Good wade fishing river access near Fenton

[jb1976]

3 minutes ago, Tobey said:

Thanks again JB, you gave me some good suggestions.  My new Orvis Clearwater outfit showed up yesterday and I'm ready to wet a line.  I'll give a report Monday morning.

SWEET! Now you have to go fly fishing tomorrow. You have a new rig, so you have to use it within 72 hours...it's the law

[Tobey]

Just now, jb1976 said:

SWEET! Now you have to go fly fishing tomorrow. You have a new rig, so you have to use it within 72 hours...it's the law

Lol I haven't heard of that law but I like and will not break it!

[jb1976]

1 minute ago, Tobey said:

Lol I haven't heard of that law but I like and will not break it!

My wife has...and don't you dare prove me wrong!

[Tobey]

Well I ended up running down to Kingston access Saturday morning.  I found it easy enough and got there about 5:50AM.  Pulling into the parking lot there were two old boys that said they fished all night long and didn't catch anything, said the water rose close to 2 feet overnight and it was super murky.  Well this was discouraging information.  I headed down to the river and unfortunately those guys were right with very murky water and the first hole looked deep.  As I started to wade in heading down stream I quickly had water up to my chest, that woke me up!  I then backed out and headed down a trail since I wasn't ready to swim that early in the morning.  I ended up wading down a little further only to come to another deep hole with no way around so turned back and headed up river.  I came across a guy that fishes here often that said he's been fishing since 4AM without a bite and he confirmed the high murky water was the issue and he told me he was heading to Plattin creek.  I waded up river the rest of the morning casting variety of baits until I hit a broken up low water bridge without a single bite.  At the bridge I ran into a family setting up canopy and chairs for a day of swimming and he told me how he could see some big bass in the same spot yesterday and that the water wasn't even coming over the bridge once again confirming I just picked a bad day to go.  From that point I headed back down river and came across 3 more fishermen wading upstream tight lining worms without any luck either.  About this time it was 11AM so packed up and headed home, it was getting hot and the swimmers were filling the banks.  Even though the fishing was pour I'm looking forward to going back when the water is clear and normal level.  It is a very nice looking river and I look forward to going back.  

Since I just got this new rod I was determined to catch something so I headed down to Plattin creek Sunday morning after talking to the guy at Kingston that told me it's been decent there.  I fished this creek probably 20 years ago so I was somewhat familiar with it and it's only a 35 minute drive.  I got there about 5:30AM right when it started getting light.  I tied on a big chartreuse popper and started throwing into the fast current and boom 4 cast in a landed about a 10" smallie!  Well this already tops yesterday!  About 10 minutes later in the same pool I caught the big boy pictured below.  I didn't have a tape measure or scale but I'm guessing he weighed around 2 to 2 1/2 lbs???  Anyway this made my day and I didn't care if I caught anything else.  Well I ended up wading up and down the stream until about 11AM catching fish all morning.  I caught 4 smallmouth total, a couple rock bass, and a ton of bluegill/sunfish but surprisingly no largemouth or spotted bass.  The bass bite really turned off by about 8:30AM and the rest of the morning was just playing around with the panfish.  All and all it was a good time and I got to catch some fish on my new fly rod that worked awesome by the way!  I'm hoping to try either Kingston again next weekend or maybe Castor river but I need to figure out where to look so I can check the water levels before I go.  It was kind of disappointing Saturday morning to see the water up so high.

[jb1976]

Thanks for the report, and I'm happy to hear you were able to get out and achieve some level of success! Be careful...it's habit forming!

[Tobey]

2 minutes ago, jb1976 said:

Thanks for the report, and I'm happy to hear you were able to get out and achieve some level of success! Be careful...it's habit forming!

Thanks again for the the info last week.  Do you know a good website to check water levels?

[jb1976]

1 minute ago, Tobey said:

Thanks again for the the info last week.  Do you know a good website to check water levels?

waterdata.usgs.gov

Some of the smaller rivers are tough, especially since there may not be any monitoring stations, or the stations may be far removed from whatever access point you've chosen. So, if my chosen destination doesn't have any stations in the immediate vicinity, then you may end up having to locate another monitoring station or two, or other alternate source, and piece the proverbial puzzle together. You can search those out by selecting "Location Map" from the dropdown menu next to the "Available Data for this Site" and zooming out on the map.

For example, Tea Access on the Bourbeuse river doesn't have any inputs close, but there is a monitoring station upstream at High Gate, and a station at Union downstream. If both of those are showing consistent readings, then I have a fairly good idea of what is going on at the stretch that Tea access is on. 

