Current River Report 12/29/2011

Access:  Baptist (big surprise)

Weather:  Sunny and close to 60, surprisingly cold in the morning

Time Fished:  6:30 to 3:00

Water:  Clear until the jet boat came

Flow:  112 cfs

Hatch:  Caddis , A Jet Boat

I was looking at the blog the other day and noticed I hadn't posted in a while.  I then noticed something far more sinister.  I haven't been to the Current since September!!  I've been doing a little warmwater fishing and messing with those goofy trout they stock in the lakes around town but I haven't been to my "home waters" in way too long.  So bright, make that dark, and early Thursday I headed down.   

  I actually beat the sun.  Since it was still dark I decided streamers would be a wise choice.  I knew it was cold out but I quickly realized it was really cold.  My guides were freezing up.  Considering it would get up to 60 I found this surprising.  Stripping streamers through frozen guides is no fun so I went and switched to the nymph rod.

Once the sun arrived it warmed up quickly and people started showing up.  It was by no means "trout park crowded"  but you'd never guess it was a weekday at the end of December.  I worked most of the run below the parking lot until deciding it was going to get crowded.  I was going to work upstream but saw a few guys heading that way so I took the shortcut downstream.  Once down there I had lots more elbow room.  I've noticed that no matter how many cars are in the lot there still won't be many people down around the S-bend.  If you're really hell-bent on solitude just keep going, there's almost never anyone even close to Ashley with the obvious exception of floaters.

I wouldn't say I was doing good but I was catching fish.  I got one in all the likely spots but never pulled more than one out of a hole with only one exception.  I did get two out of spot I usually just glance over....not anymore.  I caught far more browns than I did bows which is a little odd.  My best fish of the day was a rainbow with great color.  It was only around sixteen inches but put up a great fight, really using some fast water to it's advantage. No matter what I was catching they all had one thing in common.  The fish were glued to the bottom.  The fish didn't seem to care what the fly was as long as it was right on the bottom.  Getting my flies deep fast and keeping them there was definitely the way to go but I lost a ton to the stream bed.  I was already low on nymphs but my box is just about empty.  My anchor side actually has three # 10 Czechs and nothing else left. 

I was down around the big bluff when I started to hear an engine getting closer.  I turn downstream and see a flippin' jet boat barreling up the stream.  I don't think I've ever seen a jet boat that far up.  From what I hear the guy went all the way to Tan Vat.  The little stream didn't care too much for the boat either.  It really seemed to churn everything up.  The water got pretty foggy and took it's sweet time clearing up.  The fishing dropped right off the shelf too.  It was an easy decision to finally head back to the car and eat lunch.

There were a few caddis coming off in the late afternoon.  At first I wasn't really sure what they were, they were way too big to be the usual winter bugs.  Apparently the fish didn't expect caddis in December either because they sure didn't want to rise.  I half-assedly  tossed a few dries around the parking lot pool trying to get one up but couldn't find any takers. A bunch more people started showing up so I decided to call it a day at Baptist.  I headed up to Tan Vat to find a bunch of cars so I kept going.  There were a few cars parked at the end of Montauk's campground so I decided against that access too.  I really need to get a vehicle that sits more than two inches off the ground and start heading to the more "rustic" accesses.  I did sit and watch some fish rise at the park.  I somehow knew there'd be trout rising the one place we're not allowed to fish. 

It was time to hit the road and do my patented done fishing routine which consists of stopping in Rolla to eat dinner with my brother who goes to UMR (I refuse to say MST so don't bother correcting me), followed by fighting the urge to go 100 down highway 44, followed by fighting the urge to go 80 down highway 30.  There's only one exception to this routine and that's when I make the long drive down to Taneycomo.  This variation means dinner with my sister at MO State and not fighting the urge to speed.

Blog Note:  Instead of being a deadbeat blogger I plan on putting up more fly tying posts and maybe some gear reviews between my trip reports.  Considering the shape my nymph box is in I'd be expecting some nymphs first but I should slowly but surely get step by steps of my tried and trues.  In addition if I mention any flies or you see one in my pics just ask and I'll definitely be able to get a picture and recipe if not a whole SBS.