Newbie Fly

XP ... Great insiprational writing I am sure it conjures up great memories and possibly regrets for father/ son relationships for all who read it. Knowing your dad he is an inspiration for me ...to have that vigor and to be as active as he is at his age is remarkable. Something that never leaves me about your Dad ( besides the fly rod he built me )is when fishing with him is after that sound of """fhitttt """""of a hookset He always goes !!!Hey Hey Hey!!!!!

So down stream from the handiocap bridge is closed during C&R ,, There were several other folks there and I m sure we saw the park ranger driveby a few times . I surely wouldn't have been there had I known Thx for the heads up .. One of the guys I was with has been going there for 20 years What in the world was he thinking... Ohh he wasn't

Fished Sunday very nice to be at Mountauk during the winter. Much quicker to go from hole to hole without all the campers and feelling like your intruding on thier space. We fished from the handicap hole down. Hard to see the fish with the sky and mist, but all did pretty well and all using different tactics. One buddy was using a white thread jig (ala BBSP) Another peach glo bugs. I had a estaz egg peachy pink with a little hare's ear of the jbend , we also has one of our spinner friends with us and he used yellow and black marabou jig. All of us probably caught 20 or fish ... Mostly stockers but like I said hard to spot them..... Afternoon a hatch went off white gnat looking things not sure what they were. My one buddy tied on cream midge dry.. I went to light cahill wet fly and swinging them ' and for about an hour we were the only one's picking up fish.. 2:30 on went to the Current I swung and stripped an egg sucking sclupin and picked up 2 fish on the 3 first 3 casts. Same sort of hatch happend there late in the afternoon white /tanish I am not much of dry file guy and surely not sure of the hatches at the Current . I put on a big white wluff and dropped a crystal midge below in the film or just under and managed to pick off fish here and there.......... I am sure one of the veteran Current fishers could tell us

Exactly what I am going to do the video decided it for me!!! I debated a long ride to Taney, Generation doesn't look good I love the Current this time of year but the BSSP wins with the brotherhood talk Besides Ilove the C&R season mostly cold and crisp and just a few folks.... the fish seem to behave more like fish when all the people aren't around .. start day in the niangua swingin and stripping, got to the park for all mid day and go back to the niangua till dark To bad the wife won't see me tomorrow for any daylight hours

Well if it's your first time folks should probably also mention using Bennet "junk" thread jigs , the yellow and black marabou jig, the big ugly brassies in all sorts of flourescent colors, the john deere and the big cheeseballs or egg patterns if you prefer. I myself when there like to fish beadhead scuds with a tiny midge/ harvester below it. If you go out of the park on the Niangua I agree with the two words stated before Wolley Bugger

12 to 14 hrs for Michigan.... That is my getaway area from Mid mo I do short 3 and 4 day trips a couple times a year even if its not the Hex HATCH the hatches in general in Michigan are overwhelming, to what we see..... Plenty of famous fabled rivers to fish and miles and miles of fishable waters (Manistee, Pere Marquette, Muskegon, Betsie Going in April for an quick early spawn steelhead and trout trip Then back again for a summer brown and rainbow trip The fall / early winter trip is only for the hardy due to weather but it is something up there when the big steelhead are running ....Just crazy trying to land those agressive monsters . Started liking it more then the trek to Colorado Even though Colorado has beautiful landscape Not being the most accomplished techincal fly fisher. Sometimes the need there is using 24-26's and making sure of a perfect dragless drifts in order to attract the sometimes wary trout I would at times get frustrated

3 spots I hit outside the park 1 are just across the bridge make a right park about 1/4 mile down some good water there.... 2.The access by NRO 3. The Barclay Access

