Fly Fishing For Muskie Fellows Lake Springfield, Missouri Fellows Lake is an 820 acre water reservoir owned by City Utilities of Springfield. Fishing regulations are enforced by the Missouri Department of Conservation. Fly fisherman can target muskie, crappie, white bass, large mouth bass, walleye, channel catfish, bluegill and carp. The staff at the Plateau Fly Shop have spent the most time at Fellows Lake chasing muskie and will catch walleye and large mouth bass while casting for Muskie. Carp are also a fun target species in late summer.
Regulations at a Glance 40 HP Restriction on boat motors No wading $35 annual sticker required for motor boats $20 annual sticker required for non motorized boats Gated entry into Fellows Lake Marina and boat ramp opens at sunrise. Boats off the water at sunset. For more information on the facilities provided by City Utilities call 417-831- 8881 For Fellows Lake Marina call 417-833-2058 Bank Fishing It is difficult to fly fish successfully from the bank at Fellows Lake because of the very limited access based on not being allowed to wade in the lake. However, there are a couple of areas in which your odds will be better at catching fish on fly. Those areas are: 1. The inflow area from Stockton Lake ( North Arm). This is a cove in which water is brought into Fellows Lake from Stockton Lake. There isn't a schedule in which to know when water from Stockton Lake will temper the warmer surface water in the cove. 2. The area around the handicapped fishing dock on the North Arm. Stand on the chunk rock near the road and cast towards the fishing dock. There are numerous brush piles near the fishing dock in which muskie will stage. 3. Fellows Lake Marina sets in a private cove that is only accessible to bank fisherman. Also, it is a catch and release area. While chances at catching a muskie are slim, this cove holds some monster carp. Stay at least 100' away from the Marina! All of these areas are on the North Arm because accessibility on the South Arm is non existent for bank fisherman.
Boat Fishing Fishing from a boat will greatly improve your chances of catching muskie on a fly rod. We generally concentrate on fishing the north side of the North Arm and the south side of the South Arm. Early spring will find the fish on the bank. We target weed beds on main lake flats in early to late fall. Seasons Spring We have found musky to be in 3 to 15 feet of water in early spring when the water temperatures are between 50 and 70 degrees. High water years will provide much more cover on the bank for muskie, however we have never had success fishing either the buck brush or standing timber that is usually out of the water at normal water levels. When concentrating on the north side north arm and south side south arm, our technique is generally just covering water blind casting into pea gravel banks utilizing the trolling motor to cover water. If the wind is blowing, we will throw out the anchor and radial cast into likely spots. If we don't get any action, then we will pull anchor and bump to the next spot. Summer When water temperatures rise above 70 degrees, it seems the muskie begin to go deeper and transition to either main lake points or submerged timber in 20 to 40 feet of water. This makes it more difficult to find and muskie and effectively fly fish to them. We find ourselves not fishing Fellows after Memorial Day as the higher water temperature will stress the caught fish coupled with Smallmouth season getting ramped up on local rivers and creeks. Fall Water temperatures are the main factor when we will start fall fishing for muskie at Fellows. Lake temperatures above 80 degrees equate to no muskie fishing for us. The hydrilla grass beds have grown over the summer and those muskie will be staged around the grass in 20ft of water. The grass will grow up to 12 to 15 feet near the surface. Find the weed and you will find the muskie. We have had good success when fishing after the first cool rain of the fall.
Fly Fishing for Muskie Fly Rods The majority of the time we will be casting 9ft 10 weight rods for muskie. We utilize the 10 weight rod primarily because of the size of fly we are casting. A faster action 10 weight rod will help alleviate fatigue throughout the day because of the shoot ability of line and fly. For 9ft 10 weight rods we recommend: Redington Predator @$249.95 Grey's XF2 Salt @ $299.99 Sage Motive @ $425.00 Hardy Proaxis @ $659.00 Sage One @ $785.00 Fly Lines 90% of the time, we are either casting a 350 to 400 grain Wet Tip Express or a 350 grain RIO SINK TIP. These lines have a 24ft sinking head plus 8ft of handling line with 50 to 60 feet of floating running line. We have found the 8ft of handling lines behind the sinking portions of these lines significantly help carry the weight of the line in the air. Leaders A few different leader set ups can be used: A premade steel leader with a snap swivel. While these leaders are the easiest to use, there is an issue with the swivel strength and the difficulty of pulling the leader through the top guide of the rod when performing the figure eight. A 2' section of 30# Maxima tipped with a knottable stainless steel or titanium bite tippet. A straight 4' section of either monofilament or fluorocarbon 60# tippet. Fly Reels It is not necessary to utilize a high end reel when fishing for muskie as they generally do not rip out 100 yards of line when you hook one. A cast aluminum reel like either the TFO Prism or Redington Surge are completely adequate when chasing muskie. Both retail at $99.95. This will allow you to get into a muskie set up very at a low price. If you are purchasing a muskie set up focus on spending your money on the fly rod and fly line. If you are going to be purchasing a set up that will be utilized for salt water fishing, purchase a Galvan, Lamson, Tibor or Hatch reel.
Flies We are casting hollow style flies at muskie similar to Brad Bohen's Hang Time Fly. The reverse buck tail tying technique of those flies provide a good profile while limiting the overall weight of the fly. We have caught Fellows Lake muskie on numerous color patterns including olive, white/chartreuse, chartreuse/black, orange and red/black, gray/blue, tan/brown and olive/black. Technique Casting is a problem sometimes when the wind is blowing because of the size of flies being used. When fishing out of a boat you can position your boat to help keep the wind at your back. When retrieving the fly we will strip back at a slower pace giving the fly time to work. If you are fortunate to get a muskie to follow your fly you can speed up the strip to make the fish think his prey is getting away and thus trigger the bite. When you get the fly to the boat you can do the figure eight or just do the J pattern to get the fish to attack the fly. You always want to do one or the other at the end of your retrieve because sometimes a muskie will come up right at the boat under your fly. In Closing The most important thing in muskie fishing is to remember not to get discouraged. There are days of casting a 10 weight rod for six to seven hours solid and not seeing a fish. There are also days of casting for six to seven hours and having four follows. The days of catching a muskie are remembered forever. They provide great boatside action. Good luck out there. -Plateau Fly Shop