Red Snapper, Grouper caught along with Catfish in Lake St. Louis, Missouri

Here are some great photos from my friend, Captain Raymond E. Schroeder.... This is a first- a red snapper and grouper caught in Lake St. Louis- Wow! .....just joking :)

That is alright Ray....we will catch up to you in a couple of weeks when we hit the Outer Banks!

Great catch, by the way!

Fish ON!

MLT

Roaring River, Cassville, MO. April 15th, Tippet made all the difference!

Weather was really nice....got a chance to hit the river around 4:00 p.m. or so, so I only had a couple of hours to fish. Started off with the normal spot I like to hit, but with no success. I hiked across the overgrown shoal and hit a nice run w/ structure. I knew they were in that spot, I just could not figure how to get on them.

Here is what I decided to do....tie on some #7 tippet to the end of the leader. When I get these leaders out of the package, I just assume that the line is thin enough from the package. So I figured, why not, nothing else seems to work- let's see if this theory is correct. Within less than a minute, I had a trout on the other end.....I realized a valuable lesson- you need to have thin tipped on the end of the leader, even if it is new. Lesson #2: I do not really care for the 9' leaders...for now on I am going to get the 7.5' leaders.

Great day of fishing!

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

Roaring River, Cassville, MO. April 1st, 2009: Trout action good, seem a bit small

Got a chance to fish Roaring River SP on Wednesday for a few hours after work. Park had a semi crowd, but was not too bad. This park has real skinny waters, so it is not very conducive to wading, even hip waders.

Caught my first rainbow on a Gold/Red little cleo spoon like right off the bat (first 5 min.) in the first zone (soft plastics and artificals) right by the second bridge (in front of the pro shop). Walked around a little bit and caught the rest in the pool in front of this amazing water fall...had to film it just to have a "moment of zen" to go.

This pool was a bit of a challenge so I went to something that moved a little slower than a Little Cleo, a gold/red Super Duper on an ultra-light rod, 2# test. Caught a total of around (6) fish in about a 3 hour period. Not a bad day, weather was real nice- real windy! Went to the back of the park and fished Zone 3 w/ no real success.

Fish ON!

MLT

Bennett Spring, Laclede County, MO, March 30th, 2009: Trout are looking good this year!

This was my first trip to Bennett Spring in 2009....weather was really, really windy. Temperature was pleasant, so I was really looking forward to getting my chest waders on and getting on some fish. My favorite part of Bennett is Zone 2 (artificial and fly). I did not hit all of the normal holes, but fished just above the middle bridge (I believe it is called Whistle Bridge). Started off with my go-to, Little Cleo Spoon, Gold/Red. Took awhile to get on some fish, but started to have some success. First fish I caught was probably around 17"-18" or so. Had a real healthy, well established kipe- bet it becomes a lunker someday!

Walked over to the bridge and had a conversation with one of the people fishing in the tail water section. He had a spinning rod w/ 6# test and was catching Goggle Eye Bass on night crawlers rigged on a drift rig- thought that was cool. That part of the bridge is artificial and natural bait only. I was kind of curious how they would get the fish up to the bridge (I use 2" test or lighter if I can get away with it). Mystery answered: They have nets with long handles (look to be home maid- I do not think you can buy them that way).

Got to the other side of the bridge and switch up to a dark Panther Martin inline spinner, with an ultralight rod. Caught a few snags and then BOOM! This good sized rainbow jumped on it- right before I was ready to bring it in....gave me the same sensation as catching a fish on a topwater! I got him in and realized someone else had caught him earlier and lost him- that is what the red jig is. I bet he pounded on the jig like he hit my Panther Martin. He is now a happy fish- not only did I release him without the Panther, I also went ahead and removed the red jig as well.

The action shot video is that of a nice one I caught on the other side on the way back. Fished about 2 1/2 hours, caught close to 10 fish, all released.

This is going to be a great year!

Fish ON!

MLT