Well, the goal was to get six FATC members graduated from our fly-fishing class in a five-day period. Did Kenny bite off more than he could chew – God thought so.  So, God stepped in with a little rain to dampen the hopes of this endeavor. Good thing He did!

The plan was to get five guys graduated by Saturday morning and throw one more in the barrel on Monday. Kenny could not do it by himself, so he called in his “right hand man”, Jim Craig, to help him.  The plan was to graduate two guys on Thursday, two on Friday, one on Saturday and one on Monday. And the rains came.

Kenny double taught Bryan Brush and George Jost on Thursday. Jim came in Thursday night and stayed overnight with Kenny in the Ritz-Carlton in Salem, MO. The next morning, they taught Marty Sidenstricker and Dave Rodecap. And the rains came. On Friday Tim Welsh joined them on the water too.  So here is what happened.

Thursday called for rain all day. We departed STL and the thunderstorms were roaring. But as we cleared Bourbon (the town not the drink!!!) the skies opened up and the rains stopped. We all met at the Montauk Lodge, bought our tags, and headed up to the naturalist cabin to dress. But not before Kenny found the ultimate gift shop item – a gold Ranger badge!! Oh, the guys who “cheat” on the river are in TROUBLE now. There is a new Sheriff in town!

As the front came through the area the fishing became tough. Both Bryan and George graduated early and then had to work hard the rest of the day.  We worked on all the techniques before lunch and then Kenny checked the radar on his phone. “Boys, I think we better get back for lunch and under cover – like now”.  And then the rains came.  A light rain interspersed with heavy rain became the weather in the afternoon – but we fished.  I think they enjoyed the day. Marty showed up at the end of the day and we all decided to hit the Mexican restaurant in Salem (not bad). We retired for the evening agreeing to meet tomorrow to try again. Jim showed up about 9pm and now Kenny had help to continue for the rest of the weekend.

Friday called for rain all day. We met at the lodge and now it was Marty and Dave’s turn in the barrel. Kenny grabbed Dave and Jim had Marty for the day. Same routine as we went over all the techniques. Marty graduated on his first cast – that could mean bad luck you know? Dave waited to graduate a little later in the day! And the rains came. Tim Welsh joined us and both Brian and George practiced their “fishing” techniques for the rest of the day. The river was definitely rising as each hour passed by and the flow increased. Everyone worked extra hard to catch fish despite the rain pouring down at times. About 3pm Jim and Marty, looking like drowned rats, called it quits. But Dave was determined to put one more rainbow in the net and they went until about 3:30pm. UNCLE!!

Everyone met at the naturalist cabin to get “undressed”, and plans were made for future trips. Tim had three rainbows in the afternoon as he went up stream from the Spring. A location rarely fished by anyone. He enjoyed the day. Since Marty, George and Bryan were staying one more night we left them at Montauk. Tim had to head straight home as Kenny, Jim and Dave agreed to have Mexican food one more time at El Nopal in Sullivan, MO. 

Oh yeah, the other two graduates – well, they were called and told that by the time they showed up to Montauk the next day the water would be over their heads. And rightly so as we checked the river level the next morning it was on its way over 8 feet. Well, sometimes it rains!