There Is Always Something to Learn
by Brian Ellis
On Wednesday May 21st Marvin Hays completed his graduation trip at Montauk State Park. I, Brian Ellis, had the privilege of being his instructor for the day. Joining us for the day were Ken Welter, Scott Morris, and Sid Aslin.
Sid was there camping in the Montauk area for a few days and met us at the lodge, first thing, when we purchased our tags. The water was up after the area received a two-inch rainfall a couple of days earlier. Sid called me the night prior to the trip and reported that the stream was running a few inches high and off color but was still fishable.
Ken Welter joined us for our last graduation trip and returned to take advantage of the remaining trout deposited from the November floods. Scott Miller recently graduated during the fall FATC class. He seems to have developed an enthusiasm for fly fishing and has already been on several FATC trips, but this was his first visit to Montauk State Park.
Our graduate Marvin is an avid fly fisher and has over 50 years of experience. Although he has celebrated eighty birthdays, he is very spry, agile, and is in excellent shape, which is something that he has always worked at. What an inspiration to the rest of us? He still runs a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) company that he founded over a quarter of a century ago, however, he’s able to fish as much as he wishes.
Marvin has been fishing Montauk, Current River and other Ozark streams for decades. In fact, he had fished Montauk twice already since the March 1st season opener. During the drive on the way down and back, I picked Marvin’s brain on the vast experience that he has had fishing in Colorado where he makes several trips every year and belongs to the Rocky Mountain Angling Club which provides exclusive access to private waters on several streams.
I first met Marvin during Kenny’s FATC fly fishing classes and during the casting class it was obvious that he had a great deal of experience. Before the trip I asked him how I might help him as his instructor. He mentioned two things; he wanted to improve his roll casting, and he wanted additional advice on reading the water. It just goes to show you; there is always something to learn. We covered both topics.
As a casting instructor, I’m passionate about fly casting. I believe that the more proficient one is at fly casting, the more they will enjoy the sport. Roll casting is an important skill to have for many of the small streams that we fish in the Ozarks. Two important tips regarding roll casting are to put as much of the line as possible in the “D” loop behind you and secondly, lift most (but not all) of the line off the water when making a roll cast. After the trip, I emailed Marvin links to a couple of YouTube videos emphasizing these points. He pledged to be much better by the next time we fish together.
We started the day fishing in the fly only water just above the power lines in slack water (Hudson’s Corner). Marvin showed me his fly boxes, full of flies that he mostly tied himself. Very impressive! He tied on a Wooly Bugger and gave it a go. From the recent rains, the water was too murky to see fish. Unfortunately, someone else had beat us to the spot for the morning and had thoroughly worked that water before we arrived. We covered some streamer techniques and had only one bump from a fish but no fish in the net. I could see fish moving on the far bank, but the distance was difficult to manage. We moved about 70 yards upstream and worked on some nymphing techniques. Marvin had a few solid hits on the nymphs but missed them so still no fish to the net.
Next, we moved to the catch and release area which was still full of fish deposited from the November floods and Marvin netted several fish there. However, the trick was to hook some of the less numerous larger fish. Several flies worked, but Marvin did best fishing a tandem set a worm flies. He put on both a standard red San Juan worm and his own natural colored chamois (i.e. shammy) worm that he tied himself. The chamois fly was clearly preferred by the fish. Note to self: fish the chamois fly more often like I used to. The moving water of that section of the stream was useful for Marvin to practice his mending techniques. I reminded him not to neglect the ariel reach mend before the fly lands on the water, which made his drifts much more effective.
When it was time for lunch, we headed over to the Dan Stag tables to meet up with the rest of our FATC brothers.
After lunch, Marvin and I headed over to the bait area behind the lodge that received the bulk of the hatchery first from the November floods. We waded over to the far side of the island where Marvin landed several fish. I managed to snap a couple of photos of Marvin with fish, but he managed to drop six fish before I could snap his photo with them. We just laughed it off. What can we do. The high, fast, water in that section made the wading challenging and Marvin asked to fish somewhere else.
Next, we tried fishing at the mill dam hole. That section has changed since the November floods. The pool is now longer, slower, and deeper. With the recent rains, the water was still too murky to see fish. We didn’t have any success there and didn’t see anyone else catching fish either. We decided to change fishing holes once again.
We were about to finish up for the day and Marvin suggested I fish also. Marvin suggested we attempt to fish an area that he successfully fished after the Spring opener and that was the stretch below the road bridge and the bend behind the Montauk Mill in the bait fishing area. This area also received a shot of hatchery escapees from the November floods as it was only a couple of hundred yards upstream of the hole we fished behind the lodge earlier. There were still some good fish in the area we each managed to hook one of them. Unfortunately, Marvin’s slipped away before I could get a photo. I photographed mine, a nineteen incher in my net just prior to us rapping up the day.
When we all met back up at the cars at 5 PM, everyone seemed to have enjoyed the beautiful Spring day of fishing.
Marvin chose Bob’s Country Kitchen in St. James for his graduation dinner. None of the rest of us had been there before but Marvin knows the place from his numerous visits during fishing trips. He stated that their breakfast is awesome. The food was very good with generous proportions.
