Hey Hall of Fame family,
Spring is getting closer! Check out our last blog post here, where I wrote about other fun things to combat cabin fever in the winter besides fishing. Trout season is upon us here in Missouri, and the fish are fired up! If you can brave the crowds of people and actually find a spot to cast, filling a stringer should be no issue. A friend of mine and I recently took a day trip to one of our Missouri state trout parks, and the fishing was amazing! Here's how our day went.
Bright and early at 6 am, we started off at a fly fishing only blue ribbon trout stream known for it's wild rainbow trout. Even though it's public, I won't name this spot, as it is not stocked and the regulations are much tighter than at the hatchery streams. I figured it wouldn't be as busy as any of the popular state parks, and I was right. My friend and I had the place to ourselves, granted it was early. We watched the sunrise from the stream as we started fishing, working downstream from the spring. As the morning went on and after about two hours without a bite or seeing a single fish, we called an audible. The plan was to drive 45 minutes south to Montauk, a state park that was sure to be packed with people, as it was the second weekend of trout season. We fished our way back out of the stream, and my friend hooked a very small bluegill from one of the deeper holes. We laughed about it, but I was really hoping we could turn the day around at Montauk. Last year, Montauk State Park and the hatchery was closed due to severe flooding on the Current River. I figured the river would look different, but I did not know how the old spots I like to fish would look now.
My friend and I arrived at Montauk by 9:30 am. It wasn't as crowded as I was expecting, but there was still a decent amount of people fishing. By 10, we acquired our trout tags and were in the water. I could tell much construction had taken place since the flooding, and sand covered the ground everywhere. Caution barriers, silt fences, and construction equipment dotted the park, showing signs of restoration efforts since the bad flooding. We started fishing near Hatchery Outfall #2. I was still fly fishing, but my friend switched to a small Rapala trout crankbait. In the first hatchery outfall hole, I saw more trout than I could count. A lot of them were small, but I was like a kid in a candy store. Before I knew it, I'd landed 10 fish on my fly rod, and my friend was keeping pace right down the stream from me. I set the hook on the 11th fish, lost it, and then lost my fly to a tree above me. Not wanting to tie on a new leader, I went back to my truck to grab my BFS rod.
I had a white rooster tail tied on, but I don't really think it mattered. The trout were eating anything that moved. I caught another 15 or so trout on my BFS setup in the next hour, as we worked downstream from the hatchery. It was around 12 pm noon by this time, and I was starving. I took a break to scarf down two PBJ sandwiches before switching rods yet again. (I only brought 3, sheesh). After lunch, we headed up towards the spring. I grabbed the third rod, my ultralight. I tied on a small chartreuse fly spinner that I found at a different trout park. We fished down from the top of the accessible area, but it was 'slow'. This area looked completely different since I'd last fished it. The deep spots were mostly gone, and the streambed was mostly shallow, flat, and featureless. We'd only caught 3 or 4 fish combined in this half mile stretch of stream, and decided to go back to the Hatchery Outfall #2. This was the best decision we could've made.
We stayed around this same area the rest of the day, catching fish constantly. It was rare to have a cast without at least getting a bite. I was still throwing the spinner on my ultralight, and my friend had switched between a few lures and nightcrawlers. By 3pm, I had caught 49 trout, and my friend stopped counting at 60 trout, 1 bluegill, and 1 goby. It was a great day of fishing, and I couldn't have asked for better. All the trout we caught were rainbows, but we did see a couple large brown trout near the hatchery. Those wouldn't bite, unfortunately. My friend and I caught over 100 fish by the time we called it a day. I was happy as could be catching trout all day long! I hope you enjoyed reading this adventure, and as always, tight lines!
-Erik Hoffman, Hall of Fame Outdoor Co