Well, it's been a while since I have posted anything and after a few not so subtle (also know as "hounding") hints from one of the other contributors of this blog (ahem...Chance) I decided I should probably write about something or face being kicked off the island!!!
So much has happened as far as fishing goes these past few months. A trip out west to God's country produced a couple of days worth of fantastic top water bass fishing. The kind of fishing that only happens every once in a great while, and was shared with a couple of people who I hold very dear to me. Then there was the usual chasing of bass and bluegill in the local neighborhood puddles, as well as my new venture into the mystery that is fly tying (which a whole other post in itself!!) But, as far as chasing trout goes, much of my time has been spent on the local water (actually the ONLY water within an hour drive that holds trout)....the Lower Illinois River below Tenkiller lake.
The more I fish this little stretch of stream, the more I am intrigued by its mystique and beauty. Early in the season, it is a typical put and take trout fishery with the trout eager to take anything you present them with. But, as the season has progressed, so has the attitude of the trout in the stream. Sure, the fish are still stockers, but the constant pounding by weekend warriors such as myself has made them a little more wary. Long gone are the hatches of the "big bugs" with the remaining hatches getting smaller and smaller in both size and number. All of these things, combined with the up and downs of electrical generation and the resulting variance in water temperatures that come with it, has definitely made the fishing a tad bit more interesting.
The most recent trip to the LIR found me standing stream side at 6:45 a.m. watching fish take bugs just under the surface. Emergers!! (or so my caffeine wired brain deduced). It was true, the trout were taking emergers just under the surface, but what? A quick scan of the water and banks surrounding it showed no signs of fluttering insects. Then, after squinting and stooping to the waters surface, I saw them. The one bug that can make a fly fisherman mumble unmentionable words under his breath, while images of 7X tippet, and microscopic flies flash through his mind. The one bug that will make you contemplate whether to just throw your rod in the water and call it a day, or continue to fish into madness.......you guessed it, I am talking MIDGES!! There were hundreds of them riding the current in all their creme colored glory as they emerged and dried their wings. "Great, just great" I thought as I began sorting through the fly box for something that even remotely resembled one of the tiny creatures in its various stages of life. I had the typical zebra midges in all the standard colors, but nothing that even suggested an emerging midge or an adult riding the surface.
Then, after digging through a half dozen fly boxes I saw it. It was a tan bodied sparkle dun (tied on a 3x long size 20 curved shank hook) that I had whipped up a few days before for shits and giggles. I carefully let out line as I began to build my loop, then watched as all my hard work piled into a ball of leader and tippet on the water with a splash. And, as if to mock me, the sparkle dun settled as neatly and quietly as a feather on top of the whole mess. So, after untangling and re-rigging everything it was time for attempt number two. The second cast, although I wouldn't call it graceful, was successful but failed to entice a trout into biting. "Too much drag" I thought as I picked up and adjusted my approach. Finally, on about the fourth or so cast, a trout decided that he liked what he saw and so the game began. A multitude of other dry flies, nymphs, and even foam hoppers were tried throughout the day. But, the little sparkle dun consistently produced the most fish the rest of the trip, with every fish caught being earned.
That night was spent at the tying bench after a quick trip to get some smaller hooks. CDC midge emergers and dries in size 18 should do the trick (or so I thought in my mind). With no real pattern to build on (and being too lazy to drag out the computer to look one up) I winged it and tried my best to imitate the little bugs I had seen that morning from memory. I thought they looked pretty damn good when I had finished them, but the fish would be the ultimate judges the next day.
The next morning I found myself in the same riffle, same time, same situation.....eerie. The fish were rising just under the surface taking emerging midges, just as the day before. The moment of truth had come. I laid the little CDC emerger just ahead of a porpoising trout and held my breath. "Wait a second, where did the damn thing go?" I thought to myself as I lost track of the tiny fly and the panic set in! A fish had risen in the area I thought my fly was in....I think, but I didn't set the hook quick enough. Had he taken the fly and spit it, or had he risen on something else and missed my fly entirely? Was the drift good enough...etc....and so began the never ending thought process of the fly fisherman.
After pulling myself together, and sharpening my concentration, I began the second cast. I squinted as hard as I could and watched the tiny fly float to the surface of the water in the dim light. It was off to a good start, heading towards the same fish from the previous drift (drag fee even!!!). The seconds passed like hours, the fly was nearing the feeding fish, my eyes were burning from squinting so hard, and........slurp. SET THE HOOK, SET THE FREAKING HOOK!!!, my mind screamed as I slowly lifted the rod tip and connected with the telltale weight of a wiggly trout at the other end. Success.
I have caught many fish on flies I have tied in the short period I have been doing so, and every time it is a great feeling. But that single fish on that morning represented something so much more for me as a developing fly fisherman. For the first time, I took an observation I had made on the water home with me with a specific goal in mind. I wanted to try and match what the fish were after, instead of settling for something already in my box and trying to make it work like I usually do (which isn't a bad skill to have by any means, but beside the point). So, with that one fish everything I had pondered and planned came full circle....life was good.
Many people who are unfamiliar with our "condition" may not understand why anyone would go to such lengths to match wits with a dumb fish. To this day, I still haven't found a good answer. There is a certain allure to fly fishing and everything that goes with it that is hard to explain. For me, the never ending room for constant improvement is one of the things that keeps me coming back (not to mention that it is also a LOT of fun).
I guess you could say that some people prefer yoga or meditation, but me.....I prefer catching fish on the fly.
Tight lines,
_c_A_c_
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
In Search of the Slam - Day Two
We rose the next morning, once again, at 5 a.m. with our fingers crossed for low water on the White. I jumped on the laptop and checked the generation page while Joey called the dam hotline. The hotline and the website hadn't been updated in a couple of hours but the graph showed the water to be falling so we took a chance, jumped in the Subaru, and headed for Bull Shoals State Park. We arrived to see high, fast flowing water which dashed our hopes of fishing the White. Joey called the hotline again and they updated it, stating the dam was running 2 units. Damn the luck...
We decided to head back to the Norfork and fish the C&R section again. We arrived at the parking lot to find it only about half-full which was a great sight to see. We geared up and decided to hike farther upstream this morning to fish some of the other shoals. We hiked up past the sections we fished the day before, which were covered with anglers this morning. We kept hiking till we thought we'd gotten away from the people....and we kept going. It was a good decision as we came up on an awesome looking plunge pool with a shoal below it that had a nice run that created a sweet tailout pool. Excellent water....
Joey began working the head of the run while I re-rigged and on the first drift, fish on! If that was any kind of a sign as to things to come, we were in for special treat. I quickly re-rigged, waded in half-way down the run, and on my 3rd drift set the hook on a nice rainbow. It was going to be a good morning! We worked our way down the run, fishing it from each side...pulling trout out left and right. I was fishing a tandem nymph rig once again with a brown san juan worm while swapping out different colors of scuds and midges for my dropper. Joey just stuck with the brown san juan worm. The fish were really loving the san juan today...
