Salmo trutta

There is something about trout fishing that gets into your blood. For weeks before a trip I am already preparing. Tying flies, cleaning lines, organizing fly boxes, etc. I have plenty of flies, my lines are already clean and fly boxes are already organized but I can't stop thinking about the trip.

This past week I was able to go trout fishing for the first time in 7 months. I didn't expect much from this trip as I usually have little success in the heat of the summer. If anything I was hoping for a relaxing trip and hopefully a few fish caught. Turns out that I would have one of the best fly fishing trips to this river.

Day 1
I make the 4 hour drive to one of my favorite trout streams in Missouri. I take the long way over to get a glimpse of some future smallmouth streams that I will fish someday. Missouri never ceases to amaze me at the natural beauty it contains, but it also disgusts me when I see shacks with piles of trash being thrown into ravines and poor land use. For a place with such great natural features, you would think the locals would take advantage rather then spend the weekends drinking down at the swimming hole.


Anyways, I started floating in the dark the next morning. The first few holes that normally produce were fishless this trip. I quickly started hooking into smaller sized rainbow trout and a few smallmouth bass on rapalas while I floating through slower water. I normally can catch a few big brown trout on them on this creek, but not this trip-only a couple small browns, rainbow trout and smallmouth bass. I string up my 8 wt and start playing around with some streamers. I immediately lose my first one to a rootwad. I tie on my go to streamer and quickly hook into a nice rainbow in the hole above the cabin.



Not far downstream I hook into a big brown on the same streamer. This one is a beauty.






After that fish I am feeling really good. There is nothing like catching fish on something that you created. About 50 yards downstream I catch another brown. This one looked HUGE when I first hooked it. Deep clear water has a way of magnifying the fish and makes it look bigger than it really is. But this fish wasn't small. It had another trout following it around after it was hooked that was every bit as big as it was. 21 inches or so. The hoop of my net is 19 inches and this fish is at least 2 inches longer than that.



I catch 2 or 3 more small browns that are about 15 inches or so. I set up camp along a great undercut bluff and spend the afternoon wade fishing up and downstream. After about 11:30 I catch no more brown trout, but plenty of rainbow trout.




The next morning starts out well with 2 nice browns 15-17 inches on nymphing rigs, so I head upstream to fish a bluff line and immediately start catching them.



This next fish was caught on a dropper from a larger fly, and as I fought the fish a 17+ inch rainbow trout took the lead fly. For a short while I was fighting 2 17+ inch trout at the same time!




I move my campsite further downstream once canoes and kayaks starting passing my camp. I catch a few more fish that evening, but otherwise it has slowed down after noon every day.

The next morning I endure a thunderstorm and hook 4 decent browns out of my campsite hole.






It was a great trip on a great river and I can't wait to get back. I love me some brown trout.

My favorite river

I treat myself to several solo floats a year, and I treated myself to one this past week. After finishing up my thesis I was ready for some much deserved fishing time. I floated for 3.5 days putting in on a Saturday afternoon and taking out Tuesday morning. Floating solo gives me the opportunity to move at my own pace. The weekend was especially hot, and I spent quite a bit of the days snorkeling and messing around with my waterproof camera.



Most fish were caught in places like this--shade and large chunk rock with nearby moving water. If you didn't know how to fish a spinnerbait the right way, you wouldn't have caught a fish for the trip.



I didn't really expect to catch much the first day, as this is an especially popular river on weekends. I could barely park or put in due the amount of people swimming at the launch. It didn't seem to affect the fish at all! I actually caught a nice 17 inch smallmouth out a popular swimming hole with about 20 people swimming in it. The fish jumped like crazy and pulled my solo canoe around for several seconds. The people swimming were very impressed.


Fish on this trip were aggressive, but VERY spooky. That wasn't really a surprise because the water is almost air clear in dead low water conditions.



It is and incredibly beautiful river.










I don't know why, but I always take a picture of the first fish I catch.



The fish I caught out of the swimming hole.




Largest fish of the trip 17.5 inches.



Early the second morning I drifted by these two snakes.

Rivers

I love to fish rivers, every single one I have ever been on is different. They may be generally the same in some areas, but each one has it's own identity. The state of Missouri has such a wide range of rivers...I wish I had time to see them all. I have floated all over the state--from the sluggish turbid northeastern Mississippi river tributaries to the clear spring fed creeks of the Ozarks. I have yet to make it to the south west part of the state, but it is only a matter of time.

Upper Current river in late September.



St Francis river


Jacks fork river




Eleven point river in December


I especially love the small streams. Wade fishing these streams takes me back to my childhood, every bend in the river has something new to see and another fish to catch. I will walk for miles down some creeks. I am almost always alone on most of the little creeks that I fish.


A small Mississippi river tributary in Southern Missouri


Another from a watershed farther to the south

I have a fishing addiction

I am sure that many fisherman will say that they are addicted to fishing. I'm not saying that they don't like to fish, but I can guarantee that I like it more.  It runs my life...While most men think about sex 5 times per minute, I think about fishing.  Not to say that I don't think about sex 5 times per minute, after all--I am a 28 year old man.




I have patterned my career after my interest in fishing.  Most with the addiction go the professional fisherman route. While I would enjoy that as much as the next person, competition angling would take away all of the things that I truly enjoy about the experience.  Tournaments bring out boats and crowds and that is exactly what I am trying to get away from when I go fishing.  Give me solitude on a small wading stream, or early morning sunrises alone in otherwise popular fishing spots.  I will fish in rain and thunderstorms, and drag my canoe down creeks that some people think are too small to even hold fish.  I travel hundreds of miles in search of incredible scenery and incredible fishing. 






I earned my master's degree in fisheries just to be a better angler. I specifically studied fish nutrition, but I studied everything I could possibly learn about fish. Habitat preferences, thermal tolerances, locations--you name it. I have put more time into studying angling then you could ever imagine. When I pull up to a boat ramp on a stream 4 hours away, I know without a doubt that I will be successful. Confidence? Of course, the best fisherman in the world will tell you that it is the most important of being a successful fisherman.



One of my favorite fishing spots involves a 2 mile hike down a horse path, past some incredible rock formations and waterfalls. The only time I make this hike is in the dead of winter. January through March, give me rain by the bucketfull. The more rain the better. Most fisherman can't wait for summer...I can't wait until those fair weather fisherman get off of the water.