Solstice trip - 14 hours on the Upper Current

[ColdWaterFshr]

For those who say I never do a trip report . . . . .

Made an impulse run late Tuesday afternoon down to the Upper Current.  1 car, 1 canoe.  Arrived at Baptist, dropped my canoe in the water with small amount of gear, hammocks, cooler with some frosties, a couple of Honey-Baked Ham sandwiches, and not much else.  Buddy then drove down to Parker, where he would wade fish up and we would meet somewhere in the middle to camp overnight.  This worked out really well.  Other than a few swimmers at Baptist, didn't see another soul.

Caught a bunch of fish, mostly a mix of small browns and rainbows all the way down.  Fished a Walt's Sexy Worm most of the time, along with chucking a Lucky Craft in some of the deeper holes.  Fish were everywhere they were supposed to be, but very few risers.  Saw several 20+ inch fish cruising the shallows.  Water level for this time of year was a very nice flow, though I thought the water temp seemed a bit on the warm side.  A couple of spots have really changed, including one big log-jam section that is now gone.  Had to lift the canoe over a couple of downed trees that were completely blocking the river.

As it was getting toward dusk, I saw my buddy wading upstream and we picked out a spot to camp.  He had similar success on his way up. Set up our hammocks at a good spot and then set to work removing about 100 ticks from my legs.  Put on a heavy dose of Cutter which gave a nice warm chemical burn, and then plopped down in my plaid green vinyl lawn chair and poured a Bullit bourbon into my tin cup with a couple of ice cubes and watched the fireflies put on a fine display.  Retired to the hammock and slept extremely well.  Nice cool night and almost chilly.

Was awoken at dawn by a parliament of owls.  Best alarm clock ever.  Threw on my wading boots and hit the water, catching more than a few eager browns from 12-16" on the jerkbait.  Missed several that would be quite a bit bigger and had a follow from a legit 24".  Returned to camp, fired up the trusty old MSR, and brewed up some coffee in the french press.  Loaded up the boat and floated out to Parker.  Was off the water by 9 a.m. before the heat set in and got home by noon.  

 

[DADAKOTA]

Sounds like an awesome trip

[snagged in outlet 3]

2 hours ago, ColdWaterFshr said:

For those who say I never do a trip report . . . . .

Nice!   Now doesn't that feel better than trolling?  I won't mention the chum....😀

[Quillback]

That's a great trip.  Except for the "100 ticks" part.  I really hate ticks.

[BilletHead]

            Thanks for a nice cool water trip report. It was refreshing  . 

[jdmidwest]

Wondering how you get 100 ticks wearing wading boots in a canoe on the Current River.  Were they laying in the trees you pulled over?

Surprised the trees in the river, NFS usually cuts them out.  But there was a healthy storm last week and they are getting lazier.

[ColdWaterFshr]

1 hour ago, jdmidwest said:

Wondering how you get 100 ticks wearing wading boots in a canoe on the Current River.  Were they laying in the trees you pulled over?

Surprised the trees in the river, NFS usually cuts them out.  But there was a healthy storm last week and they are getting lazier.

Ticks came from when we hung our hammocks.  Brush always quite thick under the good hammock trees along the river... the only disadvantage of hammock camping.  Either bring a machete or weedeater to get to the good spots.  I brought neither.  I brought Cutter.

As for the downed trees, the upper current is not conducive for the outfitters, and for good reason.  Upper put-in isn't great for mass load-offs, but more than that, I think its got a few too many tricky spots and hairpin turns that makes it a liability for the weekend rec/novice joy-rider.   I don't see that ever changing.  

[jdmidwest]

Ticks are bad this year. Deer on cameras loaded up with them.

They did run a pretty big float operation out of Baptist at one time.  Loads of canoes sit in upper lot waiting for weekends.  But is skinny up there, guess they have moved further down.

[snagged in outlet 3]

3 hours ago, jdmidwest said:

Ticks are bad this year. Deer on cameras loaded up with them.

They did run a pretty big float operation out of Baptist at one time.  Loads of canoes sit in upper lot waiting for weekends.  But is skinny up there, guess they have moved further down.

I had a suburban tick on me the other day.  Got my wife inside for a thorough tick check that afternoon...😁

I saw them at Baptist before too.   Lots of canoes!!

[Quillback]

3 hours ago, jdmidwest said:

Ticks are bad this year. Deer on cameras loaded up with them.

 

There's some semi-tame deer that hang around one of the local walking/biking trails.  Had a doe about 10 feet away munching on some brush, her head was covered in ticks, on the ears, side of the face mostly.