At this point in the trip, I was just a cutthroat away from having my Grand Slam and Joey needed a brookie so hopes were high for a double slam! Hopes were high we'd both get it. We fished out the lower run all the way down to the tailout, picking up fish the whole way but I couldn't get a cuttie nor could Joey get a brookie. After that we walked around to fish the plunge pool area of the shoal. This area was pretty sweet, each little waterfall creating a small run/riffle that was LOADED with fish! There were a few fish rising so Joey switched to dries and was able to get into a few fish while I was high-sticking the pocket water.
I walked over to a spot on the "ledge" of the plunge pool where several small waterfalls converged together to make a nice run with a deep hole below it. Before casting, I took a look into the hole as several fish were moving in and out. Luckily, I could identify a few cutthroat in the hole by spotting their orange fins...this was my chance at the Slam! I re-tied my flies back on so I'd have fresh knots and began high-sticking the hole. I caught a couple of good rainbows quickly on the midge dropper that put up a great fight and showed some acrobatics. My next drift I dropped my rig over on the far side of the run and watched the indicator dance its way through the run. Just before picking up to re-cast, my indicator twitched ever so slightly and I set the hook! I peered into the water to see flashes of orange...yes, it was a cutthroat!! Finally! It wasn't a very big cuttie but it completely my 2nd grand slam...I was pretty stoked!
Shortly after that, we began making our back downstream towards the parking lot. We found some fish rising along the way and made some half-hearted presentations to them but they were sipping midges in the film so we decided to move on. We fish the bottom of one of the runs we fished the day before and caught a few more fish before calling it quits. We were hot, tired, and hungry plus they were scheduled to start generating in an hour so we headed for the parking lot and packed up our gear.
It was a great weekend trip even though we didn't get to fish the White and Joey missed his Grand Slam by 1 fish. The Norfork is an awesome tailwater to say the least. Plans are being made to return to Arkansas again in August in hopes of fishing the White during hopper season, so we'll cross our fingers once again.
In the meantime, I'm thinking a smallmouth wade trip is in order for tomorrow...
Keep chasing the dream...
We decided to head back to the Norfork and fish the C&R section again. We arrived at the parking lot to find it only about half-full which was a great sight to see. We geared up and decided to hike farther upstream this morning to fish some of the other shoals. We hiked up past the sections we fished the day before, which were covered with anglers this morning. We kept hiking till we thought we'd gotten away from the people....and we kept going. It was a good decision as we came up on an awesome looking plunge pool with a shoal below it that had a nice run that created a sweet tailout pool. Excellent water....
Joey began working the head of the run while I re-rigged and on the first drift, fish on! If that was any kind of a sign as to things to come, we were in for special treat. I quickly re-rigged, waded in half-way down the run, and on my 3rd drift set the hook on a nice rainbow. It was going to be a good morning! We worked our way down the run, fishing it from each side...pulling trout out left and right. I was fishing a tandem nymph rig once again with a brown san juan worm while swapping out different colors of scuds and midges for my dropper. Joey just stuck with the brown san juan worm. The fish were really loving the san juan today...
At this point in the trip, I was just a cutthroat away from having my Grand Slam and Joey needed a brookie so hopes were high for a double slam! Hopes were high we'd both get it. We fished out the lower run all the way down to the tailout, picking up fish the whole way but I couldn't get a cuttie nor could Joey get a brookie. After that we walked around to fish the plunge pool area of the shoal. This area was pretty sweet, each little waterfall creating a small run/riffle that was LOADED with fish! There were a few fish rising so Joey switched to dries and was able to get into a few fish while I was high-sticking the pocket water.
I walked over to a spot on the "ledge" of the plunge pool where several small waterfalls converged together to make a nice run with a deep hole below it. Before casting, I took a look into the hole as several fish were moving in and out. Luckily, I could identify a few cutthroat in the hole by spotting their orange fins...this was my chance at the Slam! I re-tied my flies back on so I'd have fresh knots and began high-sticking the hole. I caught a couple of good rainbows quickly on the midge dropper that put up a great fight and showed some acrobatics. My next drift I dropped my rig over on the far side of the run and watched the indicator dance its way through the run. Just before picking up to re-cast, my indicator twitched ever so slightly and I set the hook! I peered into the water to see flashes of orange...yes, it was a cutthroat!! Finally! It wasn't a very big cuttie but it completely my 2nd grand slam...I was pretty stoked!
Shortly after that, we began making our back downstream towards the parking lot. We found some fish rising along the way and made some half-hearted presentations to them but they were sipping midges in the film so we decided to move on. We fish the bottom of one of the runs we fished the day before and caught a few more fish before calling it quits. We were hot, tired, and hungry plus they were scheduled to start generating in an hour so we headed for the parking lot and packed up our gear.
It was a great weekend trip even though we didn't get to fish the White and Joey missed his Grand Slam by 1 fish. The Norfork is an awesome tailwater to say the least. Plans are being made to return to Arkansas again in August in hopes of fishing the White during hopper season, so we'll cross our fingers once again.
In the meantime, I'm thinking a smallmouth wade trip is in order for tomorrow...
Keep chasing the dream...
In Search of the Slam - Day One
First off, I'd like to apologize for the lack of posts lately to the blog. With summer being here, work has been crazy and my pregnant wife needs my help more and more with day-to-day chores so time has been limited. Don't know what my other "elite fish bum" friends have been doing and why they haven't been posting as I know they've all been fishing. Oh well...it really doesnt matter. Its just a blog...
Anyways, a couple weeks back, Joey and I were lucky enough to take a full weekend trip to Arkansas in hopes of fishing the legendary waters of the White and Norfork Rivers. Generation schedules showed that the water would be off till 3:00 p.m. both days on the Norfork and then only a half generator for the White on sunday which would offer PRIMO wading conditions. I packed my gear up after work, set a course for Rogers to meet Joey at his house where we'd throw our stuff in the Subaru, and make the final trek to Mountain Home.
The next morning we rose from our beds at 5:00 a.m. at the River Rock Inn (cheap motel but super comfy beds) and checked the generation on both rivers. The White was generating as was scheduled but the Norfork had been off since midnight so we headed for Quarry Park below Norfork Dam. We arrived to find that we were the 1st ones to the parking lot and only 1 other person on the water so we geared up quickly. The area below the dam has a couple of sweet sections of water followed by a long stretch of "dead" water. We started at the 1st shoal directly in front of the parking lot and begain working the seams with tandem nymph rigs. It didn't take long before Joey was hooked up with a solid brown at the head of the run. I quickly reeled in and grabbed Joeys long handled Broden net to assist him in landing the fish. After some solid runs and a few quick moves to avoid the net, I finally landed the fish and it was a solid Norfork brown. Joey got his 1st of the 4 species that make up the Arkansas Grand Slam (Rainbow, Brown, Brook, and Cutthroat).
I got my 1st fish shortly after with a stocker rainbow that I plucked from a deep hole on a brown san juan worm. Got the 1st of the 4 for the Slam, only 3 to go! I followed that fish up with another stocker sized brown that sipped the scud that I was fishing as a dropper. Joey continued to pluck fish after fish out of the riffle upstream of me, with all those fish being stocker rainbows and browns minus a decent cutthroat that he caught before moving on.
