Adam Snodgrass

Yeah, that was probably me. I parked at Baptist and fished upstream a bit and then back down. Water was definitely up compared to the last time I was down there. Wish I could say I had a successful morning, but only caught one rainbow early and then no luck after that. Pretty sure I still have a lot to learn as far as fly selection and technique, etc. but I guess learning is half the fun. Spent a lot of time de-icing my rod guides and had a hard time tying b/c fingertips were so cold. I'll be back when it warms up a bit! Adam

I appreciate the advice, guys - Thanks!. Can't wait to get out there tomorrow morning! Adam

I'm heading down tomorrow to the upper Current (Tan Vat/Baptist) and I haven't been fishing in several months. If anyone has been out lately, just wondering if you have any advice on how the fishing has been lately, recommended flies/strategies, etc? Thanks in advance. Adam

Thanks for the input, everyone! Adam

I've heard alot of people say they have tons of luck w/ egg patterns on the Current but haven't had much luck myself. Can you guys tell me what type/size/color egg you normally use here w/ regular success? Thanks, Adam

Hey guys, I'll be making my first trip to Taneycomo this weekend and I'm looking for a little advice. In the upper section, are we better off accessing the water on the north or south side? I've only been fly fishing for a.couple years and spend most of my time on the Current River. I've heard a lot about the great trout fishing on Taneycomo and I'm really looking forward to checking it out and trying my luck. Any other advice on flies etc would be appreciated. Thanks! Adam

I'm planning on heading down Saturday morning. Haven't been down in several weeks and last time I only caught one all morning. Any advice on what they're liking lately? Planning on trying some midges, nymphs and caddis. Adam

Fished upstream from Baptist this morning and had a lot of luck with a few different flies. I used mostly a foam hopper with a nymph dropper and caught some really nice sized rainbows on gold-ribbed hare's ear nymphs, prince nymphs and even one that took the hopper. I also caught one more before I left on a brown bead-head bugger. Everything I caught was before noon. Best part was that I saw almost all the takes coming from a mile away...watched the fish rise, follow and slam my flies. Really cool feeling and I'm sure you all know what I mean. One of the fish I caught had a pretty big hole in his gill area....nasty looking wound but not caused by my hook. I'm curious, is this probably due to a bird getting a piece of him? See 2nd pic attached. Adam

Thanks for the input everyone. I was de-barbing for a while and recently stopped because I was losing lots of fish. I think I'll go back to de-barbing and just try to work on my technique and keep tight lines, etc. Adam

I'm curious if you all leave the barbs on your fly hooks or if more people de-barb them. I've read that getting rid of the barb reduces the fish mortality rate while obviously making it easier to remove the hooks. However, you'll also lose more fish w/o the barb, which has happened to me plenty. Any thoughts? Thanks, Adam

Hey guys - I fished the Current this morning below Baptist, hoping to find some fish holding in the deep pools down there. I didn't have any luck but the canoe crowd showed up around 9, so I went upstream to avoid them. Skunked all morning until I tried a big hopper with a hare's ear nymph dropper. Caught a decent-sized rainbow and shortly later a brownie as well. Both of them went for the nymph. Water was very low and there wasn't much surface activity at all. Pics attached. Adam

Wonderful photos! Thanks for sharing! Adam

You guys rock. Thanks for all the suggestions! I have a bunch of caddis, BWOs, nymphs, midges and buggers. I will get some of the others you mentioned and give them a whirl. Thanks again! Adam

This is my first summer being into fly-fishing since I just started last Fall. Any advice on what kind of flies to stock up on for fishing the Current in the next month or two? I'm reading a lot of talk about hoppers....any particular kind? Ants? Beetles? Thanks all. Adam

Wow! Beautiful fish. I recognized you from your pic....my father in law and I chatted with you briefly on Saturday near those deep pools below Baptist. I had some luck with the cicada pattern too, but just nabbed a few rainbows and nothing like the monster you got there! Great job! Adam

I'll try a triple surgeons....been using double. Also, been using 5x leader, 7.5 feet and about 2-3 feet of flouro tippet (6lb test).

I fished upstream from Baptist last Saturday and had a great day. Caught my biggest rainbow yet on a cicada imitation around 11 am and then ventured further upstream. I'm still no expert at identifying hatches but the bugs I saw looked like caddis to me so I tied on the largest elk hair caddis I had and worked one nice riffle/pool for a couple hours. Wow! The fish were rising like I've never seen before. I caught one after another in that spot and I was having a great time watching them violently lunge at my fly even when they missed it. I think I got 8 rainbows in about 5 hrs of fishing. The only downer was I lost a few flies and twice my line broke right at the tippett-leader surgeons knot. I think I tied a pretty good knot. What size leader and tippett do you guys usually use on the Current? I was using 5x and thinking about stepping that up to something a bit stronger. I hate losing fish and I hate that I left a couple swimming with a hook in their mouth. Any advice? Thanks, Adam

Nope, sorry. Must be a different Snodgrass.

I'm heading to Baptist this morning with a nice stash of cicada imitations so this is good news. Sounds like you had a great day. Wish me luck! Adam

I fished upstream from Baptist today (5/21) for about 4 hours, starting at about 11 am. Hooked up within the first 10 minutes in deep spot underneath the big tree that stretches across the river. This one broke away, but I landed a rainbow pretty quick in the same spot and another about the same size (10-12" maybe) just a little upstream. Later I caught my first ever brownie, which was pretty cool even though he was smaller than the two rainbows. I used pretty much the same rig all day...hare's ear soft hackle (size 16) with a brown wooly bugger (size 10 or 12) trailing under that. All the fish went for the bugger. I thought about replacing the hare's ear with something else but didn't want to waste time re-tying everything and I figured - why mess with what's working. Thanks to Gavin and Nortad for your helpful advice. It helped me land a few nice fish and have a great day on the river. I'll attach a couple photos. Adam

You guys make some good points. I think I'll go ahead and buy one even though I just C/R. I just started getting into fly fishing last fall and I really enjoy it. Pitching in to help support good trout fisheries in MO makes sense to me. Off topic, but I'm hoping to head down to the Current on Sunday for the first time in a month or two (If weather isn't awful). Any advice on best flies to start with? So far this year, I've only had luck with nymphs - hare's ears mostly. Is it Caddis time yet? BWOs? As I said, I'm a newbie so any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks, Adam

Thanks for the info, Chris. I let 'em all go so I won't bother with the trout permit.

Do I need a MO trout permit in addition to a normal fishing license if I'm just C & R fishing in the Blue Ribbon water? I was under the impression that all I needed was a fishing license unless inside the park where I need a daily trout tag as well. I guess my confusion is with the wording "possess trout" b/c all I do is catch & release. Not a big deal either way....it's a cheap permit. Mainly I'm just curious. Thanks, Adam

I'm thinking of going fishing on the Current tomorrow morning, but I'm pretty new at this and not sure how the recent rains will affect things. Any advice on whether or not it's worth going tomorrow? Safety? Fishing conditions? Thanks, Adam

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I'm new to fly fishing but absolutely love it...so I have plenty of dumb questions! I'm planning on heading down to Montauk this Sunday and venturing further downstream, below the park to try my luck w/ the trout. I'm stocked-up on a variety of flies but I don't have any egg patterns so I may have to get some before the weekend. Can't wait! Adam