What is it like to experience bone chilling weather with awesome fellowship? Well, it just makes me believe more and more in this fellowship of men. The weather went from 75 degrees a few days ago to very cold, humid weather. The kind of weather that chills you to the bone. But that did not stop eleven of our guys from making the long trek to Montauk State Park for our “first trip” to the area after the “crazy” opening day of catch and keep season.
Pete Drochelman, Jim Craig, Scott Payne, Kenny Klimes, Bob Hassett, Denny Garner (new graduate), Bill Lowry, Dan Staggenborg, Don Varner, Barry Dunnegan, and Tim Welsh headed down to Montauk and were greeted by a pretty empty park. The trip was to graduate Denny Garner after he completed our Winter 2022 fly fishing class. The night before the area had some heavy rain and the river was higher, less clear, and faster than normal. But we were not worried about all that – we just wanted to catch fish.
The morning was good for some as they headed to their favorite spots early. Kenny took Denny above the dam to work on his casting and teach the different techniques used in fly fishing. Denny did well but the trout seemed to be “lock-jawed” after the cold front passed through the night before. There were very few trout rising so the gang went down low to where the fish were hiding. We all met for lunch at the usual “Stag” tables and discussed the strategy for the afternoon. Oh yeah, by the way, it was still cold. All the guys spread out again throughout the fly only area and most did much better in the afternoon. Denny pulled in three nice trout to graduate and lost a few more that decided to “humble” him a little. Some of the successful flies were the Copper John (no Denny, not the Papa John), Soft Hackle Hares Ear, Cerise worm, House of Payne, and the “bead” just to name a few.
We decided to stop fishing at 4:30 (thank you because did I say it was cold?). It was a good day with a lot of trout in the net. So, we decided to go to Salem for Mexican food. Great fellowship and laughs around the table during dinner. On weekdays (especially Mondays) the park crowds should be low until about the beginning of May but after that it may be time to head outside the parks to fish. Either way get out there and take advantage of our Missouri outdoors. And Congrats to our latest graduate, Denny Garner!!
