My father and I had come to the River of Life to get in a little spring break fly fishing. I had been to the river a couple of times before and was very much looking forward to introducing dad to this great river. I had warned dad about the technical aspect of this river, with its well-fed and spoiled trout that would not move far for a meal. I had also told him that the way to fish was with a heavily weighed nymph close to the bottom. This is not our favorite way to fish, but we were nevertheless very excited to hook into a trout after a long winter.

Upon our arrival we met with Myron and he informed us that he had double booked the little fishing room that we were to stay in but offered us a full cabin at the same price. I have never been treated with such hospitality anywhere as I find time after time at the River of Life.

Anyway, it was not long before we were settled into the cabin, strung up the rods and made the short walk down to the steam. The cabin is situated right beside a delicious bend in the river where a long tongue of fast, deep water lies below a set of riffles. Toward the end of the tongue the water smoothes out to a deep, slow pool. In my experience on this river, I have found that the long, slow pools do not seem to hold as many trout as the deep, swifter currents or the riffles. I imagine that this has a lot to do with the fact that the smoother sections do not usually offer much protection from the current and probably are lower in dissolved oxygen.

Dad and I waded across the bottom of the section and began working our prince nymphs into the faster water. We found it necessary to use at least one split shot between our brace of nymphs to get near the bottom. Too much weight and we were constantly in the moss. (Moss is a good sign on a stream because it speaks of cover, oxygen, and bugs, but it is serious trial for the nymph fisherman.)

About five casts in, still rusty from the winter off, I hooked and landed a very handsome little bow of about 11". I anxiously showed dad the trout, as it is a descendent of the McCloud river strain and had the deep red/purple band of that strain. A beautiful fish and a good start. It was not too long before Dad hooked up with and landed a chunky rainbow of about 13". During the next two hours Dad landed four more and I managed one. Dad's biggest was a very stout 17" brown that he took from the calm water directly in front of the riffles.

The next day was cold and cloudy as well. We fought our disappointment and headed to the water. On that day I was the lucky one, catching and releasing six to dad's one. I have to admit though, that the combination of poor weather and great cabin conspired to keep us off the water more than is normal for us. All of my fish took a size 10 prince. On this river, I seldom fish any fly but the prince. I have flirted with the woolly bugger and various stoneflies, but the prince outfishes them all.

The next day we both caught quite a few and retired to the cabin for a nice evening of river watching. The cabin Myron put us up in has a great view of the river from the glassed in porch. We were two very happy, very comfortable people.

Dad left the following morning but I hung on to fish a bit longer. In the morning I went down to The Falls and in thirty minutes took one 18" brown and one 16" rainbow. I could have stayed there and done well, but the weather was clearing and I wanted to be back at the cabin if the afternoon hatch came off.

The sun finally came out and I was treated to a nice hatch of caddis. I had been told to fish a regular ginger deer hair caddis during this hatch, but quickly found out that the fish wanted something with a whiter wing. Fortunately I had tied up some color variations and had a green bodied elk hair caddis in a size 14. It worked beautifully. The fish would materialize below the fly and really slash at it as is drifted by. I had to be on top of the set up or I would be too late. Interestingly, I found the trout to be quite skittish. After every one caught I had to either sit down and rest the water for ten minutes or wade far upstream to where the trout were still rising. Even with resting the water, I managed to catch five and have four long distance releases in about an hour and a half.

I really enjoyed the dry fly fishing on my last day there, but the person who goes to the North Fork to catch fish all day every day had better be pretty good with the nymph. The macroinvertebrate biomass in the stream is comprised mostly of big, scary crayfish, black stonefly, caddis, and tons and tons of snails. Because of these food organisms and the quantity in which they are found, the trout are spoiled rotten. They simply won't move far to take your fly. 

My best advice to someone that is fishing the North Fork would be to fish near the bottom, fish slowly and quietly and above all fish thoroughly. A drift a couple of inches different from your last one makes all the difference to these lazy fish.

All in all it was a fantastic trip. I still don't catch as many trout on the North Fork as I hope to someday, but I think that I am beginning to get a beginning on figuring out this enigmatic river. One thing is for sure, as long as I can stay with someone as pleasant, helpful and friendly as Myron, I will keep coming back to try and improve my performance on this beautiful and challenging river.

David Boggs

dboggs@sunflower.com

Editors note: David is finishing a book on his flyfishing adventures to date. The ROLF has asked him to submit an excerpt for viewing on our Library Page, with a link from this article to his greater writing....if anyone would like to contact him at his e-mail address above and assure him that it would be well received: Please Do.

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River of Life Farm
RR. 1 Box 4535
Dora, MO 65637
417-261-7777
Myron@RiverofLifeFarm.com