I was at Taney Sunday and while it was not quite as bad as that fellows experience I guess one should expect a bit of crowding at the Rebar hole as its productive and folks without experience can catch fish there and not have any luck anywhere else But one thing we did experience was the migration crowding to a spot me an my buddy were fishing and more than once. Below the #2 outlet in this one spot in the deeper middle at the start of one run/hole there are these three rocks aligned in this weird pattern that when I can see it like to fish it . Well I start fishing it, no one close by, I pick up some fish The wind stopped enough for a bit so i could see it was still holding fish . Well I see this bigger fish and try targeting just him. Not the greatest I am struggling to get the right drift in the right spot . So I call my buddy over much more accomplished than me and he fishes from the other side of hole as he can put his cast where it needs to be, facing me as the sun glare was blocking his sight line and I am spotting for him Well we cant get him to take, but we are constantly picking up fish Before you know it we each have someone above us and below us and he even has a foot shuffler behind him . Well like I said not the most accomplished I fouled up my double rig and need a retie and wouldn't you know it the guy below my moves even closer to me and once his fly line got caught up on my rod tip tucked under my arm during the retie I just bit my tongue but he says "well your not fishing right now" My buddy says to me don' t let any of these fools see what fly your using as they are undeserving. We got fed up and decided during the middle of day let's just get in the car and go futher downstream for solitude instead of fish numbers Well late afternoon we come back its starting to twlight there's some splishin and splash... time to try some other things So my buddy starts swinging soft hackles and having some success mostly at the end during the dangle.... So I set up about maybe 10-15 yards below the dangle and start swingin buggers and little leechs. Wouldn't u know it walking along the shore here he comes with his buddy He says to his buddy " look I have been watching, they are catching fish, lets fish here!!!!! UGHHHH!!!!!! Maybe that is what they think , sight fishing means!?!#!@#!

Well I am going Friday with a friend and we are taking his daughter for her first time in waders and using the flyrod she got for Christmas. so if you see a couple of guys up in a tree trying to untangle a fly HELP!!!! Anyway I heard the same about midges doing well.. I doubled rigged with a beadhead and a midge below last time and did okay... Suprisingly enough the yellow and balck marabou jigs were catchin last time...... You can count on me trying everything, fishin most places ,,,,, but late in the afternoon I will be at the bridge between Zone 2 and 3 castin upstream dead driftin scuds near the bank Never fails at least for me

I too, last summer caught a few walleye on the Niangua but nothing of the sizes mentioned (2 to 10lbs?) I could only measure than in inches I would love to see a picture of 10lb walleye from the Niangua as thats trophy size even for Quebec lake!!!!

All in all a great day, Of course the monmental slab Feltracer got!!!! here is a sampling of the other fish which on any other given day would have been awesome fish for a day at Montauk

Managed to

I was with him and he sure was grinning ear to ear I snapped this photo of him

Curious what has the water been like outside the park lately? I am thinking of heading down this Saturday, My last time down it was low and crystal clear and you couldn't get any action unless you went to at least 7x.. Good to hear what the likely patterns for action are. I love scuddin!!!, so I'll likely be found, fishing the tree debris and banks If no luck I usually do the same as most, have said egg/nymphin/midgin the pools ... I agree with the flash type nymphs that were mentioned and as its the new hot fad fly try the " psycho prince " Should do okay at Montauk - color of the eggs that are successful and the flash of the nymph's that are successful

What about "gut flats" just below the bridge , on the other bank across from the hole at least that what it looks like during the season. You know trout darting around like crazy with big white bloody streamers of entrails of their brothers and sisters hanging out of their mouths. Trout that could care less for anything that resembles a natural food source I wish they would put a few Fish "gut" stations in ,and not let folks gut the fish in the water. Truely you have to match the food source and not the hatch. Its amazing, the white thread jig, and those darn huge red and orange flourscent brassies outfish every other fly combined in Zone 2 during the year because of it. Combine that with the IFP ( hatchery fly ) and the folks who fish the outlet down further Probably account for a good 70% of the catch in Zone 2. IFP= imitation food pellet So our conversations go like this in the afternoon , Hey guys want to move and fish elsewhere.? Response, Yeah I guess so, which Bennet junk "should we go with "? So we now have this routine during the season 1. Start day, out of the park, on the Niangua swinging woolies and hackles 2. go to park - work some areas in Zone 1 3. finish off the day Gut fishing with Bennet junk somewhere below the bridge Now that its catch and release its a nice change to go to those areas and fish some other things and land fish We were there the warm weekend two weeks ago or so and did pretty good with driftin midges , swingin yellow and black marabou jigs and upstream casts against the banks with olive scuds. adn justfor good measure throw in some some high stickin with the white thread jig and I think we all had 2 or 3 dozen fish..........

