Foghorn

Great color on that fish!

We live in a cul-de-sac and few people leave their lights on for the trick or treaters. In a normal year, we might get 10-12 kids in costumes. People on the main street thru town get 100's.

They're in the mail .

And I submitted the fishing trip before I finished it. We continued to catch fish with it between some breaks to rest some aching backs. I walked downstream and turned to see the girls sitting at the edge of the stream catching fish. It brought back old memories of Laker and I sitting on the bank at the point where the island starts in Zone 1 catching fish and visiting. We finished fishing, sat and drank a cold beverage in the parking lot and then went for dinner at the lodge. Sandy headed home and Susie and I headed for the motel. On day 2, we started below the bridge in Zone 2 and found fish in the gravel . It was hot and heavy on egg colored furs bugs for a good bit. We did venture on downstream and the green and gold and fur bugs worked well. The fish were small but the time shared was priceless. Saw old friend Mike Runyon Friday and old friend Mike Pickard Saturday. We hadn't seen Mike P in almost 20 years. Our connection was big brown trout. In 2003, I was fortunate enough to catch what was then a new park record. Mike and his family were in the park that day. We struck up a good conversation and would see each other from time to time. Late in 2003, Mike's Dad , Roger, caught the new park record. Sadly Roger passed away several years ago.

So Susie and I decided to make an overnight trip to Bennett Springs. We had only fished it one day this year due to all the construction, small fish, and busy schedule. We called Sandy(Miss Laker) on the drive down and she agreed to meet us at the park. We had been fishing maybe an hour when Sandy found us in Zone 1. We had last visited in December so after some visiting it was time to fish. The fishing was good for a while but as usual the bite slowed down with all three of us catching fish. About that time, I decided to put an old favorite on "the green and gold". Susie almost simultaneously said " I'm going with the green and gold". It's a pattern I had come up with maybe 30 years ago and is often a game changer when the fishing gets tough. It's nothing more than some medium olive antron dubbed on the back of a small 18-20 scud hook with some antron squirrel belly dubbed on the front half of the hook. I use a dark brown thread to dub it and tie it off. Sandy had never used this fly but decided to give it a try as it was working pretty well. Susie had moved upstream and was pounding them pretty good and was getting some looks of either disgust or admiration or both from some male anglers. I had told several of the guys fishing around us to give these girls some room or they'll make you look bad! Sandy had made a cast and her line started moving upstream. She said "I'm not sure what it is but it feels pretty good." The fish was putting a pretty good bend in her rod and for a brief second or two we got a glimpse of a 4.5-5# rainbow before the hook pulled out. We hadn't seen any fish this size so it did come as a bit of a surprise. This fly can be hard to see under the best conditions and with the wind putting a light chop on the water, it makes for a real challenge. And the girls fished it well.

Awesome Miss Sandy! On a gray scud?

Good looking fish!

Atta boy ,Pete!

Awesome. I thought it was an old tire at first glance.

Sandy, he was referring to my white/gray hair and goatee looking like a goat!

I did see 4 in the park that looked in the 15-18" range. I just don't remember seeing such quality numbers in any of the trout park or Sheperd of the Hills rearing pools.

I was wondering where they got that many browns. I didn't see anyone matching that description but did flag one of the workers driving a truck down. There were 4 guys with fly rods around the old green "power station" building and one was stripping line off his reel. Not sure if he was playing or getting ready to fish. Worker decided to remind the 4 it was illegal to fish there and would result in a hefty fine.

Susie and I had the 4 youngest grandkids last weekend for a couple of nights. They had never been to Maramec Springs so off we go. This isn't a fishing report as the "Park" can be tough enough to fish for experienced fishermen and not with 4 kids from 6 to 11. We did the usual tourist thing visiting the museum, hatchery, playground and walking the stream. While in the museum, I read a small article about one of the early school teachers for the children of the men who worked there. This lady was originally from St. Clair , Missouri and met a slightly older man who had visited this state to see his sick mother. They later married and had a son named, William Randolph Hearst. I bet she had an interesting life. While this isn't a fishing report, I had to comment on the brown trout in their hatchery. We estimated 3-400 browns swimming around in the main spring that were 3# and up. They weren't in any raceways or holding pens. Several in the group were considerably bigger. Now if a few of them washed out and went down into the park.

Awesome trip, boys!