Jefferson City Winter Trout Area

[creek wader]

I've been doing some winter trout fishing at Mckay Park, in Jeff. Like Cricket, I find it tough to lay down my spinning rod. But, I'm fighting through it and have been mainly using my fly rod. Fortunately, most fisherman love to teach novices like myself. Or rather like to tell us what were doing wrong. Fortunately, I found one that also, tells me what I'm doing right. Like with a little kid, a little encouragement goes far. I'm getting much better on my casts and though my fly tying leaves much to be admired. I've been catching a few dumb or near sighted trout on my own flies.

I caught an 18" bow, off of my spinning rod (I know, it's cheating), using my go to bait (small rapala), then the 16"bow off my fly rod, using some kind of mutant fly that I tied, myself. ..also, have caught quite a few smaller bows' off a variety of lures and flies. I realize that this is urban trout fishing, but, the trout seem to get more finicky, every time I go. First few weeks the trout were fairly easy, now even the seasoned fly fishermen are getting skunked. So, it's become more of a challenge....also, caught a 11.5" crappie and several 9.5"crappie, and some bluegill off the fly rod...... I've started to gain some confidence with the fly rod, and having some fun at it too, hope I can get a little better and use it more in the spring, for smallies ...... wader