Email in from Ken Morrow:
Just wanted to let you know that we are off and running in Branson.
Yesterday was a slow day of folks trickling in mostly in the afternoon and
evening. Everyone is either camping at Table Rock State Park or staying in
a motel. Leonard and I kept missing each other yesterday. I fished for
about 90 minutes on my own in a run known as The Gauntlet. Red Zebra Midges
were the ticket, but the bite was slower than I expected. Leonard fished
the area upstream of Chute 2 from the hatchery and did quite well with his
boys. Several of the guys finally got together last night, but I went home
a bit after 3 pm.
This morning, 4 of us met at Table Rock Inn for breakfast. It’s right
across the highway from the entrance to the State Park. At 8:30, I headed
for the water. Canoeguy and his sidekick were supposed to go get licenses
and meet me at the pavilion at the hatchery parking area. What should have
been a 15 minute wait was terminated at 10 am when I decided I’d better go
yank them out of the fly shop. Sure enough! That’s where I found them.
They went to BOTH fly shops! When I walked in, they were fiddling with some
Winston rods. We finally got on the water at about 10:30 am. I took them
down below the Big Hole. The fished there and I went on downstream to The
Narrows. We were still within line of sight and hollering distance. We
caught a few more fish each and quit for lunch at 1:30 pm. Well, I didn’t
eat lunch. But they did. They went to Danna’s BBQ, a favorite with the
tourists near the dam and hatchery complex off of Hwy 165. I headed up to
the fly shop and bought the most expensive bottle of sunscreen I have ever
seen in my life! But it is SPF 30 spray-on with non-DEET insect repellant
built in and it won’t harm your gear and isn’t greasy. But I still felt
like I was paying a lot for the convenience of not having to drive to
Walgreens.
At 5pm, we all met at the pavilion for introductions. Phil Lilley, owner of
Lilley’s Landing Resort and Marina showed up. At 6pm, we went to the
hatchery guest center for the tour and a Power Point presentation from River
Run Outfitters. Then Leonard and two of the guys headed back to the stream
and us three amigos headed back to Danna’s BBQ for dinner. Obviously, the
place has made a big impression on them. I personally thought it was just
average. Yes, I’m a local and I had never been there before. I shy away
from most of the places the tourists rave about.
Well, some of the gang is night fishing tonight. I don’t night fish. Mr.
Murphy of Albright is also camping at the State Park in the big blue
Albright motorhome. I was too tired to stop by and knock on his door this
evening and it was pushing 9pm anyway. So I headed home. We meet in the
morning at the pavilion at 9am. I did get a righteous sunburn and make some
new friends today. We’ll move up to colder, better oxygenated water
tomorrow. What fish we did catch downstream today were very sluggish and
the water was pretty warm. So we’ll stay closer to the hatchery for the
rest of the fish-in where the fish are congregating to bask and feed in the
colder, more oxygenated hatchery discharges.
Well, the sunburn was worse than I thought and the Mrs. revoked my fishing pass for today in spite of my substantial investment in sunscreen.
But the cookout is tonight and I’ll be there for the revelry. Sounds like Leonard has really put an impressive spread together.
My sunburns generally turn to tan quickly, so I should be back in business tomorrow.
My New Year’s resolution is to have more fun…even if YOU don’t.
…and here I sit 30 minutes from the fishin recovering from pneumonia and celulitis…dang this getting old is tough.
“From the Laid Back Lane in the Arkansas Ozarks”
Yeah, I just heard about that yesterday, Dano. Hope you get well soon. Not that I’m glad you’re sick or anything, but at least you didn’t come up here and ruin my fishing this weekend like you usually do. 
My New Year’s resolution is to have more fun…even if YOU don’t.
Went to the BBQ this evening. Everyone was in great spirits, but Leonard was a bit the worse for wear. LOL He looked really tired. He hurt his ankle pretty badly yesterday and is “playing with pain.” He’s a real trooper.
One attendee who shall remain nameless seems to be in a pretty foul mood and hasn’t come to any of our get togethers or fished. I advised Leonard to just leave him to stew in the campgrounds this evening after he chewed Leonard out when Leonard went over and gave him a “special invite” to dinner. Guess there’s one in most every crowd.
Fishermen were more successful today. Taneycomo has no Caddis. But the big winner for the day was a size 18 CDC EHC tied by Larry. Dave brought 20 fish to hand on that fly today. I fish them here sometimes and have had pretty good success with them myself. But I fish size 16’s.
