1-16-2011



Met up with my clients at 7 am in the rain. 1st cast landed a 12 inch bow and then nothing else for about an hour, except Dans nice Brown Trout. Moved locations and started to pick more fish up.



We moved to Lost Creek/EH/Spillway Creek. Water is way low. About 100 dead fish were spread out thought the river.....?















Clients had to get back to the cabin, so at about 2 pm till dark I picked up a few.

Total fish count:

Dan: 57
Tim: 23
Frank and his buddy: 25-30
Me: 37

Lots of people this trip. Fish were spooky. Still a lot of fun though.

Nice Catch . Way to put them on the fish Carey.

Cool report, looks like a fun trip!

Nice job Carey I love to fish for trout. But it has neen years

Carey,

Nice photos! I have just taken up fly fishing and will be making some trips with my cousin to fish the Lower Mountain Fork, and maybe some streams in Arkansas too. Question for you - what kind of wading boots are best suited for LMF - the ones with felt soles or rubber soles? Thanks for your help.

Felt

good job carey,good to know that the trout are biting. also, do you have any reports for walleye and sandies in the river, i know they just recently got back on a generation schedule, so i wanted to know if the water might get the walleye movin.

good job carey, nice to know the trout are biting,also do you have any reports for walleye and sandies in that river, i know they just got back on a gneration schedule, so i wanted to know if the walleye and magnums might start moving a little bit.

Report: Fishing was great this morning!

My client today, Andy, landed 22-25 Rainbow Trout by 10am. Then, the bite slowed a bit. The park quickly filled up as temps rose and the fish got super spooky with all the traffic. We tried crawling up to some holes and doing a sneak attack, but that was just not in the trouts mind. They just wanted to do circles in the pockets when they saw us. Hit Spillway Creek and did some hiking where no one was around and quickly landed 10-15 trout. Walked around the park looking for bigger fish but just could not get over the 18 inch mark. Decided to call it a day at 4pm due to all the trout were 15-16 inches on average, and got bored with them. Landed 37 Bows from 12 pm till 4 pm. All in all, good trip.

Flies that caught them today:

My secret fly.(Used 90% of the time)
EHC (from 2pm till 3 pm there was a good hatch and they were taking dry's)
PT's( dropped with a black zebra midge)
BWO's (caught 4 fish on them)
Olive Woolly Bugger ( they wanted the WB stripped fast today, picked up about a dozen on this.)
















Sometimes we catch little ones.....





Good job Andy! Maybe you can get the Wife out there next time!

looks like a great trip!

March 18th: Solo trip: Hit Spillway Creek first. Walked from Lost Creek to the dam and back and only picked up 11 bows. Slow start till about noon and then it started to pick up. San Juan worms worked before noon but they stopped hitting them after awhile. Had a hatch and BWO's and EHC were killer on the dry flies. Hatch stopped and so did the fish on the surface. Switched to my fly and it was game on. Took some good video footage again. And a bunch of fish pics which will be posted Sunday. I lost count on how many people I kicked out of the red zone on fishing bait. The deep hole on lost creek that holds lots of fish had about 30 in it till I walked up on a group with lawn chairs and about 20 trout on a stringer. So there are about 15 left in that hole now ish. Pissed me off.

It was a bit slower than a couple days ago and I left with a total of 73 rainbows 2 blue gill and 4 largemouth bass.

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March 19th:

Met up with my client and headed to the river about 7 am. Got to a hole that you had to make every roll cast count before we hit the bigger fish and made sure they got the feel for fly fishing so they wouldnt break all the bigger ones off... Had to tell her to smile and thats what she gave me. She was tring not to drop them.....lol





Before 9 am, they landed about 15 and then we moved to the Red Zone after I felt they were ready. Spotted a good fish and and She landed the fly perfect and had a great drift, and hooked up!









For the Next 2 hours or so she landed about 10 ish to 17 inches.

----------------------------------

My fish pics from the 2 days:

The GF came up for a couple hours and I told here there were bigger fish in the river than what she was catching, so we went to where the bigger fish were.....



I decided to drop a San Juan worm off of my fly for giggles and we were hooking 2 fish at the same time on one rod. After two break offs and many doubles, I just fished the SJW and they were jumping all over the worm too....

She landed 18 from 1 pm till 4 pm.

