Belated July 2010 Fishing Report

[2sheds]

My summer 2010 sojourn to the Ozarks is fading into memory, so it seems timely to compile my notes from 2+ weeks of flyfishing and canoeing across southern Missouri. And since its such a long haul from Texas, this will have to do until next year.

Starting from the western side in mid-July, I took a couple of runs at the McClouds over in Tim's neighborhood. First day was slow (and unstealthy). This being my first flyfishing since summer 2009, I spent most of my time hanging tippet like tinsel and practicing my double-clinch knot. On occasion I would spook some kind of rocketting blur of noticable size that would shoot past. I wound up catching a few fingerlings plus some suckers, although my brother did pick up a 10 incher. The second visit a few days later was incredible, but unwitnessed (I hereby invoke the fisherman's honor code). I somehow stumbled onto a hole that had heavy shade plus a tree along the bank that I could lean against/behind as I threaded my roll cast between the overhead branches. The hole was lined up with maybe a dozen of size, all feeding along the bottom. Whereas at earlier holes the smaller trout seemed interested in my copper john, here I witnessed plenty of looks and takes on my pheasant-tail dropper. By fishing the tail of hole first, I found that I could pick off these trout one at a time. The rear-most trout would take my fly, then dash toward cover that was further downstream. This separated them from the herd and allowed me to fight them without disturbing those feeding in the hole. Lost several PTNs in the surrounding cover and found similar success with size #14 & 16 weighted bead head prince nymphs. All in all, I landed five in the 14 to 16 inch range, then had a much larger fish break off my 7x - and muck up the hole. All were released happy and healthy - incredibly beautiful fish that will provide a tasty memory.

Floated 2 days on the NorthFork, once from KellyFord to Riverside, and again from BlairBridge to Riverside. Caught enough of the wild rainbows and stocked browns to keep it intersting, but I still have a LOT to learn about this water. Found success with size #6-10 stoneflys or rubber legs as the weighted top fly, and a smaller weighted don's crawdad as the dropper. But I was also constantly picking algae off both flies (often the top one more than the dropper). Also some very nice bluegill in the reeds at the Riverside campground. This is all really good looking water. For those of you who haven't had the opportunity, you need to take some time and check it out. But its a long drive from everywhere. Enjoyed meeting some local folk at Althea Spring. I was curious what they knew/thought about Winters Bone, the movie based on Woodrell's "country noir" story that was set and filmed nearby. My conclusion is that the local casting calls got more publicity than the book/movie.

Spent a couple of days fishing wild trout waters near Stonehenge with Jason and then a morning on Roubidoux with Jason and Josh. I was very pleasantly surprised with our success, given typical conditions in the middle of the summer. Over the course of the weekend we released some very nice fish back into these creeks, our largest being better than 14". Most incredible of all, I had one of those experiences that never happens to me on this type of water in this kind of cover. I finished the entire day with a single #14 pheasant tail nymph - no hang-ups, no fatal tangles, no re-tying. Now I'll admit that this fly was beat up pretty bad because it had seen a good number of trout and because I don't really tie them very well (yet), but it still dressed well enough to trick one right before we decided to wrap up and escape the rain. While I would like to attribute this success to my flyfishing prowess, I think it is more appropriately attributed to Jason's guiding skills. If you fish this kind of water with a buddy, it becomes essential for all to move quiet and stealthy to the nth degree. And although I was fishing in 2nd position, I still had plenty of hook-ups (maybe the majority if I could be so bold and yet avoid offending a friend). The key is that I could watch his approach to a run, and then mimic it without any disturbance to the fish as we worked our way through each hole of value. So in hindsight, I am sure that is Lesson #1. The other thing that really worked for me was using a furled leader, rather than a tapered monofilament. The furled leader (sort of braided, if you haven't seen one before) was very forgiving of my marginal casting skills - it seems to float a bit before landing on the water, thereby producing less disturbance in a small pool with nervous fish. I also found that it doesn't tangle or form wind knots as frequently as tapered mono. In fact, I used a single furled leader the entire 2+ weeks of summer flyfishing, and it still seems good as new. Jason crafts these himself, and you can order them online at Deercliff http://deerclifffurledleaders.com> if you want to check it out.

Wrapped up the trip by floating a week on the Eleven Point with my son Chris. Brian Sloss at Eleven Point Canoe Rental in Alton set us up with the canoe plus key details about the latest fishing conditions. So we got to fish all day, every day and then enjoy marvelous thunderstorms under our tarp each night. Wonderful gravel bar camping along the way from Greer to the Narrows, but it would get tricky for a crew of 3 or 4 canoes. (My theory is that the ease of a float trip is proportional to the mathematical square of the number of canoes. So 2 canoes becomes 4-times as complicated, 3 canoes becomes 9-times as complicated, etc). No tent (we used a tarp), yet I don't remember needing to use any insect repellent ! We confirmed Brian's belief that rainbows on the upper end really like the don's crawdad fly and heavy bladed spinners. And while we didn't catch the numbers of trout that we experienced last year, I am certain that the average trout brought to hand was a good 1-2 inches larger than what we landed in 2009. In that heavy current those 14-15-16 inch trout are about all I can handle with a 5 weight rod. There was one point where I had to take a break because my arm was getting sore. (Let me tell you how crazy that sounds writing this a month later from Dallas.) Our most interesting encounter was probably the 2 conservation biologists who were diving with snorkels across from our campsite below Connor Spring. They found their target - an Ozark Hellbender (aquatic salamander on the endangered species list) - which they brought over to show us while they were taking measurements and performing tests. These hellbenders are a harbinger of water quality and seem to be losing their foothold in the ozarks - few young have been seen in the last decade. Yet the conditions on the Eleven Point (clear, cold, clean) are apparently supportive. After finishing their data, they returned this one to the exact rock where he was taken, careful to disturb nothing about his den. As we moved downstream into the slower & warmer bronzeback water, I switched to a weighted bead head wooley booger with a pheasant tail dropper and found that I could hook a bass just about everytime I made a decent cast into appropriate cover. Also caught some kind of herring-looking fish up to 12" with a forked tail in the water along the Pigman Ranch. Finished the last day with a nice hike up the Morgan Spring Branch, then up to the top of the Narrows. Am wondering if there is a decent trail to the bottom of Blue Spring and Sullivan Spring ? Once again it is apparent that the Eleven Point is a very special place. If you get the chance, you really need to fish this water. Easiest introduction is to connect with Brian at EPCR for a guided trip or to rent a canoe and shuttle back.

Back to refilling my flybox and tying some pheasant tail nymphs, prince nymphs, wooly buggers, rubber leg stoneflys, and don's crawdads. Dad gave me a 2-3 weight rod to try next year in the creeks, so I'll be testing some small reels and light-gauge flyline this winter. Next posting - Summer 2011.

[Guest]

Great report, makes you want to live in southern MO doesn't it!

[stlfisher]

Nice report and pics. Sounds like you had a great time!

[Trout Commander]

Looks like you had a good trip! Thank you for sharing. I am envious of anyone who is able to get away for more than a day at a time and live vicariously through their reports

[Gavin]

Sounds like allot of fun...Thanks for the excellent report.

[ness]

Nice report -- thanks for sharing it.