Montauk State Park (Licking, Missouri) — January 18, 2004

This trip started out a little differently than most of my trips, my fishing partner Craig was on time for a change. Not only was he at Denny’s near I-44 and Bowles at 5:00am, he showed up 10 minutes early. I was in complete shock at the start of this trip. We were also supposed to be fishing with Brad Guenther today, but as is Brad’s tendency — he was a no call no show. Fishing, or not fishing I should say, with Brad Guenther is kind of comical in the sense that he always says he can make it and never does. We waited until 5:00am and we were off — figuring that on the off chance that Brad calls my cell phone, we will turn around and get him. He never called. The temperature when we left Denny’s in Fenton was 36 degrees and the wind had just really started to kick up. After gas and gatorade we arrived at Montauk by 7:30am and were suiting up in one of the nice warm restrooms. The temperature was still in the 30’s at that point and it really wasn’t all that cold — but we still needed to layer. We had just finished suiting up and rigging up when the whistle blew and it was time to fish. The first hole we fished (the deep hole below the C&R area) didn’t produce any fish for me for the hour that I fished it in the morning with my leech (there were stocker sized fish rising all over the place, but I was after the big fish that I saw swimming in that hole). I opted to head up to the C&R area and check it out, while Craig put on a #18 grizzly adams and proceeded to slay the fish on the top. Up in the C&R area there were a ton of LARGE fish and they were feeding like crazy. I put on my Tan / Ginger Mohair leech and went to town. I proceeded to hook up fish with ease in the water. My first rainbow was of decent size (at least 16″) and fought great. I also had a hook up with a HUGE Brown — with out a doubt the biggest fish that has taken my fly in Missouri. I threw my leech against the far bank and took one strip for it to hit the current, and then the whale of a fish came out of nowhere and inhaled my fly and then laid on its side like it was trying to get out of water only it was too big to make much of it and snapped my 6x tippet without hesitation. Needless to say my heart was pounding after that encounter. I proceeded to have lots of hookups on a variety of leeches and wooly buggers, with the end result being very few brought to hand. I threw white mohair leeches, black mohair leeches, brown mohair leeches, olive wooly buggers, brown wooly buggers, and black wooly buggers — but my Tan / Ginger Leech and my ginger sculpin seemed to produce the best. The highlight of the fish I landed in the C&R area was a 20″+ Brown that took a tan/ginger mohair leech. This fish was a huge accomplishment, because I sight fished to this fish all the way and set the hook as soon as the fish opened its mouth and landed the fish without the aid of a net or anyone else. After snapping a few pics of the fish it was time to revive it and off it swam — I just wish someone was there to share in the excitement. So I reeled up and went to show Craig the photos and was duly pumped. He had continued having luck with the grizzly adams on top in the deep pool and I opted to finish out the day in this hole sight fishing to the rainbows that were “spawning” in the riffle water at the head of the pool. It was pretty cool, spotting the fish and then tossing the leech up and high sticking it down to the fish and watching them turn on the leech and inhale it. The fish today were really aggressive and were hammering my leech and sculpin — I started the day with 8 tan/ginger leeches and ended the day with none of them left (breaking each of them off on a fish). Craig fished down to the hatchery office and back with a black wooly bugger and picked up several fish. In total I brought to hand 9 fish (with allot of LDR’s and a few foul hooked fish not included) and each of those fish were over 14″ in length. Craig brought to hand 13 fish and experienced the same thing with regards to nice healthy sized fish. We stopped fishing about 12:45 and in total caught 23 fish with each of us catching a fish of 18″ or better (Craig’s biggest was about 18″ or 19″ and mine was over 20″). The weather would not make up its mind what it wanted to do today — it would be sunny with no wind or it was cloudy with a steady breeze that made casting difficult. It was definitely a good trip and it was good to share the water with Craig again. Tight Lines….

