Upcoming Lower Illinois River Fly Fishing Related Activities

Passing on some useful information

Meet TV host Don Wallace, Oklahoman Outdoors Editor Ed Godfrey at H&H Shooting Sports Complex

Learn to fly fish

The annual Illinois River Fly Fishing School will be Feb. 24-25 at Tenkiller State Park.

Instructors Mark Patton and Tom Adams will be teaching about equipment and flies in a classroom setting and then giving casting instruction on the banks of the Illinois River.

Cost of the course is $150. Call 340-1992 for more information.

Clean up the Lower Illinois

The 89er Chapter of Trout Unlimited in Oklahoma City and the Oklahoma Chapter of Trout Unlimited in Tulsa are combining forces to clean up the Lower Illinois River.

On Dec. 10, members of the state's two Trout Unlimited chapters will walk the banks of the Lower Illinois to pick up trash and debris. The cleanup is scheduled from 9 a.m. until noon.

Volunteers interested in helping should meet at the dam access parking lot at 9 a.m. The 89er Chapter of Trout Unlimited will be providing lunch to volunteers.

Anyone planning to participate is asked to email troutbum@89er.org. For more information, call Greg Mann at 401-3784 or Chuck Kaminski at 973-4571.

Another Great Article, Save Our Stream

Cannot agree more with the authors call to action...

Outdoors: Death of a trout stream
Amarillo.com

"Hood likened the generation periods to “flushing the toilet” every few days. Southwest Power Adminstration said it will try to run two turbines at half-power to help the fishery, but to Hood’s knowledge it hasn’t happened.

“It’s a problem that can be solved by putting pressure on the government,” Hood said.

“The only way we can fix this problem is by writing to our congressmen. Dan Boren’s email box should be full right now.”

A federal issue, concerned sportsmen and women can contact Boren at (202) 255-2701. Boren’s website is http://boren.house.gov.

Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe, the ranking member on the Environmental Committee, can be reached at (202) 224-4721. His website is http://inhofe.senate.gov.

Without constant flows, Oklahoma’s first year-round trout fishery will soon be history."

Another First on the Blue

Blue River, Oklahoma...beautiful and peaceful and full o trout.

A wonderful day on the Blue today with my friend Dave who is a first time fly fisher.  Although we couldn't catch a rise the fish were feeding deep, early.  Began with the tried and true standby's 12-16 BH Hares Ear, BH Prince, BH Lightning Bug and Black Wooly Bugger.

All of the takes were very subtle with the exception of Dave's First trout who was showing some attitude and was a very nice jumper.  The action died around 10 and unfortunately we had to roll out just after noon, think they were going to turn on again after lunch but most of em will wait for another day.

Congrats Dave, very nice first trout and as always kicking around with you for the day was excellent.

and our catch for the day

Every Day is a Good Day Fishing

I do believe this to be true, however it is desirable, when driving 2 hours one-way, to stack the odds in successes favor as much as possible in trip planning.

Planned on fishing the Lower Illinois this morning as I had a day off work, it was recently "re-opened" as conditions have been stabilized somewhat, and they had just stocked trout last friday.  However, as I rounded the corner into the parking area this morning I realized I had made a rookie mistake.  I should have checked the streamflows before making the two-hour drive.

had I done that I would have seen a graph similar to this....

and would have known that the river was running at about 11.5 feet and at about 4000 ft3/second.  Needless to say, difficult fishing.

However, since I do believe that every day fishing, is a good day and I am stubborn enough to believe that all conditions can be conquered, I made up my mind to find somewhere to land a stocker.  Went up by the dam and there is a small side pool that today looked like a large side eddy.  After about 15 casts, using a black b/h wooly bugger, i had a strike but no hookup.  An hour and a half later after throwing about everything else in my fly box, I put on a size 12 prince with some red thread wrapped around the back end.  Two tosses and bam, hooked and played a beautiful little stocker rainbow.

After playing him in and releasing him I decided to hang em up for today, satisfied that even given my rookie blunder of the morning, I managed to catch a trout.

Like they say, Every Day fishing is a Good Day Fishing.

Sequoyah County Times - Trout stocking resumes no permanent fix for fishery

Although fish have again been stocked, and we again have sufficient water, it is likely that it may not last and like the like the article says, we need something permanent.

Every concerned Lower Illinois Fly Fisherman should take a moment to contact our representatives in Washington and communicate your concerns.

U.S. Rep. Dan Boren (D-Okla.), U.S. Senator James Inhofe (R-Tulsa) and U.S. Senator Tom Coburn (R-Muskogee)

Read more:

Sequoyah County Times - Trout stocking resumes no permanent fix for fishery

Ready to Rock

Organizing a fly box feels good and gets me fired up...now just to get to some water....somewhere...anywhere..

Apache Trout and Current Challenges

Wallow Poses Challenges and Opportunities for Apache Trout

Not Just the Lower Illinois

The Lower Illinois River isn't the only tailgater suffering from low lake levels and limited to non-existent power generation.

