Welcome to the Ozark Fly Fishers
Founded 1971
A Missouri 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation
Upcoming Events
Friday Feb 20 - Fly tying Session with Son Tau 6 pm to 8 pm Holy Cross Lutheran Church 13014 Olive Blvd, Creve Coeur, MO Reservation required - Contact Steve Antonic or Paul Jackson
Feb 21 - All Day Meeting Son Tau 8:30 am to 3:30 pm Community Christian Church 623 Meramec Station Rd, Manchester, MO Discussion of different types of fly fishing and equipment Travel segment - Several US destinations possible Hackle and dry fly session - UV resins and glues. Differences between the types and when to incorporate them into tying
March 7 - Chili Tie-In 9 am to 1 pm Community Christian Church 623 Meramec Station Rd, Manchester, MO Tie Flies and eat too much chili.
March 19th - Ryan Walker, Smallmouth Guide 7pm to 9 pm Holy Cross Lutheran Church 13014 Olive Blvd, Creve Coeur Spring Small Mouth Fishing
March 26 – 28 Sow Bug Baxter County Fairgrounds 1507 Fairgrounds Dr, Mountain Home, AR 72653
April 23 - Mike Krewse, Trout Fishing Guide 7pm to 9 pm Holy Cross Lutheran Church 13014 Olive Blvd, Creve Coeur
May 28- Jim Murphy's Drift Boat Build Randy Shell's Trout Stamps 7pm to 9 pm Holy Cross Lutheran Church 13014 Olive Blvd, Creve Coeur
June 11 - Member Barbecue Tilles Park 5pm to 8pm
July 23 – Blake Stephens, MDC Fisheries – Current River, Eleven Point, and Crane Creek, 7pm to 9 pm Holy Cross Lutheran Church 13014 Olive Blvd, Creve Coeur
August 27 – TBD
September 24 – Nick Lamey, MDC Fisheries – Little Piney and Mill Creek, 7pm to 9 pm Holy Cross Lutheran Church 13014 Olive Blvd, Creve Coeur
Thanks,
Paul Jackson
New Membership form and announcement:
The Board for Ozark Fly Fishers has voted to make multi-year membership available to our members.
The benefit being offered to the members is a reduction in the yearly dues of $5 per year for 2 or 3 years.
In addition, the members choosing this option, will not to be required re-apply every single year, but can set their membership for up to 3 years at a time.
We ask that members who move, change phone numbers or email address be sure to let us know so we can keep our records up to date and stay in contact with our valued members
Bennet update . . .
Winter at Montauk
Winter is my favorite time of year to fish for trout – especially in the parks. Less traffic, less pressure, and trout acting like trout ought to. For various reasons, I didn’t get to fish much this past year, but I did get to Montauk the weekend after Thanksgiving. Friday afternoon was great – about 40 degrees and sunny, lots of BWO’s coming off and very happy fish. I don’t think I caught a fish less than 13 inches and landed 5 over 15 inches.
Then Saturday it rained all day… I don’t mind the rain, but it was 34 degrees with steady rain. Water temps fell, no bugs, and stubborn fish. Things improved around 1pm when the rain stopped. Sunday morning we woke up to 16 degrees – no fishing for us.
The hot flies were my usual go-to patterns for winter season. Frenchies, Hot Tail Hare’s Ear, Purple-Head Sexy Walt’s Worm, Two-Biot BWO nymph, JuJuBee Midge, Tope Secret Midge, and Ed Heist’s version of the Ruby Midge. All have been Flies-Of-The-Month at some time or another – a couple of them a couple of times. I fished the heavier fly on top and the smaller fly as a dropper off the bend of the heavier fly hook.
On Friday they were on a search-and-destroy mission for the BWO nymphs. The trout would actively pursue them and take them aggressively. Saturday they were very subtle takes until the rain stopped. Then I found that the fish had moved up into the tail of the runs and shallow flats and began feeding actively again. I sight-fished for them with the #18 bead head Ruby Midge on top with a JuJuBee dropper with no indicator. The takes were not as subtle, but they were very skittish. It was very rewarding fishing until the horn blew ending the trip. The best part – I didn’t see another fisherman on either day. The campground, motel, and most cabins were empty all weekend. If you’re not fishing winter season, you need to start.
Mike Ott
A Mardi Gras Dinner for Four
On a cold wintry night at the end of January, after looking at the neighbor’s actual ice block igloo, we arrived at the Bean’s for our Mardi Gras dinner. Everyone attending the Ozark Fly Fishers’ Banquet should have bid higher for this opportunity. The entire evening was a delight, as good as a quick trip to New Orleans, and much cheaper.
Ed and Beth greeted us with warm crab dip, even including gluten free crackers for one guest. The crackers and dip paired delightfully with our choice of Hurricanes or Sazerac’s for our adult beverages. Lively conversation accompanied the next taste of NOLA (New Orleans), muffulettas -a sandwich filled with layers of Italian cured meats, cheeses, and a distinct, tangy olive salad, served on a round sesame-seeded loaf of the same name. Drinks were refreshed as needed. Then another treat arrived served in a slow cooker…chicken meatballs in a creamy, slightly spicy sauce. Being very polite guest, we initially took only one or two. One taste and we forgot our manners, rose to the bait, and went back for more.
