Another Grad Brings It Home Strong.
With the rain and cold weather behind us, we were ready to fish on Friday. This was Dan Blanton’s graduation trip, and he picked some good weather, or so we thought. Eleven of us signed up and were on our way to Montauk Friday morning: Dan Blanton, Ken Welter, Bill Byington, Vernon Preston (the turtle man), Scott Dougherty, Scott Payne, Harold Bates, Dave Rodecamp, Don Varner, Bob Hassett, and me, Jim Craig.
After leaving at our usual rendezvous point in Eureka, MO, we stopped at the Starbuck’s in Sullivan, MO, to pick up Dan. No, he wasn’t getting his morning coffee there. He and some of his family were camping at Maramec Spring Park for the weekend. After slowing down just enough to toss his gear in the back, we were back on the road.
Everyone bought their trout tags then met at the Naturalist Cabin to gear-up about 8:30 AM. But where was that beautiful weather that was in the forecast? Well, it hadn’t yet arrived. It was cool and windy—downright chilly. Nevertheless, fisherman who love to fish, fish no matter what the weather, and Dan was eager to hit the water. That’s my kind of fisherman.
Everyone headed to their favorite starting spots for the morning. Dan and I hoofed it to our FATC designated new guy area. On our walk to the boulder, Dan nailed all the questions about trip planning, aquatic insects, and water types. Did someone tip him off? Then the work began as we refined his casting, stripped wooly buggers, swung soft hackles, and dead drifted various nymphs and larvae. The fish teased him with some short hits on the wooly buggers and soft hackles. But, that gave Dan a chance to lighten up on his bass-set (he used to be a big-time tournament bass fisherman) and be ready to execute a “refined” trout set for when he gets a solid take. It didn’t take long. As we worked the water below the boulder, we saw some active fish and switched back to a wooly bugger. Bang, fish # 1, then bang, fish #2. OK, now he has the quick but not hard trout set figured out. There was just enough time before lunch to practice dead drifting. Dan got that technique figured out pretty quickly. But the fish were not interested in the little midges we offered. Since the water was a little off color and the fish previously hit the larger WB, we switched to a gray crane fly larva (CFL). Bang, fish #3. Dan was on a roll, but it was nearly time to walk back for lunch. With just a couple more casts Dan netted his fourth fish of the morning.
Catching four fish for a graduation morning is pretty solid, so Dan had lots to be proud of at lunch. All the guys shared what worked and what didn’t work that morning, and all agreed the absence of other fisherman (besides our 11 FATC guys) made it a pleasure to be on the water. Yes, we all complained about the wind and the challenges it presented, but now the sun had come up and it was time to shed some layers for the afternoon.
Dan and I headed to the spring so I could show him the upper fly fishing only area. He hardly waited for me to get in the water before he shouted, “fish on.” He didn’t miss a step with that gray CFL. Now we were both catching fish, but something had significantly changed. Did a bus just let out on the river? I guess campers were arriving for the weekend. We got pushed off our area by all the spin fishermen. We jumped all the way down to the cut bank and caught a few more until the same fisherman walked in on us again. So, we jumped down to the power lines. We caught a few more before – you guessed it. Now the river was crowded ahead of us down through Walter’s Stretch and the boulder. But, that’s OK. We kept hooking fish, if we made a solid presentation down deep. –If you think you might be having trouble with your presentation, get a hold of a FATC mentor in advance of a trip for an hour or two on-the-water brush-up session.– It was a good afternoon with warmer temperatures and highlighted Vernon’s unique catch, a soft-shelled turtle. See the accompanying picture.
The day ended with a delicious and fast dinner at the Pizza Inn in Salem, MO. They are always ready with hot pizza, a big salad bar and lots of dessert choices, including ice cream, even for a large group like ours.
It was a typical day for fly selection at Montauk. Fish were caught on a wide variety of flies such as the House of Payne, yellow egg, blue and black wooly bugger, the big Hurt, cerise worm, orange CFL, chartreuse CFL, gray CFL, and lots more flies the guys used, but I don’t remember. With the water still a little off color and running a little high, the fish did seem to favor larger and/or brighter colored flies.
The weather is warming so now is a comfortable time to be on the water. Even when it got a little crowded, we still caught fish. Jump on one of the many graduation trips on the FATC calendar and treat yourself to a rewarding day on the water with your friends.
