OFF THE HOOK

SELIGMAN, Mo.

Maybe the trout at Roaring River State Park bite well in late fall because they know they won’t end up on some Bubba’s charcoal grill.

That’s one theory about the catch and release fl y fi shing season that takes place each autumn and winter at the Missouri trout fi shing park.

Anglers can catch all the rainbow trout they can hook, as long as they throw ’em all back.

Fishing takes place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays through Mondays from mid-November through mid-February at the park 10 miles northeast of Seligman, Mo.

Only flies may be used, but a marabou jig is considered a fl y by regulation at Roaring River.

Don’t own a fl y rod? No problem. A spinning rod, even a cane pole, may be used as long as there’s a fly at the end of the line.

Part of the joy of this catch and release season is the quiet and the solitude. When catch and keep fishing is on during spring and summer, it can be earlobe to earlobe along the bank.

During catch and release months, a fisherman can be alone on a whole section of the trout stream.

That’s how Russ Tonkinson of Rogers and I found Roaring River when we fished there Nov. 16, a sunny Friday that started off chilly.

We chose the lower end of the trout stream because Tonkinson swore on a stack of fl y boxes that this is where the lunkers lurk.

The nearest other angler was 80 yards upstream when Tonkinson made his first cast at 8 a.m. sharp.

TRICKLE DOWN

Roaring River fl owed more like a meow in this time of drought.

The water was as low and clear as Tonkinson had ever seen it.

We could see every rainbow trout in the pool, dozens of them, including one that ruled this lagoon.

We guessed this bad boy weighed 3 pounds.

Graceful loops of line shot from Tonkinson’s fly rod. His black woolly bugger splashed down and slowly sank. Tonkinson worked it along the gravel stream bottom with quick jerks of his fl y line.

The catching was slow until sunshine peaked over the tree line. About 9:30 a.m. it was game on. Tonkinson picked up three rainbows with his black woolly bugger. Fish practically fought over the ginger bugger I lobbed.

My companion wandered upstream to fish new water.

Another angler, C.A. Lucas of Neosho, Mo., joined me in this lower pool. He’s fished at Roaring River long enough to know every pebble in the creek.

Lucas brings only one kind of fly when he comes to fish - a San Juan worm. It’s basically a piece of yarn attached to a hook.

“Orange is my favorite color,” Lucas said. “I’ve had more luck with it here than anything.”

Lucas prefers the catch and release season “because it’s not ascrowded for one thing. It’s more easy, laid-back fi shing.” IMMIGRANT FISH

Rainbow trout aren’t native to the Ozarks. The trout at Roaring River are raised at the Missouri Department of Conservation trout hatchery at the park and stocked.

For catch and release season, 1,200 rainbow trout that average 11 inches are stocked into Roaring River a few days before opening day, said Paul Spurgeon, hatchery manager.

“About 100 of those are lunkers 3 pounds or above,” he said.

More fish are stocked every couple of weeks “so there are always fresh mouths,” Spurgeon said.

That bad boy 3-pounder teased Tonkinson all morning. It’d never bite. Or would it?

I was one pool above Tonkinson when I heard him holler. Big boy bit Tonkinson’s black woolly bugger about 10 a.m. I came running.

The rainbow took Tonkinson on a wild ride, making a hard run, quieting down, then off again. Five minutes and it was in the net.

“This is an old boy here. It’s been in here awhile,” Tonkinson said

That was easy to see. The trout’s tail was worn and frayed. It’s upper jaw had a distinct hook and the fish was blind in one eye.

The trout measured 21 inches and was the largest Tonkinson had ever caught at Roaring River.

Tonkinson caught it on a black woolly bugger he tied himself the evening before our trip.

Like all the trout caught that day, we were happy to let this big one go. The joy is in the catching during fall and winter at Roaring River.