Current River revisited

[jodunk84]

OK, I know this is a far piece from East TN., but way down in southern Missouri the Ozark mountains start to take shape.  There is this pretty little Spring fed creek that is born in a State Park called Montauk. They have a hatchery and your typical Missouri put and take trout park. This is all fine with me cause it tends to keep the meat fishers corralled where they won't bother me or my pursuits.

The Current river flows out of the park into about 8-10 miles of blue ribbon trout stream where its joined by several springs to keep the browns and rainbows happy. This time of year the water can get rather skinny holding most of the trout in cutbanks and pockets formed behind trees fallen in the river. The water at most is maybe 40 ft. across chilled 60 degrees year around coming out of the springs. Much of the the river is lined with hardwoods shading the shallow water keeping it cool during the heat of the day. A word of caution it only takes on good thunderboomer to swell the current over its banks and render it unwadeable.

I normally start fishing the Tan Vat access which is a gravel bar a half mile below the Montauk park boundaries. Below there is where I took my "trout of a lifetime" some of you may recall from the old flyfishing.com southern board 4-5 years ago, a 23 inch brown in April of that year. This time I headed up stream where I new some fish had been holding in a deep hole behind a tree in the water. I prefer not to fish nymphs on the river anymore because of the frequent snags in the skinny water.  Also, why fish nymphs when they will take a dry. Tan body elk hair caddis size 14-20, Dead chickens #12, Redass SH #14 & partridge and orange SH #18 usually work year around. Black leaches and streamers work well when targeting the larger fish. If you choose to fish nymphs a size #12 prince nymph, #14 BH hairs ear SH or #14 BHPTSH work well when flows are appropriate.

Today I was here to catch a few on dries but managed only two fish a brown and a rainbow 10-12 inches. I was a little disappointed figuring the new regulations allowing 1 fish per day with a 16 inch minimum might have already improved the fishing. Not today though it was 95 degrees without a breeze and it pretty much had shut down the fishing. Back to the new Holiday Inn Express in Salem to get a little smarter! I checked in and got a recommendation for dinner.  Best food and only beer in town. Actually I was hesitant when I saw the Bikers welcome sign on the door of the old masonry building. To my surprise they served the finest 1/2 pound burger and rings I'd had in a long time. Maybe I was getting smarter.

Wednesday morning I checked out and headed towards Springfield for an appointment I had set for lunch.  On the way I checked my voice mail and found out the meeting was postponed.  So suddenly only 20 minutes from a dry fly paradise I had a date, not with a client, but with a river. On the way over I cussed myself for not checking messages sooner I could have skipped the shower and already been on the water.

This time I decided to try the Baptist Camp access which was another mile below Tan Vat. I would head up stream to the "Bluff Hole" which is about a half a mile.  Only one truck on the downstream side of the lot, I assumed they went that direction. My idea was to try some hoppers since it was almost 10 AM and was plenty hot. One problem none in the grass and no self respecting trout would so much as give it more than quick look before it bolted away. Good hatch on midges coming off and an occasional caddis. Switching over to the caddis in a  couple casts and i managed two fish next to the canoe launch, 8-10 inch browns. In fact a pod of fresh looking stockers actively feeding caught my eye but not my interest. So they must have stocked recently, I thought to myself. Working upstream a bit I nailed a fat 14 inch rainbow on the dry. I had a feeling this was going to be a fun day.

I switched over to the dead chicken and the red ass soft hackle and landed an occasional trout moving slowly upstream through a shallow section of water fishing every pocket and every root ball or cutbank. Most fishy looking spots yielded at least a rise if not a fish on.  One root ball yielded the smallest trout  I had ever caught on this stream. It was a 3-1/2 inch rainbow fat and beautifully on the soft hackle dropper. I started to notice how the fish had really been bunched up in any spot with cover when I spotted him. Much to my disappointment there he was another fisherman headed downstream towards me. Dang, Dang , Dang my fishing is ruined! We exchanged pleasantries and he told me the fishing was great today and the big browns had started moving up towards the park.  I wasn't going to let a spin fisherman see me quit so I figured I could still go check out that bluff hole and maybe if I was lucky they would have settled down by then.