We worked our way through that shoal till we go to the tailout where it widened out and go DEEP. We saw some NICE fish hanging out right at the drop-off where the shallow riffle opened up to the bigger water. We put several drifts by them but they had no interest in what we offered them, but man they were nice fish. They'd just move in and out of that little pocket...they were all in the 3-5lb range I'd guess. Solid fish...
We moved downstream and worked a couple of side channels where we plucked a few fish here and there but no consistant action really. The highlight of that section was my last fish that I caught before we left. I was high-sticking a small riffle when my indicator dove so I set to find that it was a pretty small fish. Upon first glance, I thought it was a rainbow but after landing it we realized it was a brook trout! I love these fish, I think they are the freaking sweetest looking trout on the planet. Obviously these hatchery fish don't have all the vibrant colors of a wild fish but they're still pretty. This species is the hardest to come by on the White or the Norfork as they seem to congregate close to the dams and there just isn't near as many as the other species. I've heard rumors of HUGE brookies that hang out close to Norfork dam, past the cable where you can't fish...man, what I would give to hook one of them! Anyways...this was species #3 on the list, all I needed was a cutthroat which as the weekend went out, turned into quite a challenge to complete.
We packed up shortly after this to go grab some food and make a pitstop at the Blue Ribbon Fly Shop as we needed a few odds and ends plus I just like going to fly shops as each one has its own "flavor".
After picking up some tippet, split shot, and a few indicators...we drove down to the C&R section on Norfork, just upstream of its confluence with the White. This section has plenty of awesome water to offer but its heavily fished as well by fly fisherman. Luckily, after a short hike upstream, we had 2 of the better runs to ourselves and were greeted with rising trout. We knew that Sulphers had been coming off on the White and Norfork for the past few weeks but we were told that the hatch was starting to taper off. What we found was a sporiadic hatch as the fish were rising randomly all across both runs. Neither one of us had any Sulphers (idiots) so Joey tied on a creme Elk Hair Caddis and I went with a Light Cahill. The fun was on after that! We caught lots of fish by targeting specifically rising trout as we worked our way through this section. Browns, rainbows, and cutties steadily came to the net, although I still hadn't even HOOKED a cutthroat. The fishing was awesome to say the least for the remaining hours we fished till the generation started. There's nothing more fun than doing some "head hunting" for rising trout on dries.
Anyways, a couple weeks back, Joey and I were lucky enough to take a full weekend trip to Arkansas in hopes of fishing the legendary waters of the White and Norfork Rivers. Generation schedules showed that the water would be off till 3:00 p.m. both days on the Norfork and then only a half generator for the White on sunday which would offer PRIMO wading conditions. I packed my gear up after work, set a course for Rogers to meet Joey at his house where we'd throw our stuff in the Subaru, and make the final trek to Mountain Home.
The next morning we rose from our beds at 5:00 a.m. at the River Rock Inn (cheap motel but super comfy beds) and checked the generation on both rivers. The White was generating as was scheduled but the Norfork had been off since midnight so we headed for Quarry Park below Norfork Dam. We arrived to find that we were the 1st ones to the parking lot and only 1 other person on the water so we geared up quickly. The area below the dam has a couple of sweet sections of water followed by a long stretch of "dead" water. We started at the 1st shoal directly in front of the parking lot and begain working the seams with tandem nymph rigs. It didn't take long before Joey was hooked up with a solid brown at the head of the run. I quickly reeled in and grabbed Joeys long handled Broden net to assist him in landing the fish. After some solid runs and a few quick moves to avoid the net, I finally landed the fish and it was a solid Norfork brown. Joey got his 1st of the 4 species that make up the Arkansas Grand Slam (Rainbow, Brown, Brook, and Cutthroat).
I got my 1st fish shortly after with a stocker rainbow that I plucked from a deep hole on a brown san juan worm. Got the 1st of the 4 for the Slam, only 3 to go! I followed that fish up with another stocker sized brown that sipped the scud that I was fishing as a dropper. Joey continued to pluck fish after fish out of the riffle upstream of me, with all those fish being stocker rainbows and browns minus a decent cutthroat that he caught before moving on.
We worked our way through that shoal till we go to the tailout where it widened out and go DEEP. We saw some NICE fish hanging out right at the drop-off where the shallow riffle opened up to the bigger water. We put several drifts by them but they had no interest in what we offered them, but man they were nice fish. They'd just move in and out of that little pocket...they were all in the 3-5lb range I'd guess. Solid fish...
We moved downstream and worked a couple of side channels where we plucked a few fish here and there but no consistant action really. The highlight of that section was my last fish that I caught before we left. I was high-sticking a small riffle when my indicator dove so I set to find that it was a pretty small fish. Upon first glance, I thought it was a rainbow but after landing it we realized it was a brook trout! I love these fish, I think they are the freaking sweetest looking trout on the planet. Obviously these hatchery fish don't have all the vibrant colors of a wild fish but they're still pretty. This species is the hardest to come by on the White or the Norfork as they seem to congregate close to the dams and there just isn't near as many as the other species. I've heard rumors of HUGE brookies that hang out close to Norfork dam, past the cable where you can't fish...man, what I would give to hook one of them! Anyways...this was species #3 on the list, all I needed was a cutthroat which as the weekend went out, turned into quite a challenge to complete.
We packed up shortly after this to go grab some food and make a pitstop at the Blue Ribbon Fly Shop as we needed a few odds and ends plus I just like going to fly shops as each one has its own "flavor".
After picking up some tippet, split shot, and a few indicators...we drove down to the C&R section on Norfork, just upstream of its confluence with the White. This section has plenty of awesome water to offer but its heavily fished as well by fly fisherman. Luckily, after a short hike upstream, we had 2 of the better runs to ourselves and were greeted with rising trout. We knew that Sulphers had been coming off on the White and Norfork for the past few weeks but we were told that the hatch was starting to taper off. What we found was a sporiadic hatch as the fish were rising randomly all across both runs. Neither one of us had any Sulphers (idiots) so Joey tied on a creme Elk Hair Caddis and I went with a Light Cahill. The fun was on after that! We caught lots of fish by targeting specifically rising trout as we worked our way through this section. Browns, rainbows, and cutties steadily came to the net, although I still hadn't even HOOKED a cutthroat. The fishing was awesome to say the least for the remaining hours we fished till the generation started. There's nothing more fun than doing some "head hunting" for rising trout on dries.
We packed up and headed for Gassville to find a hotel closer to the White so we could get on the water early. We chose the Brass Door Motel to take a load off, get a hot shower, and then left to go get some grub. If you're looking for a nice place to eat in the area, check out the Americana Grill in Flippin. Great service, price, and food. We spent the rest of the evening at the hotel sorting gear, tying flies, and developing a plan of attack for the White as we crossed our fingers that the generation schedule would be true...
A few last minute flies...
Monday, June 7, 2010
Return to my youth...
Some of my earliest memories of fishing are of floating and fishing the Upper Illinois River in Eastern Oklahoma with my family. We owned a couple of acres of riverside property where we'd go to camp out, fish, and float the river throughout the summer. It was great times to say the least. There was one particular fish that sticks out in those memories, a fish that we called "brownies" aka the smallmouth bass. I'd entertain myself for hours catching them with my old Ugly Stick/Zebco 33 combo, chunking Mepps spinners into the deep holes.
