The Magic of Montauk

Missouri is an amazing state…the amount of land and water available to a sportsman is worth noting. It is no secret that I love to fly-fish and the feel of a trout on the other end…well, let’s say it is worth a six hour drive; anytime!

My dad, Jonas and buddy Frank left early on July 22^nd for a little bend in the road just south of Salem, Missouri. Montauk State Park is one of the state’s four trout parks and offers some of the most beautiful and scenic Ozark landscape the state has to offer. My goal was to move through Illinois, into Missouri, head south at Rolla, grab some groceries…and if all went well, wind up on the stream by mid-afternoon. Our plan was a good one and after purchasing a $3 dollar trout tag for Frank and me…and getting a youth $2 dollar permit for Jonas, we made our way into the crystal clear water that flows from Montauk springs into the Current River.

My recent trip into Missouri had left me with a notion of how and what to fish the stream with…and my small, cream colored wooly bugger in size 10 was once again up to the bill as within a few minutes I had broken the ice and landed my first trout. It really doesn’t matter how many times you fish there is always some trepidation involved and a little wondering about what these fickle trout might just be feeding on.

If you haven’t ever fished for trout…then don’t confuse them with our native fish; trout seem to have a sense and understand what you are attempting to do. I knew Frank had not done a lot of trout fishing and was eager to land fish and be successful. I gave him a few of my best flies and let him move down the stream ahead of me; a few minutes later and a little bit of instruction and Frank landed his first trout of the trip. I knew he was pleased and much of the tension was over and rather calmly made the comment that the rest…as they say is all downhill.

Frank was a quick study and by the end of the couple hours had landed 8 fish. Jonas on the other hand was off to his usual slow start. Last year he accompanied me and grandpa and didn’t catch a fish the first day…but backed it up with 16 the second day; today was a repeat and by the time he stopped he had some skunk on his fly-rod.

Montauk Spring flows into the Current River and it was my plan to fish the river below the park our second morning. Frank and I sat out on a long journey through some pretty wild country and would be picked up by dad at a later point and time that morning. I can’t tell you what exact hatch was on…but on it was and the air above the stream looked like it was snowing and the trout were revved up and in high feeding gear. Both Frank and I had a great morning and dad picked Frank up at Tan Vat Access and me a bit further down at the Baptist Access. The air temperature was hovering in the mid 90’s by noon and thankfully the water was a cool 60 degrees as one offset the other and kept it relatively pleasant.

The area in and around Montauk is full of wildlife; in fact, there was a nice article in the Montauk State Park newspaper discussing the many recent sightings of bear. I met a local on the stream our second morning out and he was sure to wish me well and to keep an eye out for a bear…not to unnerving but I must admit I did think about it a few times. I was very much interested in the local armadillo population and also learned that they have made their way north, via Texas and are now comfortably home in Missouri. Our last trip out to Bennet was my first actual sighting of an armadillo and while preparing to fish our first morning I glanced over to the campsite next to ours thinking it was a possum traipsing along to see that it was in fact an armadillo. I made my way over and got very close, snapping a few photos with him even knowing? Armadillo’s have terrible eyesight and rely much upon a keen sense of smell to detect danger.

Like all good things our time at Montauk had to come to an end and on Thursday we made our way east, back towards our Indiana home…but a little of me will always be there in the Ozark’s. This is a place that you should put on your list and take the time to unwind and relax, heck, catch a few trout while you are at it; I know…like me, you will love Missouri and Enjoy the Great Outdoors.