Post by Steve King (Admin) on Jun 18, 2005 22:38:04 GMT -6
Source: RiverHillsTraveler.com
By Bob Todd
"Current River carried us quickly downstream from Baptist Camp Access. Soon, the path made by fishermen along the bank began to fade, and John Hoskins looked for a place to beach the canoe.
He and I were in the lead as we began this fishing trip. Steve Bradford and Mark Kruse would soon pass us, dropping down to the next good looking stretch of water and get out there. The plan was to leap-frog down the river, fishing for trout, rather than simply trade off who was in the lead. The first excitement of the morning was not a fish, however. Steve and Mark had just passed by when John looked up, finding himself a dozen feet from face to face with a young groundhog. John froze, taking in the chance to observe wildlife close up, as we all do. But the groundhog was not concerned with John and soon resumed rummaging along the bank. The other three were fly fishermen, experienced at trout fishing. I own only a bluegill wand in the way of fly gear, and my abilities are pretty helpless. I carried spinning rods. This part of Current River is managed under Blue Ribbon regulations, new this year. There is an 18 inch length limit and a creel limit of one. It is virtually a catch and release situation this year. John was the first to catch and release a trout. The plan was for John to paddle and I’d fish between stops. I nearly caught a few, but just could not make a connection. Mostly, I fish with jig and grub nowadays, but soft plastics can’t be used in this part of Current. I had the most faith in a plug that imitates a crawfish, but while some trout would follow it, none managed to get hooked. John was switching around, too. The air over the river was thick with small insects - a relative of mayflies, I learned. Trout were feeding on the tiny things, and fly fishermen try to match the hatch. John hates them. Hates fishing with such tiny flies, and says he does better up in the day when other, larger things come onto the trout menu.
I think it was about the third leap/frog when the air cleared of insects and we began to connect. John tied on something twice as big as he’d been fishing, but still tiny. Meanwhile, I’d migrated to an in-line spinner lure on one rod and a deep diving crank bait with a bright metal bill on the other. Trout were actually hitting the spinner and I caught a couple little ones. John knows this stretch of Current very well. He urged me to wade ahead out onto a semi-submerged log which would let me make a cast to a deep, dark pocket in swift water.
My first nice trout of the day was soon ripping around the hole, resisting my hand. The trout was maybe 15 inches. John moved ahead and soon was battling a brown trout of the same size. And another. A slow start to the morning was giving way to some pretty hot fishing as the morning aged. We discovered the trout were slow to get on to us. If John tried a spot with a fly and didn’t catch anything, sometimes my spinner or even the crank bait would get their attention. And vise-versa. At one point, water was boiling over a log crossways in the current and John could not induce a trout to take a fly there. I could do no good either until my spinner got hung. As I jerked it to get it free, a brown trout seized the lure and a pretty colorful battle followed. I got John to take my picture with the beautiful fish. By the time we stopped for lunch, I’d caught three trout in the 14-16 inch class - outstanding for me. John was telling about other trips, which told me this was only average fishing for him even though he was catching at least twice as many as me.
But even if no fish has been hitting, it was a gorgeous day on a gorgeous river. Mike and Steve came up. Their experience was similar. John is director of the Conservation Department and felt he ought to talk some about conservation issues. But that passed and the conversation shifted to agriculture. Steve is a conservation commissioner from Cape Girardeau who owns land in the bootheel. There, people are converting cropland for rice just about as rapidly as they can. We learned a lot about rice farming and rice land management. Steve said his dad cleared and drained a lot of wetland for farming and would turn over in his grave if he knew how hard bootheel farmers are working now to turn the land back into wetlands suitable for growing rice. The conversation turned to rice and waterfowl. Back on the conservation track. The bootheel can be duck heaven in the winter. We switched off after lunch. Mike Kruse is “Mr. Trout” in my mind. He’s been in on more research and management projects with trout in Missouri than anyone I know. Smallmouth bass too. He’s more of an administrator nowadays, I learned, but still up on what is going on with trout. (Research emphasis currently is more of habitat.) His job may have shifted, but as a trout fisherman, “Mr. Trout” is still an appropriate way to think of him. John was doubling my catch, but Mike quickly moved to a magnitude of four or five to one. And this was despite trying to guide me to fish. Indeed, I began to see trout water in a new way. So did Mike when we floated past a brown trout that must have weighed over five pounds, loafing out in the middle of a barren, shallow pool. Hardly enough water to keep its back wet. This is not the typical place for a big trout to hang out! Unfortunately, there are plenty of destructive ways to create more of that kind of habitat.