Fast forward almost 20 years to a couple weekends ago and there I was doing the same thing, floating a small river in a canoe in pursuit of the fabled "bronze-backs". It had indeed been almost 20 years since I had last fished for, let alone caught, a smallmouth bass. I was super excited to say the least. The drawback was that Joey and I were going to do the float on Memorial Day weekend, not exactly the best timing. After a little research, we decided to float a small river (that will remain unidentified) that flows in the Elk River, in hopes that most of the weekend floaters would be on the Elk. We put in about 3 miles above the confluence with the Elk River with hopes of big smallmouth and very little floaters!
We decided to bring the spinning rods and conventional tackle along with our fly rods just in case the bite was slow on the fly and because trying to cast a sink tip line on a 7wt with a clouser could be sketchy in a canoe. This little creek we floated was freaking amazing. Crystal clear cool water with tons of sweet looking water that could possibly hold a toad of a smallie! Lots of lay-downs, boulders, and deep holes provided tons of spots to toss a lure or fly. We started with our spinning rods, Joey throwing a texas-rigged watermelon lizard and me throwing a 1/8 ounce chart. spinnerbait. We worked the canoe around a little gravel bar island with a nice backwater hole on one side and a deep slow run on the other side. A few minutes later I was hooked up with my 1st smallmouth in almost 20 years! I couldn't believe how hard these fish fight, its amazing! I was really really excited.
A little further downstream, Joey picked up this nice smallie as we worked a deep rock ledge from the canoe.
We continued our float down the river, picking up smallies along the way in all the likely spots. This little river was just loaded with fish, I was impressed. More excitement came about in the form of a downed tree that created some small "rapids" that we had to take the canoe through. I hadn't been in a canoe in a very long time and was still wary of being in such a narrow boat, so I was pretty nervous coming up to the downed tree. We lined up with it and just paddled hard through it...the ol' Buffalo canoe shot through the chute with no problems at all. I'm not going to lie, I was holding my breath the whole time. After that I was good to go...
We hadn't caught a fish on the fly yet at this point so we came to a nice stretch of river that would allow us to do some wade fishing, beached the canoe, and dug out the fly sticks. I tied on a brown/orange clouser and walked upstream to a small side-channel that cut behind the gravel island we'd beached the canoe on. This little channel wasn't much more than 6-8ft wide and just a few foot deep but Joey said the smallmouth will move up in there if there is cover and shade. At the mouth of the channel was a small rock ledge with a deep hole so I launched the clouser just above it and let the current carry it into the hole. After the clouser disappeared into the depths, I began stripping it back towards me which was followed by a hard strike! I set the hook and pulled a good smallmouth from the hole, my first on the fly rod!
We pulled several good smallies from that stretch of the river before shoving off to finish the last leg of our float. We finally started to see floaters coming down the river at this time and, as we approached the confluence with the Elk River, could hear all the yahoos screaming and yelling. It was at this point that we decided to pack it in and paddle our way through the masses to meet Joeys dad at the take out. As we paddled, we got to experience 3 of the biggest hatches you'll ever see on the Elk River...the rubber hatch (rubber rafts), the aluminum hatch (canoes), and the bikini hatch (the girls in the rafts and canoes). It was quite a circus on the river, people everywhere!! We pushed through the heavy hatches and made our way to the takeout to end the day...
I'm now hooked on float fishing for smallmouth. I hadn't had that much fun fishing in a very long time. Brought back so many fond memories of fishing with my family, especially my dad, who taught me how to fish. The smallmouth bass is an awesome game fish to say the least, whether caught on conventional or fly tackle. I can't wait to get back in a canoe and chase 'em!
I'm officially a river rat...
Fast forward almost 20 years to a couple weekends ago and there I was doing the same thing, floating a small river in a canoe in pursuit of the fabled "bronze-backs". It had indeed been almost 20 years since I had last fished for, let alone caught, a smallmouth bass. I was super excited to say the least. The drawback was that Joey and I were going to do the float on Memorial Day weekend, not exactly the best timing. After a little research, we decided to float a small river (that will remain unidentified) that flows in the Elk River, in hopes that most of the weekend floaters would be on the Elk. We put in about 3 miles above the confluence with the Elk River with hopes of big smallmouth and very little floaters!
We decided to bring the spinning rods and conventional tackle along with our fly rods just in case the bite was slow on the fly and because trying to cast a sink tip line on a 7wt with a clouser could be sketchy in a canoe. This little creek we floated was freaking amazing. Crystal clear cool water with tons of sweet looking water that could possibly hold a toad of a smallie! Lots of lay-downs, boulders, and deep holes provided tons of spots to toss a lure or fly. We started with our spinning rods, Joey throwing a texas-rigged watermelon lizard and me throwing a 1/8 ounce chart. spinnerbait. We worked the canoe around a little gravel bar island with a nice backwater hole on one side and a deep slow run on the other side. A few minutes later I was hooked up with my 1st smallmouth in almost 20 years! I couldn't believe how hard these fish fight, its amazing! I was really really excited.
A little further downstream, Joey picked up this nice smallie as we worked a deep rock ledge from the canoe.
We continued our float down the river, picking up smallies along the way in all the likely spots. This little river was just loaded with fish, I was impressed. More excitement came about in the form of a downed tree that created some small "rapids" that we had to take the canoe through. I hadn't been in a canoe in a very long time and was still wary of being in such a narrow boat, so I was pretty nervous coming up to the downed tree. We lined up with it and just paddled hard through it...the ol' Buffalo canoe shot through the chute with no problems at all. I'm not going to lie, I was holding my breath the whole time. After that I was good to go...
We hadn't caught a fish on the fly yet at this point so we came to a nice stretch of river that would allow us to do some wade fishing, beached the canoe, and dug out the fly sticks. I tied on a brown/orange clouser and walked upstream to a small side-channel that cut behind the gravel island we'd beached the canoe on. This little channel wasn't much more than 6-8ft wide and just a few foot deep but Joey said the smallmouth will move up in there if there is cover and shade. At the mouth of the channel was a small rock ledge with a deep hole so I launched the clouser just above it and let the current carry it into the hole. After the clouser disappeared into the depths, I began stripping it back towards me which was followed by a hard strike! I set the hook and pulled a good smallmouth from the hole, my first on the fly rod!
We pulled several good smallies from that stretch of the river before shoving off to finish the last leg of our float. We finally started to see floaters coming down the river at this time and, as we approached the confluence with the Elk River, could hear all the yahoos screaming and yelling. It was at this point that we decided to pack it in and paddle our way through the masses to meet Joeys dad at the take out. As we paddled, we got to experience 3 of the biggest hatches you'll ever see on the Elk River...the rubber hatch (rubber rafts), the aluminum hatch (canoes), and the bikini hatch (the girls in the rafts and canoes). It was quite a circus on the river, people everywhere!! We pushed through the heavy hatches and made our way to the takeout to end the day...
