Kid Fishing - 7/26/14

[jpb2187]

I'm thinking about taking my daughter (6) to Meramec Springs this weekend - a first for her as well as myself.

I've trout fished in Taneycomo before, but am by no means an expert. I had success in Taneycomo with spoons, but haven't tried much else.

I'm just hoping to get her hooked up a few times. Any recommendations as to tackle and or bait to use. We will be using spinning rods.

Thanks for any help.

[ciRe]

If you go plan on going at the siren. Was there yesterday and fishing was tough. Lot of people were catching on black and yellow rooster tails. But by 10ish there's hardly any fish in the stream. They are small. I fished the park for the first 30 minutes and then went down to the river and did good for down there.

[jpb2187]

If you go plan on going at the siren. Was there yesterday and fishing was tough. Lot of people were catching on black and yellow rooster tails. But by 10ish there's hardly any fish in the stream. They are small. I fished the park for the first 30 minutes and then went down to the river and did good for down there.

What time is the siren?

[Seth]

We went this past Saturday and stayed in the pond hole between 11-3. Lots of fish, lots of good sized fish, but very hard to hook. I landed 4, lost two right at the net, broke 3 off and probably missed 50 strikes on black marabou jigs, white and orange trout worm and a green/white rubber legged jig. Trout worms seemed to give me the best hook up ratio. The trout would hit it and then eventually get it in their mouth enough to get them hooked.

I'm not sure where ciRe was fishing, but I seen plenty of fish and a lot of very nice ones. Much better than previous summers.

Use 2# test or at least several feet of leader, get some really small jig heads (DJ's and the gas station in ST James carry them), a pack of white and a pack of orange trout worms. Use the jighead and hook it through the middle wacky worm style, throw it out and just shake the rod tip as you slowly reel it in. That always works down there. Orange is my favorite color, but they seemed to prefer white this past Saturday. A lot of times you will have to let the trout hit it and spit it out a few times before they actually get enough of it in there mouth to stick them. Otherwise you just pull it out of there mouth. If one bites and you miss, throw right back quickly because it will still be looking for that worm and should hit again right away.

[jpb2187]

Thanks Seth!

[flyfishmaster]

The way Seth just described how the trout reacted to the trout worms brought back a lot of memories from the late 70s/early 80s when I started at Meramec Springs. Funny thing is that trout would do the same action back then. Spit the worm out at least 2 times before taking it in. The best advice when they finally take it is to not set the hook, just reel. I had more success using that method.

Also, if you want to throw in some variety ( and this is going to sound strange), use Crickets. My father used them for years and always out fish us at Meramec Springs. We tried this methods at the other trout parks and it did not work as well. IT is because the water is slow. When using Crickets, use an extra long #16 shank hook on the lightest line possible.

Later,

FFM