DaddyO

I won't be there. My wife and kids are return home from Colorado and my wife fell and broke her wrist. So, I'll be tending to her and enjoying having my family back home. Of course the next weekend is the 4th of July weekend and I'm not going to fight the crowds that weekend. If you don't do well in the morning, find some place in the shade with a breeze and take a nap and go back out around 6:30pm or 7:00pm. The fish should turn on pretty good by then.

OK. There is a wealth of information on the internet and YouTube is a great resource. Go to YouTube and type in "How to fly fish for trout" in the search box and watch the 6 part series by Gary Borger. The information that he shares with you will apply to any river that you fish. Watch all 6 parts. He will show you various techniques which will answer some of your questions.

Fly_Guy, It sounds like your Grandpa was a fine man and well loved. I hope that all of your memories of him are good and that it makes you smile when you think of him. My prayers are with you and the family. DaddyO

Please don't take this as an insult, I'm just trying to establish a reference point. When you say that you don't know what kind of flies to use, do you understand the difference between a #20 midge and a #16 midge? The #20 is smaller than the #16 even though the number is larger. So, when you see reference to the flies being used, you will usually see the size, type and color of fly being used or sometimes the type of fly implies the coloration. i.e. #18 Zebra Midge (Zebra meaning black and white/silver) or #14 Hair & Copper (Usually, Brown dubbing and Copper wire for the rib) If you will use this site and read all of the Lower Illinois posts, it will familiarize you with what is being used to catch fish. If you see the name/type of fly being used and you don't know what that looks like, go out to google and search for it. You can also go to YouTube and search for it by typing "How to tie a Zebra Midge" or plug in any other fly name that you are searching for. If you don't know how to tie your own flies, doing the things that I mentioned above will, at least, familiarize you with what the fly looks like. I would encourage you to do all of the research that you can and to think about starting to tie your own flies. There is a wealth of information on the internet and YouTube is a great resource. Go to YouTube and type in "How to fly fish for trout" in the search box and watch the 6 part series by Gary Borger. The information that he shares with you will apply to any river that you fish. I hope this helps. Feel free to ask more questions. DaddyO

Really!!? I didn't know that they put any browns in the river. I know it used to have some, but after the fish kill I thought that they only stocked Rainbows. Does anyone else have any info on what they've stocked? Zach?

Martin, I don't know why it's called a BobWhite. To my knowledge, it doesn't have anything to do with Bob White the author/artist, other than the name. Here is a picture of the BobWhite and the recipe. Hook: 1/80th Jighead Hook (You can buy these at Bass Pro by the other fly tying hooks. Thread: White 6/0 Body: White Dental Floss Color: White Fingernail Polish Take all of the Jigheads out of the package and paint each of them with the White Fingernail Polish. Let them dry. Start the thread right behind the jighead and wrap to the middle of the hook. Tie in the Dental Floss and wrap the thread towards the end of the hook and stop right above the hook point. Next, work the thread all the way forward to the initial tie in point right behind the jighead. Now, begin wrapping the Dental Floss towards the jighead in overlapping wraps all the way to the jighead working in this fashion back and forth to create a tapered body. Whip finish behind the jighead and apply a little head cement and you are done. I fish this in a dead drift under a strike indicator varying the depth based on where I think the fish are holding. I have caught a ton of fish on this pattern at TaneyComo, Lower Illinois and the Roaring River. I find that this pattern works well when the water is a little off colored also.

I got on the river, at the Watts Area, about 8:30am-9:00am. I took another First Time Fly Fisherman. The river was pretty crowded and boy was it HOT!! I should've we waded but instead I think I shed a few pounds in my waders. It took me a little while, but I finally got the new guy on his first fish. That was the only fish he caught today and he left after lunch but he was a happy to just get to have the experience of catching a fish on a fly rod. Anyway, Dad and I went back to the river afer lunch. We decided to go up by the Dam this time, hoping the fishing would be better. It was better, but it was really crowded there also. Chance called and said that he was on his way, so, we decided to stay longer and wait for him. When he got there, we walked up river and fished right below the Power Site at the big boulders. Chance caught quite a few on a Bead Head San Juan worm and I caught my share on a BobWhite. Here's a picture of the my biggest fish for the day caught on the BobWhite. Kudos to Chance for being my Net Man and photographer for the shot. It was good to finally meet you in person, Chance. One of these days I'll hit the Stripers with you and Greg.

Chance, I'm going down there first thing in the morning. I'm taking my Dad and another First Time Fly Fisherman. I'll be driving a blue ford sportrac. I'm not sure if I will still be there by the time you make it down. It will all depend on how tired my Dad gets.

Chance, That's a great picture!!

Old Man!! I resemble that remark!!

Chance, I googled the topic that we were talking about. It was the Oklahoma River in Oklahoma City where they had the problems. Too bad about the rod. I don't know what is going on with all of the fish. I also noticed that there were a ton of carp in the Lower Illinois. I don't know what to make of that either.