I'm now hooked on float fishing for smallmouth. I hadn't had that much fun fishing in a very long time. Brought back so many fond memories of fishing with my family, especially my dad, who taught me how to fish. The smallmouth bass is an awesome game fish to say the least, whether caught on conventional or fly tackle. I can't wait to get back in a canoe and chase 'em!
I'm officially a river rat...
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Crappy forecast, trash fish, and broken rods...
Now that Donny and Chance had given us solid proof that the stripers were in Tulsa, our group was pumped. We all checked gear and caught up on our chores at home during the week so we could have the whole weekend to fish. There was only one thing that could blow all of our plans apart – weather. In case you’re not familiar with Oklahoma weather, springtime is a mixed bag of rain and shine, hot and cold, and the always present threat of hail and tornadoes. Anything can happen, and the local weatherman’s forecast is to be taken with a grain (or spoonful) of salt. Saturday morning came upon us with a forecast of 90% chance of rain, and the ‘addict from Arkansas’ Joey Cloer was up around 4 a.m. to check the radar. With no signs of immediate doom on the screen, he was on the road with a quick wake-up call to Chance to spread the good news. We’re going fishing!
6:45 a.m. found us at Swift Park just below Keystone Dam. We had been hearing good things about the area for the past couple weeks, and while waiting for the water to drop at Zink we decided to scout it out. The water here was pretty wide and deep, so we geared up and headed downstream, scaling the rocky shoreline and dreaming of drift boats. The humidity this morning was around 112%, so about the time that sweat started pooling up in the bottom of our waders we were pretty relieved to come across a rocky point where the river narrowed a bit and looked fishable. After about an hour of casting all around the point and a pile of boulders out in the middle of the river we hadn’t got a bite from anything other than rocks, so we decided to pack it in and head down to Zink Dam.
When we arrived at Zink the water had dropped to a few hundred cf/s, so we were all pretty optimistic about finding some fish. There were plenty of people lining the banks near the dam fishing with lures or bait, so we worked our way quickly downstream to the area where Donny and Chance had caught their stripers. Lo and behold, Joey was the only one to hook up downstream, landing a couple of small drum. We waded back up by the dam to see if they were biting up there, and along the way Joey hooked into a couple more drum.
Once we had worked our way to the east side of the river we finally got some action. While perched on top of some rocks in order to avoid being knocked over by a herd of gar, I tied on a fly that I had bought just because I liked its name… the Thunder Chicken. Sure enough, on the third cast I set the hook on a nice bite and reeled in a 15” blue catfish. Never would have thought that I would catch one on a fly rod, but that just shows how much I know.
Just before we decided to call it a day, Cole hooked up and landed a nice hybrid. Finally, we had caught one of the fish we were after! Still, the fish had been slow to bite all day long, so we packed it in and headed for home.
Sunday morning found Donny, Chance, and I gearing up to try the Arkansas again, with yet another day forecasted for rain. Never the less, we waded in downstream of Zink and spread out along the area where Donny and Chance had landed their stripers the week before.
Within a few minutes we were getting bites, and all of a sudden my rod bent like I’d hooked onto the back of a go-cart! Line started shooting off of my reel as the fish made the first of many long runs. This was a striper for sure!
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Shortly after I landed my fish, the hole played out (minus a channel cat that liked deceivers) and we started working our way upstream.
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Donny and Chance tucked in close to the pillars in front of the dam and caught a few fish, while I had spotted a school of large buffalo and decided to give them a try. They were running shad right under the pedestrian bridge, but no matter what pattern I put in front of them none would bite. I did, however, manage to hook a nice sized moss rock. I tried to roll cast off of it in hopes of not having to wade right through the fish, and I heard a loud POP right next to my ear. It turns out that my shiny, brand new, only had it a week, first weekend on the water, 9’6” Albright GP 8wt. rod had snapped in half.* Well this put a damper on things, so after a short conference we called it a morning, hoping that the clouds would clear off and bring us better fishing in the afternoon.
The afternoon turned out to be beautiful with plenty of sun, so we got brave and wet-waded up and down the river. Yet again few fish were to be found, but we departed the Arkansas at dusk with plans of future fishing trips already working in our minds, some good memories, and a pretty cool photo or two…
*Long story short- even though I had only used the rod for a few hours and had only possessed it for less than seven days, Albright refused to back their product and bluntly told me that I would just have to buy another rod. Since, I have read numerous reports of bad customer service and outright rudeness on Albright’s behalf, and refuse to conduct any future business with them. I only post this for the awareness of other anglers in the hope that they can avoid this experience.
6:45 a.m. found us at Swift Park just below Keystone Dam. We had been hearing good things about the area for the past couple weeks, and while waiting for the water to drop at Zink we decided to scout it out. The water here was pretty wide and deep, so we geared up and headed downstream, scaling the rocky shoreline and dreaming of drift boats. The humidity this morning was around 112%, so about the time that sweat started pooling up in the bottom of our waders we were pretty relieved to come across a rocky point where the river narrowed a bit and looked fishable. After about an hour of casting all around the point and a pile of boulders out in the middle of the river we hadn’t got a bite from anything other than rocks, so we decided to pack it in and head down to Zink Dam.
When we arrived at Zink the water had dropped to a few hundred cf/s, so we were all pretty optimistic about finding some fish. There were plenty of people lining the banks near the dam fishing with lures or bait, so we worked our way quickly downstream to the area where Donny and Chance had caught their stripers. Lo and behold, Joey was the only one to hook up downstream, landing a couple of small drum. We waded back up by the dam to see if they were biting up there, and along the way Joey hooked into a couple more drum.
Once we had worked our way to the east side of the river we finally got some action. While perched on top of some rocks in order to avoid being knocked over by a herd of gar, I tied on a fly that I had bought just because I liked its name… the Thunder Chicken. Sure enough, on the third cast I set the hook on a nice bite and reeled in a 15” blue catfish. Never would have thought that I would catch one on a fly rod, but that just shows how much I know.
Just before we decided to call it a day, Cole hooked up and landed a nice hybrid. Finally, we had caught one of the fish we were after! Still, the fish had been slow to bite all day long, so we packed it in and headed for home.
Sunday morning found Donny, Chance, and I gearing up to try the Arkansas again, with yet another day forecasted for rain. Never the less, we waded in downstream of Zink and spread out along the area where Donny and Chance had landed their stripers the week before.
Within a few minutes we were getting bites, and all of a sudden my rod bent like I’d hooked onto the back of a go-cart! Line started shooting off of my reel as the fish made the first of many long runs. This was a striper for sure!
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After about five minutes and a quick lesson on how to play big fish on a fly reel, my arms were burning as I landed my first striper on fly tackle. She wasn’t a monster, but she was still by far the biggest fish this newb has had on the end of his leader.
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Shortly after I landed my fish, the hole played out (minus a channel cat that liked deceivers) and we started working our way upstream.