Still have alot to learn about trout fishing,,,,, But working in a highly regulated industry, being married to a lawyer, having been a ref and an umpire for years rules are what I do know ...... The definitions from the Wildlife code that gentlemen quoted are really old and not current, there have been many revisions to it since '99. The MDC Summary of the Wildlife Code is correct with current Wildlife Code ...... I listed those defintions below Chamois, leather, foam, rubber, hard plastic translucent beads are all good. I guess someone will pipe in now and say those little thingambobbers they are making small and calling unibobbers and putting on the back of dry flies are soft plastic as they are squishy and they are not allowed Now with everything written down trying to be clear as possible there is always "word play" Now if an old timer MDC agt wants to be a stickler he possibly could extrapoliate the definition and say that a "hopper dropper rig "is not a fly because its not a single point hook. As Catch and release is fly only if one wanted to interpet the publication "Trout Fishing Regulations at Bennett Springs Park" one could argue as a sentence states in the winter catch and release section "Only flies are permitted during the winter catch and release season. " So I guess one could argue its says "flies " not fly Some other interseting curiosities: Trout fishing is permitted in Missouri in accordance with the wildlife code and posted restrictions.......... So at anytime MDC could change, well not change/ but add to the code by posting a restriction for day/ or for a season /or whatever. It always pays to just look at the bulletin board every once in ahwhile just to make sure something nothing has changed One needs to remember that in Missouri that the Wildlife code is a permissive code. So when reading/ applying you need to take that into account. A permissive code doesn't include long lists of things prohibited or say what you can't do, it speaks to what is allowed or waht is permitted. So enforcement activity around it is different You won't usually here from authorites that" you can't do this or you can't do that, as thats prohibited" You will hear you did this and you did that, and thats not permitted. Trout definitons Fly an artificial lure constructed on a single point hook, using any material except soft plastic bait and natural and scented baits as defined below, that is tied, glued or otherwise permanently attached. Artificial Lure a lure constructed of any material excluding soft plastic bait and natural and scented bait as defined below. Soft Plastic Bait synthetic eggs, synthetic worms, synthetic grubs and soft plastic lures. Natural and Scented Baits a natural fish food such as bait fish, crayfish, frogs permitted as bait, grubs, insects, larvae, worms, salmon eggs, cheese, corn and other food substances not containing any ingredient to stupefy, injure or kill fish. This does not include flies or artificial lures. It does include dough bait, putty or paste-type bait, any substance designed to attract fish by taste or smell and any fly, lure or bait containing or used with such substances.

It is a trout park next to a hatchery so how much of " natural setting can you expect there to be" Everytime we go to Bennett we always go and start the day on the Niangua so we can get a natural setting feeling, either go down to Barclay or just out of the park and fish those rifflles you can see to the right when going over the bridge. Catching a few fish there will usually make my day no matter what happens in the park The Urban Trout program is great thing and should continue as it assists in sustaining/ growing the sport which in turn brings people to the trout parks. In Columbia, same thing the MDC purchased the fish for the program this year. Hear approx 1.40 for a fish with the transportation done by them . Total cost of progam was like 5200( half by them and half by the community) for about 2200 to 2500 fish from what were are told. So that amount really doesn't take away from the hatcheries or the parks for a one time deal. During the trout park season they probably release 2 to 3 times that amount each week in to the parks. Plus it offers fishing for 4 months for folks who other wise wouldn't. Seems when I 'm over there people come up and ask about fly fishing and how its done, that how I started fly fishing. If more people fly fished, the premium rods wouldn't cost 600 -700 . Maybe then we could save money for a trip to the Battenkill, the Fryingpan/ Roaring Fork / Crystal, or the McCloud and truely get a natural setting

