New Year's Eve Report

[ozark trout fisher]

I made it down to the Current River on Dec. 30 and Dec. 31st for the first time in awhile. We arrived about 1 PM on the 30th at Parker Hollow. We set up camp just a few yards from the ford, and immediately made our way to the river. I tied on an Egg Pattern and started working my way downstream from the little creek that feeds into the Current just below Parker Hollow. There is a large pool not far below there that always looks inviting but generally fails to produce. That's because getting a dead drift is nearly impossible in the swirling, conflicted current. I decided to try wading out as far as possible to minimize the amount of line I had on the water, and it produced quite well for me. When that pool reduced in productivity after one particularly long fight with a rainbow, I moved down and fished a couple of the many trout filled riffles, with good success. At about 3PM, I left the river for a little hike up to an old, abandoned (but well maintained) farm/ homestead on NPS land just a short distance from camp. I will let the pictures tell the story on that when I get them (probably tomorrow) but suffice it to say that it's a pretty interesting place to visit. Given the rocky, vertical nature of the land, it couldn't have been easy for its past owners to scratch out even a meager living.

Dinner was white chili in quantities more than befitting the amount of energy I had expended earlier in the day. The night was a bit chilly, not least for the dog, who had decided it was a good idea to get extremely wet despite the impending cold. I didn't get the earliest of starts the next morning, but the fishing was slow even when I did get to the task at hand. At first, ice in the guides was a problem, but that alleviated as the air warmed to rather balmy temperatures. The only fish I took was on the previously determined "last cast" an occurrence that I'm not entirely sure has ever happened to me. With it being the last cast, I decided to let the drift go a long distance downstream before lifting it off the water, and soon found a 17 inch rainbow a good distance directly downstream from me. That mistake lead to an adventurous fight that resulted in slightly overtopped waders and some other fun. But it was rewarded with a fish in the net, so I'm not going to complain.

Hard to imagine a better way to spend New Years Eve. As I said, pictures are coming.

[Chris Barclay]

Awesome! Looking forward to the pics.

[BruteFish83]

Sounds like a fun trip!