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Donny and Chance tucked in close to the pillars in front of the dam and caught a few fish, while I had spotted a school of large buffalo and decided to give them a try. They were running shad right under the pedestrian bridge, but no matter what pattern I put in front of them none would bite. I did, however, manage to hook a nice sized moss rock. I tried to roll cast off of it in hopes of not having to wade right through the fish, and I heard a loud POP right next to my ear. It turns out that my shiny, brand new, only had it a week, first weekend on the water, 9’6” Albright GP 8wt. rod had snapped in half.* Well this put a damper on things, so after a short conference we called it a morning, hoping that the clouds would clear off and bring us better fishing in the afternoon.
The afternoon turned out to be beautiful with plenty of sun, so we got brave and wet-waded up and down the river. Yet again few fish were to be found, but we departed the Arkansas at dusk with plans of future fishing trips already working in our minds, some good memories, and a pretty cool photo or two…
Crik
*Long story short- even though I had only used the rod for a few hours and had only possessed it for less than seven days, Albright refused to back their product and bluntly told me that I would just have to buy another rod. Since, I have read numerous reports of bad customer service and outright rudeness on Albright’s behalf, and refuse to conduct any future business with them. I only post this for the awareness of other anglers in the hope that they can avoid this experience.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
The search continues...
Day Two
The next day provided an opportunity that we don't get to see very much as striper fisherman in Oklahoma...low water on the Arkansas River below Zink Dam. The low water pedestrian bridge and dam at 31st and Riverside in Tulsa provides awesome wade fishing WHEN and IF they actually close the flood gates on the dam. It doesn't happen very often so when it does happen, we always try to take advantage of it because great things usually happen. What happens during the striper run is the fish start to run upstream and Zink Dam basically stops them from going any further so what happens is you can find the fish stacked up in the deep holes and flats downstream of the dam where they feed on shad and spawn. It can be epic fishing...
Fellow addict Donny met me at the parking lot across the street from Zink Dam at 6 a.m. to get an early start on our search for the elusive striped bass. We started fishing below the east flood gate as there's a deep hole below the gate that opens up to a large flat that usually holds lots of fish. We worked our way around the flat while catching a new mess of sand bass and hybrids but no stripers were found.
We worked our way across the river to the other flood gate which has another deep hole below it but instead of a flat it has a spillway flowing into the deep hole from across the river from the other flood gate so the fish usually stack up in the deep hole or in the current where the spillway enters. We spent some time but only brought more sand bass to hand. Still no stripers. I talked to a few guys who were fishing with surf rods to see if they'd caught any stripers yet, nothing for them either! So we decided to keep heading downstream as there were a few more deep holes to work over...
We fished our way downstream, combing the depths of all the likely looking deep holes just hoping to find the fish but we were striking out. Frustration had started to sink in as we continued the walk downstream towards PSO when I noticed a guy fishing with conventional tackle that was hooked up with a fish...a fish that had his rod doubled over! Donny and I stopped to watch the guy pull in a nice striper off of a big flat just below PSO. Our hopes were renewed as we hiked downstream to the big flat and struck up a converstaion with the guy. Turns out he had 5 NICE stripers on his stringer, all of them over 10lbs plus he said he's caught around 15 fish in the 5-20lb range...all on topwater plugs! He also was a member of the OzarkAnglers fishing forum as he recognized me from pictures I had posted so it was cool to meet someone you only knew before as a username. He told us the fish had been chasing shad the last few hours, feeding heavily, but the bite had started to slow down. What a bummer...
Donny and I were determined though so we started working the flat with our clousers and deceivers, hoping for a strike. It didn't take long as I broke off a fish and missed a few strikes but then Donny got a solid hookset into a fish that made an impressive run. All Donny could say as the fish ran was "Oh my god! Holy shit!" along with a few other explicitives. It took all the line out of his hand and followed up by almost getting into the back. I'm trying to coach him while I quickly reel in so I could help with landing the fish when all of a sudden the line goes slack. Upon reeling in his line and inspecting the fly, we found that the fish had straightened the freaking hook!! It must of been a toad of a fish to say the least. Our confidence was once again renewed so we went back to ritual of the "chuck and duck" as we launched our big flies into the murky water.
Several minutes passed before all of I heard the same excited screams again from Donald as he had another fish ripping line from his reel! This time we were landing this fish! The fish made several hard runs all the while shaking its head like crazy...you could see the rod just throbbing in Donnys hand. Donny fought the fish like a seasoned veteran, wore the fish down, and brought the fish in close. Now the next issue was trying to land the fish with no net and being 50-75 yards away from shore. I walked out to the fish and tried to lip him a few times but couldnt get it done. Finally Donny got the fishes head up and started to pull him towards me so that I was able to tail the fish momentarily while I finally got my hand in his mouth to lip him. Soon as the slack line hit the fly, it popped right out of his mouth....we were extremely lucky! It was a nice male striper...long, lean, and just pure muscle! It was an awesome fish...
We were both extremely excited to land the 1st fish of the season and to get the monkey off our backs. After a few quick photos, we released the fish back into the murkey waters and set back to searching for more fish. Sometime had passed since Donnys fish with no strikes happening and we were considering calling it a day as other anglers began to exit the river as well. We decided to move downstream a little more to where the flat got a little deeper and was at its widest point. I made a long cast across the flat and let the deceiver fall into the depths before I started stripping the the fly back to me as fast as I could. The tell-tale "thump" of a strike followed shortly after which I set the hook instantly only to find my rod doubled over and all the line I had in my hand being ripped away. I got the fish on the reel and watched as it took foot after foot of my fly line. It stopped just a few feet into my backing and just sulked while it shook its head like crazy. I was almost positive it was a striper but you never know what you might hook in the Arkanas so I put the pressure on the fish and started to gain some line back. I'd gotten probably half my fly line back when I saw a huge swirl and splash while catching a glimpse of the tail of a BIG striper as it took all the fly line I'd just got back on the reel. I put the pressure on the fish but the 7-weight I was fishing with a little overpowered by the fish so it was quite the battle. I worked the fish over as best as I could, gaining line back slowly. Luckily, it never made anymore huge runs...just little bursts here and there. I got the fish close and we seen that it was a huge female striper. I finally turned her head and Donny got his hand in her mouth to lip her. Yes! She was a beauty. Big, strong, and healthy...her belly was HUGE either from eggs or shad. I was on cloud nine to say the least as this was the biggest striper I'd ever caught as well as being the biggest fish I'd ever caught on a fly rod. We snapped some good pictures and then revived her completely before turning her loose. Freaking awesome fish...
We fished for a little while longer before packing it up to make the long hike back to the truck. My arm was like a wet noodle from casting big flies on a sink tip line in the wind. We were both content though with the awesome fish we had caught. We'd just missed the action by maybe 30 minutes, if only had we walked downstream in the first place! Oh well, we know better now for the next trip to Zink! The spring run for the stripers in the Arkansas river has just now got into full swing so we'll have plenty of time to chase those big fish again. Also, with the weather we've been having, the striper run on the Lower Illinois is running behind a few weeks so we'll have the chance to catch fish there after the fish go back downstream on the Arkansas. Its looking like it could be a good spring for stripers...as long as the weather holds out for us and we don't get flooded out.
We have plans for this weekend to go chase stripers once again on the Lower Illinois or the Arkansas River, depending on the weather and generation. As long as there are no tornadoes or lightning storms, I'll fish in the rain if I have to. One thing is for sure, come hell or high water (literally), I'm going to keep searching for the next big bite...
