Fishing Mid-Missouri Style

Fishing on light tackle in Missouri is always fun but you do not have to go to the better known, and often crowded, streams and rivers to fish. I have always liked fishing the small streams, creeks, lakes, and ponds of Missouri. There are plenty of these locations in mid-Missouri in the Columbia area and some are even in the city limits. These particular pictures were taken at my Dad's pond where after supper I went outside on the dock and fished for an hour or so until it became dark enough so that I had to stop.

This is one of my bamboo fly rods. There is NO better way to fish. Gentleman fly fish and country gentleman fly fish with bamboo rods.

When conditions are right these poppers are deadly for bass. In my Dad's pond the bass like to patrol the edges of the pond when they feed and then make a running strike at whatever they see they fancy eating. If you walk out to the pond quietly you can see them there waiting fully visible in shallow water just inches from the bank.

These small poppers work great on a fly rod. They also work well for blue gill, I caught three, but then again blue gill will strike on just about anything. When I was a kid I caught one when I did not even intend to with a piece of red ribbon on a hook when I was just messing around.
Not the prettiest cast since I am not a graduate of one of the Orvis fly fishing schools. But, I catch fish. The fly, or whatever your fishing, should hit the water first, and you should have accuracy. After that your impressing people, at least those that know what to look for in a proper cast, more than anything else.
First one. I caught this one with a very small artificial worm designed for a fly rod.
Second one caught on a small fly.
Third one. Notice it is getting dark and this is a flash photo.
I usually fish catch and release and often cut the barb off the hook. All these fish were thrown back into the water. The small hook and absence of a treble hook avoid excessive trauma to the fish.