Welcome to the Ozark Fly Fishers
Founded 1971
A Missouri 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation
Awarded the Risburg Grant again this year!
Many thanks again to Alex Scott for your efforts to secure the grant. The Kids Fishing day is May 3.
The list of upcoming events:
March 20 - Jim Washabaugh - Fishing the parks and conservation
April 24 - Brian Waldrop - Midges
May 3 - Kids Free Fishing Day at Bennet Springs
May 22 - John van Vliet - Driftless Area
June 12 - Picnic at Tilles Park Windegger shelter
July 24 - Ben Havens - Bennet Springs Hatchery
Aug 21 - Logan Huff, Morgan Guss of The Diamond State Fly Co Arkansas
Paul Jackson
Sizing chart
I attached a sizing chart I have mounted at my tying desk. I thought I would share with the group.
Dean 573-268-5050
CONSERVATION EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
If you have questions about the following events,
contact Scott Darrough at: 314-560-1335 or swdarrough@yahoo.com
March 15, 2025: Biologic Stream Monitoring - 10:00 am
Krautmann Farm, 8095 State Road BB, Hillsboro, MO 63050
- by invitation from the Belews Creek Watershed Partnership - Stream Team 3853
Hey OFF members! Can you identify the classic aquatic organisms that fly fishers imitate? Mayflies, Stoneflies, Caddisflies, etc.…If you cannot, then here is an event that will let you do so. Whether you are versed on this subject or not, we want you to attend. This will be hands on “fun” learning - easy to comprehend. The first thing attendees need to understand about this event is that there are NO stupid questions. All questions and queries are welcome and encouraged. Questions are how we learn. We want you to learn all about the awesome biodiversity in this beautiful Ozark stream. We will look at the insects, crustaceans, worms, mollusks and possibly fish inhabitants. Our nets will “tell” the story of the stream. We can also discuss the riparian plant life and the watershed in general, if there is an interest. All members and non-members are welcome. Parents are encouraged to bring their children. Depending on the number of attendees, we may deploy multiple net racks. Other Stream Teams will be invited as well. This typically is an awesome time of the year to monitor. The organisms tend to be bigger and more plentiful, as they have not yet emerged and left the stream. Waders are not necessary for those who do not have them as, the nets will be carried to dry land where we can study in comfort. Attendees will be encouraged to pluck specimens from the nets (with forceps) and place them in divided trays for better observation and identification.
Please notify Scott Darrough at 314-560-1335 or swdarrough@yahoo.com if attending. Environmental conditions this time of year can be unpredictable, and the event may need to be cancelled or rescheduled.
Note that there is adequate parking. This stream is a short drive from the St. Louis region. Come, enjoy the camaraderie, as we learn about this beautiful stream .
July 18-20, 2025: 15th Annual Missouri Stream Team Outing - Montauk State Park
This event spotlights the Missouri Stream Team Program offering numerous opportunities combining the sport of fly fishing and science. Keeping with tradition, various presentations and activities are planned. Currently this outing is in its planning stage. Continue to watch for upcoming details.
July 26, 2025: 29th Annual Watershed Celebration –
Meramec State Park - by invitation from Stream Teams United
Do not miss this “Grand Picnic”! There will be opportunities for members to volunteer for casting and fly-tying instruction, tying safety pin flies and manning the Stream Team macroinvertebrate display. This event provides an opportunity to promote conservation and recruit new members. It is also a fun time.
https://www.streamteamsunited.org/watershed-celebration-picnic.html
August 23, 2025: 58th Annual Operation Clean Stream –
Byrnes Mill City Park - by invitation from the Trashmanian Devils Stream Team 3797
Ozark members are invited to attend this clean-up of the Meramec watershed. Details will follow in the months to come.
A THANK YOU FOR MR. TEMPER
I would like to give Bob Temper a thank you for all the years that he has dedicated the time and effort to the construction of many fly plates. For anyone who is unfamiliar with a fly plate, this is a display arrangement of framed fishing flies. A fly plate could consist of a single fly or an entire collection. Every year, Bob assembles the Board Member Fly Plate. Bob also frames the flies donated by the presenter of our all-day meeting. Both plates are auctioned at the annual banquet. Besides the plates mentioned, Bob has framed many other collections.
A lot of time and effort goes into these endeavors. As a result, Bob has generated thousands of dollars for the club and has helped to preserve the flies and memories associated with the tiers. Over the years, I have collected numerous fly plates that Bob created. Some of the flies illustrated were tied by people who have passed and are no longer with us. I like to think that through these flies, their memory still resides, and they live on.
Thank you, Bob for your many years of dedication to Ozark Fly Fishers.
- Scott Darrough
Another great all-day meeting with George Daniel and a fine thank you dinner.
TANEYCOMO IN OCTOBER
October 9th, 10th and 11th 2025
Ozark Fly Fishers fall outing will be held at beautiful Lake Taneycomo the second weekend of October. Lodging has been arranged at Lilley’s Landing Resort. This has always been an enjoyable outing with the chance to catch some really large fish. We have reserved four cabins for Thursday, Friday and Saturday night October 9-11, 2025.
