Trout Fishing Roaring River SP and Bennett Spring SP, Late July 2011

I took a few weeks off with the kayak, and decided to dust off the trout gear and fly rods and head out to Roaring River SP (near Cassville, MO) and Bennett Spring SP (near Lebanon, Mo) on this particular week.  It felt good to get the waders on again, but it was very hot out. 
At Roaring River we fished about 1/2 day, and I caught one on a silver/blue Little Cleo spoon.  We also worked powerbait trout worms and eggs, but that was all we caught for the day.  The fishing seemed to be a bit slow, possibly due to the heat.

A few days later I hit Bennett Springs.  I caught one nice trout on a spoon, and fished every zone.
Started in zone 3 with soft plastic worms, then I went to zone 2 and threw a Little Cleo Spoon (this is where I caught my fish at Bennett, and finally I ended the day in Zone 1 with a fly rod (no luck there).  Overall, it was great to get out and do this type of fishing.  A lot of things differ between going after bass/panfish type fish and going after trout.  It was good to at least get re-versed again in the differences.

Fish ON!

Mike

Meremec Spring Park, Phelps County, March 30th, 2010: Water is high and fishing was challenging

The warm weather may finally start to be upon us....got an opportunity to fish Meremac Spring on my way back from Springfield for a couple of hours. Arrived around 3 p.m. and fished until about 6:00 p.m or so. Used just my fly rod on this trip. This park can be a challenge on a fly rod, at least in my opinion, due to the fact that there are no zones. So you can be throwing flies and the next guy 10' from you is throwing Power Bait. I think that can throw it off for fly fishing sometimes. Let it be said, I have nothing against Power Bait....matter of fact, I have an entire kit dedicated to bait and artificial fishing. I may come back later and do some bait fishing, matter of fact....this would be a good park to do so.

Used several jigs in different colors, as well as both an orange and red San Juan Worm, which I thought would tear them up. This park is famous for drift fishing plastic worms w/ small bobber, wacky rigged....maybe next time?

Fish ON!

MLT

Roaring River, Cassville, MO. March 17th, 2010: Trout hit on San Juan Worm

Got to the Roaring River around 3:30 or so...I was on my way from Joplin to Branson, so I had a couple of hours this week to get into the water for a short spell. Fished just zone 2 (Flies, Catch and Release only) at Roaring. This is one of my favorite areas in one of my favorite parks..had this streach of the river all to myself. Threw some Wooley buggers first, then a few brown/tan Zebra Nymps with no success. The river is real low right now and gin clear....I went ahead and tied on some 7x tippet as well, just to give myself a better shot at getting on a fish.

Hiked past the first riffle into a deeper, slower moving pool area and switched to a red San Juan worm with a yarn strike indicator. Caught this gorgous fish on my 4th cast out....barely knew I have one on...was getting ready to pull it back to cast again and there it was!

Very nice sized Rainbow Trout! Largest one I have caught on the fly rod this year! Kingfishers were going crazy....spring must be right around the corner. Left around 6:00 p.m. .....started to really cool down. Cannot wait to get back to Roaring River!

Fish ON!

MLT

Bennett Spring, Laclede County, MO March 15th 2010: Some Success on Nymph fishing

I got a chance to fish Bennett Spring for about 2 hours on my way down to Joplin Monday. I had to re-spool my fly line onto my reel, and it was tangled up, so the first 40 min. was dedicated to getting that task done.

Hit one of my favorite spots in Zone 1 fly waters. Weather was overcast and cool. Started throwing a brown bead head Wooley Bugger, with no success.....As I was in the water, I noticed a hatch going on, so I switched out to a brown/tan zebra Nymph w/ a yarn strike indicator (was using a 7.5' leader, by the way. Got the trout to hit as I was still rigging it up. Lovely fish, lovely day! Short visit this time.....

Fish ON!

MLT

Roaring River, Cassville, MO. October 14th & 15th: River up, Trout hitting on Wooley Buggers big time

I got a chance to get on the Roaring River for two short spells this week. I got a new pair of waders (we finally retired the old Hodgeman waders due to leaks that we could just not fix) so I wanted to give them a try out as well. They performed excellent and were so much lighter than the old Hodgman rubber/canvas one boot waders. I got a pair of Simms goretex w/ seperate felt soled boots....big difference!