Moving into the dining room, we cleared our palates with homemade lemon sorbet and then prepared to dig into the shrimp and sausage gumbo with a glass of white wine. A second serving was offered and accepted. Coffee and music followed as we heard Beth chopping something in the kitchen. We were invited to go watch the final preparation of desert, Flaming Bananas Foster. Ed scooped the fruit over ice cream, and we returned to the dining room to finish our Mardi Gras meal with a flair. A lovely home, delicious food, prepared with care, and convivial conversations, created an evening to remember, and more than worth the price! If the Beans offer again next year, we’ll be bidding BIG.
From the Rapp Family to the Bean Family we thank you for your donation and support of Ozark Fly Fishers!
Fly Casting Tip:
This month’s tip continues to look at Mel Krieger’s “principles”.
“Understanding the importance of the stop.”
When you watch an expert cast it is very difficult to visualize the stop. This is because it is am extremely fast movement quickly followed by a smooth transition to what could be considered the follow through. However, the stop is responsible for many attributes of a cast. The power, the loop, the direction and the distance of the cast are all effected by the stop. Learning to control the stop is indeed essential to becoming a better fly caster. Usually, the quicker and harder the stop the better. There is a stop on both the forward and backward casting stroke.
“ A caster needs to appreciate the value of smooth acceleration.”
After the stop on the backcast, when changing of the direction occurs, it is paramount to make this a smooth acceleration to the stop on the forward cast. If this change of direction is not smooth it causes the rod tip to bounce or snap there is a good chance a tailing loop will occur. (note: This is not the only thing that can cause a tailing loop.) Next, the greater the smooth acceleration is the more power will be put into the fly line. That is the bend in the rod (or unloading) will increase in proportion to both the speed attained (smoothly) and the quickness of the hard stop.
The old axiom is definitely true – “you need a smooth acceleration to a hard stop”.
Next casting tip will talk more about some of Krieger’s other quotes.
“There’s magic in the rod tip.”
“The loop is the proof.”
“You don’t cast with power; you cast with rhythm and timing.”
Freeze Your Ass Off 2026 outing
As you may already know, Ozark Fly Fishers Inc has been holding an outing on this weekend at Montauk just after the turn of this century. In the beginning the outing was held in the early part of December and the President of the club at that time was Larry Carli. We had a very small amount of members that were willing to come fish on some of the coldest days just before Christmas. That was ok with us as the park was always near empty and we wanted that wilderness experience that comes from being the only person on the water when looking up and down the spring.
We never had a name for this outing until one trip our president Carli said something to the point of freezing our asses off. So, from that time on the outing was called; Freeze Your Ass Off. The FYAO was born. In those early years of the outing we were staying in the condos up on the hill. There were not many of us so we shared two of those condos with adjoining doors, kitchens', fireplaces and HOT TUBS! Yes, it was in the hot tub that Larry came up with the name of the outing.
Since it was a very small amount of brave members to come out on those outings, we all stayed together. The adjoining doors were never closed and we sort of partied and hung together. After dinner there was always fly tying. I remember a frog pattern that was getting tested in the hot tub on how it would land n the water, float and wiggle.
The outing never grew in participation from other members and on the third year of the outing President Carli decided that we should move it to the last week end of the C&R season to get more participation from the members. We moved it to that weekend and started to double the membership participation to the point that half of all the rooms in the park were taken by club members. We still tied in the evenings but due to the larger participation needed to use the meeting room.
As time went on, I moved from outings chair to club president then past president and then the club went through some changes and the participation in the outing really started to drop. Even before the COVID issue the outing was down to maybe just a handful of participants and we did not even need the meeting room anymore. The fly tying dropped off and the fellowship started to drop between the members.
Today I personally don't really know many members of the club but agreed to work on putting together an FYAO outing for February of 2026. The reason I was asked is, I along with a hand full of the original diehards from back in the early days still go down on that weekend to fish.
A lot has changed in the club since the early days of this outing. Some of us have moved on to the spring branch in the sky and others now have a hard time standing in the spring branch. So, with that we moved the FYAO to Bennett Springs State Park. Reasons are the BSP has easier access to the water and handicap access for those that just can't stand in the creek anymore. Another reason is we are just not up to cooking our meals anymore and BSP is not that far from Lebanon with all its fast food and sit down restaurants.
Since the outing has shrunk to just a few of us the club will not have anything to do with reserving any place to stay for members. If anyone wants to participate they are on their own to find a place to stay and of course feed them selves.
The small handful of us old guys will be staying at Larry's in the park. I believe there are still openings there if you would like to stay there. You are welcome to stop by our room after dinner as we always tie at the kitchen table. If you are interested in eating with us in town you can reach out to me or Steve Antonic to coordinate.
Larry's 417 532 2356
Mike Swederska 314 799 1998
Steve Antonic 314 401 8874
