Our last Taneycomo trip of the Spring was one to remember. Originally going to be called Grumpy Old Men 3 since the  youngest fly fisher in this group was 62 years old.  In our eleven years we have had Grumpy Old Men trip 1 & 2 so it was time for #3 with these old coots. But things happened, encouragement abound and there was no way that these guys were grumpy. As a matter of fact, with all that happened on this trip, they should have been grumpy but they were not – thank you!

We departed on Friday morning (April 6th) without one fly fisher – Tim McCoy – who separated his shoulder the night before. Sorry Tim, we hope you are doing well. So with two cars loaded, Bill Lowry, Miles Meyer, James Mitchell, Paul Schneider and Kenny Klimes headed (the correct way) to Taneycomo.  With all the rain there was no chance to fish Taneycomo so we headed for Bennett spring to fish a few hours on Friday.  Bennett was fairly empty so we fished mainly up near the spring.  The water was high, slightly fast and off colored  so Kenny suggested go “big and gawdy” and recommended the rubberlegged stonefly.  Good choice since it worked well for most.  The fish caught were bigger than average – most were in the 14 inch range. As the sun went lower in the sky the temps dropped and we departed by 4pm to get to the condo in Branson.  After dinner we made plans for the next day with a forecast of SNOW and cold.

On Saturday, we woke to snow on the ground and temps in the 20’s. Four of us decided to press on to Roaring River State park as James, not one for the cold weather, bowed out of fishing for the day. We found out later in the evening that this would save our butts.  It was very cold when we started our fishing day at Roaring river but warmed up nicely after lunch. We had the entire fly only area to ourselves.  The water was slightly higher than normal which is good and the fish were loaded in this area.  The water was fairly clear so it was suggested to “hunt” for the fish and only work areas where fish have been seen.  This really paid off and lots of fish were caught (and lost). the top fly seemed to be “the son of san juan” or as the guys liked to call it “the son of Sam”.  Tiny San Juan worms and midges seemed to be the ticket. It was a very successful day – even Bill said,”we need to fish here more often!”  Easy Bill, it’s not always this good.

We finished fishing around 5pm and started to drive the hour trip back to Branson – BUT… The old green suburban started to rumble and the engine sounded like we blew a piston or something. As I write this it is being looked at by a garage in Branson and the verdict isn’t in yet – does it live or die. It has been a faithful fishing car for all of us for years so please keep the green machine in your prayers. Since James didn’t go with us we were able to contact him AND Miles left his keys in the condo. James drove Miles car and found us in Blue Eye, Missouri.  The four rode back together as Kenny went with the tow truck.  We didn’t eat dinner until after 10:30pm but we did get to celebrate James’ 74th birthday.

Happy Birthday James!!

Because of the car situation, Kenny had to rent a car to get home and the gang made it’s way back. We planned to fish on Sunday but with the car situation the guys were gracious and helped Kenny get back to take care of his car instead. So, no grumpy old men on this trip.  There is still hope for the green machine but only time will tell.

 

UPDATE on The Green Suburban:  The Fishing mobile is dead.  Broke the crankshaft…RIP.