The first visit I got out on the water around 4:00 p.m.--fishing closes at 6:30, so I only had a couple of hours to really fish. My favorite part of Roaring River is the fly fishing/catch and release waters. Started off throwing a Zebra Midge...I have had success throwing these along with a yarn strike indicator. The water is up about 5-7 " with quite a pace, so I figured maybe I should move to something else. Tied on a grey wooley bugger and started to get hits right off the bat. Caught a nice one right before the horn went off, but it snapped the tippet I had on....I had a 7X tippet tied. After some thought, I realized that the tipppet really needs to be adjusted to the water conditions. Light tippet is great if you have gin-clear waters that are low and especially if you are fishing midges, but for these conditions, and throwing heavier flies like wooley buggers, I realized I would need something like a 5 or 6x tippet. Weather was overcast, cold, with moments of drizzle....perfect!

The next day, I came back to the same spot. I only had a two hour break, so I knew I need to be more efficient. I changed the tippet out to a heavier one (5x) and started to throw grey cone bead wooley buggers with a couple of pieces of split shot as well to get it down in the water column.

Here is a technique that worked out really well for me. Cast straight out into the current, and then start stripping line. got it about 20' downstream, then started to slowly stripping it back...got it right in the seam where the main current and the slack water hit. These streams are like a conveyor belt of food for the trout, so that was the perfect spot. Caught 4 trout that day using this technique. Cool and totally overcast skies. I think this brought the trout out of structure and into the main channel.

fish ON!

MLT

Roaring River, Cassville, MO. August 19th, 2009: Trout hitting on Dry Flies

Hit Roaring River Wednesday around 4:30 p.m with my friend Jeff Bain, our newest chapter president of BNI Branson's Power Team. Fly fishing is a great way to have relaxed business conversations...I understand how people who golf get things done....fly fishing can do the same thing for you and your business!

We went to the Fly only, catch and release section of the park...I have always had a good amount of luck on this stretch. The trout parks seem to be clearing out now the kids are back to school. I started out throwing a zebra nymph with a strike indicator, with no luck. They were pooled up big time, so they should have took. Jeff got a dry on and started to get some strikes. I was watching him and decided to tie on an Adams and see what went down. Caught one and got several bites as well. The pictures above are before I tried to horse the fish in (totally knobbed out- grabbed the leader instead of my net--lost the trout and my fly (only one in box). Just goes to show.....great time!

Fish ON!

MLT

Whetstone Creek CA, Callaway County, MO, June 10th 2009: Creek up, black spinners seemed to work well

As you noticed, the title says "seemed" to work well.....we caught a few fish in Whetstone Creek, and as you can tell, it was up and muddy....like fishing in chocolate milk. The reason I used "seemed" is this is the hole that I caught a 15.5" Longear Sunfish a few years ago. That is a huge size for a longear. Come to find out the Missouri state record comes from Whetstone in regards to longears. It was great hiking in to the spot, so the few fish I caught were worth the hike anyhow.

Used a black rooster tail and a brown rooster tail. Also used black jigs on a fly rod and caught a few that way as well. This is one of my favorite conservation areas in the state....acres upon acres of gorgeous land, lakes and streams. We have even camped here in the past....very primative.

Fish ON!

MLT

Bennett Spring, Laclede County, MO April 14th: Fishing a little slow, nice day to be out

Turned out to be a really nice day, a bit chilly, but nice. Was out a few hours and stuck w/ the fly rod....threw nymphs, San Juan worms, white and brown jigs, with no success...seemed like the fish were scattered about.....there were some people catching them right below the falls.

The muscrat video is pretty cool....these guys are getting busy! Spring is here!

Fish ON!

MLT

Montauk SP, Current River, April 11th: Great day to get out!

Great day to get out on the water at Montauk SP. Trout are looking good, the weather was the best you can hope for. Started off in the fly zone, fished the deeper pool first with a nymph. No success, so I hiked into were there were some runs and pools. Lost one on a nymph, and later in the day in the fly area lost one on a red San Juan Worm.