I skipped another shallow section and came to the last riffle before the famous big brown hole.  Several trees had fallen across the stream creating a nice long deep run protected by trunks and branches covering half of the water. There must have been 50 fish sipping tiny flies on the surface. I landed several more fish on that durn dead chicken and lost several others. I was using 6x and 7x tippet because the water was so clear and low. I noticed 3-4 larger fish, probably browns, hugging the bottom of the run and showing no interest in my fly. Amazingly I watched the largest brown slide downstream about 15 feet from me slidding his body under a floating log at the edge of the fast water. Wow, he had to be 26 inches, what a sight!  I backed out of the run while noting his position for future reference and slipped up to check out the bluff hole.

It is amazing how the river changes. Old holes shallow out and become unproductive while new ones are born by a fallen tree from a storm or flood. I thought as I approached the the bluff hole which didn't seem to look as fishy as it once was. There were still the big rock that had fallen off the cliff creating a nice pocket but nothing that could hold the numbers of fish I just saw below. Then I realized it wasn't the structure of the hole but the level of water was down a good foot from normal. My first cast was over between the bluff and smaller of the two boulders...smack! It was a smaller guy maybe 13 inches which shook around and I didn't take to serious. He darted upstream and snagged the line on something. I hadn't noticed there was a small log wedged between two rocks which he went under and wiggled off leaving me hooked securely to the log.  I hated to wade over to untangle the mess for fear I would spook the rest of the hole.

I ended up retying the dead chicken and leaving off the dropper since they had been exclusively going for the dry.  A couple more casts further upstream yielded nothing when I eased out another strip or two of line.  Stretching out my cast further up ahead of the next rock there was an explosion I wasn't prepared for. I had way to much slack in the line so I danced a couple of steps backward with my rod high.  Much to my delight I felt the slow moving solid feel of a large brown. I had already learned the hard lesson of the log just below us and was in no position to muscle this fish out with 6X tippet.  I focused on keeping the fish away from trouble and tried not to piss him off. I eventually landed a really fat 20+ inch brown. I couldn't even get my hand half way around this fish and settled for an awkward one handed picture as I let her go. I would have to guess she was 4-5 lbs. on a dry, I tied myself no less.

I fished my way back out and as I came to one of the last little pockets, drifting the dry 40 feet ahead of me, I nailed one more brown.  I started singing and humming "one more for the road!"  I pulled out of the lot at 2 PM, knowing that I had to meet clients to take fishing down on Taneycomo around 5 PM, and I was over 2 hours away and still needed a shower.  I still couldn't get that song out of my head "leeto oh oh oh oh oh oh one more time gonna get it".  I guess I was just happy, not just for the big brown but also the little stream bred rainbow and the way the day had come together. :)

[walt]

nice tr jd84.... nice.

walt

[Bluetick1955]

Yes Nice :)

[Arky_Dan]

If I did'nt dislike Mo .so much , I'd have to go fish that stream ... Glad that you had fun Joe ,    Dan

[troutphisher]

I used to get down to the Current River once a year. I'd put in at Jacks fork, and float the scenic river section.
Nice river!

[jodunk84]

I have never fished the section below Jacks fork but I hear it turns into a river down there.  These upper sections i have fished are great wading areas where you can get lost for several hours seeing nothing but deer & turkeys. My favorite section is below Baptist camp about a mile or so there are some beautiful holes. The best time to fish it is in the winter when you can hike along the stream bank to get where you want to go. Always a good caddis hatch everyday all winter. This time of year it's very snakey to get out of the river.

[brownhunter]

That is from where I used to live. I love that area and really need to get back to try my luck now that I fly fish. When I lived there I did nothing but bass and catfish, even though I moved from Montana.

[troutphisher]

If you decide to fish the scenic sections there are places to pull out and wade, I only floated to get down to those spots.
about three miles down river from Jacks Fork, you'll find an excellent pull out spot with ample casting room. there are deep pools with some tail water riffles to be fished.

I haven't been back in ten years? now you got me think'in.....hum...road trip?

[jodunk84]

Troutphisher,

Anytime you want to fish the Current I am always up for that. Let me know! Who knows maybe we could talk 'ol Arky in a road trip as well!

Brownhunter,
How can a guy live in Montana and not fly fish? You to need to get back to your roots and check out the current.

Tight lines,
Joe

[brownhunter]

We moved away from Montana when I was 5, so I was a little young to be fly fishing. I still fished though, but not flies. I plan on taking a trip back up there next summer. I don't know why anyone would ever move though.

[troutphisher]

Now theres a plan.....Pick up Brown, run over to the Current river, fish a couple days.....then head out to MT...and fish a couple weeks....na if I went to Montana, I'd never come back.