Phil Lilley

Bill Babler and I got a wild hair... needed to get out of the house. He's been cleaning out his garage and me doing taxes. So at 4:30 pm I called him and we planned to meet at Bridgeport. We put in about 6 pm and went under the bridge to the right and started at the bluff bank there- fished to the flat. We caught a couple keepers off some trees and a couple of short fish- no real pattern. We headed upstream into Flat Creek and fished another bluff and caught a couple more- again no pattern. We'd catch one close to the bank and then one out 25 feet from the bank and 12 feet deep. We were swimming swimming minnows with 1/8th oz heads. Went back to the first place and caught a couple more. In the mean time, a small storm system pasted and we got little rain and wind- not bad at all. Jst before it started really getting dark, we wanted to try another spot. We headed down past the bridge and around to the right. Didn't like what we saw and turned around. I pointed out the bluff bank, ramp side of the lake just down from the ramp. I noticed the bluff turned into chunk rock and then back to ledge rock- 3 times over. So we pulled in and started- and they were there. We caught 8 keepers in short order and they were right on the bank. Got too dark to see so we called it an evening. 14 keepers including one I haven't measured yet but I bet it goes 16 inches. Pic to follow- may be tomorrow before I clean them. Thanks Bill for the boat ride and the fellowship. Oh by the way- 2 cars at the ramp when we put in. Rain must have scared eveyone off.

You're talkin' 5.5 to 6 hours from KC to the dam or Rim Shoals.

Never done a bass tournament... not sure where to start. Might think about something in May or June. May is stuffed for me with graduations and weddings.

I heard a College of the Ozark's student won the draw boat. Anyone know?

We hope so too. If you fish RR, we have some great anglers who frequent the park and share their knowledge readily. Welcome!

1/100th oz jig under a float - excellent. Find their depth and area and drop a jig on them. We caught dozens last spring when they were on the banks.

Just sunk a bunch of brush just to the right of the camera view today. I've never attempted attracting fish with brush under the dock because they always ran water, thinking it would blow it out. But since they are not running water, and we are seeing more and more blue gill and bass around the dock, we'll see if they start hanging around the cam.

I think it's an excellent idea.

Sent by a friend.

I'd imagine you have a lot of wanna-bes in the crowd, bobber. This time of year it's hard to figure out where to go, if you have an open window of opportunity. I'm sure a float on the Kings will be gorgous and fishing great. Look forward to hearing about it.

It was asked on a couple of other forums and wanted to ask it here... Thanks in advance.

Ryan Walker used to not fish it with an indicator. He'd straight line it close to the bank, spot fishing. He'd set it on the bottom where he could see it and when a trout swam by, he'd pick it up off the bottom. Or if there was alittle current, he'd again drift it on the bottom and when it came close to a fish, he'd lift the line and the fly. If using an indicator, fish it as deep as the water I'd say. May be closer to the surface if that's where the trout are holding.

Nice pics. With the forecast full of wind the next 2-3 days, that flat water will look pretty nice. Wind beats me up worse than anything. Thanks for the report, sir.

Who dreams this up!!?? P, B & G... or Sweet Beans. MoCarp- you're getting my curiosity up on carp. I'll have to try it this summer.

You live on the wrong side of Tulsa!! I have a friend from Kingfisher who may take you up on it... but I'll have to take him at least once to get him hooked. He's a fairly new fly fisher and hasn't handled a big fish on fly tackle yet. Once he does, it'll be hard to keep him away from the Ark River. We'll keep in touch. Thanks for registering and posting.

Some nice trout being caught above Fall Creek - peppy scuds and mink scuds #14 under an indicator fishing the drop of the channel below Lookout 4-5 feet deep. Steff & Jean Steffen are here enjoying the great spring weather - Jean caught an 18.5 inch rainbow today. Lots of trout, mostly small though. Rolan and Ed Duffield are here too- Rolan is Mr. Peppy. They are fishing the same area- Rolan said he caught a fat 16 inch brown that would have gone 3 pounds. Both said there "stuff" on the water. It's normal for this time of year for the fungis on the bottom to float up. Usually the water runs and keeps it from building up but not this spring. The wind keeps it blown to the side most of the time.

