"wondrin' Aloud"

[joeD]

Gavin- I think being in a canoe and hitting less accessible spots is key. Duh. I do it with smallies all the time. I don't know why I choose to wade all the time for trout. No, scratch that. I do know why. Laziness. Cheers ( I hope you have a cocktail at hand when you say that. That would be cool).

[exiledguide]

Yeah, yeah, well the same could be said of Taney with respect to the crowds and weather conditions and regulations. The difference between it and the Current comes down to how much pressure is too much pressure. One can handle a LOT more than the other -- I think thats pretty obvious.

I first fished the Current and Jacks Fork in August 1957 when Alley Springs was a state park so I guess I should be ranting about all the campgrounds and shuttle services that have ruined my fishing holes over the last 53 plus years and who told you about the Current River anyway. You should stay away from my river you are overcrowding my fishing holes. That sounds about as stupid as you do. You need to apreciate what you have instead of complaining, the last time I looked the Current was a public stream open to anyones use. If you want private fishing buy it, theres a post about land for sale on Crane Creek. Go buy that and you can have your own Trout Hole. When I bought my place on the Big Piney River, I worked overtime for four years to pay for it and our vacation time was spent there, so if I could do it you can too. Or I could just have complained about overcrowded smallmouth streams that never were stocked by the state as trout areas are.

[ozark trout fisher]

I'll make the suggestion once more... If the crowds are too much at Tan Vat or right below the cable, maybe you need to try somewhere else. There are at least five accesses on the Current's trout water below the park, and about 80% of the fishing reports on here are from Tan Vat. I know that water is good up there, but if you're going to fish in the "miracle mile", you're gonna have company.

Remember-17 miles. Plenty of room to spread out.

[ness]

I agree with Exiledguide. Coldwater -- you sound stupid and don't appreciate what you've got and quit complaining and it's all public water and go buy a place and pick your vacations better and work harder and trout are stocked anyway and just shut up.

[Al Agnew]

I should probably stay out of this one...

Will posting pics of those fine fish bring more anglers to the Current? Perhaps so. But few of them, other than some illegal bait guys, will catch fish of that quality, so they might go once or twice but they'll soon give it up if it's not their usual fishing hole anyway.

I know that sounds somewhat hypocritical of me, since I ain't posting my favorite small smallie streams. I think there may be a difference between what is probably already one of the two or three most popular trout stretches in the state already, and some of the streams I fish that see very few anglers at all. There is also a difference between trout and smallies. It's been my experience that fishing pressure, even catch and release fishing pressure, degrades smallmouth fishing more than it does trout fishing. I have no idea why. Do smallies learn faster and better than trout? Is there more catch and release mortality with smallmouth?

Anyway, the Current is a good news--bad news sort of river. Good news...there's a nice, heavily stocked trout park at the upper end continually feeding rather stupid stocker rainbows into the river, especially in the first few miles. It's the big reason the stretch above Tan Vat is always good fishing. More good news...the floatable stretch from Tan Vat or Baptist Camp to Cedargrove isn't the most convenient shuttle, and if you pay for your shuttle it's one of the more expensive shuttles in the Ozarks. So when you get away from the accesses you see trout that don't get quite as much fishing pressure.

Bad news...it's a small river, with a lot of access. So it can get crowded around all the accesses.

But back to those big fish...the "average" fly fisherman not only doesn't catch those fish, the average fly fisherman doesn't use the techniques that CAN catch those fish. Bigger brown trout are way different from stocker rainbows. If I wanted to catch those big browns with a fly rod, I'd go in the winter, in cloudy, dreary weather or when the river is up and off-color, or I'd go at night. And I'd use the kind of streamers that most closely imitate in size and color the big minnows that those big browns spend much of their time eating. And I'd probably fish all day or all night for two or three strikes. Not many people are going to do that.

[Gavin]

Al's assement is spot on....except for night fishing.....Dawn or Dusk is better than night time in the winter... Best night fly roddding is in the Summer..when its hotter than heck...no moon on the water.

[Bird Watcher]

Hammer?...meet nail.

[snagged in outlet 3]

Saw this coming like a freight train at night....

10 pound fluoro wouldn't hurt either.

[Smalliebigs]

I started to type something, but ehhh.

Alright, why not.

Exiledguide, I'm not sure I follow your logic train, but Big Piney ain't private. Tell us where your place is and we'll post up some pictures of us all holding 18 inch smallies in front of it.

Al - yes, it IS a little hypocritical. We've seen your pictures and you are always careful not divulge the location. I wouldn't either. Gavins pictures of lunker browns came from a 6 mile stretch of Current river that everybody and their brother knows about and I can accept that, but it goes on to show the baits and give details. Lets just lay it all out. Fish with Lucky Craft suspending stick baits, or suspending Rapalas - J9s, xraps, or any medium sized rogue. Suspenders seem to work better than floaters, but not always. Wade out to the center of the river well upstream of your targeted hole or run, make long downstream casts and do steady retrieves right up the center of the channel, fish early and late, fish high water conditions or overcast days, one of the best spots is the first sharp bend down from Baptist. It is easy to hike there using the trail that leads from the parking lot. Parker Hollow is also a very easy take-out shuttle point from either Tan Vat or Baptist, and you know this Al. Its probably the easiest, quickest shuttle in the state - takes only 10 minutes. 2 guys with 2 cars, heck you don't even need a canoe or kayak, you can fish it on foot if you start early enough and hike one-way, up or downstream to your car, skipping the marginal water and using the numerous trails and horsetrails, its an easy 5 miles from Baptist to Parker. You can get down to all the good water very easily. There is good fishing right above Ashley Creek and the sharp bend and deep hole just above it, also the 2nd bend just below it. Also, just about anywhere between Tan Vat and Baptist which isn't very far. Any questions? Oh, 6 or 8 lb line. Good spinning rod set-up. Poachers, if you can bring live minnows you will clean up good! Lets talk about each spot specifically and lets lay it all out there. Why not? GPS coordinates anyone, anyone?

Dude, you crack me up!!!! sometimes when I read your post's I do a spit take with coffee in my office. You are soo correct there are some first class hypocrites on this forum that serve their own good and chastize others if what they are posting is outside their precieved logic. I agree, we need to make sure Gavin keeps these absolutely kickass pics of your guys sweet trips off of this forum...or at least that's what I have been instructed. When I saw your guys pics I wanted to post some but decided nope not gonna do it.

[Gavin]

Up early with John Barleycorn again, Coldwater?