burton1995

@ColdWaterFshr We know better. We knew we shouldn't fish down river any further but the idea of a secret access point was too much. I bet it's good water in the spring. One of these days it's all going to come together. The grilled chicken sandwich at the Roadhouse is amazing.

@awhuber except for the name on the kids shirt. I don't remember what it said. It was a black collared shirt, with a name on it though. Drove a Japanese pickup

@awhuber Not a word of fiction. It's all about what you're looking for when you go on a trip. I will take it as a compliment, but it's really a compliment to the area's inhabitants. It's why we keep coming back. @Ginnever North Fork of the White is my favorite fishery. It reminds me of the rivers out west

@fishinwrench Gold. Absolute Gold. I just posted another TR on the Current.

We stayed at Montauk State Park. We left KC at 11:38 AM. We had hoped to leave by 10:30, but we can never get out of dodge on time. We thought the mediocre forecast might keep folks away. “Nope, it’s always liked this.” said the woman who takes your money. She was an aloof gal who thwarted my fishing buddy’s attempts at charm. He, admittedly, wasn’t firing on all cylinders. He asked a few more innocent questions that where answered as much with the looks she shot him, as any of the words she said: where is the closest gas station (“It’s the one you passed on the way in???”), how late are they open (“Don’t know.”), can we keep this map (blank look on her face)? The Royals were playing that night and looking to clinch a spot in The Series. Also, we had broken the cardinal rule of never letting your gas tank get below ¼ on a fishing mission. Guess we're going back to Salem later. I noticed the Roadhouse at the fork in the road when we first went through Salem. I figured that was the only place in town to watch the game. We asked our campsite neighbors, Bill and Ted (or was it Tim?) who were on an “Excellent Adventure”, if they knew where to watch a game? “Roadhouse”, said Tim. Just as we suspected, and quite honestly, didn’t want to hear. I had spent 4 years in Alaska, a small stint in Montana, and few years in Utah. My buddy had knocked around Jackson, Wyoming awhile. We know what a roadhouse is and entails. We didn’t have the right tags on the truck, the right twang in our talk, and the right team to root for. Tim looked a little like a young Technicolor Uncle Fester with half a backwoods beard. Bill, in his 40’s, had a soft voice and handshake. They take fish from the Park. “What do you guys use? Roostertails? Woolly Worm Spinners?” I asked. “We use a cheddar cheese ball” said Bill. Seems reasonable. “Then we dip them in anise oil.” Homemade PowerBait. “Then we roll them in baby powder” Uh, that’s a new one. “What’s that for?” I asked. “To give the parmesan cheese something to stick to!” he said. Of course! How could I not of known? Back in Salem for gas, we ask the guys filling up their truck where to watch the game? “We aren’t from around here. I think there’s a Roadhouse up the way”, he said. Anything but the Roadhouse. A kid whose shirt had given away that he just got off work at “Aunt May’s Café” overheard us. He looked to be 15 years old. “You guys want the Roadhouse.” Great we both thought. The Roadhouse had the usual cast of characters that you would expect on a Friday that also happened to be karaoke night. You could smoke in this eating establishment. To signal that we fit in I rolled up one of my cigarettes, and my buddy threw in a dip. One fella had a shirt that said, “ F@CK OFF. I have enough friends”. We didn’t chat him up. Another guy was tuned up. All the way up. If he was a guitar amplifier he would’ve been at level 11 on a 10 point scale. He was the type of guy who had big scars from farming accidents, and went around asking everybody, “Are you an American or Americun?” Great, the meth-head is asking me trick questions that have a direct implication on whether I walk out of this bar with a bruised ego and face. “AmeriCAN”, I said thinking that the "Can" would represent a “Can-do” attitude that a fella of his stature would appreciate. “WRONG!” Ohhh s*$t. “You got to be both!” he said. He then told me and my fishing buddy all about what being both entails, and how the “Mexicans(cuns?)” are ruining everything. I think the irony that he was drinking a Corona was lost on him, but I wasn’t going to point that out. Cue the rain delay in the game and us leaving the Roadhouse unscathed. To keep the signal of the game, and not the Mariachi music channel that kept butting in, on 1640 AM we had to drive around the Park finding a good zone. We spent an hour driving for 30 seconds, and then sitting in the zone for 5 minutes before the channel would fade to mariachi. The Royals clinched. The Fishing: We got ruined down there. We aren’t Lefty Kreh and George Anderson but we can hold our own. Two weeks ago we pulled quite a few wild rainbows and Browns out of the North Fork of the White (TR here). We got two fish total for the weekend from the Current. We fished from Parker to a ½ mile above False Cave bluff. I landed a ‘bow on a crawfish steamer dead drifted in the first hole. I fished a huevos trailer on dead drifted streamers. My buddy fished meat all day. I also caught another ‘bow on a BH Hare’s Ear. At the end of the day a local named Larry was at Parker. “Do you pay your taxes?” he asked. Jesus, what’s with all these trick questions from locals? “Yes, I do.” I said, a little unsure of myself after striking out with Mr. Meth last night. “Goooood. There’s access that’s not on the map. First thing you want to do is head up to the guy who makes pallets and go….” The next day we got another late start – I think I’m seeing a pattern – and when we got down to Baptist Camp there were already two cars. We asked the one guy who was wadered-up if he was fishing up or down? Down. We said screw it, we didn’t want to fish water that two anglers had already blown through. Larry had given us good directions. We made it to the access. The water looked amazing from the bluff we parked on. Didn’t catch anything. I fished a BH prince with a beaded body scud trailer. We didn’t see any fish move even when canoes and rafts would blow through. It felt like we were fishing empty water, which might be very likely due to where the access is located on the river. I want redemption but I think my fishing buddy is a little jaded on the Current. If you got some photos of some browns taken from the river I would love to show him that the river is legit.

