On what was one of the coldest weeks in a long time here in Missouri, Al Angiocchi fished Montauk State park. We had a FATC group scheduled to join him but we all backed out due to the extreme cold temperatures – thus we became “sissies”. And rightly so….  Here is Al’s report:

 

For the last 10 years or so I have been going with a group of guys on an annual Winter Float/Trout Fishing/Weekend with the Boys, over the MLK weekend.  This year we decided to skip the floating part (old age is catching up with all of us) and just camp at Montauk State Park.

We got down there early Thursday afternoon and set up camp.  Started fishing just outside the park.  I got my first Rainbow and a nice little Brown swinging a Renegade.  The Brown was fun to watch as he came from about 4 foot out to take my fly.

The cold front came in as we were fishing.  The wind sounded like a freight train, the sky got dark and the temperature dropped about 20 degrees in less than 5 minutes.  It was awesome!

Fished Friday above and below the damn.  Got 10 nice Rainbows on the Renegade and an Olive Leech.

On Saturday I fished the upper section of the Fly Only area and got skunked.  Very frustrating because you could see them and they chased but never took a fly.  One of the guys said he did well behind the Lodge with a small red Copper John.  I later learned that he meant the Old Mill not the Lodge.

Woke Sunday morning to a light snow fall with an in inch or so already on the ground.  After a nice breakfast of pancakes and eggs and hot coffee at the Lodge I started fishing at the parking lot behind the hatchery.  This is where I thought my buddy meant when he said behind the Lodge.  As would be expected there were a lot of fish feeding near the hatchery outlet.  I got quite a few sight fishing with a chamois worm.

I worked my way down to the area behind the Lodge and found it to be a flat run about 4 foot deep with a mostly silt bottom and not many fish.  Got down to the bridge going to the campsites and worked the riffles there with no luck.  So back to the hatchery outlet for a last hurrah of the day.

Monday morning it snowed again as we broke camp.  My spinning gear buddies fished a little with jigs behind the Mill and around the damn with moderate success.  I was all packed so I passed on the fishing and just explored the area.

If you have the right gear I highly recommend a winter float trip or just camping as we did this year.   With the snow the woods are beautiful, peaceful and serene, a great fishing experience.