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3. Missouri Winter Fishing

I just came back from the grocery store with the latest editions of Fly Fisherman and American Angler...dreaming of spring already...*sigh*...

Jonathon

It may not be good form to some, but egg patterns (or glo-bugs if you like) often work very well on the Current, and I have little hesitancy to use them.

Day three:
During the previous two days I had been mesmerized by an all day hatch of the ubiquitous Midge. The fish were lined up along the slow water, tight to the bank, eagerly taking any dry presented in the 22 to 24 size range. But today the hatch had been cancelled; evidently I hadn’t paid sufficient homage for my previous success. No, today the cap on the aquatic world had been sealed, what had once been rife with excitement was now depressingly void. So, I reluctantly decided to nymph my way up into the Red Gorge, trying some of the more turbulent water. As I slowly advanced my offense, working up river, it became increasingly evident that my tactics were lacking. It was fast approaching the noon hour, and all effort to this point was of no avail. I began frantically searching the deepest recesses of my mind, trying to coerce from memory that perfect combination of imitation and presentation, that would pique the pea brained Pisces to pick-up. It was then, while I was going through one of my many fly boxes, I think for the second time, that I noticed an old salmon egg imitation, buried at the bottom of a mass of tangled flies. I hadn’t seen it in years. Many years ago, as a neophyte, I had used this despicable thing. It was on a private stretch of the Frying Pan from which I had wretched a twenty-seven inch Rainbow, my biggest fish to date. When I say “wretched” what I mean to say is; can you imagine catching the fish of a lifetime on a salmon egg imitation? It kind of takes the wind out of your sail doesn’t it? Well anyway, I thought I’d eliminated all trace of this incriminating evidence long ago. My worst fear was that one of my fishing buddies would spot this in my box; I may as well have been carrying a jar of the real stuff. Surely I would have been shunned, if not down right banished, by my fellow elitists. I grabbed my forceps and deftly plucked it from its place, reveling in the sweet-sour memory it produced. It was at that very instant that it suddenly hit me. Now at this point some of the more astute fly fishers might be thinking, that I was thinking, of trying this salmon egg. I can assure you that I would never stoop that low. Can you imagine how I would feel if I caught an even bigger fish on the damn thing?

Motrout, Nice photos. it would be fun to do some winter fly fishing. Not an option usually here in Alaska where I live.

C'mon, below zero? That is not all that bad...:) On Christmas Eve I went ice fishing without a hut at -30F. Bad idea. I was fine, but my one buddy got frostbite on his toes. The other one was fine also. I didn't fell sorry for him. He wanted to go ice fishing and also he wanted to experience -30 to -40F. He ended up experiencing -48F while he was up visiting, much to the consternation of us residence. I am not complaining though. it has been a balmy 20-28F above this whole week and no wind.

Jonathon,

I forgot to tell you I drove over to Willow Run last Saturday. I did the Winter Bird Count at Kent Lake and decided to head down to Ypsi because they had spotted some Snowy Owls down there. They said there were three, but I saw just one.

Motrout, I won't flaunt my "Alaska resident" card to much here. :) For me -5 is about my cut-off for most outdoor activities. Once it gets below that, everyone needs to be more careful about what clothing they wear, exposure, etc. My favorite temperature for most things winter things is about 15 to 25F.

ice in the guides makes it about unworkable..

That is wrong! :) There you all are down there seeing snowy owls! I haven't seen one of those things for years! They are amazing birds.