Trout smell really well and take in water though the nare into a closed nasal sac . There has been some receent research that they really get turned off by an amino acid L-serine. Bears seem to release large amounts . Never was a big deal for humans unless they urinated in the water but ...... the cosmetic industry and weight loss industry picked up on this stuff ( it helps in fat metabolism and brain funtions )so they add it to alot of moisturizers and suncreen these days and its in weight loss heathy living/ food supplements

The good used /online bookstores out here should be able to find one of the the original hardcovers if your looking for that . Otherwise the reprint that they did in the eighties is available in paperback and hardcover in many places If you got to Alibris.com and do a search by author it will bring up some of his books and a listing of bookstores that have it and a fair description of condition if you want the original printing (1950 ) If not Here are some ebay links for the reprints http://cgi.ebay.com/Flies-J-Edson-Leonard-Hardcover-1989-/341823437079?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4f9643b917 http://cgi.ebay.com/Flies-J-Edson-Leonard-Hardcover-1989-/341823437017?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4f9643b8d9

Sunday morning spent the early morning in Zone 3 caught about 1/2 dozen on the the "bennett white thread jig" then spent about 40 minutes trying to coax a big bow onto my line who was sitting in a pool. Threw everything I had at him. Midges, nymphs , scuds sow bugs, striped wooley buggers nothing he once moved his head and that was towards a "glow ball" . Moved on, the water seemd real low between the two bridges so I went to the Roach Hole just above the bridge of zone 2/3 . Upstream casts, dead drifted an olive scud near the bank and managed about 18- 20 fish, nothing of size . Nice day, overall real warm but at times real windy making it for me an exercise in retying. I being inexperenced had tippet tangles and leader issues around my indicator about once every hour or so.........

Understand , I did mean weed beds though. I agree with the sportsman comment growing up saltwater fishing on the East Coast I saw the striper fishing be decimated and comeback due to conservation regs for 20 years ........ We used to shake heads when doing catch and release when yellowfin tuna fishing

Yeah, I had a feeling the purists would give me guff about the bass comment. Oh well, maybe I shouldn't use an indicator either or be like the English only cast upstream with a dryfly to a rising fish. Fishin is fishing and if you can coax'em on a fly that's even better. I look at it as I am broadiing my horizons in the fishing world. However, I kind of like the trout fishin traditions and the whole art form mystique about it. I do think life is too short just to fly fish for trout. Coaxing a permit or bonefish on the flats with a fly rod is every bit as challenging as trying to hook a spooky brownie or rainbow The action at Bethel has been really good , sort of spoils you, as they surely do not act like trout in a stream. There are kids throwin rocks in the lake, dogs jumpin around ,spin casters throwin jigs and you can still catch 4- 5 or more an hour. Off to Bennett Sunday any ideas on what to go with ? I was thinkin Scuds and midges

I too am new to the fly. I have a Lamson Konic had no issues at all, for the money its great.. Same drag they use on all thier reels. Even though its cast they do machine the spool afterwards.... For a little more you can get the Guru which is their entry to fully machined reels I heard mention of Galvan ,( bit pricey)another great reel and I can tell you a great family run company I used to live near their shop when in California and they are good people and make a great reel. All my bigger stuff for saltwater is Galvan they can take a beating Most everyone told me the reel doesn't matter much its justa place to store your line, spend it on the rod!!! Yeah go and strip wooley buggers during the night at Taney during October and you will find out real fast the importance of a drag you can count on. I 've had brownies take off like a bonefish on the flats !!!! Even with 4x I had to get him on the reel and let him run The Konic held up

saw this post and we both have the same quote!!!! Anyway I fish the Lick Conservation Area if that is what you mean (about 10 miles north of Columbia) Good little lake for bass mostly slot sized bass . Can run into 3 -3 1/2 lbs though. Definetely can get a boat load in the spring /early summer. Usually can have to yourself or may be just a few others. I take my little inflatable with a trolling motor. Sort of rough to shore fish (overgrown) Crankbaits early worms in the blues/ pumpkins during mid day is what works for me