joshuapaul

Nice report. Thanks Nick!

It's a blast. Near the end of last summer I started exploring the flats of Arcadia here in OKC. Only had a couple trips out there before Fall settled in, but it's on my list for this Summer. Since I'm in OKC, I don't know much about those lakes. If I'm over that way; I'd just as soon be looking for trout. Let us know how you do!

Chance, by "lower sections" I meant the stretch between the gauge and Marval. We fished the riffle above T&M gravel and did ok. Never made it any farther down though. The more I fish LIR, the more depressed I get that LMF is 4 hours away.

I was hoping to see some March Browns, but never did. The water was fairly clear, just still. I'm heading back Monday and I'll probably just fish the lower sections. I haven't fully explored that area yet.

Was that you I chatted with in the black Infinity? We were in the black Tacoma.

Still water, lots of sunshine and a bump in pressure. You guessed it....slow fishing. It still beats working though. The fish I landed seemed rough. They were pretty thin, with malformed fins. I ventured up to the upper dam parking lot today and I was shocked at how bad the algae is up there. It's everywhere. I haven't been up there in quite awhile, but it wasn't near that bad last time I saw it. I found two small fingerlings caught in the algae in the shallows. One was alive, the other wasn't Sorry, this is not the most positive report. I was bummed by the LIR today.

Very true. Wish I was over there today. I love fishing in the snow!

Anyone been out lately? Wondering if any of this weather coming through may help me out Wednesday.

Thats true, you could always go to the spaghetti and meatballs. Egg, SJ worm then a midge or an RS2. If it gets super slow, I normally rig up something like that. I'm heading over on Wednesday, I'll write up a report.

Hi Chris, Check the generation schedule and be careful not to hang out too long once they blow the horn. We normally do well on Pheasant tails, zebra midges, hares ear and scuds from about 18-14. Midges are normally the go to. If there is no generation, it's hard to find a good drift. Just look for areas of decent flow. If they're running 1 unit (the best fishing IMO) make sure you're getting to the bottom with you rig. Good luck!

Last time I was able to fish the dropping water like that, we fished dries to rising fish. Hooked up about every other cast for almost an hour. Then after all the water receded it was like someone flipped a switch. Nothing. We went back to the typical "find a channel and nymph" that normally works. It was much slower, but we still caught fish. Not near as fun though. That was also a beautiful couple of days and warmer than the previous week by about 15 degrees. That had to have something to do with it.

The best place is hard to nail, but the best time is when the water is dropping. If you can catch it when they kill the generators that next 45 minutes will be gangbusters. Especially near watts or below. Fish are moving, finding new spots and actively feeding.

Hi Jim, Welcome. The term Blue Ribbon should be read with a healthy amount of sarcasm. It's just exciting to explore new water and find a little space on crowded days. I've never approached the river from that side, but I have seen that road. From the water, it looks like private land and is actually a really pretty area. I'm sure you wouldn't be the first one to try it out though. Can't hurt to ask!

I just bought the Olympus TG1. It's a cool little camera. My guess was that he survived a bald eagle attack. He's a fighter.

Some underwater footage of a couple of those fish..

I finally got a chance to wet a line on the "blue ribbon" section of the LIR. A couple buddies and I took our kayaks over to float from Watts. The generation was erratic as usual, but the kayaks definitely helped. Even with sinking line I found it really tough to get a streamer down low while navigating a kayak at the same time. Now I know why those guys love their drift boats! When the water started to drop it was like somebody rang a dinner bell. We found a great pool above a long riffle and had a great time targeting rising fish on dries. We hooked fish out of that pool for about an hour until the water receded all the way. After that it was back to the regular nymphing. Overall it was a great trip. Perfect weather, beautiful Fall colors and some really healthy fish! More photos of the trip over on my blog if you're interested.

Please tell me it was snapped by a fish and not a car door or tree limb...

I had a buddy over there on Saturday. He said it was perfect weather. Looks like those are great size for the 2wt. I've got to get over there. Congrats on that nice brown DaddyO!

Gorgeous! Mind me asking what camera you used? In the market for a new fishing/knockaround P&S...

Wowza, great fish!

Thanks for the info guys. Good to hear. We are going over the second week of Nov. with kayaks. I've seen that that Clackacraft parked before. Not sure my old FJ62 would want to pull one everywhere I'd want to take it, but it sure would be fun to have one!

Far as I know, the gravel company owns a good portion of that middle area between Watts and Marval. At one point in the past they allowed public access through their facility, but don't anymore. We don't have the fierce property owner spats like they do in Montana. Should be fine.

I like to use the DGames midge with the Hank Patterson "create your own hatch" method. probably NSFW if you're a government employee....

Hey Ryan, Welcome to the area. Thats a great question, but I don't know the answer. I've fished the LIR quite a bit, but I hesitate to offer up an answer since I haven't floated the entire section you mentioned. I've waded a good portion of it. I'm taking my kayak over in November to float from the lower gravel dam parking lot to Marval. I plan on stopping to wade quite a bit. I have a Native Ultimate Angler that floats in a few inches and it's light enough to portage if I need to. I think it should be fine in any generation scenario. With 2 units online, it wouldn't be as fun. Unless you like fishing streamers. Hoping someone else that has done it will weight in on this one.

Awesome! I love stalking Carp around town here in OKC when I can't get out to the river. They're nasty, but a really fun challenge and they run like crazy. Your carp reminds me of the time I foul hooked an 18" walleye below Beaver Dam. I thought I had a monster brown the way that thing fought. It was quite a surprise!