Gore Landing, What To Expect.

[wanabeflyer]

Hi all.

I am planning to put my bass boat in at Gore Landing. I have been by there but have not launched there. I would like to know what to expect if the water is low, or high. Are the currents strong? will I have trouble loading or unloading if the lake is generating? How far up can I go, etc.

If anyone has had some experience there I would appreciate your input.

Thanks

[Bill Butts]

Hello Wannabeflyer~

I think most of the guys who fish the Lower IL and participate on this board are trout fishermen who mostly fish from the dam down to MarVal Resort, so I will give a heads-up on the lower section.

I'll assume you are wanting to fish for Stripers like most who fish the lower section.

If there is no generation from Tenkiller, your odds of catching Stripers in the Gore area are remote. Even with a jet boat, your ability to navigate upriver from Gore would be limited, difficult or at worst futile when there is no generation.

If you want to catch Stripers, you need to be on the river while there is generation. With a bass boat, I would suggest that you fish from the Gore launch down to the mouth of the AR River and not venture upriver due to the risk of getting left high and dry if the flow drops out too quickly.

The launch at Gore has a very small slack water area that protects you from the current. At the generation level of recent weeks (running both generators for 2-5 hours beginning early to mid pm) the current at the launch should be no problem for you if have some experience launching on rivers.

If you are planning to just fish for Bass, then fishing the area during low water would be productive, but not for Stripers. There is a variety of weed beds, rocky shorelines and sunken wood in the area below Gore. You find that the majority of the water in that area, besides in the main river channel, will have a lot of 3-4' depth water.

Hope this is helpful.

Bill

[wanabeflyer]

Thanks Bill,

With your information I had the confidence to go ahead with my plans. I put in Friday afternoon, 17th, and Saturday morning, 18th. We did not get into any striper or trout action. On Friday we cought 10 bass in a couple of hours. On Saturday, with four on my boat, I cought ten fish, the rest cought about ten more, about 20 fish in 5 hours, all bass. Some black, large mouth, and small mouth, the largest about 2 lbs. They were all fat and frisky. The other group with us that went for striper with a guide cougnt nothing.

This was my first experience on the Lower Illinois and I loved it. Now I have to get going on my flly fishing skills.

wanabeflyer(Morton Hatch)

[Bill Butts]

Morton~

You are quite welcome, and I am pleased that you enjoyed your trip.

Four people, even if some are children, is a lot to be fishing out of one boat.

You probably had some higher water flow on Friday pm but none on Saturday am, right?

If so, it is good that you experienced both and therefore will understand the differences.

That is a river that is hard to describe how different it becomes when the water is up.

By the way, who was the Striper guide your friends went out with?

Did they fish with the guide when the water was up on down, or both?

You mentioned fly fishing, you would be surprised how productive a surface popping bug is for Bass in the area you fished.

Good luck developing your fly fishing skills, you'll love it.

Bill

[wanabeflyer]

Bill,

I got a chance to fish with it up and with it downl, the current being the most odvious difference.

the guides name was Thompson or Thomas Guide Service.

Thanks again for your help

Morton Hatch (wananbeflyer)