OKFlyFisher44

Its hopper season by far. I was at Roaring River last weekend on Sunday afternoon and couldnt' keep the fish off of a foam hopper. I'm going to be heading up to the Current on the 3rd weekend of August and then the 2nd weekend of September hopefully to do some hopper fishing. I can't wait... I told you I wasn't crazy Nortrad about the hopper bite up there... I freaking love this river. Can't wait to get up there!

I had a "proud dad" moment today when I walked out of the kitchen to see that my daughter had got one of my magazines off the rack in the bathroom and was reading it in her little chair in the living room. Well she wasn't reading it but was point at the pictures and saying "Fish!". This is awesome...

Love my Vexsis and my Evolution! Ross reels pretty much rule...

As far as bang for your buck...the Frabill trout nets are nice. I have the "Catch and Release" wooden net with the clear rubber netting. Its a great net...only thing is that I wish the handle was longer. If you want to spend some $$$ on a sweeeeetttttt net, go look at Brodin or Fishnat (sp?) nets. Brodin has some awesome nets...

I just really believe they are feeding at night...thats the only explaination I have for those fish. Which still puzzles me because the stripers that spawn upriver in the Arkansas still were feeding during the day. I don't know...I just quit. I have a new addiction....chasing smallmouth on the fly rod. Freaking sweet....

I love Rio lines myself but I did buy a Scientific Anglers GPX line for my 8 weight and it casts like a dream. Its also a $70 line though. For the $$$, I think the Rio Mainstream and Cortland 333+ are really hard to beat! Both lines are under $40. I have the Rio Mainstream in a sink-tip line for my 8 weight and have the 333+ line on my "loaner" 5-weight rod. LOVE both lines for the $$$....

Once you figure out the casting stroke with that fast action rod, you'll really love it. I can really haul some line with my TiCr. Awesome rods... No problem on the info....anytime buddy!

I bought a spey rod to fish the Arkansas and Lower Illinois....I've never used it. I need to sell it but then again I might hang onto for when the time comes I go chase steelhead somewhere! Which who knows when that will be Always fun to dream... How do you like the TiCr-X?? I love my TiCr...

Gink for sure... And get some Dry Shake too, that stuff is awesome as well.

Can't believe there is still stripers in the river. This time last year, the majority of them had moved back down river. I wish you luck in chasing them. I got POed and finally gave it up after chasing them for several weeks. I threw every fly in the box at them, even tied up new patterns, fast retrieve, slow retrieve, floating line, sinking line...etc etc etc etc.... NOTHING!

We slayed 'em on soft hackles a couple weekends back as well when they were feeding on the surface. We also caught 'em on Adams, Elk Hair Caddis, and Creme Knats. The soft hackles were size 14s and the dries were size 18-22s. I love fishing soft hackles....so much fun.

Check out Big Y Fly Co and River Bum on the net. I tie 75% of my own stuff but there is some stuff I just don't bother with so I buy from these vendors. Their flies are good quality and the prices are outstanding.

Oh ok. I wasn't trying to be rude, just thought it was a very odd question. As far as colors go, just pick a few...i wouldn't worry about it too much.

Any color will work. Did you not see that list I posted for you? If you just stick to that, you'll be fine. No need to get too technical when fishing the LIR.

Good luck getting those stripers to bite... I couldn't get it done...freaking lockjaw during the day!!

Yeah, as easy as RR can be...it sometimes can be tough especially on a busy weekend when the fish have seen everything under the sun. The lower sections of the river usually aren't fished as hard and it has more characteristics of a "regular trout stream". There are holes where you cant see the fish and people pass them up....but there are a ton of trout there. Its a good place to learn...

I'd bet the water will be off this weekend. Its off all day tomorrow basically. Its been a weird year for stripers on the LIR. I just don't know what to think about it. Last year was very productive...

I wish the wildlife dept could come to an arrangement with the Corp for a minimum flow agreement instead of just shutting the water completely off. The river fishes so well when the water is dropping but once it bottoms out, its slows down so much. I seen trout stacked up near the banks under shade provided by trees the last few weeks and they could care less if you walked through them. They'd just scatter just enough to swim around you and get back under the shade. The fish were really stressed.... I know they are just stockers but with how much they stock this river...I bet our "fish-per-mile" statistic is out of this world on this river. We could have a decent trophy trout fishery with some different regulations and a minimum flow agreement. There is sections of this river that would provide some awesome trout water if there was just a little more flow... Its quite depressing sometimes...

