ozark trout fisher

It tells me that the stockers are out-competing the wild fish, and that fisherman are stomping the redds. I have personally caught fish under 8" out of the Current-last winter I caught a 5" parr marked bow-a fish that looked exactly like a regulation small wild trout that you would catch on Mill or Blue Spring or some place like that. There aren't many trout under 8" in the Current-I'll grant you that-but they are in there in limited numbers.

I'm not sure why they couldn't be successful... Just up Highway 63 15 or 20 miles is Little Piney Creek, and they spawn very well in there. The trout habitat on the Current is much better than Little Piney in my opinion...The Little Piney has to deal with gravel mining, low/warm flows in the summer, and lots of slow, unproductive water. The Current on the other hand is 100% spring water in the Blue Ribbon stretch, has little or no water temperature problems, and more good spawning habitat. If the rainbows can spawn successfully in Little Piney, than it seems like they wouldn't have any trouble on the Current. With there being a large number of rainbows in the system and the nearly perfect habitat, it's pretty much inevitable that there is going to be some successful spawning. There are a couple things standing between the Current being a high quality wild trout stream. #1 is the huge numbers of stocker rainbows that migrate down from Montauk, and browns that are stocked directly in that area. They compete with the wild fish throughout the year, and eat a lot of their eggs during spawning time. The second problem is the huge number of fisherman, most of which do not know to watch for redds when they wade and stay out of them. That's a big problem on a river that sees as much pressure as the upper Current. That said, the Current will probably never be managed for wild trout, and that's probably for the best. A self-sustaining population just couldn't stand up to the constant pressure the upper Current recieves.

I got ya'. But there are enough unstocked streams in Missouri (Mill Creek, Blue Spring Creek, Crane Creek etc) that hold healthy populations of trout that I'm not sure there can be much debate that rainbow trout can spawn very succesfully in Missouri. Granted the Current doesn't hold that many wild fish- I would guess because of competition with stockers and fisherman wading through the redds- but the habitat does certainly seem to be there on the Current. Good water temps at spawning time, good spawning habitat, etc. Now browns are a different story. There may be a few streambred browns in our spring-fed streams, but they are rare at best. It seems that the water temperatures at brown trout spawning time are not cool enough to keep the eggs alive. MO Trout Hunter (AKA Walt Fulps) is a fishing guide on the Meramec River, but I believe he has also done some guiding on the Current and other Missouri streams. I think it would be actually pretty interesting to see what would happen to the Current if they stopped stocking it. I'm not at all saying they should actually do that, but it would be pretty interesting. I'd guess without competition from all the stockers, there could be a very good wild rainbow population between the headwaters and say, Ashley Creek. Just an interesting thought, and I could easily be wrong. But the habitat does seem to be there.

Yes, stream born. The Current does have some wild trout-it's just not the majority of the population. A population of wild rainbow trout is one requirement for a stretch of stream to be declared Blue Ribbon. This quote is from Missouri Trout Hunter.com , about the Blue Ribbon stretch of the Current. "This portion of the river holds a very nice brown trout population, as well as rainbows, a few of which are stream-bred." Also, from Missouri Trout Hunter about the Blue Ribbon stretch of the Current "The Current River has always had a few stream-bred rainbows present in the river, accounting for pretty much every rainbow trout you catch that's smaller than 10 inches or so."