I landed about 30 or so. The park was crazy on Saturday and all the fish were spooked out of thier minds.....

30 second Rainbow Trout. During spring break.

I thought Rowlett Creek was bad on elbow to elbow. But I found some over looked places with lots of fish!

Awesome fish! I need to get back up there soon

Carey Thats awesome. Thanks for sharing the video!!

You sure did find some over looked places. I was wondering why on spring break those pictues weren't full of people. Nice and thanks for sharing.

Awesome trip! I love reading your reports

Great Shots! Good Job as always!!!

Its crazy that more of yall dont go up there. 2.5 hrs away from Plano, TX and you are in the mountains. You can use bait in some spots and catch the same sized fish. (6) Rainbows is you limit up there...... I ran into a couple TFF'ers last trip....

several ssl blue zone places that u can catch some monsters on spinning gear, just have to find them.

Is that below Lake Lewisville? I heard they stocked trout there.

do u mean is the lower mountain fork river below lake lewisville, because the answer is no.

Awesome job Carey! Trout are my favorite fish...

Nice trout! May have to grab my fly rod and head up to Broken Bow again...

Met Mr Cline at the river at 7 am and suited up. I asked him how much fly fishing he had done, and he said none. So we started with the basics. He missed about 15-20 fish right off the bat. After about an hour he caught on FAST! I was very impressed and proud of him. 2 hours before the end of the trip, I didnt have to say a word to him. He was doing everything on his own. He landed about 15-20 nice bows and I texted him this morning and he said he already had 15 for the morning! On on his own! Im proud of you Mr Cline.....













I tossed the fly around for about an hour and got 7.

Dan landed 70 on the dot.

Nice. Should have gone...

Told ya.

bass bait!

awesome photos!

super photos!

Oh, I forgot, it's been two weeks since the last report...stocking truck time again

I don't get it CrackerBait? What are you implying?

.

Are you trying to say the only way we can catch fish is by following the stocking truck? That is pretty sad since we were there WEDNESDAY not Thursday. Cracker.

Yesterday: Got to the river at 630AM. My client landed his 1st fish on the 3rd cast. He got about 20-25 Rainbows on the trip.





Nothing huge, all were about the same size. 12-16 inches


Saw this little guy on the trail.

After the trip, I went to check out a hole that I have been thinking about for awhile. Got there at 230 pm and fished till 430pm due to tornado's and hail coming. Forgot my freakin camera in the truck. Im really mad at myself for that one, due to what I caught!

I Caught: 22 Rainbow trout (caught 6 before lunch in the EH)
7 Walleye (broke a couple off, too)
12 Magnum Sand Bass
9 Crappie, all over 11 inches
4 Largemouth to 3 lbs
10+ sunfish of all sorts

Dan also tagged along again and he caught: 62 Trout and a Smallmouth Bass (he took some pics of his fish, so maybe he will post some too...) Every cast before the storms started coming through, we were hooking up!

Sure wuold've liked to seen some good EYES

Sounds like a blast!

seems like you caught dinner, walleye and crappie. thats some good eats right there.

Ill get the walleye again. Im sure no one will fish for them due to where they are.... They are pretty hidden...

River was stained this weekend from the rains. I increased the flies to a size bigger and got them down to the bottom and there they were. These trout below were the average size this weekend with a few bigger ones mixed in.






Brown Trout


(Friday) Hit the water for about 2 hours. Looked around for some big ones, but they were not visable. Got 17 Rainbows from 6 till 8 pm.



19 Incher






I didnt even atempt to fish it today due to we got a huge storm that dumped a ton of water on us. So we came back early.


(My friend who is now addicted to it.)

Warning: Picture heavy.




We knew it might rain and the day might be shortened, but I had the day off from guiding and I wanted to fish. I got to Broken Bow at 7 AM and started fishing. All I can say is, WOW. The fishing was fantastic. I pretty much talked to every fly fisherman due to there were only less than 10ish out there. Almost every one of them was from Dallas and knew about the forums. I tied up a lot of flies and shared my "Secret Fly" with everyone and handed out a bunch for them to try out. Saw them immediately hook up after they tied them on! Sweet! And, it was nice to meet y'all! There were tons of big fish this trip. 90% of the trout were 17-22 inches average. Water was still a bit stained but it didn't matter a bit. The fish were hungry.


