Montauk State Park
Fishing Reports This page was updated 11/17/11
This report was submitted by Ben C. of Columbia on 10/12/11
Date of Trip: 10/7/11 Times Fished: 8:00am - 1:30pm Air Temperature: Comfy Weather: Sunny Water Level: Average Water Clarity: Gin clear Successful Baits: Red Zebra Midge
It was a perfect day on the river! The high
temperature was in the low 80s and there was a nice
breeze all day long. I started fishing around 8 AM below the bridge by
Campground Loop 1, using a #18 red zebra midge. In
the first hour, four nice trout around 12" came to
the net, but I missed several more hookups. Slow
reaction time, I guess.
A few more fishermen started showing up, so I moved
to the slow-moving pools behind the hatchery building
and found myself alone... On the first cast, I
landed the biggest fish of the day - a fat 15"
rainbow. I caught and released a few smaller
rainbows in the same pool before the action slowed.
From there, I followed the dirt roads through the
woods and got back in the river up toward the
headwaters and landed several more fish in the
13"-14" range.
All in all, I ended up landing 14-15 fish, keeping a
nice stringer for the grill at home... I already
have the next trip booked for a few weeks from now!
Sounds like a great trip. Thanks Ben.
This report was submitted by George Magyar of Newburg on 10/18/10
Date of Trip: 10/14/10 Times Fished: 9:00am - 4:00pm Air Temperature: Balmy Weather: Sunny Water Level: Very Low Water Clarity: Gin clear Successful Baits: Marabou Jig, Ginger Wooly Bugger, Pink Glo-bug
My wife and I arrived at the park around 8:30 AM.
After buying our tags we went to the fly water just
above the falls. Instead of fishing with my fly rod
on the "easy side" where all the other fly fishermen
were fishing, we went on the opposite side and
fished. We had on marabou jigs. I caught four nice
trout, my wife caught three. After breaking for lunch
we went up to th catch and release zone. I had tied
up some ginger colored wooly buggers and could not
wait to use them. I caught 10 trout on that fly, and
5 were lunkers over three pounds! I would drift the
wooly downstream in the swift water and as the wooly
swung through the "cut" in the fast water I would
keep the fly just under the surface as I stripped
line making the fly dance back and forth just under
the surface. The trout could not stand it and would
viciously attack the wooly. I caught four more trout
up in the lake area using a marabou. My wife had two
on a marabou, and three more on a pink glo ball.
Overall I caught 18 trout, and my wife caught 10.
What a day!
Wow! Hope you got some good pics! Thanks again George.
This report was submitted by George Magyar of Newburg on 4/15/10
Date of Trip: 4/14/10 Times Fished: 1:30pm - 5:00pm Air Temperature: Balmy Weather: Sunny Water Level: Above Average Water Clarity: Slightly Clouded Successful Baits: Wooly Bugger, Brown Jig
My wife and I arrived at the park around 12:30 pm, and
after buying our tags and eating lunch we headed to
our favorite spot just above the dam in the fly
fishing zone. I tied on an olive/black wooly bugger
and hooked a nice trout on the third cast. My wife
was using a brown jig and was having a lot of
"lookers" but no takers. When I caught my trout that
started a stampede of people invading our space. As a
matter of fact there was even this one goof ball that
had a silver and neon blue Little Cleo spoon on
casting away in the fly only zone! Oh well, what do
you do?
Well the wife and I went up to the catch and
release zone where the action was more "civilized"
There was a lot of people up there too, but at least
they were respectful and didn't crowd in to on our
space. I caught another nice trout on a wooly bugger
and had several trout rise to a tan midge, but I
wasn't able to get a hook set on any. There was a
nice hatch on at the time, and from what I observed
they were Olive and Blue-winged dun that were
hatching out. Whatever they were, the trout loved
them! Anyway, I scored two nice trout and two other
"takers" and my wife had a nice trout on a brown jig.
I did notice that the stream was absolutely covered
with oak and mulberry pollen from the recent bloom.
The air was so full of the pollen that you could see
it drifting through the air. After 4 1/2 hours of
breathing this stuff my lungs had enough and I had to
seek relief. Not a bad day, but I imagine next time I
will get there early and bring my allergy medication!
'Tis the season for fishin' & sneazin'! :-)
This report was submitted by George Magyar of Newburg on 3/25/10
Date of Trip: 3/23/10 Times Fished: 12:30pm - 5:30pm Air Temperature: Balmy Weather: Sunny Water Level: Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Olive/Black Wooly Bugger, Bedspread Glo-bug
My wife and I arrived at the park about noon, and after a brief lunch we headed up to the fly water near the falls. I had a newly purchased Cabela's fly rod outfit I wanted to try out, so I put on an olive and black wooly bugger that I had tied up the week before. BAM! A trout whacked it before I knew what happened. I managed to roll him but the hook set was poor and he got off. Another cast, BAM! Same thing happened. Oh well, at least they were biting. My wife played around with a jig and hooked a couple of small trout. Later we both went up to the catch and release water to try our luck at some bigger fish. We had the whole place to ourselves. I kept the wooly on, but my wife put on a bedspread glo ball and just tore up the trout. In fact when the glo ball would hit the water every trout in the hole would charge over to it to see what it was. She caught four nice trout on it. I stayed with my trusted olive/black wooly and just had a ball. I caught a dozen trout up there on that wooly bugger! I can tell you there is no bigger rush than catching a fish on a lure that you made yourself. I had a blast. Together we caught about 20 fish total, and had a great time doing it. The mighty olive/black wooly bugger rules!
Sounds like a great time George! Thanks for letting us know about it.
This report was submitted by Brett __________ of Troy on 3/17/10
Date of Trip: 3/10 to 3/12/10 Times Fished: All day Air Temperature: Comfy Weather: Sunny Water Level: Above Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Rubber Worms, Dough Bait
The weather was nice for the most part -- just cloudy and such --but I never let weather keep me from enjoying myself. It was nice to get back into the waders and fish the river. Very few people were there during my time, so I enjoyed the open waters. Catching the fish was not hard nor the problem I had with the fishing this past trip. My biggest problem this time around was the size of the fish they where releasing. But I love fishing of all kinds. I just love the relaxation of it, so small fish or not I had a great time. I still managed to catch a fish or two that was a pound or better.
Thanks for the report Brett. The hatchery stock cycles through two broods -- one from the spring and one from the fall. When they start stocking from a specific brood, those fish are still fairly small. As they work their way through that brood, they'll get bigger every day, until they're stocking 15-inch fish. Then, suddenly, they'll run out of that brood and move on to the next, and the fish will suddenly be on the small side again. Annoying when your trip corresponds with small fish time, but no way around it, sad to say.
This report was submitted by Ken _________ of St. Louis on 3/2/10
Date of Trip: 3/1/10 Times Fished: 6:30am - 1:00pm Air Temperature: Chilly Weather: Overcast Water Level: Below Average Water Clarity: Slightly clouded Successful Baits: Rubber worms
Well, opening day was as usual crazy with people. The governor was there to start the year off with a bang -- he shot the gun to begin the season. We didnt bother to try and belly up but let a few people clear out before we really got started. We saw alot of lunkers caught that day. I heard they released some 60 lunkers, and got to see a guy land one in the white oak hole. I caught a lot of fish but most were small. I caught one that was so small it looked like it still had stripes on it. We all did get our limit with some decent fish for the frying pan and had a good time. It just goes to show that the saying is true. Even a bad day fishing beats a good day at work. So keep fishing.
Will do! Thanks Ken.
This report was submitted by Justin _________ of Columbia on 2/8/10
Date of Trip: Superbowl Sunday! Times Fished: 9:30am - 4:00pm Air Temperature: Freezing Weather: Sunny Water Level: Above Average Water Clarity: Slightly clouded Successful Baits: Cracklebacks, San Juan Worms, Elk Hair Caddis, Zebra Midges
What a great day of fishing! I started behind the store/hatchery. As I was stripping out my line - kind of just whipping it out to get enough line to even cast and BAM! hello Mr. Rainbow! He was about 12" and it was off to the races after that. I caught about 15 on a #16 crackleback - brown with a lime green belly. Eventually a fish broke that fly off and I tied on another crackleback - this was another #16 but all light brown- I caught bout 5-6 more and then broke for lunch. It was about 19 degrees when I started fishing- ice all over my rod guides and reel- hands were very numb I could hardley strip the line in, but, I didn't care . I was a fishing God for the day.
About 1 pm or so I went to the back of the park. I tied on a zebra midge and they liked that alot. I caught 5 or 6 more, missed even more than that. Later on in the day I went to an Elk Hair Caddis- caught 1 or 2 and to end the day I finished with a fire engine red San Juan Worm #16. The fish looked at that the way I look at a ribeye! WOW! They could not get enough of that worm. I caught 6 in a hurry but, the last one I caught was a 18-20" monster! very heavy and very fat. After the dust settled I caught 20+ fish and probably missed another 20. I'm not a great fly man so this was easily my best day ever. I wish my usual partner in crime came along to witness it all, but, I have something better. Pictures!
Wow Justin! Nice day! Thanks for sharing it.
This report was submitted by Dave Meschke of St. Louis on 12/27/09
Date of Trip: 12/27/09 Times Fished: 11:00am - 4:00pm Air Temperature: Freezing Weather: Snowy Water Level: Above Average Water Clarity: Slightly clouded Successful Baits: Cracklebacks, Glo-bugs
It was a cold day at Montauk today. The temperature was never over 28, and there were snow flurries throughout the day. We fished the deep pools above the dam in the fly water. Most fish seemed to all looking up - eating something out of the surface film. I caught eight rainbows using olive cracklebacks with a slow strip-pause retrieve. My brother caught 4 using glowballs. While all of them were nice to catch, three of the fish were in the 18-20+ inch range. What an awesome Christmas present!
Sounds great, but BRRRRR! Thanks Dave.
This report was submitted by George Magyar of Newburg on 9/21/09
Date of Trip: 9/11/09 Times Fished: 8:00am - 2:00pm Air Temperature: Balmy Weather: Sunny Water Level: Below Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Wooly Bugger, Glo-bug
I started the day with an olive wooly bugger in the fly area near the dam. I managed to catch one trout about 10 inches, not bad, but certainly not a lunker. I kept trying to catch something bigger, but the larger trout were extremely line and fly shy, so I broke for lunch. After lunch I made the trek up to the catch and release zone where I was rewarded with two nice trout, one on a brown wooly bugger, and one on a peach glo ball. Both were about three pounders, so I got my lunkers! Also had several nice trout hit a caddis fly skipped along the surface, but I had too itchy of a trigger finger and kept jerking the fly out of their mouths. Had a nice time in the catch and release, but the fly zone left something to be desired.
Good to hear from you George. Thanks for the update.
This report was submitted by David Mann of Washington on 6/21/09
Date of Trip: 6/18/09 Times Fished: buzzer to noon Air Temperature: Steamy Weather: Sunny Water Level: Above Average Water Clarity: Milky Successful Baits: Powerbait, Orange Glo-bug
I got to the first plunge hole of the bait area about an hour before the buzzer, and was surprised that no one else was fishing in the hole beside me. I expected with the uncrowded conditions the fishing to be fast and furious at the buzzer, but things didn't work out that way.
I rigged up a rod with rainbow powerbait, and got hung up, and had to re-rig after my first cast. Finally, on my third cast, I got a hook up, and brought in a small trout. Fished the hole about an hour more, with not another take, before I left for the fly area. I landed a couple up there on an orange glo-bug, before breakfast rolled around at about 10:00. After breakfast, I went back to the plunge hole, where I had started the day, and fished the opposite side that I had fished that morning. That turned out to be the key. After that, I started catching fish every few casts, and a slow day of fishing was saved. It was one of the few incidents in a trout park for me where the buzzer bite was slow, but got better later on. Kinda odd in my opinion.
