3/18/09 Report

[BKB]

A wonderful weather day! 75 degrees, sunny with some clouds and breeze

8:45-11:30

Arrived at TanVat and walked upstream to turn hole... didn't spend a whole lot of time in any one place, kept moving.

Caught 19 total, 1 rainbow and 18 Browns! I think the yearly stocking has taken place...although they were all a bit large to be stocked (14" or so), so I'm not sure. Caught them on a variety of nymphs with a size 16 psycho prince and size 20 black zebra midge responsible for about 1/2 of my catch. Passed 6 other fisherman on my walk upstream from TanVat to the Turn. Significant Caddis Hatch going on all morning. BTW...saw a bald eagle perched in tree above Rock Garden Hole.

11:50-12:45

Arrived at Baptist and fished at access and just downstream about 50 yards....several strikes, caught one brown and one rainbow on black zebra midge.

2 FRUSTRATING OBSERVATIONS TODAY

#1 Saw two elderly gentleman dressed in denim overalls sitting on the high bank overlooking the deep hole with the deadfallen trees just upstream from TanVat...right next to the sign that says bank restoration project in process, please keep off. One was fishing with a roostertail...saw him foul hook a trout, fight him forever, drag the trout up the 10 foot tall dirt bank to where he was sitting, step on the fish, yank the hooks out with pliers and then kick the fish 5 feet out from the bank into the air where it fell 10 feet back into the stream. Meanwhile...his buddy was fishing with a huge catfish pole with what looked to be 50lb test line with a huge (size of my hand) treble hook. Is snagging legal at all on this part of the Current River?? Based on his technique, I think he was targeting trout, which I know to be illegal. After I glared at them enough, they packed up and left. Later, on my way to Baptist, I passed their old pickup truck coming from Baptist area.

#2 While fishing just downstream from Baptist, another guy was walking downstream (looked and talked like Cletus, the slack jawed yokel from the Simpsons!), he stopped to talk to me saying he was curious about flyfishing and he has never understood how it worked. After a quickie explanation on my part, I looked at his spin rod and saw what he planned on using as bait....a 3 inch red and white plastic tube jig! I told him that I wasn't an agent or anything, but that type of bait was not allowed on this section of stream...he looked at me, smiled and said "Aint illegal if you don't get caught" He proceeded to cast right where I was fishing! I shook my head and walked back upstream to my car. Only afterward did I think about my camera that I had with me!

BTW... A HUGE THANK YOU TO THE GENTLEMAN WHO HELPED ME OUT OF THE MUD AT TANVAT!!! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

[Gene K]

It's pointless to get worked up over these things. It happens ALL THE TIME! I can't even count how many times I witness those fishign the Current who just refuse to play by the same rules we do. They know full well they won't get caught, and in their mind, they really aren't doing anything to hurt anyone.

[brownieman]

Gene's right about that, and believe me...the more you're there, the more ya see.

Can't let it bug you cause it sure don't bug them.

[bikehikefish]

BKB - a phone call to either the local agent, Montauk staff, or Operation Game Thief would be a good thing to do when you witness someone like that.

Yesterday I stopped at Tan Vat after leaving Montauk and saw a family fishing in the hole in front of the parking lot. On the gravel between the man and his daughter was an open container of salman eggs. When I told him that he would get ticketed if an agent saw him he claimed he was told he could fish with them below the dam. I told him they meant below the dam within the park, and if he had looked at the big yellow sign behind him, he wold see "artificial lures only". They quickly picked up their stuff and left. Was he really that ignorant of where he was and what the regs are? Maybe, maybe not. I noticed he didn't even glance at the regulation signs when he left.

I gave him them benefit of the doubt and didn't bother to report it, but if he had kept fishing, I would have made a call.

[BKB]

I've pretty much decided that I'm taking my camera with me from now on to record and report. I recently discovered the Current River (been 6 times since last June) and I think it's a shame that anyone wouldn't play by the rules and hurt the fishery.

[Gavin]

Sucker snagging (grabbing) is legal on the Current...Think the season runs Sept 15-January 31, and March 15th-May 15th...so the fellow snagging suckers was within his priveledge. The slack water in the Tan Vat hole is a popular location for it...They stand on the high bank there a lot...Same with the high bank in the guage hole just up from Baptist and a few of the other high bank spots that overlook slow water.... Not a lot of trout in those slack water areas, so they hit redhorse and hog mollies mostly. Cheers.

[bikehikefish]

Thanks Gavin. I knew gigging is prohibited from Montauk to Cedar Grove and thought that included snagging too, but it doesn't.

btw - have you seen the Tan Vat hole lately? Not as much slack water as there used to be, seems like the hole has filled in with gravel. I wonder if this is temporary or if it periodically does that.

[brownieman]

The tan vat hole is socked in pretty full of gravel right now...especially the upper end. That hole is subject to alot of change with high water. There is a big dirt bank just upstream they have tried some revetments on, the more the river eats at that bank the more the tan vat hole fills in.

The little creek that dumps in right there also can change the hole with real high water...just one of those ever changing holes. It's amazing how much the river changes...sometimes for the good, sometimes not...you never know till you get there.

I'm sure there are varied opinions on allowing grabbing on a trophy strech but it is legal.

[jdmidwest]

Snagging is a family thing down there. I saw a whole bunch put in at the cabins below the park in a small jon boat. They stopped at the bend below the wastewater lagoons, get out and set up camp on the bank. The youngins tossed rocks to herd the fish and the adults started snagging. When I reported the activity at the park office, I was told it was perfectly legal as long as they released any trout they caught. I am sure they did.

The whole trophy area has been an excellent place for poachers for years. I have taken license plates and turned a few in, don't know if anything ever became of it. One agent with alot of territory was the excuse I got. Only time I see an agent is in floating season, and then they target other offenses more than just game violations.

Just another reason we need more enforcement, not laws. Of course, I know they are just hiding in the woods waiting for a violation and I never see them, right?