Current River at Montauk Fishing Guides and Conditions, Missouri

About the Current River at Montauk

The Current River begins at Montauk State Park in the Missouri Ozarks, where Montauk Spring discharges roughly forty million gallons a day of fifty-eight degree water and turns a small creek into a river within a few hundred yards. The gauge inside the park sits at the top of that transformation, on water with a drainage area of under sixty square miles but a flow far larger than that area could otherwise produce. It is a spring creek in the truest sense, sustained by groundwater rather than runoff.

Montauk is one of Missouri’s four trout parks, and the fishery inside the park is built around daily stocking of rainbow trout with a smaller number of brown trout. It is a managed, accessible and frankly crowded fishery during the March through October catch and keep season, and it is deliberately so. Below the park boundary the river changes character quickly, becoming the wild, gravel-bottomed float stream that the Ozark National Scenic Riverways was created to protect.

The constant spring temperature is what makes this water work. It never freezes and it never warms past the range trout tolerate, so the fishing continues through the winter catch and release season when most Missouri water is unproductive. Fly anglers work scuds, midges and small streamers in the park, and the winter season is by far the quieter and more interesting fishing.

Access is straightforward. The park has parking, paths, a lodge and marked zones with different tackle restrictions. Anglers should read the zone signage carefully, because fly-only and bait-permitted water sit close together here. Anglers who want the wild version of this river rather than the park version can launch below the boundary and float toward Tan Vat and Baptist Camp, where the character changes entirely.

Access

Montauk State Park: the main access, with parking and marked fishing zones.
Park hatchery reach: the uppermost water immediately below the spring.
Fly-only zone: signed water within the park with tackle restrictions.
Park boundary: the transition to the wild river downstream.
Tan Vat: the first public access on the river below the park.
Baptist Camp: access further down the upper Current for float trips.
Note: a daily trout tag is required in the park during the catch and keep season.

Seasons

Winter: catch and release only, cold clear spring flow, and few anglers.
Spring: the catch and keep season opens in March and the park fills up.
Summer: constant spring temperature keeps the fishing going through the heat.
Fall: the season ends in October and the river returns to quiet water.