After a while of fishing the hole, my jar of Rainbow Powerbait slipped out of my hand, and went heading for the gulf of Mexico. I tried to retrieve it, but I couldn't. After that, I fished Chartreuse Powerbait, but it just didn't work as well as the rainbow colored dough. Still, I managed to catch some fish on it, and had a great time.
By the way, the water was up a bit, and pretty milky. The conditions were about perfect for blind fishing, but sight fishing was pretty much out of the picture.
Thanks again for all the help David.
This report was submitted by Nathan McDonald of Salem on 6/24/09
Date of Trip: 6/16/09 Times Fished: 6:30am - 4:00pm Air Temperature: Comfy Weather: Rainy Water Level: Average Water Clarity: Slightly Clouded Successful Baits: Midge
Started out at the whistle fishing Hudson's Corner with only one person around me. I caught nine fish before the skies opened up and the rain began to fall. Everyone left and I had the river all to myself. I kept fishing through the rain and kept catching keeper fish. I mainly used a multi-colored egg but had a ton of success on a zebra midge with flash, or UV Midge, size 16 hook 2499. The slower water above the dam was good for for this type of fly. It was consistant all day with the biggest being a 2lb rainbow with a lot of color.
Privacy at Montauk is a rare thing. Glad you got a chance to enjoy it! Thanks Nathan.
This report was submitted by David Mann of Washington on 6/7/09
Date of Trip: 6/6 & 6/7/09 Times Fished: Buzzer to Buzzer, and Buzzer to 7:00am Air Temperature: Sultry Weather: Sunny Water Level: Above Average Water Clarity: Slightly Clouded Successful Baits: Powerbait, White Jig, Olive Jig
Got there at the buzzer on Saturday morning, and it was pretty slow. Pulled one out on powerbait in the last hole of the spring branch, but I soon got fed up with the rude behavior of those around me, and headed to the catch and release area. I caught one in Montauk Lake on a white jig, but couldn't buy another bite. Then I headed to the first hole of the bait area below the fly only catch and keep area. I tied on a powerbait setup, and caught a 15" rainbow right away, and then I couldn't catch anything more. I headed back to the Catch and release area, but this time to the stream instead of the lake. I fished there the rest of the day until the buzzer, and didn't catch any. I did hook a pretty nice brown trout on an olive jig, but he threw the hook.
The next morning, I got up at the buzzer, and caught a couple of trout for lunch on Powerbait, and then left to go take down camp. The fishing wasn't on fire by any stretch of the imagination, but it wasn't too bad for me. I generally tend to struggle in the trout parks, so I wasn't too disapointed.
I think we're alike in one big way David. I like fishing with a person, but fishing with PEOPLE is a different story! Thanks for the report.
This report was submitted by Leonard Keeney of Branson on 6/2/09
Date of Trip: 6/1/09 Times fished: Day Air Temperature: Comfy Weather: Sunny Water Level: Average Water quality: Gin Clear What worked: The PMS, Roo Bugs
Arrived around 11am Friday, got everything set up and went looking. Fishing Friday was a blast. Focused on the little area of C&R and did great on the PMS , roo bugs, and a few sculpins. Caught a couple dozen fish.
Saturday: MEAT HUNTING
Caught 3 in the first 15 minutes using a PMS, and to the stringer they went. Kept going for another hour catching about 15 more. Back to camping to start a fire. I walk down to campground 2, tossed in twice with the pms and had my 4th for the day.
Sunday: SPINNING ROD
Started with the PMS jig and made my way down to campground 2. A few hook ups, but nothing for the stringer. As I was wading up stream, I hit this pocket and THERE IT WAS!! I thought I saw a small shadow of a log. Cast up above it, a couple of twitches... BAM!!!!! it was freaking ON!!!!!
********** a 6 1/2lb rainbow!!! *******
(and yes it was weighed at the office for those who REALLY want to know!)
Monday: didnt get skunked. I left all my stuff in the van, and momma went for breakfast with the kids. Got two before breaking off.
Thanks Leonard. You sure she didn't take your stuff on purpose?? :-)
This report was submitted by Chris Laughman of St. Charles on 5/11/09
Date of Trip: 5/11/09 Times Fished: 630am - 230pm Air Temperature: Comfy Weather: Partly Cloudy Water Level: Very high Water Clarity: Slightly clouded Successful Baits: White Beadheads, White Brassie
First trip to Montauk, came in right after the major wind storm that hit Friday. Water levels where very high, although not at flood stage. Color was improved from last week according to lodge, however it was still stained green. I was in the fly fishing area most of the day... lots of strikes on wet fly's fished 3-4' - most strikes where on white bead heads and white brassies. Most other anglers I encountered where also having more luck under water.
I did notice a couple of areas with brown caddis flies swarming, but fishing elk hairs in these areas produced no results today. Not many other anglers in the park, which made for a very relaxing outing. Limited out, could have done it by 9am if we really wanted to.
Side note, a friend fishing the live bait/artificial lure area had luck on white cheese type bait and saw others having luck with bread. He tried worms, artificial lures and wax worms - but no luck on those. At least today, white seemed to be the majic color...
Thanks Chris. Hard telling re: color preferences in trout, but here are a couple of basic rules. The color they can actually see the most clearly is bright yellow with just a touch of green (fire engine yellow). Black is most visible in low-light conditions, because trout have strong contrast vision. So black at night or on dark overcast days tends to be most visible to them. White is the most reflective of natural light, so it tends to be most visible when the sun's high in the sky. If the water was cloudy, it must be that there was enough penetrating light to make the white baits really jump out at them.
This report was submitted by Bran ________ of Success on 4/10/09
Date of Trip: 4/9/09 Times Fished: morning and noon Air Temperature: Chilly Weather: Partly Cloudy Water Level: Average Water Clarity: Slightly clouded Successful Baits: Powerbait
Caught 3 quick keepers with orange powerbait. Then I went towards the lake for a lunker. Just wanted to let you all know theres a HUGE rainbow in the lake. Couldn't reach him with a Marabou jig. He didnt even want it. Going back sometime next week with the fly rod and try to land him for a picture.
There are indeed some giants in the upper lake, but beware. Don't get suckered into chasing those grass carp around. A see a lot of people do it, thinking they're casting to 4-foot long trout. Thanks again for the help Bran.
This report was submitted by David Mann of Washington on 3/22/09
Date of Trip: 3/22 - 3/23/09 Times Fished: 330pm - siren and siren - 400pm Air Temperature: Comfy Weather: Overcast Water Level: Very low Water Clarity: Gin clear Successful Baits: Rainbow Powerbait,
Nightcrawlers, Pink & White Marabou Jig
Got down to Montauk at about 3:00 P.M.on 3/22, and decided to buy a tag and fish until the evening siren. I decided since we were staying at the campground I might as well just fish the campground stretch. I hooked up a couple of times in a stretch of boulders using Powerbait. I then went down to an extremely deep hole towards the lower end of the campground below the disabled access. After about an hour, I managed to reel in an average sized trout o, Powerbait. I got one more that evening in a boulder eddy, also on Powerbait.
Woke up the next morning and decided to head to the deep hole that I caught the first trout at the day before. Even though I arrived a half hour before the siren, there was already five people there, so I didn't do that. I hooked and lost one trout in a nice stretch of boulders before someone decided it would be okay to walk right through the hole I was fishing. I ending up catching one little rainbow in the campground stretch before heading to the fly area, where I managed to catch one particularly colorful rainbow on a pink and white marabou jig. Slow couple of days, but still a lot of fun on a pretty creek. I did notice that the people there had a little worse manners than usual, as I was crowded out of quite a few spots. Oh well.
Yes, it's really infuriating to me when people stomp right through your spot, or step in across from you and start flinging their bait at your feet. What is with people now days? Grrrr... Thanks again for the help David.
This report was submitted by Brian _________ of Success on 3/3/09
Date of Trip: 3/1/09 Times Fished: Morning Air Temperature: Frigid Weather: Snowy Water Level: Above average Water Clarity: Milky Successful Baits: Dough bait & jigs
Barely found a hole before the siren went off. Started out with dough bait, landed 2 nice eaters with it. Started watching the others, they all were hammering fish -- limiting out very quickly, as I couldn't get another bite. Decided to move. Went to find another hole. Tied on a pink/blue jig. Started hammering them. Finally landed 2 more good eaters. All and all a great opening mornin. Seen alot of lunkers being pulled out of the river. Some reason I didn't get to see any lunkers in the water where I was fishin. Left the park around 9. I fished on the left as you enter the park. Too snowy and icy to make it towards the campground with a car.
Thanks for the help Brian.
This report was submitted by Tim Morris of Columbia on 1/18/09
Date of Trip: 1/17/09 Times Fished: 8:30am - 4:00pm Air Temperature: Frigid Weather: Sunny Water Level: Very Low Water Clarity: Gin clear Successful Baits: #24 Trico, #18 Tan Glo-bug
(fish food color),Red San Juan Worm
Cold, cold, cold. Air temp in the teens. Ice on the rod! Fish were active throughout
the day. Windy at times. The early hatch was mainly on tricos 20+. The fish calmed down
during the middle of the day and then toward the afternoon came on again. We were trying
to figure out what the "hatch" was only to discover it was fish food escaping from the
hatchery! How can you compete with that! Luckily I had a "light brown" glo ball I
drifed w/o weight. Lots of hits! Catch and release is a great time to fish. Few
people. Great fishing.
And I thought I was the only one to use a "trout chow" fly on occasion! Thanks Tim.
This report was submitted by Blake __________ of St. Charles on 12/27/08
Date of Trip: 12/26/08 Times Fished: buzzer - 2:00pm Air Temperature: Comfy Weather: Overcast Water Level: Above Average Water Clarity: Gin clear Successful Baits: Flatfish
went down to montauk got down there right at buzzer caught 4 lunkers and lost a
couple nice ones and a couple small ones had a great trip all in all
Ah yes! The magic flatfish can be deadly! Thanks Blake.
This report was submitted by George Magyar of Newburg on 11/7/08
Date of Trip: 10/30/08 Times Fished: 9:00am - 3:00pm Air Temperature: Comfy Weather: Sunny Water Level: Below Average Water Clarity: Gin clear Successful Baits: Tan Wooly Bugger,
Tan 1/32oz Marabou Jig, tri-color glo-bug
Arrived at Montauk about 9 am on a beautiful crisp fall morning.
The foliage was spectacular! This alone was reason enough to
enjoy the trip. Started up by the waterfall in the fly fishing
only water. I used a tan wooly bugger and caught 1 nice trout that
promptly "released" itself. My wife had on a tan 1/32 oz. jig with
a lot of "lookers" but no takers. We broke for lunch around 11 am
and resumed fishing about noon. We moved up by the bridge just
below the catch and release area and was surprised to find we had
the hole all to ourselves. My wife and I both caught 1 trout each
about 15 inches. I used the tan wooly and she had on the tan jig.
We decided to move up and fish the catch and release only area.
What a decision! I caught 4 nice trout on the tan wooly bugger,
but my wife stole the show with a 4lb. lunker caught on a tri-color
glo-ball! All said we had a blast.
Sounds like a great time. Hope you got a good picture! Thanks George.
This report was submitted by Dave Lenz of St. Louis on 10/28/08
Date of Trip: 10/24/08 Times Fished: All day Air Temperature: Chilly Weather: Sunny Water Level: Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Crackleback, Brown Wooly
I fished several areas near campground one and down to and
below the handicapped dam in campground two. The water was
very clear, and I had the most luck fishing in the faster runs.
Fortunately most people in the park as usual almost completely
neglect long shallow runs that routinely give up a lot of fish
and offer a quality experience and a little solitude if you
have to stay in the park. Beadhead cracklebacks caught me
quite a few fish. I saw a couple risers and a couple small
hatches came off each day, but I didn't have a lot of luck
with dries this weekend in general -- good luck to all!
