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Posted

The alarm goes off at 0200 and it is time to head out. I packed up the night before so the only thing I have to do is let the dogs out, brew up some coffee, pack the cooler and let the dogs back in. I hit the reset on the trip odometer and it is off my favorite river. 130 miles with a pit stop in Rolla later I pull into the parking lot at Tan Vat. It is just after 0500. Plenty of time to rig up and decide whether or not to wet wade. The rains we had a few nights earlier didn’t seem to raise the river any, but it is a chilly 63 degrees this morning. I know it will be steamy by the time I come off the river but I decide to don waders today. I started the morning with a size 6 rubber leg stonefly imitation hoping to grab a large brown. My intentions were to head downstream today and throw the big nymph until the trico hatch hit. I was rewarded by a 13-14” brown on my third drift right at the beach followed by a slightly larger rainbow. I headed downstream and hooked up again a few casts later only to have my tippet (4x) get snapped. Mea Culpa. I did not check the condition of the tippet after netting the second fish. No worries as I go to tie on another “Jimmy Rubber Legs” only to have missed threading the eye. The darn fly heads on down the river and I’m out of those particular baits for the day. Getting older, even at the ripe old age of 49 is tough. Again, this is on me as I do pack reading glasses. Oh well, I manage to tie on an olive Wooly Bugger and keep making my way down stream. The sun is finally starting to change the lighting conditions and I manage to net one more bow before I get to the first big hole. The trico hatch is on and I change my leader and tippet. This time I tie on a small size 26 bug that is white thread, a few fibers for a tail and a couple of winds of white hackle. I bought the fly from Darryl up at Reed’s. No luck at what should be a good spot. I go for various drifting patterns, upstream, cross and down, still with no luck. Mind you, I am only one year into fly-fishing so I do not have a ton of confidence in fishing small. Yet I still see fish after fish, sipping bugs. Frustrated I tie on a small 1/100 olive marabou jig and quickly hook up on a small rainbow. This however, is not what I wanted to do. I came out this morning with the intent of fishing the hatch. I head downstream with the jig still tied on. Dead drifting the jig has produced well the last two Tuesday’s so I keep it tied on. A few yards downstream in a nice depression I spot more trico sipping fish. This is it I tell myself. I am going to do this if it kills me. I take my portable insect net also known as a baseball cap and start swinging. I manage to catch a few of the bugs and notice that they are not white as seen while flying but a black insect with white wings and a really beefy thorax. A quick check of the fly box and I find my bait. It is nothing more than black thread and a bit of grizzly hackle. A few drifts later I hook up and the trout throws the fly as quick as it took it. Full of confidence I go again and I hear that wonderful, swooshing sound of a trout inhaling your fly. The fish isn’t huge, but I get it on the reel and into the net as soon as I can. I know most of you have done this over and over again, but the feeling of targeting specific fish with a specific fly, then actually landing one is incredible. The only thing that would have made it better was if I had tied that particular fly. Either way, it made my day. I was able to land one more on the trico before the hatch was over. The fish however where still feeding on the surface. I wonder what they were feeding on. Dead or spent residual bugs perhaps? I decided to tie on foam ant pattern and landed two more out of that hole before heading back upstream. Along the way I was able to land a couple of more bows on the ant before the late morning heat start to steam things up. All in all it was a great morning. Next Tuesday I am going to try the same thing hoping for an even better day. I am out on the Current every Tuesday. Just look for the silver Dodge Durango with the TU and Feathercraft/Crackleback stickers on the back window.

Headed off to the bench tie a few tricos, tight lines for now.

Posted

Very nice. I am a budding fly fisherman myself. I am glad you shared your trick with the cap. One of those that seem obvious once pointed out, but not sure I would have thought of it if I was there a the time.

Money is just ink and paper, worthless until it switches hands, and worthless again until the next transaction. (me)

I am the master of my unspoken words, and the slave to those that should have remained unsaid. (unknown)

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Posted

Great report. I might see you down there next week. I'm fishing Monday or Tuesday depending on work.

-Mike

Posted

Great report. Not much is more satisfying, even to the very experienced, than catching a trout on a fly you chose to match the real bugs you were seeing. (And not much is more frustrating than seeing trout rising like crazy and not getting them to take anything you try.) Of the three main kinds of fly fishing for trout, dries, nymphs, and streamers, I like nymph fishing the least because it's all a matter of putting something buggy on, doesn't much matter what, and then watching your line or your "bobber". It's even a lot easier to get good drifts than it is with a dry. Still, even when nymphing, I love that throbbing feel of a fish when you lift the rod. But as a dyed in the wool smallmouth angler first and foremost, I love streamer fishing because it's more like fishing for smallies.

Posted

I enjoyed your report, and I'm glad to hear that the trout still are reasonably active. The MDC has released some info that makes the situation on the Current and other trout streams sound rather grim. I've been avoiding Missouri's trout streams since June due to the drought...but I'm hoping when fall comes around and/or we finally get some rain that there will still be some fish to catch. I'm glad you were able to get out on a cool morning and were able to get in a couple hours of good fishing. That's the only way to do it now, I suppose.

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