Brown Trout


Smallmouth


Largemouth


Rainbow Trout

The first cast in the Cold Hole/Meat Hole produced a break off. Retied and the next cast produced a 19 inch Rainbow Trout. A buddy came over and told me to look up. I looked up and there was a deer feeding across the creek from me. I must have landed 10 fish before he said that. I just goes to show you, look up every once and a while and take in the scenery! So, this trip I did.





I stayed in that area due to the fish were bitting like crazy and they all were big. After that dwindled down, I started to move around the river to my favorite holes and took lots of pics and caught lots of fish! Lost Creek had a bunch but not like usual. Most were at the beginning of the creek. Evening Hole was also good fishing at the upper end. I really never used anything other than "My Fly". I ran into an old client from a few weeks ago and he said he hooked a giant a week ago in lost creek that was about 7-8 lbs he says. He fought it for 10 mins before the hook actually bent out. Shame right there....Gave him a dozen flies and he ran away to fish his spots.

Way different than the Texas version Cicada's.










(See you next week Mr Fishy)

(See you next week too!)

(hmmmm, I wonder what the trout really eat)



Later in the afternoon, my eyes and ears texted me that a major storm was coming, so we packed it up and hit one more stretch of river to finish the day. Caught a bunch of Blue Gills, 3 Trout, 7 Smallmouth, 1 Largemouth, and I fought a 3-4 lb Smallmouth on 2 lb line for about 15 mins till the hook pulled out. Ill be back for here later this week.





Ended the trip at 5pm and went back to Dallas in the rain storms....

Totals on my end:

87 Rainbow Trout
3 Baby Brown Trout
3 Smallmouth Bass
2 Largemouth Bass
1 Crawdad

Im guessing this stretch of River holds trout year round? How much do you charge to guide out there? Im a total noob when it comes to fly fishing so Im certain ill need help! Awesome pics too!

Same for all bank fishing and personal pontoon trips, $150 for 5-6 hours of fishing. Good for 1 or 2 people ($75 each additional persons after two people.) Catch fish and have fun, or dont pay!

Total cost on the trip up there for 13 hours of daylight on my end: $84.00 gas and lunch.

Split that with someone and your catching trout for $40 a person in the mountains. Leave at 5 AM and start fishing at 730am. There is always somewhere to go where there are no other people around. You can harvest 6 rainbow trout from the blue zones. Red zones are frowned apon to harvest fish from there. Red zones also have thier own regulations......

6 big 18 inch average rainbow trout is a good 2-3 dinners.

Started the day off by picking up my client Katie at her hotel. We hit the river at 630 am or so and we went over the basics on roll casting first, before we went into the woods. 4th cast produced a 13 inch trout for her fist ever fly-fishing experience! She was all smiles from that point on.



Flipped some rocks and showed her what the trout were eating and what my flies represent. Put my fly next to the organisms the trout were eating and it was almost a perfect match. -That's always a plus.





Katie caught on really quick and throughout the whole day, she only lost 5 flies to tree bass or rock grouper. Only one fish broke her off the whole day with 2 lb tippit. I was very impressed with that. I usually go through at least 10-15 flies to the trees and logs......



Anyways, almost every cast produced a bite or a fish. She came to me as a bank fisherman in FTW at ponds for whatever bit. The only problem she had was learning that if the indicator moved, twitched, or stopped, and she didnt do it, "Set the hook!" A lot of times people think it has to go under like fishing with the traditional bobbers. Towards the end of the trip, she didnt miss much anymore.



We agreed on the 50th fish, we would break for lunch and go hit Zone 3 for different kinds of fish. As we said that, we heard the horn sound for generation, Dang it....... So that went out the window.


Casting like a pro!!!!





It took her 27 mins to land the fish. The big trout would just not come up off the bottom. Up and down the pocket she went. Finally we get her in. A whopper @ 22 inches.




We left the area to go back into town with her smiling the whole way. Stopped by Poblanos to eat some Mexican Food. Yumm. Then we went to Zone three so I could show it to her at least. Then we went back to the main river in the park. We sat on the tail gate and I walked her through how to tie a fly. She tied a perfect fly and I sent her down to the river by herself to see if she could do it all on her own. She did. On her 10th cast or so, she hook up on another nice fish, but this one broke off her fly she just tied. That was the first disappointed face I saw all day. Then, the sky started to fall like cats and dogs. Trip ended.

