An Unexpected Blue Ribbon Rainbow

Article by Andy Fuqua

A few months ago, at the end of summer, I moved from the Driftless region in Wisconsin to the Ozarks of Missouri. A new state means a lot of exploring: new water, new trails, new opportunities. Now, it was mid-February, and the weather was beautiful. In Wisconsin, I rarely went outdoors in February. Instead, I hunkered down and prayed for the sky to be anything other than gray. But further south, it was a great day to get outside.

This particular day, I wasn’t thinking about fishing. I wanted to scout a Forest Service Road in the Mark Twain National Forest that I’d seen in the onX Offroad app. So, I climbed into my 4×4 SUV to do a little “soft-roading” and find a trail to hike. I drove about an hour and forty five minutes, enjoying the winding shoulderless roads through hills and glades. The Ozarks are beautiful!

As I neared the trail, I crossed a stream. Low bridges and slab crossings are pretty common on the backroads around here. The creek was a textbook Ozark stream. It was shallow, skinny water with riffles a few yards downstream of the bridge. The stream was crystal clear and had hues of aqua green blending with the reddish brown of the rocky bottom. Did I mention the Ozarks are beautiful?

I drove slowly across the bridge, marveling at the picturesque beauty of the afternoon. And then I saw it. A dimple on the surface of the water revealed a fish rising. I hadn’t planned on fishing, and hadn’t brought my waders or much gear. But I did have a tenkara rod and a pack in the back of my SUV.

A size 12 kebari was already on my line, so I started with that. I crouched on the bank next to the bridge and drifted my fly through a pool right in front of me. Because the water was so clear, I could see the pool held several fish, but I didn’t know what species. After several failed takes, I decided to size down with a scud. Three casts, and I had a fish on the line! But it threw the barbless hook before I could even see what it was.

A few casts and a better hook set later, I brought a fish to hand. To my delight, it was a pretty little rainbow trout, young, with parr marks and vibrant colors. It turns out the creek was a Missouri Blue Ribbon trout stream.

Trout aren’t native to Missouri, and most of the trout water is put and take fishing, heavily stocked. But there are nine Blue Ribbon streams with self-sustaining wild trout populations. If you catch a trout from all nine Blue Ribbon streams, you’ll complete what the locals call the Blue Ribbon Trout Slam.

My roadside stop put me got me started! Since that day, I’ve fished two other Blue Ribbon streams, and caught a trout in one of them. Two down, seven to go. I wonder if anyone has completed the entire slam on tenkara gear? Maybe I’ll be the first!

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Andy Fuqua is just a regular guy with a love for the outdoors and fixed line fishing.

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