Current River on 2/19/16

[joeD]

Apparently I don't know how to fish for them. Just relating my recent experience for Fishingmill. 

 

[jackdizo]

All good info here. Hard to say what the floods did to the fish? We can say for sure it changed the river beds immensely, thus habitat change for the fish... I did notice this weekend that on the river I ended up fishing, I decided to walk back upstream on the higher bank of the river to look at the water I had previously fished an hour earlier, that I thought looked great, but resulted in zero fish and left me scratching my head. On further inspection there were TONS of fish, however they were holding so tight to the bank and cover such as long jams etc, that I realized getting at them with my fly-rod would have been very difficult. I was convinced after fishing through much of that 50yd section of water that there were not many fish, however I was completely wrong, was simply not getting my flies in front of them...

[Dman]

How'd your buddies do on Friday Gavin?

"Maybe 1 stellar day out of a 4 day trip on average and stellar might last 30 minutes." Is this describing fishing when it's tough or a normal trip?

I was thinking about going down in the next couple weeks to fish Baptist to Cedar for the first time and wanted to make sure I'd have a decent chance at a big fish.

Thanks!

[Fishingmill]

@Gavin, I'd be interested to hear if fishing was good on the section of river I was fishing (Tan Vat to Baptist Camp).  That day I talked to a few other guys who said that it was also a rough day.  Not sure if this is just one day or a recent trend.

@jackdizo and @joeD, I've always caught fish in this stretch, but I just didn't see as many fish as I normally do.  It could be a combination of a few things: 

1.  Flooding could have washed some fish downstream, especially the rainbows that I am used to seeing.  

2.  The flooding changed the river and the fish were not where I am used to looking.  

3.  The river was low and the fish moved further downstream.  

4.  I was trying out some new flies.  

5.  The fish just weren't biting and the ones that did were biting very light (I missed 3 fish that day - 2 on nymphs under an indicator and 1 on a dry fly).  

6.  The weather, unusually warm and windy.  

But here's some positive thoughts... there are a lot of really cool runs in the this section now and I am sure the rainbows will start to stack up when they start stocking regularly.  

[Gavin]

The guys said it was a slow weekend. Very few fish and nothing over 15-16". January produced  some good brown trout for our bunch. Quite a few over 18", and a half dozen over 22", best 25-26". We usually float Baptist to Parker. Float in, base camp for two-4 days hike around and wade fish. Dawn, dusk, or after dark has always been best for big Browns. Occasionally good when the water is up, or a strong front is coming in. Blue bird and windy days with low water tend to suck, unless you catch a good dawn or dusk bite.  The river has changed a lot but fish were still there. Mostly a Jerkbait or streamer bite. Think the scuds and caddis got ground ground up when all that gravel & sand got moved around. Doty's buddy One Sack Jack has been doing well with the jig head mega worm.

 

[joeD]

Yeah, no dung?  Very few fish. Huh. With multiple fishermen. Hmm.

What do I know, anyhow?

[Kayser]

I went down a few weeks ago, and had pretty much the same experience The fly fishing was slow- I got one fish nymphing, and missed 5-6 on dries. Nobody I talked to was even getting bit, fly or spin tackle. Everything was holding close to the bank or TIGHT to the bottom in places with heavier current. If you got into the slower pools, they weren't holding as tight, but the fish weren't as plentiful.

After lunch, I broke down and fished a rapala for the first time ever. Results were good enough that I've taken it to the Meramec to fish for smallies and browns a few times since then. Nothing huge, but still having fun. I broke the hoop on my rubber net on the last trip out, so I'm hanging up the treble hooks until I get that fixed.

[Alex Heitman]

I'll chime in on this. I think the fishing has been effected by a Facebook page that shows detailed spots where they are catching them. I argued with the guy until I was blue in the face and he still thinks differently. 

[MOsmallies]

12 hours ago, Alex Heitman said:

I'll chime in on this. I think the fishing has been effected by a Facebook page that shows detailed spots where they are catching them. I argued with the guy until I was blue in the face and he still thinks differently. 

Quickest way to ruin a spot... Seen it happen to a particular smallmouth stream. It's never been the same. I've never understood giving away specific spots or stretches of streams or even lakes... It adds absolutely zero value to an online report.

[snagged in outlet 3]

Internet kills another good fishing spot.