Current River 02/26/2005

Where: Curent River Parker Hollow access I arrived at Parker Hollow around 9:00am. I hiked down stream and was planning on fishing back up because I had never been down there before. I must say it was a lot harder to fish than above. The first couple of riffles looked decent but I was trying to get away from the access and opted to pass them up. Third bend or so had the longest bluff/bend/pool ever. There was no bank and the water was waist deep and very slow with a sandy bottom. I walked down the whole thing which must have been 200 yards long hoping to spook up a fish. But I didn't see any. At this point I was about ready to turn around, but when on a new section of stream I have just got to see what is around the next bend. I'd proably have walked all the way to Cedar, but the water started looking a little better And I managed to pick up two decent rainbows! Both were gorgeous with a brilliant red streak down each side and white tipped fins. They had obviously been in the stream for a while. By this time it was noon and I back to Parker to grab a little lunch. Also two slim jims and a block of cheese are not a satisfying streamside lunch. After lunch I headed upstream and picked up two browns on a crackle back. About 1:30 pm bgreer and one of his buddies showed up. Also by the way the caddis were thick in the bushes. I continued upstream hoping to find a spot were the caddis were laying eggs or hatching. By this time it was about 2:30 and I was iching to catch a trout. I actually tied on a size 6 ginger mohair leech. (Matt this was the fly you tied and gave me when bnwise was in Rolla) Anyways I picked up two small Browns on it right away. A bit latter I missed a really nice fish. (Matt I think this would be a better pattern if you put stips of black down each side and maybe a bit of white underneath a well as one strand of flash). Then at the next bend the caddis were going crazy over the water and in the bushes. I didn't see any fish rising so I just sat and watched the run for a little while. After about ten minutes I the fish stated rising sporadically. I managed to pick up four browns out of this run, one of which that went 15 inches. About this time bgreer came down stream. I had been working a fish to no avail and turned over my spot to him. Turned out this was the exact same spot that he caught an 18 incher during the OC outing. I guess I'm a sucker! It was about 5:30 or 6 by this time and I parted ways with bgreer and proceeded to the car. Along the way I managed to pick up one more brown and miss a couple others. It was a great day, warm and sunny. The caddis never really came off liked I had hoped and about a dozen more fish would have been nice as well. I guess you can't be too picky though. That night I crashed with a bunch of high school buddies in Montauk. We had some great smoked turkey and way too much beer. The second best way to end a great day on the stream. I left Sunday and they were and still are in the process of camping untill Wednesday. Good luck guys.