I love fishing the riffles, too. Good to hear from you Dave.
Thanks for the report.
This report was submitted by Ken ___________ of Richmond Heights on 9/28/08
Date of Trip: 9/28 - 9/29/08 Times Fished: All day Air Temperature: Comfy Weather: Sunny Water Level: Above Average Water Clarity: Slightly clouded Successful Baits: Wooly Buggers, Montauk Specials
We got there about first horn Saturday, not much luck, fishing was
slow, but good to others. We fished by the dam using the Montauk
Special. Caught 2 and then had a few libations to blur the day and
kind of forgot the go back. But Sunday was the day. The air was
cool with no wind. We once again hit the dam above white oak and
couldn't keep off the end of our line. Everyone had 3 by 9:00 a.m.
We went to the lodge for breakfast to celebrate only to find our
fellow campers doing likewise. With stomaches bulging and belts
loosened, we headed up to the spring and try our luck. Tried some
g-bugs I got from a Taneycomo guide, but no luck. Switched to a
wooley bugger, and they acted as though they had never had one.
Caught plenty.
Sounds good to me! Thanks again for helping with reports Ken.
This report was submitted by Brandon ________ of Success on 6/19/08
Date of Trip: 6/17/08 Times Fished: Morning Air Temperature: Chilly Weather: Partly Cloudy Water Level: Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Spinners, red powerbait, dough bait
Went back again to catch a mess. Caught 3 within the 1st hour. All on powerbait. Dad caught 2 on spinners.
My buddy limited out on doughbait and power bait. We hooked back up around 9am and went to another
hole. Dad limited out, but I didnt. The fishing was good. Lots of bites and missed fish, but this time most of the
trout were dinks. Biggest one that day was around 1 1/2 lbs. Good eaters, but not big like I'm used to catching.
Kinda crowded for a Tuesday. PS: rumor of a 7lb brown at the bridge. Talked to an older gentlement that
said his buddy hooked him, but couldn't land the fish.
Keep looking! Sounds like they've been putting some whoppers out there.
This report was submitted by John P. of Columbia, IL on 6/17/08
Date of Trip: 6/14-6/15/08 Times Fished: All day Air Temperature: Balmy Weather: Sunny Water Level: Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Jigs, globall w/split shot below
Fished pretty much just the fly fishing only section. There are HUGE fish in the
beginning of the section! I saw at least a 4 pound brown, a 7 pound bow, and
no doubt a ten pound bow! HUGE FISH! A guy I talked to was fishing for the
10-pounder and later the next day lost about a 5-pounder. The big fish were
following my white marabou jig and they would sniff it and swim away! CRAZY
AND MIND BLOWING!
You've touched on a theory of mine, John. In the parks and other locations
where the fish have a ton of fishing pressure, it's maddening to see the
trout come straight up to a fly or lure and then suddenly turn away. Most
folks will say that they're coming up to get a close look at the fly or lure,
but I believe they are actually smelling it. Trout are not known for their sense
of smell, but they should be. I believe they rely very heavily on their nose
to help them when feeding. That means the fly pattern itself and how it's
presented HAS to be better that normal -- it has to be good enough that they'll
strike without thinking it. Thanks John.
This report was submitted by Brandon ________ of Success on 6/13/08
Date of Trip: 6/13/08 Times Fished: Morning Air Temperature: Chilly Weather: Overcast Water Level: Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Spinners, powerbait, dough bait
Friday the 13th proved to be a bad day for me. Morning started out with me hitting a doe with my
jeep. Finally got to the park and it was packed. My honey hole (next to the campground) proved to
be fished out, as I only got a few bites. A feller down river about 150 yards caught his limit of 2-lbers
within 30 minutes. I saw he was using orange power bait. My buddy limited out within an hour with
spinners and powerbait. My other buddy and his kid caught a few on dough bait. Trout were not biting
at all this morning -- I'm thinking because around 8 thunder clouds came through. We left just in time
before we got rained out. I got skunked. In the blue ribbon area I saw only 2 good trout and around
30 little ones. I also saw that the fly only place up river before the spring was loaded with people. Kinda
looked like opening day! PS: I saw you were noticed in the MO game and fish mag! congrats!
Thanks Brandon. The MO Fish & Game interview was certainly an exciting occurance.
It the July '08, so anyone who's interested better hurry before they're sold out.
Thanks again for the help Brandon.
This report was submitted by Brandon ________ of Success on 6/11/08
Date of Trip: 6/11/08 Times Fished: Morning Air Temperature: Comfy Weather: Partly Cloudy Water Level: Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Spinners & powerbait
3 minutes after the bell rings, my dad landed a nice 2-1/2 lb rainbow with a ##2 Mepps
Spinner Gold. He caught another 2-pounder on orange powerbait, then 2 more 1-1/2
pounders. I started with powerbait and landed two nice 1 1/2 pounders. Pulled out my
homemade dough bait and caught a nice brown. A few inches longer and he would of been
legal. Dad limited out, but I had 2 more to go, so I went down river to the blue ribbon area.
I caught a nice rainbow on a spinner, but not quite a keeper. I saw some nice trout there,
but none wanted a fly (wrong flavor?) or a spinner. So I went back up river to another spot.
I caught my other 2 on dough bait. My buddy fished at the handi-cap access. He limited
out within 40 mintes of the bell. Caught all his on dough bait.
Thanks again Brandon. There are certainly some big fish down in the Blue
Ribbon section, and they will make you pull your hair out. They didn't get
that big by chasing spinners! Keep at 'em.
This report was submitted by Brandon ________ of Success on 6/7/08
Date of Trip: 6/6 - 6/7/08 Times Fished: Morning Air Temperature: Comfy Weather: Partly Cloudy Water Level: Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Spinners & powerbait
6-6-08: Got down to our honey hole around a hour before the bell. Bunch of people already
there waitng for the bell, so I took off down river to get away from the crowd. 3rd cast landed
a 2 1/2 lb rainbow on a #2 mepps spinner gold. Lots of action on the spinner, but lots of spitted
hooks. Finally decided to use rainbow power bait, and caught 3 2-pounders within 10 minutes.
I limited out within 30 minutes after the bell.
6-7-08: Went back to my honey hole where I limited out yesterday. Not much action with
powerbait. Caught a 3-4 lb brown on the same spinner, but spit the hook with 5' from the bank.
(I was about to go and dive in after the fish LOL ). My buddies limited out within a few hours.
I didn't land anything, because I was lunker fishing.
Sounds like a good trip. Can't imagine only fishing for half an hour,
though. Whatever would I do with myself! Thanks Brandon.
This report was submitted by Ben _________ of Columbia, MO on 6/4/08
Date of Trip: 5/29 - 6/1/08 Times Fished: All Day Air Temperature: Balmy Weather: Partly Cloudy Water Level: Average Water Clarity: Slightly Clouded Successful Baits: Rainbow Powerbait, Chartreuse Powerbait, #20 Brassie
This was our first trip to the park since the floods, and as one reviewer said, it was in great shape!
The only difference we could tell was some sand in the campgrounds, and some changes to the
gravel bars. We started the day at opening bell under the bridge with powerbait, quickly catching
8 average-sized fish between 3 of us. The rest of the day I spent wading up and down the river,
using my new fly rod for the first time. I tried everything from Adams to Wooly Worms, with no
luck. I finally tied on the last fly in my box, a #20 red brassie. I got strikes every 3-5 casts, and 2
of us landed 5 fish within a short time. I'm definiteley hooked on fly fishing!
Uh oh. Catching fish on a fly rod may be the biggest mistake you've ever made.
Now you're doomed to an obsession requiring spending many thousands of dollars
and far too many hours trying to catch fish on feathers. My sympathies. :-)
Thanks for the report Ben.
The following report may be a bit confusing. Three of us met at Montauk for a day of fishing:
your's truly, Leonard Keeney of Taneycomo Nights Guide Service, and Bradley Tutt (aka "TroutFearMe").
So, the following report is a compilation of three reports from three different fishermen. Good
luck with that!
This report was submitted by Leonard Keeney of Ridgedale on 5/27, Bradley Tutt of St. Louis
on 5/24, and your's truly, Walt Fulps of Missouri Trout Hunter.
Date of Trip: 5/24-5/26 Times Fished: Various Air Temperature: Comfy Weather: Overcast and/or Rainy Water Level: Above average Water Clarity: Slightly Clouded Successful Baits: Thread Jigs & Sparkle Scud (Bradley),
a little bit of everything (Leonard), glo-bugs, rubber leg stonefly,
roo scud, dave's hopper, & tan wd40 (Walt).
SATURDAY LEONARD: Saturday was Great. Never fishing there before, I stepped out into the water (just below
our site in loop 2). 3 casts 2 fish on the PMS. Then I started moving downstream, picking up a few
more. Well I got out and decided to check things out. We drove around and I saw Walt's Truck
(Mo Trout Hunter). Standing there talking to him was "Trout fear me" . We took off and they showed
me around a few local honey holes. I was showed the C&R section and really enjoyed fishing it. I pick
up a few fish on the PMS jig. I fished on and off Saturday probably total just over15 fish.
BRADLEY: I started my short trip to Montauk at the spring for the buzzer, and I was suprised to see
how much the stream had changed since the flood in March. I stared out with a thread jig with a white
head and black body and hooked into four nice stocker sized trout. I then moved down to what once
used to be a little hole but now is much deeper and now has a nice little shade tree in the hole. I pulled
two trout out of there. I started working my way down the stream towards the dam and didn't have
much luck until I got to the dam, and then it was game on. It seemed like everytime I cast out I hooked
up on a trout, the best one being about 3lbs. I then made my way back to the spring to pick up my car
and headed down the the lodge to meet up with Walt "aka Missouri Trout Hunter" and Leonard from
Taneycomo Nights. I will say this: anyone that is looking for a fishing guide give Walt a ring. He is a
wealth of knowledge when it comes to chasing trout. We started off in the lodge with a cup of coffee,
because the weather had other plans for this trip and decided to pour down rain. Once the rain died
down me and Walt headed down behind the hatchery. I hooked into a little stream bread rainbow with
par marks on it. I switched to a sparkle scud and picked up another little trout. Walt and I decided to
head upto the dam and fish for a while Walt hooked into a couple nice stockers. This was the BEST
fishing I have had at Montauk in the past 4 years that I have been fishing the stream. The flood really
helped the stream out alot. Good fishing and tightlines.
WALT: As Bradley mentioned, we started behind the hatchery when it stopped raining, but we didn't
wait long enough. COLD rain came back with a bit of a vengeance. I started off throwing a streamer
below the hatchery outlet without any luck. After Bradley caught his two, we moved up the feeder creek,
where I pulled a little one on a glo-bug. Not exactly exciting, but better than zero. We met up with Leonard and went to the dam.
Bradley and I were sticking a few here and there. He was using a thread jig, and I got mine on "roo scuds"
provided by Leonard and a rubber leg stonefly. Leonard was busy chasing a 28+ inch rainbow around who
just didn't seem too interested in holding still for him. Bradley called it a day, and Leonard and I moved to the
C&R section. Leonard stayed with his great big streamers and definitely beat me in the size catagory. I
switched back and forth between glo-bugs, stoneflies, hoppers, & wd40's, and I even threw one of
Leonard's PMS streamers in the spring-fed lake. Numbers-wise, we probably caught a similar number of
fish, but big fish definitely wanted big flies, with Leonard pulling at least a half dozen fish in the 18"+ catagory,
all of which beat my best fish of the day -- maybe 16 inches. Late that afternoon, I called it a trip and headed
for home. Leonard was camping with the family and had a couple more days of fishing to get done.
SUNDAY & MONDAY LEONARD: Fishing was good on Sunday. I started it the same way and ended at the C&R. Well I took the
boys with me there and they had a BLAST. I switched up a fews flies and we caught fish on about 7 different flies.
