Pelican to Cascade

There are very few stretches on any river that can kick your ass like the stretch of river on the Mo from Pelican Point to Cascade. It's 9 1/2 miles of beautiful water with braids and riffles dumping around islands and along hard banks littered with logs and debris and long swooping soft edges and flats where fish gulp bugs uninterrupted when conditions are right. It's truly my favorite stretch of water but it comes with a cost. To go down there you know you're rolling the dice where some days you can hook 50 and others, you just want to get out without a bagel. Typically we go down there with the hopes of pulling in a couple monsters. That's the draw and that's why we took our clients down there yesterday.

The beginning of the day we were definitely getting our teeth kicked in. In fact, we didn't touch a fish until 2pm. At around 1:30, I told the guys it just wasn't going to happen and with the wind blowing about 25mph at our backs, I figured we could get out and go back up to the dam to salvage our day. I have yet to get skunked on the Mo guiding and I wasn't going to today so I was willing to cheat a little.

We decided along the way down to fish a couple honey holes just in case. As we turned the corner at the "Red Barn" we pulled river left to fish the "Cow." (The Cow is a long soft corner named after a dead cow came to rest in the shallow water last year during high water.) "Throw it right," I said and my guys chucked their nymphing rigs of the shelf into deeper water.

Within a few yards we hooked up on our first fish of the day. I minute later we hooked number two. We headed back up to do it again and Matt, the guy in the back of the boat hooked a monster that took him to his backing. He landed his 22 1/2 inch rainbow as his second fish of the day.

We got into town and I mentioned there was a spot that only holds big fish. Larry had yet to boat a fish so I was trying to get gain his interest. I told him to hit a seem funneling off a point of grass and dumping down below a snag. As he did his indicator sunk and he set the hook. About an 18 inch brown came crashing out of the water and his flies popped free. Not ten seconds later, Matt's indicator plunged and he pulled another huge rainbow out--23 1/2 inches...

Larry still hadn't actually landed a fish until about a quarter mile from the take-out--a 22 inch brown. I think we only landed 6 fish yesterday but three were over 22 inches. I felt like I got my ass kicked but these guys will definitely remember the highs and lows for a long time--hopefully more highs than lows.

Keep 'em where they live...