The Trip!

Hello everyone its been a while since ive posted here. We went to Montauk back in September and it was a great trip. All in all my father, girlfriend and myself limited out almost everyday. This was my girlfriends second time ever fishing, which her first was on a boat in a private lake trying to catch some trout there. Which we did catch trout but for two days and only catching 3 trout between us total isnt too fun. Especially for your first time fishing, but this trip was very fun. We got down there on a sunday and since it was around 4pm decided not to fish but we walked around and i showed her the Park. She is very used to the parks up here in the Northwest the tall everygreens and pines everywhere, she was very excited to see different scenery in the midwest. The Water was is pristine condidtion too very clear and you could easily see fish from almost anywhere in the water. Then i took her down to the Hatchery and she loved seeing all the little fish and was amazed by all the three plus pound fish in the Hatchery.

After that we spent the night with my parents it was so quiet and peaceful something i haven't heard since i moved out here to Washington. Then Monday came and we were all so excited, put our waders on and headed down to the bridge that enters the park. Stopped there but we missed the whistle by about a minute. I think we ended up catching one fish there before moving down closer to the handicaped accessible area. We fished the whole way along there all the way down pulling out fish from almost every suspect log and over growth in the water. by the end of the day i had limited out and so had my girlfriend. But my poor dad had only caught a couple fish that day. He kept losing fish left and right for some reason get them right to the net and they would break off. The trip was amazing though, by the end we had limited out almost every day and couldnt have asked for better weather. And to top it all of for my girlfriends first trip and really second time going fishing she did awesome, she also caught the biggest fish. As seen in the picture above! :D

The Old Oak Tree

Off to the right there, yeah you see it. That lovely tree that made so much shade and helped me from falling into the water so many times. I have heard it is not there anymore, and i find this very sad. I can remember being a kid and my parents setting up in this hole and fishing all day and relaxing under the Old Oak here. I have not been to Montauk since the tree has been gone, now i'm not sure what you call this hole anymore. My parents and i used to call it the "Big Tree hole" i guess thats what it will always be to me. Thanks for all the wonderful years of shade Old Oak Tree!

Hunt for a Lunker! in November...

I seen this picture and it reminded me alot of a trip to montauk in the winter at Montauk. The day was beutiful but very frigid. I went with a friend and his parents to Montauk in the winter of 97 or maybe 98 its been so long i cant remember. That day was great was the first day we had been there in the offseason. We got up early and headed out of the camper and realised it was 10 degrees. But we wouldnt be conquered by the tempenture, we were going fishing! We got all geared up and set out, No wind just a very nice day at the park. As we walked through we had never seen the park so barren. No one was there i dont even think the park rangers came through the park once that day. So we were off, we started fishing just north of the Handicaped Hole and then worked our way towards the bridge. The Fishing was amazing, plus with no competition it just made it even better. My friend and I prolly pulled 20+ fish a piece in about three to four hours. All catch and release of course, as we walked back to the camper we came across this old timer who was just getting back from Montauk Springs. We talked to him for about twenty or thirty minutes and he got us set on going up to the springs in hunt for a Lunker. So we headed back to the camper and warmed up and got some breakfast. As we talked we asked my friends dad to drive us up to the Springs. I think this is where we went wrong, his mom and dad were going to drive to Salem and head to Wal-Mart and catch something to eat from Steven's Steak house. and wouldnt be able to get us unti'll they got back. We as being dumb kids said 'Thats great! we'll have plenty of time to fish!" Might have been the dumbest thing ive ever done at Montauk. After fighting the 3 hours of freezing water on our eyelets we should have known better than to go up to the springs in November. They left and we were in the back waders on ready to Fish. We stopped at the first parking lot there at the springs and started to work our way upstream. The fishing was actually very good within fifteen minutes we had both caught two fish and one of the ones my friend caught was well over two pounds. We walked for about a mile or so, I looked up and seen it was starting to get a little dark. i looked at my watch and it was four o'clock. We figured we should head back to the parking lot. We started walking downstream and there we seen it, a huge shadow moving across the water. The Fish had to be atleast four or five pounds, so we both casted right upstream from it and then it happened. As we were walking downstream we had gotten out reels in the water, and with it being ten degrees or so it had frozen out reels up enough that we couldnt reel at all no matter what we did. We were both so angry we started yelling. We finally stopped trying and got up on the road and started walking thinking any minute his dad would drive by and pick us up. An hour later and two very cold fishermen later we made it back to camp and started a fire. His parents showed up twenty minutes later and they hadnt even been up to the springs yet to look for us. I've learned alot from my escapades at Montauk, Some alot more fun than others but they were always Good Times.

Hello and Welcome!

Hello and welcome to the Montauk Chronicles blog. If you arent aware of what Montauk is its a State Park in Missouri, Southwest of Salem. The Park is managed by the Department of Natural Resources and is stocked with trout everyday during the season based on the number of tags sold per day. This is one of my favorite places to go in Missouri, Since i have moved i wanted to go back there and I am planning a trip back to Montauk in the beginning of September. Hopefully the weather will hold out and the trip wont be washed out by rain or anything. I will be updating this once the trip is over with pictures and video that i take while i am down there. Thanks for viewing my blog and hope to see you back here in September!