Monday... well Sunday when I was at the C&R I saw a brute rainbow (well over 10lbs). He took the PMS and
came off, so I figured I'd try for just him. He was gone. I looked for him for about 3 hour and no sign of him. I
did end up catching 2 big browns out of the C&R on a screamer and another 2 big browns on the Bottoms-up
with the back hook clipped.
Thanks a ton you guys. It was pleasure to fish with the both of you. Thanks for the kind
words in your report Bradley (your 5 bucks is in the mail). Everyone, be sure to visit
Leonard's website at TaneycomoNights.com.
He's the only full-time night fishing guide on Lake Taneycomo, and his clients tend to
catch 20"+ fish every night.
This report was submitted by Ron Sheppard of Medora, IL on 5/19/08
Date of Trip: 5/15 - 5/18/08 Times Fished: All Day Air Temperature: Comfy Weather: Sunny Water Level: Above average Water Clarity: Slightly Clouded Successful Baits: Montauk Special, John Deere Jig, Bedspread Jig,
Various Glow Balls, Eggi Juan Kenobi
The stream has really changed since last year. Many of the holes are much deeper that the last
couple of years. Some of the trees that hung out over the water are gone (much easier casting!)
The water was also much wider than the last couple of years. The current was somewhat swift
in some of the holes. The group that I was with had various experience levels from the newist novice
to one with several years of experience at Montauk. We noticed that many of the fish were laying
close to the bottom and did not notice much of a hatch any of the time we were there. At the
morning whistle we had the best luck with a Montauk Special with either a green or brown woolie
on it and 2-3/0 split shots about 8 inches above the lure. After the initial feeding frenzy, we had
moderate success when we switched to either a Eggi Jaun Kenobi, John Deere, Bedspread, or
Glow Ball fished deep (4-6 feet) with 3 split shots under an indicator. The mornings seemed
much more productive than the afternoons. We had best luck with either a John Deere or a Glow Ball
(Orange, Yellow, or Oregon Cheese). We did have a little luck with a dry Crackleback, but there
wasn't much of a hatch going on. We heard of a couple of others fishing that had real good luck
with a crackleback with a dropper. We didn't catch anything over a couple of pounds, but as a
whole we caught several fish and were quite pleased with the success we had.
Many thanks Ron.
This report was submitted by Beau _________ of Marion, IL on 3/31/08
Date of Trip: 3/23 - 3/27/08 Times Fished: All Day Air Temperature: Chilly Weather: Partly Cloudy Water Level: Very high Water Clarity: Brown Successful Baits: Rapala Brown Trout Lure
Went down to Montauk after the flood on the 23rd of March. I had my doubts about going since the water
had been so high and murky, but my wife really wanted to get some fishing in, so we went. When we arrived
the water was back down inside it's banks, but was really murky. After getting the camper set up we headed
out to try our luck, and let me tell you the fishing was excellent. The fish were really responding to my wife's
black roostertail, and I was killing them on a rapalla brown trout countdown lure. No lunkers this time but we
did catch alot of good pan sized fish. Either way we had a really great time. By the way I just wanted to say
hats off to all the workers at Montauk for getting the park up and running again so quickly after the flood. I
know alot of the time people don't let them know what a great job they do, but I just wanted to let them know
that they are appreciated and did an outstanding job considering the devastation they had to work with.
Amen to that! Thanks for the report Beau.
This report was submitted by Mike _________ of Belleville, IL on 3/21/08
Date of Trip: 3/20/08 Times Fished: 10:00am - 5:00pm Air Temperature: Comfy Weather: Sunny Water Level: Very high Water Clarity: Brown Successful Baits: Pink & Peach Glo-bugs
Called Thursday afternoon and the lady at the park assured us that the park had reopened and was fish-able.
I guess that was accurate, but the conditions certainly were not comfortable. Caution was the key word as one
fellow we saw demonstrated when he stepped of the bank into water that completely submerged him. He scrambled
to the bank safely and so did two other guys who took dips in the swollen river. Secret of the day was fishing
weighted globalls with two split shot under a large strike indicator. In spite of the conditions I was able to land
15+ fish before heading for home. It will probably be Sunday before things return to normal and the new stream
bottom is revealed. What I found most unusual was how liquid the bottom of the stream became under these
conditions. Each step sucked you down into the stream bed up to your hip tops.
Glad you came home dry! Thanks Mike.
This report was submitted by Brett ________ of Troy on 4/7/08
Date of Trip: 3/18/08 Times Fished: no response Air Temperature: Comfy Weather: Rainy Water Level: Flood State Water Clarity: Brown Successful Baits: Plastic Worms, Dough Baits
The water was very high and even dangerous. I still fished, but the fishing was very poor. I'll return later when
the water level is better.
Thanks for the update Brett.
This report was submitted by TC Jennings of Farmington, MO on 3/4/08
Date of Trip: 3/1 - 3/3/08 Times Fished: siren to siren Air Temperature: Comfy Weather: Partly Cloudy Water Level: Above Average Water Clarity: Milky Successful Baits: Homemade dough bait and assortment of jigs
Went down to the park on the 29th to scout out a few lunkers for opening day. Found a handful in some
what I thought were prime locations (back waters). Turns out opening morning that I wasn't the only one
who saw these fish. I was joined with many anglers and had to battle with them and a whole bunch of dinky
trout to try to attempt catching the lunkers that I had spotted. Well all efforts were wasted when a man who
walked that bank saw the fish and decided he was just going to snag it. That flat out angered me, so I went
to the next hole that i had spotted a lunker, and it had already been caught. With the crowd just seeming to
get worse as the day went on I just decided to fish and caught around 50 trout on homemade dough bait and
1/64th ounce jigs. Well the rest of the week went the same with many small fish but nothing worth bragging
about. Well thats all I have for this trip....Dont catch'em all
Ah, yes. There's nothing that ruins a fishing trip more than watching some a-hole
snag a trophy. Had a trip to Taneycomo a few years back where I'd spied a 15lb brown
sitting under a log that no one else seemed to notice. Since it was crowded, I "got in
line" and started moving in that direction as neighboring fishermen left their spots.
I sweated it out for about 3 hours -- was just sure someone else would notice this fish.
Then, it happened. A kid of about 12 years old actually walked out onto the log, looked
straight down at the fish and yelled "holy crap! There's a 3-foot long fish right here!"
30 seconds later, some yayhoo walked up to the fish, snagged him with a bass plug, hauled
him to the truck and took off. I'm not a violent person (usually), but that just about
put me over the edge. Good to hear from you TC.
This report was submitted by John P. of Columbia, IL on 3/2/08
Date of Trip: 3/1 -3/2/08 Times Fished: 12:15pm to siren, and 7:15am to 3:30pm Air Temperature: Comfy Weather: Sunny Water Level: Above Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Go Get 'em Trout Bait, Powerbait, Scud w/Zebra Midge dropper
Was my first Opening Day at Montauk! Weather was great and the fish were biting!! Best thing was
scud with a black zebra midge dropper under indicator. LOADS OF BIG TROUT! The lunker board
is absolutely full of fish! Seems like most of the lunkers caught were on jigs of pink, yellow, white, or
black. Didn't catch any lunkers but had an absolute blast! Definitly will be back there soon! Any tips for
catching the lunker trout?
Glad you had a good time. Catching trout park trophies is different than catching
them in wild waters. If a whopper was stocked last night, everyone has an equal chance
at catching a giant fish who happens to be just as stupid as the normal-sized fish
around him. If a fish has survived to trophy size, however, that's a different story.
Basically, it just means he tastes his food before he eats it. The fly or bait is in
and out of his mouth at lightening speed -- sometimes several times -- before he
commits to it. So, you may not even see the bite. Even if you do see the bite, by
the time you set the hook, he's spit it out. The best way to catch these fish is
to sight fish. Find the fish and cast to him. When you see him take the bait, set
the hook. Trout park trophy hunters typically walk and watch more than they fish.
Thanks for the report John.
This report was submitted by George Magyar of Newburg on 10/13/07
Date of Trip: 10/10/07 Times Fished: Noon until 5:00pm Air Temperature: Comfy Weather: Sunny Water Level: Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Ginger Marabou, Gold Flatfish, Montauk Special
The wife and I arrived at the park around noon. The weather was cool and breezy, so using a fly
rod would be tough. We headed up to the fly fishing water armed with our ulra-light spinning rods
and marabou jigs. I caught six on a ginger 1/32 oz. maribou, one on a montauk special
wooly/spinner rig. The wife caught four on a ginger 1/32 oz. marabou jig. Later I moved down to
the hole by the bridge and caught a nice fish on a gold flatfish. We had a nice time, and the fish
were about 12-15 inches. The secret to success seemed to be to use very light line and keep the
jig moving like a minnow.
Good to hear from you again George. The line-weight issue you mention
has been a controversial subject for many many moons. Most people
basically think you ALWAYS have to use light line, because the trout have
such good eyesight. This isn't really the case. It has to do more with
the shadow cast by the point where the line enters the water. If you're
casting a rooster tail or crankbait, for example, you probably have your
rod tip down near the water, so there's no fishing line shadow to spook
the fish. In those cases, people will actually catch trout using
bass-fishing line weights. When you're jigging, your rod tip is higher,
so the entry point for the line is almost over the fish's head, and the
line is jumping back and forth all over the place as you jig. This
causes a bunch of goofy shadows to be cast down onto the fish, and it
absolutely spooks them. That's when 2-pound test line (or lighter) is
an absolute requirement. Once the line is under water, though, trout
can't see it any better than humans can. So, people fishing bait on the
bottom, lure fishermen casting spinners or little crankbaits, and fly
fishermen fishing streamers, you can feel free to beef up the size of
your line a bit without any decrease in strikes.
This report was submitted by Dave __________ of St. Louis on 9/25/07
Date of Trip: 9/21-22 Times Fished: Morning & afternoon Air Temperature: Steamy Weather: Sunny Water Level: Very Low Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Blue Wing Olive, Mosquito, Prince Nymph
I was down at Montauk last weekend with the wife and some friends. I didn't really have time to
get outside the park so I can't report on that this time. Inside was actually pretty tough compared
to many past trips. This sentiment was echoed several times when I would talk to others there. I
got a few to rise to blue wing olives and a mosquito pattern dry that seems deadly anywhere in
MO. Overall nymph fishing was pretty slow. I usually have a lot of success inside the park with
copper johns, black bead heads and prince nymphs dead drifting them into all the usual holes.
This time though action was very sparse. It was a hot, sunny, clear weekend, with a 3/4 full
moon. The fish I saw actively feeding could probably have been caught on @18-22 cream
colored midges as there was a heavy hatch of something similar (I did not have something that
small). The fish, as is common this time of year, just seemed much more interested in chasing
tail instead of anything else ---good luck to all.
You were probably seeing a trico hatch, which can be very
big on the Current and in Montauk in the fall. When I've seen that
hatch in the past, I've tried all the "normal" flies one would try in an
effort to match the hatch. Oddly, the pattern I've had the most
consistent success with is a teeny adams (i.e. #22). That doesn't mean
that someone with a trico pattern might not outfish you on certain days,
but if the fish are rising to trico's, I always seem to be able to pull
some with the old adams. My theory is that the silhouette and size are right,
and the color appears natural but darker than the flies that are actually dropping. In other
words, the adams is more visible to the fish, but a close enough match that it doesn't deter
them from striking. Just my two cents! Thanks for the report.
This report was submitted by Scott Strack of Murphysboro,IL on 9/18/07
Date of Trip: 9/10-9/11 Times Fished: 7:30-11:00am & 4:00-7:00pm Air Temperature: Balmy Weather: Partly Cloudy Water Level: Very Low Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Tangerine Glo-bug, Pink Scud,
Orange Crackleback, Griffith's Gnat, Renegade
I spent 2 days at Montauk after fishing the Current the previous day. The water level in the park
was about as low as I have ever seen. Light tippet, no more than 6X,would be the order of the
day. After talking to the locals, I learned that all the rain that had fallen in the days before missed
the Montauk area.
