Fishing Report - 6/13

[OKFlyFisher44]

Made the trip down to the Lower Illinois on Sunday in hopes of catching some stripers early and then catch some trout in the afternoon. We got on the water around 5:15 in a section of river where we had seen lots of stripers cruising during the day the weekend before. We covered quite a bit of water, throwing clousers, deceivers, and poppers...but couldn't get into a striper. It was pretty frustrating. A few of my buddies decided to put away the big rods and go after trout as there was tons of fish sipping midges up and down the river. My friend Joey and I decided to continue to chase the striper bite so we headed downstream to another section of river where we'd seen some stripers cruising and had actually caught some baby stripers (1-2lbs) the weekend before.

We both were fishing deceivers on a sink tip line, stripping them through the deep pools. We were able to catch about a half-dozen baby stripers but couldn't hook up with any big fish. We called it quits after an hour or so, put away the big rods, and went to chasing trout.

We fished at T&M and Watts the rest of the afternoon. We slayed fish on san juan worms and pheasant tails on an indicator rig along with catching TONS of fish on various dry fly patterns when the fish would start feeding on the surface. I caught several on a crackleback by dead-drifting it like a dry fly, then letting it swing out, and stripping it back to me. FUN way to fish! We caught a few browns today too...kinda odd?

Not sure whats up with the stripers this year. There is a ton of shad in the river right now. They must be feeding at night...just gorging themselves all night. Then just cruising and sulking in the deeper water during the day. Thats my only guess...its frustrating. We seen 15-20lb fish cruise within a few feet of us...just mingling with the buffalo.

All in all it was a good day....

On a side note, my buddy Joey caught a HUGE crap on a wooly bugger at T&M. He saw it cruising towards him so he bombed a cast ahead of the fish, let the bugger sink to the bottom, and then just barely twitched it across the bottom. The carp cruised right over and inhaled the fly....it was awesome!

[jwpage]

I went to the LIR on Saturday and caught a few small trout at the Watts area. Lots of little trout in the area. I would like to try some other areas. Where is the "T&M" and the gravel pits?

[OKFlyFisher44]

T&M and the gravel pit area is the same access. Its after the Marval turnoff but before the Watts turn off. Look for a sign on the right side of the HWY that says T&M Sand and Gravel. Turn there...the road runs into the river. Easy to find.

[jwpage]

Thanks for the info. I will have to go there. I am going to the Roaring river state park this weekend. I am very excited to fish it and see how I do with my flyrod.

[OKFlyFisher44]

Roaring River is a great place to learn. Thats where I started fly fishing when I was 9 or 10 years old. I've had a lot of time down there. Be sure and fish the catch & release area...there are some great holes with tons of fish down there.

Last time I was there, we caught most of our fish on san juan worms and egg patterns during the day and then PMDs in the evenings when the hatches would start. The dry fly fishing should be excellent down there right now. Take some foam hoppers too, hopper season isn't too far away.

[jwpage]

Thanks for the advice, I will surely need it. I will let you know how I did when I get back. Hopefully have some pics.

[BFTMASTER]

Stop by Tim's Fly Shop if you need some advice or flies, line, etc.

[jwpage]

Made it back from my trip to the Roaring River. It was a good trip, although I didn't catch but one trout. I didn't know that there was more to the river but the park until I was ready to leave. Good information for my next trip up there. Did stop by Tim's fly shop and it was like a kid in a candy store. Here is a pic of the only fish I caught.

[BFTMASTER]

There is a little bit of a learning curve there at RR...also some of the better holes will get hogged all day. Everytime you go back, it will get better. Try to go sometime in the middle of the week, things calm down tremedously. Glo balls are king in the middle of those hot days.

[OKFlyFisher44]

Yeah, as easy as RR can be...it sometimes can be tough especially on a busy weekend when the fish have seen everything under the sun. The lower sections of the river usually aren't fished as hard and it has more characteristics of a "regular trout stream". There are holes where you cant see the fish and people pass them up....but there are a ton of trout there. Its a good place to learn...