East Tide

Not the trophy from this weekend You gentlemen don't talk much so here are some conversation starters... This is my trophy from this weekend, 20+ inches measured on my rod. My friends split about an hr earlier so I don't have any decent pics...Took me downstream about 35 yards to get it to shore. My biggest on the fly rod so far (only been fly fishing since August). The last pic is one that I thought looked quite a bit different than most of the rainbows I've caught thus far, pretty fish. Snow day in Missouri? Stay warm and dry.

Great day of dry fly sight fishing yesterday. 22-24 bwo's and caddis did the trick. caught a few in deeper holes dead drifting an olive woolie. had a couple fish attack a hopper but none landed on that. all in all 10 fish caught, one trophy sized wild rainbow, mostly 10-14 inch wild browns. lots of sight fishing which was fun. dave

Hey Brian, We went down to the North Fork Rec area for a mountain biking trip. Our float/ fishing day was last Wed- cold rain all day. We still tried to fish but about an hr into the float it was nearly impossible with the gusting winds and frozen hands. After warming up a little at ROLF I fished out on those rifles and hooked up a couple times with a egg sucking leech but it was too cold and I could only handle another hr. I did went to the current again on Wed and did much better- I ended up with 4 fish and lost one really nice fish that jumped three times and then ran at me.. too much slack, game over. I ended up with a couple on a tan caddis, olive wooly and grey sow bug...Nice nice day out there! We fished below tan vat.

Thanks for the reply Sam. I haven't fished in any of the parks because paying to catch fish isn't really my style but I understand what you mean. I usually wear darker earthtones and am fairly quiet. i think my biggest problem is i'm used to fishing for striped bass in Massachusetts where you fish into fast moving water, and use the current to impart action on your lure instead of nymphing here where you fish across the water and attempt to dead drift it...I'm learning slowly.. We are headed down to the North Fork for 4 days this week so hopefully I'll learn a little more. Dave

Nope, that wasn't me. I saw a couple other guys fishing but no other couples. 20 fish? Nice. Guess I've got some learning to do...

Hey Sam, judging by the pic I was the guy fishing above and below you a bit on Sun. Just out of curiousity, how many other fish did your client get? I only managed one rainbow, not as nice as that one, and tried everything (but softhackles!). Nice fish, Dave

couple notes from the trip... got down there late and discovered the campsite, it was an epic journey in my old non-quattro audi, but we made it and met some other guys from stl that had a nice setup next to the river and a huge fire. they kept mentioning nearby places you could setup "if you had a 4x4." next time i'm going to get there in daylight and clean up a site. you may never see me again. we headed back up to camp in the park. we were able to chose ANY non-electric site we wanted. a little leg of lamb roasted over the fire, the girls had some vino and i had some rum and beer, girls made me smores, then it started raining. we woke up pretty dry but our friend with the msr ultralight tent and her dog woke up soaked. i had done pretty well getting the two 30 something chicks into the woods with me but motivating them in the morning was tough, especially because it was so raw. the fish were rising behind our site. i only made a couple illegal casts before my conscience-sp? took over. the girls new 8.5 5wt winston joan wulff favorite cast like a dream. we headed out of the park and found some decent water, that was already being fished...30 mins later i had a nice 14" rainbow on a sow bug.... the girl lost feeling in her feet and hands and went back to hang by the fire with her friend. girless i spent the next 3 hrs, fishless as well... i did find a bunch of nice water from the park to just below tat van and a big dead doe up on the shore... i saw some nice fish... i'm learning. still no trout for the girl though. more later

Hi there. I just found this website today while searching for camping areas around the Current River. I usually fish the Suicide and Cardiac at the Meramec because of how close it is to St Louis, I've only fished the Current once. I'm heading down with my girlfriend and another couple tonight to fish tomorrow. I camped at Montauk and fished from Baptist downstream about a mile and was wondering if anyone has fished around the Parkers Ford campsite?? We like more primitive camping but I had been planning on trying the water below Tan Vat? It's tought to leave St Louis since they are stocking the lakes in Forest Park this week Anyways, This site is great!!! I'll post some reports soon! My girlfriend has yet to catch a trout on the fly rod so hopefully this will be the weekend, she's caught EVERYTHING but!! SHe has a new wand though so we'll see!!! Regards, East Tide