Total Trout Katie Landed: 54

Super teachers make great students/veterans. What a super trout! Congrats Katie, results of focusing on what the trainer provides.

Outstanding ..Katie and Tarponfly.
You may just get me to use a "Bank" Guide yet.

what part of the river did you get those small mouth.
i did not know small mouth whare in that river.

I have caught them in every part of the river now.

are you getting them on those green fly's

Looks like fun Better get my Oklahoma tag

KATIE is Cute Where did ya find her at

Very nice, never been there but I guess now it is one of my place to go.

Thanks for these awesome pics and informative stories Carey. They are always a pleasure and even inspiring. If you have any openings for a June trip then I'm ready to head north when you are. #817-690-8081. I'll try you after the weekend is up.

made it up to the river yesterday and did pretty good with many different species landed. i believe the total was 3 walleye, 2 smallies, tons of perch, lost count on the trout, 3 drum, 5 crappie, and 2 magnum sandbass. srry, no pics from this trip....

Yes, they are on my green flies I tie. Located in my store on my website.

I'll give you a ring tomorrow when I get off the lake.

Craigslist!

Hit the water at 6am and had my client follow me from Dallas so he could see the quicker way there. I think the 3rd cast he landed his first Rainbow Trout on a fly rod. Also, his 1st time using a fly rod to add. Fish were scattered all up and down the river and were feeding on my fly the whole day. Great time on the water and nice not having to use waders. River was not pressured a lot of anglers but up in spillway creek it was packed. Water was very pretty with little kids and adults swimming in Lost Creek and people standing on the fish in the EH. Greatness. But, with them stirring up the creek, the fish started to feed a bit more I noticed. I guess it's the same as people shuffling their feet to stir up the bugs and start a chum line. I still don't really have to get in the water to fish the river, unless I need to cross it at some point. 95% of the time, no no deeper than shin deep if I am in the water at all. Saw a 6 point buck in the park on the way back from lunch. Other than that, it was fun. Biggest fish was a bit over 20 inches. Most averaged 13-14 inches. Probably landed 10-15 over 17 inches. In-between trips I threw the fly around searching for a keeper walleye. After three trips, I finally caught her. Just over 18 inches long. All fish released.

Clients talley:

Mart- 15-16 trout
Robert- 12-13
Mike- 27
Marcus- 37 rainbow trout, 1 brown trout, 5-10 sunfish to 10 inches, 1 crappie
Yours truly- 20+ rainbows, 1 walleye, 3 crappie, 20+ sunfish to 10 inches

Looks like a fun trip, we are going at the end of July-first of August, taking a long weekend, gonna try for a keeper walleye myself. Last trip caught one 16 inches, hope my luck gets better.

We reeked some peaceful havoc on those fish. There was an occasional curse word followed by frustrated laughter after so many missed fish by yours truly. I had as many misses as catches while this voice from above kept demanding better focus and results. (Reminded me of my drill sergeant minus the hat and rank.) But in the end we had positive results and a bunch of fish + great weather, good company, and more fish. Broken Bow was just what I needed (wanted), and I recommend it to anyone looking for an escape from DFW. Carey is a true teacher and Pro and I look forward to future outings with this die hard fisherman. I also gotta give a shout out to Baffin Bay. Thanks for the laughs.

Forgot about mentioning BaffinBay aka Mike went with me on this trip. I gave him my sss fly and sent him on his own and he did above average. And remember guys and gals, u can use ur sandbass gear ( 4 lb line and medium action rod ) and catch these. U will prob catch more on conventional gear than a fly rod. I guide both fly rod and spinning gear up there. 2.5 hrs from Dallas and ur in the mountains in 50 degree water right now. Feels great!

Your welcome Marcus. I had a good time as well.

Mart, PM me and I'll give you the number.

great pics guys taking the canoe headed to beavers bend this weekend for an extended cabin stay cant wait to hit the river

Water is great. Smallies are around the boulders in zone three. Need a conoe or yak to get to them. So u should do good on them, along with the trout. Saw a school of big sandies go by me there too.