Monday morning was very pleasant, and I was surprised to find no one near me when the siren
sounded. I started with the old stand by combination of the glo-bug and a pink scud. This combo
produced 14 fish in the first hour that morning. When the action slowed, I switched to a pheasant
tail nymph with grey soft hackle trailer. Success was almost immediate and I proceeded to catch
another dozen or so fish. Later that afternoon, I switched to a dry fly rig. I offered an orange
crackleback to start and found several eager takers. I also found a chartreuse green w/grizzly
hackle worked fine. After losing the last of the cracklebacks, I tied on a renegade fly and picked
up where I left off. Altogether that evening I had nearly 2 dozen strikes, however, since I was a
little out of practice with my dry fly hookset, I only hooked half of them.
Tuesday morning started with temperatures dropping substantially from Monday evening. There
were still ample holdover fish available, but they seemed less willing to bite. There were also
more anglers than the previous day. Still I managed to catch and release 10 fish before packing
up and heading home.
Nice! Thanks again Scott.
This report was submitted by Alex Moran of St. Louis on 9/1/07
Date of Trip: 8/31/07 Times Fished: 4:30-8:00pm Air Temperature: Sultry Weather: Sunny Water Level: Below Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Elk Hair Caddis, in-line spinners
The girlfriend and I came back for another weekend of fishing. We arrived at the spring and
started working our way downstream. The fish weren't responding to any streamers I threw or
the jigs that she was using. Finally around 6:30 we hooked up on a 13" rainbow. Just
downstream I saw fish that were actually rising to the surface -- lucky me, i know :-) -- which I
don't see too often in the parks. So I quickly tied on my trusty #14 elk hair caddis, and after
four or five casts I had my hookup. Not a big fish, but anything is exciting when you catch it on
a dry that you tied yourself. We headed in after that because it was getting dark and kinda
chilly. Until next time tight lines guys!
Amen! Thanks Alex.
This report was submitted by Michael Weidman of Paola, KS on 8/20/07
Date of Trip: 8/17-8/19 Times Fished: Various Air Temperature: Steamy Weather: Sunny Water Level: Below Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Mohair Leech, Cream Midge, Zebra Midge
Spent the weekend at Montauk. Started fishing the evening of 8/17 around the midway point at
the campground. Worked my way downstream. The water was gin clear and very low. Caught
fish on zebra midges until I got rained out. First off on the morning of 8/18 I went back to the
campground and caught fish on assorted flies including: mohair leech, crackleback, san juan
worm, rainbow warrior, and zebra midges. After breakfast, I walked the entire stretch of the
campground from the bridge down to the park exit. Consistently caught fish on the mohair leech
by primarily sight fishing. The afternoon and evening of 8/18 I went up to the fly only zone
upstream from the dam. Caught fish (almost every cast) stripping the mohair leech. The morning
of 8/19 went back to the fly only zone and really enjoyed catching fish on cream midges during
the early morning trico binge. This was some of my best dry fly action of the year. Wasn't pleased
with some of the spin fisherman etiquette up in the campground area but that's a topic for another
day. Overall it was a good trip.
Manners (or lack thereof) continues to be a primary issue at the trout parks.
Wish Iknew how to make it better. Thanks Micheal.
This report was submitted by Alex Moran of St. Louis on 8/18/07
Date of Trip: 8/16-17 Times Fished: All day Air Temperature: Hell on earth Weather: Partly cloudy Water Level: Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Streamers, Marabou Jigs
Day 1: Started at Current River without any luck, and then moved to
Montauk. When we got into montauk we went up to the spring and saw almost instant success.
Marabou jigs and streamers were tearing them up. over the next couple hours we landed around
13 fish and lost about 6 more. More natural color jigs seemed to be producing and the streamers
that worked for me were tied with brown grizzly hackle(tied at the head) and some synthetic
material (can't recall the name).
Day 2: Started again at Current River, moving back to the park later in the day. After a couple of
hours, it began to storm. So I went to the spring and continued to fish, but this time used a jig with a
blade on it, throwing it down current and varying my retrieve from slow to medium as I pulled it back
upstream. This produced almost instant results. Within ten minutes I had landed two nice rainbows.
Unfortunately around that time the river started to rise rapidly and my success was short lived.
Our campsite flooded and we had to leave early but the trip was a blast. Now my girlfriend might
actualy take up our wonderful sport of fly fishing, and I was able to see the side of spin fishing
that I really enjoyed. Thanks for all the information on the site, I'll be back often, hopefully with
some better luck.
This report was submitted by Brian _________ of St. Louis on 8/13/07
Date of Trip: 8/9-8/10 Times Fished: All day Air Temperature: Steamy Weather: Sunny Water Level: Below Average Water Clarity: Slightly Clouded Successful Baits: Crackleback
Montauk continues to be my favorite place to fish. Between three of us, we probably caught over
50 fish in two days. They were really coming to the surface in the morning and evening, and the
Crackleback seemed to be the fly of choice. The park wasn't very crowded on the two days we were
there, probably because it was so hot. We found a nice shaded area up past the water fall and around
the bend. We camped out there most of the time. Most of the fish we caught were pretty small to
average in size but I wasn't complaining. It's just so much fun to be catching them. My next goal is to
learn how to tie a Crackleback given how much I used it during those two days. For some reason,
they would fall apart after 3 to 4 catches. I need to learn how to tie them....
It is definitely a fly to always have in your box! Thanks Brian.
This report was submitted by John P. of Columbia, IL on 6/19/07
Date of Trip: 6/16 - 6/17/07 Times Fished: Noon-8:00pm & Opening Bell-8:30am Air Temperature: Balmy Weather: Sunny Water Level: Above Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Got Get Em' Trout Bait, Secret Bait, Power Bait, Glo-bugs
Second time going to Montauk and had a blast. Me and my family stayed in the number 8
cabin right next to the waterfall. Got to the park at 11:45 Saturday and fished under the
waterfall. All my fish caught throughout the two days were caught under the waterfall at the
fly fishing only and Artificial lures and natural bait section. Caught seven fish total with either
Go Get EM' Trout bait, Powerbait, and Secret Bait on a size 18 bronze treble with a split
shot a foot and a half from the treble on two pound test. Used glowballs Sunday a morning
in the fly fishing only section on my fly rod but the fish would come up close to it and then
swim away. Any ideas why?? Lost a good fish on an orange glowball (snapped one pound
leader) Biggest fish was about 15-16 inches. Thanks and Good Luck out there
Trout park fish are incredibly frustrating at times. They'll come right
up to your fly or bait, and they'll sometimes even give it a kiss. Then,
they decide there just isn't something right about, and they jet off.
They also often hit the bait over and over, breaking it into pieces.
When they do this to your fly, you'll usually miss the hook-up. The
fish that feed in a more normal natural way tend to get caught, leaving
the spazzy fish behind to drive us all nuts.
This report was submitted by Jeremy ___________ of Ft. Leonard Wood on 5/6/07
Date of Trip: 5/5/07 Times Fished: 8:00am - 6:00pm Air Temperature: Comfy Weather: Cloudy Water Level: Above Average Water Clarity: Slightly Clouded Successful Baits: Most Power Baits, Meps Spinners, Bronze Cracklebacks
We went for the kids fishing day. The kid's area (spring branch) was well
stocked and kids were hauling them in left and right. Bait type seemed less
important than location. Put the bait in front of some fish and you were in
business. My daughter got tired, so my wife and I fished the fly only section.
Got several landed and hooked into about 10 on cracklebacks floating. Great
time. Was a great time for the kids and adults. The park did a great job of
having a lot of big trout in the spring branch. Several of the trout were too
much for my 5 year old to handle on a light action rod. The fly only section
was great as usual.
Thanks Jeremy. The kids fishing days at the four trout parks
were all a great successes this year. We've had several
trout brought into the shop (Ozark Taxidermy) by some awfully proud kids. I
think the dads were perhaps a bit more proud than even the kids were,
though.
This report was submitted by Aaron P. of Lake Sherwood on 4/23/07
Date of Trip: 4/21/07 Times Fished: 7:00am - 5:00pm Air Temperature: Comfy Weather: Sunny Water Level: Average Water Clarity: Slightly Clouded Successful Baits: BH Wooly Buggers, Roaches, Griffith's Gnat
First park trip of the year, and a fine way to start! Not too crowded at all for a
Saturday- walked right up to below the dam just after the horn sounded and had
it to myself. Instant success with #10 olive, black, and brown BH wooleys.
Stayed in the same spot for about 2.5 hours and CnR'd about 15 'bows before
I started a stringer for dinner. After lunch, moved above to the fly only area for a
good portion of the remainder of the day, trying various dries for surfacing fish. #16
Griffiths Gnat seemed to be most successful with several more caught. The wind
started to pick up and floating debris made for difficult dry casting, so moved
down closer to the dam once more and went with a float with a olive roach,
catching several more. All in all, a glorious day on the water with 25 or 26 brought
to hand. Best of the day was a 2+ lb on the brown BH wooley. The runt of the day
was an 8 incher that took an olive roach. Was only too sorry not to have a cabin for
the evening! Had hoped to hit the river outside the park before we left, but we were
just too wiped out from all the wind and sun. Next time!
Sounds like a great trip. Anytime they're taking dries is a
great time indeed. Thanks Aaron.
This report was submitted by Scott Turney of Grain Valley on 3/22/07
Date of Trip: 3/20 & 3/21/07 Times Fished: All Day Air Temperature: Comfy Weather: Overcast Water Level: Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: BH Pheasant Tail, Crackleback,
Mohair Leech, Elk Hair Caddis
Fished the park Tuesday and Wed. Fished the entire Fly Fishing Only section.
Tuesday was the better day with overcast skies. As mentioned on here in another
report, you catch fish in these parks for about 15 minutes, then have to switch to
something else. So that's what I did. Started off with cracklebacks and caught a few.
Then things slowed so I changed to a BH pheasant tail size #18. Again similar success.
Then changed to a mohair leech.
Wed. was basically a repeat of Tuesday but not as many fish caught, because the
skies were clearer for most of the morning. I did manage two trout on a size #18
Elk Hair Caddis during a small hatch mid morning.
Very few fisherman seen, just the way I like it. Fishing during the week can be tough,
but I guess it depends on what you want, tough fishing but solitude, or lots of fisherman
and fairly easy pickings.
Wanted to stay another day, but the storms chased me back home. The campground
flooded moderatley Monday night when I arrived, and I never quite recovered from it.
Time to invest in a camper, tents just don't cut it anymore. So when the next storm moved
in Wed., I decided to come home.
I'm with you. Solitude + fish you have to work for = a good
day on the river. Thanks Scott.
This report was submitted by Bradley Tutt of St. Louis on 3/27/07
Date of Trip: 3/16 - 3/18/07 Times Fished: Varied Air Temperature: Frigid Weather: Sunny Water Level: Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Homemade Jigs, Homemade Pheasant Nymph
Sorry it took so long to put this up. Well, what more can I say but the
fishing was very tuff all weekend long, I had my best luck on Friday up
in the fly area. I landed 10 stocker size trout in about an hour on a custom-
made jig I tied myself -- white and black jig with some wing in flash tied in it.
Saturday was a differant story all together. It seemed like the fish had lock-
jaw, but I managed to land 4 on a jig I tied called the drunken fish, and this
jig got its named because I was really tipsy when tied it up in the middle of
the night at camp. Sunday was a lot harder I started in the fly area using a
very uncommon pheasant tail nimph pattern that I modified a little bit. I landed
one trout on that with the help of my little brother, because he was watching
my indicator while I b.s.ing with someone. I then went back to using my ultra
light up at the powerbait hole with a pink jig with wing and flash tied in it, I
picked up another three in that hole
Even when the fishing's tough, a properly presented jig is
really hard to resist. Thanks Bradley. Good to hear from you again.