What I like most about fly fishing is you learn something everytime you go out. My knots on the flies were improved cinch knots....I know that if I would have tied a Berkely knot (just like a cinch, except it goes throught the eye twice) I would not have lost as many. I was using a really thin tipped (8x), so I am going to try that next time.

After lunch, grabbed my spinning gear and fished from the bridge down. Last year, this was the spot that had all of the trees shoved under it......caught my biggest trout of 2008 at this spot. The trees have moved and it is much different now...not much success

The family came with me, so it was great to do some other things as well (took a hike around the upper spring area, Lake Montauk, etc). The weather could not have been any nicer- 70 degrees and sunny.

Fish ON!

MLT

Roaring River, Cassville, MO. April 8th: Fly Fishing Excellent- I think I am becoming a Nymph....Oh!

Here are some nice shots from Roaring River. The weather was absolutely beautiful and warm. I fished the normal "haunts" in Zone 1 the first hour or so with my standard, go to gear (Ultralight rods, Little Cleo Spoons, Panther Martin spinners) but was not having a terrible amount of success...lots of bait fishermen in the area- hard to get a spot to fish.

I decided to break out the fly rod for the first time this year. I was in the parking lot getting it rigged up. It was kind of funny, because I was attaching some real, real thin tipped (I believe 8x) to the leader, and it was like I forgot how to tie a surgeons knot....must have tried for a good 10 min. or so before I finally got it to work (people get rusty just like gear!)

Got my hip waders on and my vest and wandered into the water. I was using some really small nymphs (the photo w/ my thumb shows size) and found a nice little spot...first one I got on I horsed and lost not only the fish but the nymph. You have to really be able to play these fish if you are going to use that thin of tippet!

I started to really get on some. If you watch the video, the tree clumpet to the right is where I was catching them at. Caught and released all of them (about 5 fish total)....I did a better job playing them out. They were exhausted, so I had to rock each one back to life when I got them in the water- they all recovered after I did that.

A few observations: They have some of the biggest crawdads I have ever seen- look like mini lobsters! Have a dark shale color- may have to get some crawdad crank baits in that color- the crawdads at Bennett seem to have a redder hue to them.

Second thought: I really underestimated how incredible the fly waters are at this park- I really was under-utilizing what was available.....goes to show you never want to assume you know everything about a spot. I will wear my chest waders next time as well- we had a little issue w/ the hip waters towards the end of the trip (interpretation: I got too deep and a little water poured in- looked like I pissed myself when I left the park).....I am glad I do not take myself real serious!

I am really stuck on Fly Fishing and especially Nymph fishing...cannot wait to get back out on the water!

Fish ON!

MLT

Bennett Spring, Lebanon, MO: Thursday & Friday July 10th & 11th- Crowded Conditions

Here is a video from Bennett Spring. Hit the part late in the day (after 4:30) on the 10th, caught a couple of trout on spoons. Time was limited, so I went right to my "go to".

Came back Friday around 3:00. Had more time, so I got the fly rod out and threw some really small jigs- no luck. Moved around later and went to the "go to"- no luck. Managed to "0-fer" for the day. Park was REALLY crowded. I think everyone is staying in Missouri for vacation this year.

Fish ON!

MLT

Montauk (Current River), Wednesday March 26th: Park a little torn up, fishing very good!

Great evening of fishing. Arrived at the park around 4:30 or so. I knew I had a limited time, but it was great to fish Montauk State Park again. I had not fished Montauk in a couple of years. I think the last time I was at the park was in 2005 during the catch and release season. Forgot how beautiful of a park Montauk truly is .

Started off in the fly area. I picked up a couple of nymphs a few days ago, so I thought I would try them out. Threw those as well as black jigs (real overcast conditions). No luck. Spoke with a gentleman who had been fishing the area all day. Montauk has so much sand due to the flood that they had a backhoe dredging the area right before the dam earlier. Probably should have throw a San Juan Worm.

