XP 590

Cricket, now you're givin' away the secrets!

I think the secret is safe Oneshot, most flyfishing snobs like me won't tolerate the canoe traffic. Although the bikini hatch that goes along with the aluminum hatch isn't bad!

Since I discovered fishing on the Niangua two years ago, I haven't set foot in the Park. I'm not knocking Bennett, I grew up fishing there, I just enjoy the solitude on the river more, and I've always caught fish out there. I made it down for some early morning fishing the last two Sundays and had great luck. May 31, I fished the entire area around the Bennett Access down to that big log on the far side from 7:00-10:00 AM and killed them, I think they had stocked that area earlier in the week and there were lots of fish holding in there. The best thing about it is that I was catching them on my own fly for the first time, looks like fly tying will be my new obsession. I managed to tie an ugly little flashy olive woolybugger for my first attempt and now I'm hooked. I took a break mid day then went down to Barclay around five and caught another handful. Last weekend, I started at the Bennet Access again and couldn't buy a fish for the first hour or so, then I managed to get into a batch. I followed that up by fishing at Barclay until about noon and landed a dozen or so. The aluminum hatch appears to just be starting for the season but I managed to be pretty much ahead of it by hitting the river early.

I saw some similar discussion on another board about a similar topic so let this be my ignorance not wanting to jump to malice as noted above, but is it possible some of these injuries could be from long beaked birds--herons etc--that the trout got away from? I've never gigged for fish before so I don't know what kind of injuries that would lead to.

I'd go a step further and call that SCARY wading. Nice fish, I've only fished that area one time but it's beautiful down there.

Great report, I love the vague descriptions of "those holes"--I'm looking for them next time. I've only fished the Current twice, once I got about a mile below Parker, that is some beautiful territory. I haven't figured out how to thow that 9 point balsa bug streamer yet with my fly rod, maybe I need a spey rod! I'm glad to hear the lunkers are in there, I'm planning on some lunker hunting this fall.

Great report. Very encouraging as I'm planning to hit that area next week, hoping to avoid the aluminum hatch.

I'm new to the Current and only fished March and April this year, upper Blue Ribbon Area. I'm curious how busy that area is in the summer. It looks like you can't really float from the park to Tan Vat, is that right? What about Tan Vat down? Can they put in canoes at Tan Vat? Baptist? Parker? I'm afraid I'm not going to like the answers but the time I have available to fish is pretty limited so give it to me straight. Thanks-Dave

Thanks for the report, I was on an annual outing at Bennett Saturday, but I'd much rather be out in the Niangua. I saw the same bubbling muddy mess you were talking about on Saturday morning. I drove into the access below Bennett to have a close look and the water patrol was there keeping boats and canoes off the water. I never thought about fishing that little lagoon area at Barclay, I'll have to try that some time.

I've only fished the Current twice, once in March and April this year and was lucky enough to not hit any high water conditions. All the previous posters have much more experience on the river and I studied their posts in depth before heading to the Current. I'm not experienced in dry fly fishing but had good luck swinging green and brown soft hackles, and heavy woolybuggers, both olive and brown. I like to use a sink tip and wiggle some line loose to let streamers sink into the deep holes, then I try a variety of strips and swinging to see what works. I love the feel when they hit a moving streamer or soft hackle and yank the line out of my hand. I'm planning to take some time on my next trip and really work the deep blue holes with big streamers and hunt for some of the big brown that have to be hiding out there.

Thanks for the report and pics guys. I made my first two trips to the Current last month and it's my new favorite river also. Please don't spread the word about it!

Just stay on the gravel road leaving the park and you'll come to Tan Vat about a mile past the cabins at the edge of the park, It's right across from Eagles Park Campground. Don't overlook that hole right in front of the parking lot, I've caught lots of browns there in the last few weeks. To get to Baptist, stay on the gravel road another mile or two, it goes uphill then when it becomes paved, there is a sign for the turnoff to Baptist. To get to Parker, keep going past the Baptist turnoff about 1/4 mile or so and turn on RD 6520 (or 6250?), it's the only road there and marked with the little green county road sign. It's about two miles down to Parker but it's beautiful territory, very remote with lots of good water above and below. My best luck has come on either big olive wooly buggers deep in the current or size 16 soft hackles, brown, grey, and green, swung right under the surface. I hear the Current is a great dry fly stream for Caddis like the other guy mentioned, I'm just not that skilled with dries, but I think they slam that soft hackle thinking it's a little caddis or midge that is about to get away from them. Let us know how the trip goes, trout bums! Also, if you read back on this forum to all the previous posts, it's loaded with info on fishing the Current.