[Tobey]

Thanks JB I'll check into this.  You have been a huge help.  I've always been a lake fishermen for the most part and learning how to fish these rivers has really been a challenge for me.  Any help always appreciated.  One other question that pertains to wade fishing.  I would assume that the more successful direction to wade would be going upstream correct?  Don't the fish typically face upstream to catch things coming down river?  I also figured they would see less of the debris being kicked up by my feet.  I ask this because it is much easier to fly cast going down stream when the current is fast but I figured it is also easier for the fish to know I'm coming looking up river.

[jb1976]

21 hours ago, Tobey said:

Thanks JB I'll check into this.  You have been a huge help.  I've always been a lake fishermen for the most part and learning how to fish these rivers has really been a challenge for me.  Any help always appreciated.  One other question that pertains to wade fishing.  I would assume that the more successful direction to wade would be going upstream correct?  Don't the fish typically face upstream to catch things coming down river?  I also figured they would see less of the debris being kicked up by my feet.  I ask this because it is much easier to fly cast going down stream when the current is fast but I figured it is also easier for the fish to know I'm coming looking up river.

meh...I sometimes think that more people have such low success because they overthink fishing, and try to make it a lot harder than it really is. At the end of the day, we're trying to fool a creature with a brain the size of a pea into biting a hook that looks like something they may want to eat. I don't fish for trout so I can't really speak to how super wary and nervous fish react to what may be the first human they've ever seen on the isolated, undisturbed mountain stream at the end of an overgrown forestry service road cutting through the mountains. I can say that if fish were so upset by human activity that they refused to eat, there would be no fish at any of the places like Kingston Access, Rockford Beach, Amidon CA yada yada yada. I can also say that I've seen plenty of decent sized fish milling about aimlessly in the middle of a stream channel among drunken beach goers who are not the least bit concerned with whether or not they are upsetting said fish. As far as debris, I'm sure that for every person who agrees with you, there will be another person who will give you a lengthy dissertation on the San Juan Shuffle. My general approach is not so much to worry about what direction I'm heading as it is scouting ahead and having a plan to work whatever section of stream looks promising.  I generally try to read the water to determine current, flow structure and the like along a given stretch, figure out the best spot to stand and work that stretch and then try to get myself to that spot as discreetly as I can. Fish that are located behind structure in the middle of the stream bed may be likely to be facing upstream,  but I've caught plenty working close to the banks, and I'm not so convinced those fish are facing a particular direction given how many of them I have watched dart straight out from the shadows. 

All of that being said, for full disclosure, I am by no means a professional or tournament fisherman, and I just don't take my fishing serious enough to worry too much about those things. I'm out there to relax, and simply exist in the moment. I'm a noisy wader no matter how much I try not to be, a marginal fly caster on my best day, and very rarely give too much thought to what color I'm going to throw in the water, and despite that, I feel that I still manage to do okay way more often than not.

[Tobey]

41 minutes ago, jb1976 said:

meh...I sometimes think that more people have such low success because they overthink fishing, and try to make it a lot harder than it really is. At the end of the day, we're trying to fool a creature with a brain the size of a pea into biting a hook that looks like something they may want to eat. I don't fish for trout so I can't really speak to how super wary and nervous fish react to what may be the first human they've ever seen on the isolated, undisturbed mountain stream at the end of an overgrown forestry service road cutting through the mountains. I can say that if fish were so upset by human activity that they refused to eat, there would be no fish at any of the places like Kingston Access, Rockford Beach, Amidon CA yada yada yada. I can also say that I've seen plenty of decent sized fish milling about aimlessly in the middle of a stream channel among drunken beach goers who are not the least bit concerned with whether or not they are upsetting said fish. As far as debris, I'm sure that for every person who agrees with you, there will be another person who will give you a lengthy dissertation on the San Juan Shuffle. My general approach is not so much to worry about what direction I'm heading as it is scouting ahead and having a plan to work whatever section of stream looks promising.  I generally try to read the water to determine current, flow structure and the like along a given stretch, figure out the best spot to stand and work that stretch and then try to get myself to that spot as discreetly as I can. Fish that are located behind structure in the middle of the stream bed may be likely to be facing upstream,  but I've caught plenty working close to the banks, and I'm not so convinced those fish are facing a particular direction given how many of them I have watched dart straight out from the shadows. 

All of that being said, for full disclosure, I am by no means a professional or tournament fisherman, and I just don't take my fishing serious enough to worry too much about those things. I'm out there to relax, and simply exist in the moment. I'm a noisy wader no matter how much I try not to be, a marginal fly caster on my best day, and very rarely give too much thought to what color I'm going to throw in the water, and despite that, I feel that I still manage to do okay way more often than not.

Well said my friend.