jdmidwest

Spent the day on Current River above and below Baptist Access Saturday morning. Released a 22" and a 17" brown along with several smaller ones. Water is low and fish were shy. Alot of redds with mating pairs of brownies. Need to be careful where you walk to protect the beds. Not much hatching off, caught everything on beadheads. Fished the park Sunday after the crowds left out and caught several nice ones. One female shed her eggs when I handled her. I always remember the spawn being later in November. Seems early this year. Serious lack of Rainbows below the park....

$4000????? Maybe for the motor and jet, or something used this time of year. JD

Mark, I think it is Current River Marine, It is on the south side of town as you are leaving on 142. 573-996-7710 JD

If you are looking for a jet boat, try the shop in Doniphan. They know what they are doing and will set you up with a good rig. Or you can buy a kayak and fish out of that. I fish 11 pt both ways and wade in winter time. Depends on which end of the river I fish. Jet boats are noisy and a nuisance on the weekends, but since the 25 hp rule went into effect, it is better than the old days. I have seen water skiing below Whitten on the weekends before the 25 hp rule. That made for a big cluster f... The big boats tend to stay on the lower current river now. With the water flows of the past 5 years, most everything above Whitten has been off limits to even a jet. On a single day trip I tend to take the jet boat and motor up from Riverton to above Whitten and drift back. Can cover water faster if weather moves in. If I have more than 1 day, I take a float in the yak and wade fish the other day. Since the trophy area formed, the best fish are down below Turner in the deeper holes.

Montauk is more of a "remote" destination than many of the other areas mentioned. Most of the Park visitors come from areas like St. Louis that have great fly shops. You don't just stumble into Montauk and decide to fly fish and need a rod and reel. A successful fly shop needs a steady income to stay alive. Montuak would have to make its living March thru October unless the catch and release season is extended there like at Meramac. I hail from the Cape Girardeau area and we have nothing that resembles a fly shop. I shop mail order or drive to St. Louis for all of my supplies. At least the store at Montauk is carrying some of the basics to keep you going if you need something. As for the comment about no one at the Montauk store knowing anything about fly fishing, I hope they don't read this forum and get offended. Some of those guys fish it more than anyone else and know the insect cycles well. They just tire of getting asked what type of glo ball to use or what flavor of cheese are they hitting. Take a few minutes and ask the old guy what fly he suggests.

I am amazed at the negativity regarding the Spring River. Apparantly the only time anyone goes is on Saturday or a Holiday. Almost any place is a drunkfest on Saturday or a Holiday. I have been on the Spring River several times this year and have a great time fishing. Float camps don't start dumping in canoes till after 8, the drunks hit the river at noon, then after that it is over. Most of the traffic is past Riverside Campground by 4:00. Any other time is Great for fishing and the fish are plentiful. Campgrounds empty out by noon on Sunday. Everything is quiet through the week. And, there is law enforcement on the river on Saturday and Sunday. They are Ark Fish and Game agents and they are undercover in Old Town Kayaks. They are there to enforce the law and you will not know who they are till you are checked. Great bunch of guys. If you want a good time, take a day off during the week and go. Besides, the float crowd is only May thru August, the rest of the year is for fishing. October floats on the Spring River can be real productive. The river is stocked throughout the year except for icy roads and snow when they can't run the trucks. The only thing that has run me off the river while fishing was a horizontal snow that created a white out condition. Get out and fish and quit bitchin......java script:emoticon('', 'smid_21')