Lower Illinois Status?

[DaddyO]

Has anyone fished the lower Illinois lately? I noticed that the generation schedule was zero yesterday and today. I was wondering if that is because of all of the rain or is the river wadeable?

[Bill Butts]

DaddyO~

It's been quite a while since the Lower IL has been at minimum flow for any significant period of time, as you probably know.

I would suggest not depending on the Generation Schedule to be accurate, especially is you have to drive very far to get there.

Considering that Tenkiller is 15' above power pool and the largest of its tributaries (Upper IL River) has not yet crested, it is very unlikely they will keep it down for very long.

If you're a trout fisherman and wade near the dam there would obviously be a warning horn when they begin to release water, but if you're wading farther down river like around the MarVal area be sure to watch carefully for sudden increases in flow.

You might also call John at MarVal Resort and ask if they have any current info on the COE plan for water releases. They seem to have a contact that provides them info that the public doesn't have access to, and if that is true it is for safety concerns for the great number of MarVal guests that the COE might cooperate in that manner.

If anyone is on the lower section around Gore Landing, I would appreciate knowing what the "real" water temp is when they are running water. The temp gauge at the Gore reporting site is not accurate or even close when I've compared it to my readings when I've been there.

When the lower river water temp reaches the high 50's consistently, it should be full of feeding Stripers, too.

Any info on water clarity, temp, fishing success that anyone has would I sure be appreciated by many.

Bill

[Trout Predator]

I went down there at the end of March and it was flowing at 10,000 cfps and it's been that way since yesterday. I've been checking this site for the releases. http://www.swt-wc.usace.army.mil/TENK.lakepage.html

[The Caddis]

Bump - Zach are you out there? What's the river like?

[swellcat]

Great question. It doesn't help that the state's fishing report for this stream hasn't been updated since March.

So, what does 10k cfs mean downstream close to the Arkansas River junction? That baitfishing with a one ounce sinker is the only option?

The NWS is calling for an 80% chance of up to an inch and a half of rain Wednesday and Wednesday night in the Gore area.

[Zach Bearden]

River is basically unfishable.... They have 2 generators running 24/7 and have water gushing out of the spill thing. Im talking about the thing that has constantly got water coming out of it so the river wont run dry.

[The Caddis]

I haven't been fishing once since November. The DT's are getting to me, I'm coming in 2 weeks generation or not.

What about fishing down in Gore below Marval's? still too high of a flow?