North Fork Trip In May

[stlfisher]

I am planning on taking my brother, his fiance, and my girlfriend on a weekend trip in early May. I have looked at the website for ROLF and we are thinking in staying in one of Cabins. I have some questions, mostly related to wading and fishing the stretch that runs through ROLF. I am the only one that has experience trout fishing, but am hoping to introduce the other 3 to the sport. I plan to give a few lessons, some casting help, and a few shorter trips before we go, but am looking for the best way to make this a good trip for the newbies. I have not fished North Fork myself either. I will probably spend most of my time on the river, but I am sure the other members may want to do a few other things offered besides fishing.

1) How are the crowds? Would we be better going earlier in the year than in early May?

2) How is the fishing? We would plan to stay at ROLF and wade that stretch. I don't think we will float.

3) Is there anywhere we can rent some equipment and fly rods for 2 maybe 3 people? We could make due with my fly rods, but I don't have enough waders for everyone.

4) I don't think hiring a guide for a full day is in the cards, but maybe some instruction for the other members? Would this be possible? I could always use some extra instruction as well.

I am sure I will have more questions but this all that I can think of at the moment. Any thoughts, tips, etc?

[Justin Spencer]

ROLF has beautiful cabins, not sure about crowds at ROLF but usually river is pretty quiet. Don't expect too much for the newbies in the way of catching, NFoW is a tough river for beginners. I hope other (less biased) people will chime in about the fishing at ROLF, I can think of 2 areas that can concentrate fish: right at the falls and Jacks riffle, between the falls and the next riffle which is cave riffle. The rest is pretty subtle runs with gravel and bedrock bottom. Not sure if you can hike to cave riffle which is a great spot. You should really plan on trying to get on the river, or explore some of the other public accesses. I should have some rental equipment by then and hopefully my fly shop will be fully stocked and going (this snow is slowing me down). Stop by and I can give you some tips. Check out deaddriftflyshop.net to see what I am working on.

[jah]

I agree with Justin that "catching" is a bonus for newbies (and me). I've only fished it once, and I stayed at Justin's campground. He drove us up to just below the springs and we floated back down to Sunburst. I caught one fish. The water was very high (so high that we never saw "the falls"), so that made wade fishing almost impossible. The cabins at ROLF are beautiful, and no matter what you may or may not catch, you'll have a blast. Go with the expectation that catching a fish is a huge bonus, and you won't be disappointed. If there's any chance you can afford it at all, I'd hire a guide---maybe just a half day and concentrate around ROLF so that the next day you've picked their brain about how to catch them on your own from outside your cabin.

I'm a rookie at this river, though, but I thought I'd chime in.

Jim

[Justin Spencer]

The water was very high

Keep this in mind for that time of year, wading is tough over 800cfs, not an issue right now at 300cfs. We have a link to the gage at our sunburst website. Felt soled boots a must (even at low water), studs even better so I've heard.

[Troutdude]

For myself, I generally ditch the waders by May and just wade with boots and quick dry pants. Might not be a good idea for some but it works well for me as after the initial shock I don't notice the water temp. Perhaps this is due to the trout on the brain effect blocking out any and all other input. The only real advice I can give is to fish deep, as in if you are not occasionally snagging the bottom and losing a few nymphs then you are not fishing deep enough. It took a couple of lackluster trips to the NFOW and some good advice imparted on this forum for me to come home without my tail between my legs. Have a great trip, its a wonderful river!!!

[Brian Wise]

I am planning on taking my brother, his fiance, and my girlfriend on a weekend trip in early May. I have looked at the website for ROLF and we are thinking in staying in one of Cabins. I have some questions, mostly related to wading and fishing the stretch that runs through ROLF. I am the only one that has experience trout fishing, but am hoping to introduce the other 3 to the sport. I plan to give a few lessons, some casting help, and a few shorter trips before we go, but am looking for the best way to make this a good trip for the newbies. I have not fished North Fork myself either. I will probably spend most of my time on the river, but I am sure the other members may want to do a few other things offered besides fishing.

1) How are the crowds? Would we be better going earlier in the year than in early May?

2) How is the fishing? We would plan to stay at ROLF and wade that stretch. I don't think we will float.

3) Is there anywhere we can rent some equipment and fly rods for 2 maybe 3 people? We could make due with my fly rods, but I don't have enough waders for everyone.

4) I don't think hiring a guide for a full day is in the cards, but maybe some instruction for the other members? Would this be possible? I could always use some extra instruction as well.

I am sure I will have more questions but this all that I can think of at the moment. Any thoughts, tips, etc?

Justin hit it right. The Falls, Jack's Riffle, and Cave Riffle are the go-to's but upstream of the Falls is Rainbow Alley and tends to fish well in the spring, and also right in front of the Treehouse can be excellent fishing. Truly the best way to fish the river is to float it so if you can float even one day you would get a chance to see the river the best possible way (besides in the bow of my drift boat ) ROLF has rental rods, waders, boots...pretty much everything you would need to get on the water.

The river can be humbling, far from the troutparks and the stocked rivers but if you fish it deep with good drifts and somewhere near the right flies you'll get into some fish. It is too far out to say what flies will be on-point but if you will shoot me an email before you come I'll throw all the info I have at you.

Brian

[Chris Gates]

If you have some newbs on the NFOW they are going to struggle. 90% of the people that fish this river go home licked. It's the best river in the state of Missouri in my opinion but the techniques needed for success are different then most in Missouri excluding the Eleven Point. I highly recommend Brian Wise, Kyle Kosovich or one of the other guides at ROLF. If you decide to fish on your own then definately float. ROLF is a nice place but the falls and surrounding is overrated in terms of fishing. There are many other spots along the river I would rather spend my day then wading up in down in front of ROLF. My favorite time to fish the NFOW is in April and May. Nothing better around here then that river in the spring.

[stlfisher]

Thanks for the tips everyone. I am looking foward to the trip. I figured the fishing would be tougher since it will be my first time on the river. The rental equipment will come in handy for those that want to just give a try. Brian I will be sure to send you a message as we get closer to the date.

Thanks again!