Basketbreaker

Has the lower Illinois generation schedule been followed lately? The last 2 times I went they did not follow the schedule and it really sucked driving all the way out there to fish for a little bit, then have the horn blast and instead of them generating 1 they do 2 and I have to run out of there. Its even more fun when I try and wait for them to stop generating and they don't till much later than what they say. Sometime soon, I would like to take my visiting parents out here, but I would rather it not be a bust. MIke

Wait, so D and B outfitters and the Gadget company are the same thing???

I was looking up stores that deal RL Winston gear, and found a company in Tulsa called D and B outfitters. Anyone know anything about this place? I can't find any more information and the address you get when you google the name, puts you at what looks like someones house, and the address isnt the same as whats on the RL Winston site. Thanks, Mike

I was wondering whats everyones experience with fishing when the water is generating? I generally try to make a day trip out of the lower illinois since it is a bit of a drive, but have noticed they have been generating consistently during the middle of the day and making it mostly not worth my time. Mike

How long did you fish for? I havn't been back to the river since it starting getting hot out. Been itching to return but the generation schedule isn't very convenient.

I went out today also. Didn't keep track of numbers exactly. Caught at least 15-20. Thought I should have done better considering how many fish i saw. I was surprised by the number of insects out today. I did see one mayfly, and a bunch of little white dipterans buzzing the surface, and a bunch of black ones on my car that kinda reminded me of male mosquitoes. In the stomachs of the fish i kept I found some black dipteran pupa. I assume the same things that were on my car.

i woke up yesterday intending to head out but the wind was brutal here in Tulsa. How bad was it there? I'm thinking a made a mistake by staying in.

How was the fishing in the wind? It supposed to be windy on sunday again and I was wondering if its worth making the drive

Tried the pond today. Mostly threw a panther martin and toss a wooly bugger a little. Didn't get a single bite. A few other people were there using powerbait and they didn't get anything either.

Hi all, I was wondering if anyone has any idea on how this cold snap may effect the fishing for this weekend? I haven't been out in a while and was thinking of heading out either saturday or sunday depending on generation. Mike

I fished yesterday and today. Fishing seemed really slow I thought. I was the only one who was catching anything and I thought I was doing pretty lousy. I focused mostly around the kiddy pool and nearby areas. What were you using and where were you? Mike

Hi, I've been a student at TU now for 2 years, but have not done nearly as much fishing as I used to when I was back in S. Illinois. I knew the Arkansas river had stripers in it but figured they were much further down stream since the water seems to get so low. I guess this isn't true though and was wondering if anyone is willing to give any fishing tips? I have never actually caught a striper, and live on 61st and Peoria, so can walk to the river. Thanks, Mike

Hi all, First time poster here. I am a grad student at the university of tulsa and have been in Oklahoma for a bit over a year and a half now but only just discovered the lower illinois trout. Since discovering the river(last monday) I have fished it 3 times, last monday, yesterday(stupid turbines) and today. I can get plenty of fish on small panther martins on 4lb test. Today i probably got 20-30 fish, with only 2 rainbows which were of any size. The rest were all small brown trout. I was surpised with the browns since i thought the numbers would be more skewed towards rainbows. Well anyways, i also am a rather amateur fly fisherman, mostly for panfish. I am originally from Chicago and never did much river fishing, especially for trout. I have done some trout fishing in the Appalachians and Rockys with some success with a guide. However, I find this river to be considerably differnt than any other trout stream I have seen. I tried with resonable effort to hook up with my flys, used woolly buggers, a parachute fly thing, and a midge under an indicator. As far as I could tell, I never got a single bite. I did get some followers on the woolly but thats about it. So how do you fly fisherman fish this river? I am getting frustrated, especially when I see a million fish jumping all around me laughing at me. The spinners are fun but I really want to get something on the fly. Also, how do you guys deal with all the algae? It's so early in the year I would think once it warms up more the river would be unfishable? Thanks, Mike