Trout

[segsarge]

My grand-daughter loves to fish. She's thirteen yr old now. Bass, catfish, or trout it doesn't matter. I recently gave her a fly rod and some flies. She likes going to the trout parks. Hasn't caught any fish on the fly rod yet. I'm hoping once she does, she'll pursue it more. It's nice having a fishing buddy again.

[bigjohn]

Fly rod with a cotton ball fly soaked in mulberry below a mulberry tree is a treat for carp. Shallower the water the more fun.

[krank]

I remember getting a flyrod for my 12th birthday. Still have it and use it. Favorite thing is slaying big bluegill with poppers.

Used to be when my Dad was a kid you had flyrods and bait casters and cane poles. Spinning and spincast were not real common.

One time I was on a boat on a community lake and there were a bunch of bank fisherman. They had lawn chairs and worms and minnows and great big bobbers and were not catching anything. I come through with the trolling motor and caught a gunny sack of big bluegill right in front of them. They laughed when I caught my first one but they werent laughing when I caught my 25th one and put my flyrod down and headed for the ramp.
Flyrod fishing is a huge game as to what you can do. When I was a kid, the old timers hit the creeks with chicken liver on their flyrods and peeled channel cat out of some unlikely spots. World record Musky was caught on a flyrod on the St. Lawrence river and the old boy beat his own record about ten times.

[krank]

Like I said, I have my old fly rod from back in the day.
I have a new graphite that I used once down on the Current. I havent seen it for years.
I got a cheap flyrod kit at a gun show and it is rigged for catching tiny blue gill for bait.
I got a collapsible one. Only 7 ft and really bad action. I use it when I go camping with Scouts in case I come across some water. Reel doesnt have fly line just 8 # mono. Pretty handy.
Your reel is just for storing line. I bought some really cheap reels off Amazon that were plastic. I rigged one for ice fishing and the other with mono on my 12 ft crappie rod. Just line storage.

[segsarge]

I have a really old fly rod that belonged to one of my relatives (great grand-dad maybe?), no reel for it anymore. I used to put a reel on it and use it once in a while. Nowadays it just sits in a rod rack with some other old rods I have. My grandfather had a thing for the automatic fly reels. I have a couple of his, one dark green and another maroon color. The brand names are worn off of course, but they still work. The old fly rod is a 7 footer.
My dad used to use a fly rod in the same fashion you described. Small creeks or little ponds. No actual fly line, just black braided line with a mono leader a few feet long. God help you if you got a snarl in the line up in the reel. It could take hours to get it untangled (don't ask how I know that). The old Pflueger baitcasting reels carried the same type of line. A backlashes were a nightmare. But you didn't dare cut the line to clear fowled reel, it was too expensive to waste.

[krank]

My first flyrod had an automatic reel. Dad told me how lucky I was and I didnt like it. The weight of the reel destroyed the balance of the rod. I went to the store and bought a basic reel for $5 and took the line off the auto and put it on the manual. Now they make carbon reels that weigh nothing.
My very first rig was a pflueger bait cast on a steel rod. Thats where I learned about backlash. Needed a lot of weight to cast it. I still have the reel in its original 1950 box. Even the new bait rods backlash and need weight.
At some point, Dad set me up with a Garcia 500 and I never looked back. I could cast a bare hook or a giant plug. Zero backlash and high speed retrieve. No switching hands every cast. Still use it and it is my go to rod for everything. Just switch spools for ultra lite or lunkers.
Dad said most people used cane poles back in the day and theres nothing wrong with that. He said you always knew who was going fishing because they had 12 ft cane poles tied to the side of the car. He said cane poles cost a nickle at the hardware store and you got to pick through them. He also said they used cotton line with wire leaders and corks made out of cork. One time he mailed a dollar to Sears and Roebucks and got a whole big box of hooks and line and corks. My Grandpa said it was kind of a waste of money as nobody needed that much stuff.
All this talk has got me wondering and I am off to the basement to look at some of that old stuff. Maybe even hit the pond before it gets too hot out.

[bigbob]

I remember as a kid buying a 3 section cane pole with line, hooks, and a bobber for $.10. even came with a little wood ladder thing to wind the line on. Good times.

[krank]

I remember my Dad taking iron rods and heating them up in the BBQ and bending them into pole holders. On Sunday afternoon we would go picnic at Lake Jacomo. He would line those pole holders along the bank and put a screw together cane pole in each one and sit back on a blanket and eat fried chicken. One time he caught the biggest bass ever doing that. One time my Uncle David caught a bullfrog that busted the cane pole. Most of the time we hauled in bluegill.
Back then, folks scaled bluegill and cut their heads off and fried them with the fins and tail.
They used to tell me.......

Fishy fishy in a brook,
Daddy caught it on a hook,
Momma cooked it in a pan,
And Mikey ate it like a man.

[segsarge]

My first baitcasting reel was a Pflueger. When you cast the reel handles spun. I whacked my knuckles until I thought they were broken with that thing before I finally learned how to use it.
Dad had one of the red Garcia 5000 reels, they came in a leather case. It was his prized possession for years and the only reel he used. He still has it but doesn't use it much now.
My granddaughter, my son and I are headed to the trout park Monday. She's taking her fly rod I gave her. Going to take her up to the catch and release area where the fish are bigger. Hopefully she can hook into one.

[bigjohn]

The Garcia 5000 was the first of many baitcasters that I've owned. For catfishing I used the 6500s then moved up to the 7000C3, I own a 5000 ,a 6000,a 5500, 4 6500 and 3 7000. A couple of the 6500, the 6000, and the 5500 were bought in the late 70s and early 80s. Hate to guess how many 1000s of cast they made and still ticking with some minor work.