I got to Baptist Camp at about 1:30, and there was no one else there. I fished this area for a couple years now, and I can tell you this is the first time I have ever had the whole place to myself. The water was up just a smidge, and the tiniest bit off-color, but water conditions were just about perfect overall. The river was just a knockout today. It was as sunny as it can get, not a cloud in the sky, just a perfect day to be on the Current. I started off fishing a fast, rocky riffle, with an orange egg pattern. I got one on the second or third cast. It was only 8" long, but definitely an honest to goodness streamborn rainbow, white fin tips, and all. I don't see as many unquestionably wild fish as I'd like to on the Current, so I got a real kick out of that. The fishing stayed solid pretty much all day. I did the best in the riffles, but had some success in the deep pools further downstream-but the fish really did seem more oriented to the riffles and faster runs for sure.Number-wise, the day was somewhere between darn good and out of this world. Size-wise, there wasn't much going on. The largest fish was probably only 15" (I tend to guess high), and they were all rainbows today except just a couple small browns. Still, the river was beautiful, the fishing was steady, and I had the whole river to myself. You can't ask for much more than that. Fly-wise, beadheaded orange and tri-colored egg patterns definitely did better than anything else. I also caught fish on a heavy #12 brown stonefly nymph. No extra split-shot or weight was necessary at any point-the weight of the flies got them down plenty quick.

My opening weekend... In short, it was a great time, in beautiful Ozark country, with not a single deer seen over the course of two days. One kind of frustrating moment occured when I was hunting the edge of a food plot. This is public land, but it's a walk-in only area. But sure as you're born, thirty minutes in, some jackass drives right across the field with his pick-up, parks, and gets ready hunt. Should have got his license plate but didn't remember....

Was thinking of taking the easy way out and hitting Maramec. But no... The lure of the upper Current is too, much, I'll drive the extra hour. Hoping for clear water!

Seeing as how Maramec is almost right on the way to the Current, I'll stop by and see how it's looking. If it looks bad, I'll just keep driving.

I was thinking of heading down to Maramec tommorrow to avoid having to drive the extra ways down to the Current. Anybody been down there since the rain? I know the Red Ribbon will be unfishable, but does the spring branch have enough clarity to be worth the trip?

No, you're not reading it wrong. We are just looking at different gauges. I look at the one at Montauk (which is a little under 200 CFS) and you're looking at the one located at Akers Ferry. By the way, you didn't spoil my Saturday- I was happy to hear a recent report. I'll just fish somewhere local tommorrow, and head down Sunday. Maybe it'll be better.

I don't think small flies mix well with muddy water. I prefer streamers and eggs in those conditions, or maybe a big Stonefly nymph, bugger or something like that. You got to get their attention, and a #20 fly isn't going to do that when clarity is measured in inches. I'd say your approach was perfect. You just aren't going to nail them when the water is that off-color. The Current was like that once when I fished it this June (it was high enough to be closed to floating, but wade fishing was allowed as far as I know). It was just puking mud with 4-5 inches of visibility at Baptist. But egg patterns and buggers still got it done well enough, provided they were fished really deep. Frankly, I'm surprised the water was that muddy. It's not super high at all-just around 200 CFS. I was gonna head down tommorrow but hearing this I will probably postpone till Sunday-I'm sort of hoping an extra day will see the water a little lower and clearer.

Nice. I have to get down there soon.

I'm getting ready to tie some big old streamers just now. I think with the water levels up after they've been low for so long, the big brownies might just come out and play. I've been working on a heavily weighted squirrel tail streamer that I think might just do the job We'll see.

The river spiked to 500 CFS, but is on its way down. I'm gonna try it Saturday down below the park (was planning on going tommorrow but I want to give the river an extra day to drop). I'm thinking those might be perfect conditions to fish streamers, eggs, and the like with the water likely to be somewhat high and off-color-what do ya' think?

I think as some of you mentioned, you're right that this front could, if you not end the warm-water fishing, at least slow it down a good bit. When the air temp went up a bit and the rain slowed down this afternoon, I got out in my canoe and fished for a few hours. I caught two small bass on a Woolly, but it was much, much slower than it has been. And the fly absolutely had to be twitched slowly pretty much on the bottom-the fly fishing equivalent of soft plastic fishing. It would have been a perfect day to get out on the Current and fish the fall Olive hatch (I find drizzly, nasty days like today to be best for that particular hatch) but time did not allow anything more than a trip to a local pond.