John Berry's Fly-Fishing Report: Little generation on White River

"The dissolved oxygen level has dropped below the state minimum standard of six parts per million on the White and North Fork rivers. At Bull Shoals and Norfork dams, the vacuum breakers have been blocked open to allow more oxygen to mix with the water. Trout stocking has been eliminated on the upper North Fork River (above the Ackerman Access)."
....
"The big story has been sustained low water on the White River. This is the first time that guides and anglers have seen it this low since the spring flood, and there have been substantial changes in the river bed. Many runs have been filled in and gravel bars have disappeared."

Let's Hope

Yellowstone cutthroats may benefit from Greybull River dam project

"Crews worked in black, sticky mud, ready to endure the onset of winter while pouring concrete and setting rebar for the new dam.  While the project will help irrigate crops scattered across this arid region of Wyoming, a $400,000 fish ladder will help Yellowstone cutthroat trout navigate the dam, long considered a major blockage in the river."

Great News, Need Long Term Solution

Trout Fishing Resumes on Lower Illinois

"Anglers once again will be able to fish for trout in the Lower Illinois River as the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation will resume stocking the river near Gore with trout beginning Wednesday.

“We have water again to be asked to be released (from Lake Tenkiller) for management of the trout stream and we have done so,” said Jim Burroughs, east-central fisheries supervisor for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

Wednesday is a normal stocking date for the river. State wildlife officials also will add extra rainbow trout into the river on Friday then return to their normal bi-monthly stocking of fish beginning Nov. 30."

Although this is great news in the short run, long term we need a sustainable solution for managing area. Consistent water flows and improved water quality are a necessity.

Another article also sheds some light on a possible solution.

First Trout

Who remember's their first trout?  Or their first bass, catfish, redfish, perch, etc.   I remember back around 2000/2001 reading a lot about fly fishing and thinking how weird it would be for a dusty oklahoman to want to learn to fly fish.   Anyway I bought a couple of magazines and books on the subject, studied up a bit and acquired some gear.  I bought a lot of my gear online from Yager's flies and they were great answering all of my questions.  With all my new gear, a trout stamp (they were required back then) and a map downloaded off the internet, I set off one morning, headed to the Blue River to cut my teeth on some stocker trout with my new fly gear.

The day was chilly but not freezing, and there was some wind (always is here) but wasn't bad as I remember.  I wasted a bit of time fishing a few areas that looked great to a newbie like me, but had little luck.  I remember tying on a bead-head prince nymph and looking at a little depression in the stream where there was an eddy and it was under a dead branch overhang.  I thought that may be a good place to cast.  There was also a bunch of line and numerous flies all twisted around the branch hanging over the water so it was apparent that at least some others thought it was worth a shot as well.

Bingo! barely a breath as the prince sank and there was a tug on the line, a gentle lift of the rod and the little guy was hooked.  He was no lunker, in fact I remember thinking that that is one of the smallest fish I had ever caught, however the fight that he put up and the excitement of that first trout were incredible.  once he was landed i made sure my hands were wet and held him while i snapped a quick pic and then slid him back in the water where i saw him swim away in a flash.....

I think I may have caught him later that same season :)

Thanks Little Buddy, great memories

Flies That Have Worked For Me On The Blue

Thought I would take a bit and think back to flies that have worked well for me on the Blue River. Located in SE Oklahoma near Tishomingo, the river is a natural beauty. Trout season on the Blue runs from November through April. Although stockers are the mainstay catch of the day, I have seen some large trout taken out of there and many speculate that some of these "Squatters" make it through the warm water summer months down in a deep pool.

Well, what has worked for me at the Blue? Just about everything at one time or another,and nothing on done days?

Bead-Head Woolly Bugger: 10 & 12, Olive has produce,but black is almost a sure thing.
I drop these in the plunge pools below the various water falls and just let them dance.

Bead-Head, Gold-Ribbed Hare's Ear: 14,16 and at times 18.
Let these dead drift along the sides of submerged timber and they are almost like trout candy.

Bead-Head Prince: 14,16
An everyday attractor that has consistently produced for me, have even pulled a few small largemouth bass on these as well.

Elk Hair Caddis: 18-22, Tan and Brown
Although these can be tough to throw at times due to the winds sweeping down the plains, they have done well and pulled rises when you get a solid dead drift. Good in the riffles downstream from water falls and some of the more shallow backwater pools.

Brassie: 20,used as a dropper behind Hare's Ear & Prince
When all else fails I have been able to entice some action by adding a dropper.

Probably have used many more but these stand out as the most reliable patterns that have delivered for me on the Blue.

A nice fish from the Lower Illinois

Nice Lower Illinois Rainbow

Bad Deal

Due to low water flows and irregular hydroelectric releases, one of the States 2 year round trout fisheries is in trouble.  As it stands now there have been no trout stocked since late September and 

***Trout stocking has been suspended until further notice due to low water flow.***

Boo