October 25, 2016

Missouri Trout -- part I

I recently visited my daughter in Arkansas, and while I was there I had the chance to fish with fellow tenkara angler Alan Luecke. Alan and I had exchanged contact information at the 2016 Oni School in Utah with the intent to fish together the next time I got out to the midwest.

As I have mentioned in prior posts, I tend to fish alone. But I must admit, I had a blast fishing with Alan. He was very kind to drive over 3 hours to meet up with me and fish for wild McCloud strain rainbows in America's heartland.



But I must apologize to Alan. All the fishing I do alone probably makes me a less than ideal fishing companion. Yet we got along famously and fished together walking side by side up the stream. I'd catch one or two, then he'd catch one or two as we worked our way upstream enjoying the day discussing various gear, techniques, places and such.

A precious little gem




We first fished a section of the stream that I had fished before and he hadn't. We took numerous trout in shallow, clear water. We then had some lunch and afterwards fished a section he had prior but I hadn't. The water was a little bigger and deeper and the trout just as cooperative.





The day was unseasonably warm at 85°F and the winds were upwards of 25 mph, but down in the trees we were protected and didn't have any issues casting.








At the end of the day, Alan presented me with a gyotaku that he had made of a crappie he had caught. It is beautifully done and I will hang it on the wall of my fishing room. Thank you, Alan. I had a blast and look forward to being able to fish with you again in the future!














2 comments:

  1. Very nice. Enjoyed the pictures. Looking forward to Part II.

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  2. The water you were fishing definitely looks lower and slower than when I fished it last March. Was there any water in the upper reaches?

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