I know it's late November right now, and by now I'm usually done fishing the warm-water ponds around here, and settling for squirrel hunting or Busch Wildlife trout (as well as a trout trip down to the Meramec or Current every few weeks) as my sporting entertainment. But not this year. With this crazy warm weather, I'm still finding plenty of bluegill and bass in shallow water and am still catching them on flies-even managed to catch a couple of bluegill on a topwater bug Sunday afternoon, although most of the action has been on buggers, leaches, and other sub-surface fare. I've never done so well for warm-water lake fish so late in the year. Anyone else still getting in on this while it's good? I will say that afternoons have been best, with the fishing noticeably slower in the mornings and evenings.

I have fished that creek a couple times. There is not an overabundance of fish in there, but it's possible to catch a couple. Tiny (definitely no bigger than #16) Hare's Ear and Pheasant Tail Nymphs will work if anything will. Small Adams and Elk Hair Caddis should also do the job if they are looking up. On really little spring creeks like that, I usually find it to be a waste of time to fish anything bigger than a #16, except during hopper season. #18 and 20s are often better. You'll also do much better if you can fish it on a cloudy, low light kind of day. And expect to work real hard for a couple fish-or maybe none. It is a pretty stream anyway, just tough fishing.

You are pretty conceited. And I know it rubs a lot of people the wrong way. Ness ain't the only one.

You are pretty darn self assured. And I know it rubs a lot of people the wrong way. Ness ain't the only one.

Comparing me wade-fishing in questionable waters with someone condoning the use and sale of hard drugs on his property is a ridiculous comparison. It is not even worth arguing. (and I don't have a Sage rod) If I hear of the feds taking people's land away that are unaware of drug activity on their property, and do not condone/promote it, then I'll be all up in arms as well. As of now, I haven't ever heard of that happening. Not even once. We are talking about really hard drugs that can easily ruin people's lives. And people more than likely being introduced to those things at these events. Downplay it all you want, but that is the situation here.

As near as I can tell that has no relevence to this topic.

I'd say you're full of it. It seems that the guy allowed the sale and use of hard drugs on his property. He made all kinds of money off that atmosphere. And now he is losing his money and his land. That seems like a pretty predictable and just result in my mind. I'm not sure I like the process in which it was done, but it is still the right result. Frankly, I'd rather see them clean up the Riverways before they worry about a private campground and concert venue. But the idea that some people actually seem to feel sorry for the property owner in this case, and sympathize with him is unimaginable to me. I know people who have died as a result of these drugs. This is not some victimless offense. And you also have to remember that people are driving out of that place high as a kite, onto a curvy, already dangerous Highway 19. Sounds like a recipe to get some innocent people killed.

I'm with you about 90%. Camp Zoe was probably harmful in many ways, and I do think the end result of the place closing down is best. I'm not sure how I feel about the process, but this guy clearly was allowing people to do (and sell) hard drugs on his property. I don't have the least bit of sympathy for him. But on the other hand the "stay within the system" statement is something I can't go along with. While this may not be true in this specific case, there are many times when the "system" is just plain wrong. And I think it's our duty as citizens not to go with the grain in cases where the "system" is wrong or unjust.

I'm conflicted about what I think of the Camp Zoe seizure, but I do know that this post is incredibly mean-spirited. What the heck is wrong with you? If you don't like someone's opinion, come up with a logical, fact based argument if you have one.

Truth is, Little Piney isn't for everybody, at least in the wild trout stretch. I like catching the fingerlings, so I enjoy it, but the chance for bigger fish isn't very great-unless you're after the stockers down around Milldam. Where the fish are on that creek depends on the conditions. I know of some holes where I can always catch a couple, but I also know of certain stretches that fish well in one kind of flow but not in another. There are pools and runs that can be full of trout at one time of year and pretty much empty at another time. Naturally I'm not going to say any more than that. I will certainly say that it is always possible to find fairly long stretches of kind of barren water, but you can do well if you know where to look based on the water flow and temp.