Current River on 2/19/16

[Fishingmill]

First let me say, the weather was wonderful. Hard to beat fishing in 70 degrees in February. I fished from Tan Vat to Baptist Camp. River has changed a lot from the winter flooding. Most pools are completely different.

As nice as the weather was, I didn't catch a single trout the entire day. Been probably 3 years since I've been skunked trout fishing. Fish were biting very light. I hooked into three browns that day and they all got off before I could get them in. I also didn't see as many fish as I normally do. Other guys I talked to only managed to catch a few  

Bottom line: tough day fishing but at least the weather was nice. 

[netboy]

I fished the Eleven Point yesterday and it was slow also. Caught about 1/4 the number of trout that we normally do. I am starting to think we lost a significant number of trout to the floods. Hope I am wrong....

[Ham]

2 hours ago, netboy said:

I fished the Eleven Point yesterday and it was slow also. Caught about 1/4 the number of trout that we normally do. I am starting to think we lost a significant number of trout to the floods. Hope I am wrong....

That would be awful. I had a really good trip late last fall and was hoping to repeat it one of these days. They will bounce back though. 

[Jerry Rapp]

maybe they just weren't biting?

[jackdizo]

@Fishingmill I have been skunked on that exact section of the river before as well. I think certain times of the year and when the water gets up as it has recently in the past, alot of fish move upstream closer to the park. Also, at times the fish hold really tight to cover in that section of the river... It can be frustrating. I highly doubt the floods affected the numbers of fish. Trout are very resilient and can handle floods to the extreme. The only thing the floods would have damaged in my opinion is if there were redds with eggs on them in the stream bed. There is always next time! Keeps you hungry for more! 

[netboy]

18 hours ago, Jerry Rapp said:

maybe they just weren't biting?

Normally we see lots of trout while drifting down the river.  This last trip I didn't see a single trout while drifting.

I hope it was just a slow day. 

 

[jackdizo]

@netboy Did you guys float Greer to Riverton? Just curious. I have not been on the 11pt since September. But I was blown away by the amount of fish that were stacked up in that stretch. Hard to believe you didn't see any?

[netboy]

We launched at Greer and went down past the first island and then motored back up to Greer. We waded about 6-7 spots and there just weren't many trout. 

I guess if we did lose some fish then a visit from the MDC stocking truck may help.

[joeD]

Getting back to the Current and fishingmill (you Eleven Point guys don't mind do you?), I think the flood has definitely had a negative affect on fishing, Why, I can only guess. I know for a fact that a friend of mine absolutely slayed them when the water first came up, and was quite murky. But it was the first rise. Since then, nothing. The run below Baptist is completely different, as it resembles more of a beach, what with all the sand that piled in. The water flow and height and appearance seem perfect. But, fishing has been tough. I wasn't even seeing browns chase my lure, let alone hit it. Maybe they gorged on that first rise in December and continued to eat with the high water. Don't know. I do know that something is different, and not in a good way, at least initially. There is sand everywhere.

[Gavin]

Have heard differently. River has been fishing well for big fish reported by several who know how to fish for them. Could not make the float this weekend but buddies went out Friday. You might have had second hand water & sore lipped fish. When it's dead it is dead down there though. Maybe 1 stellar day out of a 4 day trip on average and stellar might last 30 minutes.