This report was submitted by Dave Tannehill of Fenton on 3/19/07
Date of Trip: 3/15 - 3/17/07 Times Fished: All Day Air Temperature: Chilly Weather: Overcast Water Level: Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Anything white, orange,
scuds, crackleback, glo-bugs, leeches
Took a three-nighter to Montauk with a group of good friends. Cold and occasionally
a little wet, but nothing good gear and/or a great fire couldn't combat. Fished Thursday
afternoon, all day Friday and Saturday.
Thursday afternoon was pretty good fishing. Mostly used the spinning rod with brightly
colored jigs, a couple spinners and a plastic worm or two -- all from the handicap access
between loop 2 & 3 down to the first 1/2 mile or so outside the park.
After getting rained on a little that night, woke up to a chilly Friday morning that started
slowly above the bridge, but picked up when I hit the riffles there above the bridge.
Nothing but the fly rod that day. White scud brought a lot of success. It got real sunny
throughout the morning and the fishing really picked up and was pretty fast with fairly
aggressive fish until early afternoon, when I stopped for lunch. Stuck with scuds most
of the morning, but fished a white maribou as well. Cracklebacks were no help.
That afternoon was a little slower until I switched to leeches and found some success.
Used both olive and rust-colored, bead-headed worked best, because the fish went
deeper. My buddies arrived then and caught a couple apiece in the last 2 hours with
orange/white worms.
Saturday was brutal. Hooked a fish first cast, but lost it just before the net got into the
water. Then, nothing I tried worked, which was most of my stuff, fly and spinning rod.
Seemed to be tough on everybody, except for John who somehow managed to catch
3 right off the bat with yellow cheese and was eating breakfast by 8:30. The rest of us
slogged it out without much action until around 10:30. Quit for a couple hours, and then
it began snowing and sleeting. Figured if we were gonna stand around in the snow, might
as well be fishing, so we headed for the fly area. Started near the spring and got to the
rock hole by the 7pm siren. Better luck in the afternoon, but still slow compared with
Thursday & Friday, using white mini-jigs (2), maribous (1), a couple leeches (1), a
crackleback (1) and a neon green glowball (0).
All in all, pretty good fishing and a great time camping.
Great report. Thanks again for the help Dave.
This report was submitted by Dave B. of St. Charles on 3/21/07
Date of Trip: 3/10 - 3/11/07 Times Fished: Morning & afternoon Air Temperature: Frigid on 10th, Balmy on 11th Weather: Sunny Water Level: Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Marabou & Rubber Leg Jigs
On the 10th, fished above the dam at the end of the fly only area at the whistle until about 8am.
Caught 8 using white/red and black/yellow jigs. All of them were in the 12-14" range.
I moved down to the sunken road above Hwy 119 and caught another 6 by 10am.
After a good meal and a nap, fished the campgrounds from 3-5pm and pulled out 3
nice fighters from some deep undercuts.
On the 11th, fished the area at the end of the park at the whistle. Started off slowly --
caught 2 small ones, then moved away from the crowd. Things picked up when I
found a school farther down. I caught 14 fish in the next 45 minutes, at one point I
caught 6 fish on 6 straight casts. Caught them all on green/white jigs. After
breakfast fished just behind the campgrounds up to the old low water bridge and
again caught 3 nice 14".
Sounds like a great trip. Thanks again Dave.
This report was submitted by Derek LeRoy of Hermann on 3/17/07
Date of Trip: 3/10/07 Times Fished: All Day Air Temperature: Comfy Weather: Sunny Water Level: Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Mossy Green & Black 1/32 oz Marabou Jig
My dad and I fished the catch and release zone first. I had the luck of
catching a 9 pound plus female rainbow in the 2nd hole up from the bridge.
We could tell the fish was hungry and I got it to bite on my 2nd cast. I later
caught a 3 pound plus fish in the catch and release area. I spent the rest of
the day in the fly section from the spring to the large rock above the waterfall
where I had awesome success using, again, the same mossy green jig. I was
letting the jig come to rest in the white sand and twitching it and the fish would
come right up to it and pick it up. I caught a total of 21 fish on the day. A great
day of fishing!
I guess so! Most people would have been thrilled with the 3-pounder,
but to also catch a 9 on the same trip... whew! Thanks for the report
Derek.
This report was submitted by Beau McFarlin of Herrin, IL on 3/7/07
Date of Trip: 3/1 - 3/5/07 Times Fished: Morning & Afternoon Air Temperature: Freezing Weather: Overcast Water Level: Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Rooster Tails & Jigs
Well I made another opening day trip to Montauk, and what can I say
except awesome! The fishing was great, the weather was not, but the
chance to get away and do a little trout fishing wass great. I started
out every morning at the white oak hole with a rooster tail and would
catch three fish in three casts. I would stop at three fish so I could fish
in the afternoon. On the last day I caught a nice rainbow that will go
about 2 and a half pounds. No lunkers in the cooler this trip but still
had an awesome time. I am going back in May for the kids free fishing
days, so I will write back then.
Five solid days on the river will make many readers jealous.
Sounds like a real nice trip. Thanks Beau.
This report was submitted by Blake ____________ of Duke on 3/4/07
Date of Trip: 3/1 - 3/3/07 Times Fished: 7:00am - 5:00pm Air Temperature: Freezing Weather: Snowy Water Level: Average Water Clarity: Slightly Clouded Successful Baits: Salmon Eggs, Home-made Bait
Went down March 1st from St.Charles, which is about a three to four hour drive. Caught
nothing on March 1st, caught 3 on March 2nd on salmon eggs and home-made bait. Then
on our last day, March 3, Caught 1. One thing to say that a froze my butt off. My Dad
caught a 3 pound, 3 ounce fish that was enough for the lunker board.
Certainly can't complain about a 3 pound fish. Rumor has it that the opening
weekend was pretty slow at all the trout parks
this year. Another indication that things were slow is that we didn't get
buried with 50 fishing reports about the parks -- people just don't like
sending in reports when they struggle on the water. We encourage everyone
to send in reports of hard times, too, though. That information is just
as valuable (if not moreso) than the reports that talk about big catches.
Thanks Blake.
This report was submitted by Chris Todtenhausen of University City on 1/28/07
Date of Trip: 1/27/07 Times Fished: 8:00am - 4:00pm Air Temperature: Frigid Weather: Overcast Water Level: Above Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Caddis, Stimulator, Bead Head Pheasant Tail
Went down to Montauk Friday afternoon. Had the entire primitive camping area to
myself. Built a nice big fire and relaxed. Saturday morning was able to fish anywhere
I wanted, probably 20 people total all day in the park. I stayed in the faster water
along the camping area. Was successful with #14 BH Flashback PT and #18 BH PT
Emerger droppers. Probably 10 fish on each. The real fun was when the sun would
come out for a two or three minute period, and the trout were looking up to the surface.
My indicator was a #14 elk hair caddis, and the trout tore it to pieces. As soon as the
sun went behind the clouds, the hits would stop for a few minutes. I switched to a royal
stimulator and it worked just as well. It is in a tree still because of an over-agressive hook
set on a missed fish with a tree right behind me. Was going to camp out Saturday night too,
but 10 degrees is a little too cold for a tent. Can't wait to go back.
10 degrees is too cold for a tent? WIMP! :-) Thanks Chris.
This report was submitted by Kevin Miller of Linn on 1/22/07
Date of Trip: 1/19/07 Times Fished: 8:30am - 3:45pm Air Temperature: Freezing Weather: Sunny Water Level: Above Average Water Clarity: Slightly Clouded Successful Baits: Mohair Leech, Gold BH Pheasant Tail, Small Dries
I spent a very nice Friday at Montauk. Caught a lot of trout, more in the afternoon
then in the morning. The Mohair leech was the HOT FLY! At the end of the day,
I got a stike on nearly every cast on the Mohair. Also, there was a hatch almost all
day, looked like size 18 PMD. The park was nearly empty, at the most I saw 10 to
12 other fisherman all day.
Thanks again Kevin.
This report was submitted by Scott Strack on 1/2/07
Date of Trip: 12/28 to 12/30/06 Times Fished: 8:00am-11:00am, 1:00pm-4:00pm Air Temperature: Chilly Weather: Sunny Water Level: Average Water Clarity: Slightly Clouded Successful Baits: BH Tangerine Glo-bug, BH CDC Nymphs
My wife and I arrived at Montauk around noon on the 28th. The weather was extremely
pleasant for late December with the high near 60 degrees. Friday morning came with the
low temperature a very comfortable 49 degrees. At 7:45 AM I made my way downhill
from our cabin, I noticed that the large oak tree that had fallen across the stream just
above the Jetty Hole was still there. The water level appeared to be average to maybe
a little above with just a hint of milkiness. I proceeded to make my way to the Blue
Hole, my favorite starting point in the park, and was surprised to see no one else there.
When the siren sounded at 8:00, I was still alone. My first cast with the beadhead glo-bug
had not drifted 10 feet when the 4wt. rod arced skyward signaling my first fish of the catch
and release season.
The action was fast and frantic with this scene being repeated several times over the next
hour or so. All together in the first 90 minutes, I managed to land over 20 fish. When the
action slowed on the glo bug, I switched to a beadhead CDC nymph in a size 16. This fly
continued to produce fish only not nearly as fast as earlier that morning. The afternoon
hours were productive as well with the pace slowing as the weather warmed and more
anglers appeared.
Saturday morning was entirely different than the previous day. The weather system that
the Springfield, MO TV station had been promising finally arrived. Temperatures were
still very comfy, nearly 50 degrees, but the winds had picked up and there was a light
rain falling. I again decided to head to the Blue Hole to see if I could coax a few trout into
taking my offerings.Again,I was surprised to see that no one was around me when the siren
sounded.As a matter of fact, I did not see another fisherman all morning as I worked my way
downstream to Jetty Hole past the "flat water" and to Hudson's Corner. The fish were not
as eager to bite as they had been the day before. I had very few takes on the glo bug, but the
CDC nymph saw some action on this day. I managed to land a dozen fish before calling it
quits for the morning and heading back to the cabin.
I highly recommend the catch and release season if you have not tried it. Fishing pressure
is usually minimal and you may get the opportunity to hook into a large fish that might not
otherwise give you the time of day. Good luck fishing and I hope to see you on the stream!
Sounds like a great time. Those of us who have fished the parks in the
winter agree whole-heartedly with your assessment. It's amazing that
so many trout fishermen hang up their waders until spring time.
Especially with the unnaturally mild winters we've been having the last
several years. One positive thing about global warming, I guess.
Thanks Scott.
This report was submitted by Chris Bueltmann on 11/20/06
Date of Trip: 11/10/06 Times Fished: 8:00am - 11:00am Air Temperature: Chilly Weather: Overcast Water Level: Below Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Glo-bug, Wooly Worm, Jigs, Yellow Nymph
I made it down for the first day of the winter season and it was well worth it. My dad came
fishing with me for the first time in probably 3 years, since the weather was decent. I was
disappointed to see how crowded it was when we first got there, but everyone was very
friendly and polite to fish around. Pretty much everyone was catching fish pretty consistently.
The egg pattern was definitely the most productive for me but when it slowed down almost
anything we threw would produce bites for a while. The fish seemed to be biting good but were
tough to hook. We still managed to catch 24 fish between us. Most of them were on the smaller
side, maybe 10"-12", but we got a couple that were 16". There were plenty of bigger fish in the
stream but a lot of them looked like they were exhibiting spawning behavior and wouldn't look
at anything. There was a guy across from me that caught what I would guess was around an 8
or 9 pounder with a big hook jaw. It was beautiful and swam away strong after the release. It
was exciting to see someone bring in a fish that size and then see it swim away safely. Overall
it was a great morning of fishing.
Good to hear from you again, Chris. Many thanks.