Hooked up within 10 mins of starting the trip. Fred had never fly fished in his life. Hes hooked now! over 80 fish landed from 6 am till 6 pm. All of them were big with only about 5 or so being under 14 inches. My "fly" strikes again. Other clients and people who ordered my fly are sending me pics of huge fish and lots of fish they are catching on it..... Water feels great up there during the heat of the day. The bite is best from 5:30-10am. There is a Hex Hatch going on up there in the wee hours of the day. A Hex is a Mayfly on steriods. A very big bug. The bite is good at night for the hatch with trout eating them through the wee morning hours.
The deer were out this trip with thier little babies. Looked like the little guys were only 2-3 weeks old or so. We saw more deer this trip than in 2 years. 18 total including the little ones. Very pretty with all the spots on them.












Same fish






Met about 10 people from TFF at the river! Nice to meet you guys finally. And great job Fred!

HOLY $hizzal Bop Bam Bizzal TarponMan. Those trout are HUGE! Those might as well came from Colorado or further north. Keep posting pics like that and every fly fisherman and want to be (me) will skip work and be up there tomorrow. Excellent Job Fred/Gentlemen!

Great job Carey!

Nice.

How much is it for an Oklahoma fishing license to go up and catch these?

$35 for a 6 day non-resident
$55 for a full year expiring December 31st

Turn your damn phone on.

My phone is on! I have no missed calls from u Mike? I have a text, but I answered you!

Lost Creek it stocked full of fish right now. Almost all the pockets have 20 or so monsters in it.... Probably about 3-400 fish in it right now.



Kids kept me busy with all the tree bass and rock grouper. So, I was re rigging and tying most of the time. Not a lot of pics due to that. Kids had fun and now are fly fisherman. After the trip they went to buy some fly rods and get back on the action.



Upper portion of Spillway Creek was great in the AM. The kids caught lot of fish caught up there. On the first cast as we got to the river, one of the little guys got a nice 22 inch Rainbow! After that it was a fish every five or ten mins if they stayed out of the trees. Hit lost creek to see if we could get a bigger one, but the biggest was 19 inches.



They also got three small browns, one was in the Cold Hole, that is now in Lost Creek! Saved it's life for a day. With the cloud cover, some of it, the fish were biting most of the day. We were fishing only in areas that had shade on the water. The trout would stack up in shaded pools and move with the shade.

Left the river at noon to eat lunch and went to spent a couple hours on the water and got a little over 30 trout or so from Spillway to EH. Lots of sunfish and some Largemouth in the stag water next to the EH. One Bass is about 3 lbs near the narley tree. As soon sat it saw me it bolted. Lots of babies in there.














[IMG]http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u201/tarponfly/Mobile%20Uploads/a807d310.jpg[/IMG

i was up there on saturday as well, i caught quite a few trout, and my dad did very well

Fish are biting.



Well, due to the coldt, we decided not to fish for crappie and just go fly fishing again. Howard went last year and had a ball, so off we went. Left Plano, TX at 5 am and got to the river at 730am. Fish were deep in the morning and Near Deers were landing a lot of fish in the deeper pockets. At about 9am, a really great hatch started.



The Blue Wingged Olives were everywhere. At any given moment, you could grab one out of the air. My dry fly BWO was one size to big and they, the trout, ignored it, except for 2 curious little guys.



After a lot of lookers and no takers, I went to the truck and tied up some BWO dry flies in the right size, as well as some grey RS2's size #22.




After tying up some flies for 15-20 mins, we hit the river again. A lot of times we would lose site of our dry flys, due to all the hatching ones. The hatch stopped at about 2 pm, so we used the RS2's and finished the day at 4 pm. Home by 645pm.



Caught more Browns on drys than Rainbows.



There are some gigantic fish in there right now. Biggest I have seen in a long time there..... Hooked one over 25 inches easy. One of the old timers walking by said he thinks its at least 27-28, in the rapids at the EH. He shook the barbless hook right out. The next day I found the exact fish, big white spot on tail, in the rapid at the end of LC. He was chasing all the fish around and not to fond of eating anything.



From the upper end of the EH all the way to the rd at Cold Hole, are huge fish swimming around. We found holding fish in the craziest spots. Places people almost step over cutting thrugh the creek. A lot of the monsters have thier nose in a bush or they have to much structure around them to drift a fly to them. Bait fishers wont be able to get to them if they dont move out of the spots. I think a couple of them might be on beds, cant see the whole fish to be able to tell. But they all stayed in the same spot all day and never moved.