Let the search continue...
The next day provided an opportunity that we don't get to see very much as striper fisherman in Oklahoma...low water on the Arkansas River below Zink Dam. The low water pedestrian bridge and dam at 31st and Riverside in Tulsa provides awesome wade fishing WHEN and IF they actually close the flood gates on the dam. It doesn't happen very often so when it does happen, we always try to take advantage of it because great things usually happen. What happens during the striper run is the fish start to run upstream and Zink Dam basically stops them from going any further so what happens is you can find the fish stacked up in the deep holes and flats downstream of the dam where they feed on shad and spawn. It can be epic fishing...
Fellow addict Donny met me at the parking lot across the street from Zink Dam at 6 a.m. to get an early start on our search for the elusive striped bass. We started fishing below the east flood gate as there's a deep hole below the gate that opens up to a large flat that usually holds lots of fish. We worked our way around the flat while catching a new mess of sand bass and hybrids but no stripers were found.
We worked our way across the river to the other flood gate which has another deep hole below it but instead of a flat it has a spillway flowing into the deep hole from across the river from the other flood gate so the fish usually stack up in the deep hole or in the current where the spillway enters. We spent some time but only brought more sand bass to hand. Still no stripers. I talked to a few guys who were fishing with surf rods to see if they'd caught any stripers yet, nothing for them either! So we decided to keep heading downstream as there were a few more deep holes to work over...
We fished our way downstream, combing the depths of all the likely looking deep holes just hoping to find the fish but we were striking out. Frustration had started to sink in as we continued the walk downstream towards PSO when I noticed a guy fishing with conventional tackle that was hooked up with a fish...a fish that had his rod doubled over! Donny and I stopped to watch the guy pull in a nice striper off of a big flat just below PSO. Our hopes were renewed as we hiked downstream to the big flat and struck up a converstaion with the guy. Turns out he had 5 NICE stripers on his stringer, all of them over 10lbs plus he said he's caught around 15 fish in the 5-20lb range...all on topwater plugs! He also was a member of the OzarkAnglers fishing forum as he recognized me from pictures I had posted so it was cool to meet someone you only knew before as a username. He told us the fish had been chasing shad the last few hours, feeding heavily, but the bite had started to slow down. What a bummer...
Donny and I were determined though so we started working the flat with our clousers and deceivers, hoping for a strike. It didn't take long as I broke off a fish and missed a few strikes but then Donny got a solid hookset into a fish that made an impressive run. All Donny could say as the fish ran was "Oh my god! Holy shit!" along with a few other explicitives. It took all the line out of his hand and followed up by almost getting into the back. I'm trying to coach him while I quickly reel in so I could help with landing the fish when all of a sudden the line goes slack. Upon reeling in his line and inspecting the fly, we found that the fish had straightened the freaking hook!! It must of been a toad of a fish to say the least. Our confidence was once again renewed so we went back to ritual of the "chuck and duck" as we launched our big flies into the murky water.
Several minutes passed before all of I heard the same excited screams again from Donald as he had another fish ripping line from his reel! This time we were landing this fish! The fish made several hard runs all the while shaking its head like crazy...you could see the rod just throbbing in Donnys hand. Donny fought the fish like a seasoned veteran, wore the fish down, and brought the fish in close. Now the next issue was trying to land the fish with no net and being 50-75 yards away from shore. I walked out to the fish and tried to lip him a few times but couldnt get it done. Finally Donny got the fishes head up and started to pull him towards me so that I was able to tail the fish momentarily while I finally got my hand in his mouth to lip him. Soon as the slack line hit the fly, it popped right out of his mouth....we were extremely lucky! It was a nice male striper...long, lean, and just pure muscle! It was an awesome fish...
We were both extremely excited to land the 1st fish of the season and to get the monkey off our backs. After a few quick photos, we released the fish back into the murkey waters and set back to searching for more fish. Sometime had passed since Donnys fish with no strikes happening and we were considering calling it a day as other anglers began to exit the river as well. We decided to move downstream a little more to where the flat got a little deeper and was at its widest point. I made a long cast across the flat and let the deceiver fall into the depths before I started stripping the the fly back to me as fast as I could. The tell-tale "thump" of a strike followed shortly after which I set the hook instantly only to find my rod doubled over and all the line I had in my hand being ripped away. I got the fish on the reel and watched as it took foot after foot of my fly line. It stopped just a few feet into my backing and just sulked while it shook its head like crazy. I was almost positive it was a striper but you never know what you might hook in the Arkanas so I put the pressure on the fish and started to gain some line back. I'd gotten probably half my fly line back when I saw a huge swirl and splash while catching a glimpse of the tail of a BIG striper as it took all the fly line I'd just got back on the reel. I put the pressure on the fish but the 7-weight I was fishing with a little overpowered by the fish so it was quite the battle. I worked the fish over as best as I could, gaining line back slowly. Luckily, it never made anymore huge runs...just little bursts here and there. I got the fish close and we seen that it was a huge female striper. I finally turned her head and Donny got his hand in her mouth to lip her. Yes! She was a beauty. Big, strong, and healthy...her belly was HUGE either from eggs or shad. I was on cloud nine to say the least as this was the biggest striper I'd ever caught as well as being the biggest fish I'd ever caught on a fly rod. We snapped some good pictures and then revived her completely before turning her loose. Freaking awesome fish...
We fished for a little while longer before packing it up to make the long hike back to the truck. My arm was like a wet noodle from casting big flies on a sink tip line in the wind. We were both content though with the awesome fish we had caught. We'd just missed the action by maybe 30 minutes, if only had we walked downstream in the first place! Oh well, we know better now for the next trip to Zink! The spring run for the stripers in the Arkansas river has just now got into full swing so we'll have plenty of time to chase those big fish again. Also, with the weather we've been having, the striper run on the Lower Illinois is running behind a few weeks so we'll have the chance to catch fish there after the fish go back downstream on the Arkansas. Its looking like it could be a good spring for stripers...as long as the weather holds out for us and we don't get flooded out.
We have plans for this weekend to go chase stripers once again on the Lower Illinois or the Arkansas River, depending on the weather and generation. As long as there are no tornadoes or lightning storms, I'll fish in the rain if I have to. One thing is for sure, come hell or high water (literally), I'm going to keep searching for the next big bite...
Let the search continue...
Monday, May 10, 2010
Let the search begin...
Spring time signifies the start of lots of things in Oklahoma. For the outdoorsman, spring time means the chance to shoot a wild turkey, catch slab crappie as they spawn, or chase sand bass in our rivers as they make their spring run. For a select few though, spring time means it is time to start the search for probably the state's greatest game fish...the striped bass. This elusive fish, known more commonly as "stripers", is found in many of the states lakes but its the stripers who call the Arkansas river system home that those of us who suffer from the addiction pursue. These fish grow large and strong in the Arkansas river as they feed on anything that gets in their way all year until spring time rolls around and they start their spawning run.
