My prep for the weekend included purchasing a fishing license with trout stamp and fortunately all the fishing equipment was supplied by our "fishing guide" (Brett) in Branson. We kicked off our 3 hour drive with a hearty dinner from Gates BBQ and then hit the open road.
A meal fit for a king - Burnt Ends
We crashed out as soon as we arrived in Branson and I was up at zero dark thirty waiting for the sun to come up over the lake and enjoying the sounds of the wilderness. When Kevin woke up, we went to Breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then were off to Brett's.
What a view
Here comes the sun
The start of our adventure
Once we arrived at Brett's, we spent about 20 minutes on his front lawn going over fly fighing techniques and suiting up in our waders. We then hit Lake Taneycomo and spent about 5 hours walking around the lake. This was my first time fly fishing and I had a blast! I caught a fish on almost every cast for the first hour and got pretty good and popping the little fly hooks out of the fishes mouths and setting them free.
Down the barrel of the fishing pole
We fished near the dam for a couple of hours and I learned that the dam is used to generate power. A loud horn blows to indicate how many units are being started and then the water level quickly rises. It was quite the experience.
You get a line, I'll get a pole...
Kevin and a waterfall by the hatchery
I thought fishing was supposed to be a relaxing sport... When we arrived back at the the house, we ate some pizza and were both struggling to keep our eyes open. We gave into the sand man and got a good nights sleep in preparation for another round of fishihg. Brett was going to pull his boat to the dock behind the house at 7:30am and take us out for 4 hours.
Early morning fishing
Fly fishing from a boat was an interesting experience. The following things need to be taken into consideration: 1) Don't let your line get caught around the prop 2) Don't hook anyone when casting 3) Don't hook anyone when trying to set your hook 4)always keep the tip of your pole down or you will snap your line. We caught more fish that we could count and the nice part was that Brett positioned himself between Kevin and I and removed the hooks from our fish. Proof that I caught a fish
Chillin on the boat
When finished fishing, we jumped into the truck, turned on the Chief's game and headed for Kansas City. On the way, we stopped by Lambers "home of the throwed roll" and enjoyed our last manly meal together. The highlight of the meal was when they brought out fresh rolls as the staff would throw the roll to you regardless of how close or far you were from them.
View of the dock and house from the boat
Watch out for the rolls
May your fishing adventures leave you with several of these --> <ºj))))><
Bill