Jerimiah, Read the posts in the "Upper and Lower Illinois River (OK)" area. That should give you a lot of insight into what works in this river. Check the generation schedule and fish when the generation is at zero. You should be successful if you fish a #16-#18 Black Zebra midge or #12 - #16 Bead Head Pheasant Tail under a strike indicator. Olive Wooly Buggers fished whichever way you like best. i.e. Dead Drift under a strike indicator, swing it in the current and strip it back to you, etc.. Good Luck and have fun, DaddyO

I got a late start out of Tulsa and arrived at the River around Noon. I started out fishing the Watts area and caught 2 dozen fish on the BobWhite and Hair and Copper. Both in size 14. I forgot the camera so I don't have any pictures to post. But, I didn't catch anything of any size. They were pretty much all Silver Bullet stockers in the 12 to 15 inch range. I went further down the river and got into a pod of fish. Saw a few that were in the 2lb to 3lb range. I broke off 3 times in that pod and fished really hard and only landed 3 fish. By this time I was feeling dehydrated and I had to go back to the truck for something to drink and a little A/C. As I was walking back to the truck, I came across this little pool of water that was created when the water from the main part of the river dropped. I saw a few trout in this pool, which suprised me. There were a bunch of trees hanging over this pool and the only terrestrial fly that I had on me was a Hopper. So, I tied it on and tossed it up under the tree limbs and was rewarded by a topwater take. I conemplated trying to get the fish back over to the river, but decided that his chances were better in this pool than me trying to carry him to the river and cook the poor thing in the heat before I could get it to the water. After cooling off and rehydrating, I moved up river below the dam and on the other side of the island at the first turn off from the power house road. By this time, the sun had moved behind the hills and it was a lot cooler on the water. Momma told me to bring some fish home for dinner. I didn't like the looks of the ones down river, but the ones closer to the dam looked better. So, I fished for a little while and then decided to get the fish for Momma. 8 drifts and 6 fish later, it was time to go home. All in all, it was a good 40 fish day. All fish were caught on the BobWhite and Hair and Copper, except for the last 2 and they were caught on one of my Pink and Fire Orange micro jig.

I don't think that is the same Peggy. I do fish the Upper Illinois and have not yet fished the Barron Fork, although my Dad and Brother have. I floated the Upper last weekend from the Chewey Bridge down to the Riverside Resort takeout. It was the worst fishing that I have ever had on that stretch of river. I think I caught 10 fish. 2 were carp and the rest were small smallies.

Fly2Fish, I saw Leonard refer to you as Henry. Are you the same Henry that used to hang around Hugh Daniel? If so, I think we know each other, as I am married to Hugh and Peggy's youngest daughter, Liz. DaddyO a.k.a Phil Curtis

I don't know if I'll be able to get down there on the 13th. If I can, I'll ping you and Zach and Chance. Otherwise, I'm definitely going the next Saturday (20th). The wife and kids will be out of town and I will be on my own. Depending on the water and the weather, I may fish both Saturday and Sunday.

I didn't go this weekend but I heard the fishing was pretty good. They stocked a lot of bigger trout for some tournament earlier and nobody caught them. I took a first time Fly Fisherman today. We got on the water at about 8am and had about 3 hours of fishing before they turned the generators on. I, easily, caught 25 fish and had my buddy on his first fish on a fly rod. I've converted another one. Here are a few pics.

Jeremy, Nice fish!! Is that by outlet #2? Zach, Are we going to have to have the Birds and Bees talk? Males have the "outies" and females have the "innies". Just kidding. I don't know how to tell the difference either.

Gregg, PM me your contact info and we'll try to hook up. Phil

Went to Taney this weekend and just go back. We ran into Hopper just as he was coming off of the water. He told us about the nice fish that he caught and showed us the pictures which just got me more excited to get on the water. I was going through withdrawals.... The fishing was great!! Caught about 30 fish. Nothing huge but they were all fat and saucy. I caught all of my fish on either a Hair & Copper or the Bob White (Dental Floss fly). The fish were really pretty. Here are a few pics.

2 in a canoe or we can do Kayaks. I'll let you know when I'm going.

Good Post. Thanks for the preview of the pics at riverside. We kept missing each other. I saw you pull in just as we were heading out for lunch at 1pm. We'll try to hook up next time.

Zach, You can go to "RiverSide Resort" (Click on the name) and do their 2-3 hour float. They will put you in at the Chewey Bridge. Right under the bridge is a deep hole that you can pull a couple of large mouth out of. Right after the bridge is a 3 to 4 ft deep run that usually holds some smallies. We usually turn this 2 to 3 hour float into an all day affair and wade more than float. If you decide to do this float, take a length of rope with you so that you can tie it to you and the canoe. This will keep you from having to beach the canoe while you fish. Good luck and have fun. I'll probably do this trip over the Father's day weekend. Let me know if you want to go.

Tim, Thanks for the info. Is your shop open on Sundays? What are your hours?

I'm gonna come over to MO this weekend. Plan on fishing Taney on Saturday and Roaring River on Sunday. I might even try to fish Taney at night. It's been so long since I've had a trout on the end of the line, I've been going through withdrawals. What flies should I bring with me?