Cabin # Type Per Bedroom
19 or 20 2-bedroom LF $346
23 3-bedroom OL $311
17 4-bedroom LF $260
(LF=Lake Front, OL=Off Lake)
The “per bedroom” amount is what each person would pay for all three nights during the event.
The 2-bedroom cabins have two queen beds in one bedroom and one queen bed in the other and can be reserved by the room ($346) or the entire cabin ($692) for up to 4 people.
The 3- and 4-bedroom cabins have either one king bed or two twin beds in each room. They are reserved by the room, so if you want to double up with somebody you each pay half.
Please contact Ed Heist (1-618-201-7195) for reservations and further information.
Reservations must be made by June 30th, 2025. Please make checks payable to
Ozark Fly Fishers
PO Box 31473
St. Louis, MO 63131-0473
Lilley’s Landing has its own trout dock with jon boats that can be rented by the day. For those interested in renting boats or guide services, you can reach out to:
Lilley’s Landing River Run Outfitters
367 River Ln 2626 Historic Hwy 165
Branson, MO. 65616 Branson, MO. 65616
1-(417)-334-6380 1-(417)-332-0460
Thanks, Ed!
Fly of the Month
Higa’s S.O.S. Nymph
Quite a few of us got to really enjoy the tying class conducted by George Daniels the night before the All-Day Meeting. I know I learned a lot of new things and some new patterns. This is a fly I’ve actually been tying, but George helped simplify it a little bit for us. It has been a good producer especially in the winter, but it should be in everyone’s box. Thanks you, again, George!
Hook: Fulling Mills #4145 or your favorite scud-type hook #16 or #18
Bead: Silver Tungsten of appropriate size (he uses bigger beads than I do – up to you)
Weight: 4 0r 5 wraps of .015 lead wire
Thread: 8/0 Black
Tail: Black Crystal Flash (traditional id black hackle fibers)
Rib: Small Silver Wire
Body: Black Tying Thread
Wing Case: Medium Red Holographic Tinsel
Thorax: Black Dubbing
Legs: Black Crystal Flash
Place bead on hook and secure hook in vise. Add 4-5 wraps of lead wire to shank and shove it up tight to the bead. Start thread behind bead and use thread wraps to secure wire wraps.
Fold two strands of black crystal flash in half and fold over the thread just behind the lead wraps.
Secure down on top of hook shank and wrap down to the hook bend making 4-strand tail. Trim to length – about the hook gap. (traditional uses black hackle fibers, but crystal flash is flashier and more durable).
Return thread back to the lead wraps forming an even under body and tie in silver wire and secure with thread wraps back to the hook bend using even thread wraps. Wrap the thread back to the bead forming an even, smooth thread body.
Wrap wire rib to the bead in even spiral wraps and secure with thread wraps. Trim excess.
Tie in a section of red holo tinsel right behind the bead and then back to the 2/3rd point.
Dub a thorax of black dubbing. Add 2 strands of crystal flash to each side right behind the bead and trim to length – about I’2 the hook length.
Pull the tinsel over the thorax, secure with thread wraps, and trim excess.
Whip-finish and trim thread.
Fis this like any other nymph – it makes a good anchor in a light nymph rig, or smaller size is a good dropper in a heavy nymph rig. I also like it as a dropper under a dry. This is especially good on dark days and during winter season for small black stoneflies.
George Daniels inspired Leader and Indicator Concept
Inspired by George Daniels, I took an old fly reel and added about 25' of 8# mono to the 4wt line with a perfection loop at the end. Next I attached about 5' of 5x tippet to the perfection loop at the end of the mono. Something George talks about in has book is adding 20" of sighter material and leaving the "ears" from the blood knots as an additional indicator. But during his talk to the club, he said he now uses a marker pen instead as a sighter, so I bought a SA marker pen from Feathercraft for $10, and marked a section of line. I marked the line on the tippet side since I didn't want any knots dragging near the surface of the water. Next I attached two pieces of backing material with a nail knot, using my knot tying tool. This simulates the "ears" from the blood knots which George wrote about. This tied on backing material can be slid up and down the line, but does not slip. I put one above the leader to tippet knot, and one below it. The bright backing material provides a quick visual queue as to where the marker section of the line is located, and can be easily moved when fishing deeper/shallower water. It works well for me.
Tight Lines,
Paul Jackson
Montauk after the Deluge
Used to be Cabins 7 and 8:
Now, a bridge to nowhere:
I think we lost our seat.
Feeding Frenzy
March 6-7th, 2025 - Montauk trip
Normally, a 2-day trip (with one overnight) to Montauk in early spring would have not been of much note. But the fall catastrophic flood, which washed out the hatchery rearing pools and re-sculptured the Current River for miles, caused the cancellation of winter fishing at Monty. So when Steve Baker and the author (DanStag) decided to fish the park and Current River after opening day festivities were over, we didn’t know exactly what to expect.
