Current River Fishing 10/25-26

[jdmidwest]

Man, what a great weekend. I left out early Saturday morning for the upper Current River on my annual late October trip. For the last 20 years I have made a trip to the upper Current River the last weekend of October. For several years, it was the way I spent Halloween, lately since my daughter and current job, it has been sometime in the last week of October. The air was cool and crisp and some areas received the first frost of the season. By the time I reached Fredricktown, there was patchy frost in the lower valleys. I took my time and hit several gun shops along the way, not in a hurry for anything, I had all weekend. Between Boss and Bixby on Hwy 32 I saw a Bald Eagle in a dead snag next to the road, his white head and yellow beak shining in the morning sun.

I reached Montauk around 12:30 and bought the tag. Started in the upper fly area and worked my way down. First thing I noticed that the Fly Area was packed with people. I fished around them for a while till I found a pod of fish in a quiet area. There was a high bank on the other side so I figured I could fish them for a while in peace. They were looking up and I took advantage of it. I started force feeding them some hares ear caddis, foam ants, and foam beetles. Nothing like a trout on a dry fly. I landed 4 or 5 till some kid decided he would slide down the bank to check the water. This turned the fish off for a while along with the fact that a herd of spinfishers stomped thru the hole behind me. I caught several fish that afternoon throughout the fly area on dries and the primrose and pearl. Then it was off to Licking to spend the night in the motel.

Sunday morning dawned spectacular, not as cold as the one before. I headed off to the river in an undisclosed location. On arrival, there was only 1 other car and 3 flyfishers prepping for fishing. I hit a trail and come out down river a 1/2 mile or so and started fishing. I hooked up with one on a beadhead right off the bat. I fished for a while, not doing great, but hitting a few every now and then. I was really expecting more, but the ones I came across were very shy and not feeding very aggressively. I worked my way back upstream and come across 2 of the guys in the lot. One was fighting a very big fish so I stuck around and watched. I took a pic of him with his fish and emailed it to them as they did not have a camera. It was a nice breeder brown, male, about 28 to 30 inches. I emailed him today and they said they caught one bigger later in the day. Walking out I caught a few more, nothing big. I left out around noon and there was still no other cars in the area. The wind had started to pick up and leaves were coming down.

I have a pic showing a big redd on one of the shoals that held 6 nice brownies, they did not show up well. It is that time of the year, watch out and leave them alone. I don't recommend targeting spawning fish, let them do their thing and hook them later. I even come across a 3 lb brown on a bed in the middle of the park at Montauk.

I left the river and went back to the park assuming most would be gone like they normally do at noon on Sunday. Wrong! Fly area was packed but the rest of the river was empty. I fished thru the campground without any company. Pleasant drive home with a nice tailwind and beautiful fall colors.

[flyfishmaster]

Great report JD. That is one nice looking brown. Lucky you for being able to get out.

Later,

FFM

[Kayser]

If that's the undisclosed location I'm thinking of, then I always thought it should hold a fish like that. Nice pics, good report, great fish.

Rob