Fly fishing Montauk State park - Missouri Trout Park
Montauk State Trout Park is one of the four trout parks that Missouri trout fishermen have the opportunity to visit and fish. For aspiring fly fishermen, they offer fairly easy entries into the sport - relatively easy casting and usually easily caught hatchery raised rainbow and brown trout that are forgiving to the novice fly angler.
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Montauk has one sizable stretch where fly fishermen (and spin fishermen using the MDC definition of a "fly") have the waters to themselves. This section is the perfect place to get a start after learning the very basic casting techniques and acquiring entry level gear.
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The section of waters we are referring to are illustrated by the yellow highlighted portion of the map below:
Many a Missouri fly fisherman have gotten their start either in these specific waters, or in like waters at Maramec Springs, Bennett Spring, or Roaring River. We like the setting here, as well as the proximity of other trout fishing options on the upper Current below the trout park at accesses like Tan Vat and Baptist Camp...all just a short drive from the park.
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A visit to the park store is necessary to acquire your tag for fishing (we suggest arriving the prior evening and getting your tag for the next day...so you can jump right into the morning fishing). While there, you can get advice on flies and buy them right there for a fairly reasonable price.
If you want to come prepared, and save a little bit of money, the flies you will want to have include glo balls (go with bead-heads in orange, white, peach, and red), woolly buggers (olive, black, and white in size #10), Marabou Jigs (same colors as glo balls plus black), Adams, Parachute Adams, and if you can find them, the uniquely Ozark fly...the Crackleback.
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You will be good using a 5-weight setup with 5x and 6x tippet.
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Site fishing is the typical methodology here, so bring your polarized sunglasses. Our typical procedure is to locate a hole that's holding fish and run through our offerings, endeavoring to get the drift just right until either scoring a hookup, or realizing you are on fish that are not in a feeding mood.
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Start downstream and work your way up through the waters of the stretch you have to fish. If you are there on a weekend, you'll be working around other fishermen. Try to just have fun, because fly fishing etiquette is not so well observed here. If you start landing fish, you will likely have company right beside you. If you have the option, go on a week day when crowds are quite a bit less numerous. Also, consider a winter trip when catch and release is the rule, and crowds are nearly non-existent (hours are different for winter fishing, so check ahead).
This really is a great place to get started! If you are like us, you will eventually find yourself spending less time in the park and more downstream in the blue ribbon trout waters.
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Happy Trout Fishing!