JCWolfe

Like most of us who post here, I'm sure he already has written his representatives. It's a sad situation for fisherman and local economies

Copied and pasted, was bound to happen and it did. Fish kill reported in Lower Illinois River By KELLY BOSTIAN World Outdoors Writer Published: 10/7/2011 2:40 AM Last Modified: 10/7/2011 5:35 AM Wildlife officials reported dozens of native fish were counted in a fish kill reported Thursday in the Illinois River below Tenkiller Dam and dozens more were carried off by vultures or were hidden below the murky water. The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation stopped stocking trout in the river Sept. 20. It is one of only two year-round trout fisheries in the state. But only one trout was counted among the dead fish. Instead, biologists counted 21 paddlefish in the 25-30 pound size, between 75 and 100 blue catfish up to 8 pounds in size and 15 channel catfish dead on the spot. Walleye, largemouth and smallmouth bass, drum, buffalo, shad and even one gar were found dead. A fisherman who was at the pool below the sluice tube at the dam Wednesday evening reported the dead fish on Thursday morning, said Jim Burroughs, East Central Region fisheries supervisor. Biologists arrived to find "literally hundreds" of vultures on the site and bits of fish remains scattered about and carcasses dragged away from the stream. Other dead fish likely were hidden below the murky water. "The count we have is actual fish identified and counted," Burroughs said. "There were considerably more than that." The die-off would be considered a small kill at some larger rivers, he said. "The thing is that's a fairly small area. It's a pretty good-sized kill for that area." Some fish died because they were stranded as water dropped, others most likely died due to low oxygen levels. Hundreds of fish in the river were "piping," sucking air at the surface of the water, he said. Biologists took an oxygen level reading of 1.48 parts per million in the pool where the fish died. State standards call for 6 parts per million with occasional dips to 5 as acceptable. Online records for the Tulsa District Corps of Engineers gauge on the river at Gore has registered between 2 and 3 parts per million for days. Even when Southwest Power Administration runs water for power generation it has only been rising to between 4 and 5 parts per million. Power was generated Thursday afternoon and oxygen levels temporarily rose above 4 parts per million. For years a leak in the sluice gate at Tenkiller Dam provided a trickle of water at about 75 cubic feet per second that kept the Lower Illinois River fishery going. The leak was fixed last year and so, legally, all the water the lake can hold is allocated to power and municipal uses. The dying fish don't provide incentive to run water through the dam, said Ross Adkins, Tulsa District Corps of Engineers spokesman. "It's not that easy," he said. "That storage is paid for. There's just no water left that we can release." Low oxygen levels likely killed the fish, Burroughs said. Still, the state Department of Environmental Quality is responding to the site, said public information officer Skylar McElhaney. "We respond just to see if there are any toxins or pollution sources contributing to the fish kill, just to make sure," she said. Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/article.aspx?subjectid=25&articleid=20111007_25_B2_Wildli325981

Those are beasts

Check your local fly shop to see if they offer an entomology class. Books are a big help. That reminds me I have a book about what trout eat somewhere.

Got this in the weekly OWD email, Trout stocking suspended at Lower Illinois River Trout stocking at the Lower Illinois River near Gore has been suspended until water quality improves according to officials with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. The trout fishery is supported by water released from Lake Tenkiller. The majority of that water is released for hydropower generation. However during non-generation hours the only water available to maintain suitable flows, oxygen levels and water temperatures has come from an allocation loaned to ODWC by Sequoyah Fuels Corp. That allocation has run out. The Lower Illinois River is one of the only two year-round trout fisheries in the state and is managed by the Wildlife Department. While the long, dry summer of 2011 has contributed to poor water quality and insufficient water quantity, the underlying issue is that there is no permanent water allocation in Lake Tenkiller dedicated to the trout fishery. ODWC is pursuing possible solutions with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other users of water in Lake Tenkiller. Officials hope that trout stocking can resume once flows are restored and water quality improves.

www.Tulsaflyfishers.org has this letter with links to our senators, just copy and paste to their websites.

Too bad the Lower didn't look that good.

Cool. I watched a boy learning to fly fish saturday. Never had seen the hatchery or Dry run so we took a look at it on Saturday.

I was glad to see this fish, proves they have successfully spawned. A bigger Rainbow

You could probably just call it a jig. Insted of thread sometimes I use braid or chenille and put a maribou tail on it.

It's a 3.5 hour drive so I don't go too often. Very scenic and nice area. Unlike the Lower Illinois the water is almost always in great shape. Fly fishing started out slow with only one coming on a BH soft hackle I tied and losing one on a Bob white hybrid I tie. I normally fly fish 100 percent of the time but the last 2 times going to the LMF I've taken the spinning gear. I'm glad I did. The fly fishing was slow for me so I grabbed the spinning gear and my box of crankbaits. Driving 3.5 hours one way I want to catch something. Lots of nicely colored Rainbows taken and released. I talked to a guide yesterday and he was telling me about some of the things the LMF river foundation has been doing. I could see some changes in structure that were made plus he told me the foundation has stocked fish in the red zone area. Caught a wild trout around 6" long. The guide said that this fish was probably wild due to it's size and that small stockers were 8". Hot day but worth the drive.

Appreciate the input. I fished the Ackerman access in February and did really good. Lot of nicely color Rainbows.

I saw a bunch of different colored foam today at walmart in the craft section. I should learn to tie some hoppers and buy some and stock up.

Just checked the D.O. level, low, not good. I watch the Lower Illinois and thought it was low.

I'll be fishing on the Norfolk next month and was wondering about which fly sizes seem be be best. I've found one hatch chart but it only gives bug type not size. Anyone care to give out a little info?

Caught this guy first cast today, not what I was after but fun to fight. Also caught a few small channel cats, a nice sand bass and rainbows. Poured rain on and off today early, then the sun came out in the afternoon. They never generated at 2 o'clock either

Will it ever clear up is the question. I'm not feeling like 7 plus hours of driving so I guess Lower Illinois today instead of LMF.

I did see that, still pretty basic fly tying for me.I'm doing simple stuff.

So I go into the Hobby Lobby the other day in Tulsa looking for a special type of razor blade. Walking up and down the aisles I see these things that are about a 1/4" round. I'm thinking why can't I run a hook thru those and super glue them on the hook, instant egg fly. 99 cents for a package of 50. I got pink, white and cerise color. Going to glue a few and try it. Continuing, I go up an aisle for necklace making and find some 3.2mm beads in copper,sterling silver color, gold and black nickle color. 200 pack of beads for $1.99, I buy 3 colors. They will work on some hooks, tried it. Another aisle I find wire, mainly gold and silver with several different gauges, some were good for fly tying. I also found a multi pack with different colors which I bought. A little heavy but I think usable. Going thru the embroidery section I find DMC thread and if you have read the book Midge magic you will know this is a jackpot. I don't know about the quality of some of this stuff but for no more than I spent I thought it was worth buying. Also I found a variety of feathers.

I voted no but think you should if those fish have literally wore you out.

I caught a couple of real small striped bass on a silver rapala. My friend had a couple of 12" largemouths on once. He yelled at me to come see it so I wouldn't think it was a fish story.

That place can be tough at times then it can be great. I had my best days with a dry fly on the Evening hole area last April. Spillway is tougher but fish can be caught. I caught a 4 lb. rainbow out of spillway a couple of years back. I've found that if I can't get them on the fly rod to take the spinning gear and throw crankbaits, they tear up the rapala brook trout pattern.

Bright is the key word

About mid way behind the island

This is how dirty the water is.