On this stretch of Current, you go through a stretch with magnificent low bluffs. We all spent more time fishing there than our success merited, but who cares? You can’t not fish such good looking water, and you can’t stop with one cast. As we floated lower, I began to catch a number of small brown trout on the spinner. Mark said they’d probably only been out of the hatchery a month or so. In this reach of Current, the goal is to stock trout in fairly high densities, but at relatively small sizes. These fish will grow up in the river, becoming wary of fishermen and their flies and spinners.
With the 18 inch limit and creel of one, they’ll have plenty of opportunity to grow. And do battle with several fishermen before they pass. For the time being, you can probably catch as many nice fish at Montauk where trout are stocked daily as you can in this “trophy” area. But that will quickly shift in the seasons ahead. Folks who want to catch bigger, wilder fish and are willing to put back all but an occasional wall hanger, will prefer this Blue Ribbon area. We took out at a place called Parker Hollow. It is a mile or so above Cedar Grove, where the blue ribbon regulations end.
Below there, you can take up to four trout. Rainbows can be any size. Browns must be 15 inches or better. Regulations there are called “White Ribbon”. There is also a Red Ribbon designation which is basically a 15 inch length limit and creel limit of two. There’s no red ribbon area on Current River, however. The ribbon regulations - new this year - have been in the making for some time. They’re the result of fishermen wishes and the realities of trout potential in Missouri’s streams and hatcheries. If this was a test drive, the vehicle handled well."
By Bob Todd
"Current River carried us quickly downstream from Baptist Camp Access. Soon, the path made by fishermen along the bank began to fade, and John Hoskins looked for a place to beach the canoe.
He and I were in the lead as we began this fishing trip. Steve Bradford and Mark Kruse would soon pass us, dropping down to the next good looking stretch of water and get out there. The plan was to leap-frog down the river, fishing for trout, rather than simply trade off who was in the lead. The first excitement of the morning was not a fish, however. Steve and Mark had just passed by when John looked up, finding himself a dozen feet from face to face with a young groundhog. John froze, taking in the chance to observe wildlife close up, as we all do. But the groundhog was not concerned with John and soon resumed rummaging along the bank. The other three were fly fishermen, experienced at trout fishing. I own only a bluegill wand in the way of fly gear, and my abilities are pretty helpless. I carried spinning rods. This part of Current River is managed under Blue Ribbon regulations, new this year. There is an 18 inch length limit and a creel limit of one. It is virtually a catch and release situation this year. John was the first to catch and release a trout. The plan was for John to paddle and I’d fish between stops. I nearly caught a few, but just could not make a connection. Mostly, I fish with jig and grub nowadays, but soft plastics can’t be used in this part of Current. I had the most faith in a plug that imitates a crawfish, but while some trout would follow it, none managed to get hooked. John was switching around, too. The air over the river was thick with small insects - a relative of mayflies, I learned. Trout were feeding on the tiny things, and fly fishermen try to match the hatch. John hates them. Hates fishing with such tiny flies, and says he does better up in the day when other, larger things come onto the trout menu.
I think it was about the third leap/frog when the air cleared of insects and we began to connect. John tied on something twice as big as he’d been fishing, but still tiny. Meanwhile, I’d migrated to an in-line spinner lure on one rod and a deep diving crank bait with a bright metal bill on the other. Trout were actually hitting the spinner and I caught a couple little ones. John knows this stretch of Current very well. He urged me to wade ahead out onto a semi-submerged log which would let me make a cast to a deep, dark pocket in swift water.
