4/4/07-4/6/07

[jhawkfan1414]

Me and my dad went down to montauk through these days....we fished every single morning....maribou jigs worked very well in the morning near the oak tree hole.....saturday morning i caught 5 but one got away from me while i was trying to string it....but i was done fishing and had my limit in hand my 8:30......at night is to me not a very good time to fish....i caught one on a furball with a bobber with about 3 feet down on friday...but on saturday my dad caught 2 the same way....all three of those were right above the spillway

[drew03cmc]

You did not plan on keeping 5 did you? That would make you a poacher......No assumptions, until you defend yourself.

[3wt]

My dad did the same thing last time we were there. I guess 30 years of a 5 fish limit gets engrained...

Night not a good time to fish? When I fish up to the buzzer I usually just find it getting really good and then it's time to reel it in.

[drew03cmc]

Yeah, the limit is 4.

[mcp633]

That's funny you guys mentioned that. Story......Last Friday, I was getting ready for work. All I had left to do was put on my 14 pound Batman utility belt. My phone rang and it was my dad on the other end. He asked if I wanted to go trout fishing with him at Meramec Springs. Needless to say, I played hookey from work. I wouldn't miss that for the world. The work place runs in spite of my absence (who knew! ). Now my dad hasn't been trout fishing in years and has been telling me for quite some time that he's going to get back into it now that he's retired, so we went. Him with his St. Croix ultralight loaded with a treble hook and a bag full of something ground into doughbait. Cat food of some sort I believe. When my brother and I were kids, this domestic animal concoction would have his five fish on the stringer in a matter of minutes, and my brother and I dumbfounded as to how he did it. We were using the same stuff and were getting skunked! He would patiently put his fish in the cooler and come back to the stream and coach our five onto our stringers no matter how long it took, or how hot or cold he may have been.

Back to the present. We arrived at Meramec right about noon. My dad can make a one and a half hour drive in to something that takes nearly double the time! Good thing we didn't go to Montauk. I would just now be getting home! I set out with my fly rod and he went to his usual hole that he fished many years ago right at the bottom of the ramp from the upper parking lot near the little spring. Less than an hour later, he was standing behind me with a Bud Select in his hand telling me about the dozens of fish that he caught on his still-effective dough bait. He looked down at my stringer with two fish on it and said "is that it!" I tried to explain the short strikes I was getting and how many fish I had broken off with the 7x tippet. He rolled his eyes and plopped down in his bag chair with his beer to watch just like he did 20 some years ago and offer advice. Only this time, no advice came! The old man was asleep in the shade under the tree in less than five minutes! I got my final two trout on the stringer, woke him from his slumber and we started walking towards the truck. I told him that it was probably the longest time in quite a while for me to get a limit of trout in a park. He looked at my stringer and said, "that's not even a limit!" I said, "what do you mean that's not a limit?" He replied, "you're one short, can't you count?" At that point I realized my old man was living in the past. I said, "don't tell me you have five on your stringer in the cooler!" He said, "of course I do." I got to teach my dad the lesson that day on the changes in the regulations in the trout parks! I said, "why do you think there's only four hooks on the stringer you bought today at the store?" He replied, "I wondered why they would do that!"

All and all, despite my poaching father, it was good to go with him! We go fishing quite a bit and he is an acommplished angler, but he knows I would rather go trout fishing with my fly rod than do about anything else. Hopefully we'll be back at it soon. He asked yesterday what I'm doing next Monday. I think we decided on Montauk this time. Not looking forward to the four hour drive! Maybe I'll spring for the gas this time.

[msubobcats]

Great story mcp. A nice read.

Now, IMO, I think the original poster is a kid. And, as he was putting his fourth fish on the stringer, he lost it, so he caught another one. I don't think there is a need to 'defend yourself'. Unless you are challenging the kid to a duel...(SLINGSHOTS AT 20 FEET, YOU POACHER!!)

Yes, I know most readers of this thread have already put this together, but I hate for the kid (I think) be put off from future posting because his writing was misinterpreted.

Keep the info coming jhawk...I am heading to Montauk for the first time in two weeks, so I need all the info I can get.

Go Cats

[drew03cmc]

That is not the way anything was intended, just the way the original post was worded, that was the appropriate response.