Fly Fishing Exile Ended

This weekend I was able to go fly fishing for the first time in over a year.  It has seemed like even longer since on the most recent fishing trip prior to this weekend all I had caught was a rock.  And to top the trip off, they guys in my family were springing for it for my birthday. The guys took me to Westover Farms in Steeleville, MO.  This was the last place I had had any success fly fishing so I have been really anticipating the trip. I wrote about my last trip to Westover Farms here and have some pictures of the grounds here.  We fished Friday afternoon, spent the night at one of their cabins, and fished again on Saturday morning. It was a great weekend.

Stalking Trout

Whenever you see fly fishing in movies it usually involves a vast expanse of river and casting great distances with perfect precision.  My experience has not included the vast expanse of river.  I rarely have the ability to cast the great distances and definitely don't have the perfect precision.  Most of my fly fishing has been on small streams and rivers.  And the casting has been mostly short casts and high sticking.  And if you have to get close to the fish when you cast you better not spook it off before you get there.  

Putting It All On the Line (Care)

In getting ready for my first fly fishing trip in over a year I've been trying to refresh my mind on everything I used to know about fly fishing.  I've been thinking about casting.  Which knots should I use.  How should I approach the fish.  And then I thought about my fly fishing gear that's been sitting in it's case waiting patiently for me to bring them out.  You know, it might be a good idea to check out my gear to make sure it's still in good working order.

I grab the case, open it and pull out my rod and reel.  My rod looks OK, at least to my novice eyes.  The reel spins smoothly.  No issues there.  What about the line?  Didn't my brother say something one time about cleaning my line?  Have I ever cleaned my line?  Ummmm.... no.  Time to do some research.

The Thrill Of The Hunt

My first fly fishing experience was high sticking in the rolling streams of The Smoky Mountain National Park. Hiking and climbing the rocks and boulders to find a likely spot to flick your line upstream.  Watching tentatively, not sure if the dip of your indicator was from the bubbling on the surface of the water or from a trophy trout taking your fly.  Honestly, it was not what I was expecting, but from the start I was hooked.

Since then I've waded into and cast acrosse wide streams.  I've tried my hand at fly fishing for bass.  But mostly, I've been sight fishing.  And I have to say, I love walking along stream banks stalking for trout most of all.

Cold Blooded Angler

It's the middle of October.  The weather is starting to turn cold.  We've had temperatures in the 40s and 50s the past few days.  The leaves are finally starting to red, yellow and orange.  It really is starting to feel like Autumn has arrived.  And I... don't... like it!  I am cold-blooded.  I need all the external body heat that I can get.  We had an EXTREME heat wave in Missouri this past summer.  We hit 100 degrees daily for several straight weeks.  And I loved every minute of it.

And now I have taken up a hobby that involves wading into cold water and standing very still.  This is fine when it's in the 90s and the sun is shining down keeping you warm.  Now the weather is getting colder and I'm starting to think about the prospect of going fishing without the  90 degree temp and sun shining down.  And the battle between the desire to fish and the desire to stay warm is already beginning.

What Is A Catch?

I took the past few weeks off of writing any posts.  Work had gotten a little busy and it was easier to let the blog go for a while.  And along with being too busy to write I was also too busy to do any fishing, either.


I did finally get to go fishing a couple of weekends ago.  My brother, Guy, and I went to Westover Farms in Steelville for a few hours on a Saturday morning.  I was nice to get away and spend some time fishing.  It was also nice to hook my biggest trout to date.  My brother claims it was 2 ft long.  I've been trying to be modest and say 20 inches while still saying my brother called it 2 feet.  Either way is was thrilling to see a monster at the end of my line.