast when all of the sudden he felt a HIT!!! It was a strong pull that caused his spool to sing! Carter was sure that he had caught a world record trout. He battled this monster for about 15-20 minutes before finally wearing it out. After getting the fish in, Justin turned on his headlamp and saw this monster:

That's right ... he pulled in a big ole hybrid bass! This guy must have gotten pushed through the dam and made a living swallowing up the fingerlings in the area. He fattened himself up, and Carter caught him looking! What a fish!

Day 2 of Fishing

The second day of fishing was left up to Justin, Seth and Zack. Carter left early on Sunday morning to see his wife and kids. Family first. The three of us remained. We decided to head down to rim, and on the way we did a little sight fishing. Zack spotted some lunkers hanging out under a tree, and we decided to park the boat to see if we could hook up. Sure enough, on the first cast I was hooked up with a rainbow who took a san juan worm (Ole' Faithful). At first I thought I had surely hooked up with one of those big boys, but as it turned out it was just a little guy. But hey, any fish is a good fish when you are on the river. The experience is what it is all about. Remember that. 

We then made our way down to the shoals, and spent the rest of the morning there. The day was a little slow, but that doesn't mean we didn't catch fish. We pulled in several, and had a blast doing it. Justing even hooked up with a nice brownie about an hour before we decided to head back. Check it out:

Man ... it was an awesome, action-packed trip. I wish I could share all the pictures from the weekend, but I guess you'll just have to enjoy the slideshow below:

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October TOSFly White River Trip

October fly fishing in Northern Arkansas can provide some of the most ideal fishing conditions one could ask for. The Other Side Flyfishing Crew went to the White River in October to hone in on some pre spawn brown trout action. On this trip, we brought rookie fly fisherman, our featured angler, Hunter Hibbard. Hoping for low water opportunities, we came prepared for sight fishing and small nymph patterns. The Corps of Engineers did not cooperate with out longings for low water, and instead tainted the weekend with fluctuating generation and water levels. Over the course of our 3 day trip, the Corps of Engineers ran between zero and three units, with the number constantly changing.

A General Rule of Thumb: Fish Rising Water and Falling Water
As a general rule of thumb for those who are fishing tailwaters, some of the prime fishing opportunities is rising and falling water. As the water levels drop from high to low, fish begin to move from their shoreline structures to the mid-river feeding zones. During this "migration," fish are on the move allowing anglers to fish all sections of river for decent numbers of fish. The same applies for rising water. As the fish migrate from their mid-river feeding zones to find shelter behind shoreline structure from the strong, high-water, currents.

This rule of thumb does not apply to consistent water level fluctuation. Every hour the Corps of Engineers was turning generation either on or off, throwing the river and the fish's feeding habits out of balance. We managed to land quite a few fish over the course of two days, but we had to earn every fish we caught. We were constantly digging through the deepest parts of our fly boxes to find what patterns would unlock these fish's jaws. Oddly enough, during the higher water periods, we had great success on size 18 olive scuds, once again breaking the rule of thumb of "bigger water, bigger flies." We often had to break the rules of fly fishing to find patterns that would generate strikes as the water level plagued the two days.

We spent most of our weekend at the Rim Shoals area, as this is our favorite trout water in Arkansas. Olive scuds in size 18 produced fish, and the saving fly of the weekend was the RAY RAY (Ray Charles). In my experience, the Ray Charles is the secret weapon on Arkansas tailwater trout. This fly ALWAYS produces fish.

When you're fishing the Arkansas tailwaters, NEVER rely on the voice recordings to tell you what the water is doing. Safety is the first priority, and the best way to keep an eye on the water level is to get a FIXED point of structure in the water and make mental notes of the water level every hour or so. The water can rise QUICKLY and can leave you in very dangerous situations. When you are experiencing fluctuating water levels, and you know you're in a section of river that holds fish, do not be afraid to try flies that you generally do not use. Sometimes it takes some trial and error to find that PERFECT pattern. For us it was the olive scud and the Ray Charles.

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Tailwater Tickets and Finicky Fish

Yesterday's outing to the Beaver Tailwater was a very eventful occassion. On the way to the river we nearly smoked a 6 point (instead of us taking the buck's life, the car in front of us tagged him with only enough force to hurt him, not kill him). Don't worry, the big guy scampered away with only a scuffed hide. He'll be killed in a week anyway by a hunter (gun season opens today). Further, we fished hard for 3+ hours seeing fish all around us. Chad caught one. I missed one (I was a little rusty on my hookset - don't judge me). But these things aren't even close to being the most memorable (albeit for bad reasons) event of the day.

Thursday, November 11, 2010 is a day that will forever live in infamy. It was supposed to be a good day; one filled with bro time and big fish. However, this otherwise pleasant day on the river enjoying the blessings of our Creator took a drastic turn for the worst around 11:30 A.M. It was then that Chud and I heard the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission officer order us to come up and speak with him "for a minute." I know what you all are asking: "Did you run?" Well, I thought about it. My deliberations did not last long, however, since I was fully licensed, had purchased my trout tags, and was doing NOTHING WRONG (at least I thought). We therefore complied with the officer's request and began walking up the shoreline.

If you have never encountered a game and fish commission officer on one of your trips, you are lucky. I honestly think that these encounters are among the worst feelings in the world. Think about it. You are enjoying your favorite pastime, desperately trying to get on some  pigs, when the 5-0 makes you stop in your tracks. Seriously? I'm not hurting people. I'm not stealing anything. I'm fishing. What the freak could you possibly want with me? Now you understand my level of frustration by the time we reached the officer's truck.

So what was our offense? Fishing too close to the dam. Really? The officer then proceeds to tell us that the restriction is in place for the sole purpose of protecting anglers in the event of a water release. Well great. That means that I wasn't really doing anything "wrong" per se, there was simply a misunderstanding about where I was and was not allowed to fish. I thought, "surely in a situation such as this I will get off with a warning." WRONG. This guy proceeds to tell me that he was forced to issue me a citation since "he has a job to do." Give me a break. If your job is to enforce a restriction that exists solely to protect the anglers, at least entertain the idea of issuing a warning. IT SERVES THE SAME PURPOSE!!! You want anglers to know not to fish too close to the dam, then warn me and I won't do it again. Holy Moly!

On top of all the garbage referenced above, the fact that I didn't catch a single fish in our 3.5 hours on the river simply added insult to injury. The only bright spot of the day was Chad's catch, a 13 inch bow. Overall, not a good day of fishing, but no day on the river is a bad day, despite receiving a citation for an offense that is complete garbage. Chud and I got to spend time together; we got to spend time on the river; and we got to spend time with the Lord. I would say in the grand scheme of things our day turned out pretty good.

So, the moral of the story? Don't fish too close to the dam, and run when you see the warden (I am only kidding. Never run from a law enforcement officer). When you get out there this weekend, remember this, but more than that, remember to cast to THE OTHER SIDE! See you on the river.

- The Prez

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