Montauk State Park (Licking, MO) — December 14, 2003

Sunday morning brought more of the same with regards to the weather, cold temperatures and the occasional flurry. We woke at 7:00am and after shower and a quick bite we were on the water. Today was a day of reconning for me. For today was the day that I schooled McClane in fishing. Fishing on Sunday morning was tough, but within my first two hours on stream I had brought to hand ten all on mohair leeches and sculpins. The bite wasn’t that easy though, as the C&R waters required me to be cast and move with stealth. Most of the fish I caught were while I was casting on my knees or stomach. I have always read about casting from your stomach, but never thought anyone did this, that was until I crossed the bridge over the C&R area and spotted some bruiser fish cruising and I wanted to catch them. I army crawled in the snow along the water into position and tried cast after cast to catch these fish, but I never got the big fish to strike and settled for their smaller relatives. It was fun sight fishing to larger than normal fish in the clear waters, for when you caught one you knew you had accomplished something. After awhile and a few more fish, I checked back with Brent, who was then fishing the water below me with Dave Dawson. They were not having that much luck, but due to the time we proceeded to finish the day off here in this pool. I ended up taking four more fish and evening out the total for the morning at 20 fish (17 rainbows, 3 browns). McClane would have probably caught up with me had we kept fishing , for he was really tearing them up on his tan scud at the end. We said our goodbyes to Dave Dawson, met an interesting fellow from Tom Hargrove’s fly shop nicknamed “Creepy” by Dave, and off we were back to reality.

The drive home was interesting, I couldn’t seem to stay warm. I think that the crawling around in the snow had gotten to me, and I couldn’t keep my body temperature up and was probably dead tired for only getting 8 hours of sleep over the past two nights. Just as we got into cell phone coverage, our phones had message indicators and the voice mail checking started. We each received voice mails regarding the newspaper article in the paper we were quoted in and McClane’s photo was in (we knew he was a camera whore). We stopped in Rolla to get gas and to pick up a Saturday St. Louis Post-Dispatch and read the article. It was a pretty good article if I do say so myself, even if it had McClane’s ugly mug on it centerfold style high-sticking a 12″ rainbow and it only quoted me once or twice. It was a fun experience. The rest of the drive home was filled with McClane and I bickering about the heat in his truck. We pulled into my driveway about 4:30pm on Sunday, just in time for me to shower and have dinner with my family. Later that evening I found out I was running a 102 temperature and must had been sick on the drive home. The Flu, or whatever it was that I caught, kept me out of work for half a day and sick for most of the week but the trip was definitely worth it and I would pay the price again. Total fish count for me for the weekend was over 40 fish in 2 days of fishing, McClane was close to 60 fish for the weekend. I think my next trip on the water will be our annual New Year’s Day / Weekend trip to new water, which is supposed to be the Roubidoux Creek this year. I can’t wait for the next hook-up.

Montauk State Park (Licking, MO) — December 13, 2003

Saturday morning brought snow, sleet, freezing rain, and COLD temperatures. I woke up at 7:00am feeling the effects of twelve beers and a night of tying flies. After banging on the wall of Brent’s room with my wading boot, and scaring what alcohol was left in him, we showered, suited up and hit the Lodge for some breakfast to soak up last night. We were supposed to meet Gavin Poppen and Mike Swederska, two other members of the St. Louis Fly Tying Group on Yahoo, for a day of fishing, but with the way the weather was turning we weren’t sure if they were going to drive down. A quick call confirmed that they were on Highway 63 and about a little less than 45 minutes away. We couldn’t have timed breakfast any better, for as we were walking out of the Lodge we spotted Gavin’s Jeep Liberty and we followed them to the first spot we were going to fish for the day — the Blue Hole. After some quick conversation, pouring of the sacrificial Bloody Mary and Dill pickle, and rigging up our rods we were finally on the water.