This report was submitted by John Travis of Wildwood on 11/16/06
Date of Trip: 11/10/06 Times Fished: 11:00am - 4:00pm Air Temperature: Comfy Weather: Cloudy Water Level: Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Prince Nymphs, Glo-bugs
Went to Montauk first day of winter catch and release. Fished the campground section. Caught a few fish
in the 12 - 17 inch range on #16 prince nymph. Switched to glo balls and caught a couple dozen more. 3 in
the 18 - 20 inch range. One about 22 inches. Seemed like lots of fish in the river and plenty of larger fish.
Went down to Van Tat access late in the afternoon (click HERE for that report).
Overall an excellent day of fishing.
Many thanks, John. Glad you had a good trip.
This report was submitted by Blake Duke of St. Charles on 10/12
Date of Trip: 10/12/06 Times Fished: 900am - 400pm Air Temperature: Chilly Weather: Sunny Water Level: Below Average Water Clarity: Slightly Clouded Successful Baits: Salmon Eggs
Caught Nothing.
Welcome aboard, Blake. Thanks so much for the report. Hearing what didn't work is just as valuable as
hearing what did work, and I wish we'd get more reports from folks that had slow days. Obviously, I don't
know what fishing methods you were using. I can tell you that sit-and-wait bait fishing doesn't work nearly
as well as drifting that salmon egg under a small bobber. Next time cast upstream of where you can see fish
and allow the salmon egg to drift past their noses. Adjust the depth of the bobber until you get it right.
Watch for just a slight movement of the bobber or movement of the fish that indicates a hit. You'll get 'em
while everyone else just sits and watches. Of course, there are days when you do everything perfect, but
the fish just won't cooperate.
This report was submitted by John C. of Ballwin on 10/12
Date of Trip: 10/11/06 Times Fished: 8:00am - 2:30pm Air Temperature: Chilly Weather: Overcast Water Level: Very Low Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Crackleback
The weather was very "iffy" on the drive down... off and on rain with a cold front moving in. Fished the fly-only section.
Hundreds of fish observed in all the holes. There was a lot of fish holding in the riffles feeding into and out of the deeper holes.
These seemed to be the only fish I could get to strike. Used a crackleback downstream, working it back over where fish were
holding in the riffles. I got some very active strikes. Tried many different patterns including some dries, but the crackleback is the
only thing I had success with. Caught about 6-7 fish, nothing of size, but it was a good outing! Side note: Up and down the fly-
only section, I observed many trout actively spawning. I wonder what the success of these spawns are...?
Welcome aboard, John. The spawning activity you witnessed is probably some of the early brown trout activity.
Our rainbows don't typically start acting like that until Thanksgiving and then again in January. There has
been no documented successful spawning by brown trout in Missouri to date, unless Mike Kruse is keeping it secret
(ust kidding Mike). Seriously, though, successful spawning is evident when people start catching 3" fish, and no one
ever catches 3" browns. There is some successful rainbow spawning on the Current, as this tends to happen during
the Park's fish for fun season, so very little pressure from wading fishermen to disrupt things.
This report was submitted by Kevin Miller of Linn on 9/30/06
Date of Trip: 9/30 Times Fished: 8:00am - 3:00pm Air Temperature: Comfy Weather: Cloudy Water Level: Below Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: BH Pheasant Tail, Olive Soft Hackle, Small Dries
What a great day on the water! I fished in the fly only zone and caught about 27 fish, most of them on the BH Pheasant tail. Also had good success
with a small olive soft hackle. The park seemed to be a little more crowded then usual, and the fish were a little smaller, but still a great day!
No one likes the crowds, but you certainly can't argue with those results. Thanks, Kevin.
This report was submitted by John Travis of Wildwood on 9/11/06
Date of Trip: 9/8 & 9/9 Times Fished: All Day Air Temperature: Comfy Weather: Sunny Water Level: Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Various Flies
Fished on a Friday at Montauk with my 11 year old son. Caught several fish in the catch and release only area on a wooly
bugger and maribou jig. Also, caught one on a PMD-like dry fly. My son caught a large rainbow in the 18 - 20 inch area on
the jig. Had a great experience fishing on the campground stretch of river. Watched a couple of nice brownies sipping flies
very gently and consistently. Drifted dry flies over them for about 45 minutes. They would come up and take a look but no
takes. So I called my son over to show him what feeding trout look like. Casted a PMD-like fly over and the fish came up
and sipped it. While I was landing the 14 inch brown my son says "Dad I got one too". Turns out he threw his PMD out and
caught the second fish. Wish I could tell you exactly what the fly was I used but I am not sure, I changes flies 3 - 4 times
looking for the right one. It was a magical moment I will not soon forget. Also caught a couple of nice rainbows by drifting a
hares ear nymph through a deeper hole.
The next morning was Saturday, and as I was fishing the same stretch of river about 10 - 12 "Barneys" came tromping down
the river behind me kicking up enough silt to muddy the water. I will not fish weekends in the future. Had a similar experience
floating a dry over a feeding brown about 100 times. Finally got him to sip it but when I set it pulled out of his mouth. Overall
my son caught 14 fish and I caught 10, all on Friday. And he caught the biggest fish too!!
That's awesome. It's a win-win situation. Kids love outfishing their dads, and we dads are
usually more than happy to have it happen. And catching browns on dries is such a rare
opportunity... Thanks for the report, John.
This report was submitted by Ben ________ of Columbia on 8/22/06
Date of Trip: 8/15 - 8/17/2006 Times Fished: All Day Air Temperature: Balmy Weather: Sunny Water Level: Below Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Power Bait, Rooster Tails, Woolly Buggers
We had beautiful weather and great fishing for our short trip down to the park. We fished under the bridge near the lodge
at the opening horn. I immediately had two fish in hand on only two casts using chartreuse Power Bait. The other guys with
me had the same luck with other colors of Power Bait. After an hour, the fish seemed to be onto us, so I switched to a
rainbow trout colored 1/16 oz. rooster tail and immediately the fish started biting again. Later in the day, I had good luck
with a brown woolly bugger on a silver spinner (you can get them up at the lodge) and power bait. On the last day, I fished
a chartreuse rooster tail all over the park and ended up catching eight fish total. The fish we caught ranged from 12"-13" up
to 16" or so. Since we were there during the week both the campsite and the river were empty so we had our run of the
place. We'll definitely plan a weekday trip for next time!
Amen to that. The only thing that keeps some of us from fishing the parks is the crowds.
You certainly can't complain about the fishing. Thanks for the report.
This report was submitted by Jason Rhyne of Warrensburg on 8/8/06
Date of Trip: Aug 4-7 Times Fished: All Day Air Temperature: Sultry Weather: Sunny Water Level: Very Low Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Elk Hair Caddis, Griffith's Gnat, George Magyar's Trout Bait
I was really looking forward to trying bait fishing for trout using George's bait. Thought bait fishing for trout was going to
be comparable to bluegill fishing with worms. Even though it turns out you can't slaughter them like I thought- I have a new
found passion to go along with my fly rod and caddis flies. We caught several nice fish in the fly only area, but nothing new to
report on. It was a typical elk hair caddis or Griffith gnats endevour.
I have been fly fishing for several years and just never got around to the other side of trout fishing. First let me say, my
preconceptions of bait fishing where way off point. I always figured that since fly fishing was hard enough to figure out,
that anyone could catch trout with bait. WOW was I wrong!!! Each day from 10:00-5:00 I fished with Georges bait
recipe with no luck whatsoever. I tried every place I could find that was holding fish with no success. I figured this bait
was bust. Then on our last evening, I decided to change my technique up and go with a few different pieces of hardware
and tackle. I switched to a small size 18 treble hook and 2 pound (courtland) camo-colored line. I fished with a small
split shot about 15 inches up, and casted onto dark collored rocks or aquatic plants in 5 feet of water maximum and site
fished- meaning as soon as I saw the fish pick up the bait off the bottom, I set the hook. I picked up 3 fish in about 10
minutes doing this. I now had cofindence in Georges bait. I used the same set up with small bobbers being drifted in water
with the bait about 10 inches off the bottom. again, I watched the bait- not the bobber. as soon as I saw the bait get hit
or disapear, I set the hook. We fished Georges bait from 10:00A.M. untill 7:00P.M. that night and it produced 8 fish for
me and my my fishing partners. This is great considering how many fish we lost from the line breaking or just the luck of
the draw of the fish winning the fight but most importantly we caught all the fish in the last couple hours of fishing. When
we finally figured out the right combination of tackle and presentation -Georges bait was the right one on the end of the
line. When all other baits we had used stopped producing fish, this one pulled through. I should also add, I had tried several
variations of the bait, to include garlic powder, onion powder, food coloring. By far the Garlic natural color did the job better
than all the rest. I would sugest a stantard of measurment for georges bait to include the amount of baking powder for
people to use- I added 2 table spoons, for the record.
You're a good man, Jason. We fly fishermen can be downright snooty, sometimes. It's refreshing
to hear someone admit that bait fishing takes skill as well. Not to mention the fact that its
fun! That George is becoming quite a celebrity. From informal polls taken a Maramec Spring, it
seems the garlic white variety is the favorite there as well. Thanks for the report.
This report was submitted by Dave Nichols of Collinsville, IL on 6/12/06
Date of Trip: 6/10 & 6/11/06 Times Fished: All Day Air Temperature: Sultry Weather: Sunny Water Level: Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Pink Glo-bugs, Red Jigs
Made a trip to Montauk with my 15 yr. old son on Saturday and Sunday. We try to fish the park 2 or 3 times
a year. The weather was hot and dry Saturday and cool and cloudy on Sunday. We fished the fly area and caught
roughly 20 fish each both days. The fish were average size, had two in the 2 pound range. Fish bit on light pink glo
balls and any jig in the red, orange or pink color spectrum. Tried yellow, black, white but got no action on those.
The fish seemed to bite on only the reds and pinks. Although Saturday was a bit crowded - the Blue Hole in particular -
everyone seemed to catch their share of fish and mind their manners. The fly only area at Montauk is one of the
prettiest sections of stream you'll find anywhere in a trout park. I've been visiting Montauk for over 30 years and never
seem to be disappointed with the scenery or the fishing. And to top it off, I didn't realize it was free fishing weekend, so
didn't need a license or trout tag to fish!
Glad you had a good trip, Dave. Thanks for the report, and welcome aboard.
This report was submitted by Mark Frederick of St. Louis on 5/29/06
Date of Trip: 5/22-5/24 Times Fished: All Day Air Temperature: Sultry Weather: Sunny Water Level: Above Average Water Clarity: Slightly Clouded Successful Baits: Glo-bugs, Bead Head Nymphs, Trout Worms
I haven't fished at the Park for a long time. Montauk was where I found my love for trout fishing. These
three days just reconfirmed that. In three days, I fished the entire park. Day 1: Disabled access to park end.
Caught some really nice fish on glow balls and trout worms. The hardest part was getting the bait/lure down
and into the "Feeding Zone". Hot colors were organge and white. I caught a 2-3lb 18in+ and released it, so
I know there is at least one big fish down there. Day 2: Fly Fish Only Zone. This is my favorite part of the park.
Lots of water, few people, and plenty of room for me to attempt fly casting. I picked up a few fish with beadhead
Zug Bugs, Glow Balls (Organge, Chartruse), and white and olive mini-jigs. The water level was lower here so
getting the fly down wasn't as hard. Day 3: Really Freaking Hot. Temps hit in the low 90's. Fished below the
dam to the campground bridge. Picked up a few on trout worms, and my partner caught a couple by drifting
power bait through deep holes. Overall, It was a great trip. I love Montauk, and hopefully I can get back there
before the season's over.
Good to hear from you Mark. Thanks for continuing to help us out with fishing reports.
