bkbying89

I don't know how many of you fish the fly fishing only section at Montauk. It is a mess, The rest of the park looked good. Fish were running small but eager to bite.

I was at Montauk and Tan Vat this morning. There were very big changes in the fly fishing section. Like fishable water was scarce for the average angler. Some stretches were definitely scoured and deeper. With the water levels 2.50 some of the favorite stretches were just unfishable the access points even as bad as they were have been washed away. I mean gone like some giant just cut them away. Stream levels will have to drop considerably before these areas are going to be wadeable. I believe the park workers are working on improving access. At Tan Vat, I did not see the gravel bar mentioned above but It may have been moved by the park service. If it had been washed away there was no sign of it. I went upstream from the Vat and the fish were active. Mostly small with a few stocker size and I had one Break me off when I pressured it too much. In fact, the fishing was easy. All those small fish were eager to bite almost anything. Bill

Our hummers showed early and we have more that usual for this time of year. By midsummer, I think I'll be struggling to keep them fed.

This is good news for fishermen and the business' that depend on tourism for their livelihoods.

I called and talked to Shane Barks. He informed me that the state has cut funding for many of these sites. The only way to possibly prevent the closings is to call your Missouri state congressmen and ask them to restore funding. After the recent flooding, there may be a chance. OR, you could fund the site yourself. I think the cost is in the upper i4,000.00 area per site.

You probably interrupted his bath. birds sometimes get down fine dirt and dust themselves as a form of insect control. I guess mites don't like the dust.

Great report. It is good to see a report on the LP and that it is fishing well. That is one fine rainbow. Congrats. Bill

I knew it was a stamp but back then I fished for Smallmouth and hunted ducks. I bought the trout stamp as a donation but not for fishing. Those stamps were beautiful. I wish they still had those.

Blue Spring Creek looks good, I saw a lot of changes in the creek with some new and maybe good changes. the biggest change was up near the falls (Matt, your tree is still there along with a new fly.). Fishing was good though I had thought the rain we received would have stained the water more. the hot fly was the San Juan worm. There are some really good looking lunker hideouts but good luck fishing them. The area upstream has, even more, bedrock showing and it is slick in spots so cleats would be a good idea. A lot of larger rocks make the walking tougher as well.

Al, I was showing my wife your website (Beautiful work by the way. you better get to work, much of it seems to be sold.) though I have known of your work it seems like forever I have been trying to remember when I first saw your work. Did you win the Duck stamp contest way back when?

Many of the streams and areas I would normally fish are still too high for me to wade. I am using this time to explore other areas and lakes.

I wouldn't be surprised that some studies have not already been done. USGS certainly has historic water levels. And I am sure that there are books written on the history and land uses in the area. Have you checked out the video in a previous post? A lot of information along that line in it.

I drove over BSC and checked out the water level. Since this report is a drive by, I can only say it looks like it's up probably from the spring. I got out at the first parking lot and looked. very clear in the run I could see. A little rain may make me go down and see how our little creek has changed.

I couldn't stand it any longer, curiosity and the desire to wet a line forced me out. The good fishing reports also gave me a shove as well. The park looks pretty good in my opinion. The water is still high and murky, big volume from the spring is making wading (such as it is in the park) very difficult. That being said I caught one of the largest trout I have caught in a long time and all but one were extremely well fed. That is to say fat. My fish came on a yellow bead head wooly bugger. Which accounted for six fish. I got hit a bunch on that fly but only the were landed after that they next best fly was a red silly worm under an indicator. Several other flys were traded on and off for the rest of the total. l fished from 7:00 to 12:30 so I call this a good day. There were a good number of people leaving with their limits so by next Monday I believe most of the easy fishing will be gone. Be careful along the banks. They are muddy and slick, one older gentleman took a spill and it really shook him up. The people at the park have done a fantastic job getting the park up and running so quickly after the flooding. Several trees were cut up to open the path and one Yuge tree is down in the stream at the bend. I believe they cut it to prevent the root wad from pulling up the road. other than that I didn't see any other damage. I did not check out the hatchery. I had intended to but forgot until I had left the park. If there was any damage to the hatchery it would have been from the surging spring.

If you wanted to head to the Rocky's for a vacation fishing trip where would you go? Staying in hotel/motel for just a few days. I am thinking Colorado since I am driving from St. Louis.

Thanks, 10pointer, For your work and your report. I sit here typing 130 miles away and every time I lift the lid on this computer and the first thing I do is check to see if there is any fresh news on ANY of the Ozark towns and rivers that have been affected by the floods. Ozarkers are a tough bunch of people and will do fine but life is hard enough without a smack down like this flood.

No doubt, But that is not a part of the budget for the parks and a subject for a different forum. I feel as bad as anyone about the people and lives that have been disrupted and hope they will get more help from insurance and the government (us) quickly.

When I referred to the state I use it the term "state" meaning we the tax payer since we technically are the state.

When I spoke to the hatchery worker down there a couple of years ago he stated that the Montauk hatchery produced more trout than the hatchery at Taneycomo. The biggest damage to the fishery is the loss of all of the stock, fry, and breeders. They will, I assume have to buy trout until they can get up and running again. The big problem is, is flooding like this going to keep occurring? Two major floods in two years are getting expensive for the state.

I looked it up and read some of it (a synopsis) from a book about the journey and was surprised. It seems most of Missouri was a savannah interspersed.with forest. I always thought that the plains started at the Kansas border. I still have more to read. Thanks for the link.

The report I read on this site stated that the hatchery was demolished. I believe demolished meant that all of the fish, Fingerlings, stockers, and brood stock were washed away. I assume what eggs they had were destroyed as well. The troughs or pools are probably OK but the pumps could be damaged. I wish I could take the time to run down and see for myself but that is unlikely. And they probably don't need gawkers anyway.

I would think the middle Current should be fine in a couple of weeks time. It is generally large enough to float without a lot of trouble. Just keep your eyes open for trouble.

How long will it take for the Hatchery to get up and producing trout for stocking?

Everything you have all posted makes a great deal of sense. Especially Al's remarks about the savannahs and Mark's about the pinewoods. The bedrock in the streams, yes I know of a small stream that has areas of bedrock exposed. This has turned out to be a very informative learning experience for me. Thanks, everyone. If you have anything to add I would like to hear it. What books do you suggest on the history of Missouri that would cover this subject?

Let's get back to the mess. Was the Shepard of the Hills affected during this fiasco that has afflicted Taneycomo. I ask because the hatchery at Montauk was totaled. Since I am more likely to fish there I am wondering how they will handle the fishing at the park now. I prefer the river below the park but will wet a line in the park late in the day.