OKFlyFisher44

Thats where I fished yesterday morning, except I don't fish that deep hole next to the boulders. I go downstream of that area or I go upstream. I wasn't sure if there was any trout hanging out in that deep slack water...have to fish it next time.

That rod is a Scott SAS 8'0 4wt w/ a Orvis Rocky Mountain reel...I've had this rod/reel for over 10 years, its my favorite by far. I use a 7wt to fish for stripers in the morning...lol, not the 4wt.

Took out this morning at 4:10 am and set a course for Gore, Oklahoma. Got down to Marvals about 5:45 and geared up for some stripers. I walked downstream to the section of deeper holes that we'd caught some fish in a week ago. I combed that a whole section with various colors and sizes in clousers....only had 1 strike and it was an instant LDR soon as I set the hook. Just felt the weight of the fish for a second...I was very bummed. Don't know if the fish have moved or what with the stripers. I even got to the water a little earlier to beat the sun coming up. I'm going to explore some new water further downstream next time I go out. Back to the drawing board on the stripers! After leaving Marvals, I ran up to the Watts area to finish out the morning. I walked downstream and started out with a san juan worm w/ a copper john dropper. The first 5 casts produced 5 strikes with 3 fish being landed. Always a good sign. They were all over pink and red san juan worms today. The fish looked healthy and fat...all rainbows in the 12-14" range. Ended up w/ 15 out of that run. Moved upstream and fished another run to end out the morning. Caught 3 real quick on the san juan and then the bite just stopped. Called it quits after that. Had a good morning with 18 rainbows to hand....not a bad way to spend your monday morning while everyone else is at work Also seen a handful of whitetails in full velvet, drinking from the river at the Watts area. I've never seen a buck in velvet up close so that was really cool to see. Took some pictures...check them out below

Where were you fishing? I haven't caught anything under probably 10-12 inches yet on the Lower Illinois. I went this morning and caught 18 rainbows, all of them in the 12-14 inch range. Good ol' stockers!

If you want an educational show....watch The New Fly Fisher on WFN (World Fishing Network) channel #394 on Dish Network. It mixes in a good "how-to" feel with your normal "trip" fishing shows where they're at this fabulous river catching these fabulous fish! Sometimes it crosses the line and gets too far on the boring side of the "how-to" genre, but overall it is a good show. The show is older, I think from 2003 to 2005 maybe? So no new episodes but its good. I'll agree with Smallmouth Joe, my favorite fishing show right now is On The Rise or Familiar Waters on The Outdoor Channel. Adventure Guides is decent although they over-board on the whole advertising scheme for Suzuki...its a little ridiculous. As far as videos...I'm with zhoyt. I love the Trout Bum movies but there is some other good movies out right now. Soulfish, Raising the Ghost, and Hustle n' Fish are really good movies too. Probably my favorite fly fishing movie right now is Drift...the cinematography (spelling?) in this movie is amazing! Its a little bit different flavor than the Trout Bum series but its still an "adventure" fly fishing movie. Its really great.... Also, go watch trailers for Nervous Waters, Eastern Rises, and Rivers of a Lost Coast....I can't wait for theses movies to be released!

We were at Marvals at 6:00 or so. The gate was open this morning so? Size probably doesn't matter too much as long as its close to baitfish in size. As far as colors...we got our fish on white/grey. As far as the walk. It was pretty far....how far exactly I couldn't tell ya But there's a lot of nice water downstream that should hold stripers at any given time. Make sure and bring a heavy rod...my 7wt wouldn't cut it if I had hooked a 10lb fish, but it'd sure be fun! Just go give it a try....you never know what might happen.

