OKFlyFisher44

Let it rain. I hope it does this all summer. We NEED it bad. It will do nothing but help our rivers and streams. Flush out the algae, give the river a face lift, and give our fish a buffet of food. It sucks now but it will be great later. Fish grow fast in this high water and it gives our young wild fish (trout or smallmouth) places to hide from predators. When we had the big floods a few years back, it sucked for a while but the fishing was amazing the following season on most fisheries. Let it rain...

Just fish all your typical tailwater stuff like you do on the LIR. Scuds, midges, eggs, worms, etc. It all works. Swinging buggers and slumpbusters are a good too. It should be getting close to terrestrial time too down there so have some foam beetles in the box too. It can be a lot of fun. Don't be afraid to fish the banks too. The fish will move away from the people and sit on the edges where they can sip midges or anything that falls out of the trees. As far as night fishing goes, purple has been really good to me over the years. Sometimes they want bigger streamers and sometimes they just want a bugger, just gotta keep switching bugs and colors. Make mental notes when you fish during the day of where the holes are as well as structure. Wading around at night is a totally different game. Keep your light off as much as possible and don't shine it toward the area you are fishing if at all possible. That outta help....

Loving all this high water! Our trout and smallie streams really needed a good "flush". If this trend continues into June, we will have an epic summer season for both trout and smallies, I think! We fought the high water on the Current on Friday after arriving in a downpour on thurs night at Pinecrest. It fished good for us on streamers around Tan Vat. Fish were chasing like crazy but no big ones. We fished from 11:00 - 4:00 in the pouring rain and finally called it quits. The next morning, the river was bumping just under 400cfs so we called an audible. We had our drift boats so we headed for the NFOW, it was a good choice!

They do look vaguely familiar : )

Updated the CTD blog this evening with a post about our weekend at the Sunburst Ranch Drift Boat Conclave. It was an awesome weekend! Met a lot of great people. The fishing was great. Not a bad way to spend the weekend! Would like to thank Justin and Amy once again for all the hospitality! You guys are awesome! We really appreciated everything you did. The lodging, the food, and the shuttles. Thanks so much.... Can't wait to get back.... Check out our bog for the full post... http://okietroutbum.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-drift-boat-conclave-brilliant-were-in.html Thanks to everyone who follows the blog...

That's great to hear. I have been trying to contact Pinecrest via the phone number on the website without any luck. Anyone stayed there recently? We r gonna try to stay here next weekend for our big camping trip to the Current. This will be our 5th year to do this trip. We will be arriving late. What r the exact directions to Pinecrest if ur coming from the state park passing Eagles Park and Tan Vat? Just keep going on YY past the Baptist turnoff and then there is a sign? Never ventured past Baptist so I'm not very familiar with the area.

They still are pumping some water to offset what was dumped into the lake from the Upper Illinois. We decided to not float it after they bumped it up over 5,000cfs. That's a lot of water for that small river channel. Soon as they cut back the flows, we will float it and chase some stripers!

The time is now! Need more water though on the Arkansas.

How far up YY is Pinecrest? Distance from Tan Vat and Baptist? Has anyone stayed there before? This is looking like our best option besides staying in the park, which isn't what we wanna do! Appreciate all the info guys. Our big spring time Current trip is in a couple weeks and trying to get the logistics lined out since Eagles Park closed.

I have been waiting for water like this for months! Probably be floating in the drift boat Saturday and Sunday depending on what the other rivers do in the next 24 hours. Has anyone been down there to see what the river looks like under generation lately? Is it nasty?

@Nick Williams...this is one of the access points we use to fish stripers along that section of river. Thanks for the comments guys!

Awesome blog post Jeff! It was great to get to see you guys again! Very awesome to meet some new people too! Can't wait to get back down there. I guess I need to do a blog post about the weekend myself. Time to get motivated. There will be a video soon as well from our 3 trips to the NFOW this spring!

We marked it on the net and when I got home, I put a tape measure to it. I think its pretty safe to say that its a solid 25" fish. I don't think its bigger than that but other people have said otherwise. A couple guys was saying 28" but there is no way. It had a huge head and belly. Very healthy.... Can't wait to come back! We might be back this weekend, not sure yet. Smallmouth are calling my name...

