Missouri Fly Life- Part 1

Meet Augustus Knickmeyer, a heck of a fly fisherman and Missouri resident.  He grew up fishing rivers and streams in Jefferson County and honed his skills on the Eleven Point River.  To see a little proof of this guy's skills, feel free to follow him on Instagram at missouri_fly_life.  Now that you know a little about Augustus, I am proud to announce that he has written a guest post that will be up on this site today and concluded tomorrow.  I hope you like his stories as they are unique to fly fishing and our fine state.  If you should feel inspired to type up some words or you just have a story to tell, please feel free to email me at showmeflyguy@gmail.com. I would LOVE to have more posts like this as I am sure there are lots more stories like this to be told about fly fishing and calling Missouri home!

Underrated Quarry
by Augustus Knickmeyer

Having grown up in the rural midwest, my first ever fish on the fly was pretty standard, the beginner fish, and ubiquitous, bluegill. In preparation for a family vacation to Colorado, Dad, who had previously, and now once again, been a fly fishing fanatic, walked me to the neighbors pond for a casting lesson. This was to help prevent my becoming an utter disaster, streamside at our fishing destination. A couple hours of awful timing, bird’s nests, and missed eats ensued, however, it was a great time, and as the sun set I was plopping hopper imitations over nearby cover and watching bull ‘gills collide, blasting through the lake’s surface to suck down flies. A matter of weeks later, wet wading the Tailor River I landed my first trout ever, one of several gorgeous little brown trout we fooled on blue winged olives; catching these prestigious fish was amplifying, but by this time, I was well decided, on the fly was how I liked to fish. I wanted to take it further, and I needed to fish! I was not going to wait around for a couple destination fishing trips every year. To fuel my new addiction, I needed water I could hit regularly, the nearby rivers my Dad grew up on were teeming with smallmouth, ever willing to crush streamers, so as a way to fill in the time between making longer drives to catch trout, we hit the smallie streams.
Fishing the nearby smallmouth streams was a great way to stay on the water between longer trips, but it was here that I learned more about the sporting qualities of fish, other than trout. Despite the fact they lack an adipose fin, a very picky appetite, and strict habitat requirements, the smallmouth I began targeting regularly, along with the many other unsung heroes of the game fish world; provide willingness to eat, and pound for pound fighting ability that meet and exceed their coldwater counterparts. Do not get me wrong, I love trout fishing; particularly where crumpling giant streamers and sipping dries is concerned. I have to say, however, that I am just as much a fan of the accessibility of many of the other fish species, along with those fond memories on the shores of farm ponds, and the tenacious strikes and fights of many of the other fish we have in the shoals and sloughs of North America, and abound.

When it comes to accessibility, it really is hard to beat many of our humbler species. It is great that so many anglers have access to public and private ponds and lakes that are loaded with warm water species such as bluegill, crappie, largemouth, and others. I really enjoy many of the more glamorous species, but I have to admit, it really is hard to beat a short trek to a local pond with some friends family and have an evening dry fly fishing for willing bluegill, or using large poppers and big meaty streamers to entice aggressive takes from largemouth. Many people just do not have the option, based on timeframe, or cost to get in the car and drive for several days, or the better part of a day, just for a day of fishing.