Left the house at 4:15 this morning. Met up with Cole at his house in BA and we hauled butt down to Gore this morning. We put in at Marvals and walked downstream a LONG ways till we came to some deeper holes, with hopes that there'd be stripers hiding out. We did OK, I think we needed to be on the water about 30-45 minutes earlier but we ended up with a few. I landed a nice striper in the 5-7lb range, I was amazed at how hard these fish pull! I couldn't budge him with my 7wt TFO...he finally tired and I got his head turned to shore to bring him in. The rest of the fish were just babies, in the 1-2lb range. Caught them on clousers, as always! We went upstream to the Watts area to check it out. I hadn't fished here before but we did really well. I was very pleased with the water there. We caught lots of rainbows out of the 2 runs above and below the parking lot. Top flies were copper johns, san juan worms, and even caught a few fish on egg patterns. Ran into town after Watts and ate some lunch. I highly recommend the deluxe cheeseburger at Jimbos Restraunt in Gore, good food and really nice people. We ran back up to the dam to end the day out. Water was up and really dirty compared to the last time I was up there. We got into a few fish in the run where the little feeder creek dumps in and a few more by the boulders by the dam. Called it a day after that. We caught a ton of rainbows....we lost just as many. They seemed to be very light on the strikes today or they were just flashing at the bugs because of the murkier water...barely getting 'em in the mouths. Lots of pulled out flies today... Had a great time....definitely going back for stripers again! Sorry for no pictures...forgot the camera this morning.

We'll be heading to Gore in the morning to do some fishing! If anyone is coming out, we'll be in a black dodge 4door 4x4 pickup. I'm thinking we're going to start at Marvals and fish the lower part of the river for stripers 1st thing in the morning. Then we'll probably move upstream as the day goes on....who knows. Just see how the day plays out... I'll be wearing a green/white Scott fly rods hat, so come by and say hello!

I sold the Clearwater reels! They're gone! Sorry guys!

Use this link and you can see the generation levels hour by hour in the past 24 hours. Screw that chart you're looking at. http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?cb_00010...ite_no=07198000

If they ever decide to quit running water...it might be alright at Zink! Who knows when it'll happen! You should go check out the lower illinois right now...I hear good things We're going down there sunday morning!

Just like these guys have said. Move around a lot from hole to hole. Don't spend a lot of time beating a piece of water to death if you're not getting any strikes. Just not worth it as there's just too many fish in that lil' river. I've fished Roaring River since I was 7 years old (25 now). It took several years (and finally switching to fly fishing) to start catching double digits. I remember when I really thought it was something when we'd catch our limit (back then it was 5). It took lots of practice and getting to know what holes seem produce more bites during particular parts of the day. I personally think that the fishing at R.R. had gotten a little tougher over the past few years with the added fishing pressure the place gets EVERY DAY. I know some of you guys might call me a liar but 4-6 years ago it was nothing for us to catch 30-40 fish a day in Zone 2. That was only fishing a few hours in the morning and a few hours in the evening. My personal best at R.R. is 63 trout in 1 day. That was also during the week when you'd have Zone 2 all to YOURSELF! Not like that anymore. The last couple years though...I've really had to fish my butt off to break 20-25 fish it seems, especially during the winter catch n' release season when the river is full of hold-over trout. Read previous fishing reports and take mental notes of the popular flies. The patterns that have always worked for me at R.R. are san juan worms (all colors), egg patterns (big and small), Y2Ks, beadhead buggers, cracklebacks, ants, beetles, griffiths gnats, parachute adams, and various colors of micro-jigs. Right now is prime for fishing ants and beetles. I hardly fish anything else this time of the year...you can absolutely have a ball with dries at R.R.

The link that Zach posted will be very helpful. I caught that fish on what I call a "mini bugger". Its just a beadhead wooly bugger I tie in a size 12. Nothing special...just something I tied up right before the trip. I've also tied up mulberry flies and popcorn flies for them. I've read crayfish patterns work along with various other patterns. Heard of guys catching them on prince nymphs and red fox squirrel nymphs as well in sizes 10 and 12.