I fried some fish for the family the other night... and it turned out very nice so I thought I'd share it. I took a glass cassirole pan and put some poppy seed dressing in the bottom. Smeared a filet in it and sprinkled Jiffy Mix on both sides. Then I sprinkled a blackened seasoning, lemon pepper, season salt and a little bay leaf- fried in a skillet with olive oil. Blackened the crust. Served with alittle wild rice. I had 12 filet for Marsha, Greg and I - thought I'd have leftovers for the next day's lunch... college kids showed up and they were GONE! Gotta go fishin' again.

Crappie in Beaver- the only crappie I've caught is off the bluff bank on the left at the first bend.

REally - rainfall will dictate where you go. And it may be a last minute decision.

Jeremy talked to a gentleman who said people are wading in at the Tin Whistle and catching big whites on minnows - and lots of them. This was yesterday and this am.

THE BIG DRY Hook: Standard dry fly hook # 4 Thread: Uni- thread 3/0 black Body: Peacock herl (4 strands palmered) Wing: 1/8 “ foam cylinder and calf tail with flashabou accent Legs: Round rubber med. (black) Hackle: 2 Grizzly hackles palmered TYING INSTRUCTION Get the thread started and get about four strands of peacock herl and wind to the bend. Wrap the herl up ¾ up the hook shank. Cut the excess off. Know if you buy the pre made ones from Wapsi you will just grab one and tie it in. the length you want is a little past the bend of the hook. I also cut the foam at an angle on both sides. This will help you tie it in better and the back just gives it a nice look. You don’t have to cut the back, but the front one is really important because of the way you tie it in. Cut you about 8 to 12 strands of flashabou and tie that in. Cut it to the same length as the foam. Maybe a little past the foam. Get some calf tail and tie that in and that will be cut to the same length. Tie in two strands of grizzly hackle. Now you will want to tie in the round rubber legs. Tie in the middle of one piece on each side. Don’t worry about the length. That will be entirely up to you. Once you tied in your legs you are ready to wind the hackle forward. I do about four to five turns with each one. I don’t grab both at once though. I like to wrap one and then the next one. It just makes a better profile with how the hackle will look like. whip finish the fly. NOTE: I use this fly in high water and in fast riffles. Throw it in the riffles and when it gets to the tail out of the riffle that is where you will get a lot of strikes. I have caught a lot of big fish on this fly. Also if it windy this fly will work just as well. Good luck!

THE EASY EGG FLY Hook: TMC 2457 #12-18 Thread: GSP 50 white Body: Mc Fly Foam or Wapsi new egg foo yarn TYING INSTRUCTION Start your thread at the eye and wind just a little bit back. You just want to have a little thread base when doing this fly. Now with the Mc Fly foam you want to cut three pieces the same in length. I cut mine about ¾ of an inch. When tying these on you want to put to on each side of the hook shank and one on the top. Kind of like a pyramid. Now your thread should be right at the eye of the hook. This is important when tying this fly because when you go to cut it, if the thread is to far back then the size of the ball after its cut will be to big because you could not cut the material right at the eye to make the ball smaller. So when you tie these in make a few lose wraps like you would for deer hair and then you can make some tighter ones to secure it. Make sure when tying this in that you don’t go side by side with the thread. You want each turn to be on top of the next one. I do about eight turns of thread when tying it in. once you have tied it in you will want to pull all the material back ad tie right in front of it. This will lock it in and keep it front turning or shifting around to the other side. Whip finish the fly off and turn the hook eye up right towards the ceiling. You will have to take the hook out of the vise in order to do this step. Also you need to grab all that material and pull it over the eye to where you can grab it with your hand to be able to cut it. Ok so know you will grab the material and hold it tight. Now with the back of your scissors you are going to make one cut. And the closer you are to the eye the smaller the ball will be after you cut it. You might want to work on this a few times to really understand what I am talking about. This way you can make really micro eggs once you get the hang of it. NOTE: if you notice by tying this so close to the eye you will leave a lot of hook exposed for a better hook set.