Gonna sound like a broken record here but we had a great time as well Justin. Really really appreciate all the work and hospitality! You guys are awesome! This will be an annual event for the CTD crew from now on, no doubt! The fishing wasn't too bad either....

We won't be down till late Friday night. Probably close to midnight or just after. We r gonna fish all day Saturday and most of Sunday before heading home. Hopefully u guys get some of this rain and the river bumps again! Ready to streamer fish again!

It's at 31st and Riverside. Easy access there or at the soccer fields downstream on the west side of river.

A few weeks back, a few of us got together and decided to go check on Zink Dam. We were hoping to get into some sand bass since it was a warm day but we were a little too early. We caught a few but it was pretty slow. Anyways, I took the GoPro and did a little filming. Nothing too extravagant...limited footage. If at all possible, watch the video in full HD or it will look pretty crappy. I added an HDR filter effect to the footage which looks awesome in full HD (1080p or 720p). Click the links below... http://www.okietroutbum.blogspot.com/2013/02/downtown-fly-fishing.html

As most of you know, there was a Harlem Shake video shot and produced a few weeks back on the NFOW. It was epic. I don't think I have ever laughed that hard in my whole life. What most people don't know, is there was actually some fishing going on that day before and after the Harlem Shake shoot. Well...lots of BSin' going back and forth along with some fishing. Here is the visual evidence of said fishing. I apologize for the lack of footage, didn't get to film very much that due to only having the GoPro and not my other camera. I also apologize for the vignette effect on the footage from the UV lens on the GoPro housing, had the GoPro on the wrong settings. Hope you guys enjoy....

We will be making an appearance as well! Won't arrive till late on friday night. I will be dragging my drift boat down and my buddy Corey might be coming down as well with his drift boat, I need to check with him! Can't wait to see everyone and get back out on the NFOW. Our last trip was great a few weeks ago! As of right now, my boat is full but all my guys can row pretty well so we can shuffle around possibly if need be...

Chris totally had a crush on that chicken. He had that look in his eye. Very similar to the "bromance" that was going on in my boat with Brian and Chris...I totally felt like the 3rd wheel the whole float. Weirdos.... Can't wait till the next trip...

@joshuapaul, I know what u meant. Lol. I was being dumb about saying there are no fish down there cuz that's my favorite section. And in response to your building depression, now u know why I don't have a problem driving the 3-5 hours to fish in Missouri and Arkansas. Totally worth it. Better fishing, bigger fish, and better scenery.

What few brown trout there are in the LIR will typically eat the same bugs that the rainbows eat. Midges, scuds, worms, etc. Its not till they get around 20" and bigger that they change over to almost strictly a "meat" diet. Will they eat a bugger? Oh yeah...so will the rainbows. Buggers are killer down there on the right days. I typically will start out throwing a bugger or small slumpbuster to see if they will play the streamer game. Way better than staring at a stupid bobber all day that doesn't even move but sometimes that's the game you have to play... They did run some good water yesterday....probably gave the river a decent flush. I was gonna try to wiggle away for the morning with the drift boat and float it but I have this stupid flu/head cold crap.... @joshuapaul, I wouldn't bother with the lower sections. There's no trout down there. None at all : )

I'm surprised to hear that the fishing has been so poor. Usually during the winter, the OWD really bumps up the stocking program and there are tons of fish in the river. Winter and early spring is when this place really shines as far as the trout fishing goes. The march browns should be kicking off any time down there too. Anybody heard anything about any reduction in the stocking? Also, how has the water clarity been? When we were there a while back, it was DIRTY from Watts up to the dam but down at Car Body Hole it was fairly clear. Nothing like fishing for trout in a mudhole....feel like you should be catfishin'....

Lots of nice fish there! Were you guys using live bait or throwing plugs? Really shows the quality of brown trout we have in the Ozarks. I would put the White River, NFOW, and Norfork up against ANY river in the world that claims to be a "trophy brown trout" destination.

Hoglaw...well put and those of us that share our videos appreciate the comments buddy! We enjoy knowing that u enjoyed it! That's an awesome video of those guys slicing up carp. When he finally gets one in the end, straight comedy!