Lower Il 10/14 Striper

[fish_fiend]

Hey guys. I just moved here from KY. I have fished for stripers on my home body of water below the dam and done very well on a fly rod. It's so small it is like fishing a trout stream (same reading and lies) but for 5-10lb stripers! When I heard about this river after moving here, I really wanted to try it being an avid striper and trout fly fishermen. When I came I asked the gas station guy at gore where to go to wade and fish for stripers and he directed me to the trout camp (Blah! when i got there). I had heard about the dam so I went up there and found good looking water for trout, as far as lies, but very green and murky. I read elsewhere when I got back that the stripers are on the last 1 1/2 miles of the river and during the spring they come up eating the trout. SO here's my question: Do people fish up at the dam for stripers especially after the spring? is this a river that is shallow enough to be fly fished for stripers? Where do I need to go to wade and fly fish for these fish? basically I need someone to give me the scoop on this water as I live in Tulsa and have nowhere to fly fish that I know of for trout or stripers. thanks guys and gals.

[DaddyO]

With the drought the water is in pretty bad condition, right now. If Chance sees this post, he can give you all the info you need to get on the Stripers. When the water is right, the low water dam, in Tulsa, is a pretty good spot for Stripers. Look at the posts in the Arkansas River Section on the Forums for more info.

[OKFlyFisher44]

This year has sucked for stripers. We didn't do worth a crap this year and I know of only a couple guys who did well but they were on the river almost every evening on the Arkansas during the peak spawn times. We fished both the Arkansas and LIR with no luck, even went after them at night on the Illinois. Just a bad year. Hopefully next year will be better.

As far as general info on the LIR, the fish are everywhere during the months of May-August. From the dam all the way to the mouth of the river, you can find them. Catching them might be the chore some days. You have good days then u have days where u cast ur freaking arm off, catch nothing, and then see them later in the day cruising around with the trout in a foot of water. They like to hold in the deeper holes, especially if there is some structure. Strip/swing flies through these holes. The river isn't that big and there is good access points, just spend some time walking the river and u will find nice water. Read previous posts in this forum and the Arkansas forum, loads of info. I'm not gonna hot spot my holes, mostly because I don't think they are "hot" anymore. Plus, the fish really are everywhere when the spawn happens plus I believe there r a good number of resident fish in that river. Might not be too many now with the poor water quality.

Honestly though, what I thought I knew about this river and their stripers was wiped out after the floods this spring. Most of my favorite holes have changed. For the better? Don't know cuz I didn't get to fish the LIR that much this year. We will see what happens next year. I have high hopes for both of our striper waters.

[rpike]

If you want to catch stripers fish in the Arkansas if you want to catch trout go to Arkansas. The best striper fishing in the state is in the Arkansas in fact the O.D.W. takes the female rowe for there hybrid program from the river in Tulsa. The lower Ill. is very unpredictable as far as stripers go and can be very frustrating Maybe some day we will have good trout fishing again if we can get some water