This report was submitted by Matt _________ of Imperial on 5/24/06
Date of Trip: 5/23 Times Fished: 3 1/2 hours Air Temperature: Sultry Weather: Sunny Water Level: Above Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Salmon Eggs
I had to take a day off of work to go down. I had the fishing itch, and this was the only time I could take care
of it. What a perfect day it was. I usually go down to Montauk a couple times a year and generally do very well.
This time was an amazing trip, though, because of the high water. There were so many holes to fish my salmon eggs in!
I was only down there for about 3 and a half hours, and I must have caught about 30 trout. Only 4 to keep of course,
but I could have had my limit 5x over. Did I mention it was amazing? I only fished from the campground bridge upstream
to the sunken tree. If I wasn't catching fish, I would have moved farther, but I didn't need to. I am going to have to find
another time to go down soon because of the high water. What I do is get size 18 or 20 bronze treble hooks and put
salmon eggs on them with a sinker about 2 feet from the hook. Sometimes I even go without the sinker to give a more
natural look to the way the eggs float. That is all I used while down there. Strange part is all the other people I was
talking to were not catching anything. Probably because they are used to sight fishing which becomes more diffecult
when the water is up.
Thanks for the report, Matt. Sounds like you had a blast. Bait fishing is very much
under-appreciated by many trout fishermen, but it can take just as much intelligence and
finesse as fly fishing, especially when done right. Sounds like you've got the right
formula.
This report was submitted by Kevin Miller of Linn on 5/13/06
Date of Trip: 5/13 Times Fished: 8:00am to 3:00pm Air Temperature: Comfy Weather: Sunny Water Level: Very High Water Clarity: Milky Successful Baits: Orange & Pink Glo-bugs, Black & Yellow Marabou Jig
The fishing was a little different this time around. The fish were holding deep because of the high water. I was using
Glo-Bugs and my brother was using the jig. He caught 11 fish, and I caught 16. I was very happy with the size of the
fish that I caught, quite a few 14 to 15 inchers, and one at least 16". There was a massive Trico hatch in the morning,
but no rising trout. I can't wait for clear water!
Thanks for continuing to help us out with reports, Kevin.
This report was submitted by Randall Barron of Warrenton on 4/17/06
Date of Trip: 4/13/06 Times Fished: morning Air Temperature: Comfy Weather: Sunny Water Level: Average Water Clarity: Gin Clear Successful Baits: Crackleback
Got geared up as the horn went off. Things started slow in the catch & release area, so I went to the fly only section.
I don't know what was hatching, but a crackleback looked like the bugs, so I fished it dry and caught probably 10 fish.
I then headed back to the trophy area and brought in 3 browns, a couple decent rainbows, and one 20"+ bow. Barely had
any hits on nymphs for some reason.
Montauk's been great for producing nice hatches and giving up quality fish on dries. And it's still
the only one of the parks where you can actually fish with some decent elbow room. Thanks for the
report, Randall.
This report was submitted by Brett_______ of Troy on 3/27/06
Date of Trip: 3/20 to 3/24 Times Fished: 8:00am to 12:00pm Air Temperature: Frigid Weather: Cloudy Water Level: Above Average Water Clarity: Slightly Clouded Successful Baits: Power Bait, Lucky Lady Worms
I started to fish on the 21st. On the first day power bait was the only thing they seemed to bite. The rest of the days
I was there they took lucky lady worms or power bait. There was no one there, and I caught my limit every day with in 30 minutes.
Sounds like you had a good trip. Thanks for the report, Brett.
This report was submitted by Leo Crook of Independence on 3/23/06
Date of Trip: 3/17 to 3/20/06 Times Fished: 6:30am to 6:00pm Air Temperature: Frigid Weather: Overcast Water Level: Average Water Clarity: Slightly Clouded Successful Baits: Shrimp, Duns, Fluff Powerballs
Power balls were best early in the mornings -- prefered pink & orange. Lime green worked well in the midday.
Small shrimp worked in the afternoon in the rapids until about 4:00. The duns worked well (fun) as the hatches arised.
Was a great time -- low crowd, good fishing.
Thanks for the report Leo. Welcome aboard.
This report was submitted by Ken DeClue of St. Louis on 3/20/06
Date of Trip: 3/17 to 3/19/06 Times Fished: Morning Air Temperature: Freezing Weather: Overcast Water Level: Above Average Water Clarity: Milky Successful Baits: Tinsel jigs, Light Cahill
We arrived Friday afternoon and got things ready for the next day. Saturday the horn went off and we started fishing.
Hit the fly only area. What a joke -- there were more spinning reels than on Bass Pro's ultralight rack. Then i saw a
nut using dough bait. If you guys here have any pull at all, please try and do something about this growing problem.
Anyhow, Saturday didn't turn out to be too productive -- caught a few but no keepers unless you like small fish. The were
so small that you could get about 4 in your frying pan. Sunday turned out to be my day had my limit by 8 a.m., kept letting
go number 4 to catch a lunker. About 10:30 I was starting to get hungry, so I headed back to the campsite. Just to let you
guys know who own neopreNe waders and haven't walked in them... drive. It seemed that tinsel jigs were the bait of
choice. The fish just kept jumping on my hook or I was on the X at that moment. About 2 p.m. there seemed to be a
caddis hatch and little white flies where everywhere. So I tried a light cahill had a couple of offers but no takers...... ok
i missed the strikes. I must be getting old. Anyway, a bad day on the stream is better than the best day at work, I say.
So til next trip, keep on angling boys and girls.
Always good to hear from you Ken. Thanks for continuing to help us out.
This report was submitted by Mike Barron of St. Peters on 3/14/06
Date of Trip: 3/9 to 3/12/06 Times Fished: All day Air Temperature: Comfy Weather: Partly Cloudy Water Level: Above Average Water Clarity: Brown Successful Baits: #16 ginger hackled cracklebacks, #10 olive mohair leech, tri-colored glo-bugs, 1/128 mini-jigs
This trip was my first trip to Montauk. I am a long time veteran to Bennett Springs, so suprisingly enough this was
an experience factoring in the "monsoon" type conditions. The water was the color of the Mississippi during flood
season. Other fisherman tell me that the water was up approx. 1-2 feet. This should give you an idea of the conditions.
I fished Thursday for a couple of hours behind the campgrounds and was able to catch 5 on white mini-jigs.
Friday morning I started to catch a few on tri-colored globalls at the low-water bridge. I left and started to search
for my true passion... DRY FLY WATERS! Friday afternoon and Saturday I found some nice waters in the fly
area and focused on the areas that had grassy banks. Those were the areas where I noticed more hatches. A
homeade #14 crackleback with a pale yellow body wrapped with ginger hackle brought 20 nice rainbows to the surface.
The rise was mostly in early to late afternoon. I did catch 7 or so stripping over gravel walkways in the stream. The
deeper holes with chunk rock were productive with white mini-jigs and #10 olive mohair leeches. Sunday was a total
wash after the monsoon came through. Considering the conditions of the stream and still having the luck that I did,
Montauk has found a new customer.
I hope more anglers put information on this website to assist others who are planning a trip in the future. The information
is extremely helpful, especially for those of us who tie our own flies. Thanks for offering me the space for my report,
and I hope there is some information on here that will help fellow anglers in the future.
Thanks for the report, Mike. Your tips will certainly be helpful to
those planning trips. Even moreso, your report will encourage people to get out and go
fishing even when the water conditions are not at their best. Some of the most memorable
trips happen under odd circumstances. Welcome aboard.
This report was submitted by Kevin Miller of Linn on 1/21/06
Date of Trip: 1/21/06 Times Fished: 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM Air Temperature: Freezing Weather: Partly Cloudy Water Level: Average Water Clarity: Gin clear Successful Baits: Hares ear nymph, small dry flies
My uncle and I fished the fly only section of Montauk. Had a great day, I caught 9 or 10 fish. My
uncle caught his first trout, and it was the first time he ever fly fished. There was a good hatch in the morning
and a better hatch in the evening. Pale Evening Duns, I think. If you're going to Montauk, be sure to have a
good seletion of dry flies! It seems like most people don't take advantage of the hatchs.
That's a fact, Kevin. It's maddening to see people fishing the parks with the standard fly
under a strike indicator when there's a strong hatch with surface feeding going on. Come on folks! Tie on that dry!
What's the worst that could happen?
This report was submitted by Bradley Tutt of Affton 10/17/05
Date of trip: Oct 14-16
Times fished: 6am to 2pm
Air Temperature: Comfy
Weather: Sunny
Water Level: Below average
Water quality: Gin clear
Well I don't know were to start but here I go, I had fished Montauk once before and
knonked them dead, so I had planned on having my father and little brother join me
one last time of the season. For the most part it was great. My Father who, had fished
Montauk when he was a kid with his grandfather, had joined me and my girlfriend for a
weekend of fun and fishing, but Montauk's ugly side showed itself this weekend. My
father fishing with his grandfather's Ocean City fly reel and his SouthBend fly rod
started with a multi colored-egg pattern and caught a nice 15" trout but couldn't get
any other takers after that. My little brother started with a Green 1/32 marabou
tinsel jig and caught his first trout. I myself had planned that I would guide them
to a wonderful trip filled with lots of fish but instead, after those two trout, it was over.
The fishing was slow and hard -- you actually had to work to get the fish to even bite.
I took my father back to the campsite and took my brother back out to get my fish. I
started in a nice hole in the fly area and had several bites on a blond bugger and
finally caught one at about 12:00 noon -- then nothing. We started down stream, and I ended
up with four more with in a two hour period. Sunday we started out at the hole again, and
my father hooked up on two within 30 min of the buzzer on a crackleback. My little brother
again hooked up on the tinsel jib but did not land the fish.
Then it was my girlfriend's turn. I took her over to Montauk lake thinking we would knock
them dead but instead again nothing. She ended catching a bobber with a line on it, and at
the end of the line was a fish. So, in a round-a-bout way, she kind of caught her first trout.
I myself left with several bites and no hook-ups the second day. The fishing was slow and tough,
but it was fun and exciting to see my father catch fish on the same out fit his grandfather used
30 years ago. My little brother is now so excited about his first trout he is asking to go
back again. It brings great joy in seeing the magic of Montauk work on people that have
never fished for trout before. And now that I have given a bit of insight to my little
brother, he is ready to join me down there in dec for my last trip of the year.
Bradley, you've just had your first typical "guide" experience. If you're good at it, you still
don't catch anything, but everyone else does. The trade-off is usually worth it, though. Thanks
for the report.
This report was submitted by Ken DeClue on 7/25/05
My friend and I went Sunday July 24th, man was it hot out. I really didn't think we'd do that
well, and if your talking to my buddy we didn't. At least he didn't (laughing out loud). I, on the other
hand, had a great day. I caught about 15 fish and ended up with my limit of 4 nice keepers for the
dinner table. We stayed in the fly fishing only area, but I don't know why they call it that. There
were more people there using dough bait than were in the bait area, if you ask me. I guess they
really don't enforce the rules there, but hey it's not my job to give the tickets. I started with a
gold tinsel jig and found it to be working so why tamper with success. Later in the day when
fishing slowed down, I switched to a red San Juan Worm. I had a few chase it but no bites,
so I switched back to my reliable tinsel jig. It was kind of nice to have 3 fish by 9:00 and being
able to catch and release for number 4 till you get a good one. I caught alot of small one 8 to
10 inches, but the four I kept were in the 12-15 inch range.
Thanks Ken, and welcome aboard.
This report was submitted by Dave Dawson of Eagles Park Campground on 1/26/05
I fished inside Montauk State Park for about an hour and a half on Friday afternoon. The fishing was fantastic. I caught 22
fish. I caught all of them on a tri-colored (light orange, light pink and yellow) glo ball. It was working so good I didn't
even try anything else. There is only 3 weeks left for the winter catch and release season at Montauk State Park.
Thanks for the report Dave. Dave's contact information is:
If you go to Montauk to do
some fishing, please be sure to send us a
report about how you did. Click here if you would like more information on Montauk State
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