Fishing conditions on Saturday were tough to say the least. The temperature was in the mid to upper twenties with a slight breeze, there was a wintery mix of precipitation falling (snow / sleet / freezing rain), and the fish just weren’t cooperating. We fished from the Blue Hole upstream until lunch with limited success. I had horrible luck on this section and resorted to snapping photographs of the others fishing. I did have one legitimate hook-up but I lost him. Gavin and Mike had a little better luck than I did, but not that much better. Brent on the other hand, well lets just say he lived up to his celebrity status. Brent proceeded to wipe up the stream with his scuds and his ability to fish under and indicator — both I firmly believe are an art form. After a hot lunch back at the condo, we decided to fish the C&R area and the waters near it. My luck changed in the afternoon, and I was able to land over 10 fish on mohair leeches, Mike Mercer Rag Sculpins, and tan scuds. Brent continuted to terrorize the fish with his scuds and probably landed over 25 fish for the day. Mike had some success fishing his teeny weeny parachute adams to risers, and Gavin ventured up to the C&R lake with his 6wt and sinking line to fish for Shamu with limited success (landing 3 rainbows). At 4:00pm the whistle blew and Mike and Gavin were on thier way back to St. Louis, after quick conversations with McClane, Dave, and myself. Saturday night was not to be a repeat of Friday night, as I doubt our livers could take another night. We were both wiped after dinner and found ourselves tying flies and ready for bed by 7:00pm. I hit the sack around 8:00pm but was back up around 10:30 or so, as I couldn’t sleep. I ended up tying a few dozen flies in front of the television and reading the latest issue of American Angler from cover to cover until about 2:30am and I finally drifted off to sleep.

Montauk State Park (Licking, MO) — December 12, 2003

In true McClane fashion, he arrived late to my house on Friday morning. After checking out the camper (he had never seen it) and loading all my gear, we were on our way for a weekend of fishing by 9:30am and sitting at Eat Rite diner in High Ridge, a mere 5 minutes from my door step, for breakfast by 9:35. Any good fishing trip needs to start with a country fried steak and scrambled eggs with cheese — Brent is slowly learning. By 10:00am we were fully on our way and by 11:30am we were in Wal-Mart shopping for food and beer. We bought just enough beer to last us two nights of moderate drinking — an 18 pack of MGD and a 12 pack of Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat — and were on the road again. Checked into the room and suited up to fish by 1:45pm.

Friday afternoon might have been the best trout park fishing I have ever experienced in Missouri. In the two hours that we fished, Brent and I brought to hand a combined total of no less than 30 fish with many more lost. The fish we were catching were bigger than normal and also had a lot more fight in them, with many leaving the water more than once during the fight. A white mohair leech proved deadly for me on Friday, and Brent tore them up with a #16 tan scud. Towards the end of the day Friday, Brent and I were walking down the bank when a guy walking past asked if we belonged to the St. Louis Fly Tying Group on Yahoo. When someone recognizes you like that, it is either a good thing or a bad thing, but given McClane’s rise to celebrity on the past fishing trip we couldn’t deny that we were members of this internet possee. It turned out to be Dave Dawson, one of the few list members whom I had not had the pleasure of sharing water with yet. In true fashion, we all fished the big pool directly below the C&R area and Dave promptly caught a very nice fish on a glo-ball nonetheless. The whistle blew at 4:00pm and we walked back to the truck. We invited Dave to come up to the condo and tie flies with us later this evening after we have dinner at the Lodge. He agreed and the evening was set.

Montauk Lodge is a very interesting place. The food and atmosphere is great and the employees and patrons aren’t affraid to tell it like it is. McClane and I picked a table ordered a couple of steaks and while we were waiting on them, started a conversation with another set of fishermen next to us. From the looks of the two gents, they didn’t appear to have that good of a day and the conversation verified it. McClane and I had agreed we could have left at 4:30pm on Friday and the trip would have been a sweet success; but we didn’t know what we had in store for ourselves this evening. After chowing down the steaks, we got back to the condo and started tying up some flies. Dave Dawson arrived around 7:00pm. Dave is the owner of Eagles Park Campground, near the Tan Vat Access of the Current River, and one heck of an interesting fellow. The drinking and tying commenced (see photos). I won’t go in to much of the details, for it was a night that one had to experience for one’s self, but it was definitely interesting and we accomplished several things. First we actually tied some flies (I tied up a dozen #12 white mohair leeches); McClane and I learned that tying a Glo-Ball the Dave Dawson way takes a skill that at least one of the two drunk city boys doesn’t possess; we learned that Dave Dawson is a wealth of knowledge about the river and the area; we drank all the beer we had bought for the entire weekend (and Dave even brought over his own 12 pack — so that is like 42 beers between 3 guys); McClane in a fit of drunken rage baked a gooey butter cake and burned the bottom of it so bad we could have used it for a frisbee in the field down by the lodge. When McClane looked down at his watch and announced it was 2:30am, we were all in shock as the time just flew by. We picked up and it was off to bed to dream of fishes.

