Just Another Great Day on the River with FATC

Date:	March 6, 2025

Fishing Location:	Maramec Spring State Park and the Meramec River outside the park

Weather:	Typical early spring day. It started off about 32°F then warmed into the high 40s to low 50s. Light breeze and partly cloudy.

Fishermen:	Michael Gordon, Bob Born, Bob Hassett, Don Varner, Harold Bates, Kenny Klimes, and Jim Craig

Effective Techniques and Flies:	Just about every technique (nymphing, streamers, dry fly, Euro nymphing) worked. Effective flies included, the salmon color San Juan worm, olive micro-leach, olive Mayer’s mini-leach, soft hackle, Griffith’s Gnat, olive leech, yellow egg, orange egg, cerise worm, blowtorch, olive egg sucking leech (orange bead), olive mohair leech, Barr’s emerger, x-caddis, and cerise worm.

Fellowship Dinner:	East Sun Chinese Buffet in Cuba, MO – Fast and delicious! (yes, they even had ice cream!)

The Rest of the Story:	* It was a typical early spring day that started cool but warmed up nicely in the afternoon. * Six of us started the morning by fishing the river. Kenny and Michael continued fishing the river through lunch and into the afternoon. They consistently caught fish all the way to dry creek. * The rest of us gathered for lunch in the park, and then we enjoyed having the part to ourselves for the afternoon. The fish were biting all day. * Everyone caught fish, some caught lots of fish. This was Bob Born’s first trip to Maramec Spring Park, and he certainly had these fish figured out. I personally watched him catch double-digit numbers of fish in the afternoon. * The fish outside the park were generally small. Inside the park, we saw many and caught several 17”-18” fish. All were rainbows, but I know of about 8 browns we caught outside the park. * Recently, FATC has been suffering an epidemic of sorts. The last time I went fishing, two of us fell in (including me) and this time three of us fell in. Here’s what we learned: + There are only those who have fallen in and those who will (so heed my next point). + Guys wearing cotton (jeans, hoodies, etc.) got cold and were at serious risk of hypothermia, even on a spring day such as this. NO COTTON! + Pack a full change of clothes (including socks, underwear and a small towel) in your gear bag. * The days are getting warmer and warmer. NOW is the time to organize your own FATC trip or jump on board one that is already posted. This is one of the reasons you joined FATC, right? So, enjoy the fellowship

Submitted By:	Jim Craig