GOLD RIBBED HARE'S EAR NYMPH (Beadhead) Hook: TMC 3769 #12-16 Thread: UNI- thread 6/0 Tan Bead: Tungsten gold 3/32 or 5/64 Tail: Partridge fibers Rib: Small tinsel (gold) Abdomen: Hare's ear or mask dubbing. Wingcase: flashabou or diamond braid Thorax: Hare's ear or mask dubbing. TYING INSTRUCTION Slide the bead on and start your thread somewhere in the middle of the hook. Select about 12 strands of partridge hackle fibers. You actually can use whatever you want but I like the barring effect that this gives off. Tie in your tinsel until you get to the bend. Go ahead and dub some hares ear mask or some dubbing that is already pre made with the right dubbing. Advance up to the middle of the hook shank. Wrap up the tinsel going the other direction that how you tied in the dubbing. Tie in the flashabou or diamond braid. Tie in some more hares ear dubbing. And you want to make sure that the thorax is a little bigger than the abdomen. Fold the flash over and cut the excess off. whip finish the fly.

Hook: 100 #16-20 Thread: Black Body: Peacock Herl Hackle: Grizzly (palmered) TYING INSTRUCTION Get the thread started and tie in your grizzly hackle. Tie in about three strands of peacock herl and wind them up the shank until you get to the eye. Wrap the grizzly hackle until you get to the eye. NOTE: Make sure you select the right hackle when sizing up the hackle. If it is to long it will not sit right in the water and the hook set will be a lot harder. Whip finish the fly.

Hook: TMC 100 #12-16 Thread : Uni-thread 6/0 Tan Body: Dubbing (Superfine) Hackle: Brown Rooster Neck Wing: Natural Elk hair TYING INSTRUCTION Tie in the hackle where the dull side is facing you. One thing I will mention when doing this step is to not peel the hackle barbs to where you are only grabbing the stem when tying on the shank. If you do this you might have a problem with the feather twisting to the underside or shifting it at an angle that you don’t want. What I like to do is peel a few strands back and cut them close to the stem, but leave enough in there that the thread can grab them. This will keep it from shifting etc. also it is important that you don’t catch any of the hackle barbs that are going to be wrapped forward or you will not get the first wrap of the hackles to flare out when palmering it forward. Once you have tied in the hackle you are ready to dub the body. Now I know a lot of you are saying to yourself he forgot to tie in the wire. I don’t like the wire for a few reasons. When winding the wire forward it will definitely catch a lot of the hackle barbs and you wont get that nice flare and two is it adds weight to the dry fly. If you are a tier like me who cares if you lose a few on a fish or the hackle comes undone. You know out of all my fishing days of fishing these I have only had two fall apart because of the hackle not being secured by the wire. If you are a beginner or a rough caster then you might have a problem with them staying together. I just don’t have that problem. It really is up to you on tying the wire in. If you do you will want to tie it now. Depending on what kind of dubbing you want is up to you. Just make sure it is a dry fly dubbing. Wapsi has came out with the new Beaver dubbing that is excellent for dry fly dubbing. If you have not worked with this dubbing I would highly recommend you trying it. Wrap the dubbing up to you get a little past the middle of the shank. Once you have wrapped the dubbing go ahead and wrap the hackle up as well. NOTE: if you want the fly to ride higher in the water then wrap more times with the hackle. I like to do it this way and that is why I don’t tie in wire. You will definitely catch those hackles if you are winding a lot of turns of hackle. Now you are ready for the elk hair. You will need to brush out the hair and you will need to make the ends all the same length so you will need some kind of hair stacker. Measure the hair to the bend and the excess hair you will need to go ahead and trim off before tying it in. Cut the ends the same and leave just enough to hang onver the thread when you go to wind it in. now I see people have problems with this step all the time. The key to not making that hair flare to much and get more on the sides of the shank is to tie lose wraps, but enough of them to lock the hair in. If you tie to tight you will stand the hair up to high and you wont get the nice lay down effect. You want the hair to stay grouped together instead of flaring and spacing out. Tie the thread to where it is on top of itself. Whip finish the fly and it’s a done deal.