I go back up there tonight again.... Friday thru Saturday.

New report up on Sundayish. Remember, this is only 2.5 hours from Dallas. The heck with the little stocker they put in the creek. Drive a little bit and ur in the Mountains!

Fly rods or spinning gear will land you a limit (6) no problem. Do the same thing you do here in the ponds, and you will get them there too.... plus they are way bigger than the fish sticks they stock in our metro ponds here in Dallas......

I got a naive question here as I never fished trout before: why do people all use fly fishing rod instead of spinning rod in the pictures? Is fly fishing more effective for trout?

If you had salmon eggs, you would catch your fair share. If the fish are not shut down due to a front or somthing, Ill outfish bait and spinning tackle 10-1. If they are shut down, only bait will work, mainly, but Ill still throw the fly till my arm falls off..... Problem with bait, is all you do is snag. Spining gear and my fly I tie (designed for this river (a re-make of Dans) are the way to go. I dont care who you are, anyone can catch these. Guys I had out today and yesterday knew basicly nothing. The all caught fish and went out on thier own and caught fish after. The fish are like the sandbass run, they are everywhere. And no one will invade your space there ( thats reason enough to go )

So to answer the question, thats what most people perfer to do when catch trout. Just like your Large Mouth Bass, 95% people use lures for them and not bait. Fish however you want. And I also will guide with spinning tackle/bait if ness.

Thanks a lot for the detailed explanation.

Thats some nice trout Tarponfly.You are so right about the little fingerlings they stock around here. Not sure why they even bother.The drive up there is so easy.If you get up early and leave out you are just about finished with your second cup of coffee and your sausage and egg biscuit when you get there.

Hey Carey, I dont know if you remember me and my son Jaydon. You took us Lake Levon in the Spring on a trip for Sandbass. Trip of a life time! But me and Jaydon hit up the ponds in Dallas area for trout all the time. But I wanted to take him to Broken Bow for my Birthday. Is it a good time to go next weekend, think they will be easy to catch. I dont have a fly rod, what spinners and bait should I use and where is best place to go. Any help would be appreciated. I cant wait to book a trip with you in the Spring for the Sandies and Hybrids-Thanks Chris

1/8 white, silver, chart colors work best. Pay attention to what Zone you are in. Red Zone is catch and release and barbless hooks only, no bait. Please don't go into red zones with treble hooks, you will severely injure the fish and will end up dying. , Blue Zone is 6 rainbows of any size, release the browns, they have to be over 20 inches.

Today:

I left at 530 am, got to the river 745am, Dan lands a pretty Brown Trout before 8 am. (Over 100 fish landed today to 18 inches. Out of around 100 fish, Dan landed 67 of them). Off the water at 545pm. Stopped at Mexican food restaurant at 630 pm. Leave Downtown Broken Bow @ 715pm, home at 930pm.

Saw four other anglers the whole day while the fish jumped on our hooks..... While in the mountains.....

45 second hook up video below: It was right before dark.

Welcome to Broken Bow.

Nice!!!

Hey Carey, I live in Plano, too and have fished Beaver's Bend several times. I don't recall being able to go door to river in 2.5 hours. What route do you take?

They increased the MPH to 70 mph the whole way now. Now cruise control is at 75 the whole way. Even if I went 70 id still get here in 2.5 hours.

North on 75
East on 121 to Bonham
East on 82 to Paris
North on 271 to Hugo

Now the short cuts:

East on 109 to Frogsville
East on 70 to Idebel
North on 98
East on 3

Dumps you right out in the middle of Downtown Broken Bow. Takes one tank of gas to get there and back. I never touch a gas station till I get back from there. Ill still have about a 1/4 tank of gas when i get home.

How would you target walleyes on the river? Never been but have heard that they are quite a few there.

Below each spillway there are small mouth, trout, sadbass, all kinds of sunfish. Clousers in white/chart. Spoons, spinners, minnows.

If u need help with walleye, shoot me a pm

Mart caught a pickerel last week there.....

Nice fish and picture, as colorful as a rainbow

15-16 inches

22 inches

Carey, what does the out of state license cost now and is an additional trout stamp needed?

stamp is included now. $55 from january 1st till dec 31.