December

I haven't been out fishing in too long, almost a month. A few days before Christmas I finally got the shack-nasties bad enough to head out to one of the St. Louis urban lakes which are stocked each winter with trout. I'm not personally fond of the idea- to me stocking fish which are fated to die seems rather cruel, and few of the lakes stocked seem really geared toward the "urban youth" the Department of Conservation is determined to target.

The initial idea was to try a "stocker slam," fishing a half dozen or so different ponds and catching a few fish at each. It seemed like a fun target, though as the day wore on, I nixed it. Instead I tied a half-dozen wooly buggers, black with various flourescent-colored tails, and headed to Busch Wildlife Area in St. Charles County.





Fishing was pretty uneventful, about what you would expect. It was chilly, and the water was only about 1/4 open. I fished for three or four hours, only getting a single bump. Saw a few deer, a couple turkeys, and some ducks, but otherwise the whole thing was pretty lame. It was nice to get out though, especially so close to the holidays.