Here is a list of flies that have worked for me over the years and are Ozark standards no matter where you fish I believe. On the nymphs, I would try to buy them with a brass or tungsten beadhead, IMO, but thats just me. Dry Flies - All in sizes 16-22 Adams Parachute Adams Blue Wing Olives Elk Hair Caddis Griffiths Gnats Pale Morning Duns Stimulators (sizes 12-16) Light Cahills Tricos Creme and Black Midges Foam Beetles (size 14-16) Foam Ants (size 14-18) Foam Hoppers (size 10-14) Nymphs - All in sizes 14-20 (Sometimes larger or smaller depending on where you fish) Copper Johns Gold Ribbed Hares Ear Pheasant Tail Prince Nymphs Wire Body Midges (Red and Black) Red Fox Squirrel Nymphs Scuds (Green, Tan, Orange) Sowbugs (Green, Tan, Orange) Stoneflies (Sizes 8-12) *Some of these patterns are offered in a rubber-leg version, always a good varation to have in the fly box! Various Soft Hackles (Various colors - sizes 14-18) Wooly Buggers (Black, Purple, Olive, Brown - sizes 8-12) Mohair Leeches (Black, Purple, Olive, Brown - sizes 10-14) Sculpins (Olive, Brown, Black - sizes 8-12) Caterpillars (Green, Red, Yellow - sizes 14-18)* Cracklebacks (Brown, Yellow, Red - sizes 14-18) Eggs (Red, Pink, Orange, Peach - sizes 16-20) Y2K Bug - (sizes 16-20) San Juan Worms (Red, Pink, Brown, Orange, or Chamois)* *The chamois worm and caterpillar is kind of a local pattern that I've only seen in a few fly shops in Missouri, so you might not see it online, don't worry about it. All of the above patterns are all good for anywhere in Oklahoma, Missouri, or Arkansas. There will always be a certain fly that is working and you won't have it though...its happened to me 100s of times so you just have to give in and go get them from a fly shop local to the river. Other recommendations: •For trout, I always use 9ft, 5X-6X flourocarbon leaders except under certain situations where you need to use 7X for tiny dry flies or can get away with 4X or 5X when fishing bigger streamers like woolly buggers. You can always trim off the tippet section of your leader and add whatever tippet size you want. This also allows you to rebuild your leader and save you a little $$$ over time as long as the "butt" section of the leader is in good shape. I'd keep at least 1 extra leader in your pack and as far as tippet goes, a spool of 5X and 6X will cover most situations for trout. Or buy the Maxima or something similiar in 2lb and 4lb test. I firmly believe in flourocarbon leaders and tippet...its far superior to standard mono, but its also usually double the price so thats up to you. •For bass, stripers, sandbass, etc, I use 7 1/2ft - 2X flourocarbon leaders. The shorter leader will allow you to cast and turn over the bigger poppers and weighted streamers that you will use for these species. •Even though you can buy the nymphs in a beadhead pattern, get some weights because there are a lot of times where you'll need the extra weight to get the flies down to where the fish are in very deep or fast water. •Some floatant and dry-shake is always good to have in the pack for your dry flies too. There ya go...

Just match the reel to your rod. If you buy a 5-weight rod, buy a 5-weight spec reel. SOOO many brands of reels out there now, its hard to go wrong. You can spend less than $50 and get a decent reel with an adjustable drag. You can spend under a $100 and get a nice reel with adjustable drag. Just shop around. Top brand reels these days are Ross, Lamson, Orvis, Abel, TFO, Sage, etc etc etc Don't over-think your shopping...its hard to go wrong these days....

What county road is Chewey Bridge on? I'm looking at GoogleMaps but it doesn't label any of the bridges.

Looking to take a float trip on the Upper Illinois to chase smallmouth. I was curious where are some good places to put in and take out if you have your own canoe? Any info would be appreciated! Thanks...

Roaring River is a great place to learn. Thats where I started fly fishing when I was 9 or 10 years old. I've had a lot of time down there. Be sure and fish the catch & release area...there are some great holes with tons of fish down there. Last time I was there, we caught most of our fish on san juan worms and egg patterns during the day and then PMDs in the evenings when the hatches would start. The dry fly fishing should be excellent down there right now. Take some foam hoppers too, hopper season isn't too far away.

Ohhh...here and there We saw all our fish while wading under no generation...they're everywhere!

Oh here and there