@Gavin Thanks. I have suffered a dizzy spell recently so we are going to hike/wade. The floating sensation is no bueno. Also we row an otter NRS and it's prolly going to be too big for the river right now. @snagged in outlet 3 Good to hear and good luck. There's rain in the forecast for Friday so hopefully the water picks up a little and gets them moving.

Thanks @Kayser

@ColdWaterFshr No boomers....and to be honest, I probably couldn't handle them anymore. Maybe some liquid though! @bfishn No doubt about it. "Lately it occurs to me....what a long, strange trip it's been"

@SpoonDog and Drown: I sang the mother f*cking blues...from my head down to my shoes. Should've sang "Another One Bites the Dust" @Mitch F: They were dressed in full fatigues. Even the GI Camelbaks were being sported. We talked to the head dude the next morning as we were gearing up and he said it was survival training. Maybe ROTC? There were some pretty young folks running in the crowd. One girl looked liked she couldn't have weighed more than 90 lbs. If any of you fellas have some info on the Current this time of year I would love to hear about it. I posted a question in the Current River Forum and would appreciate hearing anything about flies/bugs other than huevos and streamers. Thanks

Hi there OAF folks. I just got done fishing the NFoW last weekend and posted a Trip Report in the NFoW forum. Check it out. It was the most interesting camping trip I've had. I've only fished the Current one other time and never in the fall. We are looking to fish upper section from Parker on up to Tan Vat on foot and interested in the BROWNS o'er the 'bows. There are three of us. A couple of questions: 1. What flies? Bringing huevos to keep the skunk off the rod, but are more interested in throwing BWO (too early??) dries/emergers and dragging crayfish/sculpin streamers through the deeper stuff. Stoneflies? Caddis?. 2. Is there a trail to follow to get around the area between Baptist Camp and Parker? We were thinking walking down from Baptist or up from Parker. Suggestions? 3. After last weekends camping experience we are looking for a calm one. Are there any camping areas outside the Park that is small and generally quiet? 4. Have the browns moved up yet? Thanks for the help folks. burton1995

But first the fishing…. NFOW TR from 10-10/11 We floated two days. From Kelly to Sunburst Ranch on day 1 (7 miles). Sunburst to their landing below James/PP Bridge (7 miles) on day 2. Justin and Amy of Sunburst ran our shuttle both days. I highly suggest camping there rather than the free camping at Patrick, but more about that later. The weather was perfect for humans but a little less than ideal for the fish. Sunday morning was a bit of overcast. Water levels were normal for this time of the year or maybe a little low. We row a blue NRS Otter raft with a fishing frame. There was a big crew of canoers and kayakers who were camping but a few were fishing, some even with flies. We had the most luck on stoneflies (Montana, Kauffman double beads, smaller AP nymphs). We threw some articulated streamers and had a half dozen or so strikes (Schultzy’s s4 sculpin in tan/olive, white boogey man, and tan mike’s meal ticket) but no hook-ups. Caught our first brown about ¾ of a mile above Sunburst. Even landed a brown on a hopper, but there were so many leaves on the water that we gave that up quickly. We had never floated below James bridge and there are some decent holes down there. The camping sh*t show: Night 1: Stayed at Patrick. There were some “locals” (think Duck Dynasty) about 3 campsites down, and let’s just say that he had no shame when it came to the age of the girl he was with. Furthermore she had even less shame, and left very little to imagination as to what was going on in the tent. While my friend and I debated the age of the girl, and whether what was going on was legal a school bus pulled up. Dude hops out with GI boots, camo pants, and a shirt with “Marines” on it. I figured he was rolling solo and had taken out all the seats in the school bus to turn it into a camper bus. WRONG. “SQUADS ONE, TWO, AND THREE REPORT!” Out comes about 25 – 30 young adults in full fatigues, and, yeah you guessed it, face paint. My buddy and I exchange a “WTF!” glance. The group proceeded to set up Coleman camping tents, and start fires in the rings. They then did maneuvers ALL NIGHT! They did night hikes, moved “HQ to a more secure location (the next campsite over)”, learned how to use night vision goggles, and used red lights so their night vision wouldn’t be affected. When I awoke at 6:00 AM they were still up. I slept maybe 3 or 4 hours. Night 2: We get off the water around 5:00 and head back to Patrick. We’re in luck. No more military/zombie apocalypse/Branch Dividians training. Chick walks by in a tutu. My body, jokingly, says, “Looks like she’s getting ready for her wedding.” As we unload, two Harley’s roll in, a RAM with a demolished front end, and then…..the mother freaking DJ! A DJ. With Lights. Karaoke. It’s a wedding. At the free campsite. Down by the River. The Bride is in a tutu. The Groom has a black graphic tee and a red broken-brimmed baseball hat. Cue the tunes, “YOU SHOOK ME ALL NIGHT LONG!” To top it all off they started doing karaoke. One chick did a decent version of Janis’, “Piece of My Heart”, but Pandora’s Box had been opened. Needless to say I didn’t sleep worth a crap. All of this to save a few bucks a night on camping at Sunburst. Never Again.