To me, the striper is the Oklahoma version of the famed steelhead that so many people dedicate so much of their time to find and catch these fish. The fish can be hard to find sometimes, their feeding patterns are random at best, and, to make conditions even tougher, the best waters to find them are tailwaters that are subject to random generation schedules. From time to time though, everything falls into place...the water is right, the fish are there, and they are feeding! Its times like these that make all the searching, the walking, and the casting worth while...especially when you have a 20lb stripe at the end of your line.
For myself and my fellow addicts, our search began a couple weekends back on the Lower Illinois river below Tenkiller Dam. The LIR runs into the Arkansas river and tons of stripers make their spawning run up this little tailwater where they frequent the deep holes that are a long walk from any access point and gorge themselves on the rainbow trout that the Wildlife Dept stocks throughout the year. Under normal conditions, they start their run at the end of April and then return to the Arkansas about the middle of June . Joey Cloer and myself decided to make the drive down to the Lower Illinois to mostly do some scouting for stripers. I hadn't been down yet to do any scouting myself but I had heard that the conventional tackle striper guides were beginning to catch them at the mouth of the LIR and even were catching a few as far upriver as Gore Landing. So the early signs that the fish were moving into the river were good, just how far upriver they'd made it was yet to be found.
Day One
Joey and I met in Gore where he got his out-of-state license before we headed down to Marvals Family River Resort where we had decided to access the river. We geared up with big rods, big flies, and big hopes of tying into a big striper. We began our trek downstream to some deep holes that I'd caught stripers out of last year during the run. The walk downstream yielded some surprises as we found some holes had filled in but new holes had formed that looked promising. Joey was throwing a white/chart clouser while I was chuckin' a rainbow trout patterned deceiver, hoping to key in on the stripers primary food source while they were in the river. We dredged every deep hole, undercut bank, and deep run but never got a strike. As we continued downstream we came across large pods of buffalo spawning. When I say large pods, I mean hundreds of them schooled up for hundreds of yards, it was nuts. Joey couldnt resist so he tied on a brown/tan clouser and begin hopping it off the bottom through the hoards of buffalo. He quickly hooked up with a few nice 3-5lb buffalo that put on a great fight on the 8 weight. If we hadn't of had stripers on the agenda, we woulda spent the whole day catching those fish but we had bigger fish to fry!
It was the biggest rainbow I'd caught out of the Lower Illinois as well as the biggest trout I'd caught in a couple of years actually. She was fat, healthy, and full of color...quite impressive for a stocked fish. After some quick pictures and a little more admiration, I released her back into the river where she swam right back towards the log which she came from. We decided to call it quits on chasing stripers for the morning and made the long hike back to the truck.
We ended the day by putting away the big rods, breaking out the trout sticks and heading upstream to the Watts WMU access to catch trout for the remainder of the day. We each caught more than our fair share of rainbows so the day wasn't a total loss. We decided to give it a week or two and then come back to the Lower Illinois to start the search again...
To me, the striper is the Oklahoma version of the famed steelhead that so many people dedicate so much of their time to find and catch these fish. The fish can be hard to find sometimes, their feeding patterns are random at best, and, to make conditions even tougher, the best waters to find them are tailwaters that are subject to random generation schedules. From time to time though, everything falls into place...the water is right, the fish are there, and they are feeding! Its times like these that make all the searching, the walking, and the casting worth while...especially when you have a 20lb stripe at the end of your line.
For myself and my fellow addicts, our search began a couple weekends back on the Lower Illinois river below Tenkiller Dam. The LIR runs into the Arkansas river and tons of stripers make their spawning run up this little tailwater where they frequent the deep holes that are a long walk from any access point and gorge themselves on the rainbow trout that the Wildlife Dept stocks throughout the year. Under normal conditions, they start their run at the end of April and then return to the Arkansas about the middle of June . Joey Cloer and myself decided to make the drive down to the Lower Illinois to mostly do some scouting for stripers. I hadn't been down yet to do any scouting myself but I had heard that the conventional tackle striper guides were beginning to catch them at the mouth of the LIR and even were catching a few as far upriver as Gore Landing. So the early signs that the fish were moving into the river were good, just how far upriver they'd made it was yet to be found.
Day One
Joey and I met in Gore where he got his out-of-state license before we headed down to Marvals Family River Resort where we had decided to access the river. We geared up with big rods, big flies, and big hopes of tying into a big striper. We began our trek downstream to some deep holes that I'd caught stripers out of last year during the run. The walk downstream yielded some surprises as we found some holes had filled in but new holes had formed that looked promising. Joey was throwing a white/chart clouser while I was chuckin' a rainbow trout patterned deceiver, hoping to key in on the stripers primary food source while they were in the river. We dredged every deep hole, undercut bank, and deep run but never got a strike. As we continued downstream we came across large pods of buffalo spawning. When I say large pods, I mean hundreds of them schooled up for hundreds of yards, it was nuts. Joey couldnt resist so he tied on a brown/tan clouser and begin hopping it off the bottom through the hoards of buffalo. He quickly hooked up with a few nice 3-5lb buffalo that put on a great fight on the 8 weight. If we hadn't of had stripers on the agenda, we woulda spent the whole day catching those fish but we had bigger fish to fry!
All those black shapes are buffalo...
We continued our trek downstream...casting to every likely looking hole but coming up empty everywhere. Thoughts were starting to creep into my head like; "Are the fish even in the river yet?" "Are they even feeding because of the overcast and rainy weather?" "Are the flies we are using too big or too small?" I just couldnt figure out what the deal was...the fish had to be here! My answer came in the form of a fellow fisherman who came upon us and asked if we were fishing for stripers. We replied with a frustrated yes. He stated that the fish weren't running up the river yet and that he'd been down here the last few weekends looking for them, but the cooler weather has kept the fish in the Arkansas river. That information was a relief and a letdown at the same time for us as it meant we'd figured out why we werent catching fish because the fish weren't there!
We were about to pack up and head back to the truck when I made another long cast up next to a large log. I let the fly sink and began to strip it back to me when I noticed a large silvery torpedo came out from under the log to chase my fly. It quickly ran down my fly and flashed at it but missed it. I set the hook instinctively upon seeing the flash, obviously missing the fish but it kept swimming around looking for the fly. I quickly recast and put the fly right on its head! The fish whirled around and inhaled the deceiver instantly...I set the hook and the fight was on! The fish made an awesome run followed by a huge jump which allowed me to identify the fish....it was a freaking huge rainbow! She made a few more impressive runs, almost putting me into my backing before I was able to slide her into the shallows and grab its tail.
Big flies = Big fish!
It was the biggest rainbow I'd caught out of the Lower Illinois as well as the biggest trout I'd caught in a couple of years actually. She was fat, healthy, and full of color...quite impressive for a stocked fish. After some quick pictures and a little more admiration, I released her back into the river where she swam right back towards the log which she came from. We decided to call it quits on chasing stripers for the morning and made the long hike back to the truck.
We ended the day by putting away the big rods, breaking out the trout sticks and heading upstream to the Watts WMU access to catch trout for the remainder of the day. We each caught more than our fair share of rainbows so the day wasn't a total loss. We decided to give it a week or two and then come back to the Lower Illinois to start the search again...
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