Tan Vat

[Njardar]

I just found out that my business trip for next week will take me past Montauk, so I'm going to leave on Sunday and hit the Current River at Tan Vat for a few hours. I've fished the park before, and I am not opposed to that, but I've wanted to do Tan Vat south for some time. If anyone has an update on conditions and what flies are working I would appreciate it.

- Charlie

[MikeH]

I hit up Baptist and Tan Vat on Tuesday and fishing was pretty good despite the crazy low/clear conditions. If you get there early enough the trico's are coming off fairly strong in the morning. I went the dry/dropper route most of the day. As usual most fish came on the nymphs. Smallish rusty brown biot nymphs worked well but my best fish of the day came on a #12 pheasant tail. As far as dries went, none of the larger foam contraptions drew any strikes. I eventually switched over to a Klinkhammer(#12 I think) and got maybe a dozen to come up including a real nice brown. Wade sneaky, use light tippet, concentrate on the shady banks and you should do fine. Also, if Tan Vat is crowded I would highly recommend fishing Baptist. Hope this helps.

-Mike

[jgentile]

I concur with Mike. The only thing I would add is that there is or at least was a good and extended streamer bit for me as the Trico hatch started to develop. I have been throwing a large size 6 Jimmy Rubber Legs/Stonefly nymph and swinging it off the banks.

Have fun.

Joe

[3wt]

I can't comment on the current situation, but several years ago when the water was very low Baptist Camp was a much better bet than Tan Vat. Down from Tan Vat there was quite a bit of ankle to calf deep water with few good fishy spots. Between Tan Vat and the park there are more nice fish holding stretches. More park stocker escapees too.

I liked going both down and up from Baptist. You can hit nice water with less trudging through shallow riffles.

But the river could be different in that below tan vat stretch now...

Also, Montauk is a very nice park. I'd focus on the fly fishing only area. It's one of the prettiest stretches of stream anywhere. It's almost too bad it's so popular. Much more of a back woodsy feel than the other trout parks.