[krank]

I stand corrected. I meant the garcia/mitchell spinning reel. Best reel ever.
My Dad has some of those Garcia baitcasters brand new in the box with wood presentation case. He bought them when I was a little kid. He has a shelf in his shop that is kind of like a museum. Heddon lures and he even has some of that stuff he bought from Sears 75 years ago. I am getting to be the same way with stuff he gave me back in the 60s.
I do have a Garcia bait rod for catfishing.
Good luck Sarge and hope she hooks a trout and gets hooked on fishing.
I used to get out there with all the "purist" trout gear. All the traditional fly gear. Last few times I have went I have cheated. I use an ultralight spinning rod with Berkley power bait. In the park I use a tiny jig on a strike indicator.
Biggest trout I ever caught weighed ten pounds and I caught it on a 2# tippet with an olive colored marabou jig. It was catch and release so I measured it without picking it out of the water and released it. My buddy took the length and girth and came up with the ten pounds.

[bigjohn]

Buddy and I used to go to Taneycome every Washington's birthday and drift crawlers for trout. Sometimes the weather was great and other times not so much. We always camped but he'd end up sleeping in the truck if it was too cold.

The trout we caught were bigger than one catches through the summer on the average. Landed browns in the double digits several times.

[krank]

Taney used to be a warm water lake. I think it was the first reservoir in Missouri. After they built Table Rock it turned cold. They say the water at the dam of Table Rock down by the gates is 50 degrees.
Years ago, the neighbor kid asked me if I wanted any trout. I said I did and he brought me a trashbag of about 25 of them. Dead but in good shape. I asked him where they got them and he said he caught them at Taneycomo. He said him and his Dad caught 300 on canned corn. I told him that was illegal and he said they didint even have fishing licenses.

[segsarge]

We're heading out early in the morning. At least it's not supposed to be hot in the triple digits. My oldest son is also going. Catching some larger fish would be nice, but as long as she has a good time, I'll be happy.
Somewhere around here I have one of the old Johnson "Century" spin cast reels. I've had it since I was a kid. I liked it better than the popular Zebco "33's" everyone else was using. The last 33 I saw was all plastic, including the gears.
I've never fished Taneycomo but still intend to get there one day.

[bigjohn]

sarge go in the winter time as the browns are starting to spawn and bite real well.

[krank]

Problem with Taney is all the bank is privately owned so you need a boat. Last time I was there I bank fished at Rockaway Beach City Park. Theres a boat ramp there.

[krank]

I remember the Johnson with the dial on the back for drag. It also had a pick up pin instead of a notch like the Zebco 202. The 33 had a pick up pin too which is a huge consideration on line fatigue. My brother has about 20 Zebco 33's. Old school type.
If you go to Monetauk or Bennet Springs then you really need waders. Both areas have bank fishing spots but they are usually plugged up with people in lawn chairs.

[segsarge]

The trip to Montauk was really good. I mostly wanted to test out my new waders to ensure there were no leaks from the factory. They were fine, although too warm for summertime wear. My son caught a 4 lb brown trout late in the afternoon. The granddaughter and I got to watch the battle. That fish led him around like a dog on a leash, lol. But he managed to land it and made the mistake of grabbing it by the mouth to pick it up. It roughed up his thumb, but he's not complaining.
Spoke to a lady (about my age) who was catching trout one after another on a fly rod. She would cull out the smaller ones. When we left her she had three really nice rainbows on the stringer.
We had lunch at the lunch counter in the lodge. I ordered the "Missouri Burger". If you go there don't order it unless you're REALLY hungry. It's a half pound beef patty on a toasted bun with onions, mushrooms and swiss cheese. I couldn't finish it, although I tried my best.

[krank]

I used to camp on the Current at Cedar Grove and buy beer and ice at Jadwin and stay out all week. When we broke camp on Sunday, we always ate breakfast at the Lodge in the park. Those were great times. Years go by and the Feds run us out of Cedar Grove (day use only now) and people die.
There was one old lady (Betty) that lived on the gravel bar all summer. Her husband died and she felt close to him when she was there. There was a rule about two weeks maximum stay so every two weeks she piled everything in her car and went to town and did laundry and shopping and came back and camped again. She was great to have around because she watched our camp while we were gone. If any rowdy drunks showed up (besides us) then she confronted them with a flashlight and told them they had to leave.
It is really hard to find any public campgrounds that arent full of absolute idiots. Crazy madness all night long and you feel like choking people to death.

[segsarge]

I didn't know Cedar Grove was day use only. I had thought of going down there and staying for a few days but it sounds like that's not possible. Most of the people there yesterday were nice, although there's always a few that make it tough to enjoy yourself. We were downstream from the lodge hoping to hit some areas not fished as heavy. While I was fishing, a woman sat down across the stream from me. She was wearing a hat about as big around as a truck tire. Her husband was fishing a few yards away from her. There was a tree with an exposed root system a couple of feet from her. A mink had been working the roots in and out of the water looking for a meal. It came up out of the water, and she saw it. She called to her husband and said she didn't know if it was a weasel or an otter. Told him she was going to try to pick it up and pet it. The mink was having none of it of course. I couldn't help but hope she got hold of it. I'd have wet my waders laughing if she had.
Once school starts up again it may calm down some. Especially during the week when people SHOULD be home with their kids. I try to avoid the weekends.