Welcome Wagon Wipers

[Joe Hyde]

Robin:


Uh, correction: Better make that another THREE hundred yards of backing I'd need to add to my reel before trying for one of those horses. Osteopath surgeons in the Lake Texoma area must do a land office business repairing the busted knuckles of fishermen.

Man, you need to write lots more WW stories about your trips for these monsters. Lord have mercy...



ROR-EYE:


Yeah, probably you've heard of Idaho somewhere; a few Kansans know of its existence, not many, though. To get there, just go two states west of Kansas, turn right and go one state north. Or, you can go one state north, turn left and go two states west (that's how I got there last time). Take a LOT of drinking water with you on the trip, in case your vehicle suffers a mechanical breakdown? South Idaho is so dry it makes western Kansas look like the Garden of Eden.

Am I the Joe that Rory knows? Hmmm...trickier question. Let me give it a think.

[quivira kid]

Looks like a ton of fun to me! KS really isn't that big of a deal... just "flyover country"! No good fly fishing here! *G*

Zac

[Joe Hyde]

Quivera Kid,


"Flyover" and "Kansas". To this day, when those two words are spoken or written in close proximity I can't help recalling one of our state's former and most ardent Attorney Generals who ordered the nation's commercial airlines to cease and desist serving distilled spirits to passengers anytime the aircraft entered the airspace above Kansas.

Remember that? Was that a ridiculous, comedic riot or WHAT?



Joe

[dixieangler]

Welcome back, Joe. Looking forward to some of those Speck and bream stories of yours too. Sic 'em, Old Reliable!

I have to say this one has always been my favorite Joe Hyde article. I break some ribs laughing every time I read it. Sometimes you have to "pay" for a good day of fishing.

Where There's Smoke

[Joe Hyde]

Robert,


Gee, thanks... Me, I break into a cold sweat every time I think back on that afternoon. Where was my Wild Kingdom dart gun when I really needed it?


Joe

[rrhyne56]

Hey, not that far

Lawrence KS to Denison TX

[Gandolf]

Hi Joe,

I don't currently fish Lake Meridith very much, but may fish it more in the future. The lake has dropped drastically in the last couple of years. A few years ago it was very difficult to fish with spinning equipment in a lot of areas because it is in a deep valley with steep banks. With a fly rod it was almost impossible to fish in much of the area.

The lake can be fished from a boat, but the lake is long, deep (at least it used to be), and it runs from west south west to east north east in a deep valley with steep banks. Since we have fairly high winds in our area fairly often, and storms can come up quickly, the lake has a deserved reputation as being dangerous to be on in a small boat because of very large waves that can come up very very quickly.

It is now down a lot, and so there are flat areas that can be fished.

Normally I fish a very small private lake, because it is a lot more like the water I like to fish, very much like a large pond. The water is clearer, and there are weeds and cattails in the water. In the past the lake had a boat that could be used, but that has not been the case. It like Meridith is very difficult to fish from the bank, so if I was going to fish it I needed to buy a canoe or jon boat.

I finally gave up and recently bought a jon boat. Currently, as time permits, I am setting it up so I can fish it. It needs oar locks (I use oars), a "Joe Hyde" set of anchors, and a way to tie off a stringer or fish basket.

The Texas panhandle is very much like the country I grew up in, ie: far Northwest Kansas about 15 miles from Nebraska and very roughly 55 miles from Colorado. It is very dry here.

Regards,

Gandolf

[quivira kid]

Quivera Kid,


"Flyover" and "Kansas". To this day, when those two words are spoken or written in close proximity I can't help recalling one of our state's former and most ardent Attorney Generals who ordered the nation's commercial airlines to cease and desist serving distilled spirits to passengers anytime the aircraft entered the airspace above Kansas.

Remember that? Was that a ridiculous, comedic riot or WHAT?



Joe

Joe,
I don't recall it right off, but that's funny. I've found that if you think outside the box a little, there's some fantastic fly fishing to be had here in Kansas!

[Gandolf]

Hi Quivera Kid,

The reason you don't remeber it is that you are too young, or you may not have even been around yet. The Attorney General was Vern Miller, and it was about 1970.

I liked Vern. He was different, but had high integrity, and enforced the law equally no matter who you were. He was a bit of the odd duck, in that he was a conservative democrat.

Regards,

Gandolf

[Bluegill222]

Sorry I'm late chiming in, but welcome back! I've been having computer issues, which is why there haven't been more articles, but hopefully that will be resolved soon. Great article. Hopefully we can get together a few times this fall and catch a few.

Tim