Current River MLK Weekend (1/16-1/19)

I took advantage of MLK weekend and hit the Current for a three day fishing excursion. The forecast was 30s to 40s, sunny, and the water was 1.11 ft at the USGS guage just below Montauk. All in all, these were pretty solid conditions for January on the Current.

Saturday I was joined by a buddy who doesn't get out too often, Mike. He took off early Sunday morning and was replaced by John, who sticks pretty well. John and I fished Sunday and Monday. The fishing was phenomenal both Saturday and Sunday. These were the warmer days of the weekend (in the mid 40s) and I think the warmer temperatures led to the two great caddis hatches we experienced. Honestly, these were some of the best hatches I have ever seen on the Current. The bugs were plentiful and the fish were all over them.

Saturday the magic fly was a downwing tan caddis (size 16). The fish rarely refused this pattern on a good presentation. In fact, the strikes were regular enough that I was able to capture a few takes with my point-and-shoot Pentax Optio on video mode. Pardon any obscenities shouted during the video.



Here's video of Mikey sitting one:



Close up eat:



Mike and I ended up probably landing in excess of 20 fish a piece on Saturday. Awesome day on the river and I'm glad Mike was there to share it with me. I believe this was his first experience with a true hatch and really good dry fly fishing.

On Sunday the weather cooled a bit but the caddis were still hatching in full force. For some reason, however, on Sunday the fish were keyed in to a different caddis pattern. Maybe it was because we were fishing a different section of river or maybe the bugs were slightly different. Who knows? John and I struggled at first to find the right caddis immitation but, once we did, the game was on.

I would normally mention what fly we were using, however, this particular pattern is not sold in our local stores. It is a pattern my friend Nate Anderson taught me to tie and I think I will keep this one to myself. Perhaps this was why it fooled the fish more so than the traditional patterns. John and I had another bang up day. No video this time but I we put plenty of trout in the net. For example...





Monday the temperature dropped significantly. I doubt we saw 35 degrees as our guides were freezing all day. We stuck it out, however, and caught some fish. I nailed a large rainbow (20+) but could not get him off the bottom. No pics from Monday but stay tuned for more. Fabulous weekend! Hopefully I'll be back out soon. I've got the itch bigtime.

1-3-09 Current River Report

I fished the Current River on Saturday, 1/3, with the Stoneman. It was an overcast day and unseasonably warm (around 60 degrees). The water was running slightly high and was a little off color. The USGS gauge just below the park read 1.25.

The fishing was good early. We got on the water at about 8:30. We caught fish on pimps and caddis (18s and 16s respectively), and various midge patterns. The fish of the day came early--a 16-17 inch wild rainbow caught out of water that I usually never fish. I guess the few extra inches of water was all this riffle needed to hold a good bow. Actually, I think the abnormally high water this year has been great for the fish. Every trout we caught was fat and very healthy looking. I hope our precipitation pattern cooperates for next year.

The afternoon slowed, perhaps because we ran out of pimps, but there were plenty of fish that appeared to be actively feeding. The caddis hatch was strong and I believe the fish were eating the emergers. I threw a few emerger patterns and had some luck (i.e. LaFontaine’s pupa, soft hackles, etc.) but could not get fish to take my fly regularly. I was not armed with caddis larva which may have also proved useful. Needless to say, I need to do some tying before my next trip.

Unfortunately, Stone and I had to leave the river around 3 PM to make it back for previously scheduled events. Per usual, as quitting time approached the fishing picked up and fish began taking caddis dries regularly. We stuck several fish on standard, tan elk-hair caddis dries before hiking out. I imagine we missed a pretty solid caddis hatch. All in all it was a successful day. We each probably netted 10 fish or so and lost several more prior to putting them in hand.