Steve expressed a desire to fish Baptist Camp first. The cut bank area had washed out some, and the deep spot at the corner was more filled in than usual. Steve was nymphing and put on a red egg under Eggstacy fly and later a Perdigon, and then a red zebra midge as he worked his way downstream.
I had been hot on stripping a brown leech on sinking line, which had worked well recently. I fished the stretch above and across from the parking lot at Baptist and didn’t do well. I hooked 4 or 5 and only landed 3 or so in a couple of hours (losing 2 flies and tippet to the tree branches). I moved down below the bend and got little love there either. Hardly satisfying.
Steve had worked this way downstream, and I saw him pick up a fish or two, not really killing them. But we were both happy to be back on the stream.
I decided to go to change techniques and go nymphing, since stripping a streamer wasn’t setting the world on fire. While rigging up and opening my fly box, a red ruby midge popped loose. I had previously experienced some good luck at Baptist with that fly, so I figured, “Why not?“. I set the indicator about 18” above the fly and didn’t change that setting for 2 days.
After a few casts in the faster water, I started picking up fish. Keeping in mind the washed-out hatchery mils above, many of the fish were in the 8-10” range. But after the previous 2 hours, I was happy to have some activity. By the time Steve worked back upstream to the car, I had landed 18 trout (by my estimation). I was feeling the love ! Steve reported that farther down the stream got too deep to wade across to the gravel bar. In the time he had picked up, at least 4 or 5 fish were caught.
We decided to go fish the park. Acting on a tip from friends Don McCain and Jeff Duclous, on the previous Monday, we fished the narrow Catch and Release area above the bridge by the picnic tables. There were some huge fish in there in addition to the little guys. I kept on with the Ruby midge and later put on a grey scud at Jeff’s suggestion. Again, there were lots of little fish, but there were some huge ones (20+’) mixed in. We were able to land several of the nicer ones and had good numbers all along the C&R area until the 6:30 p.m. siren ended a nice day of fishing and catching. I’d estimate over 60+ fish were caught, with probably a dozen “keepers”.
The next day, we did some exploring in the park. We drove up to the Spring. Walking along the stream, we didn’t see many fish even in the relatively shallow water. We drove back to the steps at the “Blue hole” below the bend of the spring run. I walked along the stream in sneakers along the path and didn’t see all that many fish. Obviously, by high banking, I spooked some, but was disappointed by what I saw there. About 3/4 of the way down to the fast water by the cut bank, there was apparently a deep hole that had 4-5 fishermen around it. One of my previously favorite spots didn’t look so good anymore. On the way to get our tags, we stopped at the Governor’s hole (aka Sid’s hole) behind the lodge. There must have been 3 thousand fish in there ! (hatchery escapees)
Steve said he wanted to fish below the bridge by the playground down around the bend, which he did. Not wanting to crowd Steve, I walked up to fish below the dam in the frothy water, which is supposed to be good for scuds, which I had on from the night before. The fish seemed pretty universal in their disdain for what I had on, so I moved to the shallower water (like 1-2” deep) and worked my way down after switching to the red Ruby midge (to try to recreate yesterday’s magic).
There were lots of fish of various sizes to be seen there. This area normally had a lot of moss/vegetation there, but now it’s scoured out. I started getting bites at a pretty regular pace every 2-3 drifts. In the next 2 hours, I continued slowly working my way down, avoiding the 2 newly fallen trees hanging from the far side. As I waded down the middle of the stream, I caught fish in front of and behind me. It didn’t take long to lose count. I eventually switched over to a CK Nymph, a fly I’d tied and wanted to try out. It did not disappoint either.
Sure, I caught some 4-6” trout, but the vast majority of fish were in the 8-13” range, with probably 12-15 trout in the 15-18” range. I fished down to where I was into the Zebeco fishers, and then got out and walked down below the bridge, hoping to catch Steve around the bend. I got into a spot where I pulled out a good 25 fish and slowly moved down. The fish were podded up more than I had ever seen in the shallow, narrow water. There were easily another 30+ fish taken in that area further down.
Finally, it was time to head back to the car and start the trip back home. There I saw Steve walking back from the stream back around the bend. When I asked how he did, he said, “ I musta caught 100 fish. I lost count after 30; there were so many !” Steve said he had the same experience as I had; some little guys, but a slew of nice fish that just kept coming.
A couple of lessons from that day: First, when a fly pops out of your box, be sure to give it a try. Who knows if somebody is trying to tell you something?
Secondly, there are often big fish lurking in among the smaller fish. Trout are known to have a definite pecking order. Big fish will often nose out a smaller fish for food since their calorie requirements are much higher.
We each estimated we had caught over 100 fish, losing count.
It was incredible fun and was a day we probably will never be able to duplicate again.
Submitted by DanStag
10 March 2025