Just thought a few of you guys might appreciate this... Spent the weekend in western oklahoma to see some old college buddies and catching up. Spent sunday afternoon on the ol' Washita River outside of Clinton, Oklahoma chasing carp, channel catfish, and drum on the fly! We had a good time stalking these wary fish as the river was low and super clear. Always enjoy something different and challenging! We caught a nice mixed bag of carp, catfish, and drum. This was the fish of the day. Spotted him tailing on a sand-bar right when we pulled up to the river. Put in downstream of him. On the 2nd drift, he turned to his left, moved about 2 feet over, and sucked the mini-bugger right up! Made an impressive run upstream, taking all my fly line, and some of my backing. Had to chase him down! Awesome fish!

Oh the joys of fishing in trout parks....you love them and hate them at the same time. I can't stand people who crowd you after you've caught a few fish. Bunch of idiots. I'll cast over their line and tangle them up on purpose just to get them to leave. I'll sacrifice a few minutes to re-rig if I can make someone give me some space... But that's all part of trout parks...heck, fishing in general anymore. Happens on Taneycomo. Happens on the lower illinois here in Oklahoma. That's the world we live in... I remember when I was younger, we'd go during the week to beat the crowds and you'd have Zone 2 all to yourself...absolutely amazing. Not that way anymore...but that's how it goes. OK, I'm going to step off my soap box now...

PM sent!

Yeah, I got it back that week. I sent it in on wednesday and got it back on saturday. And I didn't have to pay the $25 handling fee! TFO is a great company, I'm a customer for life. I was going to get up this morning and go to the lower illinois to chase stripers and trout, but I couldn't get myself outta bed this morning. Decided to catch up on some sleep after this past week, my lil' girl had a double ear infection so we didn't get a whole lot of sleep the last several days!

Sorry Phil...

That is all true in most cases. Most guys enjoy meeting others that enjoy the same sport. Also, most of us are always looking for a new fishing buddy. Phil and I had a great time on our 1st outing on the lower illinois and we're from completely different generations. I will say, beware, as you'll probably run into some of the ol' crabby purists that frequent our sport. I've ran into a few on Taneycomo...think they own the whole river. Oh fun times on Taney...

Oh boy...its all downhill from here. Fair warning, stay away from EBay. I've recently re-discovered it and I have been bidding on stuff left and right! All these "good deals" on lightly used equipment is driving me crazy. I almost got a pair of Simms waders for $76 the other night, got out-bid at the last second! I don't know why I feel the need to buy another pair of waders, i have a great pair in my Orvis Silver Labels. I keep telling myself I need a "back-up" pair of waders... Boy, I gotta stop while I'm ahead!

That's no lie...even if its a good ol' Pabst! LOL!

Just takes time to figure out the whole night thing. I just started going at night this summer, just a handful of times so far, and I've had a really good night with lots of strikes and several fish caught but then I'd have a completely dead night the next night. It still puzzles me. Just need to spend more time on the water and experiment with more streamer patterns. Its a blast though...I absolutely love it.

I believe you can camp but I'm just curious why? Just so you don't have to pay? There's a decent public campground outside of the park, straight across from the Tan Vat access that makes a great home base if you're wanting to fish the upper end of the Current (Baptist to the Park). They have bathrooms/showers, fire-rings, and the people that own are very nice. Now its not the Hampton of campgrounds but if you can handle roughing it along the river, this place would be perfect. And its considerable cheaper than staying in the park. I can't remember the name to save my life, but its directly across from Tan Vat.

I like your style...

Gotta love it when they do the San Juan shuffle right in front of you and don't care. You probably took the high road and did the right thing by not causing any drama in front of the guys sons. But, personally, I'd either of said something or woulda casted right in their drift lanes and got them all hung up And yes...I'm an butt like that... But thats part of it when you fish at Taney. Especially when you're fishing a popular hole like Rebar. Lots of people try to squeeze in-between those 2 pieces of rebar and just hammer that water. There's plenty of good water downstream of that hole that a lot of people pass up, at least in my experience, it seems. Whatever though....