In many respects, fly fishing in Missouri this year has been a story of the lack of rainfall in the second half of this year. While spring rains came pretty much as they usually do, for weeks on end during the summer and on into fall precipitation has been sorely lacking and anglers have witnessed changes in the behavior of trout and smallmouth as a result.
For instance Lebanon, Missouri in Laclede County, (home of Bennett Spring Trout Park) is in the middle of an area hardest hit by the drought as reported by weather watchers and news stations around Springfield, MO. Those resources call this an “exceptional” drought; the worst since 2012. It makes a fisherman appreciative of the fact that Missouri rivers like the Niangua, the Meramec, the Eleven Point, the Current, the Big and the Spring River, just across the state line in Arkansas, are spring fed and can still be fished even in a drought.
I, Al Harper, joined Steve Darr to see what we could do on the rain-starved Niangua River on October 17, 2023. Steve hired a knowledgeable and very competent guide he had used with great success before — Mike Kruse. His guide business is Missouri Fly Fishing Guide. (Website: Missouriflyfishingguide.com). Mike resides in Columbia, MO.
It was 38 degrees at 8 am when we launched in Mike’s beefed up, three-seater Flycraft inflatable drift boat. River water was about 15 degrees warmer than the ambient temperature and that resulted in the eerie visual that resembles wavy sheets of smoke rising slowly from the water surface. But it would be a comfortable 68 degrees by the time we took out downstream later that afternoon. Both Steve and I had fished this stretch of the Niangua below Bennett Spring at different times previously when the flow was much more robust and it really seemed like a very different waterway now with the low flow (only about 100 cubic feet per second).
While Steve and I both enjoy fishing streamers, that just wasn’t going to work in the shallow conditions we faced. Steve did get some good strikes on a crackleback at one point, but for the most part small beaded nymphs and hopper/dropper setups turned out to be the most productive solution this trip.
While Mike’s meticulously-tied foam hoppers could be difficult to see amid bubble lines at times, his frequent application of a good floatant agent helped alleviate that problem. And later in the day, as temperatures climbed, we got some good surface strikes on the hoppers too, so we were glad we stuck with them. Despite the anemic water flow, the Niangua is still a magnificent river. The fall colors highlight its natural beauty. At one point we witnessed four deer fording the river (ironically just at a spot Mike was hoping to find fish holding). Three antlerless deer were followed by a small buck. The rut in Missouri begins in earnest in a couple of weeks.
As mentioned earlier, Mike Kruse has an impressive resume with a long career as a fish biologist and administrator with MDC, an educator and involvement in international trout fishing championships in Europe as well (see his website for more details). He was a source of valuable information about not only the fish we were pursuing but about the river itself and just about everything else related to the natural environment surrounding us. At one point I was playing a bow that seemed more lethargic than others we hooked. Mike identified it, by its coloration, as a fish more recently stocked and therefore not as physically fit and active as others that had been fending in the wild for a while. He could also recognize a second generation trout spawned in the river and other species of fish thriving there.
For instance Steve snagged a strange looking fish called a Hogsucker, which is rarely caught because of the way it ingests food through an impossibly contorted mouth. Mike, of course knew all about the colorful species. And because we were fishing such small nymphs, we caught numerous varieties of shiners and chubs that many FATC anglers would recognize. Some of those less desirable fish actually grow fairly large on the Niangua and helped us hone our hook setting skills as we floated.
Due to the drought conditions we were dealing with, Mike often hopped out of the drift boat and pushed us through shallow shoals and ripples and a couple of tight sections choked with recently exposed structure. We also had to remember to cast farther away from the boat because the unusual degree of water clarity and more wary fish. Wade fishing was also possible in places it normally would not have been and we took advantage of that opportunity a few times as well.
Even contending with these conditions, we still caught a good number of fish. Admittedly, there were a few “long distance” releases as well but certainly we enjoyed enough strikes and hook sets to keep our interest over the course of the float. Hopefully the fall rains will come soon and our spring-fed rivers and their ecologies will be revived. Meanwhile I guess we anglers and our aquatic quarry will just have to make the best of things and persevere. See ya on the water.
