Watts Area Report 9/20

[OKFlyFisher44]

Left out this morning at 4:45 and headed for the lower illinois. Got to the parking lot at the Watts area about 6:15 and there was already 3 other cars there with guys getting geared up. Heh, Ive been used to fishing on Mondays and having the whole place to myself! Oh well...got geared up and headed downstream.

I fished below and above the parking lot....there was a ton of fish in the river from this weeks stockings. The ODWC has really out-done theirselves. The hot fly was the san juan worm this morning, never even changed patterns. I was fishing with a dropper and never hooked a fish on the dropper. Takes were very light though, had a lot of LDRs and missed strikes. There was a few times that I'd just lift the rod to re-cast and I'd have a fish on. The weather was great with over-cast skies and cooler temps. I even wet-waded this morning and it was very nice.

Ended the day with 29 rainbows and, finally, caught a couple of browns. They were just little guys but it was cool to see 'em in the river. There were some nicer fish in the river too. Caught several fish in the 15-16" range and hooked a rainbow that had to be 18-20" range, but he broke me off soon as he made a hard run. A guy fishing below me landed a nice rainbow that had to be 20", it was a dang nice fish.

This fall and winter should be a good time to be on the water at the lower illinois.

[Zack]

Nice report! What size San Juan worm were you fishing with?

[OKFlyFisher44]

Size 10 I believe...heh, whatever hook size I have laying around on the desk when I sit down to tie is what I use. So it varies sometimes...

[Zack]

Do you think size 8's are too big? I know the fish probably see from size 8's to size 14's. The reason I ask, is because I have packages and packages from my carp fly collection.

[Zach Bearden]

I don't believe the size really matters on a San Juan. The size of the fly is determined by the length of your Vernille. You can use whichever size hook you are comfortable with.

If you don't think it looks proportional you can take the vernille and twist it over itself and double it. Gives it a neat segregated look.

[OKFlyFisher44]

Hey! Look who's back!

I don't think the size is going to matter. I've caught them on small san juans and the larger chamois (sp?) style san juans...just depends on the setup I'm fishing.

All I know is, they work VERY well...

[DaddyO]

Chance,

What color SJW were you throwing?

[txspecks04]

Does anyone know how to get to this location from Siloam Springs, AR or West Siloam Springs, OK? Is this the same Watts that is just off of 59 headed south? Are there good signs to the access point? I am going fishing tomorrow morning so I am trying to decide where to go...always nice to find new locations!

[DaddyO]

Tx,

The Watts that you are talking about is between Westville, OK and Siloam Springs, AR. The Watts area that Chance is referring to is on the Lower Illinois just outside of Gore, OK.

Dude, If you are already in Arkansas, head over to the Norfork river or the White River. There is WAY better fishing there than on the Lower Illinois.

Good Luck

[txspecks04]

I have been over to the White and Norfork. It is a 2-2.5 hour drive for me so I was just thinking that if I could find something a little closer for quick trips it would be really nice. Beaver and Roaring are the closest public access places that I can get to for trout and they take 1-1.5 hours for me to get to.

Anyways, thanks for the heads up.

tx