Went Fishing the other day…. or Gore-Tex really does shrink.
There is this beautiful property, Westover Farms, outside of Steelville, MO named after an entrepreneurial settler from back in 1854 according their website. http://westoverfarms.com/
Missouri is not particularly noted for it’s trout fishing as compared to say Montana or Wyoming. The streams are smaller here. The hills are a little (a lot) smaller. On the positive, the trout are just as fun to stalk as anywhere else.
The Stone Cottage we stayed in. Not bad is it?
I don’t know for sure, I think I have been coming here for fellowship and fly fishing for at least 20 years now. The last time was with my son and his godfather. Probably was around the kid’s twenty-first birthday. The three of us grilled steaks for dinner and damaged a bottle of good scotch. This trip, only his Godfather and I could make it. The first time my son wet a line here he was six or seven. That’s him in the picture below. He is a little taller now.
When I’m standing in Dry Creek, yes that is the actual name, the water is cold do to the large on property free flowing natural spring close by and the trout are plentiful. I am however disappointed to learn that my Simms Gore-Tex waders shrank over the winter. Don’t know how that happened. The #4 Sage rod I am using is almost perfect for the small stream. The sun was bright after the morning haze burned off, the trout were holding tight to the blow downs along the bank and shadows of overhanging trees.
Most fly shops have either a tying table complete with old guys drinking coffee thinking about tying flies or the shop has a lovable old dog watching over the place. Westover Farms has the dog.
Along with a couple of guard roosters to add color.
The last fish of the day was hiding just behind a small log protected by several overhanging branches. I had tried for him earlier, sloppy casts spooked him a little so I moved on to come back later for another try. It took a couple of casts to drop the fly far enough upstream to drift with the current at just the right depth so it passed within inches of the hiding place. I saw the strike, maneuvered the trout out of the branches into shallow water where I could remove the fly to get him off the line. As I was bending down to release the fish, the tippet broke.
It was a great day on the stream.
Dennis