Montauk State Park & Current River (Licking, MO) — November 30, 2003

On the way home Friday (November 28), I got a voice mail from Brent McClane asking me if I had seen the email from Teak Phillips (a staff photographer / journalist with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch) wanting to do a story on winter trout fishing and wanting to tag along on a trip this weekend. Brent was kind enough to leave me Teak’s number so I called and set up to meet Teak at 6:30am on Sunday morning at the Denny’s in Eureka. Originally, Brent was not interested in going but given the opportunity to fish with a journalist he didn’t pass it up and quickly called me back while I was on the phone with Teak. We were both pretty pumped about the opportunity to fish with a journalist, and were really looking forward to this trip — although Teak assured me it wasn’t that big of a deal and he was going to fish a little too.

In talking with Brent on Friday night, we had decided to forgo the Maramec Springs Trout Park and Meramec River and fish Montauk and the Current instead — based mainly upon increased water flows and some recent good fishing reports. I got to Denny’s at 6:00am and still considered it a late start (normally I am at Denny’s by 4:30am waiting on Craig’s hung over ass to show up) and read the paper waiting on the others to arrive. Teak showed up promptly like a new fishing partner should, followed by Todd Butzlaff and then Brent (apparently Brent was supposed to ride with Todd, but due to his uncanny ability to not show up to anything without a camera on time he had to drive himself to Denny’s). After a good breakfast and conversation we split into two cars and were on our way to Montauk by 7am.

Teak and I rode down together, and chatted about fishing and hunting on the ride down. It wasn’t an interview but simply just two guys talking about fishing and hunting and getting to know each other — with Teak taking a couple pages of notes. Being an avid fisherman, he was just looking for some photos and some “filler” for his story. Teak and I were in the midst of solving all of Missouri’s trout fishing troubles when Todd’s Explorer pulls along side us and out the back window hung Brent’s bare naked ass. It has been some time since I have seen a full moon at 7:30am on I-44. I secretly wonder if Brent and Todd weren’t putting on a little show for the truckers and were just trying to hide it by pulling a prank as such. In all seriousness, I haven’t busted a gut that hard in a long time. Poor Teak probably didn’t know what to think — having just met us about an hour earlier. He definitely won’t forget this trip.

We got down to Montauk State Park around 9:30am and were suited up and fishing shortly there after. We started off fishing a shallow run of water and were sight fishing small soft hackles (#16 and #18 Partridge & Orange) and scuds (#16 Tan Scud) taking turns fishing the run in a rotation. Once you hooked a fish, foul hooked a fish, got hung up, or lost your fly you were out of the hole and the next guy in the rotation took a shot at the fish. Brent caught the first fish in the hole, then Todd, then me all while Teak was taking photos (trying to get the “work” out of the way). It was a fun way to fish, sight fishing to larger than average trout in shallow water. After we turned those fish off, after an hour or two, we hiked up to the Catch & Release area.

In the C&R area, we each caught fish. Why is it that while casting to a feeding 25″ fish I can find the only tree along that bank within 100 yards (those that fish there no the exact tree I am talking about) and lose 3 flies in a matter of 20 minutes — yelling curse words like a drunk sailor after each cast. I moved up to the outlet pipe and fished along with Brent and Todd for those monster fish hanging in there. This was true combat fishing among friends — and we would not have had it any other way. We each caught a few, Brent foul-hooked more than his fair share (I guess that is what happens when you fish 2 and 3 fly rigs — when will he learn it is streamer or bust), and Todd ended up with the most colorful (and biggest?) fish of the day. In an effort for Teak to avoid the tail water combat, he stayed back in the slower water fishing to rising / feeding fish with no one else around. He may have been the smart one.

