Current river - 9/20/16

[Johnsfolly]

After reading Eric82 post about his trip fishing the upper Current with a little color in the water. That got me excited about making the 300 mile round trip just for the possibilities of catching a few brown trout. Since I have moved to MO I have been tracking the numbers and type of fish that I catch. I caught my fish trout in MO at Baptist Access on the Current river over 16 years ago. Since that time I have caught 289 brown trout in MO. Earlier this year I made it a goal to get above 300 browns by the end of our fishing license year, i.e., Feb 28, 2017. I also want to catch brown trout in all of the trout waters that have been stocked with browns. So I still have to catch browns in the Niangua, Roaring river, and Lake Taneycomo to finish that goal. With 274 brown trout caught in the Current, I knew that I would fish the Current more this year to finish this goal.  So I was likely to catch some brown trout on this trip. However I made a couple of possibly poor decisions. The first is that I was expecting color to the water. So I focused upon bringing mostly reaction baits, like crawfish crankbaits or jerkbaits. I also had several jigs with me as well. I also brought my rod loaded with 6 lb nanofil line, but did not bring extra 6 lb fluorocarbon leader material. The second was to stay near the access point. Figuring that I was fishing on a Tuesday, I didn't plan for other fishermen being on the river since Sunday. However, there were lots of boot prints all along the banks and trails to the best holes. I gave a way to a couple of fisherman while on this trip. Normally I would anticipate folks on the river and would hike either three miles down to Ashley or hike the three miles upstream to Ashley or downstream to cedargrove and fish back to the car. That way I would fish spots few people fish.

So with my course set on these two problems I did get to fish on a beautiful day. The water was running clear and seemed like about 58 to 60 deg.

I had fish follow most of my baits. Many would not commit, like they had either seen this before or were a bit sore lipped .I caught my first brown not too far downstream from the access point on a Rapala UL jerkbait.

I caught this other brown trout further downstream also on the jerkbait.

I found some ripe pawpaws (see Whats Cooking thread for details).  I hiked down another 1/4 mile and ran into a guy fly fishing. I decided to let him have this section to fish and headed back upstream. I ended up breaking off one of my lures on the far bank and I got the lure back and destroyed my leader. So I had to switch to my reel loaded with 4 lb line. I then switched back to jigs. I caught this 13" stocked rainbow in the same hole that I caught my last brown trout (pictured above).

I caught a couple more rainbows and one was caught on a small rattle trap. It was the first fish that I had ever caught on a rattle trap lure. I ended up only with three brown trout and three rainbows all between 10 and 14". I also lost a chance on a 18-20 " brown trout that was tight against a rock bluff in a highly fished area. I made a great cast right on top and it blew up on the lure, but I went to set the hook on the blow-up and not on the tug. Not a great total for 5 1/2 hours of fishing. I should have tried for more secluded fishing areas, but as I mentioned earlier there is still plenty of time to catch 8 more brown trout in MO. Now I keep thinking about hitting the Niangua and Roaring River this October or in Jan. Then it will be time to give Phil L a visit and get a Taney brown.

 

[Gavin]

Know that spot. Browns eat when they eat...Might have a banner 2 hrs on that creek once or twice a year. Have fished it allot for over 30 yrs and usually spend at least at least a week down there every year. They won't lift there skirts and give it away very often.

[Eric82]

Glad you got out and about and caught some browns and bows!!!!! Nice!!!!

[flyfishmaster]

Johnsfolly,

 

Sounds like you had a fun trip.  I look at fishing after catching the first fish... the rest are just a bonus.  But I do find it interesting that you have kept track of your catches, that is really interesting.  Do you also note any other details besides the number of fish?

Later,

FFM

 

 

 

[Johnsfolly]

FFM

I agree about the bonus feeling after getting that first fish or in a lot of my trips that targeted species.

I track the date of the trip, species caught, number caught, anything special (like 1 >15"), location and lure/bait type/color. I don't get into temp data, clarity, weather, etc. At least not yet I don't.