My first nice trout of the day was soon ripping around the hole, resisting my hand. The trout was maybe 15 inches. John moved ahead and soon was battling a brown trout of the same size. And another. A slow start to the morning was giving way to some pretty hot fishing as the morning aged. We discovered the trout were slow to get on to us. If John tried a spot with a fly and didn’t catch anything, sometimes my spinner or even the crank bait would get their attention. And vise-versa. At one point, water was boiling over a log crossways in the current and John could not induce a trout to take a fly there. I could do no good either until my spinner got hung. As I jerked it to get it free, a brown trout seized the lure and a pretty colorful battle followed. I got John to take my picture with the beautiful fish. By the time we stopped for lunch, I’d caught three trout in the 14-16 inch class - outstanding for me. John was telling about other trips, which told me this was only average fishing for him even though he was catching at least twice as many as me.
But even if no fish has been hitting, it was a gorgeous day on a gorgeous river. Mike and Steve came up. Their experience was similar. John is director of the Conservation Department and felt he ought to talk some about conservation issues. But that passed and the conversation shifted to agriculture. Steve is a conservation commissioner from Cape Girardeau who owns land in the bootheel. There, people are converting cropland for rice just about as rapidly as they can. We learned a lot about rice farming and rice land management. Steve said his dad cleared and drained a lot of wetland for farming and would turn over in his grave if he knew how hard bootheel farmers are working now to turn the land back into wetlands suitable for growing rice. The conversation turned to rice and waterfowl. Back on the conservation track. The bootheel can be duck heaven in the winter. We switched off after lunch. Mike Kruse is “Mr. Trout” in my mind. He’s been in on more research and management projects with trout in Missouri than anyone I know. Smallmouth bass too. He’s more of an administrator nowadays, I learned, but still up on what is going on with trout. (Research emphasis currently is more of habitat.) His job may have shifted, but as a trout fisherman, “Mr. Trout” is still an appropriate way to think of him. John was doubling my catch, but Mike quickly moved to a magnitude of four or five to one. And this was despite trying to guide me to fish. Indeed, I began to see trout water in a new way. So did Mike when we floated past a brown trout that must have weighed over five pounds, loafing out in the middle of a barren, shallow pool. Hardly enough water to keep its back wet. This is not the typical place for a big trout to hang out! Unfortunately, there are plenty of destructive ways to create more of that kind of habitat.
On this stretch of Current, you go through a stretch with magnificent low bluffs. We all spent more time fishing there than our success merited, but who cares? You can’t not fish such good looking water, and you can’t stop with one cast. As we floated lower, I began to catch a number of small brown trout on the spinner. Mark said they’d probably only been out of the hatchery a month or so. In this reach of Current, the goal is to stock trout in fairly high densities, but at relatively small sizes. These fish will grow up in the river, becoming wary of fishermen and their flies and spinners.
With the 18 inch limit and creel of one, they’ll have plenty of opportunity to grow. And do battle with several fishermen before they pass. For the time being, you can probably catch as many nice fish at Montauk where trout are stocked daily as you can in this “trophy” area. But that will quickly shift in the seasons ahead. Folks who want to catch bigger, wilder fish and are willing to put back all but an occasional wall hanger, will prefer this Blue Ribbon area. We took out at a place called Parker Hollow. It is a mile or so above Cedar Grove, where the blue ribbon regulations end.
Below there, you can take up to four trout. Rainbows can be any size. Browns must be 15 inches or better. Regulations there are called “White Ribbon”. There is also a Red Ribbon designation which is basically a 15 inch length limit and creel limit of two. There’s no red ribbon area on Current River, however. The ribbon regulations - new this year - have been in the making for some time. They’re the result of fishermen wishes and the realities of trout potential in Missouri’s streams and hatcheries. If this was a test drive, the vehicle handled well."