Primrose and Pearl BH Zebra Midges have been good lately, and several fish were caught on them as well. Cinammon ants did well for Larry for a bit.
Phil stopped by again this evening and so did the new game warden.
Tomorrow we meet at Noon at the pavilion. I plan to fish in the morning and then meet up with the gang and call it quits.
My New Year’s resolution is to have more fun…even if YOU don’t.
Ken, thanks for the reports. Tell Leonard to keep his head up. No doubt he has done a yeoman’s job just getting this thing going. I can’t imagine the internal headaches. Dano
He has been on the phoone with me for months. You could not want a more enthusiastic or hard working host. That he broke his keg the day before only slowed him down a bit. We are very grateful for all his involvement.
Leonard broke the KEG?!? Not good!!
Trouts don’t live in ugly places
*small typo, sorry…
The keg is fine; his leg is not!
Yes, he is convinced he has a stress fracture in his ankle. But I don’t think he has been to the doctor yet. So it might be a serious sprain. Heck, one hurts as bad as the other. The point is he’s really putting his heart and soul into this Fish-In. And anyone who doesn’t appreciate what he’s doing…let alone gets torqued with him over it…is in a foul place in their head.
My New Year’s resolution is to have more fun…even if YOU don’t.
SM, look really close. That is a type of cast on his leg! (Doctor installed!)
Hmmm…I only caught bits and pieces of the conversations, but I could have sworn he’s been wearing tennis shoes all week.
My New Year’s resolution is to have more fun…even if YOU don’t.
Ya, it’s a new thin kind. Can get waders on over it too! But, he swears it is cracked. (X-rays I guess)
Oh, OK. I just thought he figured it was cracked. I never noticed the cast.
My New Year’s resolution is to have more fun…even if YOU don’t.
Leonard isn’t one to let anything stand in his way! If he says it’s going to get done, it will!
Trouts don’t live in ugly places
Betty,
Leonard mentioned Thursday evening that he was somewhat disappointed that y’all didn’t come. I told him you must have been busy to miss an event like this.
My New Year’s resolution is to have more fun…even if YOU don’t.
Ran into Larry and Dave a bit ago and they said they’ve each caught about 30 fish today on Cracklebacks fished dry just below chute #1. Almost everyone who has fished in the vicinity of that chute this week has caught a bunch of fish. I could not believe how few people were fishing today when I stopped by! And it’s a beautiful, warm day. No power generation while I was there from 2-4pm, and that’s when they’ve been generating.
My New Year’s resolution is to have more fun…even if YOU don’t.
Hey Everyone…
Yes the Fish-in was a great time… tomorrow is the farewell… this past tuesday I slipped at work and really messed up my ankle (I cracked a bone. I had an x-ray)… nothing really bad… What they put on it is what is called a “harden wrap”… almost like a cast but a bit flexable and they are able to get wet… monday I go back to the doctor for another check up to see if it got any worst over the weekend
Im home this afternoon because the wife has to work tonight… and I had to get off the ankle… But I do plan on being back on the water in the morning…
Yes I do beleive everyone has caught a few fish… lcastr got a few nice picture of the fish at his feet… everyone has been complaining the the fish are biting them…on the legs… LOL…
on Taneycomo… it is possible to count 30+ fish at your feet at one time…
I am truly sorry for all the miss communication through everything…
I would like to start planning another fish-in for the fall of 2007 (possibly during the big brown run)… I would like to get everyone at 1 spot and 1 spot only (where I know he wont sell the place and cause confusing among everyone) this will be a central location…and everyone can meet everyone as they show up…
well after that said… I will update everyone in a few week as soon as I get the ok to do the fish-in
now to start tying flies for tomorrow
Leonard
And kudos for Leonard! Did a nice job and a good time was had by all. Lots of fish caught and most of all, a great time meeting other ffishers and sharing in experiences. Maybe not a big fishin in numbers but more than made up for it in the socializing and fishing enjoyment. Karen and I enjoyed meeting our out of state ffishing friends and hope we get the chance to wet some lines again.
Crackleback/Bob A
Wish we could have been there, but by the time it was announced we’d already had our reservations in South Dakota, and a promise to care for our youngest grandson for the week his Mom would be in California. Hopefully next year dates won’t conflict. I know Leonard did a great job under some pretty adverse conditions.
Trouts don’t live in ugly places