We then headed back to check out the shallow run of water and see if the fish were back — they were not; so we each fished our own water for a bit. I went to the big pool just below the C&R area / road bridge and fished a leech in the pool. On the second cast I hook up with a nice rainbow and call Brent over to get some photos. Since he had just purchased an underwater housing for the camera, we decided to give it a try and take some underwater photos of me fighting the fish (see the photo gallery). We even got a close-up of the fish with my tan/ginger mohair in its mouth. It ended up being a nice fish (around 19″+ by Brent’s estimate) and we got some decent photos. Which leads me to my next epiphany while fishing with Brent — I don’t smile in photos, and even a decent fish doesn’t look that decent in photos of me and the fish (thanks to the term “husky”). I will need to work on both of them if I am ever to compete with Brent in the photo pimping contests. After landing the fish we met up with Teak and Todd and headed to the lodge to pick up drinks and crackers………and vienna sausages for Teak.

We ended up at the Blue Hole next in the fly fishing only area of Montauk. That was my first time fishing that section of water and man is it a neat little stretch of water. Craig and I will definitely be fishing there on the next trip. I ended up catching a few fish out of the hole on the tan/ginger mohair, including a real nice and fat fish (see photo of the fish next to my rod in the photo gallery) but I also noticed something. It appears that I may need to tie up some smaller mohairs as I get allot of short strikes — so I am going to tie up some #12 and #14 leeches and see what happens. Everyone but Teak took fish out of this hole, it was a fun spot to fish. On the way out, I spotted some large fish holding against a bank but the problem was that I was up on the road and Brent was down in the water. So we spotted for him while he fished to these fish (several nice fish) and it was then that Brent transformed into the true camera whore he is. Between all the photos Teak was shooting (actually the back lighting, scenery, and stream made it look really really cool) and Brent’s pimping for the camera, one would have thought that there was a GQ Fly Fishing photo shoot going on. Brent ended up taking one or two fish out of that hole, and by then it was 3:30 and I wanted to check out the water above Tan Vat.

Brent and Todd had never ventured very far above Tan Vat, and I wanted to show them the two nice runs that have been good to me in the past. We start walking through the field and get about half way there and then the bellyaching comes — Brent asks “Dude, are we going to have time to fish?” I didn’t want to comment, because I know secretly our new “camera whore” was only thinking of camera light and the chance for more photos — I wonder if Teak knows he created a monster. So Todd and I went up and fished the hole near the boulders while Brent and Teak stayed and fished the run near Tan Vat. Todd and I saw lots of fish, but couldn’t bring any to hand (I had one hook up and LDR) and opted to start wading down stream around 4:30 or so and checking on the other guys. Brent had landed one, and pumped its stomach and found an orange body caddis larva in its stomach (about a size 16 orange soft hackle with dark hackle), but didn’t have anything that looked like it. In a last ditch effort I fished the big pool above Tan Vat until about 5:15 and caught one largemouth bass on a mohair.

This was a great trip. Any time you get Brent, Todd, and I on the same trip it is going to be fun — but if you can’t take the trash talking you might as well stay home. Teak fit right in. It wasn’t at all like fishing with a journalist, but merely like fishing with another fishing buddy; hopefully we didn’t freak him out too much and he will join us again. For a day to do a story on winter trout fishing in Missouri, it wasn’t much of a winter day — the high was near 70 with sun most of the day and only periods of wind. But the type of weather we had today, is actually pretty common when fishing the winter months. The river changed from last year. The low water and then the recent high water changed the river a little, some of the holes have silted in a little and others have gotten a little bigger — much to be expected over the course of a year. Total stats for the trip ended up as follows — Brent landed 9 or 10 trout (only one Brown trout) all on soft hackles or scuds; Todd landed 10 or 12 trout (no Brown trout) mostly on soft hackles; Teak did not land a fish; and I landed 7 trout (no Browns) and 1 largemouth bass mostly on tan/ginger mohair leeches (and one trout on a partridge and orange soft hackle). We are already making plans for the next trip down to Montauk and the Current River to test out my new camper and fish for the weekend. I am already looking forward to the next hook-up.