Your Questions About Trout Fishing In Missouri

Joy answers:

Depends on when you’re going. If you’re leaving tomorrow, the answer will differ a lot from the one you’d get if you’re leaving six months from tomorrow. Also, I’d want to research what kind of trout and waters there are at this state park you’re talking about (I’ve never been there).

But I think your question is more rhetorical than technical. Given that no one would have to go on a fishing trip with just three flies, I’m assuming you mean what would be the best three flies overall, for any time, under all circumstances.

My answer would not have much to do with Bennett Springs State Park. It would relate more to fly fishing in general — in other words, if I could only have three flies to fish anywhere, what would they be?

First, I’d pick a dry fly. Fish do the vast majority of their feeding underwater. Only occasionally do they come to the surface to feed, but I like catching fish with dry flies, anyway. I’d pick either an Elk Hair Caddis or Parachute Adams. These are very versatile flies that imitate a variety of trout forage and can catch many different fish under lots of different circumstances. I’m not sure which one I’d take. The Elk Hair Caddis is probably my favorite dry fly because it’s the first dry fly I learned to tie and I just like the appearance, but the Parachute Adams imitates more kinds of insects and is probably more rugged.

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Next, I’d pick a nymph. Again, it’d come down to two flies — either a Hare’s Ear Nymph or a Pheasant Tail. Both are great at fooling fish and both will work almost anywhere. The advantage of the Hare’s Ear Nymph is that it’s probably more suggestive of more kinds of fish forage and it’s a tough fly — only rarely do they come apart. The advantage of the Pheasant Tail is that it’s a spitting image imitation of mayfly larvae. It’s a very deadly imitation and if there are any mayfly larvae in the vicinity, this fly will catch you some fish. Unfortunately, a Pheasant Tail might unravel after being in only a few fish mouths, and if there’s no mayflies around, it might be a tough sell.

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For the number 3 fly, I’d go with a streamer, and in this case there can be only one choice: the Woolly Bugger. Some would say if you could have only ONE fly, you should make it this one. It originated in the 1960s or 70s, but has quickly become ubiquitous to fly fishing. The Woolly Bugger can imitate minnows, fry, sculpin, pollywogs, crawdads, and other forage like dragonfly larvae. It can be fished dead drift or with varying degrees of action. It of course comes in the wildest assortment of colors (most I tie are olive or black), and it can also have lots of variation (beadhead, flash, various material substitutions, etc.).

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