Went back to the car and got my Quantum w/ 2# test and decided to throw my go-to: Spoons. Started to catch them right under the bridge. If you look at the photo, there are about 3 large trees that were uprooted and are jammed under the bridge. What is cool is that water is flowing under them. The trout were suspended underneath the trees under the bridge! So I got downstream and threw the spoons up stream so the current would take them back. Caught the largest one (measured out at 18") in the structure. Caught another good size fish (about 17") right in the current. That was the one I thought I was going to lose.

I cannot wait to go back to Montauk!

Fish ON!

MLT

Bennett Spring, Lebanon, MO: Monday, March 24th- Caught my biggest Rainbow so far this year!

Check out this NICE SIZED Rainbow Trout. Caught this one in zone 2 with a gold/red little cleo spoon on my Quantum 5' rod w/ 2# test.
Drove up to zone 1 to throw some jigs on the fly rod, but the spring is still chucking out an incredible amount of flow- most of the area in Zone one around the spring is still flooded out like last week.
Hit Zone 2 (near the cliff) with the fly rod, but with the water up, just did not feel like I was getting in front of the fish like I needed to. The water is still super murky (not quite brown, but almost) so you need to get right up on the fish- sounds like a job for spoons!
Drove the car around towards the bridge and started to throw little cleo gold spoons. Caught a nice on on the second cast. Kept missing on- could not figure out what was going on. Either it was a real small fish (as if the hook might be too big), or a really nice size fish (as if I was not setting the hook hard enough to penetrate the kipe). Missed this fish (2) times before the 3rd time. I threw it almost to the bank and brought it in REAL SLOW. When I felt the tap this time, I made sure to give it more than a wrist set. This large fish is the end result. It felt good to let it go- maybe it will become a monster someday?
Started to feel cold around 6:30 so I took off. Great couple of hours of fishing!

Fish ON!

MLT

Bennett Spring, Lebanon, MO- Wednesday, March 12th- Trout got a work out Today!

Here are some great shots of Bennett Spring State Park, MO. The temperature got up to 72 degrees- spring is on the way!

Started at the spring with a fly rod and small white jig. Caught a nice rainbow- fought me for 5 minutes! Every time it got close, it would jump back in the current or try for under a rock. Thought I might lose the fish a couple of times. What a rush!

After fishing that spot for some time, I went to Zone 2 (artificial and flies) and grabbed my spinning rod and threw a Gold/Red Little Cleo spoon (caught a nice one close to the bridge) and switched it up (after moving to the cliff area between the two bridges) and caught another nice one in a deeper pool using a White/Rainbow colored Cleo Spoon (lost it a couple of cast later in some structure)

As much fun as the spoon fishing was, just had to get the fly rod back in action. I am starting to realize there is NOTHING as much fun as catching any kind of a fish on a fly rod. The video shows the last attempt. I was not catching much on the white jig. I had a nice conversation with a couple from Indiana, who said they were "tearing it up" earlier with dark green and black jigs. So that got me thinking "you know, I have not changed the jig color up much- let's try a black jig." The video shows the end result. Caught it between the spring and flow gauge house. What an incredible day!

Fish ON!

MLT

Meremec Spring Park- It was good to use the fly rod again! Saturday, January 27th, 2008

What an excellent day to to to Meremec Spring Park in St. James, MO. The weather is starting to warm up (the lakes are still frozen, however). I decided this would be a good day to "re-acquaint" myself with my poor fly rod.
I think I ended up using my fly rod maybe twice last year- max. It took me 15 minute just to figure out how to tie a blood knot. Once I got my waders on and headed out, I looked like a complete fool in the water. I snagged a tree behind me and had some really bad cast (I think I scared all the fish around me).
Here is the good news: I decided to keep with it. At one time, I was fairly proficient in the use of a fly rod. I remember the summer about 4 years ago when I first got my fly rod. I fished for EVERYTHING with it- got pretty good with it as well.
It came back to me. I got my cast back and started to catch some fish. The first fish I caught was probably the biggest Goggle-Eye (Rock Bass) Bass I have ever caught in my life (see the photo and video).
I walked down to the bridge and then started walking back. Right under an overhanging tree I found a school of Rainbow Trout- nice size as well (see video).
I will have my fly rod out many more times this year. I had truly forgot how fun a fly rod is.

Fish ON!

MLT