Ted Calcaterra

I am thinking about buying a 17ft alweld jon boat with a 40hp jet and need advice from the many fellow anglers on the board. I live in STL and would use it mainly on the Meramec since I live about 5 minutes away. However I would love to able to use it on the White River, North Fork of the White, or Norfork below the dam. While I know there is no one boat that is preferred in all waters, I was wondering if I would get funny looks or if it is Ok to use on these tailwaters or river such as the North Fork of the White?

I had a great day fishing the fly only zone at Montauk this past Monday. The weather was absoulty perfect and the fishing was great. I will tell you that the conditions are a little tough and you need to be prepared. The water is low and clear. I had many more takes on 7x tippet than 6x with my overall leader about 12ft. The fish were rising all day and my buddy and I caught too many to count. I was using Renegades all day in about a size 16 & 18. I started with a size 14 and didn't seem to have as many takers. Going down in size on both tippet and fly size was the ticket. Later in the evening I fished a size 16 tan elk hair caddis and caught a few before leaving about 5:30pm back to STL. Bottom line if you plan to fish Montauk in the upcoming week: 1- Use a long leader (12 ft) 2- Use as light of tippet as you can get away with. Early morning and 6x is fine but when the sun gets bright, switch to 7x. 3- Carry some small dry flies. Nothing beats catching fish on top. Renegades #16, griffths nats #18, or elk hair caddis #16 will work fine. It worked for me. Hope you find this information useful.

Thanks for the info. I will give it a try. Ted

When do you start fishing flyfishing for carp? Does it start in April or do you have to wait for it to get warmer? I have never done it but hope to start since carp are all over STL.

I often have my split shot slide down the tippet when fishing. I am afraid if I pinch the shot too hard, it might damage the strength of the tippet. Any ideas or suggestions for keeping the split shot about 10 inches above the fly without having it slide down?

We all know that many of the monster browns in the white river system feed on stocker rainbows. I would love to see a good looking rainbow trout pattern. I was thinking some type of deceiver or puglisi saltwater fly tied to look like a stocker. Any ideas or patterns?

Fished today as well. Drove down from STL and arrived at the park around 8am and fished until about 1:30. It started off slow for my buddy and I but then really picked up for us. I don't think it ever got in the high 40s like the forecast stated. Seth - You had mentioned the bathroom hole. That is one of two spots we had some good action. I fished the shallow water just above the rapids. I was using a #16 beadhead pheasant tail on 7x tippet. Caught about a half dozen fish before 4 guys crossed the river and were in my jock. I couldn't believe how rude and ignorant they were? I believe the key to picking up fish here was setting the indicator at the right depth. Because it was relatively shallow, I set a small white indicator about 2ft. Didn't have to use split shot because I had a bead head nymph. Had a good, short, drag free float and the fish cooperated for a change. We then fished the fast water right below the cable and the top of the park using the same set up. We both caught another six or so in that stretch of water. I was very surprised. Overall, had a good day fishing. It was nice to be on the water with friends.

Where is the pond hole? Is it the river below the suspension bridge? Any help would be appreciate here.

Brian - Do you have success using a pontoon boat during generation? Is it tough to fish out of during generation?

Today was a tough day on the Meramec. Not much going on. I accessed the river at cardiac hill and worked upstream. Started at about 9am and fished until 1pm. I wanted to make it back for the MU football game this afternoon. Caught one rainbow on a small sculpin pattern. The water appeared normal and was very clear. It was cold with light rain on and off the entire morning. Not many people on the water. Saw two spin fisherman and one bowhunter. The other fisherman didn't have much luck either. This is a typical day on the Meramec. It runs hot / cold in my opinion. Today it was cold but I will be back. How about those MU Tigers today?

I was able to get out on Monday and fish the Current around the baptist camp access. To my surprise it wasn't very crowded like I expected it to be. I thought that since most people had Monday off and it was so nice outside, the parking lot would be jammed. The fishing was tough. I fished with two other experienced flyfisherman and we walked quite a bit away from the access point before starting fishing. The water seemed normal and very clear. Didn't see many fish rising?? I would have thought that we would have some good caddis coming off and fish looking up. It wasn't the case. Just the occasional rise. We fished the normal suspects such as mohair leeches, pheasant tails, prince nymphs, wolly buggers, and so on. We only managed to catch a few rainbows and one brown. A tough day fishing but a beautiful day to spend in the Missouri outdoors. I am currious to see how others did and if they experienced similiar results. Maybe it was just one of those days we all have?

Does anyone have experience using the inflateable pontoon boats on our tailwaters in Missouri and Arkansas? It looks like alot of fun but I often wonder how safe it is. Could one float safely on the Norfork with both units running or on the White with six or do I dare say eight?

I am glad to see you add the section for the Meramec River. I know that myself and many other flyfishers from the STL area fish it quite ofen because it is a fairly easy drive. I look forward to seeing posts about this river and hope to make regular contributions.