I made it back last weekend for a full day of fishing Sunday, as well as a little night fishing on Saturday. I got to Tan Vat about 8:30 Saturday night and fished right there at the parking lot hole, landed a few swinging woolybuggers through there. Then I got the rare opportunity to combine my love for music and trout fishing. I met two guys camping right there and playing guitar. We sat up playing and singing until about 1:00 in the morning. Sunday morning I got to Parkers around 9:00 and fished right there in that first riffle, then upstream about a mile and a half or so, just up past those bluffs. That is my first time there and it is some beautiful water. I landed about 7 in that area, all on woolybuggers. No whoppers but one pretty fat 15" brown. The temperature dropped about 20 degrees by mid day so I went back to the car, put on heavier clothes and headed to Tan Vat about 2:30. The three vehicles that were there in the morning were gone and I fished until about 6:00 and never saw a soul. I started again right in that hole by the parking lot and killed them swinging a brown soft hackle under the surface. There wasn't any hatch to speak of but there was a little surface film splashing going on so I put on that soft hackle. There's nothing like the feeling of them ripping that thing out of your hand as the hit it moving just under the surface. I moved upstream from there a few hundred yards and continued with the same luck until the wind and cold got to be too much. Did I mention I never saw a soul? I also wanted to ask some of you with more experience on the Current something. All I caught were browns and the colors were beautiful, dark brown and golden with bright spots. Is that typical on the river? Do they change seanonally? Thanks for your info.

Author! Author!!! Hilarious post Terry. I'm one of the flyfishermen who's guilty of taking myself a little too seriously sometimes and couldn't stop laughing at you wit. Having gone on my first spoonbill snagging expidition last weekend, I felt I was in danger of getting beat up in the parking lot when I showed up in my Columbia Fishing shirt and Smith Glasses (my Dale Ernhardt t-shirt was at the cleaners)

I have heard great things about lots of guides on Taneycomo and I'm sure there are many good ones but my personal favorite is Bret Rader with Chartered Waters. In my opinion, he is more than just a guide, he is a true teacher of the sport. I've learned information from him that I'm able to apply to my trout fishing all over, not just at Taneycomo. He has also guided my self and other family members into the largest trout we've ever caught in our lives. I think it's telling that so many of his clients re-book with him over and over. I've booked with him before and at certain prime times of the year, his calendar is already full a year in advance. After I fished with him, I never felt the need to try out any others. I don't know if he guides anywhere besides Taneycomo though so you will want to check that out if you want to fish on other area waters. In the interest of full disclosure, I fished 3 times with one other guide on Taneycomo prior to finding Bret and will never switch.

Thanks for the info, sounds more like canoe territory, I'll probably stick to the blue ribbon area. Weather permitting I'm heading down again this Sunday.

I fished the blue ribbon area last weekend for the first time. Does anybody have any experience in the white ribbon area? I've fished other white ribbon streams and had good luck but was wondering about that part of the Current from Cedar on down. Accessible? Wadeable? Any fish etc? Thanks

Agreed on both points. I fished Parker on Saturday and only saw one person about a mile away and that is great water. I fished below Parker mainly, about a mile and a half. When I got back to the car, I decided to walk upstream a few yards and check out what looked like a big dead run, and it was packed with fish. Also, camping in the park will be my last option from here on out, it was packed and noisy with no one enforcing the quiet hour. I was next to 5 big, loud, self professed rednecks that hooted and hollared until two in the morning.

I had a great trip for my first time down here at the Current. Thanks to the guys that gave me pointers on the campground, I drove down there and checked that place out. Friday I parked at Tan Vat and fished from there down about a mile or more and the river was full of fish. I had my best luck on soft hackles. There was a massive caddis hatch going on and some top water action but not as much as you might expect. Swinging a little brown soft hackle right under the surface was killer. I also caught fish on an olive/brown bead head woolybugger. There was one area with lots of topwater action and I caught a few in there on small tan elk hair caddis and small renegades. Saturday I drove down to Parker Hollow (thanks to the guy that gave the driving directions on an earlier post) and got there about 10:00 am and never saw a person. I caught a bunch right there in that first riffle, then below that on the flat stretch by the mini bluffs, then caught a few in that next bend up against all the downed trees. The main fly today was the olive/brown wollybugger stripped or just swung against the current. I took a break mid day to scout some nearby campgrounds and finished out at Tan Vat again. I didn't keep track of exact #s of fish but caught fish consistantly all day long. I can see why people love this river, I'll be back.

I'm sitting at the lodge at Montauk right now and can tell you the river is packed with fish. I fished all day Friday at Tan Vat access, down to probably a mile or so below. Then Saturday I fished down at Parker Hollow and down and there were fish everywhere. I heard they stock lots of browns sometime in March and I may have hit it just right, I caught browns over rainbow 3 to 1.

Thanks Andy, that sounds like a solution that will work. I'll try that this weekend.

I tried them last weekend for the first time, my dad bought me a pack and they seemed like a great idea. I loved the wording on the package about the revolutionary new "trapped air technology". That's a marketers term for a plastic bubble. I couldn't get the thing to stay in place no matter what I tried. I read and re read the instructions and it still slid with almost every cast. I was fishing a weighted nymph below it. I tried it on both the butt section and the tippet section and it always slid. I've read some of the solutions on here to modify it with orthodonic rubber bands but my solution is not to buy a product that doesn't work. If they are working for you, and I'm missing something, please advise. Thanks

Hey everybody, I'm new to the board and planning my first trip to the Current this weekend. Thanks for all the generous tips and info posted over the last year on this board. Flyfisherman seem to be a generous bunch. I'll let you know how I did when I get back. I was curious about one thing if you have any experience. The reserved spots in Montauks area are all full. Any idea on my odds of getting one of the non-reservable spots if I get down there Thursday night? Or what do you know about some of the other campgrounds nearby. I'm pulling a pop-up and like nice level spots, it saves so much time. Thanks